Kakogawa Marathon

Just before Christmas I ran my first race in Japan. It turned out to be a little bit of a project trying to find races to run, since most of them only have information in Japanese, and my ability to read Japanese is extremely limited. I did finally manage to decipher a couple of races, including this one on the Emperor's birthday. With the help of some teachers at Chelsey's school, I even managed to enter them.
There were several distances at this race, including a full marathon, but I entered the 10km. I came down with a cold the weekend before the race, so I wasn't sure how it would go. It turned out much better than I thought; I ran a chip time of 39:43. This was in line with my expectations before I got sick, especially after considering my first kilometre was very slow because I started quite far back in the pack and had many people to get around before I could get up to my pace.
It also took me a bit to really get going, apparently, because my last four kilometres were my four fastest, with each one being faster than the previous one. That probably looked good at the finish as I came storming by people, but I'm not sure it was the optimal way to run. It may also be a bad sign for my next race, a 5km in Himeji ... I really can't afford to take 6km to get going!
-Jason

It was a cold day with occasional rain, so my parents and I were all bundled up. My mom got cold just looking at Jason in his race outfit. It was an out-and-back race, so we couldn't see Jason except for the start and finish. While he was running we looked at the vendors' booths and I found some truly colorful running shoes -- I can see Jason or Dr. Ryan wearing them.

Tokyo

We made our first trip to Tokyo, the biggest city in the world, last weekend. We took an overnight bus up so we could meet Chelsey's parents, who flew into Tokyo to spend Christmas with us. We only spent a couple of days there, but we packed in a little bit of sightseeing. We went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, firstly for the tourist information center with good subway maps, but there was also a free observation deck on the 45th floor. Since many of the towers in Tokyo charge you to go up to their observation areas, we decided to try the free one and were rewarded with a great view of Mt. Fuji as well as of Tokyo itself. It was so nice we went back the next day to show Chelsey's parents.
(You can see snow-capped Fuji in the background of the picture.) We spent a lot of time just wandering around different neighbourhoods looking at various shops. Chelsey and I went through the booksellers district, which had dozens and dozens of little second-hand bookshops, along with some bigger stores. We also strolled through the sporting goods area, which seemed to mostly consist of ski/snowboard/skate shops. Once Chelsey's parents arrived, we journeyed to the electronics district, which was a busy place with a lot of big electronics stores. We could find just about anything we wanted to buy there. We even went through the company showcases at the Sony and Panasonic buildings (Sony's was more impressive).
Our last morning there we got up early to go the famous Tsukiji fish market, the largest fish market in the world. We actually probably got there a bit early; the pre-dawn start is mostly for the tuna auction, which is supposed to be quite something but was off-limits to tourists for the Christmas season. But we could wander through the wholesale fish market itself and marvel at the rows and rows of all kinds of fish and other seafood available for purchase. There were mountains of styrofoam coolers, all filled with fish. We even saw some guys killing the fish in preparation for the sales later in the morning. It was quite the place. We even stopped off and most of us tried a little sushi for breakfast on our way out.
We departed Tokyo for Himeji on the Shinkansen, or bullet train. It was one of the best travelling experiences I've ever had. The seats were large and comfortable, with lots of leg room. The train ran smoothly, quietly and on-time. We even got some great views of Mt. Fuji as we zoomed by it - so I would recommend anyone leaving Tokyo on the Shinkansen to try to leave in daylight, because that was really neat.
-Jason
I am still working on the photos -- I hope I will have some time later this week to get them all edited and posted. -Chelsey

visitors!

My mom and dad made it safely to Tokyo on Saturday. We took the overnight bus and met them there. We spent the weekend in Tokyo and enjoyed seeing the sights. We all took the bullet train back to Himeji. I will post more details and some pictures tomorrow.

Osaka German Christmas Market

Friday we went to a German Christmas Market. Yes, we're in Japan, but we read in the English-language newspaper Chelsey gets from a teacher at school about a German market in Osaka (it's put on by the German consulate there). Going to the Christmas market in Nuremberg was one of our favourite things from our time in Prague, so we decided we should go to Osaka, and invited some of the people in our building to go with us.
We found the market thanks to some help. I was a little turned around coming out of the train station, so one of our friends stopped someone on the street. She was a fashion student who had decent English, and our friend eventually convinced her she should just come to the market with us instead of just telling us directions. Anyway, we got there, and while it was predictably much smaller than Nuremberg, it had most of the main items we were looking for - chiefly German sausage and hot wine, as well as hot chocolate, wooden toys and crafts, gingerbread cookies, other food creations, and European candy. It was a good time.
As it turned out, the market was at the foot of a well-known skyscraper, the Umeda Sky Tower and Floating Garden. When we were approaching the building, it didn't look like much, but when we got to the side, we saw it was really two towers joined at the top. Where it joined was a circular observatory, with escalators connecting the sides across open space. One of our building mates arrived before us and went upstairs, then convinced us we needed to check it out, so we did. There was quite a spectacular view from the top. This was really our first trip to Osaka, aside from passing through, so it was quite interesting to get an idea of just how big of a city it is.
-Jason
There are more pictures on the picasa site.

Kobe Luminarie

We had been told that they have some really beautiful Christmas lights in Kobe. So we decided to go check them out on Monday night (it was actually Jason's second trip to Kobe that day -- the full story of that to come soon).
Directly from the train station you are funneled into these corrals that lead on a zig-zag journey through the streets of Kobe leading up to the street where the lights start. It wasn't too busy on Monday night, but I have been told that at times the corrals are packed solid all the way back to the station. I told Jason as we were walking that the zig-zag lines felt a lot like Disneyland, where they try to always make it seem like you've just got to get around one more bend.
You walk under a corridor of lights and then you end in a nice park where they've got a gigantic "light city" constructed. It was really very beautiful, and we learned that the theme of the lights changes every year. The event had sort of a solemn feel, and Jason said that it was partly a memorial to the big 1995 earthquake.
All around the park there are vendors selling food and other wares. Jason tried some sort of egg on a biscuit concoction, partly for the appeal to see how they made it.
There are more pictures on the picasa site.

take a bow

As the low man on the totem pole, my desk in the teachers' room is the closest to the telephone. Answering the phone and redirecting the call/taking a message is the low man's (actually, low woman -- men don't answer the phone very often) job. I don't bother, since I'd likely have no idea what they were saying anyway.
But, I can't help but laugh as I watch my fellow teachers talk on the phone because they all bow!! I know that it is so deeply ingrained in their culture that they probably don't even realize they're doing it. Plus, it's not like they just bow once, they are constantly bobbing up and down in agreement with every sentence. I'm tempted to try to sneak a video, but I just don't think I could do it without them noticing.

Joken Christmas Party

We were involved in a Christmas party at a local elementary school last weekend. Some members of the community wanted an "authentic" Christmas party, so they got us to help. The event seemed to snowball and it just kept getting bigger and bigger.
We had crafts where the kids could make their own ornaments, Christmas cards or other decorations. We decorated three trees and had an official tree lighting. The school band played. The PTA sang carols. We taught a short lesson about Christmas in America and then sang more carols. Santa visited and brought each of the kids a present. There was a potluck lunch, which both the teachers and the parents contributed to.
It was such an event that we made the newspaper. We think that the community (and the kids) really enjoyed it. Maybe even so much so that they're going to want us to do it again next year.
There are more pictures on the picasa page.

Australian going-away party

The residents of the building where we live are (almost) all foreign teachers. We mostly come from Phoenix or Adelaide (Himeji's sister city in Australia). The Phoenix teachers are on September-to-August contracts and the Australian teachers are on January-to-December contracts. So, the Australians are getting ready to leave.
We had a going-away party for them last week. There was a big potluck party in the meeting room in our building, and then many of us headed out for karaoke (even Jason!!). It was our first Japanese karaoke experience.
The karaoke bars here are very different than karaoke back home. Instead of a big room where everybody can see and hear you, the karaoke bars here are a series of small rooms. So, you are in a private room and the only other people who can see/hear you are the people in your party. We had about 25 people in our group.
There is a small computer console that you pass around. You can select and "order" a song. A screen at the front of the room keeps track of what songs have been ordered and shows what's coming up next. It's a pretty slick system.
I had a great time, and I think that Jason tolerated it very well. He even sang two songs. We sang a trio with another teacher, and then we sang "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi together. This is a great song to pick for karaoke because everybody else always sings along so people can't really hear you.

Thanksgiving

I know I'm a bit late with this one ---

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. Almost all of the teachers in our building had Thanksgiving dinner together at a restaurant downtown. It's a western restaurant, and they had an American overseeing things that night, so it was a proper Thanksgiving meal with all of the essentials: turkey**, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and some items that weren't quite so traditional (refried beans?). But, it was delicious, and it was all-you-can-eat.

**Japanese people don't really eat turkey -- when I asked my students, not a single one had ever tasted turkey and they seemed pretty grossed out that I ate it. This from the people who eat mystery tentacled items on sticks!

I working on a whole string of blog posts that I hope to get up in the next few days. Plus, I have dozens of pictures to upload. Picasa and I weren't getting along, but I think I've worked it out now, so I should have those pictures posted soon.

Mt. Shosha

This post is catching up a bit from a little while ago, it seems to have slipped through the cracks, but last month we took a trip out to Mt. Shosha, a small mountain at the west edge of Himeji. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots in the city. There's a ropeway that leads from the base of the mountain up to the top, where there's a temple. We took the ropeway up and then walked around the temple complex.
Fall was a great time of year to go because of the changing colour of the leaves. This led to not only a beautiful walk around the temple, but also a gorgeous ride on the ropeway above the trees. In fact, the fall foliage was probably the best attraction of the trip, although the temple had some interesting sights. There were several buildings, including a meeting room and a school. One of the buildings featured a roof composed of two different styles. The blending of these styles was supposed to represent harmony in nature.
-Jason

You seriously think I know that?

I get a lot of random questions thrown at me in the course of the day. Most of them come from students and frequently I can't even figure out what they're trying to ask me.
But, my teachers also put me on the spot. Drilling me in front of the class without having given me a heads-up about the topic. These questions usually aren't too bad -- they want to know what's another way to say something or they want me to provide a sample sentence for something. I always think of a much better example later, but that's life.
However, sometimes the teachers ask me things that I have no prayer of answering. In my mind I'm saying, "you seriously think I know that?" I guess I should be flattered that they think I'm that smart, but it feels like they expect me to be a human Google.
Today's was a doozie! "What is one Japanese Yen in Indian Rupees?" Yea, I have no idea.

Note: one Japanese Yen is equal to half a Rupee.
Did any of you actually know that without having to look it up?

Ieshima Island

This weekend we decided to take a boat from Himeji Port to Ieshima Island. This is the biggest of a number of islands just a few miles off Himeji's coast in the Inland Sea. It was a little bit of an adventure, since we weren't sure exactly where to catch the boat or what time it left or anything. However, we found the boat, got on, then got off at the next stop, which we hoped was Ieshima. It was. We thought we might be in trouble, though, when a man came up to us on the dock and said "I think you are in trouble." Fortunately, he just meant he thought we needed help, because we were intently studying the timetable trying to figure out when the boat headed back to Himeji. He was able to help us.
We're not sure if it was because it was Sunday, but the island was very quiet. It was kind of a big, forested hill sticking out of the water, with all the buildings right down on the water along the base of the hill. There was one main road that followed the coastline, and most buildings seemed to be along that road. Chelsey and I took a walk along the road. Aside from the occasional van or scooter zooming by, there sure wasn't a lot of activity. We eventually found a restaurant for lunch, although it was so quiet we wouldn't have been sure it was a restaurant if we hadn't been able to read the Japanese characters for "restaurant." (Japanese classes paying off already!) We were the only customers. Remarkably, the cook spoke English, which helped with our order. I got some shrimp, since the island was supposed to be known for its seafood. Perhaps that means this particular restaurant, since it was the only one we saw. My shrimp also came with some sea salt, which apparently came out of the inland sea.
After lunch we hiked up the hill a bit. Jason met some of the local wild life and we found a temple, but we decided to head back to the boat because it was starting to rain.
-Jason

There are more Ieshima pictures on the picasa site. Plus, I finally had time to go back and upload many other albums.

Tegarayama Park

We rode our bikes down to explore Tegarayama Park this afternoon. This is a large complex in the center of town that is home to the city's aquarium, peace museum, botanical garden, municipal baseball field, an amusement park, a swimming pool/natatorium and a track, to name a few. The entire park sits on top of a hill, so it has a great view of the rest of the city.
We were amused by the castle motif that runs through the park. It seems a bit random and we couldn't quite figure it out, but it was fun to climb around and through the castle walls, gates and towers as we walked through the park.
We had two items of information we hoped to learn on our trip. 1. when would the aquarium re-open. We knew that it was currently closed for repairs and we are hoping it'll reopen soon. We found the aquarium and checked the signs -- but our combined translating efforts only resulted in confirming the date which it closed. Either it didn't say or we couldn't figure out when it will reopen.
2. Is the track open for the general public? Jason is anxious to find a place where he can do a few track workouts in the next few weeks. The main gates to the track were open and nobody seemed to mind when we just walked right in. So Jason's going to bike down there one afternoon and try to run on the track.
Oh, and there's another building (possibly part of the WWII/peace monument) that looks just like the air traffic control tower at LAX.

takoyaki

Takoyaki = octopus balls (no, not like Rocky Mountain Oysters). They are dough balls that have a piece of octopus inside them. We've tried them and they're OK. Not my favorite but certainly preferable to some of the other crazy seafood concoctions the Japanese people come up with. We were at a street fair today that had all kinds of food booths and there was a man in a takoyaki costume.
I did my best to impersonate all of the little Japanese children who stood next to him to get their picture taken -- this means shrugging your shoulders and giving the peace sign. I'm not sure why but this is the standard picture pose for Japanese kids.

sweet potato

Every so often we hear this chanting coming from the street in front of our apartment. There are temples all over the place and a church across the street, so I assumed they were some sort of religious chant or call to prayer.
It turns out that it's a guy who sells sweet potatoes out of the back of his van and he's actually saying (in Japanese, of course) "Sweet potaaaaaaato."
There's really nothing to see in this video, but you can hear him calling.

Weekend update

We had a fairly quiet weekend last weekend. Saturday we mostly used for running some errands. There was a potluck birthday party downstairs Saturday night, so Chelsey figured out how to make some delicious cookies in our toaster oven. They were a big hit, and I was gracious enough to allow some of them to make it to the party.
Sunday we decided to go down and hop on a train and then get off at a random station that looked interesting. We ended up at Tatsuno, a town to the south of Himeji. What caught our eye from the train was a shrine that looked interesting. We poked around a bit. There was a big statue of a horse, and a small statue of a rabbit that spit water from its mouth if you got close. (The water is part of a purification ritual). After looking at the temple, we walked around town a bit. It was an interesting, quiet little town. At the south edge of town, the bullet train (shinkansen) tracks ran along the hill and into a tunnel. As we were walking, we saw four shinkansen fly by, two in each direction. They were fairly quiet for the speed they were traveling. We ended up walking along a nice path by the river that runs through the town, where we saw a restaurant shaped like a boat with a chicken on top. It was a beautiful day to be out exploring.
-Jason

culture day

We had culture day at my junior high school earlier this month. The festivities were shortened because they were worried about having everyone in the gym all day because of the flu -- though that turned out not to matter since 2/3 of the school was out with the next last week.
The festival included a class chorus contest, koto concert, the English club's rendition of the Wizard of Oz, some dancing and the presentation of awards to outstanding students.
Jason came to school with me that day. He was curious about the play. The students had been working on this for quite a long time (about a year and a half), and they were pretty good. When we could hear them (there was some random music inserted here and there), we could understand what they were saying. The combination of the Japanese interpretation and the students' simplification of the English created some funny lines -- can you imagine Aunt Em really saying "Shut up, Dorothy"?

a school full of sick kids

I'm enjoying a quiet evening at home. Jason has picked up a couple of teaching jobs. He splits some night classes with our neighbor, so he's gone every-other Tuesday. -- You know Jason, he doesn't talk that much -- but it's still amazing how quiet it is around here when he's gone. I'd thought I might go out for a walk this evening, but there's been a steady rain since this afternoon.
I'm having a bizarre week at school. Last Friday was the school's Culture Festival (I'm working on the blog about it, I hope to post it soon). It's normally a full-day event, but due to fears about the flu, it was shortened to a half day. They required all of the students to wear masks and encouraged the other attendees to do so, too.
Monday morning the phone was ringing non-stop in the teachers' room with parents calling their children in sick. If there are 4-5 children in one homeroom class who are sick, then they "cancel" that class. All of the children in that class are immediately sent home and usually don't return to school for several days. There are about 120 7th grade students at my school and on Monday more than half of them called in sick. In one homeroom, 29 of the 39 students were sick. So, all of the 7th grade classes were canceled for the entire week. They say that the students "have the flu", but I'm really not sure if this means the normal seasonal flu, the swine flu or just a fever. I know it isn't a good situation to be surrounded by that many sick people, but so far I'm not too worried about it. I just wash my hands a lot and try to be careful.
Today (Tuesday), the 8th grade classes were canceled for the rest of the week and all of those students were sent home. So the only students who will be at the school for the rest of the week are the 9th graders -- I'm curious to see whether they all get sent home, too.
Interestingly, even though the classes are canceled and the students aren't there, the teachers are still required to go to school. So, even though I won't be teaching a single class this week (the 9th graders have exams), I am required to be there all day every day. I even have to stay after school for what is the club activity time, even though all of the club activities are canceled. I've done some preparation work, though there's really not too much I can do. So I study Japanese or read a book. They really don't care what I'm doing, it's just that my physical presence is important (this is a very Japanese concept).
One teacher said today that the classes will be made up over their holiday break. It was strange how the teachers all just seemed to accept that as the way things are. I can't imagine suddenly telling American teachers that they didn't get Christmas break, and they'd have to come to school and teach every day. They'd strike. But here that's just the way it is. -- I think that I am exempt from going in over the holidays, but if not, then I'll take some vacation time. --

Games and Gardens

A couple of weeks ago Chelsey and I spent a quiet weekend taking in some things in Himeji. We started with the gardens next to the castle. They're public gardens, a showcase of traditional Japanese gardens. It's divided into nine areas, such as the "pine tree garden", "bamboo garden", and "garden with a hill and pond". It was a really nice walk going through them. I'm sure it helped that it's autumn and the leaves are changing colour, which is especially beautiful in a garden, but I think it would have been neat at any time. As a result of the ponds in the gardens, we also learned that a koi fish is another name for coloured carp, so it was educational as well!
After the gardens we headed for a game lesson at the International Center. This is where we take Japanese classes, and they also have a library with some English books and newspapers. They had advertised a class for foreigners to learn Shogi and Go (or Igo as they call it). We turned out to be the only foreigners who showed up for the class. The only other person was the instructor, who didn't speak English that well. Nevertheless, he tried to teach us Igo. It was somewhat successful, we were able to play although I sure didn't understand all the rules. That probably partially explains why neither Chelsey and I were a match for him. I've looked up some of the rules online now, and I think I'll be ready to go next time.
After the games, we went out for Indian food. We don't eat out often, but this was the second Indian food place we've tried in Himeji. This prompted Chelsey to note that almost half the times we've eaten out, it's been Indian.
-Jason

Nara

On Halloween Chelsey and I took a trip to Nara. It's about two hours by train, a little longer than to Kyoto, mostly because we had to change trains in Osaka. Like Kyoto, Nara is one of the historic cultural centers of Japan. It's something of the birthplace of Japanese culture, or at least one of the earliest points. It's where Buddhism was introduced to Japan, and was the first capital of Japan, although it soon lost that title to Kyoto.
Our guide books made a deal out of how much smaller Nara is compared to Kyoto, so we were sort of expecting a sleepy little town. We were a little surprised, then, to pull in on the train to what seemed like a fairly sizable city. Smaller, certainly, than Kyoto or Osaka, but not what I would call a small town. Nevertheless, the sites we wanted to see were in easy walking distance from the train station and from each other.
The walk did, however, include passing through the thousand or so deer that inhabit Nara Koen, the park on the east side of the city where most of the big sites are. The deer were believed to be messengers of the gods. Now they're semi-tame, and just wander all over with no real regard for people. Lots of people were petting them or feeding them; there are stands that sell "deer food" for people to give the animals. Many of the deer, no dummies, set up camp next to these stands, waiting for people to come and give them food. After spending our day wandering through all the deer, Chelsey decided she likes them better from at least a small distance, rather than right next to you.
After making our way through the deer, we found Nara's most famous site: a giant statue of seated Buddha, the largest bronze Buddha in the world. Moreover, it's housed in the largest wooden building in the world, although the building is only 2/3 the size it originally was. According to the models inside, it's quite a bit narrower now than before it was damaged by fire. Buddha himself has been subject to fire, earthquake and other disasters during his time, but he remains an impressively large figure.
We walked through a couple of other shrines and temples in the park, and largely just enjoyed being in a peaceful, natural setting.
-Jason
There are more pictures (and video of the deer) on the picasa page.

public toilets

Public toilets here run the whole range from super-high-tech and really fancy to super-low-tech.
The first picture is of a noise maker inside a public toilet. When you enter the stall this little machine starts to make noises -- something like a waterfall, I guess. At first, I didn't know what the sound was and it kind of freaked me out. I guess this noise is a courtesy to those who are shy about using the toilet in public.
The second picture is of what I call the "squatty potty." This is a women's toilet that has no seat. It's just a basin in the ground. I've found they're kind of awkward to use, and I can't figure out how the 90-year-olds manage them without falling over. Clearly, my technique needs some work.

Hello Kitty Challenge

Hello Kitty is very popular here. You see Hello Kitty merchandise everywhere and on everything. Last week I saw Hello Kitty Q-tips!! This has inspired me to start the Hello Kitty Challenge. Please name an item, any item, and I will find and take a picture of it emblazoned with the Hello Kitty logo.

Himeji Castle renovation

Himeji Castle is getting a face lift. They've started on one of the side wings of the castle. We've heard varying dates on when they're actually going to start on the main building. We're hoping that it's not until at least May (after the Cherry Blossom viewing season).
This is a clip from the local English-language newspaper. It shows what the main building looks like now and the smaller photo below is what it's going to look like during construction. They're going to build a massive box around it. Apparently the main building is going to be covered for 5 years!! So we know that we have to enjoy it now.

Halloween party

Halloween's not a big deal in Japan, although we did see pumpkins and assorted Halloween decorations in a few shops. As part of our community outreach efforts, however, the residents of our apartment threw a Halloween party for the neighbourhood kids. Parents brought the kids to the building, where we had set up games and activities for them, and then we took them trick or treating through the building. Most of them seemed to have fun. I was manning the pumpkin fishing booth. Afterward I helped Chelsey lead her group of kids on their trick-or-treating adventure. One of the kids in her group dressed up as a wall, which made going up and down the stairs difficult.
In case you were wondering, Chelsey was grapes for Halloween. I put a lot less work into my costume; I found a frog mask at the 100-yen shop and so went as a frog. As it turned out, my partner at the pumpkin fishing station had a similar costume, only he was a monkey.

***The label for Jason's frog mask actually included an English (well, kind of English) message. It's so funny that we just have to share it ...
-Do not force to wear it when the size is not suitable.
-Do not use this product improperly.
-It might discolor by sweat, friction and getting wet.
-This product cannot be washed.
-In case of unusual symptom appearing, stop using and consult the doctor.
-It might narrow your view and cause unexpected accidents. Please be careful when you wear it.
-Choking hazard. Do not put in the mouth.
-Please do not show it to person with weak heart. It might harm the body.
-Do not treat this product violently. It might damage.
-Please note that it might tear if you pull too hard.
-Keep out of the reach of children.

International Festival pictures

Maeda-san e-mailed me these pictures today from the International Festival. I'm on stage with his daughter (Risa). She was dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and I was representing Canada on behalf of Jason.
Later, he found us while we were eating lunch. We we sampling phad thai, Australian BBQ, a Korean potato/veggie pancake and Malaysian banana balls. Yum!

Mr. Maeda

Mr. Maeda was the director of the stage performances for the International Festival. I met him at the rehearsal that we had before the festival. He was a very nice man. He invited me and Jason and one of the other English teachers to join him for his community's festival (which, it turns out, was the Aboshi Lantern Fighting Festival that we were already planning to attend).
I've included some pieces of the e-mail that he sent me ...

We will go to the Shrine together by such a small car as used at Universal Studio.

We will see 3 floats (Portable Shrines) and lantern fighting events there.

After that we will come back to my sweet home and take a dinner together there.

We were a bit confused about what he meant by the Universal Studio car and why he it was his "sweet home." His car, it turns out, was a typical Japanese car that is small by American standard, but fit 4 people comfortably. He referred to his house as his "sweet home" every time he mentioned it. We're not sure why.
But his house was lovely. We got to meet his wife (Erika) and one of his daughters (Yui) -- we met his other daughter (Risa) at the International Festival. She was my Japanese MC counterpart. She lives in Kobe and we hope to go visit her there.
The whole family speaks English very well, which made the evening especially enjoyable because we were able to have nice conversations. They were thrilled when the found out that Jason was Canadian -- and then proceeded to say "Eh" after every sentence. The other teacher (Lauren) who was with us is Australian, so the family kept saying how excited/honored they were to have such an international dinner.
Erika made the dinner. It was delicious. There was a whole assortment of different traditional Japanese items spring rolls, sushi, tempura.
We really enjoyed getting to meet them and seeing inside a Japanese home.

International festival

This is the last of the October festivals.
The International Festival is actually quite different than the other festivals. It is not a religious-based event. It is hosted by the city as a showcase for all of the different cultures in Himeji. The booths sell a traditional food item from each of the countries represented.
During one of our teachers' meetings about a month ago, they asked for a volunteer to read something in English at the festival. I said I would do it. I was under the impression they had a short speech or something and that I would just read it on the stage.
It turns out, they wanted me to be one of the English MCs. I'm finding this is somewhat typical of our Japanese experience -- we never really know what we're getting ourselves into.
It wasn't a problem, and I was happy to help. They had a script prepared and a native Japanese woman read her part and then I'd follow with the English translation. They were very excited to have a native speaker participating in the stage announcements. Plus, as part of the rehearsal, I met Mr. Maeda. (more on him in a future post)
Jason also volunteered at the festival. He was one of the native speakers in the English language booth. He signed up for a hour, but ending up working longer because the booth was quite popular. People paid 100 Yen (about a dollar) and then they'd be able to have a 10 minute conversation with the native speakers.
The second picture is of one of the trash areas. The Japanese are really thorough about their trash/recycling. You had to separate your trash and then wash it before putting it into the appropriate bin.

Aboshi Lantern Fighting Festival

Wednesday was the Aboshi Lantern Fighting Festival. As the name implies, they take beautiful paper lanterns and bash them together until they're all in tatters. It was fun and exciting to watch, even though at times it seemed like it was a shame to ruin such beautiful lanterns.
The festival started with a parade of the shrines -- I guess that's necessary at any festival -- and then they brought out the lanterns. There was a "target" lantern that came in various shapes and figures. Jason particularly liked the one that was shaped like a person.
Groups of young men (all of them with their bums hanging out) would make a circle around it. Each of them was carrying a long wooden stick with a smaller lantern attached to it. They would dance and chant around the bigger lantern and then all attack it. After a few seconds they would blow a whistle and everyone would retreat. The lanterns were usually damaged, but not destroyed, at this point. So they would huddle again, chant and attack. This would go on until they concluded that the lanterns were sufficiently destroyed.
We were so close to the action that we actually rescued two of the smaller lanterns to bring home as souvenirs. One of them is in perfect condition (sometimes they would fly off as the person swung their pole) and one of them has a small gash in the side -- a token to remember what festival it came from.
There are more pictures from the festival on the picasa site. Check out the lantern carnage!

Nada videos

I put two of Jason's videos from the Nada Fighting Festival on the picasa page in the Nada folder. Here's one that shows the end of a fight as the shrines are falling over. You can see why it's dangerous.

Oshio Lion Dancing Festival

Festival month continues ...
(This post is actually a little delayed -- it's hard to find time to write posts when there's another festival to go to.)
The Oshio Lion Dancing Festival was last Wednesday (Oct. 14). We were told to go in the evening for the parade into the temple. We arrived a little early and wandered around the temple grounds, which seemed to me more like a small-town fair. There were food booths and games for kids. It was a fun atmosphere -- and since there was a threat of rain, the crowds weren't too big.
My favorite part of the evening was actually before the main festival events started. There were some men performing a lion dance on the street outside of the temple. They were incredible. I couldn't believe how athletic their dance was. Plus, the lion costumes were very interesting. We were told that they're actually made from bear hair. I'm sure that it was very hot in there for the dancers.
The festival started with each community parading their lion into the temple's courtyard. The men in the lion costume would ride on the shoulders of other community members. This elevated the lions as they danced into the temple. In the courtyard, each community gathered and cheered for their drummers/lions. We enjoyed walking around the temple and seeing a couple of the different groups.
One of the other teachers knew the festival's organizer, and she arranged for us to go up into the primo area overlooking the entire courtyard. The view was great because you could see many of the different groups at the same time. However, when we thought we were leaving we were actually conjoled into sitting down and having a meal (Jason had already had 2 dinners before this -- but he managed to eat some more).
There are more pictures from Oshio on the picasa site.

Nada fighting festival

We came around the corner, working our way through the crowd and into the stadium, when suddenly a giant shrine came lurching toward us. The police starting yelling for us to get out of the way, so we pressed up against the wall with dozens of other spectators as 70 men carried the huge shrine out of the stadium and down the street.
It was the Nada Fighting Festival, one of the highlights of festival season in this part of Japan. I had been there all day, including sitting in some choice seats for the morning program. Chelsey had arrived after work to take in the main part of the spectacle.
There were essentially two components of the festival. One involved groups of 70 men carrying around these huge shrines - essentially a souped-up version of what Chelsey and I did at the Shinzaike festival the prior weekend. In the morning I saw the "portable" shrines get carried into the main shrine of the city for display - but only after stopping in front of the gate to have their tops unscrewed, because otherwise they wouldn't fit through the gate.
After the morning festivities, these shrines were carried through the city streets and up the hill where the night's action takes place. At the top of the hill, they gave thanks to the gods. After dark, the men carried the lit-up shrines back down the hill. Carrying a really heavy shrine uphill is hard work - sometimes the men would only make it a few meters before having to rest again. But carrying it downhill can't be a lot of fun either.
The second major feature of the festival is the shrine fighting, whence the festival gets its name. This involves two smaller, but still big, shrines being shoved against one another until one topples the other. This can be dangerous; reportedly, someone actually died this year, although not while Chelsey and I were there. I saw a couple of bouts in the morning from my seats, but the main event is the nighttime jousting. This is held at the bottom of the afore-mentioned hill, and people crowd into seats all up both sides of the hill to watch. The net result is several thousand spectators. We lucked into some seats, so we had a bird's-eye view for the beginning of it.
People aren't confined to the seats, however, they're also allowed down in the "pit", which is where we headed after a while. That's when we had our encounter with a shrine (not the fighting kind). We joined the crowd in the pit as the large, lit shrines descended the hill. You had to be alert, because the shrines, and therefore the crowds, tend to move and change direction erratically. Twice I was forced to abandon the main area as the crowd in front of me started to surge back away from incoming shrines.
It was certainly one of the biggest spectacles we've seen in Japan so far. Perhaps next year we'll go back with a better idea of what's going on, and how to deal with things. We'll try to keep out of the way of the shrines, however.
-Jason
There are more pictures on the picasa site. Videos to come soon. Jason did a great job of taking pictures while he was there in the morning, and I took a few more after I got there in the evening. All of the men who were carrying the shrines were wearing what I call the "sumo diapers" -- I'm sure they have a proper name, but I don't know what it is. But everyone was wearing them. Jason joked that it was tough to take a picture that didn't have "cheek" in it. I saw several men who were wearing them sitting on a bench near the train station and it has given me second-thoughts about ever sitting on a bench in Japan again. But I still think that both of my brothers and my nephew need one of these for Christmas. :)

Shinzaike festival

It's the middle of festival season in Japan, and we got involved last weekend. Each neighbourhood or town has a local festival around this time, usually to celebrate the rice harvest. Our neighbourhood, Shinzaike, had its festival last Sunday, and most of the residents of our building turned out to participate. We gathered in the morning at a local shrine near our building, with everyone wearing identical happi coats.
The main part of the day consisted of taking our portable shrine around town. Fortunately, we mostly did this by wheeling it. However, occasionally we would stop and a couple dozen of us would pick the shrine up. Once we'd lifted it, we jostled it around while chanting (the chant had something to do with vegetables, I'm not sure exactly what the translation is). A couple of times during the morning we met other groups carrying their shrines (these meetings were pre-determined). Each group would then lift their shrine and do the chants.
Our main destination was a park across the street from our apartment building. The five or six groups carrying shrines all congregated there for a lunch break. After lunch, we all picked our shrines back up and jostled them. This was interesting, because we would line our shrine right up against the side of the next shrine, then lift, jostle and chant. It was a little bit of a nervous time, especially as you tried not to trip over anyone's feet while moving around and trying to hold up the shrine. Nobody got hurt, however, and it was all a lot of fun. The local community seemed to think the festival went well, and at the celebration dinner that night most people seemed to be enjoying themselves...especially when one of our fellow residents taught them a trick with a can.
-Jason
There are more pictures on the picasa site -- the first six items are videos.