When in Takadanobaba...

When I found out where I was moving one of the first things I checked was where the nearest ice rink was. I narrowed it to the Tokyo area, since I was arriving in April and didn't want to wait until winter to get back into skating. As expected, there were a few options for year-round skating.

The one nearest--and the one I was able to translate into English--was a place called Citizens Plaza. It's located in a city called Takadanobaba, which is one stop short of Shinjuku. This made it even more convenient due to the habit of going into Shinjuku once a week.

Just about every other week, I shoulder my skates and head for the rink.

The first time I found the rink was during the Golden Week vacation. I think I was there for 2.5 - 3 hours. Not a consistent skate during that whole time. I hadn't been on skates in 15 years, so I had a lot of breaks.

Hockey is not a popular sport in Japan. At all. Figure skating dominates. In Takadanobaba, the rink is always full of people wearing figures. Many are children being coached as they practice pieces of routines. It's pretty amazing to see 4 - 13 year-old kids jumping and spinning. But, also very annoying.

Figures chew up the ice. The ice gets in bad shape very quickly, and the figure skaters have zero awareness of their surrounding as they're too focused on their step sequences. Half the time they're skating backwards and swerving all over the place.

I stand out pretty badly when I go. First, because I'm a gaijin. Second, because my skates are completely different. What you may not know is that because hockey skates and figure skates are shaped different, your posture is different depending on your type. Figures force you to stand upright. Hockey skates make you bend your knees. Bending your knees keeps you centered on the blade, because hockey skates are rounded whereas figures are flat and picked.

Not only am I easy to spot, the posture change makes it easy for me to spot others not wearing figures. A few times these others are super wobbly; my guess being that they grew up on figures and switched to hockey. Because while hockey is not popular here by any stretch, those who do like it like it with vigor.

So, my first time at Takadanobaba I'm going around on horrible ice. I'm wobbly, and I need a lot of breaks. It was Golden Week, so the crowd was crazy. There were teens on dates (them wear hockey skates which was too cute), parents and coaches with tiny figure skaters, and then this really old guy--easily in his 80s--zipping all over the place speed skater style.

As I was winding down, after watching many come and go, this old man nearly collides with me out on the ice. Like I said, I was really shaky and figure shatters have zero situational awareness. I was focused on trying not to run over a toddler, and he was focused on trying not to hit a couple.

Collision avoided, but for the first time (even though we'd been there for hours) he noticed my skates. When I went to take a break he followed. He sat next to me, started speaking and motioning to my feet. I told him I didn't understand, and wouldn't you know it, he didn't understand either.

See, most Japanese have some basic knowledge of English because it is taught as a school subject. Even if they can't speak it, if you tell them "I don't understand" they normally get that so will mime their question (showing chopsticks or a bag or a credit card) or they say a word or two in English so that you know they understand at least some of what you say even if they can't respond. This man was so old that he either never learned any English, or he had long forgotten it. He wore some kind of veteran hat, so, yes he was an oldie.

With the language barrier firmly in place, we sat quietly for a moment. He asked me something again, and pointing at my feet again. I propped my foot up to show him my skates. He felt the blade, nodded, and thumbed up. He asked me something else, and touched his hands. He was wearing gloves, and I wasn't. I tried explaining I didn't have them. It got through enough that he started asked about falling (through miming). I said I didn't plan on falling. He started asking something else, and couldn't mime it. I made a guess, and said I played hockey 15 years ago.

This was where it was very apparent he didn't have a history with English. The one thing that gets through without fail is numbers. But, 15 didn't register at all.

I went to my last resort: my phone. I typed: I played ice hockey 15 years ago, but haven't skated for 15 years. I handed him my phone so he could read the Japanese. He reads, nods, and gets up. He gestures for me to follow, and we go back on to the ice.

We don't really skate together. We're going different speeds, so are never that close. We're just aware that the other one is there.

After a couple times around, I get off. My knee is starting to ache, and I wanted to go grab food in Shinjuku. Take in a movie. The old man comes off, and looks confused. I tap my wrist like I would a watch. He nods, high-fives me, and goes back out.

That was my first time in Takadanobaba. I've skated there every couple of weeks since, but I have yet to run into that old man again.