yosakoi in hokkaido

At the beginning of the month, I went to Hokkaido with my yosakoi team for the Yosakoi Soran Matsuri, which I think is probably one of the biggest yosakoi festivals in Japan (at the very least, it's the biggest one we go to)! It was my first time in Hokkaido, which was pretty exciting, and only my second time performing with my yosakoi team, which was also exciting (and nerve-wracking).

We had 85+ people go, including staff, etc., but since everybody had different schedules we split among several different flights, and I landed on Friday night. We got there a bit later than intended and after checking in and meeting up with everybody who had arrived earlier, a few of us ventured off for some Sapporo ramen. There was a pretty long line even though it was past 10, but it was definitely worth the wait. :D

And then it was up bright and early for our first day at the festival! Basically, we spent the whole day going from performance to performance in different places all over Sapporo, starting with a parade where we performed 5 times in a row. Not only was it pretty exhausting, our second performance was also the judging that would determine whether or not we would go onto the finals, so we definitely started out the weekend with a bang. Then we performed near JR Hokkaido Station, at the Sapporo Beer Garden (which also included a giant screen in the background), in front of Mitsukoshi, and then near Susukino Station, lit up by lots of lights - we even won some beer for being energetic! I think my favorite places to perform were the Beer Garden and the road near Susukino Station. And then we all headed to a restaurant to stuff ourselves on all-you-can-eat Ghengis Khan (a type of dish involving mutton that's famous in Hokkaido)! I'm not really a fan of mutton, but it was pretty tasty.

Then we were up bright and early the next day to repeat the process. Except that the second day it was raining, which put a bit of a dampener (pun intended) on things. After two more stage performances and one parade performance, we finished up day two with another 5-in-a-row parade performance, which was physically and emotionally the peak of the trip. A great ending to the two days. Which was followed immediately by a big dinner with everybody, after which one of my group members and I walked back towards where the finals were taking place on a huge stage. Tickets for the finals had been sold out for ages, but the area around the stage was cleared for walkways. Stopping was forbidden, so we just walked around the stage in circles for a few teams' performances. And then we rounded up the night with another party with everybody.

The last day was just sightseeing! I got up early to help clean up our float (is that what you call it? A giant decorated truck), and then we went to the Asahiyama Zoo, where we saw polar bears and seals and penguins and more. After that was a barbecue with lots of fresh Hokkaido vegetables, including tons of asparagus (another food I'm not so fond of but ate tons of because it was a specialty of Hokkaido and actually tasty). And then it was a rush back to the airport and back on the plane to Chiba.

This is the biggest event of the year for my team and while we didn't make the finals or semi-finals (the top two teams in each block get to go), we did get what was essentially 4th place in our block, which was not bad, I think. A lot of the team seemed dissatisfied with it though, so maybe next year we'll try harder! I should still be able to go one last time before my JET experience ends, so I'm looking forward to it. :)

shikoku shenanigans

So this post is several weeks late, but to be fair the month of June has probably been busier than any other time so far! This is largely due to the fact that for the past three out of four weekends, I've been away somewhere outside of Chiba, starting with this trip to Shikoku!

I planned the trip as a way to use up some of my expiring vacation days (which I have finally reduced to a number where they can all roll over to next year, yayy) and also reunite with some TOA friends before one of them left Japan. It was one of the longer trips I've taken in Japan and also one of the best! It was really great to see my friends again and to see three new prefectures (managed to visit all of the ones on the island except for Ehime, oops), bringing me to 20 out of 47 prefectures visited. :)

So here's what I did, with a general (unplanned) theme for each day!

Day 1: walking
  I spent pretty much this whole day walking, from a 30-minute walk to the bus stop at 4:00AM to get to the airport to a kilometer+ down the pier in Takamatsu and back again, not to mention back and forth all over the city in between.
 Ritsurin Park (gorgeous and giant green park/garden in the city) --> up and down the shopping arcades (which are apparently the longest in Japan) --> wandering around JR Takamatsu Station and having the famous Kagawa udon for lunch (it was delicious) --> Tamamo Park (with some castle remains and pretty views) --> more wandering until meeting up with my friend Thomas after he got off work and saved me from more walking with his car

Day 2: art
  This day was mainly spent admiring all kinds of art both in and outside of museums on Naoshima, an island not far from mainland Shikoku, and admiring the scenery from my electric bike (which was the coolest thing ever, as far as biking up hills was concerned). I think I did almost everything touristy there is to do on the island (except maybe the James Bond Museum? and some other things), which was a lot! Reminded me of Hakone a little bit, in the sense that there's just museums and tons of things to see everywhere, but what I liked was how you could come across random artwork in random places.
  Chichu Museum --> Lee Ufan Museum --> Benesse House Museum --> Naoshima pumpkin --> Art House Project (a series of normal houses that were art spaces inside, including one full of glowing numbers and another where you sat in almost complete darkness until your eyes adjusted and you could walk out) --> Ando Museum --> I <3 Yu (a bathhouse whose name is a clever pun on 'you' and '湯', the word for hot water)
  And then after then I went out for conveyor belt sushi with Thomas and his friends, followed by card games in his apartment before getting to bed in preparation for the next day!

    

Day 3: rafting
  This was actually the reason I scheduled my trip for this particular weekend - my friend Thomas was planning to go whitewater rafting with his friends in Tokushima and invited me along!  It wasn't my first time rafting (I think) but it was tons of fun, despite the fact that while 'surfing' on a rapid I lost one of my contacts and subsequently had to spend the next three days with clear vision in only one eye (because I didn't have spares and forgot my glasses -.-')...the staff was friendly, the group was great, the lunch was tasty, and above all the scenery was amaazzinng. And then Thomas and I met up with our friend Martin back in Tokushima and went out for dinner with his friends, followed by a quick trip to an onsen.

Day 4: driving
  We spent this day driving to Kochi Prefecture and Cape Muroto, seeing sights like a traditional street area, a lighthouse, some abandoned buildings, several temples of the 88 on the Shikoku pilgrimage, and many more Lover's Sanctuary areas than I expected. My favorite place by far was the Muroto Geopark, which was full of rocks and ocean and cats! Afterward Thomas headed back to Kagawa and Martin and I wandered around Tokushima. Apparently it's famous for LEDs, so there's a series of bridges on the river that are lit up with LEDs and are really pretty. My favorite was the Milky Way on the footpath of one of the bridges, which was just tons of little tiny lights and was really beautiful.

Day 5: water
  This was my last (full) day in Shikoku and also the only day when it rained, boo. It was drizzling as we walked to rent a car, went up Mt. Bizan (which still had a great view), ate lunch, went to another onsen, and visited the Naruto whirlpools, which were not as cool as the pictures (that Martin informed me several times were taken of whirlpools that only surface once every 10 years or so) but still definitely worth visiting, if only to walk a ways out into a churning ocean with some see-through bridge sections. And then it was back to Takamatsu in preparation for my flight early the next morning.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. :D

yosakoi yosakoi

So last month a joined a yosakoi dance team, and it's slowly but surely taking over my life really really fun! Yosakoi is a type of Japanese dance, and the style that my team is, yosakoi soran, only has two rules: that the dancers dance while holding naruko (clappers) and that the song includes lyrics from soran bushi, a famous traditional song. Other than that, anything goes, so yosakoi teams all have their own unique styles and interpretations.

The team I joined is called Chiyoren Hokutenkai, and I think it's one of the bigger and well-established teams in Chiba Prefecture (though since I've just joined I'm still learning about it). There are probably 50-60 active members of all ages, and it's super fun! Everybody has been very welcoming (apparently I've joined at a time when they manage to recruit lots of new people like college students) and I already wish I'd discovered them earlier!

Anyway, a couple of weekends ago I helped out as staff (since I hadn't learned the dance yet) at a yosakoi event called Yosakoi Kisarazu Buson, which took place for the 13th time this year and included over 30 teams and 1000 dancers! Yosakoi soran originally started in Hokkaido before spreading all over the country, so I think it's pretty cool that there are that many people who do it here in Chiba.



The event took place in Kisarazu, which I don't think I've been to before, but is apparently famous for tanuki (raccoon dogs), judging by the giant statue of one near the station. I was in charge of photography for the day, so I followed the team around during their performances, both on stage and in parade style. I didn't get to see that many performances of other teams, but I did see all of their introductions in the opening ceremony and admire their flags (yosakoi teams aren't just dancers but also include people who wave giant flags around in the background - it looks much cooler than that sounds, I promise).

Anyway, my team made it to the finals and eventually got 1st place, which means we got to take home a grand prize of 1000 packages of nori (dried seaweed). I didn't do anything to help them get there, but I did get to take some too. :D

I think there will be several more yosakoi events taking place in Chiba this summer (actually there's one this weekend but I'll have to miss it), and now that I've officially debuted and can dance with the team, I should be able to post some more exciting updates! Stay tuned. :)

taiwan travels

This year for Golden Week, instead of staying home and dancing all week, I took a trip to Taiwan with a couple of friends! Well, I say 'with', but actually we all had different flights/schedules and only had one day where all three of us were together, but I got to spend the whole time with at least one companion and it was great. :)

Here's how my itinerary ended up:

Day 1:
 - arrival in Taipei in the evening and meeting up with my friend (who was kind enough to take me to my hostel because I am bad at directions, haha)
- dinner at Din Tai Fung (a restaurant famous for its xialong bao, which were amazing)
- clubbing (there was supposed to be an indoor waterfall but we couldn't find it, sad)

Day 2:
- hopping on a train to Tamsui, where we wandered along the wharf, bought street food, shared a coconut, and tried (and failed) to find a certain fabled beach
- stopping by the Taipei Expo Park on the way back and exploring the area around it, which was open and beautiful and included things like an indigenous people's museum
- meeting up with our friend and heading back to Din Tai Fung for round 2 (because we decided the night before we had to take her there), which was just as delicious
- going up to a fancy restaurant/bar near the top of Taipei 101, which used to be the world's tallest building. We weren't at the very top and the only place I could see a view was in the bathroom, but it was still pretty cool.
- wandering around Shilin Night Market! In retrospect I think I should have shopped and eaten more while we were there, but just exploring and seeing all the stands and people was lots of fun

Day 3:
- taking a dubious but persistent taxi driver's offer to drive us up to Jiu Fen, the place that was the inspiration for the town in Spirited Away, where we stopped at a tea house and explored the narrow streets, taking lots of pictures on the way
- going to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, which is flanked by the National Theatre and Concert Hall, all in a huge open space, where we also happened to see the changing of the guards and see some exhibits
- a brief visit to Ximen, which was so full of Japanese restaurants and chains it was almost like we hadn't left at all
- going to a puzzle cafe! What a great idea, and such a sense of accomplishment (even though we only did two smallish ones in about an hour and a half)

Day 4:
- visiting the National Palace Museum, where we lined up for 20 minutes to see a jadeite cabbage (among other interesting and beautiful things)
- trekking out to eat beef noodles, which were great (though I think my mom could give them a run for their money)
- visiting Longshan Temple, which was full of people who all knew what they were doing (unlike us)
- making another special trip to go find a certain pineapple cake shop, where everybody who goes there gets to sample a cake and enjoy a cup of tea (before buying pricey but actually very tasty pineapple cakes)
- wandering around the area, which was full of little and interesting stores and cafes - if I lived near there I would definitely want to explore more thoroughly (though I suspect it's a rather expensive place to live)
- getting some frozen yogurt at Taipei Station before heading out again to some new night markets in search of omiyage for our coworkers

And then I got up super early to go back to Japan, with a decent amount of Taiwan dollars left over - proof that I should have bought/eaten (mostly eaten) more while I was there, but also an incentive to go back sometime! Definitely a great trip. :D

new fiscal year and new beginnings

Well, it's been a while since my last post here, but in my defense, up until recently things have been pretty humdrum. Not boring per se, but not exactly thrilling, either. But the key words here are 'up until recently' - maybe it's because I'm already starting to feel like I'm running out of time in Japan (though right now I'll be here for at least another year and three months), but at any rate I've been trying to keep things exciting after settling in for (almost) two years.

Some recent stimulating developments in my life:
- A new office (space) for the second year in a row. As of April we are now on the 2nd floor as opposed to the 5th, in an even smaller room than last year. I suppose you can call it cozy, at least? While moving everything was frankly a pain, it does mean that I'll have spent each year on JET in a different location, which is kind of cool, and it is nice to have a change of scenery (figuratively speaking, because this new office looks over the parking lot).

- New English names for the City of Chiba! Up until now the English translation for 課, the basic unit in an organization that comes after bureau/department has been 'Section', while a smaller subsection, 係, has been 'Division', which I've felt has been backwards since I got here. This year I somehow managed to get permission to change all of the English names of 課 in the City of Chiba from Section to Division (and vice versa), which is both a big change and not at the same time, but it's definitely something I've been wanting to make happen for a long time and I feel like this'll be part of the mark that I want to leave on the city.

- I've also been able to make real measurable progress on my overall goal of improving the city's foreign-language pages (which are currently basically non-existent), by updating the English version of the city's living guide online (small steps). It's something that should have been done months and months ago, but after harrying my coworker in charge of the guide and convincing him to let me edit the pages myself, the updated version finally went online today and it's much easier to navigate and read than it used to be. This whole process has been a reminder that perseverance pays off and it also feels really nice to be working on something that isn't just translation.

- Signing up for a Korean class! I've been saying that I want to learn Korean for a while now but never actually did anything about it, until I saw a flier for small-group introductory lessons that were starting in April. I prefer group classes to one-on-one tutoring and the lessons are also run by an organization instead of a company so they're not too expensive, so this is basically the perfect chance to actually start learning Korean. I've only been to one trial class so far, but apparently they've only been doing pronunciation up until now so I'm excited for the first full lesson!

- I've also joined a yosakoi team (this one, in fact), which has been super fun! I'd thought about doing yosakoi (a type of Japanese dance) before but didn't follow up on that until now, and now I really wish I'd discovered this a lot earlier, like when I first got here. The team I've joined is really welcoming and the style of dance is intense but fun (lots of shouting and sweating), and they even go to a nearby park after practice to pick up trash and socialize, which I think is great. I went to see a performance of theirs on Sunday and though I didn't really get to watch since I agreed to take pictures for them, what I could see was really cool. It's really fun to do choreographed dance again, and I'm planning to go to a tournament with them in Hokkaido in June!

I'm also going to Taiwan this Saturday (!) for Golden Week for a few days and will be visiting some TOA friends in Shikoku at the end of the month, so it looks like May will be action-packed, which is perfectly fine with me. :D

drums drums drums

So last month I went to Narita for their plum blossom festival, but this month I found myself back again, this time for their drum festival! I heard about it last year too but couldn't make it, so this year I managed to go on the second/last day, and it was great. :D

I heard from a friend of mine that the opening event for the day was not to be missed, so I dragged myself out of bed early and ran into some friends who were also on their way to the festival at the station. We got to the main area about a half hour before it was supposed to start, but there was already a big crowd. I couldn't see them at first, but all the taiko/drumming groups that would be performing during the day were all gathered in front of the main temple (with their drums), which was more than 600 people. After some speeches by some people, they introduced each of the groups one by one, with each group playing a short sequence.

Then it was time for the main performance, which was all 600+ drummers performing the same song together. Even before they started making noise, the moment when they all lifted their drumsticks in the air at once was really cool, and then they started! Needless to say, it was pretty loud, to the point where I could feel the vibrations, but it was awesome. Totally worth getting up for and definitely the highlight of the day.



From then on it was just going from performance to performance, as they were happening all day at various stages all along the path from the station down to the temple. The first group we went to was actually an African drum group from Ghana, which was pretty cool, followed by a group that had piqued my interest during their introduction at the beginning. They're apparently a pretty famous group that does tours around Japan and the world, and their performance was super energetic and exciting.

Next it was time for the parade, which I think was supposed to be the big wrap-up event. We got to see a lot more groups pass by, including one where everybody was dressed like some sort of bug (I think maybe they were ants? Or fireflies? Unclear) and one with steel drums. It moved a lot more slowly than most parades I've seen, but it was pretty interesting/impressive to see/hear all the groups playing different songs so close to each other without getting confused.

After that I went to see my friend's performance with his local taiko group, which was also cool. Plus they had little kids performing, who were all super cute. :)

And that was the Narita Taiko Matsuri! I was pretty tired after and my ears were happy to get back to my quiet apartment, but all in all it was pretty great.

narita plum blossom festival

So one thing I've learned since coming to Japan is that they have festivals for everything! Last weekend I went to the Narita Plum Blossom Festival, which was a small celebration that took place inside Naritasan Park, which is also home to Shinshoji Temple. I've been there before, but it really is such a beautiful place that I could go there just to sit on a regular basis and probably wouldn't get sick of it. :)


Anyway, the festival had been going on for a few weeks and this was the last weekend, so I'm not sure if the timing was too late or too early, but there weren't as many blossoms as I expected. Which is not to say that the ones that were there weren't pretty, though! It was also a really gorgeous day out, which was perfect for wandering leisurely outside, which is what we did.


Highlights of the day included getting to participate in a tea ceremony outdoors, which I've never done before! An elderly lady who apparently used to be an English tour guide came up and talked to us, explaining that this is the only time of year when you can drink tea outside under the plum blossoms, so they do it for free at the festival. I have to admit I was more interested in the kimonos they were wearing than the tea ceremony itself (partly because I never know what to do at the tea ceremony so it's always just kind of awkward), but it was pretty awesome to drink hot tea outside on a sunny but slightly chilly day.


We also got to hear some live tsugaru shamisen performances, which were really impressive. It was pretty mesmerizing to watch their hands and fingers move so quickly while playing, and there were a couple of solos where the performers got really really into it. Intense.





I'm glad that I got to see more of the park than last time, including some ponds I didn't know where there before. (I also realized that giant koi freak me out a little bit, though I'm not sure why exactly...) All in all, it was a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon!