The End and Fuji
When I started this blog (in July 2007) I had absolutely no interest in such personal accounts of life and wasn't even registered on a social networking site. I had intended to use this as merely a means of letting my friends and family know how I was getting on. Well, the truth is that I just couldn't be bothered replying to dozens of the same emails and so this was the easier option. However, the blog soon became a good outlet to describe the initial problems and frustrations I encountered whilst in Japan. In recent years I've tried to use it to explain some things about Japan (especially rural Shikoku) that non-Japanese might not know about. I've tended to be miserable and sarcastic in my approach to this but I feel the internet is saturated with positive Japan related blogs about cherry blossoms and various kinds of Kit Kats. Indeed, my wee website has had a good few spikes in popularity over the years and has been featured on English/Japanese sites. I get quite a few readers and I appreciate those who return and those take the time to comment so thanks very much. I might still continue this blog in some form or another so stay tuned if you're interested. Cheers.
I tried to avoid falling into the sterotypical life on a foreigner in Japan but still did as there isn't much else to do. I did my best to leave such generic tales out of my blog but it saddens me to say that I will be ending the blog on the most common of them.
Naomi and I climbed Mount Fuji two days ago. If I were to be honest... I've never really had the desire to attempt such an adventure as I get bored walking and all my friends hate me when they're stuck with me complaining for extended periods of time. However, when faced with the opportunity of doing it just before I left Japan... I felt it was too perfect an opportunity to miss. Mount Fuji is the most visited mountain in the world and about 300000 people climb it during the high season in the summer. A third of these people are foreigners. Still... I kept trying to convince the small romantic corner of my brain that Japan still holds that it would be a perfect and unique experience for both of us. It wasn't. It was a long and painful queue up a boring lump of volcanic rock. I still enjoyed myself with Naomi but I can't say it was a pleasant memory at all. I wasn't prepared enough and got soaked to the bone through a combination of rain and sweat. I was probably only saved from hyperthermia when Naomi forced me to change into some borrowed clothes halfway up. I was aware of the ignorance of stupid gaijin but I still fell into the trap from a combination of cheapness and believing the LIARS who say that "Fuji is a walk in the park". Mount Fuji is still a massive bloody mountain and it should be respected as such despite the "very easy" myth that is thrown out. It's an easy climb if you've got the gear, the weather holds up and there aren't thousands of people in your way. The decent down is terribly painful and dull as well. I could expand on this story more but I'm afraid my time is running out. I will now end this like every other post on my blog. I saturate the entry with about 80-90% of misery and end on a slightly optimistic note you see.
The view from the top of Fuji is absolutely amazing. I feel the sunrise is slightly overated and instead I appreciated the full sky of stars giving way to a stunning view of the forests, lakes and clouds thousands of metres below. The sense of accomplishment is really enjoyable as well when you get over the pain. I think this is the most fitting picture to end my Japan experience on. I look like a mental Glaswegian you see walking about the park scaring the pigeons.
I may have come across as miserable, cynical, bitter, depressed and occasionally unstable during my time in Japan but I wouldn't let that fool you. I've absolutely loved the past four years of my life. Indeed, I wouldn't have stayed here for such a long period of time if I was truly unhappy. I arrived here as a young man of 21 years old... and I'm leaving as a slightly older man with a bit of extra weight. However, I have experienced so much during that brief time that I will fondly remember for the rest of my life. I've met and enjoyed life with many close friends over the years and have grown stronger and more mature with every year. I had no previous desire to come to the country but I am now leaving a place that I have called my home for a number of years now. I feel occasional pangs of sadness but I'm ready to move onto the next part of my life. I don't know what that will hold but I am thankful for my past and I feel exceptionally lucky to have been placed where I was and to have experienced it all with Naomi. I feel the country has given more to me than I have given back in return. I regret not being a better teacher and failing to escape my basic to intermediate Japanese ability. Japan will forever be a small part of me in the future... not that I have much choice since I got a bloody kanji tattoo.
Farewell and thanks for reading.
August 4, 2011 at 17:27 
Reader Comments (26)
Feels like a sad moment. I guess I'll miss the new posts. It was a fun read. Insightful.
I hope you have fun back home.
Cheers, it's been fun.
I have enjoyed reading your posts. I hope you start up a new blog to entertain us with the next chapter in your life. Those pics of the sunset and you are great and your description perfect. Safe travels home - you will be in the air somewhere right this minute.
I'm actually having trouble starting to read this entry. I know it sounds corny, but I've loved this blog ever since I started reading it and I don't want to have that feeling of 'it's finished'. Keep writing or I'll fly to Europe and punch you in the stomach ya wee bawbag!
Good bloggin' top bloggin'
See you for meat and beers when you move to London like everyone else
Ahhhh well y'know it's been t'riffic, top top class.
P.S. I still don't believe you when you say you're leaving
It's been fun.
I'll miss your whining and griping a lot too. I always enjoyed a new post, even when there wasn't much to say. It kept me kinda "attached" to the place. I never trust gaijin who are relentlessly positive and defensive about Japan either. And I hope you'll continue to bitch about miserable bloody Scotland when you get settled.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading your Blog this past year since stumbling across it.
Hope whatever you look to do with your life turns out well mate!
I will miss reading this.
Man...FUCK!!
Hard to find good bloggers for my blogroll....
Take care bro!! Wind at your back and all that ;)
Great way to say goodbye to Japan. Hope you do keep writing. I'd love to know what happens next for you. Take care.
Hi! I really liked your blog and am sad to see it end (I've read the whole thing!!!). You did a great job in letting us outsiders have a little window into your life in Japan.
I hope you good luck in the future :)
I can't believe this is the end of your blog. I haven't commented before but II've been checking it about once a week for a few years now. Thanks for all the posts and good luck in the future.
Are you really stopping the blog then? i read it all a few weeks ago but never commented on anything so sorry 'bout that. it was a good read.
Sad to see it end man. Good luck and aw that.
Unfortunately, I've stumbled across your blog almost too late in the game. Thank you for writing about your arduous climb of Mr. Fuji...a mountain I do not want to climb, ever; this country is full of much more majestic places that are definitely worth the pain (minus the crowds). Have a safe trip home and good luck on the next part of your adventure.
Cheers.
I haven't been on in a month and just now seen the last few entries. Sad to see the end.
Great job writing about Japan! Such a relief to get a more down to earth perspective of life there. JP can drive you nuts at times. When somebody asked me what I disliked about living there, I couldn’t say. Nothing seemed bad enough to complain about. On the other hand, none of the good things really leapt out at me either. It was like living in a state of beige - a surprisingly draining experience.
I hope you continue writing; you’ve got a real talent for it.
Start another blog soon so I have something to read on the train in the morning.
Will miss your updates. I completely get your need to let it all out via blogging. It's the only thing that keeps me sane in the insane world of PNG. Good luck to you on your next adventure!!
Thanks for the blog, it's a journey I've never quite had the guts to go on myself so living it through a third person who's as cynical as I am was a real pleasure ;)
Welcome back to Scotland. May many cans of IRN BRU await your return.
Your blog was really nice. I hope you continue this blog. thak you a lot.
I really enjoyed this blog. It was unique in the fact I could read a Scotmen`s take on living in Japan. There is also the fact that you are a pretty good writer. I hope you start a blog about Scotland. I will read that for sure.
A pink jacket? You do make me laugh. Please continue blogging if only to keep others happy with a smile about your life tales. You are a good writer.
ps. Hope you land safely back to wherever your destination is after Japan.