G'Day From Downunder

By Mike Bowen

Okay, you put the kettle on for the cuppa while I unpack my bags and put away my Shamrock and all the other Irish badges I wore in Tokyo at their St Patrick's Day Parade so that I can use them all another year.

Oh how the world has embraced Irish culture. I attended one of ten St Patrick's Day parades that were held in Japan on Sunday March 15.

This one was run by the Irish Network in Japan and it was in a suburb of Tokyo called Harajuku.

How magnificent it was to see so many Japanese young and old all dressed up in everything and anything they could lay their hands on that had a hint of the Green White and Gold!

There were Japanese Leprechauns, Japanese playing Irish traditional music, Japanese young girls doing Irish dancing and doing it very well at that, if I might say so myself.

Best of all was seeing the little toddlers in their greens; so, so pretty and so proud. I got goose pimples just watching them enjoy the festival atmosphere.

The sun shone on the jubilations as if St Patrick himself was giving the celebrations his seal of approval.

The parade ran for about an hour and a half, with lots of colourful representations of different aspects of Ireland.

The Irish Network in Japan did a wonderful job in showcasing Ireland on this special Irish Day and again I must thank the lovely I.N.J Representative Kaori Takahashi who was so courteous and helpful in bringing me up to date with all things Irish in Tokyo.

I said it before after my last visit and I will say it again, a more delightful young lady you couldn't find anywhere.

Now tell me what else can you do after a St Pat's Parade other than go home... bugger that..... oh hold on a while, there's the traditional pint of Guinness or two and Tokyo is no exception.

'The Dubliners' in Shinjuku had the Guinness flowing at ¥900, that's about US$9 a pint (usually it's ¥1000) and on the 17th it was reduced to ¥500 and for those who'd sooner drink beer, all the beers were green and again ¥500 a pint.

My watering hole in Shinjuku was no different than any Irish pub in Dublin, Cork or New York.

Everyone was, or wanted to be, Irish and you would have to have a shoehorn in your hand to try and squeeze yourself in and then murder ten or so fighting your way to the bar for a drop of the crator or black honey.

But, saying that, how wonderful is that? To be in a foreign country arm-in-arm with the natives, singing Irish songs and to see them embrace our national saint's day with such joy?

I have said many times us Irish may not be many but boy, oh boy do we make a noise and an impression where ever we go.

On the 18th after nursing a headache from the night before and afraid to look in the mirror in case it revealed a monster with a big leprechaun hat and a pint of Guinness in hand making stupid faces back at me, my wife and I headed for the costal town of Tomonoura about three and half hours south west of Tokyo on the Bullet Train.

This is a beautiful old traditional Japanese fishing village. I suppose much the same as Dingle is to Ireland, minus the tourists.

To those of you who are regular readers of my column you will be only too familiar how I brag about Fitzpatrick's and how they have world class beds and how much I do love comfortable beds... well now, I think God thought to himself it's time to give this Bowen fella a reality check.

So I enter my hotel room, traditional Japanese style and I say to my wife where's the bed?

So I'm thinking to myself surely the previous guests didn't knock off the bed, now did they?

I know people knock off lots of things from hotels usually anything that's not nailed down or padlocked to the floors or walls, but the thought of knocking off the bed is ridiculous.

On enquiring by telephone to the front desk it soon became clear that the girl on the other side of the phone had no idea of what I was saying or visa versa; so I toddled off down to reception to inquire on my lost bed only to discover that no one speaks English.

So, after doing a miming act for half an hour, the young lady escorts me to the room where my wife is now sitting out on the balcony creasing a glass of Sake admiring the view while the young lady reaches into a cupboard and pulls out what looks like a thick blanket.

Bed she says in broken English, Betto (in Japanese). No I reply, Moufu meaning blanket.

The young lady proceeds to lay the blanket on the cane matting on the floor and that's what we slept on for four nights.

When booking, due to their absence of English and my bad Japanese we failed to pick up that we would be sleeping on the ground.

Now I'm convinced that God has a sense of humour and I had a sore back for a week. In saying all that I must admit it was fun, sore but fun.

If any of you are planning a trip to the land of the Rising Sun make sure you put Tomonoura on your list for a visit; I was so impressed by the tranquillity and beauty of the place I was inspired to write the following piece about it:-

Tomonoura where sea Kites soar
With islands that dropped from heaven
Too beautiful to ignore
A place of ancient Warriors
Whose souls still run free
Steeped in ancient culture
Nestled by the sea

We survived our visit there for five days without meeting another person who spoke English, no problem in spite of the language problem the locals were wonderfully helpful.

You should add Kurashiki to your itinerary; it's about a half hour train ride from Fukuyama, another traditional part of Japan and as chalk and cheese to Tokyo. Back in Tokyo the media was swamped with Japan's success in the World Baseball Classic Championship for the last four days of my two-week trip. Luckily I had the experience of seeing the Yankees and Mets play under my belt after my last visit to New York in May 2008 so I was mixing the jargon with the locals and loving it.

Told you I got hooked on Baseball after that great night in Yankee Stadium, so before I go and finish my unpacking I hope you had a wonderful St Patrick's Day. Congratulations to John Dunleavy on another magnificent job.

I couldn't possibly finish off without mentioning Ireland's success in all things Rugby. Bring on the European Cup and another success for Munster my favourite team on earth... Go Munster!!!

If you need any further information on Japan go to www.inj.or.jp

So until I talk to you again soon, be good to those who love you. Slainte, or Sayonara, from Downunder.