Yes, it's true, I do like to dive in and immerse myself in the Japanese countryside! This picture was taken around 9:30PM on September 5, 1999, the night before I came home, in the Kakogawa apartment of my former student Glenda and her husband Keith. Moments earlier I had stepped onto what I thought was a weed-filled vacant lot to let some cars go by on a narrow street and ended up stepping (or rather falling) into a field of two-foot high mature rice plants about 18" below road level! Here's the "deep impression" I made in the Japanese countryside:

Fortunately the rice plants broke my fall and I was not injured. It was only two minutes' walk back to Glenda's and I was actually laughing to myself all the way thinking of the bad puns I could frame around this accident.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Before I left for Japan, I had checked that it would be OK to travel on a passport that still shows my sex as "M" (this can't be changed till after I have surgery and get an inspection certificate from a doctor). I just needed a letter from my doctor explaining my situation, which I had. Still, I was quite concerned that I might have a lot of hassles at the border or even be turned away. Then I was afraid that the place I usually stay wouldn't let me check in and I'd end up roaming the streets of Tokyo, with people gawking and saying rude things like "okama" (the Japanese equivalent of "fag" ). I was pretty calm about the whole thing since I didn't think these problems were very likely, but I was mentally prepared for them and had contingency plans ready. As it turned out it was probably my best trip to Japan ever (I've been there 10 or 12 times since 1982, and now go almost every year). I never had a single problem and actually found myself interacting with the Japanese better than ever due to my greater comfort level in my new persona.

At the airport the Immigration officer didn't say a thing. Just took my passport, stamped it, inserted my visa and gave it back to me. The Customs officer just asked where I had come from and then waved me through. A breeze!

As I emerged into the main part of the terminal, I had an immediate sense of relief. Not only had I made it in, but no one seemed to pay any attention to a tall red-headed gaijin (foreigner) woman. I got on the Keisei Tokkyu into Tokyo, changed at Ueno for the Ginza subway line, and quickly found myself walking into the lobby of my usual haunt in Tokyo, a very inexpensive but convenient hotel in Akasaka. As I walked in, I was thinking, "I hope they have new front desk staff!". Most of them were new, but there was one guy I had known for about seven years and had had many long conversations with during my annual month-long visits. He didn't recognize me, but when he heard my name, I could see him starting to cock his head from side to side trying to figure out what was going on. I thought on my feet and volunteered, "I think my brother has stayed here before...". He suddenly brightened and replied, "Ah, yes, Dr. U.... He has stayed here many times." Whew! A little too close for comfort, but I was encouraged that I still had my wits about me after the long trip. I was home free! Safely in the country and with a roof over my head.

It was very rainy at first, so I made the rounds of the used and new bookstores picking up the research materials I would need over the next year. I also took in an exhibition at Takashimaya where they showed how ukiyoe (Japanese wood block prints) were made. (Takashimaya, like most Japanese department stores, has art shows and such on one of its upper floors as a traffic-generating device.) Later it was just very hot and muggy with occasional showers and I spent a good deal of my time in the Tokyo Central Public Library, National Diet (i.e. Parliamentary) Library, Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) Library and Japan External Trade Organization Library. I ended up with over 40 kilos of research materials (books, photocopies, slides, etc.), so it was a very productive time. All the above libraries except the TSE one require you to check in at the door in one way or another. I was very relieved to find out that no one seemed to pay me any attention at all. I had been concerned they would deny me admission. That would have made it very hard to continue my research on Japan, which is a big part of my life.

Most of the rest of these pictures show my recreational activities throughout the trip, with just a few business-related ones thrown in to show it wasn't all fun and games!

Early in my trip I went to Sensoji, a major temple and shrine complex in Asakusa in north-east Tokyo.

The photo above shows me with the second of two groups of students who approached me at the temple to interview me for their English assignment. Japanese teachers often send their students to touristy places and tell them to interview a foreigner and get a picture to prove they actually did it. The first group were from Hosei University and did a lengthy recorded interview. When they saw I could write my name in Japanese characters, they asked first whether I was half-Japanese, and then whether I had married a Japanese man! I felt really great about this, as it made me realize that even after an extended interview they still found nothing unusual about me (apart from being a foreigner, which is pretty weird to the average Japanese). The second group, shown here, were junior high school students. They just asked what my name was, what country I was from, had me write both in their book, took a picture for proof and skipped off happy to have their homework done!

Here are a couple more pictures of me at Sensoji.

This one shows the Kaminarimon, or "Thunder Gate".

Believe it or not, I actually did find a place that sold shoes that would fit me in Tokyo: here it is.

OK, actually that one was another in my series of "Teri-in-front-of-really-big-stuff-that-makes-her-look-petite" photos. That style of straw sandal is called "zori" in Japanese. I'd hate to sumo wrestle with whoever those ones were made for!

One weekend I went to Harajuku, a place where young Japanese woem gather on Sundays to dress in fantasy costumes, chat with their friends and pose for pictures. Nearby amateur and semi-pro bands often gather to try to drum up interest (accidental pun here). These are two photos I had taken at Harajuku, near the entrance to Meiji Jingu.

I had been to Harajuku many times before, but I had never had the nerve to ask these young women for pictures before. I guess I felt so much more comfortable with my new/real self that I was much more outgoing and adventurous on this trip than before (as I think you'll see!).

Meiji Jingu is a shrine to the Meiji Emperor, whose "Restoration" to the throne marked the beginning of the period of rapid Westernization and industrialization in Japan in the mid- to late 1800s.

This photo show me in front of the torii (gates), which stand 12 metres high ("the largest wooden torii of Myojin style in Japan" according to the sign. Another "Teri-in-front-of-big-stuff" photo.

One common thing to do in a Japanese temple or shrine is to buy an ema, or votive tablet, for about 500 yen (C$7, US$4.50). You write your prayer on it with a felt pen and hang it on special pegboards throughout the temple or shrine. At the end of the year they burn them all; hopefully this makes them come true.

I bought the ema above and wrote on it (in Japanese): "May my sex change surgery next July go safely!".

Here I am pointing to my ema after hanging it up. We'll see if the custom works!

 To see me dancing in a local festival and bar-hopping, please click here for Part II: japan992.htm

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