Japan Trip Part 8

We got up early to check out, then took the subway to JR Station. We said farewell to one of our members from the Czech Republic, who wasn't touring with us any more last night. We met her again at the station waiting to buy our tickets. We said goodbye again and went our separate ways. Then when we boarded our train for the airport, we saw her again, getting on the train next to us.

The train ride felt oddly longer than the bus ride. We arrived 2 hours before our flight at New Chitose Airport. We split up into groups for lunch, and then went shopping. I figured I needed to buy some something that was Hokkaido specific. I bought several knick knacks which I actually ended up giving away as gifts. In Chitose, we said goodbye to 3 more teammates, who were going back to their homes around Japan. We flew out of Chitose and arrived in Haneda. We took a bus to the bus terminal in Yokohama, where one of our members, Minako greeted us with her family and friends. We all piled into 3 vans, and headed to her family's house.

Minako's father is a priest at the Tenrikyo church, which is attached to their house. It was a surprisingly large house, though it had low doorways. It was funny watching the taller men hit their heads and walking around hunched over. Apparently they normally have visitors and were easily able to accommodate our large group.

After unloading our things, Minako gave us tour of the house and church. Once in the church, her father gave us an intro to their religion. He answered our questions until it was time for dinner. Her family was kind enough to provide us a delicious temaki sushi dinner. There was two kinds of squid, tuna, salmon, and eels. There was a challenge to eat the whole tiny squid they provided. I ate my squid before the challenge was even brought up. It was a bad taste and odd sensation as your bite through the head. Most of them didn't try it.

We finished a little after 6:30pm, which is when the church has their twice daily services. We sat in on it. Following the service, we were asked to give a performance by her family. We did 3 dances. It was slightly odd dancing in the church immediately after they just had services. After our performances, we piled into the vans again and they took us to Yokohama Chinatown.

Chinatown is supposedly famous for its nikuman (pork buns). We just finished a big dinner so most of us weren't interested in trying them. I personally found no interest in Chinatown, so I just walked around, not going in any of the shops. Our destination in Chinatown was the karaoke box. There was 18 of us in one room. It started slow because there was only one song list in english. A former member of the team, worked nearby and hung out with us. He was even kind enough to pay for part of our fee.

Seiji wanted us to pick songs that everyone could song along to. Only about the group were interested in picking songs, so I picked a couple that they might know. I picked the Cardigans - Lovefool, Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody, and Weezer - Buddy Holly. I didn't pick up the mic for lovefool, but I did for the other two. We picked a few disney songs too hoping everyone would know them. We only sang three Japanese songs; Re:Japan - Ashita ga Arusa, a song I somewhat knew because we sang a version of it in Japanese class, the Theme from Totoro, which was a hit, and Minako with Wildcats - We are wildcats, a song that no one knew, but it we felt it needed needed to be sung. My favorite moment was when Ada, our 13 year old member, and Ashley, a fairly quiet person, sang Metallica's Master of Puppets. It came out of nowhere, and they did a great job. After singing, we took cabs home, and prepared for a day of sightseeing in Tokyo.