The Last Blog Post

It occurred to me a few months ago that it is time to wind down Over a Hedge. The evidence has become clear--it just took me a long time to notice it. Last year, my four month summer hiatus made sense. I was too busy enjoying life in the garden, fixing up my house, and spending time with my family. September came around and I was ready to get back to work. After a fairly productive spring this year, the summer hiatus came along again, but this time when fall arrived I realized that I had no desire to complete any blog posts, let alone start a new one. So this is it, but before I go, I wanted to clear out a few topics I had intended to write about but couldn’t muster the time to fully explore.

Highway Buses

I had a good experience with Willer Express.

The overnight highway bus remains one of the most cost effective ways to travel in Japan, but the system is much improved since the last time I used it in the late 90’s. There are way more bus options with sensibly priced levels to justify each incremental increase in comfort and privacy. You are more likely to get a good night’s sleep without being bothered by other passengers. An extra 1000 yen or two will go a long way here.

You can even book on-line and then pay at a local convenience store. Take it from me though, don't wait until you get to downtown Tokyo after 10:00 PM to find a konbini. You are just as likely to have to walk a gauntlet of women in business suits whispering "massaji?" as you are to find a convenience store with a pay terminal. The only other downside is that the overall improvements to the highway bus system have come at the expense of ease of boarding. Whereas the highway buses used to be located at familiar train stations, now you just line up alongside an office building and try figure out which bus is yours. Not for the timid traveler, but if you pay attention, you won’t get burned.

Travelling with Children in Japan

Not my kids' shoes

Not as hard as one might think, so long as you avoid rush hour at the train station. When our children weren’t gaining free entry to museums and aquariums they were at least getting half price tickets (including to ride the train system). The only overpriced events we saw were special exhibits imported from Western museums and science centres—avoid those and save your money. Remember that children enjoy small attractions as much as large ones because it’s all new to them. A tour of a samurai house or a chance to play at a city park can excite them just as much as a ride to the top of the Tokyo Sky Tree. Give them a bit of pocket money for vending machine treats, souvenirs, and little toys and they’ll be happy. Don’t forget that stores like 7/11 and Mister Donuts usually offer little incentive programs that allow children to earn unique prizes in a week or two. Keep these tips in mind and your children will have a memorable experience without busting your travel budget.

Karaoke Microphones

If you love karaoke you can get a nice deal on a microphone with a built in karaoke machine that plugs into your TV for about $200. Perhaps $200 seems high, but remember that you’ll have over 1000 songs loaded on it. With a domestic mic, the songs will be heavily tilted to Japanese numbers from a range of genres, so they are better for Japanese language learners looking to impress their friends. For those who want a stronger English song lineup, stick to the duty free stores, The mic will come loaded with fewer songs, but you might be able to sing more of them.

These kits come with little binders filled with song lists, so you can recreate an authentic karaoke box experience when you return home. Corny features like singer ratings add a sense of fun competition, but you can flub a number of lyrics and still get a 99 for a spirited effort, so don’t let the high score go to your head. The only caveat is that some of the English songs loaded on our mic might have sounded appropriate in the 1920’s, but the lyrics would be considered racist today.

The Imjin War 

Great book. A highly readable exploration of the 16th century invasion and occupation of Korea by Japan. If you want to gain a better understanding of why China and Korea consistently apply diplomatic pressure on Japan for grievances about the Second World War, start with this book, because the unresolved historical tensions began a few centuries before. The review I had started was long, and it still felt like I was only a quarter of the way through when I abandoned it--that's how rich the book is.

Going Forward

That’s it. Four posts I started but never saw through to the end. I’m sure the Coles’ Notes versions will suffice. My only other regret is that I never took up an offer to tour a Toronto sake brewery. I would have enjoyed that tour just as much as I would have enjoyed writing about it. As for any leftover sake reviews, well, the dusty bottles in my cellar suggest I wasn’t going to get around to those either.

Even though I will no longer be posting new items to the blog, I will keep the site active for the foreseeable future. Since the site is no longer being used to promote my personal “brand” or novel, I might monetize it by activating Google Adwords. I doubt it would even earn enough to pay the $15 a year required to keep the domain name, but even a partial subsidy is better than nothing.

I also plan to collect my favourite posts in ebook form. It will be available for $1 to $2 (haven’t decided yet—depends on how long it takes to put together). Please consider buying a copy when the time comes to help pay for domain registration or to have an archive should I ever take this blog offline. 

Parting Thoughts

If you are still reading, wow, thank you for your masochism. Just one more thing to wrap before I sign off.

I started this blog for two reasons. One was to establish a platform so that when my novel, The Samurai Poet, was published, it wouldn’t seem like it was coming out of the blue. Now that writing updates are published on my personal website, this reason fell by the wayside. The second reason is that living in Japan and subsequent visits left a deep impression upon me. Having a chance to write about my experiences and share the insights I gained along the way was the most satisfying reason to maintain it as long as I did. Time and experience do change people, and I am no exception. The longer I have lived in Canada and the more time that passes between visits to Japan, the less currency my observations of the country and its culture seem to have. While it is still a big part of me, it is a part I no longer feel the need to share publicly. Thank you for reading along the way. I hope it was worth your while.