Day 32: (25 km) Ueda - Tateshina
(08/30/06)

Today I met a guy writing a children's book about an elephant ninja. I've taken some liberties, but his description went something like this:

Well, right now I'm working on a book. It's about an elephant. But it wants to be a ninja. You see, Elephants are big and clumsy, the opposite of a stealthy ninja. But this elephant wants to learn to be a ninja. All of his friends laugh at him, but he still goes off into the mountains to learn. He finds a ninja village and they all think he's crazy--I mean, how can an elephant be a ninja?--but they think, what the heck, and give him chores to do even they won't train him. But he watches them everyday and in the end, he learns ninjitsu and finally becomes an elephant ninja. So it's about pursuing your dreams. If an elephant can become a ninja, you can do anything.

Damn straight you can.

* * * * *

During our two days in Ueda we visited three of the more interesting high schools I've been to in Japan. For one, none of the schools had a uniform. The students were also much more inclined to express themselves than at other high schools I've been to. I doubt that there is any real correlation between freedom of dress in school and students' willingness to express themselves, but I think that the attitude of administrators that allows for the one may foster the other.

Cycling to Tateshina, we passed through a small historic street that reminded me of Uchiko in Ehime, and got directions from a fifty-something guy complete with workout suit, wife-beater and gold chains. Once there we met our host, the creator of the little elephant who could. We met some middle school teachers for dinner at an izakaya and were invited to visit their school the next day.