JET Programme Series: Pootigal, Kappa & Ghilbi Park?? - Troy Roberts
2023/1/24
JET Programme Series: Pootigal, Kappa & Ghilbi Park?? - Troy Roberts
With the end of the year drawing closer, I am ever fortunate that the Shikoku region where I reside doesn’t see as much snow in comparison to the rest of Japan. Regardless, it’s been interesting adapting from the ridiculously humid summer, the chills of fall to now the cold of winter. This would be my 8th month being an ALT in Japan and everyday proves to be a fulfilling and interesting experience.
Following up from my previous update, the local fruit of the region “Mikan” has been hailed as one of the best in Japan (as told by some clearly unbiased locals). You wouldn’t believe my surprise as to how similar it is to that of our local portugals (or what we sometimes call pootigal) back home. Seedless, juicy and a bit smaller in size, these sweet yet tart mandarin oranges were very nostalgic for me once they bore fruit. The main school I work at allocates two plots of land solely for growing the fruit and I jumped at the first opportunity to pick a few. This, in addition to the Japanese sweet potato (Satsuma-imo), are staples for the autumn and winter months. The people of Ehime take the mikan very seriously, often offering them as a gift at shrines or fostering goodwill with colleagues by leaving a few- to many bags of them on their desks.
Whilst I still haven’t braved the bicycle ride across the infamous ‘Shiminami-Kaido’, I have been making a journey or two across other places in Japan. With visiting Tokyo twice, Nagoya and the neighboring city of Kochi…the rest of this update will be discussing my experience in Kochi as well as visiting the new Studio Ghilbi attraction that opened in Aichi Prefecture.
For all those into cars, The Shikoku Automobile Museum impressively hosts one of the largest collections of local and foreign vehicles from the 60’s to late 90’s era. With a slant on racing and supercars, it was intriguing to look at early adoptions of popular Japanese motorcycles as well as iterations of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and even a DeLorean (for my Back to the Future fans out there). Although I’m not a big car guy, I could appreciate the history and the sheer variety of automobiles on display reminding me that even in some of the more remote places in Japan, there’s something new to be seen or experienced.
Further nestled in Kochi, the Kaiyodo Kappa Museum was one of the more peculiar finds during my trip. For those uninitiated…Kappa are aquatic beings’ part of Japanese folklore which live close to rivers taking on a humanoid, frog-like appearance. They are well known to shape-shift and are often very hostile to people and animals that encroach on their territory. The museum itself pays homage to the yokai with hundreds of pieces depicting kappa in various art-styles from all around the world. Taking a glance of such interesting takes on the creature, it made me curious to learn more about other Japanese folklore and hope to never come across any in the event they are real.
Finally, I was fortunate enough to visit the new Ghilbi Park for its opening month in Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya. Studio Ghilbi has been a gateway for many to Japanese media with their inspirational movies and with being such a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s works, I was eager to check out his newest attraction.
This park is split into three areas, two of which are outdoor… sharing space with the existing Aichi Commemorative Park and are life-size, perfect replicas of the movies they’re emulated from. The third area is Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, a sprawling expanse containing a cinema, gift shop, photo area, café, exhibition rooms, along with other attractions from the world of Ghilbi. With some other ALTs, we spent the day in wonder navigating areas based off Arrietty, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle to name a few. It was comforting sharing in the excitement with Japanese locals who have a deep sense of pride and admiration for these works. For anyone looking to come to Japan soon, please make visiting this park part of your itinerary.
As always, I am forever grateful to be living and working in Japan as part of the JET programme and can’t wait to see what 2023 brings, especially with regards to traveling to more cities and unique places within Japan.
JET Series: Pootigal, Kappa & Ghilbi Park?? (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
Following up from my previous update, the local fruit of the region “Mikan” has been hailed as one of the best in Japan (as told by some clearly unbiased locals). You wouldn’t believe my surprise as to how similar it is to that of our local portugals (or what we sometimes call pootigal) back home. Seedless, juicy and a bit smaller in size, these sweet yet tart mandarin oranges were very nostalgic for me once they bore fruit. The main school I work at allocates two plots of land solely for growing the fruit and I jumped at the first opportunity to pick a few. This, in addition to the Japanese sweet potato (Satsuma-imo), are staples for the autumn and winter months. The people of Ehime take the mikan very seriously, often offering them as a gift at shrines or fostering goodwill with colleagues by leaving a few- to many bags of them on their desks.
Whilst I still haven’t braved the bicycle ride across the infamous ‘Shiminami-Kaido’, I have been making a journey or two across other places in Japan. With visiting Tokyo twice, Nagoya and the neighboring city of Kochi…the rest of this update will be discussing my experience in Kochi as well as visiting the new Studio Ghilbi attraction that opened in Aichi Prefecture.
For all those into cars, The Shikoku Automobile Museum impressively hosts one of the largest collections of local and foreign vehicles from the 60’s to late 90’s era. With a slant on racing and supercars, it was intriguing to look at early adoptions of popular Japanese motorcycles as well as iterations of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and even a DeLorean (for my Back to the Future fans out there). Although I’m not a big car guy, I could appreciate the history and the sheer variety of automobiles on display reminding me that even in some of the more remote places in Japan, there’s something new to be seen or experienced.
Further nestled in Kochi, the Kaiyodo Kappa Museum was one of the more peculiar finds during my trip. For those uninitiated…Kappa are aquatic beings’ part of Japanese folklore which live close to rivers taking on a humanoid, frog-like appearance. They are well known to shape-shift and are often very hostile to people and animals that encroach on their territory. The museum itself pays homage to the yokai with hundreds of pieces depicting kappa in various art-styles from all around the world. Taking a glance of such interesting takes on the creature, it made me curious to learn more about other Japanese folklore and hope to never come across any in the event they are real.
Finally, I was fortunate enough to visit the new Ghilbi Park for its opening month in Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya. Studio Ghilbi has been a gateway for many to Japanese media with their inspirational movies and with being such a fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s works, I was eager to check out his newest attraction.
This park is split into three areas, two of which are outdoor… sharing space with the existing Aichi Commemorative Park and are life-size, perfect replicas of the movies they’re emulated from. The third area is Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, a sprawling expanse containing a cinema, gift shop, photo area, café, exhibition rooms, along with other attractions from the world of Ghilbi. With some other ALTs, we spent the day in wonder navigating areas based off Arrietty, Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle to name a few. It was comforting sharing in the excitement with Japanese locals who have a deep sense of pride and admiration for these works. For anyone looking to come to Japan soon, please make visiting this park part of your itinerary.
As always, I am forever grateful to be living and working in Japan as part of the JET programme and can’t wait to see what 2023 brings, especially with regards to traveling to more cities and unique places within Japan.
JET Series: Pootigal, Kappa & Ghilbi Park?? (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives