Kagura Dance and Mt. Noro Climb

I’m heading off to Hong Kong tomorrow to meet up with my parents and sister. Amazingly, this is going to be my first trip ever to Hong Kong. I’m really looking forward to seeing Hong Kong and also eating good Chinese food again. As for the past weekend, I had a fun time in Hiroshima City.

On Friday we had another English conference in Saijo (a town about an hour from Hiroshima city). We seem to have a few of these every few months. The conference went well and it was one of the best ones that I have been to since my arrival in Japan. At the conferences we had group discussions with other JETs and got many good ideas that I want to try in class. Also, during the conference, there was a guest speaker from Hiroshima University who gave a really informative talk on communication. After the conference we made our way to a local high school where the students put on an amazing music performance. It was really spectacular, with a brass band, choir, Taiko drummers and various traditional dancers. The dance was inspired by the sake brewing process as Saijo is a town famous in Japan for high quality sake. After visiting Saijo Junior High school a few of us went out and ate at the food court. Ww saw a huge Pokemon statue so we all decided to pose with it.

On Saturday Asuka and I made our way into Hiroshima to catch a local Kagura- (Japanese dance performance) at Hiroshima castle. We got their late afternoon and met up with Pete, Masato and Sally. This type of Japanese dance has really colorful masks, costumes and elaborate dances. It was awesome to watch and we all really enjoyed the performance. After leaving Hiroshima castle we made our way to a local gaijin hangout called the Shack. It’s a bar/restaurant and it’s pretty much filled with JETs and other foreigners. It’s interesting because every time you head into Hiroshima you run into at least 3 to 4 groups of JETs. Most JETs make their way into the city to hang out during the weekend and you end up running into them quite often.

We had a good time relaxing at the shack and then made our way to Round 1 entertainment center. This place is a blast I tell ya. It’s sort of like Playdium but much better. They have tons of arcade games, especially a lot of interactive ones like motion sensor games. They also have batting cages, pool tables, darts, archery, golf, badminton and lots of sport arcade games. The place is damn cheap to at about 12 dollars for 3 hours. So we had a blast playing all the different games. There was a sharp shooting game and samurai sword game that I really like. We managed to stay out pretty late and the last train back into Kawajiri is at 10:05, so Asuka and I had to got off 2 stops away from our house and then take a taxi home.

On Sunday Asuka and I climbed the local Mountain in Kawajiri. I had been meaning to climb Mt. Noro for awhile and finally managed to make the climb up. Climbing in the summer is tough as it’s really hot, so climbing now was perfect as it is cool and the leaves are changing colors. We were able to take some gorgeous photos of the mountain. We left around lunch time and it took us about 2 hours to hike up. We managed to make our way up in about 2 hours and had a little picnic at the top of the mountain. The top has a great view of Kawajiri and the surrounding islands.
This part of Japan is called the inland sea, which is the area between Shikoku and Honshuu and is renowned as one to the prettiest areas in Japan. On clear days you can actually see Shikoku island. On Sunday we were lucky to get good weather and we were even able to make out our apartment from the top.

Overall, the day went well and the only freaky thing that occurred was when I was taking a stroll in the river on the mountain. I was climbing around the rocks and when I suddenly looked down I saw two dead foxes. It freaked me out a bit. They were still preserved really well because the water is pretty cold. I figured they probably slipped on the rocks and drowned and got caught down river in the rocks.

As for Japanese factoid #10, its about “Shichi go san” which means 7,5,3. On November 15^th “Shichi Go San is marked by Japanese families by visiting shrines to offer prayer for the healthy growth of girls at age three and seven and of boys at three and five. So this past weekend we saw a lot of kids with their parents at Hiroshima castle wearing their traditional kimonos. The kids look really cute and I managed to snap a few pictures of them.

Well hope you are all doing well in Vancouver. Looks like the Canucks won another game. Still following the stats everyday over here and I’m getting my sister to bring my Naslund jersey so I can cheer while listening to the games on the internet. Have a good week and I’ll write about Hong Kong when I get back.

Trip to Okayama

Last week for my long weekend, Asuka and I made our way to Okayama Ken, the prefecture to the right of Hiroshima. We woke up early at 5:30am and took the first train to Okayama City. We got into the city around 9:30 and made our way to a landscaped garden called Korakuen, which is rated one of the top 3 gardens in all of Japan. The garden was built in the 17^th century by a local feudal lord. We managed to spend a good 2 hours seeing the various ponds, teahouses, pavilions, woods, an artificial hill and the several small shrines. We were there on Thursday, which was a holiday in Japan so the garden had a few special events going on. There was also a Noh (Traditional Japanese dance) performance which I wanted to see, but it was a tad pricey so we declined. Also, the tea houses were all open so there were tons of kimono clad ladies walking around partaking in tea ceremony. We also had traditional Japanese green tea, which is whisked with a brush along with some sweets as we overlooked the garden. We packed a little lunch and managed to eat our rice balls at a pretty picturesque part of the garden. Overall, exploring the garden was really interesting and with the kimono wearing ladies, it gave the garden a special atmosphere.

Korakuen garden is right beside Okayama castle, so naturally we made our way to the castle right after. The castle was just recently rebuilt after it was destroyed in World War II. Most castles in Japan are rebuilt, as natural disasters, war time bombings and a edict by the Tokugawa government that each prefecture should only have one castle has meant that only about a dozen originally castles remain in Japan. Nevertheless, Okayama castle was gorgeous to look at. Also, my interest with Japanese history means that when visiting certain shrines and castles and you aware of the history that occurred there, it really makes it that much more interesting. We toured around the castle grounds and inside the castle is a museum with the castles history and some displays.

The coolest thing there was that we were able to try on traditional kimonos and both Asuka and I had a blast doing that. We also saw more armour worn by a famous samurai who had committed seppuku (ritual suicide) part of a peace pack to save the lives of the people in this castle during a siege. We also sat in a real palanquin that samurai and people of importance sat in when they traveled.

After the castle we made our way to this town called Tozan and took a 4 hour bike tour around the countryside. The biking was fun, though the signs aren’t too clear and we got lost a few times. The 15km path took us to various different shrines and sights. We stopped off at a few of the bigger shrines and took some pictures and also saw a mausoleum of a old lord on top of a hill. The coolest part of the bike ride was stopping at a large temple and seeing a five story pagoda up close. It actually dominates the skyline once you pass a certain point and it was a highlight of the bike ride. We had a good time even though I was attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes and got eaten alive.

Once we finished the bike ride we took a train to Kurashiki town. During the Edo Period Kurashiki was a center for storing rice harvested and it became a pretty wealthy town. We spent the night there and the next day we toured the picturesque, tree lined canal in the historic district. The historical district has old Edo style buildings and still has its traditional white walls and ceramic tiles. We toured around the various shops and stopped by a famous merchant house owned by a man named Ohashi. His house was built in 1973 and was built similar to a samurai house which demonstrates the wealth and power he had in the city. His house was huge and had traditional tatami floors and has many rooms and even his own shrine and garden in the courtyard.

In Kurashiki we also climbed up this hill in the middle of the city and saw one of the nicest shrines I have seen since I’ve been in Japan. What made it really cool too was that we stumbled upon a traditional Japanese wedding and the kimonos they wore were gorgeous. We managed to take some nice photos of their wedding as well as the cool shrine.

Well This sort of leads into to my Japanese factoid #9. The really cool thing about being in Japan and traveling is that you really get a sense of the history of the place. Everyone little town you walk in and visit has a shrine that can be a few hundred years old. You can visit a shrine in the middle of no where and inside they will have an old bell that is 600 years old or a old painting or screen that is 300 years old and still preserved. Compare that with Canada that has only been a country since 1867 and historical relics or buildings are at the most 150 years old. In Japan you have shrines, buildings, armour easily 4 times that. Being a history buff, traveling in Japan is neat as you really are able to soak up the history and magnitude of the things and places you visit. You also get the chance to just stumble into places where ladies or wearing kimonos and going to a tea house or walking in a traditional Japanese wedding.

Well this weekend, I’m heading to Hiroshima Castle, as they have an ancient Kagura dance happening that looks pretty cool. I Will hopefully write some time next week before I leave for Hong Kong, hope it isn’t too cold and rainy in Vancouver!

Birthday Dinner and Hockey in Japan

Its been a pretty normal 2 weeks or so since I last posted. After coming back from Nagasaki I’ve just been going to school as usual. The kids have been great but unfortunately I’m still doing my self-introduction for some classes. My enthusiasm has definitely dropped as questions about my favourite food, colour and animal loses its appeal after the 50^th time. But a lot of the kids are still adorable, especially the younger ones, so I still have a good time. The weekend after Nagasaki I went out with teachers from Ato elementary school. We met in the main town of Kure Friday night and went to a izakaya. It was a fun and interesting night as it was just me and 7 female teachers. Dinner ended up being quite pricey as we had lots of skewers and alcohol. My teachers decided that they would do a proper introduction to different varieties of Japanese alcohol and I had a fair bit to drink. Tried lots of local beer, sake and chu-hi and I had a fun time talking and laughing, as teachers outside of work are much more relaxed. I tried to speak Japanese as much as possible since they knew very minimal English, and at times there were uproars of laughter when I said the wrong thing in Japanese.

After dinner we also went to karaoke, and being a terrible singer they forced me to sing the first song and I managed to do a horrible rendition of Here Without You by 3 Doors Down. After that, I politely refused to sing more and sat back and listened to the Japanese belt out English songs in a Japanese Katakana accent. It was a fun night and I managed to hitch a ride home with a teacher who lived in the same town. Picture above: Me at a temple during a small festival in Kawajiri last week.

The next weekend I had a few friends over for a birthday/house welcoming/asuka welcoming dinner at our place. Since Asuka arrived we have managed to furnish the place quite nicely and it isn’t the empty room that it use to be. So it was a good time to call some people over to see the place and have dinner. Pete, Mel, Jason and Masato made there way over last weekend, and we ate a nice dinner that Asuka made. We had tons of curry and even a good old Canadian leaf chocolate cake. We had a good night just chatting and relaxing with friends. Bottom Picture: Yasurra Junior High School. This past weekend I had a Bunkasai (or culture festival) at Yasuura Junior High school. The kids just put on performances and there was a speech contest, singing contest and a really good dance presentation. The kids also had different multimedia presentations and a really funny video. Overall, it was fun to see the skills and talents that the students do have, seeing as how English isn't one of them.... It was nice to see some students who usually look totally disinterested in English class proudly perform with the band, dance energetically, or present themselves with their various clubs. This Bunkasai lasted all day Saturday, and because of that I luckily get this Friday off. Since Thursday just so happens to be a holiday, this week I get a four day weekend. Might head somewhere for a short day trip.

The really neat thing the past few weeks is that I have started playing hockey. Yes in Japan. I lugged most of my hockey equipment from Canada, which I tell you wasn’t easy and was compounded by the fact that I forgot my hockey sticks at Narita Airport and had to get them mailed to me in Kure. So before I came, I managed to find this inline hockey league in Hiroshima city. I had Asuka contact the dude who runs it and they said they wouldn’t mind me playing. It took me a few months to finally contact them and get things running but I finally made my way out a few weeks ago. It is a lot of fun to play as I've really missed hockey. The surface where we play is a bit rough and really eats up your wheels. So I’m getting my sister to bring me a ton of gear when I see her later this month. Everyone that comes is really nice, I’ve started to chat with a few of them and its been fun. Though some of them are shy to talk to me because their English isn’t too good, and I'm still a little shy to approach them in Japanese. But overall, its been a blast and I’ll play at least once a week. Bottom Picture: View of the game while i'm resting.

This also leads to my Japanese factoid #8. Well in Japan, when you make up your mind to do something or join something you go all out. In Canada, you would join the basketball team and practice fairy regularly, but its nothing too strenuous. You can play on the basketball team and hockey team no problem. But in Japan, the people here devote themselves and their energy to a sport. For instance, in my school when you join a sports club, that is the club you will be training with for the rest of your high school years. The students here practice 6 times a week. The have morning practice and after school practice. I have students who wake up at 5am to run and practice, then have classes, then practice right after school again. They practice on the weekends and come to school during summer vacations. The people here are really devoted to what they do and in turn they are very good at their respective sports. So these hockey players you would think shouldn’t be too good, but in fact everyone that plays is pretty decent at the very least. They even have 2 girl teams and there are really good skaters. Some of the guys are really good and its a lot of fun to play with some of them.

The first day I played actually kind of sucked because these American’s came from the marine base nearby to play, and the organizers of the league were trying to be thoughtful and put me on the same team as them since there would be no language barrier. But these guys absolutely licked and so I couldn't really give nor recieve passes. But it was still good to be out there playing, and after that first week, I've been able to play with the Japanese guys who I really enjoy playing with.

The people I play with are really passionate about hockey and even won the west Japan inline championship this year. Most of them are in their late 20’s to mid thirties. But they play 4 to 5 times a week. They play inline hockey in the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday and on Friday night and Saturday night they drive to the three neighbouring provinces of Hiroshima in Okayama, Yamaguchi and Shimane to play ice. I didn’t brink my ice gear, so I don’t think I’ll be playing ice with them. So overall it has been a lot of fun and I look forward to playing with them on the weekends.

I've got a pretty exciting month coming ahead as I have 4 days off this week and on the 19th i'm heading to Hong Kong to meet up with my family. Should be fun and i'm getting pretty pumped. Bottom Picture: My apartment is the chimmney looking building in the middle.