Steph's Trip To Japan
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29 July, 2004
Today we all made sure to pack our swimclothes, because we were very excited
about going snorkeling in a totally different ocean.
First we took a long van ride out to the Fisheries laboratory of Kinki University. All
of us are now trying to get someone to mail us shirts from there. ;) Anyway, out in
the middle of this bay are tons of fish nets. Some are set up in groups of
rectangles with wood over the top, and fridge sized machines on each square of
wood. These machines were auto feeders, and the wood was over the net
because those particular fishes change color when exposed to light. There were
also huge circular nets with a ring of supports around the outside, so you could
dock your boat. Inside a good majority of these nets are the super-expensive blue
fin tuna. Out in the open these nets float, and no one watches them, because no
one would steal them. I admired this, because these fish would be gone in a few
weeks in the US. The professor who talked to us about the fisheries took us out on
his boat to visit the fish, talking to us as we passed them. He stopped next to a
boat that was docked at one of the circular pens, and told us to cross to that boat.
All well and good, of course—the water was a little choppy because a typhoon was
coming, but that’s about all.
We hopped across to that boat, and then some of us hopped down onto the ring of
supports. Those a little queasy stayed up on the boat. The professor warned us
not to fall in, because these fish bite. It was feeding time, and a man shoveled in
squids for the fish. These fish were around or over 5 feet long, I believe, and were
1 or 2 years old (I think). After a while of marveling at their huge bodies breaking
out of the water to snap up squids, we got back on our boat. We scooted on over
to the younger fish pen, where there were 9 month old fish. All the fish were frisky
because of the coming storm, but they didn’t seem to object to being fed.
Everyone had an opportunity to toss in fish to these monsters, and most of
us did. I’m proud to say I touched a fish.
The professor told us that because of their selective breeding the fish grew much
faster than the normal rate, about 3x I think. This is good, because once the
university is done with the older fish, they sell them to big companies (this is where
a lot of the funding comes from).
After this we visited the Kashino lighthouse and the Turkish-Japanese monument.
This monument is called the Warship Ertugrul Memorial Monument because in
1890, a warship of that name carrying a diplomatic delegation group on their
return to Turkey ran into a gale and foundered in the sea below the Cape
Kashinozaki lighthouse. Some Turkish sailors managed to crawl onto the island
below. The way it was told to me was that during the storm, many Japanese
fishermen risked their lives and boats to rescue the injured sailors. Sixty-nine out
of a crew of 656 were able to be saved. The fisherman and their town nursed the
sailors back to health and offered their stored provisions. The year after a
gravestone and a monument of mourning were unveiled on the hill, and in 1929
the Japan-Turkey Trade Association erected the Memorial Monument, then the
Turkish Government constructed the newer magnificent tomb in 1937. At the
center is the Ertugrul Memorial Monument.
The Kashino lighthouse is the oldest stone construction in Japan, built in 1866 in
commemoration of a treaty between England, France, The Netherlands, the USA,
and the Edo shogunate. Daffodils grow all over the place, though I don’t think
there were many when we went. I was a very pretty place though, and the view
from all of 30 feet up was pretty breathtaking when seen from the top of a cliff.
After this we went to the Research Center of Kushimoto Marine Park. Actually, we
first went to an attached restaurant where we were seated according to whether we
had wanted chicken or seafood. I wanted chicken. Each place had rice, tea, water,
and a plate half full of veggies (cabbage, onion, etc). The other half, and I am not
making this up, had a cup of raw oyster, a clam, a huge blue shrimp with eyes and
everything on it () and fish strips I believe. It also had a little bit of raw beef, and
on a smaller plate, 3 balls of fried chicken. What’s with the raw food, you ask?
Well, each place also had its own little grill, under which the waitress placed and lit
a purple cone. Hot outside, and now hot inside. Sauce was provided, but I didn’t
use any. I cooked my stringy beef, ate half, and ate mine and someone else’s
chicken (I traded for the shrimp, I believe). I ate my rice too. Rice was quickly
becoming a staple.
Then we went further down the line, down to where people do snorkeling. We s
went in the ’s locker room, changed into our swimsuits, then scurried out to get
our wetsuits. The boys were already done, of course, and so were the Japanese
boys. So we went back, changed, and came out again to get the rest of our gear.
Putting on a wetsuit is hard! We came out, put our wetshoes on, and put on
mittens. We romped down the rocky coastline with the same men who had filmed
our presentation to Dr. Akito following us with TV cameras. This was cool, and at
the same time, not so cool—we all looked dorky in our suits, and every person who
watched the news in Japan would see us this way. Groan. I apparently was the only
one who hadn’t done this before, and I had trouble putting my flippers on in the
water. Once we got out from the shore, though, we began to see coral reefs, the
very tip top of the Great Barrier Reef. The Japanese boys kept ramming me with
their heads and picking up poisonous sea cucumbers, but aside from that,
everything was wonderful. The sun even came out, and the bright orange, blue,
yellow, and rainbow fish put on suits of diamonds for us. It was spectacular, and I
was disappointed when we had to go in. Silly typhoon. The TV guys were doing
interviews after we changed our clothes back, and I was chosen to be
spokeswoman from the s’ group, but they luckily ran out of time. Even though I
didn’t want to be interviewed, I somehow felt cheated.
We then walked around the wonderful Research Center aquarium, which had tons
of fish that we’d never seen before, plus some really huge creatures that were so
ugly we wished we hadn’t seen them. The best parts were the giant sea
turtles…we got to feed them, just like you feed ducks or goats at the zoo, ‘cept
these guys were in the water and would probably eat a duck. They had a little sand
beach where they probably laid eggs. That’s another cool thing—the professor
asked us if we wanted to see behind the scenes, and we said sure! Because we
saw behind the scenes every time we went in an aquarium, ‘cept in Kyoto. He
showed us the tank that contained all the fish and sharks that swam around one of
those walk-through tunnels, and then he led us halfway across the building to
show us baby sea turtles. He informed us that these were the first ever bred in
captivity, and asked us if we’d like to hold them. The turtles were in a tub, about 10’
x10’x3’, and there were probably 20 in there. They looked happy enough—I get
the feeling that there were no ledges in there because the scientists wanted to
build up their endurance so they could release them one day. The parents were in
a separate tub (complete with faucets) right next to them, this one about one and a
half times as long. The professor picked out a few sea turtles and handed them to
those who wanted to hold them. Mine sat placidly for a minute, because I guess he
thought he was done for, but then he started to really smack my hands with his
flippers, swinging them back from his face as if he was swimming. After a while I put
him down, but not before I offered him to Jake and John. Jake and John told me
later that they would have called an animal abuse center, but they couldn’t speak
Japanese. I prefer to believe that these scientists know better than two high school
kids do what’s good for the turtles. There were also some snapping turtle babies
that looked just like Koopas from Mario. Oh, and in the gift shop, I bought the
silliest keychain. It says “Kind fox, Kind tree” and it has a picture of both of them on
its metal face. It’s huge, and unweildly, and I don’t know what got into me! XD
On the drive back, Yamamoto-sensei suggested we go look at his house. This is
one of the highest honors to receive in Japan.. Yamamoto’s family is wealthy, and
owns more than one house, and even a mountain! Anyway, he had a wonderful
traditional house, broken only in places by a massage chair, a big ol’ tv, and a
microwave. Tiny bathroom!
For dinner, we went to a sushi bar. It was really cool—sushi runs past you on two
very large, circular conveyer belts heading in opposite directions. In the center was
a large tank filled with ‘dinner’—lobsters and fish. Chefs stood stationed around
the inside of the bar with tubs of rice and all sorts of condiments. I wasn’t very
happy here, because they provided you with hot water for you to make your own
tea, but they didn’t give you a small glass of water like most places usually do.
Anyway, I had a hard time finding something I liked. I ended up eating a slice of
chocolate cheesecake, a slice of regular cheesecake, carmellized potato pieces
before I actually tried any sushi (this was in desparation—the slices were tiny). I
tried fried tofu with seaweed and fish bits inside it, and then I tried egg sushi. The
egg was very odd tasting, almost sweet, and the rice had the same odd flavor, so I
couldn’t eat that either. Lucky for me, I’d chosen two red and three green/blue
plates. The system in the restraunt was serve yourself, and they’d total the amount
of plates you got, with different prices for each plate. The server lady came by,
scanned my plates with a scanner, and printed out a reciept for me so I could go
pay. We all thought this should be insituted in America (though pessimists point
out it would be very easy to cheat the system in the US).
And then to bed.