Ikebana

So our summer break from ikebana class finally ended, and here is the result:


I guess I've gotten rusty, because Sensei had to fix this one up a lot. Still, it's good to be back. :)

I'm alive!

So it's been a while since my last post. Oops. I'm still here, though. In fact, I've now been in Japan for an entire year!

One of the things that marks the occasion is my second visit to a yearly festival in the area. I remember going last year--not really knowing where I was or what was going on (though it was still a lot of fun). Now I'm experienced. ;)

I got there earlier this time. There was a parade that started at seven that I didn't even realize happened last year because I didn't get there until dark. Stalls of festival food lined the river, and the place was packed with people. I wore my yukata, which was fun but would have been nicer if it wasn't so hot outside.

There were fireworks, of course, and overall it was great night. I got to meet all the people in my program who just arrived to Japan, so I guess I'm officially a wise second-year now. ;)

Hakata Dontaku Festival

So this post is supremely late. Sorry! I've been really busy lately. But here it finally is.

I went to Hakata Dontaku Festival over Golden Week, which is apparently one of the bigger, more famous festivals in Japan. There were certainly a lot of people there for it. The festival goes on for two days, and though I was only there for one afternoon, it was still a lot of fun.

The main event I saw was the parade. There were lots of big wooden floats that people carried, the same as at my local Gion Festival. One looked like this:

It did this really cool thing I've got a video of here:




Before the main parade, the smaller sections apparently did their own mini parades throughout the surrounding area. Here's one marching through an outdoor shopping plaza:



And then there was the main parade. It was made up of all sorts of different stuff. There were people marching:

There were floats that were driven:

Floats that were pulled:

And floats that were carried:


Guys dressed as samurai showed up:













They made some noise:



Ladies danced with fans:



I don't even know what this guy is, but he danced too. It was really funny.



And I don't have much to add to that. It was all fun to watch, and I'm glad I went.

Gion Festival: Day 2

On the second day, we didn't get to the festival until evening. (Which was my fault for sleeping too late.) The big floats had already been pulled back from the temple to their starting points, but we ran into a bunch of the medium-sized ones. These were the kind with the dancers in them. Like this:



Every time the float stopped, there would be a new dance, and there were three floats altogether. Here's another from a side view:



And a short one:



I really wanted to get a good video of the men pulling the floats, but unfortunately it was too dark. I still want to show off the sounds of the drums and cheers, though, so I'm posting a very dark video below.



We ended up following one of the floats all the way back to its starting point, which kept us out until midnight. A few of my students were part of the official group, and Jamie and I even got to help pull the float a few times. Fortunately theses had wheels.















Everyone seemed really happy to see us, and it was a really fun night. I had no idea my little town could party so hard ;)

Gion Festival: Day 1

Friday was my town's local Gion Festival. It was amazing, and my pictures don't do it justice--doubly so because I forgot my camera and had to use my cell phone to take pictures instead. So I apologize for the poor quality of the photographs in this post.

The main part of the festival was the parade. A bunch of guys carried/pushed/pulled these gigantic wooden floats that weigh 2 tons. A bunch of kids rode the floats, waving and playing taiko drums. These things were enormous, which I hope you can tell even from my bad photos. And they didn't have wheels. The men dragged them down the road, and it literally left skid marks behind on the pavement.

They had this whole chanting cheer going on, too. It would build up, and then they'd propel the float forward in a short burst (or turn it, or rock it back and forth), and get as far as they could before stopping for a rest. You could tell they were tired when they were done.

It was fun when they crossed the main road, because they had to stop and wait for the light to turn green.

Since Jamie and I were the only foreigners there, a lot of people came up to talk to us and show us around. In fact, for the six or so hours we were there, we were only alone for about 20 minutes. We even ended up eating dinner with a bunch of the float-pulling guys.

My students were everywhere. There were a lot of shouts of "Kristen!" and then some impromptu English practice. (Hello. How are you? I'm fine, thank you. And you?) All the random people we met were very impressed with the number the kids who knew me. But then again, some of the kids who shouted hello weren't even my students.

The bigger floats were packed with kids and taiko drummers, but the smaller ones had dancers, like the one below. When the float would stop, the dancers would come out and do a number, and then they'd go back inside for the next round of float-pulling. I can only imagine what it was like to be inside the float as they were spinning and shaking it around.


The floats were pulled to the grounds of a temple, where there were lots of stalls set up with festival food. There was also a traditional dance, which you can sort of see in the picture below. A bunch of guys with drums and giant fans danced around a big fire. It was really neat to watch.

Overall, it was an amazing day, and I swear we must have met half the town, so it was a good day for international relations, too. ;)

Tulips

I had a bit of trouble with this week's ikebana arrangement. Sensei had to really change a lot to fix it when I was done.

This is what it looked like when she finished. The tulips weren't in it originally; Sensei went outside to her garden and brought them in to add. Then we had our tea, and when I came back, the tulips had opened.


It was pretty funny. I guess they really liked being brought from the cold, dark night into the heated, lighted indoors.

Strawberry Festival

I kept meaning to post this and forgetting, but better late than never, right? Saturday was the annual strawberry festival in my town, and it was tons of fun.

We were basically given free reign of the greenhouse where the strawberries are grown, and we moved along the rows picking whatever looked good. It was an 800 yen entrance fee, and we were charged for what we took away. But it was all-you-can-eat so long as we remained in the greenhouse. So basically it went pick one, eat two, pick another, eat two more... You get the idea. I definitely got my money's worth :)

Here are some pictures:



It was a lot of fun, and I've almost finished all the strawberries I brought home.