August 2023
Maddie and I met on the first day of language school in Kyoto, Japan at the beginning of October 2023. We ended up being in the same class at school and quickly became fast friends. Maddie comes from Quebec in Canada, and her first language is actually french.
Recently we caught up and she kindly let me quiz her about all things Japan, we reminisced, both longing to go back. We talked for a long time though it feels we barely scratched the surface.
Why Japan?
As a child I always had a mystical interest in Japan, sparked a lot through the Ghibli films and connections through artwork.
As with many childhood interests, it eventually stopped. Maddie rediscovered an interest in Japan as an adult through social media. Seeing all the shrines and nature of Japan reignited that childhood interest, and she knew she wanted to visit. The Ghibli films are very true to life in Japan, and many places we explored felt like they were taken straight out of a Ghibli movie.
That First Trip
In 2020, I took a road trip around Japan and realised that it was more than just an interest, it was where I wanted to be.
Three years ago, Maddie and her partner at the time set off on a 2 month exploration after renting a campervan. As with most trips, it started with a few days in Tokyo. From there, she followed the southern coast of Honshu, going to Fuji – Mie – Wakayama – Kyoto. They then crossed to the smaller island of Shikoku, explored there and came back onto Honshu via Hiroshima where they saw a bunch of caves. Then carried on down the coast to the island of Kyushu. After seeing Kyushu they headed back north – Fukuoka – Hiroshima – all the way through to the Japanese Alps. They wanted to continue exploring Honshu but ran out of time and headed back to Tokyo via Chiba.
There was a culture shock, but in a good way. Life in Canada is okay, but it feels limited. In Japan every day is an adventure and a bit of a challenge. Because of not knowing the language, and having to figure things out, that culture shock sparks life.
What was your favourite part?
The realisation that there is so much wilderness.
Most of the highly populated areas are contained in the cities, and outside of that it’s wonderful. Wakayama is Maddie’s favourite prefecture, the mountains and villages have a little bit of an eerie feeling. (In a good way).
Compared to Canada – which has too much wilderness – Japan is wild, but still accessible.
She craved the wilderness of Canada, and ended up finding it in Japan. She loves the really old temples that can be found in Wakayama, and all over Japan. In the Japanese Alps the temples and shrines there are covered in lots of moss, there is so much history there.
Canada is really young, and some of these temples are 2000 years old, it’s hard to understand how crazy that is.
What did you find different in that trip to later living in Japan?
The people factor. The first trip was all about natural wonders. Falling in love with the landscape and environment.
Living there was all about the people, and Japanese culture. Through Japanese people I came to love the culture in a different way, and was surprised by it.
Going back to Study
What made you go back to Japan, to live/study?
To see if i was just starstruck from the travel – where life is good, no work etc. To see how it would feel, in a different situation, alone, learning the language. Day to day there are more realistic challenges, to see if the love for the country was still there. Even with school full time I loved every day.
Maddie spent 8 months in Japan in total, arriving in October and returning to Canada in early May. Most of that time was spent in Kyoto. Kyoto became her home – leaving Kyoto for road trips, going back again felt like coming home.
There was never a second feeling homesick, I felt at home.
What was your favourite part of studying?
Looking at is as an achievable thing. You can actually learn and converse. I’m far from fluent, and losing it a bit now I’m not using it. We’re told that Asian languages are so hard and practically impossible – but it is hard, and still achievable. You can do it.
Looking forward to going back, Maddie would definitely revisit the school for a month. But she thinks we got very lucky with the original gang of friends.
The world connected us all at the same time. You wouldn’t get that perfect meeting again.
Meeting new people with that connection in the love of Japan and forming these new friendships is very important. The teachers at the school were the first proper interaction with Japanese people and we learnt so much from them. After Christmas, Maddie left the school but kept in touch with the teachers, and they became friends. She’s still in touch with some of them now.
Core Memories
Thinking back on your time in Japan is there anything that stands out?
The nightlife as a whole. I was completely mind blown.
She remembers being stood in the lobby of GenkiJACs [the language school] where she first found out about the nightlife, about the club Kitsune Kyoto. A friend had been going every night, she felt too old for it but was convinced.
It was a place we went together for the first time. I remember how much it brought Maddie out of her shell, how much life it seemed to give her. It was like she completely came into her own after rediscovering this part of herself.
I went from being there on a study trip, to going out and making friendships on the dancefloor, using the Japanese we were learning. Being a part of the nightlife, and the culture of Sanjo. [downtown Kyoto area]
There’s not one particular night specifically, every night was good. Reconnecting with that, i felt: this is me. I’m a night owl, fun person. Wanting to live spontaneously and meet new people. I didn’t have that for 9 years so it was this huge rebirth.
And what about hiking in Japan, another big part of your life?
Maddie has spent a lot of the last 10 years living in BC in Canada, currently living and working in Whistler. THE resort town for skiing, mountain biking and general outdoors activities.
In Whistler, hikes are very full on, steep, the whole back side of things [like ski-slopes]. 7-10 hour hikes are very common, and I’ve done everything within an hour of where I live.
It’s been too much of a hassle to get out there in the last couple years. But in Japan, you could do lots of smaller hikes. It’s so accessible, you could do more because of that. Could still go out and do more extreme hikes occasionally.
Hikes in Japan are more interesting, with history and culture around monks and the pilgrimages. In Canada, getting to the top, for that view, the landscape – it’s very goal oriented. In Japan it feels less goal oriented, there could be entire temples as part of hikes. With a lot of smaller mountains there is more exploring, more fun and less pressure.
Ain’t nobody got time for 10 hour hikes.
With the longer, 10 hour hikes, not only does it take longer, the recovery time is longer too. The smaller hikes that you could easily slip into a morning or afternoon, even ones that are just part of a temple you might be visiting, all helped to reawaken that hobby for Maddie. And with that further piece of herself back, it just made her love Japan more.
What was your favourite thing to do in Japan?
Going to small shops.
We’ve lost small businesses in Canada, it’s dominated by chain stores. Just shopping in Japan is a great experience. Talking to the owners, in a lot of smaller restaurants the chef is the owner.
Just meeting people that way, and connecting with them is really special. Especially when you’re able to converse in Japanese in places that you go to often.
The whole conbini experience, no matter how many times you go in. It’s special. And your local becomes like a second family.
Kyoto is 2, 3 times bigger than Whistler, but it feels smaller and more connected.
Sketchbooks and Syllabaries 
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