Keeping You Posted ...: November 2008

A long time ago (I can't even remember when it was that's how long it's been), a group of us got together and made a trip to Ookunojima, also known as 'Bunny Island'. The island is pretty small but played a big role in World War ll as a manufacturing site for poisonous gas that was used mostly in mainland China. The story is actually a pretty interesting one (and Wikipedia can probably tell it better than I can).

"The island was a cultivated area until the First Sino-Japanese War when ten forts were built to protect it. Because Japan was a signatory on the 1925 Geneva Protocol banning the use of poison gas, the country went to great lengths to assure the secrecy of the building of the poison gas plant begun in 1929, even going so far as to remove records of the island from some maps. The plant, constructed at the beginning of the Showa Era (1928-1945) was home to a poison-gas facility that produced over six kilotons of mustard gas.

The island was chosen for its isolation, conduciveness to security, and because it was far enough from Tokyo and other areas in case of disaster. Under the jurisdiction of the Japanese military, the local fish preservation processor was converted into a poison-gas reactor. Residents and potential employees were not told what the plant was manufacturing and everything was kept secret; working conditions were harsh and many suffered from gas exposure related illnesses.

With the end of the war, documents concerning the plant were burned and Allied Occupation Forces disposed of the gas either by dumping, burning, or burying it. The laboratory animals were set loose - hence the many rabbits today - and people were told to be silent about the project. Several decades later, victims from the plant were given government aid for treatment, and in 1988 the Ōknoshima Poison Gas Museum was opened."

The first thing I noticed about the island was how beautiful the view was. I feel like everywhere you go in Japan has the potential to be breathtakingly beautiful. This island was no different.

"The Island now has a congress-hotel, a six-hole golf course and a small camping ground. When the tide is at its maximum or minimum, people can swim in clean water. The whole island looks a little like a petting zoo: this is because the school children who had to care for the rabbits in the laboratories set them free when the factory was demolished. Hunting these creatures is forbidden and dogs and cats may not be taken onto the island. The ruins of the old forts and the gas factory can be found all over the island; entry is prohibited as it is too dangerous. Since it is part of the Inland Sea National Park system of Japan, there is a resource center and across the way is the Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum."

The joke golf course. Seriously:

We went to the museum to see what this poison gas business was all about and it was kind of disturbing. The pictures were graphic and the effects of the mustard gas weren't exactly pretty.

Getting ideas for a Halloween costume?

Sick, huh?

We trekked around the island and found the ruins of the manufacturing plants and warehouses and gave off a creepy kind of a vibe. There were 'DANGER' signs posted everywhere and I kept my eyes peeled for deformed wildlife, although (thankfully) I never found any.

F2, Erik & Daniel ... entering the tunnel of doom:

There was just this kind of eerie vibe everywhere.

Me, Daniel & Erik

F2 & I (his real name is Jukka but I've never called him that):

And then there were the bunnies ... ALL of the bunnies. They were everywhere. All you had to do was sit down and rustle the bag of carrots and they started coming out of the woodwork, or in the case, out of the factory remains.

At first I was kind of creeped out, but they grew on me.

They would just jump right on your lap and chow down. It was kind of nuts.

These crazy ones climbed right in Erik's bag ... and came out with carrots.

Maybe they have super intelligence as a result of mustard gas exposure.

These two were my favorites and I kind of wanted to take them home.

We took the ferry back to the mainland and headed home after a long day of hanging out with rabbits and praying that we weren't ingesting any remnants of mustard gas during the time spent on the island. The thought that some of the gas was 'buried' as a form of disposal is a little unsettling.

Tina & I on the ferry:

I think the sun sets in the most beautiful way in Japan ...

much love

-tara-

In light of all that was going on in America in the world of politics and in our own attempt to be political, other than religiously watching MSNBC TV via the Internet, Daniel and I decided to venture to a teeny, tiny town up north called ... OBAMA.

Political opinions aside, the trip was about finding some sort of connection to American politics to celebrate the election and the end of the Bush era. Here's what I had to say about Obama, Japan previously ...

"So I found this little tiny news clip once that said something about Obama, Japan supporting Barack Obama since they were bound by the same name and I thought to myself, "Self, you gotta go to Obama. Round up Daniel & get to it". The only problem was I knew nothing about it and neither did the (at least) 100 Japanese people I asked. The longer Daniel & I looked at the map, the more nervous I got. It was a lot further than I originally thought (maybe 5 hours on the train) & it was going kind of expensive to get there. Even after searching the internet I still couldn't find any decent information so the whole trip turned into a gamble. Were we willing to pay the money and take the time to travel to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere with the possibility of having nothing to do but turn around and get back on the same expensive train back home just to say that we visited Obama, Japan before the historical 2008 election? Hell yea we were. Duh."

And our journey began ... with my alarm going off at 6:00am on a Saturday. Now, anyone who knows me well knows that, unless it's to tailgate, I don't wake up in the 6's. I don't even wake up in the 7's. I despise waking up early actually so the fact that I was waking up so early to go to Obama, on a gamble!!, speaks volumes.

Because Obama is in the middle of nowhere, sorry to those that live in Fukui ken, we had to be very careful with our train times and plan really well. Not only did we have to transfer 4 or 5 times, but the trains run so infrequently that if we would have missed one we would have been stuck at a train station in the middle of BFE for an hour or two.

The Obama line departure time table ... See? There are some hours that don't even have a train!!

Luckily enough we made all of our trains ... the locals, the shinks, and the rapids ... and we arrived in Obama around noon. That's right - 6 hours after I woke up. It was a long trip. But in every trip there is an adventure. And an adventure this was.

The entire train ride resembled a long drive through Nebraska ... boring enough for me to want to jump off of the moving train. So stepping off of the train I was half holding my breath for fear that this trip was going to be a total bust. I was just praying that there was going to be something, ANYTHING, for us to do in Obama, although I did have the return train times beginning just ten minutes after our arrival just in case.

We found a map of the city and I swear it was no bigger than the size of Hinton. I'll have to look up the total population but I'm sure it couldn't have been more than 10. At least that's what it seemed like.

Obama ... the WHOLE town:

We started walking and within the first two minutes we had seen enough to make the trip worthwhile. The entire main street (all six blocks of it) were lined with these Obama banners.

How awesome is this?:

Daniel looks like he's saying the Pledge ... he probably was.:

HAHA ... hilariou picture. I'm particularly fond of his sparce hair and disproportionate ears.:

Obama for Obama ... awesome.

It took us approximately ten minutes to walk from one end of the city to the other and everywhere we turned there was Obama something or another. Hanging in business windows, stickers on people's cars, fliers on lampposts... It was crazy.

This is translated as a sign of encouragement like "You can do it" or "Try your best"

Obama for Obama support group? Where do I sign up?

Isn't this crazy? Where did they get these campaign posters? And I don't really get the whole "Vote Tuesday March 4th" but whatever...

This is an official letter from Barack Obama himself thanking the town for their support.

Dont' forget to pick up your own I Love Obama t-shirt. This one was even autographed.

No idea who signed it, but that's besides the point. :)

A traditional Japanese hapi ... it was expensive though.

Like $100 if I remember correctly.

HAHA

I was beginning to wonder if they have ever really seen a picture of Barack Obama ...

Of course Daniel & I registered with the official "Obama for Obama" fan club:

What most of the storefronts looked like:

We even found Obama snacks ... these are like bean paste cakes.
They taste about as good as they sound, but that was besides the point.

Daniel's face says it all:

So we walked the entire town and were pretty astonished by the local support for Obama. Yet another thing we couldn't get over was how extremely nice the people in Obama were. People went out of their way to say hello and wave to us. Some people stopped their cars in the middle of the street to wave and some high schoolers crossed the street just to say hi. That NEVER happens in Japan. EVER.

We decided that we weren't quite ready to leave Obama yet and Daniel and I were actually taking a real liking to this tiny town. We decided to rent bicycles and ride up the mountain and get a view of the ocean and doing some political reflecting.

Our awesome bikes that we rented for like $5

We rode up the mountain encouraging each other with "Yes we can"s all the way up and then we found a spot where we could make our way down to the beach.

Finding our way down the trail: