Tokushima Things to Do

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My first three visits to Tokushima failed to see me inside the castle museum because we tend to visit aroudn New Years, when the museum, along with everything else, is closed. Eventually, I made it inside only to find the museum is limited ot three rooms, none of which are completely impressive. Still, the building is well maintained and has quite a bit of square footage, along with wonderful park grounds . The exterior eaves have a backwards swaztika, usually they are some kind of protection from demons but the sigil is also featured in some of the insignia inside, leading me to wonder if it is a symbol of the nearby whirlpools instead of the usual sun representation. Entrance to this kind of thing in Japan is usually pretty minimal, Y500-600 and this is no exception. Entry to the beautiful gardens is only 50Y.

Sakai Machi is a district of Tokushima not far from downtown which features a large number of izakayas, soprans and pubs/bars all relatively close. Although dead during the day, it is the center of nightlife in the city, where Tokushima residents go to see and be seen, and where they go to get drunk. Much quieter and better behaved than the equivalents in the US and Europe, an evening here can be pleasant indeed if you can stand cigarette smoke for long periods of time. A few places are non-smoking but overall they follow the Japanese enthusiasm for tobacco with gusto. My brother in law found a mediocre gaijin bar to take me to, only to find it frequented by 20 year old Japanese with a joke of a menu. I was the only gaijiin there as might be expected given that there are probably fewer than 50 westerners living in the entire city. They also said that some Russians had opened a bar, though they didn't know where or if it was still in existence. Until last year the area featured a number of Chinese prostitutes making a quiet living, but the police had supposedly cleared them out. I myself saw no sign of prostitution in the district whatsoever.

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Although the Tokushima fish market doesn't differ significantly from other Japanese fish markets, it is a pleasant way to spend the morning. With fresh and live fish laid out on pallets and on tables, you wend your way through the stalls, inspecting everything from tiny minnows to huge tuna being carried on massive fishhooks and then sliced into steaks. I bought and later grilled an octopus, tako in Japanese, purchased live from a styrofoam container, a typical way to make a purchase. Live shrimp and huge scallops are the rule. Ugly blowfish are common, as are crabs and other shellfish. What isn't purchased in the morning will be found later in the day in supermarkets or restaurants. There are a limited number of small food vendors and a produce market with fish cakes and other cold edibles.

End of World War I,Japan fights against German in Qingtao.
Here was a German prisoners' camp.1917-1920.
The German prisoners were free to communicate with local people.
The German soldier taught a Japanese how to bake bread , music and some new sports.

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Although lacking some of the amenities and atmosphere of a grocery store, the produce is more or less the same or better, with each farmer putting his name on his own crop. What is imported is plainly labelled as being imported with the appropriate country specified.

Because you are in Asia, a lot of the vegetables might seem strange to you, but they are usually variations of the vegetables you already know, such as daikon radish, it may be big and shaped funny, but it is still a radish and tastes quite similar to the radishes you are familiar with, though the Japanese use it very differently. If you are planning on visiting astuff like this you might want to visit an asian grocery store in your home country before you do since translations may or may not be readily available, especially in more rural locations.

Pachinko turned out to be something of a cross between a Las Vegas slot machine, a pinball game, and a video game. Essentially you use a stream of air to try and direct these little ball bearings into the right holes and when you get enough of them in there you can spin the slot wheel. The machine lights up, shouts "Craaaa-zee! Craaaa-zee!" in English and if you are lucky, starts spitting out all these little ball bearings which you scoop into plastic tubs. After you are done playing, they weigh these balls and give you cash. I won about $80.

I was told pachinko parlors don't allow cameras for the same reason casinos don't, and I was also told that not all of these games are honest, with Korean proprietors getting a particularly bad rap. It is also something of an open secret that profits from some of these games go to support the North Korean government. Sometimes your game will be manipulated to win in the hope that you will come back and lose more, but I would guess that the reverse is more often the case. Pachinko is gambling, and whenever you gamble, know the odds are weighted in favor of the house.

Pachinko is very popular in Japan and when you enter a parlor you will see people of all ages and social stratae playing. They tend to be pretty smoky, and you always have the feeling you are being watched, but for whatever reasons, the Japanese really like this game.

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The Awa-Odori is pretty much Tokushima's only claim to fame in Japan. it is a huge dance festival which draws people from all over Japan and even has a troupe of gaijin dancers. When they dance, they dance in a certain way, and you can see it demonstrated downtown on a daily basis. Sadly, everything is in Japanese, which meant I learned almost nothing from the 20 minutes I spent listening to the MC. The dancers, however, did manage to convey a good impression of what the dance was like even if you had to imagine what thousands of dancers would be like.

During one segment of the show the audience is invited to participate, but if you haven't been able to understand the MC, you won't understand the dance and just look foolish. My wife, Miyuki, daned in this festival when she was a girl, and had no trouble. I..... looked foolish.

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This bridge is made of natural vine and is rebuilt every three years. It is high up in the mountains and the trip up to it is as exciting as the bridge itself. We drove through a lot of these really cool little mountain towns. I wouldn't say hiking across the bridge is for everyone, since the slats are some number of inches apart. I definitely wouldn't take a toddler across because they would ber small enough to fall through. Even carried in my arms it would be difficult since the bridge sways a lot and you have to brace yourself. I think the charge was about Y500 or about $4.65.

The bridge is quite old and is quasi-historical and partly speculative local legend, part of the reason they keep rebuilding it. A sign said the other reason is to preseve the vine-working skills. There are two other bridges in addition to thias one, with West Iya being the more frequented.