Catherine’s Instagram account

Interview Video

Interviews

Shunsuke Ochiai
Hi, I’m Shinsuke Ochiai and this is World Insight Interview. Today we have Catherine joining us. HelloCatherine.

Catherine
Hello, so nice to talk with you. Thank you very much for having me.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Thanks for joining us and yeah, first of all, I would like to ask you about yourself, where are you originally from?

Catherine
I’m from Canada. I’m from a province called Newfoundland. It’s a large island with a very low population, and it is the most eastern province of Canada.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Oh, okay. Well, I’ve never, you know, spoken with someone from Newfoundland, I guess. Yeah.

Catherine
Yeah.

Shunsuke Ochiai
But, um, so what made you come to Japan, you know, what, you know, first place.

Catherine
So, I came to Japan on the JET program, which you might have heard of before. It’s an English teaching dispatch company that is government organized. And I came in 2017 to teach English at a junior high school in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Oh, so you were in Shizuoka first. Wow.

Catherine
Yes, yeah, I lived in Hamamatsu Shizuoka for three years, then I moved to Shibuya in Tokyo for three years, and now we spent the last year here in Machida, Tokyo.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Oh, okay. Cool. So, you’ve traveled, you know, quite a bit around.

Catherine
Yeah, for seven years.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Wow, so were you like always interested in Japan?

Catherine
So actually, I wasn’t. I’ve always been interested in language, though. So, I’m Canadian. So, in school, we learned French and English. And I also had the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school. And when I went to university, I thought I want to try something kind of difficult.

Catherine
And my university offered Japanese classes, very, very basic and very, very short, small kind of courses, but I was able to take it. And my Japanese professor was a Japanese lady and she introduced me to Japanese culture and more about Japan and recommended actually that I try to get a teaching position with the JET program, which I did after I graduated.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Hmm. And yeah, obviously you’re wearing kimono. Yeah. So, what kind of like Japanese culture did your professor introduce you to first?

Catherine
She did talk to us about kimono and different kinds of festivals that Japanese people have, some kind of etiquette as well about bowing and business cards, how you hand things to be polite and don’t stab things with your chopsticks, some very basic etiquette, but the more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Okay. And then, um, Catherine, you have your Instagram, which is like, you know, a guidebook or like magazine, almost. Thank you.

Catherine
Thank you so much.

Shunsuke Ochiai
How did you start doing it?

Catherine
So, I actually have had that account since I very first made an Instagram just in high school. And it used to be just a personal account where when I moved to Japan, I just shared photos of what was happening in my life because where I’m from, there’s a 12 and a half hour time difference.

Catherine
So, it’s hard to really keep in touch with people but I wanted people at home to see what I was doing. And it wasn’t until last year in summer that I started thinking, oh, I kind of want to share Japan with everyone, the whole world.

Catherine
So, I started creating more content that a lot of people could be interested in kind of based around my interests.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yes, great. Yeah, you have many contents in there. But yeah, like you have you share stuff about going to the markets.

Catherine
Mm hmm. Yeah, especially that. Yeah.

Shunsuke Ochiai
What’s so unique about markets in Japan?

Catherine
I think that people are looking for a unique souvenir if they come here as a tourist. They want to get something that is really interesting and special and maybe not something that they can find at a regular souvenir shop that looks maybe, I wouldn’t say cheap because Japan is very like high quality things, but they want something like a kimono that they can take back to put on display or wear it in a modern way and the fact that those things are available for a very affordable price is really attractive to a lot of people and also a market has an atmosphere of local culture that might be hard for tourists to experience in just other tourist areas if they go to see the temple, go to see a sky tree, Tokyo Tower, or go to different places in Kyoto.

Catherine
Even trying on a kimono in Kyoto is different from going to a very local event like a market.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, market on and especially markets in Japan is like only for this certain weekend or this certain at a certain place. So, what is one of your recommendations of markets?

Catherine
So, I have a lot, of course. My favorite one, not only because it’s convenient, it’s quite close to where I live, is the Machida Temmangu antique fair, which is held on the first of every month, except for January and I believe November, but I would have to double check that.

Catherine
I like it because it is not too small, but it’s also not too big. So, there are a lot of options for different kinds of antiques that you can buy. People, I think, get things from maybe their grandparents or they clean out their house and they sell things like that, but they also sell art and really old books and a lot of kimonos as well.

Catherine
So, I’m really interested because there’s a very large kimono selection for very generous prices, I think, and very good quality as well. But another market that I think would be cool to go to if you could is the Setagaya Boroichi because it is the oldest market in Japan.

Catherine
It’s been going on for like hundreds of years or something and it is massive, so you can really find anything there. And they also sell a lot of street food too, which kind of makes it feel like a festival.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, Boroichi is one of the markets that happens like twice a year or something like that.

Catherine
I think it happens four times a year, but it’s in over two weekends. So, a Saturday Sunday in January and a Saturday Sunday in December, I think.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, like a festival.

Catherine
It is like a festival. So that’s really attractive for tourists too.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, it is. You find very interesting stuff.

Catherine
Yes, I even saw someone doing acupuncture. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, I thought, wow, that’s really incredible.

Shunsuke Ochiai
And then there’s this mochi kind of thing that you eat at the Boroichi, I think.

Catherine
Mm -hmm. That’s right, too. Yeah, very delicious.

Shunsuke Ochiai
And also, yeah, speaking of kimono, you know, so the market is the place where you buy most of your kimonos.

Catherine
It is, yes. Usually the selection is quite large, and the quality is quite good. Sometimes I go to a secondhand store like book off some not all Book Offs have a kimono section, but some do, especially as a larger super bizarre ones.

Catherine
The prices are a little higher there. But it can be easier to look at the kimono than looking outside at a market where everything is folded in a store. It’s hung up so you can see it properly.

Shunsuke Ochiai
I did not know that Book Off had, you know, Book Off is, you know, they started as a like secondhand bookstore and CDs and, you know, DVDs and Blu -ray, but yeah, now they’re selling kimonos. I didn’t know.

Catherine
Yeah, definitely not all of them, especially the smaller ones, but there’s one in Tama, in Saitama.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Okay.

Catherine
that area, very big, super bizarre, I think Stellar Town Mall. And there’s one in Omiya area as well. That sells kimono, they also sell Obi. One thing is that markets will sell a lot of formal obis some very wide, very intricate ones, which you don’t usually wear with an everyday kimono.

Catherine
But if I want to find an everyday Obi like the one that I’m wearing now, I found this one out of Book Off.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Wow, you found that Obi book off. Wow, that’s.

Catherine
It was 550 yen.

Shunsuke Ochiai
550 yen.

Catherine
Yes, I think this kimono I got from a pop -up shop where it was 1 yen for every gram of weight for kimono, so this was about maybe 800 yen, I think. 800?

Shunsuke Ochiai
800 Yen?

Catherine
Yeah, for this kimono and everything, all of my kimono items except for the Hadajuban and Nagajuban, the inner parts of the kimono are secondhand.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Wow, so like 800 yen right now is like, what, probably 6 US dollars, maybe less than that.

Catherine
But you know what’s crazy, the Book Off often has sales as well. So, I saw one kimono, it was very beautiful, it was orange and black. I didn’t get it because I already have an orange and black kimono, I tried to be environmentally conscious of those kinds of things.

Catherine
It was on sale for a reduced price at only 22 yen.

Shunsuke Ochiai
22 yen, that’s like

Catherine
22 yen. You get money back.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Oh, that’s like little more than maybe like 12 or 18 cents. Maybe.

Catherine
a pretty rare find. Maybe the average is around 1000 to 3000 yen, but still very, very good.

Shunsuke Ochiai
And yeah, and you have a very good recommendations about Ryokans as well.

Catherine
Oh, I have a few, yeah.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Well, first of all, to explain Ryokan to our viewers is that Ryokan is a Japanese style hotel that comes with, you know, normally breakfast and dinner and has like onsen.

Catherine
Yes, that’s right. Yeah, very Japanese atmosphere.

Shunsuke Ochiai
And yeah, you have you also have like several areas that you recommend on your Instagram.

Catherine
Yes, that’s right. I think my favorite is definitely in Nagano. I go as often as I can. It’s in a very small town called Bessho Onsen. So, if you just give me one moment, I can look at the name of the Ryokan again.

Shunsuke Ochiai
So, Nagano, which one was Nagano?

Catherine
So, it’s in a town called Bessho Onsen.

Shunsuke Ochiai
That’s your onsen.

Catherine
Yes. And the name of the Ryokan I like the most is Kashiwaya Honten.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Thank you very much.

Catherine
Mm hmm. And I really like this place because it is very, very rural, but also very easy to get to. It takes a while, but you can get there with just a few train transfers from Tokyo. So you don’t need to take a bus, you don’t need to rent a car, even after you get off at the station and Bessho Onsen, it’s just a 15 minute walk to the hotel, or the Ryokan staff can come and pick you up and in the event, which is what they did for us.

Catherine
Bessho is so rural and kind of a really unknown place. There are pretty much no foreign tourists at all. And if you go on, say a weekday, then there are no Japanese tourists either. So, it’s like the whole place is to yourself.

Shunsuke Ochiai
That’s good. Well, yeah, maybe we should cut this part. So, no one will keep it secret.

Catherine
It’s okay, it’s okay. I think I’ve had some people say, like, you know, why would you share about somewhere so untouched? But I think if people don’t go, then these places will die out. So also, you know, Japan has an overtourism problem in larger cities.

Catherine
So, there’s a lot more to Japan than just Tokyo, just Kyoto, just Osaka. So, I really want to share that people can go and experience very, very real Japan without just going to the main spots.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah. So yeah, in that perspective, I guess you recommended to go to Ooyama instead of go to Takao-San. Ooyama is a mountain in Kanagawa prefecture, which is…

Catherine
Yes, that’s right.

Shunsuke Ochiai
you know, right beside Tokyo. And that’s where Yokohama is.

Catherine
Yes, yeah, that’s also very easy to get to. I did drive there on my scooter, but it is accessible by train and bus. And it just has stunning views of the city. I went during Red Leaf season. So, there were a lot of Japanese tourists and hikers, but it was still a really fun atmosphere.

Catherine
So, it’s another place that I definitely recommend.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Cool. And yeah, are there any other places that, you know, you would like to share?

Catherine
Because I spent so long in Hamamatsu Shizuoka, I’d like to recommend people check that out. Maybe it doesn’t have so much. It seems like it doesn’t have a lot, but I think the nature in Shizuoka is so beautiful.

Catherine
If you go around Nihon Daira, or in Hamamatsu, there’s a really nice temple area that is called Okuyama Hokoji. And it’s one of these really large temple places with a lot of nature, still very accessible, just taking a bus from the main station.

Catherine
And you can go there and not see anybody else around and walk around just completely surrounded by nature and Japanese shrines in the temple. And I think it’s a really calming experience that if you’re a tourist in Japan would be a really fun thing to do, aside from all of the main big fun things as well.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Okay, yeah, true. Yeah. Wow. And Hamamatsu, you know, is like in over, you know, it’s close to Mount Fuji as well. That’s where she goes. Yeah. Where Mount Fuji is.

Catherine
It’s like halfway between like Tokyo and Kyoto, maybe?

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, maybe and closer to Nagoya.

Catherine
It’s like, it’s on the way, so you can definitely stop by and see.

Shunsuke Ochiai
way and plus um you know Honda and Yamaha are from Hamamatsu

Catherine
Yes, that’s right too

Shunsuke Ochiai
is at Hamamatsu as well. So, it’s a very, it’s got the city vibe and then the nature vibe as well. The food is amazing as well.

Catherine
Yes, Hamamatsu Gyoza and also Unagi, eel is very popular in Hamamatsu as well. So, if you’re into those things, you should definitely try it.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yes, yes, that’s right. And my last question will be like, what do you think that makes Japan a unique country compared to other countries in your perspective?

Catherine
I think that it’s unique because Japan is kind of in a bubble, which has some drawbacks, of course, but also it has allowed Japan to maintain its culture and it’s visible and can be felt in everyday life with just the architecture, the serenity, the attention to preserving a lot of nature as well and organic kind of buildings and parks and seeing people walking around in kimono is really cool and the language is very strong because I hear everybody speaks Japanese, not many people speak English, so when you go somewhere like that you can really feel, man, this is different from where I’m from and no matter what you look at, you can find something new and find something interesting.

Catherine
So, I think that’s unique about Japan, no, I haven’t been to a few other countries, but Japan feels the most culturally strong, maybe, maybe that’s not the right thing to say, but it feels like when I come to Japan, I am in Japan, there’s no doubt about it, so I’m not being very eloquent about trying to explain this because I’m sure other places are like this too.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, my question would be like, were there anything that you found out about that you were kind of like, you know, expecting to Japan, be like before you were in Canada, and then you came to Japan and, you know, because, you know, like I said, there are some parts of Japan that are misunderstood.

Catherine
Mmm.

Shunsuke Ochiai
you know.

Catherine
I think I’ve traveled a little bit. So, I know when I go to a place that’s different from home, it’s just gonna be different from home. So, when I go there, I kind of go with a completely blank slate, open mind, if something is different, then that’s just the way it is here.

Catherine
I’m not gonna complain about it. You know, I’ll figure it out. Everything will work out fine. I guess what surprised me a little bit maybe is that people tended to think either, I can speak perfect 100% native Japanese, even if I just say, hello, my name is Catherine.

Catherine
And then suddenly it’s all this fast, complicated Japanese coming. And then I think, oh, like I thought they would understand like maybe I have an accent or my grammar wasn’t great. So they thought, why is there no middle ground of maybe she only knows a little bit because on the other end of the spectrum, there is, I’m speaking Japanese to someone, but they only speak English back, even if their English maybe isn’t the best.

Catherine
It feels like they think either I know native Japanese level or none at all, but where’s the middle ground? And this isn’t everyone, of course, but it is something that kind of was a surprise to me because my hometown, if someone speaks English to me and I can tell that their English is a little broken, then I’m not gonna speak at the same pace or the same complicated words that I would normally use with someone who’s also a native speaker.

Shunsuke Ochiai
No, okay. Yeah, I guess Japanese people tend to try to communicate in English as much as possible.

Catherine
Yeah, which I understand, too. I mean, the opportunity is right in front of them. So I don’t mind them taking it.

Shunsuke Ochiai
Yeah, well, thank you for everything. Are there anything that you would like to share with our viewers at the end?

Catherine
Uh, I think that if you come to Japan, try and look for a place that is kind of off the beaten path, because no matter what you find, and no matter what you do in Japan, you’re going to have an amazing trip, you’re going to have an amazing time here, so just do your best to find something cool, and don’t worry about it, because you absolutely will.

Shunsuke Ochiai
OK, thank you for joining us, Catherine.

Catherine
you for having me.