Fishermen on Strike!

I'm sure many of our readers have heard about the recent "strikes" by Japanese fishermen hoping to force the government to do something about high diesel prices. The global rise in the cost of oil is affecting the prices of all kinds of fuels made from oil, such as fuel oil, gasoline, and diesel.
The fishermen argue that expensive fuel oil prices makes it harder for them to stay in business. Of course, this is true, but many other businesses are struggling, such as airlines, taxi drivers, bus companies, and delivery companies (among many others). I think it would be very politically dangerous for the government to only help one group of people while not helping others.
So what will happen then?
Unfortunately, in the short term it means that fishery products will become a bit more expensive. But if restaurants, supermarkets, and markets increase fish prices too much, customers will switch to other foods. So it is a very delicate situation.
And Tsukiji may become a little quieter.

Water purification

Water purification
In April, I performed the Shinto ceremony of water purification, for the very first time. It was a very exciting and interesting experience. One of my Aikido instructors had recommended it, as a good bonding activity. Our group consisted of two Canadians, one Swiss, our teacher, who was also Canadian and I.
The place we went to was just outside Tokyo. The path we took was lined with lots of trees and green vegetation. It was very beautiful and serene. It was a nice break from Tokyo’s traffic and high-rise buildings.
On our way there was a small shrine. We decided to have a stop over, and do a prayer. Except for our teacher, who has been living in Japan for the last 5 years, the rest of us had no clue about the Shinto praying procedure. So after we were instructed on how to pray, each of us stood in front of the temple and said our prayers.
In our quest to find a waterfall, to do the water purification ceremony, we kept choosing the wrong path, so it was a relief when we finally found the waterfall. We were all really tired from the long walk, but we soon realized that the walk was the easy part of our journey. You see, because it was April, the water was freezing cold. We were told that the ceremony involved, going under the waterfall three times, and staying under it for 1.5min each time.
It was supposed to be a spiritual and tranquil event. The procedure to cleanse our souls! However the first person who volunteered to do the ceremony, started screaming as soon as he went under the water, because the water was so cold, and the rest of us, who were supposed to be chanting a prayer as encouragement, couldn’t stop laughing. So the event was everything but peaceful. When it was my turn to go under the water, I couldn’t believe how cold the water was, every drop felt like a small ice cube hitting my skin. For the first round, I only lasted 30 seconds under the water. For the second round, I decided that no matter how painful it would be, I would stay for at least one minute under the water. While I was under the water, I came to the realization that if I relax and breath deeply, the water will not feel so cold, and suddenly I felt at peace. It was the strangest experience; it felt as if I was in a different world. The only noise I could hear was the noise of the waterfall. While I was under the water I opened my eyes, and it felt as if everything on the other side of the thin stream of water was an illusion. It was simply amazing!
However the combination of the cold spring waterfall, and the long walk, had made all five of us very hungry. So our next stop was an “all you can eat” restaurant.