Adventures in Japan: Jessica's Kitchen Edition

こん日和！(That wasn't copied and pasted, kids...Impressed?)


Over the past couple of weeks, I've been attempting to branch out of my cracker/cheese and peanut butter/apple phase. Let the record show that I am not getting sick of this well-balanced diet of choice but rather, there are certain people who continue to "worry" about my well-being.

Looked like salad to me...

ANYway, I went out on a limb and bought an avocado, an onion and (what I thought was) pre-packaged salad. The picture on the bag did not suggest otherwise, so I went ahead and bought it. It is at this point that I will give credit where it's due: If you remember from many posts before, Patrick had given me a tour of the local grocery store and pointed out "buy this, not that". Well, this particular item was a "not that" kind of product. And here is reason #483749 why learning to read Japanese is a good idea.

It came with one of those
"do not eat" things....bad sign

My first clue should have been that the contents of the bag were dehydrated. Since when does salad come in that form? But I figured it was Japan...don't question it. The instructions on the back (while still in Japanese) were pretty clear from the pictures: soak the dehydrated lettuce-looking stuff for a few minutes in cold water and then it should bounce to life. Add toppings and dressing and voilà (not sure there's a Japanese equivalent)! You have salad. Seemed easy enough...

It's growiiiing...

Well things really went wrong at the "hydration stage". I left the kitchen to return to my skype phone call and when I returned a few minutes later to check on my creation, I was greeted with this rank stench. Of course it was coming from the bowl of "salad", which was looking a little over-moisturized. I was suspicious at this point (took me long enough, right?) so I stuck my hand in to get a feel for its texture. Um, gross. It was slimy and wet. Slimy and wet salad?! No. It turns out that it was seaweed! I bagged it up, threw it in the garbage and did a thorough wipe down of the kitchen counters in hopes of extinguishing all remnants of my mistake.

おいしいない

Between the smell and the texture, I temporarily lost my appetite.  It took me a couple of hours to get it back and when it did, what did I end up eating? Crackers, cheese, apples and peanut butter... 






Current *weird* craving: That really sugary icing that comes on store-bought cakes and cupcakes...why is that weird? Because I hate that kind of icing! Japan, what are you doing to my taste buds??

When You're the Only Blonde in Town...

...you tend to get invited to a lot of stuff. Okay, maybe the color of my hair isn't the only reason (and Lord knows that I will not be revealing my natural hair color any time soon) but being one of two foreigners in town really has its perks.


First of all, everyone knows who I am and what I'm doing here. The redhead in town is gone and this blonde chick who is a past Garlic Queen is here now...must be the new CIR. The majority of people in town know my name, where my apartment is and what I eat for meals at home (that's not an exaggeration...they're a very observant people at the grocery store). It isn't uncommon for me to be stopped in the street and have a lengthy conversation that is entirely in Japanese (one thing they have yet to realize is that I still can't speak/understand the language) and in the same conversation be given a gift, usually in the form of some kind of food. Now let me take a moment and remind you that I am not living in Tokyo. This is Takko: the city...eh, town.. of about 7,000 people (depending on where you're getting that information) so we're not talking about a metropolis here. Every CIR for the past 18 years or so has had similar experiences, so I am definitely not alone in this. It is truly like living in a fishbowl; as we swim in circles going about our daily life, people are watching our every move whether we can feel the stares or not and really, they're just curious.


I realize that I have yet to tell you the perks of being a blonde foreigner in the country of brunettes (besides being given omiyage on your way home from the post office). About three weeks ago, there was a change of staff in the Garlic Center (yes, Takko has a Garlic Center...I feel like that deserves a post of its own). One of my new coworkers, five minutes after she met me, told me that her friend wanted to invite me to their cabin for the weekend. My first thought: Wow! That's incredibly nice of them..yet random. Keiko filled me in a bit more and told me that past CIRs and ALTs have spent weekends with this family as well and so I thought, Oh, well that's good. She goes on to say that they enjoy the company of foreigners...women foreigners and so I thought, Um...what? About a week later I received a phone call from an unknown number and spoke with Maiko san, whom I've never met. I found out later that she used to live in Takko, she visited Gilroy 7 years ago during the Garlic Festival and she now works at an elementary school in Gonohe. She gave me the dates of the trip (August 21st and 22nd), told me we'd be going to her family friend's cabin (who turn out to be the town dentist and his wife) and to bring some beer. Excellent. I penciled in the dates and didn't think about it again until a week before.


T-minus two days until departure. I received another phone call with more details: pick up at 3 and 30 minutes; do you have yukata?; bring a towel...we will go to onsen. Oh okay...wait wait wait WHAT? Onsen?? (For those of you not in the know, do not fear. I will not neglect to give you details of my experience) I wouldn't say that I went into panic mode necessarily, but this addition to the agenda did nothing to calm my nerves of spending the weekend with strangers.

Me presenting Janice with
her first place prize
almost one year ago!

The big day finally arrived and at 3 and 40 minutes, my ride knocked and rang the doorbell. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I would not be the only foreign guest this weekend; Maiko san introduced me to Janice, an ALT in Gonohe (a town not that far from Takko). As the only people there that spoke fluent English, we learned quite a bit about each other: Janice is from Korea, but lived in the US when she was young and returned there for college. She's about to start her second year of JET and even though she wouldn't say, she's fluent in Japanese. It turns out that not only did she go to last year's Garlic and Beef Festival, but she was the first place winner at Ninniku Sumo (Garlic sumo competition...it was precious) and so we've met before. It was like a little two minute reunion during our car ride to the cabin. The three of us chatted about this and that, but Janice and I were mostly curious about where we were going; all Maiko san had to say was this: "Be selfish. Do not hold back. We are party animals." Well said and point taken.

Cabin no Noriage san

An hour and fifteen minutes later, we arrived in Appi in Iwate-ken (the prefecture southeast of Aomori). I wasn't quite sure what to expect of a Japanese cabin, but this particular one, along with all of its neighbors was definitely the quintessential cabin. It had that feeling of "we're out in the woods but comfort is still our main thing" and I thank God for that.

Our digs for the weekend

We had barely set our things down before we were rushed off to the onsen. I was instructed to bring a towel and 500円...and that was it. We entered the changing room where we were to disrobe and leave our things. I did as I was told, utilizing my trusty dorm skills of changing with a towel wrapped around me but before I could skip into the onsen room, I was told no towels. It was time to bare it all. Getting that over with as soon as I could, I quickly ran into my next hurdle while rinsing off. Before entering the hot spring bath, you must wash your body so you don't infect the water, since it's all shared. So essentially I was to take a shower. My issue was that I didn't want to wash my hair...I had already washed it that day and quite frankly, I didn't want to have to deal with blow drying it again. After going back and forth about it a million times during my repetitive body washing, I decided to throw it up in a high bun and not let it touch the water.


And finally, the moment arrived. We went to the outside onsen and soaked in the mineral water which, by the way, is very good for your skin and important for beauty. Oh damn...how have I been able to manage all these years in the US? ;) I kid, I kid...it was very nice and relaxing but seeing that it was still rather warm and humid outside in general, sitting in the hot spring for too long would no longer be enjoyable. As Janice said, don't go too hardcore on your first time.

Left to right: Me, Janice, Maiko,
Noriage san and another guest

After another rinse off (this time using the soap made from the minerals in the water), we headed back to the cabin for Japanese barbecue and lots of beer. Maiko san is very skilled in the art of kimono and was sweet enough to not only put our yukatas on for us, but she also showed us how to properly fold them when we weren't wearing them. Janice got an obi sash lesson, but Maiko san said that I could "learn next time"...yea, I don't want to overwhelm myself. Have you seen those obi sashes??

Beer, wine, beef...oishiiii

After a very filling dinner of beer and wine with a side of food, we headed to the resort down the road to catch the end of the hanabi (firework) show. We literally caught the end of it...it finished as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, but of what we saw, it was pretty impressive. I believe they told us that they shoot off 1,000 fireworks every night, but if they're going at a continuous rate, 1K doesn't last that long.

Chairo chan...sweet pupper-roo!

Throughout dinner, everyone got to know each other. Well, they mostly got to know me...what do I do for fun? What's my favorite Japanese food? Do I like beer? Well, I'm sure that was a rhetorical question. Anyway, they got the scoop on my interests, my life in America, my love life..everything. Due to my lack of Japanese language abilities, I was unable to reciprocate my curiosity in the interest of keeping Janice sane...I didn't need her translating the ENTIRE time. What I learned of Noriage san (the people whose cabin we were staying in) through my limited Japanese and a bit of translation: he is the town dentist and if I were to ever run into a tooth emergency, he's my guy; she is a medical doctor...literally, Maiko san continued to call her "medical sensei"; they are very generous people that enjoy the company of foreigners (past guests of theirs include past CIRs Sarah and Patrick and past ALT Lindsay, I'm sure among others); and they have a fabulous dog: Chairo chan.

Add 3-4 feet of snow and I'd
be able to reach the counter!

Beware of KUMAS!

We returned to the Appi resort area the next day to walk around and experience "green season". The area is most popular as a ski resort and after seeing pictures of it with snow, I understand why! After taking a gondola ride to the peak of the mountain, we had a chance to see the absolutely breathtaking panoramic views of the entire area.

Appi Resort...for all seasons!

Imagine this covered in snow...
can't wait!

Looking towards the East...
hello America!

A gondola ride back down the mountain later, we took a short walk to the Appi Ranch (where they store the farm animals and give you the chance to partake in voluntary milking....yea, we didn't know either) and then had lunch at a Chinese Restaurant in the hotel. The entire resort reminded me of America circa 1970s...the colors are bold, the cartoon characters are cheesy and there is this warm, friendly air about the place that just screams "I'm on vacation!!!". I couldn't wait to come back for the winter and lucky me, I received an invitation to return whenever I could. Impression well-made, I guess!

Appi Ranch

What the hell you say to me??!

Overall, I had a great time. I made new friends in town and out of town, I saw a completely different side of Japan...the vacation side, and I was out of my apartment the entire weekend. My first onsen experience was nothing less than interesting and now I know what to expect; I'm certainly not opposed to trying it out once again. So with my "happy" weekend in Appi completed, I can only look forward to the first snowfall when I will be able to schwoop schwoop schwoop down the slopes!

I think my new calling in life is to
proofread English text on t-shirts...

In other news, I hit my 2 month mark of living in Japan this weekend. Part of me says "Wow, two months already?" and the other part of me says "How many more days until October??"

Kama-WHAT?!

As always with coming home after a trip, it takes me awhile to settle back into the routine. It's Thursday and I finally feel like I've had enough distance to effectively reflect upon the events of this past weekend.

If you're on facebook and are obsessively (strong choice of words, I know) checking my status updates, then you know that I spent the last weekend in Chiba-ken in a lovely city called Kamagaya. You may be asking yourself, now what is so special about this Kamagaya? Well, let me go right ahead and tell you in two words: Kathryn Bohan. Yup! Kate (or Keto chan - けとちゃん - and please keep in mind that is my translation of the name) has just begun her first year as an ALT in the JET Programme. For more information on what's she doing in Japan, check out her blog and click here.

Originally we had planned for Kate to come visit my little town of Takko, but the trek up to Aomori-ken is quite the journey and although there was never a doubt in our minds that she could do it, it's a bit much to handle on your own with only 12 days of living in the country under your belt. Therefore, I took two days of my allotted 3-day summer vacation and made a long weekend of it. Now, keep in mind that while I have ridden the Shinkansen (a high speed railway that Japanese people go nuts over) a few times now, I had never had to navigate Tokyo Station alone, let alone hop onto two local subway trains to get where I'm going. But I knew my limited Japanese could assist me if I was in dire need, and Kate's fellow JET (who is starting her fourth year!) gave me very specific subway instructions that included the names of the lines and their coordinating colors. I had Kate's apartment phone number written down in case of emergency, so I felt as prepared for this journey as I would ever be.

My, oh my, was I wrong! In the hustle and bustle of the afternoon preceding my departure (a typhoon had arrived, the meeting with the mayor ran late, etc etc), I completely forgot to bring three very important items with me: the specific subway instructions, Kate's apartment phone number and deodorant. While the last item on the list seemed like an easy fix, the first two were a bit necessary towards being successful in my arrival. Luckily, my semi-photographic memory remembered the names of the subway lines, the colors and the stops, but I couldn't for the life of me remember Kate's number. And just as luck would have it, the Shinkansen was delayed because of the typhoon. I eventually arrived in Kamagaya in one piece and starving (since my fav bento place in Tokyo Station was out of food by the time I got there), so we went to this really nice Japanese restaurant called McDonald's.

Two bottles of fine Californian wine, a wheel of brie cheese and hours of chatting later, we slept for a few hours to be as refreshed as possible for the next day. Kate and her fellow newb JET, Kim, had an errand to run in the AM, so we said good morning to the day, hopped onto our bicycles and pedaled to the Kamagaya city hall (yakusho やくしょ). Kate did a fantastic job of introducing me days before my arrival, so the BOE office knew of my Garlic Queen-ness and about my residency in Aomori-ken. They seemed impressed that I had come such a long way, but they clearly weren't aware of the fun that was to be had that weekend.

Our Kamagaya chariots

On the way back to the apartment, we made a brief stop at the 100円 store and picked up supplies for an impromptu art project. We put the iPod on shuffle, Kate made udon noodle and we painted to our heart's content.

Chef Kate making udon noodle...Ganbare!

Finished product: Kate's Welcome sign
and my name in Katakana

Subway Champions

Disney Sea!

After stopping in to meet Sinapi, Kate's awesome JET mentor from New Zealand, and share her homemade banana chocolate chip muffins, Kate and I attempted to tackle the local subways and make our way towards Tokyo Disney (we only got onto the wrong train once...success). Neither of us felt that rising excitement that one usually gets when a Disneyland day is impending, but it's difficult to even realize Disneyland is around until you get off at the station. Since both of us are frequent visitors of Anaheim's Disneyland and Kate had never been to Disney Sea, that was the park we chose to visit that afternoon. Yes, I've already written an entry that introduced Disney Sea to you readers so I'll be mindful of that. In short, in five hours we watched a show, went on three rides and ate a delish meal accompanied by an even more delish beer. We really did have a great time, but we both decided that we are going to stick with what we know and go to Disneyland - neither one of us liked not being familiar with the park. And a word to the wise, no matter what ANYONE tells you, do not wait two hours in line for Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Imperial Gardens...here we come!

Saturday was our big day: TOKYO! Not that I would ever give myself the status of expert when it comes to all things Tokyo, but I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the biggest touristy spots (thanks to an all-star tour guide!). We jumped onto the subways once again, arrived in Tokyo GranSta, grabbed lunch at my fav bento place (this time it had plenty of food) and two personal-sized bottles of chardonnay, and headed to the park outside of the Imperial Palace and Gardens.

Bento? Check. Wine? Double check.

Kire :)

Kate's 1st Temple

Adding our wishes
and hopes to the many

After we inquired in Japanese whether or not the Emperor was around (he wasn't in), we headed to Tokyo Tower and thus was my first mistake as tour guide. I was unaware that: 1) There was a subway line that went to Tokyo Tower and 2) Tokyo Tower is quite a walk from the Imperial Palace. In the end it was a blessing in disguise because I was able to practice my Japanese skills a bit more (Tokyo Tower wa doko deska?...achi?...arigato!) and Kate was able to experience her first Buddhist Temple.

Eventually we reached Tokyo Tower and just long enough to snap a few photos and head back out to the subway system to navigate our way towards Shibuya.

We successfully arrived in Shibuya in one piece, which is a feat in of itself because it just so happened to be commuter hour. Plans for the evening included dinner at Chopsticks, a bit of karaoke and perhaps some dancing. Party guests included Miho (I met her during the last trip to Tokyo), Michael (Kate's kiwi JET friend), Trey (Kate's other JET friend from Ohio), and a few other Japanese friends that the group collectively brought to the table. So I've been to this restaurant a couple of times before, so I'm familiar with the cuisine; however, the menu constantly changes and is only in Japanese (the English version isn't continually updated). My go-to method is to look around and say, "Ooo that looks good; we'll have that". Fortunately, we had some translators that could clue us in on the do's and do not's. Their ability to make decisions were lacking so it took us a while to get the ball rolling, but we eventually all had our alcoholic beverage of choice and enjoying the cross cultural exchange that was naturally developing.

Sake Bomb!

Post-karaoke, our Japanese partners in crime headed back home and the four gaijin headed to Roppongi for some dancing; hence, tour guide fail #2. I had heard good things about this district and that gaijin really enjoyed it. I had also heard that it could get pretty "seedy"...I think this particular description is the most accurate. First of all, gaijin EVERYwhere. We no longer stood out (well, except Kate and I...we looked to be about as all-American as you could get). I snapped into ultra-aware mode, which in turn canceled out the nice beer buzz I had going on from karaoke. We wandered into a couple of bars and eventually found ourselves at a dance club. I would like to mention here that there is an issue in Japan regarding the lack of respect towards women and their bodies. The one guy that decided to follow through with this was not in fact Japanese; he was a gaijin. Needless to say, I was not happy; I spent four years in San Francisco and occasionally found myself in some pretty sketchy places and not once did that happen. In perhaps a bit of a dramatic fashion, I handed my unfinished beer to some guy that was practically already passed out and pushed my way out. By this time of night, the trains to home had stopped running and we would have to wait until the commuter hour started again. The four of us killed the time in the very classy establishment of McDonald's and made a list of reasons why we would never return to Roppongi. When the trains finally started running again, Kate and I couldn't get on them fast enough and after an intense scrub down in the shower to wash away the nastiness of Roppongi, we finally went to sleep around 7:30am.

Sunrise in Roppongi

An Irish pub in Japan? Makes me smile :)

We finally rose again at 2pm to get ready for the Obon Festival that we were invited to that evening. In short, the Obon Festival is a Buddhist custom that honors the ancestors of each family. Families reunite in a specific place and the spirits of the ancestors are supposed to visit the family altars in the home. The festival itself lasts for three days and includes a lot of eating and dancing (and we all know how I love the dancing).

Fitting right in

Because of her intense knowledge of US baseball teams, Kate won an invitation to a family BBQ on Sunday evening and I got to tag along as her guest. Kate also had enough forethought to get a hold of a couple of yukatas and thus was my omiyage from Kate-o chan (thank you!!!). She had received a lesson from her friend's aunt on how to properly put them on, but let's be honest...it just wasn't going to happen. Our obi sashes were just tied in knots and the bottom of the yukatas kept flipping open as we walked from her apartment to the train station - we were completely disheveled. We tried our best, but we felt like we were shaming Japan with every step we took. We eventually arrived at the train station and were nothing more than a little embarrassed. Nagashima, Kate's coworker, was sweet enough (but probably a bit embarrassed of us too) to help straighten us out and look a little more presentable.

A few of our generous hosts!

We eventually arrived in (insert name of local town in Chiba-ken here) and were greeted by a family that really reminded me of the families back in my little town and for the first time ever, I was "homesick" for Takko. The food was cho oishi (super delicious), the conversation was limited but enjoyable, and the hospitality was, as always, unmatched.

The bon dance performed
around the yagura

After way too much food, we were instructed to "find our second stomach" as we headed to the local Obon Festival. Now, if you've ever had a long talk with me about Japan and what I hope to accomplish here, you've heard me mention once or twice how much I love to dance at festivals. Typically, the dances are very repetitive, are performed to the rhythm of taiko drums and are down in large circles. I am going to shy away from being culturally insensitive and not say that they are easy to learn, but they are rather easy to mimic even though I don't know what each dance means (sometimes the Japanese don't even know).

Professionals

Did I mention how hot Chiba-ken is? We were sweating bullets in our yukatas after a few rounds of dancing and I was insanely jealous of the little girls and boys that were wearing the "festival yukata" (knee-length shorts and a cotton short sleeved shirt...comfy!). I saw one in an adult size, so that's my next big purchase...I think yukatas are beautiful but I've had enough of it. Anyway, we headed over to the booths and browsed just long enough to grab a soda (there was no way I was going to subject myself to a beer) and take a seat on a curb. Overall, it was a pretty uneventful evening until a high school boy came up and asked for my "Japanese" number...haha, oh Japan!

I am happy to report that my first Japanese vacation was a success. I want to thank the city of Kamagaya, the Japan Railway Company and local subway systems, the JETs of Chiba-ken, and of course, the wonderfully fantastic Kathryn Therese Bohan: thank you for hosting me and going to McDonald's with me three times. This trip would not have been as fun and interesting as it was without you all and I appreciate it very much!

It's been real, Chiba! Mata ne!

Cover Your Navel and Don't Kill the Spider!

As I close in on my two month mark here in Japan, I've been reflecting on my experiences here as I adjust to the Japanese way of life and I've come to realize that while life in general isn't that different (wake up, go to work, eat meals at the same times, drink at happy hour, etc), it's the several little things that truly remind me that I am living in a foreign country. Here are some interesting "Did you know"'s that have popped up since I moved here.

Did you know...
that when it thunders in Japan, you're supposed to cover your belly button? The word thunder in Japanese is "kaminari" (雷) and we've had our fair share of thunderstorms in the past couple of weeks. While I would usually be awestruck when I hear the crash and boom of thunder and stare out the window looking for traces of lightening, I've grown accustomed to it. A couple days ago, we had one storm come through that was particularly disruptive to the workday: instantaneous downpour that was louder than the keyboard clickings in the office and thunder that made that windows shake. After the second crash of thunder, Keiko and Makiko (two of the amazing people I work with) made an (*o*) face and covered their stomach. I gave them my typical Jessica-has-no-idea-what's-going-on face and they proceeded to tell me the story: Kaminari is the name for the god of thunder and Japan typically experiences these thunderstorms during this time of year (cold rain, humidity...remember the weather unit in science?). Since it's quite warm at night, children are apt to kicking off the blankets while in bed. The parents, quite worried that if their children are not covered at night they will get sick, tell them that Kaminari will come and pick out their belly buttons at night if they don't cover up; hence, the practice of covering one's stomach during thunderstorms.

Did you know...
that the kanji for heart and mind are the same? I found this particularly interesting for two reasons. First, the Japanese are not known for being exceptionally romantic. PDA and any kind of loving gesture in public is typically frowned upon, even if the couple is married. While this may be a very big generalization on my part, I think it's semi-safe to say that the Japanese think logically when it comes to the matters of the heart. Therefore, the idea that the kanji for heart and mind is the same totally makes sense. Second, I also thought about it from the American point of view. We tend to keep the heart and mind very separate and when it comes to making a decision, a person is forced to choose: think with my heart or my mind? Well, by combining the two meanings into one kanji, I guess the Japanese just simplified it for us. Well done, Nihon.

Kanji for heart and mind

Did you know...
that it's bad luck to kill a spider in your house? Now, this one was VERY interesting to me because I hate critters of all kinds in my place of living. Patrick had warned me when I first got the job (but well after I had signed the contract and mailed it back) that the apartment is prone to creepy crawly visitors, but it's bad luck to kill them. While most things in Japan are smaller than in the US, the bugs are most definitely NOT. They're huge! I saw a moth the size of my palm the other night and the flies here can outweigh some of the cats (not that neither of these were inside the apartment). There were a few teeny weeny spiders on the walls every once and awhile, but I had gone about 5 weeks without seeing any visitors of the 8-legged jumbo-sized variety so I thought I was doing pretty well. That is, until one morning...I was getting ready for the Nebuta Festival and as I passed through my living room, I saw the biggest spider yet with orange legs (any time a spider is any color other than black or brown, I freak out). Well, keeping in mind that I had been told that it was bad luck, I contemplated whether or not I should ignore it, go out for the day and come home hoping it decided that the outside was more interesting than my apartment. When it started crawling down the wall towards where I was, I decided that it needed to go, but I had never killed a spider before, let alone a spider that size. I called the first person I thought of (Patrick) as if he could do something about it. After instructing me to grab a shoe and just slam it against the spider as I came close to tears, I finally did it (guts went everywhere, in case you were wondering). I couldn't stand the thought of having to go through that again and being worried about my luck, so I asked the girls at the office if the story about killing spiders is true. Their answer? It's something they tell children. Oh really? Well it's a good thing I don't have kids in the house then because from here on out, any spider that crosses that threshold is fair game.

I hope you feel that much more enriched by these tid bits of information. But, an entry is never complete without adorable pictures of the hoikuen kids. This week we celebrated August birthdays and the hoikuens go ALL out. The entire school goes into the common room and those with birthdays are adorned with crowns and given a commemorative "plaque" with their picture and handprint on it. Each birthday kid gets up, introduces themselves and talks about their likes and favorites in life. The whole school proceeds to sing happy birthday (the Japanese version, of course) to each kid and then everyone skips (literally) out of the room and back to the classroom to the beat of some very happy and bouncy music. At Takko Hoikuen after the birthday festivities, my class (they're called Sakura class - Cherry Blossom) had a jump rope exhibition, which was very impressive, and then sang and danced to "Head, Shoulders...". I totally got credit for teaching them the song, even though they already knew it by the time I got there (don't worry, Pato chan, they mentioned you too).

One of the birthday girls telling us ALL about herself.

JUMP!

Enjoying the birthday lunch: ramen with Takko beef. Cho oishi!

So I'm off for the weekend to Kamagaya-shi in Chiba-ken to visit Kate Cell (or Kate-o chan!)! Mata ne!

Rassera Rassera!

Minasan konnichiwa!

I would like the record to show that I have officially survived the hottest summer of my life...okay, the summer isn't over, but I'm pretty sure that this past week was the hottest week on record in Japan (at least in my opinion). With two AC units in the house and only one of them half working, I was ready to throw in the towel and just sit in an ice bath all day. But instead, I attempted to apply make up (which sweated off in about 3 minutes), left the house with semi-wet hair and was off to Nebuta Festival!


The Aomori Nebuta Matsuri (青森ねぶた祭り) is a 6 day-long summer festival (August 2-7) that takes place in Aomori City in Aomori Prefecture (it's about a 2-2.5 hour drive away from where I am). There are different versions of the story of its origin, but this one is my favorite because it's overly dramatic and gives respect to the etymology of the word Nebuta (I'll give you the short version): Aterui, a military general from the Tohoku region, led his troops to Fuji to battle Sakanoue no Tamuramaro's army for over 12 years. In the end, Aterui lost the battle, was captured and taken to Osaka where he was eventually beheaded. Back home in Tohoku, Aterui's family and followers were forced to dig their own graves and were buried alive. The other people in the region who surrendered as slaves were forced to throw dirt on the graves and stomp on them (this is symbolized during the parade when the people stomp the ground as they carry Sakanoue no Tamuramaro's float). This story is said to be the origin of Nebuta (根蓋 in Kanji) because Aterui's followers were sent back to the world of the dead (根) with the dirt as the covering (蓋) - I am always fascinated with the history of words, even when I can't read/understand them.


So now that you've had your history lesson for the day, you might be wondering what this matsuri is like today (or what a parade with giant floats and dancing have to do with some guy being beheaded). Well, each float (referred to as nebuta) represents some scene of a great warrior in battle with an enemy or an oni (demon). The scenes used to be created with paper, bamboo and were illuminated with candles but because of the fire hazard, the bamboo was replaced with wire and the candles with fluorescent lighting. Aomori's nebutas are more wide than they are tall (there are other nebutas that are "standing") and are carried by groups of people throughout the city. In between the nebutas, dancers in the unique traditional dress called "haneto" prance around to the chant "Rassera!" while taiko drums keep the beat throughout the parade. Participation in the festival is open to anyone for the first five days (as long as they wear the haneto) and locals call it "haneru", which roughly translates to bounce. Get a better idea of what I'm talking about by checking out the video below!



Whew, okay. So what did I think of it? Yamamoto san (my group leader at work), Mieko, Ayumi, Keiko and I all headed out bright and early to check out the festival on its last day. The upside? We would get to enjoy the 2 hour firework show that happens at the end of the last day. The downside? Only professional groups can participate in the dancing on the last day. Um, WHAT?! I've been robbed of the permission to dance?! Don't worry, I made sure to participate from the sidelines - I was the crazy gaijin yelling RASSERA, bouncing around on one foot and shaking the bells I bought as a souvenir. I guess I don't embarrass easy. The parade was beautiful; we didn't get to see the floats lit up since the parade was during the day, but we had the opportunity to see a few of them on the water during the firework show. The seven(?) best floats are chosen and then paraded around on the bay at the end of the festival.

Large Nebuta - Sponsored by Toshiba

Large Nebuta - Sponsored by Kirin (yay!)

The Japanese military participating in the parade.

This little guy was so obviously thrilled to be there.

The traditional headdress to accompany the haneto (note the bell keychain on my cell phone)

Needless to say, I was melting. It was unnaturally hot and I went with the modest dress of jeans and a top...with short sleeves. Shorts and a tank top would have been way more comfortable. By the time the sun went down and I no longer felt like a rotisserie chicken, we were invited to share a tarp with some JETs from the area and I got to enjoy speaking English and eating a cheeseburger (yea I know...enjoying the local cuisine, right?). I had a couple cups of beer throughout the day but quite honestly, it was at that degree of heat when drinking just makes it worse. I usually opted for the bottle of iced tea.

Aomori-ken is famous for its apples...apple pie, anyone?

Flying ika! Yes...those are dried squid. Straight. Up.

Oishi so? (Um...no)

The crowd settles down before the firework show (Asapamu in the background)

On the way to Aomori, Yamamoto san made a few stops along the way to a few sightseeing spots - enjoy the beautiful Aomori-ken scenery through the lens of my camera :)

YAY Eco! Wind power!

Atsui ne! Suirennuma Pond in the Hakkoda Mountains

A gorge running through the Hakkoda Mountains

Okay we made it to the top! Now, which way to Aomori-shi?