I next ran east along Oto gawa (river) which had a large fountain in the middle of it at one point. There's a path along the water that sometimes was hard to follow but was nice to use to avoid all the road crossings.
Moving off the river, I worked my way to Higashi Park which looked to be large, scenic and peaceful in the inside. I eventually headed back south across the river and worked my way back to the village. The whole run was fun exploring and stopping now and then to check out places along the way but it took most of the morning. I'm a long distance runner but I don't think I'll want to do a run this long every week.
Coming back to the village, I noticed the sports club across the street was preparing for a 'mochitsuki. Around this time
of year, I understand, communities and groups often get together for a 'mochitsuki', literally to make sweet sticky rice
cakes the old-fashioned way - pounding cooked rice in a massive stone bowl with large wooden mallets. The sports club
itself is one where they teach and practice swimming, gymnastics, and tennis. Since they were selling udon too, I was
hoping to buy some lunch there but, unfortunately, the food was pre-sold. It was nice, though, to see the crowd there,
especially all the kids. That and the party the night before proved there was life in
Okazaki after all.
In the afternoon, it was time to go shopping again. First thing I was looking for was some reading material which for me, at least when it comes to Japanese, it means manga. Between my weak vocabulary and difficulty reading kanji, the comic books are still about my level best to read. I enjoy them though since there's such wide range of them here. Right now, I've been following Inuyasha and Meitantei (Detective) Conan which are popular but, granted, are more for kids. There are so many mangas published that used book stores are a viable business. I was able to pick up several volumes very cheaply at one store, Book-Off, which actually is a nation-wide franchise. With the books so cheap, maybe I'll find another series to try.
The Jusco center nearby looks to be the largest shopping mall in the city. It's certainly not as big as many I've seen but it was just as busy since it was a Sunday. It's three levels were packed and Christmas was in the air there, including a pretty slim looking Santa Claus. The school was advertising part-time jobs as Santa; I wonder if he was a student?. And no, I don't qualify because you need at least a student visa to legally work even part time.
Despite all the choice, I really didn't buy much but I did find some Christmas cards to send back home. For myself, I bought a fold-around 2004 calendar card. There's a few published every year with Japanese themes and I like picking one up here whenever I'm here. Besides, it's the right size for my desk back at the village.
My co-workers back home always bugged me about getting a pet so I bought one at the same store. His name is Teto and he's
a fox-squirrel. Okay, so he's a stuffed toy but, like I am back home, I don't think I'm around enough to properly take
care of a pet anyways.
Teto is a creation of Hayao Miyazaki who also directed many famous anime films like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Teto first appeared in Miyazaki's film "Nausicaa from the Valley of the Wind" as well as in the manga of the same name. Miyazaki spent about ten years writing the manga which may best be described as a blend of "Lord of the Rings" and "Dune".
Speaking of Frodo and company, the students in the village are anxiously awaiting the opening of "The Return of the King" over here. Maybe we'll make it a group outing when it comes out. I'm still curious to see what the reaction over here will be to Tom Cruise's "Last Samurai" opening this weekend. Naturally, it's been getting a lot of publicity over here.
All that activity on the weekend plus dinner to make and eat and I still had not done any studying yet. The homework would eventually get done, but I see a pattern building here.