Uji

I was invited by the Vice-Principal of one of the schools that I work at to watch the school baseball team play a crunch weekend qualifying match in Uji, a famous city and tourist hotspot that I hadn’t had the good fortune to visit previously. Baseball is also the main national sport in Japan. I’d never seen a game before. So I eagerly took up the invitation.

Seeing the dedication, focus and teamwork of the students as the game unfolded at Uji Sports Park was impressive. During an interval in the game, I tried to seek a brief respite from the sun, there being no shade in the sports stands. As I sat in the shade eating an ice-cream, I spotted a teenage boy strolling towards me wearing a vest, to which was pinned a four digit number, held on by safety pins and wearing a pair of shorts. Realizing that there must be a running meet nearby, I headed off, hoping to find a running track. I quickly found one. It’s the first time I’ve seen a tartan track in Japan.

There were a huge number of junior athletes, much more than I’d usually see at a weekend track meet in the UK. I watched a junior boys 3000M race. This is a track distance that I’ve raced many times and is one of my favourite events. The boys looked about 13-14 years of age. There was a big field of around 20 runners. The first lap was at a blistering pace. The pace of the front pack of 3 boys quickly settled down to 82-84 secs per lap for laps 2-6. By the start of final lap, one of the leading pack had been dropped and the two remaining runners were shoulder to shoulder as they went through the bell. They hurtled around the last bend, still side by side. At 80 metres to go, one boy found an extra gear and motored to the finish line with a 2 second advantage. The last lap was run in an impressive 68 seconds. As I walked back to the baseball game I found a renewed sense of determination to get back to racing ways in the near future.

Byodoin Temple, which features on the back of the 10 Yen coin, is in Uji. It was to this landmark that I headed to after the baseball game. Uji is also famous for its green tea. There is a row of green tea themed shops just behind the Byodoin Temple where you can eat green tea noodles, green tea ice cream and green tea sweets. I spotted green tea flavoured Kit Kats. And of course, you can drink it. Me and missus tried green tea ice-cream and had a drink of the stuff.

Feeling well refreshed and with the air cooling as the evening approached, I went for a run along the banks of the river that cuts through the town, dividing it into two halves. It is a popular place to run. I spotted several lone runners along the temple and tree lined route. There are several pedestrian bridges across the river, the first being built in 646, making it easy to turn this into a looping run along both river banks. The Tales of Genji, which is said to be the world’s first ever novel, written in 1021, has ten chapters that are set along the banks of the River Uji. I passed numerous statues and plaques that mark locations mentioned in the novel.

 

It was dark by the time I returned to the car at the end of the run. I set my mind to returning at some point to Uji, as I’d love to see more of this historical and culturally rich city. Also, having now done a couple of weeks of base training, slowly building up the mileage, I realized that it’s time to start preparing to return to competitive racing.