Spirit's Chosen (53 page)

Attending a Kabuki theater performance. (And understanding everything that was going on, thanks to the simultaneous translation devices available.)

Collecting some unique—and free!—souvenirs, namely handheld fans advertising different products and businesses.

Having my fortune told at a shrine.

Learning how to use traditional Japanese toilets. (If this doesn’t sound impressive, look at photos of these fixtures online. They are also called squat toilets, which should give you some idea. Plus I learned how to use these
while wearing jeans
! Pretty good, eh?)

During some of my visits to shrines, having children (or their parents) ask me to pose with them for photos. As far as I could tell, this was part of a widespread school project. The children were learning English and probably were
assigned to practice using the language with people who looked like native English speakers. The photos were the proof they’d done the assignment. One little girl gave me some Japanese postage stamps as a thank-you gift.

Taking my husband with me to visit the Asakusa Kannon temple on his one day off from work. We got lost (happily, again) in the huge canopied maze of shops surrounding the temple and ate sushi at a restaurant where the dishes came around on a conveyor belt. Once in the temple grounds, we heard that a traditional dance troupe was going to perform, so we joined the crowd. The dance was traditional, but the music accompanying them on a boom box was … 
disco
! A woman next to us remarked, “I wish I’d brought my video camera because they’re never going to believe this back home!”

My second visit to Japan was a different experience, though it was another business trip: mine! I was speaking at the World Science Fiction Convention in Yokohama, but before the convention began, I wanted to see more of the country. I spent some time in Tokyo with my family, then set out for Osaka to join a tour group of American fans.

I wish I could share all the beautiful sights we saw. I fell in love with the Japanese Alps. I still remember looking out the bus window at a pair of ancient cherry trees that had been uprooted and replanted to save them from the waters of a man-made lake. Their chances for survival had been slim, but they adapted and thrived. It made me smile. I also recall having our guide point out the rising trails of mist in the mountains, evidence of geothermal activity, and thrilled to hear her call it the breath of dragons.

This trip was filled with special experiences:

Visiting a Tokyo summer festival in the park just across the street from our hotel.

Watching my twenty-something daughter participate in an energy-drink promotion in Shibuya, then have her photo taken for a Japanese magazine. (And no, she doesn’t understand Japanese, either, but the patience and kindness of the people running the event made everything work out.)

Enjoying a traditional hot springs bath
and
a gorgeous view on the roof of a hotel.

Wandering into a sake brewery and being permitted to have a taste.

Catching a distant glimpse of Mount Fuji.

Delighting in the company of the tame deer in Nara Park, which is also home to Todaiji, a shrine containing Japan’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha. The deer are supposed to be messengers of the gods. You can buy “deer crackers” to feed them, and they know it! They may be tame, but they can also be as bold as they are beautiful.

Attending a dance by the shrine maidens at Fushimi Inari shrine, near Kyoto.

Fulfilling my dream, as a devoted fan of master artist, animator, and director Hayao Miyazaki (whose skill, vision, and heart created
My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle
, and many other films) by visiting the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. My one regret? That I could not play on the Cat Bus. Alas, I do not qualify as twelve-or-younger!

Taking part in a bubble-gum-blowing contest in Yokohama.

Visiting a Japanese family who very kindly opened their home to a few members of our tour group.

There are more memories, but I think these will do. If I go on, this afterword will become another book! Let me leave it as it is, a treasure box to hold this collection of keepsakes and souvenirs that I’ve enjoyed sharing with you.

It also holds one final item, a wish list of the things I would like to do if I am ever fortunate enough to return to Japan for a third time. Here are a few:

Attend a tea ceremony.

Watch a sumo
basho
(tournament).

See more of Honshu, the only Japanese island I’ve visited so far, but also travel to other islands.

Visit Mount Fuji instead of only seeing the sacred peak from afar.

Travel during autumn or spring, since my two previous trips were taken in the summertime.

Spend more time among the mountains and forests.

Go to the great shrine at Ise.

Take my grandson to the Ghibli Museum. If I can’t play on the Cat Bus, I want to watch him do it!

Most of all, travel to Yoshinogari Historical Park and visit the reconstructed Yayoi village. It’s the closest I could ever come to sharing Himiko’s world. Wouldn’t
that
be a writer’s dream come true?

If your own dreams include a trip to Japan, I hope you will be able to realize them too.

Nebula Award winner
E
STHER
F
RIESNER
is the author of more than 30 novels and 150 short stories, including “Thunderbolt” in Random House’s
Young Warriors
anthology, which led to the creation of
Nobody’s Princess
and its sequel,
Nobody’s Prize
. She then traveled to ancient Egypt in
Sphinx’s Princess
and
Sphinx’s Queen
. Esther is also the editor of seven popular anthologies. Her work has been published around the world.

Educated at Vassar College and Yale University, where she taught for a number of years, Esther is also a poet and a playwright and once wrote an advice column, “Ask Auntie Esther.” She is married and the mother of two, harbors cats, and lives in Connecticut. You can visit her at
sff.net/people/e.friesner
and learn more about her princesses of myth at
princessesofmyth.com
.