The R3dragon’s Blog

Probably a good description of Mutsu is from any typical visitor that comes here. It really has nothing going on at all from the outside. In fact, if people didn’t have GPS’s equipped they might not even know they’re in Mutsu. Ok perhaps that’s a bit harsh to say about this place. However, for that reason, being a resident of Mutsu means one must do what they can to find “the thing to do” here. Here the secret is to motivate yourself daily to get out of your apartment and find something to do. Believe it or not, with the right plan and motivation, you can make any cold brisk Saturday morning into a day of enjoyment.

Take my skiing weekend story:

A few weekends back I took out a pair of cross-country skis that were given to me by a friend. It had been awhile since I had skied and I was a bit anxious and nervous how I would do. I had decided for cross-country skiing I’d start off small and simple like Mutsu’s very own sport’s park. Here the facilities are often used all throughout the other three seasons, but in the winter it’s a quiet, silent, and peaceful place to ski around. Here in the winter, they never plow the snow in the park so it’s real thick powdery stuff.

Just strapping on and taking off from the baseball diamond was a beautiful wintery landscape. The track field was barely visible and nearly one and a half feet of snow sat perched upon the score board. Snow had piled so high that trees that towered around the park were reachable by hand as I slipped passed underneath them.

Faintly around the park seemed to be the sign of another pair of skiers that had gone earlier, but their tracks had been covered by a light dusting. If only I had gone later I wouldn’t have known if they were tracks or small dimples covering some mystery deep underneath them. This route I skied in took me all around the park. Tall slender trees stood silently in the distant as their branches deeply bowed as if burdened with old man winter’s heavy snow.

Deciduous trees, whose shade covers families and kids alike from summer’s harsh rays, stuck out of the white mass with their leafless branches reaching high into the air. Everything there looked quiet, still, and freshly chilled by winter’s cold breath. It was as if everything had been tucked into the vast blanket of snow and gone into a deep hibernation.  There was no cheering or roars from the stands, no cracking sounds of bats or starter guns, nothing  but the silence winter brings here to Shimokita Peninsula.

I had in fact gone out and discovered something indeed that day. I had discovered while skiing that every place does in fact have secret pockets of beauty in it. More over, because that beauty exists, it also makes living here in sub-freezing weather and bombarded with snow, all that more tolerable.

~J out

The perfect time to walk in the door is 7:53 am. From 7:53 it takes 1-2 minutes to take off your snow boots and find the locker they go in. Then after puting on your “indoor shoes” it takes about another minute to get to the teacher’s room. When one enters that teacher’s room they’re greeted by a round of “good mornings.” It’s important that you get to your desk, though, by 7:55-7:57 or else the “coffee lady” might not get you in the morning rounds.

You see, in most schools only 1 fresh pot of coffee is made a day. If your’re not in by that round then you might be stuck with “tea-bag” coffee or worse… “instant.”

Depending on the school, your morning meeting might start at 8am sharp or maybe as late as 8:20. I consider this brief time as my ‘warm-up’ phase, a time to put on your game face and prepare to play-the-game of Elementary School ALT.

A good ALT knows how to unpack their bag and properly clutter their desk. For the first hour you need your schedule, some teaching books, the class text book, a maybe a dictionary. The goal is to look busy till the morning meeting begins then afterwards look busy “preparing” till all the teachers scurry off to class.

The morning meeting only lasts about 10-15 minutes, but it’s the epicenter of the morning (if not the day). It’s a time when you see the Japanese people at the peak of orderly perfection. At first you rise like in  a courtroom; bow either toward the front desks or to right infront of you. A sharp uniform “Ohayoo Gozaimasu” is said then everyone sits down for the show. The meeting is just typically announcements, but the rules and proceedures are what make it interesting. To announce something you raise your hand, bow to the front, then quickly say your announcement followed by “iijo desu” (“over”) like two soldiers over a radio.

After the morning meeting, the teachers who have you in their classes consipire to tell you what their agenda is about 3 minutes before they have to go to class. Sometimes you’ll be given a paper with the agenda (often copied from some book or template) or sometimes it’ll just be told to you hastily in forced Japanese.

Once these small informal agenda meetings are done with, and teachers vacate the teacher’s room,  you can relax– chill out and drink your coffee– check your phone mail or read the news– pretty much it’s all up to you till your first class… just try to stay mostly awake.

~J out.

Snow, sure I’ve seen it before… From where I’m from I see a little fall here and there occasionally around Thanksgiving or around Christmas. Some people even wonder each year whether or not it’ll be a white Christmas or not… and… if it is… well for us that’s a big deal.

The thing is, no matter how much snow falls a year in Oregon or Washington, if it snows at all everyone gets excited. Schools might close at the very mention of snow forecasted the night before. Roads might close at the accumulation of an inch and almost always (even if it’s 5 or so centimeters) buses go on “snow routes.”

Now moving to Shimokita, I was told it snows here. I would ask people periodically just ‘how much’ it did snow and the answer was nearly always “ahh not too much.” To someone like me, “not much” means like well… “not much.” The nuance here is that if I were to ask the same people about Washington and Oregon’s snow fall… the answer might be more like “snow?! Where? What snow… it doesn’t snow at all here.” Since what we get each year is some absurd joke compared to here. Simply put… Aomorians are strong people to put up with, what I’ve seen as, a snow-monstrosity.

 To give the merest example I present to you a small story about this morning at my place…:

This morning as I attempted to escape my humble abode I left the door with my satchel, a pair of dress pants, some dress shoes, my Scottish scarf, and a medium to heavy leather coat. As I opened the door I was greeted by two fearsome abominable snowmen. In fact, it was merely the snow pack that had crowded on either side of my front entrance. I took one giant leap into this frosty dreamland and watched as my foot slipped across the steps of an ice rink. “This is unfamiliar” I thought to myself. The actual trek to my car was closer then the trek from my door to my bathroom. However all I could see to my right as I cautiously slipped down each stair was a mound of snow in the shape of what might be my Suzuki Jimny.

Behind me I was startled as the giant roar of this beastly blue machine started up my path. In the driver seat of this bulldozer, that had sat quietly all season in the parking lot, was my landlord. A thin small man that always has the aura of a small business tycoon, he pulled up beside me and grunted with a half smoked cigarette hanging loosely between his chapped lips, “Ohayoo.” I watched as plowed tones of snow to the side which seemed to form the huge side walls of a snow palace. Perhaps this was his newest apartment venture.

Not walking, but stomping towards my car, I tried opening any orifice I could to get in. All doors were sealed by winter’s cold icy lips. The only door that opened eventually was my rear hatch… It cracked and screeched as it opened revealing a dark covered cave that was my “new car interior.” I laughed remembering the guy who sold it to me how nice it was that he was giving me the “tinted windows option” for free. My only option was to start it up and punch it till I could get out of the lot. It seemed barbaric, risky, but shoot somewhere in the sea of kanji on my insurance policy was probably this scenario… right?

So on my car went and in 4wd I put it… I revved a little, shifted in first, and said softly “to hell with it…”

WHAMO!

The Jimny lurked forward and out of the rut it went. I proceeded as if it was routine getting out and scrapping the ice and snow off of only the important windows.

So as the car warmed up and I looked ahead at the obstacle coarse that was Mutsu’s roadways I thought silently to myself… “another day of living the dream life on JET…”

 ~J out

And finally he sits down to write out the last witty thing before saying goodnight. His head is swarming with useless thoughts of whether he forgot this or that. Ahead of him lays a journey far, and in a way he doesn’t feel the excitement as some might.

For him, going somewhere means leaving something behind. He pauses and smiles at all that he’s done, as well as all he is about to do.

As for me, I do sit and ponder the life of this 25 year old. There’s so much to say and little time to say it… but most of what should be said really doesn’t need to be said at all… As people, we feel it… live it… know through instinct what all needs to be said and done.

So think of it all as though he isn’t leaving leaving home, but that he’s arriving at home somewhere else…

somewhere exotic. ;P

~J out

A few weeks into 2009 I posted a listing of books (follow the link to read it) I’d try to read before 2009 was over… The result was that I read Bruce Feiler’s Learning to Bow (twice actually). I honestly felt The Great Wave By Christopher Benfey was very dry and hard to read so I didn’t finish that… Japan A Reinterpretation By Patrick Smith was a rip. I should have read the reviews more closely. While finishing most of the book, this one just pissed me off.  I did start Three Cups of Tea By Greg Mortenson and for the most part it was a very well written book. While I didn’t finish it, I think if I can find it again I’ll actually read it through again… so let’s say I did about 70% C meh good ’nuff..

Other books I read without listing in ‘09: Tons of Japanese Grammar Literature, and a beautiful well written book titled “Yakuza Moon” Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster’s Daughter by Shoko Tendo

I liked this book because it was a non-fictional biography written by somebody who isn’t exactly a varnished writer. Tendo is very blunt in her book and when you read it… it comes out like a conversation you might have with her at a bar or something.. Very human and very good read..

The last book I dug into was

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami. Murakami is very well known author respectfully, but in this book he lets the victims of the Tokyo Subway Sarin Gas Attack give their accounts with Murakami periodically commenting here and there. It’s a good book to read just to read other Japanese people’s varrying perspectives on the same event.

Ok… now on to a few books I’d like to read for ‘10

Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain by Martha Sherrill

(Author) – A story about WWII Japan and dogs. I figure this year I should read more good dog literature.

Discourse By Three Drunkards On Government by Nakae Chomin- Apparently a very loose informative discource on European, Japanese, and western political differences as well as speculation on the future…

Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. by Roland Kelts- A book on the exact same topic I wrote and presented in my high school senior thesis back at Fort Vancouver HS. (Go Trappers!)

The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai- A unique Japanese author who writes somewhat sorrowful sad books… I actually picked up one of Dazai’s other books No Longer Human at a book store in Aomori Station’s and read through it a little. No Longer Human didn’t turn me on, but I still would like to read something of his sometime. Dazai, I think, writes in a very “Japanese-istic sort of personality.

From Mahan to Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Sadao Asada- Gotta keep up with my pops whose also reading up on WWII from the US angle.

Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945 – Yep, more history books I need to read.

Then of course whatever else I pick up and read…

Let’s hope I actually do order these and read ‘em..

~J out

It’s finally a new year with much to look forward to and much to get done. I find it daunting also to take a step back and plan out what all I need to accomplish this year…

Generally, in regards to this blog, I feel that I didn’t write as much as I should have in 2009. So much was happening during that year that I could have spent a little time writing about it all and didn’t. This means that for 2010, a major goal of mine will be to pick up the writing spirit I once had years ago and to take it to the next level.

My problem last year wasn’t that I couldn’t write, but that my will to write just wasn’t there. There’s no excuse that would adequate other then I was just too lazy and tired to do it. In other words, I neglected my duty. Shame on me.

However… the beginnings of a new year is time for reflection and self-correction. This blog is completely powered and managed solely by me so it’s my job to push on ahead with it.

So onward to 2010. This year will be truly unique because the better portion of it will be spent abroad in Japan. I was blessed that I could open the year at home, but 2010 will definitely be a challenging year of acclimating to living in a new surrounding. I feel that the culture shock is mostly faded, but the reality of day to day living there still will be an interesting challenge

To a year of hard work ahead… I am ready take it on.. and I hope to bring as much of 2010 to my readers as possible.

Cheers.. and to the best of luck to everyone on a new year of unfinished projects…

~J out

During the holiday season I’ve been given an excellent opportunity to come home for Christmas. So with this time I think it would only be fair to reflect, with my cat sleeping on my lap, how the past four months have gone.

I arrived in Aomori Prefecture with a wide smile on my face. Not more then an hour ago had I boarded a plane in Japan’s great metropolis, Tokyo. I remember the flight vividly as I watched, through the clouds, as city centers gave way to rice fields and then into forest. I watched as the plane descended into the sky towards a small two story, one corridor, Airport located in what some would call… “just north of nowhere.”

Over the days and months I found that nowhere in Japan carries a unique and fascinating charm. It may not be lonely planet’s depiction of Japan, but it’s real Japan nonetheless. The greatest thing about this particular experience has been just  working there.

As an English teacher in my small town of Mutsu I still can’t believe how far up in the frontlines I am teaching directly to Japan’s future generation.  A day doesn’t go by that I don’t feel thankful for the trust Mutsu has in me to teach something to kids as young as 6 years old. Granted, the “privilage” did take nearly a year to apply for.

So what of teaching? Do I feel that I’ve made progress? In essence, I believe I am making small progress, but perhaps not in an emperial test-based way. Bruce Feiler writes in his account of teaching English in Japan nearly 10 years ago, “…During a year of teaching English in Sano, I had learned to measure progress not by lists of words or flights of rhetoric, but by the simple magic of call-and-response.” (Learning to Bow, Pg. 276) By that Mr. Feiler goes on to explain it as like a game of tennis, where he, or in this case I, serve an English phrase and if it’s returned properly I’ve made progress.

Additionally, having to work in Elementary Schools, I’ve learned a great deal about how to have fun learning something, and how to do it with great humility. As an English teacher, while English is important– it’s just as important to excite kids into learning it. I’m proud of my kids who are learning something, but am humbled by how many different learning styles there are in all seven of my schools.

Overall, I don’t feel overly challenged or feel my job is impossible. Rather, I feel my duty as a teacher to learn from my students as to what works and what does not. I mean, shoot, I’ve only been teaching in an Japanese Elementary school classroom for four months now…

~J

Last weekend was a “Mid Year seminar” for both ALT’s and Japanese Teachers of English (aka JTEs). The seminar covered a plethora of topics ranging from common teacher-alt problems to teaching methods for younger aged kids (i.e. Elementary Schoolers). Of course like most seminars there was some grandiose “hocus pocus look at me I’m the best” presentations… but on the whole it was a worthy experience that got me out of work for two days.

The down side was sharing of disease amongst everyone. Kids, of course, sneeze here almost nearly all the time without covering their mouth and that’s only because Japanese adults do too. For a “clean society” the simple act of “covering one’s mouth” has been replaced by a cheap 2 ply painter’s mast that’s been “dubbed up” as being a quote “surgical mask” which is supposed to either shield you from them, or protect them from you.

Suffice to say a child transferred a cold to an ALT, and the ALT gave it to me and probably several others. Now, the thing about having a cold in Japan is that here you have to fight two fronts. The first is the actual fighting of the symptoms and getting better… the second is the publicity fight where you have to convince on a regular basis that you’re not carrying the black plague.  I’m finding lately that being a part of a group is really awesome at times. The bad side is like right now where my cough get’s me ostracized from the group for no good reason.

It makes having a cold suck more I think. Even if you carefully explain to every passing soul that you simply have a bad cough and runny nose, they insist vehemently that I have a fever too and that I probably to go to a hospital.

At the same time as this all has been happening, it has also been quite a challenge to navigate the shelves of all the local drug stores here. In Japan, I’ll walk up and down isle after isle finding some aspirin here, cough syrup there, and maybe something for my runny nose if I’m lucky. Then just as I think my bases are covered a man or woman in white might walk over to me and stare at my meds without saying anything. Followed by them standing at a little desk staring forward… I picture it like a video game: Once you collect three plot items a new character arrive and perhaps a speech prompt bubble will pop up. Except in the real world there’s no speech prompt bubble.

Here in Japan I could probably buy my meds without this guy saying a peep, however when I say “excuse me I have a cold and could you tell me if I have the right medications” (in Japanese)  they’ll tell me that in fact these meds I’ve collected might be right in principal, but none of them can be taken together and that I should rather purchase this other box that covers all my symptoms (but is also like $25 for 10 pills). Then comes that stupid feeling on top of the having a cold feeling.

Good times. Good times.

~J

The other day I finally went and bought a “make-it-yourself” desk. A simple four piece screw together desk that will definitely enhance my life. The desk cost just under $50 and is height adjustable. It probably took me 15 minutes to assemble and 25 minutes to clean up all the packaging and vacuum all those little white Styrofoam pieces that permeate every little nook and cranny it touches! I like this desk though.. it has a nice comfortable feeling with plenty of space.

It clears out my living room too that I had my printer and router and stuff in. The whole goal was to clean out my living room and make it look simpler and more open. Next up I need to organize my books and papers into some sort of system. Then work on alternative lighting.

I know the cords need to be cleaned up..

here I am.. blogging away…

In other news I’m going to try and head up to my smallest Elementary school at 9 am today to take part in their 学校芸まつり Gakko-Gei-Matsuri or School Festival. Most schools put on a play called a Gakko-Gei-Kai (学校芸会) or a small type festival called a Bunka-Sai 文化際, but apparently not at this school. I’m pretty sure, since they’re so small, that they’re going to try and put on something for the community rather then just for the parents.

Honesty I couldn’t tell you what the dynamics are like in a super small community like where this school of about 10-15 students and 5 teachers is, but I’m going to show up to find out and as a token of good faith as their “once a month” ALT. I’ll make sure to take a few pictures while I’m there too.

~J out

A ROUGH GUIDE ON WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE STUCK.

PART. 1: DON’T PANIC!

DISCLAIMER: If you’re not the type to seek adventure, you’re not in Northern (or Cold) Japan, you hate cold, and you’re never lost as to your next options– chances are you’ll never use this guide… but what the heck, read it anyway.

I. The Scenario:

You had this great idea that with two vacation days coming up.. you’d jump in your Kei Jeep (A 2001 Suzuki Jimny) with a tent, a stove, two big sleeping bags, some water, and a change of clothes (oh and a camera) and head west to the other side of the prefecture to check it out. The idea is.. you’d find a camp site, setup your tent in a little chilly November weather, and camp while taking pictures of the Japan sea, the sunset, etc etc.

ok so far?

PART II. THE JOURNEY

So I took off Monday morning under a clear blue sky. The temp was “chilly” but nothing seriously cold. Overall it all looked good. The trek to the west side of the prefecture using local roads would take about 5 hours. Probably less for someone who knew where they were going or had a GPS with them.

Getting across the ken was pretty easy and somewhat enjoyable too. I really enjoy driving so cruising around small roads and through cities was awesome. Up to date the farthest west I’d been was Aomori City which is located in the middle of the prefecture. Past that point I could feel myself slowly getting lost, but nothing serious. I was rolling with a Mapple’s Map that I’d bought at the big Supermarket in town, but honestly I should of had a GPS…

As some points of reference I knew that the Western Main Road “Route 4″ ran into “Route 7″ which ran into a “Route 101.” Route 101 is the coastal route like in the Western US… it winds around the western side of the prefecture and eventually down into Akita Prefecture. On paper.. and on a map.. it makes perfect sense, however– once you drive it, everything just isn’t as it seems. Roads merge and change… you second guess yourself.. you make mistakes and get frustrated.

In a lost situation what I suggest is to find a road sign.. the intersection between X and Y. Stop on the side of road and flick on a turn blinker. Then check your map, Garmin GPS, or your cellphone map [like a GPS or triangulation phone map where your phone uses three or so cell towers to pin point your location] (of course if your phone does that stuff).

For me I got lost in a town called Goshyogawara. It’s a point where several roads intersect and it’s easy to get turned around. To get back on track I had to stop many times, check the map over and over, and proceed slowly– 90-100 yr. old speed.

Finally at one point I found the route out. It was like finding the final key in a Zelda quest– only now I would have to fight the next boss.

Part III. KEEPING AN OPEN MIND

Situations change as things are slowly introduced into the scene. Things like temperature, weather, and time.

I drove down 101 as it winded it’s way like a snake over a large mountain pass and eventually to the Japan sea. The pass was very cold with the temperature hovering around 0-2 degrees Celsius (like 32F-35F). As I drove it started to snow everywhere I went. It was pretty, but also ominous and not good for my prospects.

Having looked at the map over and over I decided I wanted to reach this place called “Shirokami Onsen.” On the map it just looked pretty neat, but that’s all I knew.

Along the route were some campsites that looked like I could stay the night at, but one by one I could see the the bathrooms were locked and the gates were closed. At one campside I had a foresight planning moment.

Foresight planning is often crucial as facts on the ground are different then you expected. What I mean by foresight planning is to consider the following:

• How Far and how many hours would it take to get home from where you are now.
• What do you think it’ll be like in 5, 7, and 10 hours from now?
• Is it raining? Snowing? Looking like it’s going to clear up or get worse?
• If not camping then what?
• What’s your fuel situation like? (If you’re at a half tank or below and it’s after 4 fill up now.)
• Finally, is there a grocery store, convenience store, or general market in the next 20km?

Once you’ve asked yourself some basic questions like that.. Start determining stuff and putting things into stone.

• If I don’t find a camping spot or figure out what I’m doing for the night by 8pm I’m driving home.
• If I drive home I’ll arrive at aprox. 12pm-1am.
• It’s getting colder so perhaps camping isn’t an option, I should look at a hotel perhaps or sleep in my car.
• My goals are going to this onsen (Shirokami) then moving on to the next thing.

Confidence was key to moving forward.

Most of all, bear-in-mind that you never think you’re getting into an extraordinary situation until 2-3am in the morning.

Reaching shirokami Onsen was good, however the place looked vacant. The lights were off and I couldn’t see anyone. At this point I was wavering on what to do.. I felt like leaving, but then I saw some lights come on… so I decided to go in.

Shirokami Onsen was really an Ofuro. Ofuro is the Japanese word for “Bath” except here, years ago and even today, ofuro was also the word for a “public bath house” where there’s a washing area then a ‘hot tub’ you sit in. Nothing about an Ofuro is supposed to be ‘glamorous’ but it is relaxing.

The cool part about Shirokami was that it was ran by two really old looking ladies. The spoke in an old lady Japanese accent which was tough to understand at first, but I could keep up. I asked if the ofuro was open and if I could use it.

I was the only one there too and I suppose, looking back on it, I could have asked to stay there for the night as there were tatami mat rooms. The old lady took me back to a room where the ofuro was. Typically I would pay first, but she didn’t care and told me I could pay later (if at all). The bath house was vacant.. Lights were off except for the hot tub that was going. Oddly in that moment I really was enjoying myself. No one there meant I could freely sit in that tub and relax without having to feel self concise about myself. I left an hour later and payed the lady and said good bye. I had spotted another onsen a few Km north that I wanted to go too as well.

The next onsen was called “Michi-no-o-ku” a common phrase in these parts taken from Matsuo Basho’s original book titled “Oku no hosomichi” A road to the interior. That onsen was also pretty night, but a bit crowded. I realized at this point that next time I do this I need to book a night here as it was a hotel/onsen combo. That would have made things easier.

Leaving Michi No Oku I could feel time pressing in… I decided at this point I needed to either camp in the car or split for home.

Part IV: FINDING THE RIGHT PARKING LOT

Finding a parking lot in Japan isn’t hard… there’s plenty. However, finding the right spot to stay over night is another story. I should stop here and say that spending a night in your car can be dangerous if you’ve never (I mean never ever) done it before. In fact, if it’s late and you’re tired, but you’ve never done this– pull over in a parking lot (leave the car on with the heater on) and take a short nap– then go to a combini and get an energy drink, then go home.

Ok now that that’s said.. I’ve slept in many of my cars in cold conditions too. I’ve learned some secrets that keep me safe and warm and I think they’re useful to share.

When you’re driving around to find a spot to ‘car-camp’ you gotta start no earlier then 9pm-10pm. Around this time you get a feel for what parked cars might also be there over night. The name of this game is to make your car look ordinary and something that supposed to be there.

Good spots (even in the US) to park are:

• Rest Stops (even Japanese have them)
• Big Store (un-monitored/un-patrolled) Parking lots
• Shopping mall parking lots
• (Sometimes) Public parks (if they look ok)
• Beach parking lots (that are elevated lol)

Things that make a good parking lot to camp in are one’s that have more then one full-time on lamp post, ones that have a public restroom, and ones where there’s some sort of “sheltered area” that’ll keep your car safe (i.e. don’t park with your front facing the Sea, instead park behind a building or some barrier or find another lot). Also the best lots might not be on your map! Drive around and keep in mind that finding “the right parking-lot” in Japan or in the US might take awhile. You might find a perfect lot and leave it to find a better one … or perhaps a perfect lot might not be perfect and you need to leave.

Once you’ve found a lot that looks suitable you’re going to need to find a good space. Survey the area and find spot that’s open, but not facing something like the ocean. Stay away from trees and if you can park 1 to 2 spaces left or right to a lamp post.

The next thing is to set up your car.

Often if you’re in a small Kei-car like I was you’ll need to sleep in the passenger seat. If you’re smart you will have brought two sleeping bags. The first bag lays out over the seat to cushion it and insulate it. If one bag is smaller then the other then the small bag goes down and your big bag goes on top. Set out things in the driver’s seat like water, your thick rain coat, a towel, and a flashlight or cellphone.

Also while setting up leave your car on. If you decided to car-camp early on you should have filled up at a gas station already and have plenty of gas. Turn on your heater to max and your blower to max. The idea is to get the cabin as warm as possible (perhaps even too warm). If it’s below freezing outside you’ll need to run your engine periodically.. I’ve never ran my engine the whole time.

So by now you should have set your passenger seat all the way back, have a sleeping bag down, a pillow (if you got one), and a second bag on top. The cabin should be warming up, and if you got ‘em put on some loose sweat pants. This last part is personal choice. I slept in a car once in jeans and found jeans to keep me colder also I didn’t like it. Sweat pants are always more comfortable. Once you feel you got a grip on where you’ll be sleeping.. You’ll need to move into the “patrol hour.”

The patrol hour is something I do for 30min- 1 hour. The objective is to monitor your spot and the place around you to see if you’re ok being there. Here I watch for if a car pulls in to the parking lot, what it does, how long it sits there, if it drives off. You’re trying to get a feel for this area that you’ve never been in before. Call it ‘familiarizing yourself with you’re environment.’

For me, my environment was cold, but accessible. I found a public rest stop that looked like some construction was being done on it (this meant that it wasn’t abandon). I watched cars go in and leave until I was tired and eventually fell a sleep.

A note on sleeping. When you car-camp it’s not like you’re at a motel 8. You’ll be sleeping in periods of 30 min to 2 hours at a time at the most. Every sound, every heavy rain fall, or every wind gust might wake you up. It’s important when you wake up you assess yourself in the following:

• What parts of me are cold?
• Should I put on my insulated rain coat (the answer to this, as soon at you think of this question, is always yes)
• Do I need to run my car heater? For how long? (If it’s cold with your sleeping bag on then yes, turn it on till it’s not cold with your sleeping bag over.
• What time is it, who is in the parking lot with me, and how long till sun rise.

Last night I pretty much woke up every hour, and once after two hours. Every time I woke up I drank some water and did my check list. It was cold and lots of things woke me up.. Snow, Wind, A hail storm, other cars… It was rough.

Eventually after a tough night I woke up finally at 5:30am. I could see the sun going up so I took down my bedding and readjusted my car and hit the can for the last time. Afterwards I drove to a McDonalds then back home where I took a real nap and made tacos for dinner.

The drive home was spectacular. Apparently it snowed all over the prefecture last night.

The roads were snowed over and everything looked like a winter wonderland! Mind you it’s only November 3rd in this picture…

Overall, you need to be smart about every choice you make. Survival boils down to a very very simple question: “How comfortable can I make myself with what I got.” Survival experts way smarter then me spend hours in their camp making tools to do what? Make it more comfortable for themselves.

Car-camping can be fun… it can be easy too.. but be smart about it.. if it’s your first time do it in a controlled environment (i.e. at your home or something).

That’s all I got for this guide.. (though I might add some Japan specific things later)

~J out