Unfortunately I was not able to take so many pictures. I didn’t have time and it was impossible to go anywhere independently from the university (a colleague who lives there drove us around a bit). The university area is so huge that own buses drive in it and the students/employees are on the way with their own car. It is also located in and on a jungle or palm oil plantation. Birds and monkeys included.

After we had landed in Singapore, we crossed the border by taxi, but we stood in a traffic jam for more than 2 hours, I had the feeling that half the city would work in Singapore and now return…. According to the taxi driver this is normal, you get up early around 3.00 or 4.00 o’clock in the morning to be at work maybe around 9.00 or 10.00 o’clock. And in the evening there is a traffic jam again from about 16.30 to 22.00…..

Unfortunately I can’t write much and show even less, but the Malaysian food is delicious. Unfortunately it is very hot (ok for me, if not pure) or very, very sweet; no, damn sweet. Or first sweet and then hot in the finish. I thought Turkish tea is already sweet, but here…. No question, very tasty, but constantly the question whether my mouth burns now (most others could not eat it) or dangerous weight gain did not please me so much. The Malaysian people I had to deal with were all very nice and friendly. Generally much more open-minded and open-minded than we “stiff” Germans;) Even though I was really surprised when a strange woman from my group (More Malaysians than foreigners) took a picture in the restaurant. At first I assumed it was for the restaurant itself, but no, she had asked the service staff. I was told that was normal. I like to be lectured if a reader should know more about it. (?)

I also have to report briefly about the use of toilets: there is the western style and the squat style, but no toilet paper. Instead a water hose. How this works and what it looked like at university, where normal students use it, I leave you to your imagination, dear reader. As an all-clear, in the dormitory, other university toilets, restaurants or shopping centres it was clearly better and there was also sometimes toilet paper. Oh yes, there are many shops from Japan here and with more choice and cheaper prices. Generally very cheap and for people from Germany with middle income probably a shopping paradise;) Many Japanese and Korean restaurants also were here.

In Singapore we only had a little time before we took off again. So we drove one hour to the Chinese garden, only to find out that it will be renovated until March 2020…. We should have gone to Marina Bay, this would have been also closer.

Here are some pictures of Malaysia.

Here pictures about Singapore and the border crossing.

I didn’t have any real view pictures of Shizuoka because I assumed there wouldn’t be a viewing platform inside the city. Well, I was totally wrong… There is also in Shizuoka in the town hall a viewing level from which I could take pictures of the city. These I show you now with this.

I had the pleasure to attend a special lecture at the university, which dealt scientifically with the Katana forging art. At the end there was also the possibility to see Katana and a sword demonstration. I use this to finally publish a small article, but unfortunately the Katana and the demonstration are in real of course better than just a bad photo.

The Japanese lecture was held with English translations by Professor Amano, who himself was only shown some techniques after years of accompanying a blacksmith. That’s right, just some secrets. Until today one doesn’t know exactly how a Katana is forged, because the secret is strictly guarded and in addition there are still deviations between the forging schools. The training also takes years, and it is quite possible that you can only watch the first few years more or less before you start yourself. And only the best will continue to be privy to the secrets. Today there are only about 300 swordsmiths left in Japan.

What should certainly be known is that the katana is not moulded, but folded. For this purpose, steel fragments are layered together, melted and formed into shape. This block is then notched in the middle, folded and joined together. This process is repeated very often, resulting in a piece of metal consisting of countless layers. This piece is then forged to length until the original shape of the katana is formed. But now comes something that was not explained in the lecture (possibly unknown). Such a katana would be either rigid/sharp or flexible, not both. Therefore, a katana consists of 2-4 different types of steel, which are forged together to form a flexible core. However, the explanation of the jump of the single steel block to the combination was omitted, as well as how to recognize and then also produce the different steel types.

So now we have another important point which was also new to me. The steel. With modern steel it is not possible to forge a katana. This steel is not flexible enough, so that such a katana breaks easily and is unusable. This steel must be Kera (Tamahagane). For this, steel sand is used as raw material and the process is not suitable for mass production and consumes a lot of wood/coal. Until the Meji restoration, this was steel production in Japan, then it was replaced by Western mass production and finally ended in 1920, but this also depleted the reserves for the forges. In 1977 the demand was made to restore this steel and since 1980 there have been experiments in small scale production. This kind of steel is also still an unknown factor and hardly understood.

Quenching the hot Katana pattern is also an art and an important factor. This is also a fire trial for new blacksmiths, one mistake and the Katana will already burst in production. A clay paste (mamon) is applied to the still hot katana, which can vary depending on the school of blacksmithing. It is important that this layer is thinner at the cutting edge than at the back. This, together with the various steels, creates the characteristic katana curvature. In addition, this layer of clay later also defines the pattern (hamon) on the edge of the blade. The cooling process itself must then also be handled correctly so that the katana does not shatter due to the material stress (due to the rapid temperature change). The process changes the conformation of the inner steel structure.

In other words, if someone outside of Japan claims to be forging real katana, this is very doubtful. On the one hand, he must have spent years in teaching himself and really have been introduced to art and have a Tamahagane steel source. Both together rather unlikely, whereby I would gladly be advised.

Finally it has to be mentioned that the Katana is not only a weapon, but also a symbol and soul of the samurai. This concept continues to exist in Japanese culture and language. But trying to explain this with my limited knowledge alone would totally go beyond the scope here and in the end every reader would only have more question marks…..

Here few pictures, since this entry is rather text rich.

Here you can see that the blade is only fixed by a small plug in the handle.

After the lecture the sharpness of the swords was demonstrated on bamboo mats, which was cut into individual parts with clean(!) cuts. A little bit of Miyamoto Musashi’s two-sword style was also shown. However, I made videos and hardly any photos. Since these are too large, I don’t show them.

On our way there we were also well-fed for lunch and we got an Ekibento. A Bento is, as already explained in simplified terms, a take-away meal (quasi like a lunch box), whereby the food itself is not fixed, only the form of serving. Usually in a box or box-like. “eki” means train station, together it makes a train station bento. These can be bought (logically) at the stations and may contain specialities from the respective provinces. In addition, some of them are also becoming famous throughout Japan. Like the Ekibento we received. Once again I can not remember the name and province,therefore, I ask for forgiveness. We could keep the clay pot as a “Omiyage” (gift).

On our way we also visited Matsumoto Castle, one of the national cultural treasures. Since a lot of things were destroyed during the Meji restoration, mainly only the main castle (something like a keep) is left. It should be very impressive, if there is still snow on the roofs, like this morning. Unfortunately, it had already melted by the time we arrived at noon.

On our way we also stopped at a resting place where we could see this frozen lake. But this was already thawing, which became clear on the way back (2 days later) as it was already completely ice-free.

And now a few pictures directly from the pistes. Since I was skiing for the last time about 11 years ago, I called myself a beginner and took the training course. But I was surprised how much I was still able to do or quickly learned again (not that I was a pro before) so I quickly shot my own things on the (beginner) slopes. If the trip had been longer, I would have switched to the medium-heavy ones, but one day is not enough.

Here I was briefly underneath the summit, as there is also a beginner’s route down into the valley.

I was here with two of my group and one of our accompanying Sensei whom we met by chance during the ascent, unfortunately we also met another one of us up there who shouldn’t have any business there. He had totally overestimated himself, but the only way down is with skis. Since we couldn’t leave him alone, he went down with us and not only slowed us down, but also caused some problems. Unfortunately, one of us had an accident, so he was brought down to the valley with an emergency evacuation by snowmobile. It was at least not an open break as far as I could judge by my first aid. Later in the hotel I learned that luckily only the kneecap jumped out (as far as I understood it in Japanese). Well, after that we started our descent, but because the whole rescue had taken a long time, the mood of the other two beginners suffered, we had only visibility of 10-15 meters due to some clouds (which I thought was pretty cool, because a Blizzard or storm was missing which would have made it really difficult) and it got dark in the meantime, we needed a long time. Sensei and the other one first, and I’m the last one with our problem child. Eventually the lifts were closed and before long the piste patrols came to check if anyone was still on the slopes. During this I had a nice conversation in a Japanese/English mix with one of the patrols. Well, at that time I somehow lost my front group….. Since the Patrol also noticed the problems of my companion, he had ordered two taxis. So we were brought down to the valley with the snowmobiles. I have to say, it was a little bit cool to ride at full speed in dark and sometimes bad visibility conditions. I would have liked to finish the descent on my own, but on the one hand I didn’t want to occupy the patrol any longer and on the other hand safety was the best choice here, taking a (still) unknown route at night and with bad visibility is not necessarily clever. Besides, I didn’t know how long it would take. With the mobile we also needed about 10 minutes. On the way down we looked for our front group, but we couldn’t find it. They were later found, they somehow changed the route without noticing it. Of course, the whole accident spoiled my fun, also that I couldn’t finish the route. Maybe I can do that again sometime. The next day I’m not on the tracks again in the morning, because only the professionals of our group went on the skis again and the rest were not. Alone then on the tracks I didn’t want to go. So I went for a longer walk and found some nice landscapes and took pictures and I have to get a new camera (most of the pictures are only smartphone quality….). At noon we went back to Shizuoka.

all names of them, because we mainly ate Korean food. What I noticed in general was that you are driving on the correct side of the road, the right side, in Korea;) Unlike Japan. In addition, there is generally more space between everything than in Japan, even if there is also a little lack of space. For bigger people like me it was also a bit more pleasant than in Japan, at least as far as I can judge because of the few days and the limited environment. Besides, I had been crying for a while. The shopping situation in Korea is considerably better than in Japan. I thought, OK, other culture, you just don’t get everything. But in Korea yes….. The supermarkets are comparable to Famila or Edeka, so they are large, wide and with a wide selection. Even Western food. Clearly not everything and then maybe not in large selection, but more than enough. For comparison, I could buy real cheese, even Greek feta. Not so in Japan. Or the selection of cornflakes was at least five times as large. And the most important thing, at significantly better prices. The prices are roughly comparable to ours (if I have the correct estimate, because the Korean won has another 0 and conversion from the exchange rate to the next exchange rate…), except for the more unusual/imported products, but that was also totally ok. * cry*
The transport costs are also incredibly cheap, on the one hand I saw it myself and we were told so. For the express bus from the airport to the city (rapid journey, approx. 1,5 hours) the seat only costed about 10€. Other things comparable to Japan are the English language skills. Outside of the university are not many which speak English, but I had the impression that the English language skills within the university are much better. I had very nice conversations, even if it can be that only the group was disproportionately good (there were also some whose English is much to be improved).

By the way, the flight to and from Korea was quite a challenge. To Korea there was bad weather in Japan, so we had turbulence. Besides, both times it was just a small plane. After we left the turbulence behind us in our outward flight, the air hostesses already looked quite pale…. On the return flight, the weather was much better, but again over Japan there were again (less) turbulences. Once we crossed an “air hole” which caused a stronger feeling of falling and the stewardess who happened to be in front of my row also looked a bit panicky for the moment. Both flights have reminded me why I don’t love flying and why I prefer to fly bigger planes. In Korea itself there was finally a real winter in Korea. So that the temperatures were between – 5 – -14°C. I could even run on a frozen pond, but not (yet) completely in the middle. So now simply a collection of pictures.

This is kimchi, traditional fermented vegetables. Several species are well used, but mostly seemingly Chinese cabbage. This is then rubbed in with a chili paste, depending on the different processing process, as we were shown on a tour of the company. The kimchi is often only slightly spicy, but especially for Japan there is also a smoother, sweeter variety. Generally speaking, food is hotter than in Japan. The kimchi can be seen in the following picture in the upper round bowl.

The university where we were is so big that it is a city in itself. That’s no exaggeration. It has about 30000 students and all dormitories are also on the campus. There are also impressive entrances. There is also a 17-floor building. It contains many restaurants, and at the end we were also in one of them, which is on the highest floor. There is an impressive view of the city from there.

Back in Japan, there was snow in Nagoya and the Shinkansen was late because of too much snow on the tracks near Kyoto. Of course there was no snow in Shizuoka. However, there was a small pseudo-snowfall, because the wind had thrown up snow from Fuji san, which then fell over Shizuoka. Generally I enjoyed the short visit to Korea, which is good, because Korea is one of the countries I want to visit anyway in the future (if possible also over a longer period of time).

The university is located on a mountain, so it is not unusual to enter a building on the ground floor or first floor and leave on the fourth floor again. Or enter the ground floor and go in the fifth over a transition to the second floor of another building. At first it was a little confusing.

On Friday, the secretary supported me again very much at the registration in the local residents’ office, the health insurance and the pension insurance. Everything is compulsory, although a student can be freed from the pension insurance. In addition, I had to create two bank accounts (international not accepted), one for renting the dormitory and for the university, the other for some scholarships which only accept one account from this bank (?).

In short, WITHOUT Japanese, it is very difficult to communicate in Japan outside the university / certain circles. Little basic knowledge is urged. Even if you are lucky enough to meet Japanese people, who have (little) knowledge of English, and the Japanese are constantly trying to communicate and help without English.