Now for the second part of とうかさん. I meant to write this a long time ago, but procrastination and other things intervened, and I'm writing this long after the fact. But I suppose if you're reading this, this doesnt bother you so much.
The main reason I wanted to go to this festival was because there was going to be a 盆踊り大会 or bon dance every night at the festival. I've been to a few dances in Hawaii, but never one in Japan. What kind of dances would they perform? Which songs would be played? There were many questions I had, and I was excited to finally experience a real Japan bon dance.
Surprisingly, there was enough of an overlap between Japan and Hawaii that I wasnt completely lost. Of the songs they played, I knew 花火音頭, 昭和音頭, and ドンパン節 to name a few. But as to be expected, the かた that they used to dance here in Japan are very different from the ones in Hawaii. ドンパン節 was the closest to what we do in Hawaii; I had almost no problems with that one. But 昭和 and 花火 were quite different. They clapped when we didnt, or used different poses than what we used. It was a bit difficult to get used to; once you get so used to dancing a certain way, it's hard to break that frame of mind, you know? But you'll forgive me if I say that I quickly picked it up. Naturally though, there were songs that we dont do in Hawaii. A few, like まりと殿様 and 日本チャチャチャ I am vaguely familiar with because I've seen this video before (not quite the same, but similar かた), but there were others that I've never heard before. But it was fun! What struck me was the difference in structure in the dance. I'm not talking about which かた are used where; but how the かた are structured, or which ones are used. (This might get technical, so I wont be mad if you skip the remainder of this paragraph.) The biggest difference was that in Hawaii, we use the moon かた and あけかざし a lot. You very rarely dance very long without it. But that was not the case here. There was a lot of that hand-holding かた and the open かた (similar to moon, but not round). Another difference that struck me was that they did not respect symmetry in the dance. In Hawaii, if you do something on the right, you do it on the left. And if you repeat, you repeat once on the right, and once on the left. Or when it comes to walking, if a multi-step かた takes you to the right, you repeat towards the left. But here, they did not do that. In Hawaii, there is a かた in which you use your right hand to present and turn around. I automatically assumed that when you switch to your left hand, you go back the way you came; not so in Japan. It was difficult, but after a while, I noticed that they would switch to the left hand, but complete the circle. That was such a curveball. Of course, there were others, but since I dont know the proper names, explaining it is a bit difficult. But trust me, my mind was open to ideas that I have never thought possible in the world of bon dance.
During one of the many breaks, I happened to sit next to an older woman. This was partly coinicidence, but from what she said, I imagine it would have happened anyway. This woman was one of the ladies in the center, which I rightly assumed meant that she was a leader. She mentioned that she had seen me dancing, and was curious as to why I was so good (a lie), and where I was from. I mangled up my response, but she got the gist of what I tried to say: that I was from Hawaii, where we have bon dance too, which is where I learned it. Surprised, she called over a bunch of the other ladies and told them my story. Unfortunately, they didnt introduce themselves, so I have no idea what their names are, but I learned that they're the 日本民謡研究会 or the Society for Research on Japanese Folk Music (lofty, arent we?). They're based out of Nagoya, but there was a branch in Hiroshima. The leader of which, I was amused, looked a bit like the leader of my dance group in Hilo. I would like to join their group, or at least go to a few practices, if only to learn dances that I dont already know, but unfortunately, I did not grab any contact information for them. Googling did give me a hit, but according to the map, it looks like it's a bit out of the ways. Furthermore, I only have a little over a month left. ugh, more decisions to make!
After the dance, I meant to talk to the ladies again, but the following happened. As I was walking towards the ladies, I was approached by several people. Basically, it was the same stuff as usual; Where are you from (ハワイ？！), why can you dance so good, blah blah blah. But one guy was a little...more forceful. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 「ちょっと話聞かせてくれない？」 or "Can I ask you something?" I put a little more faith in ちょっと because his 話 was anything but ちょっと. After the usual stuff, he asked me directly if I would like to go to some island in the Inland Sea for a real country bon dance. Since it was so far away, I was invited to stay at his wife's parents house. Now, I dont know if it's an American thing, or if it's a Hawaii thing, or what, but generally speaking, I dont stay in the homes of people I'VE NEVER EVEN MET. Dont get me wrong, that was awful nice of him, but really? I had never met the guy before, and I was not about to go to some island in the sea with him. He tried to get me to agree, saying that the bon dances there were unlike any I had ever seen (盆踊りは趣味じゃないですか), and that it would be a great thing to experience. After I said I'd think about it for the millionth time, he gave me his business card, and took my phone number. I must admit, he did have a point; any bon dance in Japan would be different from any I have actually been to, a country one even more so. But to be quite honest, it sounded a little too "Burning Man" or something. I dont want to be murdered or something! I still havent contacted him, but I am thinking that I will have to send him something saying I must decline his invitation. Perhaps if I knew him more, I would go, but a complete stranger is something quite different.
My bon dance experience in Japan was both good and bad. It was good in that I was dancing songs I never would dance in Hawaii. And even the songs we do in Hawaii, we do differently. And dont tell anyone, but it was nice to be complimented by Japanese people. And I was invited to a country bon dance, where I'd probably be doing dances not done anywhere else in Japan. The bad was not getting contact information and being invited by strangers. But that's life, isnt it?
This concludes my blogging regarding とうかさん 2011. Back to our regular programming.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
とうかさん Part I
This week has been a fairly busy week. I had a Japanese language test on Tuesday, and a presentation to do today, so I have been trying to be on task. So this blog is a bit late, but since last weekend was so memorable, I cant very well not blog about it. Although this takes place over three days, I've split it into two parts.
From last week Friday to Sunday, there was a big festival in Hiroshima City. Called とうかさん Tōkasan, it's ostensibly for one of the shrines in the city, and supported by a local business association. There were so many people attending the festival! They crowded the trains, trams, and walkways, and made it impossible to pass easily in some areas. But the pest part of the festival was that most people were walking around in yukata! As a wannabe yukata afficianado, it was impossible not to go. Another added perk was the bon dance that was put on. But that'll be more discussed in part II. All in all, this was the biggest, most active festival I've been to in Japan.
Like I said, I've got a thing for yukata, so I was super excited to find a new yukata. Although there were several I liked, I eventually settled on a rather plain, dark blue one. But make no mistake, I do love it. While it does not have a design, I prefer it that way, as it seems a bit more mature. It's also quite thin, which means it's not as stuffy as one made of a firmer weave. And the obi I bought for it is another gem. It's dark blue, with an interesting pattern. It is reminisent of the daimyo 参勤交代, which you can read more about here. The other Americans here also expressed an interest in buying yukata, which got my interest a little bit. You may or may not be aware of how badly put together 着付け bothers me. I'm not perfect by any means, and I make plenty of mistakes, but people that dress slopily get under my skin like no other. I try to keep it under wraps, but apparently I was so adamant, that one of my friends here was very scared to wear her yukata in front of me. But despite being a beginner, she was able to put on her yukata quite nicely. Her obi was nicely tied, and seemed to stay put all day (which is better than I'm usually able to do). On the other hand, there were some girls wearing yukata in a way that was rather distasteful, in my opinion. Instead of being a few inches below the hairline and covering the sholders, they were halfway down the back. And the bottom seam was above their knees, not near their ankle like normal. One of the Japanese girls we were with remarked that they were dressed like the prostitutes from back in the day. But in my opinion, even they would say, "Girl, you look so slutty." I didnt take any pictures, but it was quite a sight.
While I went alone on Friday night, I was with friends on Saturday. The main part of the festival was centered on えびす通り, which we don't normally walk. It was fun to be in a new area, I suppose. According to the same friend above, that was near the host clubs, and considering we walked past many drinking establishments and a love hotel (!!?), I'm not surprised. It reminded me a bit of the Umeda district in Osaka. Perhaps one night, we'll return there and have an enjoyable night on the town. Anyways, the part I enjoyed the most was the many stalls that opened up. Like most other Japanese festivals, there were booths with the goldfish scooping game, or other games of chance for the children. For food booths, there were the usual French fries and から揚げ, and also ベビーカステラ, which were tiny sweet cakes in the shapes of cartoon characters. I enjoyed them so much! In all, I bought three bags of them, and enjoyed them all. And while it didnt really interest me, there was also a taco stand, which I thought was interesting. If you wanted a drink, there were several to choose from: you could of course pick up soft drinks and bottled water, but if you were an adult, several different alcoholic drinks were available. I didnt patronise all the shops that opened up, but simply walking the streets was enjoyable. The energy of the festival was simply electric; the hordes of people walking up and down, chatting and eating, smiling and laughing, was simply the best.
Now, Friday night was the most...interesting experience I've ever had. When I decided to return to Saijo, it was quite late. I had the choice of taking the earlier train to Shiraichi, which would stop in Saijo. Or I could wait for the Saijo train. Being really tired, I chose the former. Big mistake. Enroute to Saijo, I fell asleep. The driver of the train woke me up in Shiraichi, where he informed me that that was the last train that night. In other words, I overslept and was stranded in a city I've never even heard of. In a panic, I called my friends in Saijo, hoping that they would have some idea of what to do. They tried to find hotels in the area, or think of friend that had cars. But there were no options. Having calmed down, I decided that the only thing I could do was to wait for the first train out of there. At this point, it was about 12:30 AM, so with the first train departing Shiraichi at 5:08 AM, I had about a four hour wait ahead of me. Reassuring them that I would be okay, I hunkered down for the night.
Since Japan is a very safe country, I wasnt worried that I was going to be mugged or murdered in the middle of the night. But that's not to say that I spent a restful night in the station. For one thing, the frieght trains that passed through made such a noise! The first one that passed through startled me, and the next two that passed by made my heart thump in my chest. The second was the utter lonliness of the place. There were no other homeless people lounging about, or even a security guard. Thank goodness the station itself was lighted, because if it was not, I'm sure I would have been more frightened than I have ever been. The third and final thing that scared me was the earthquake. At about two in the morning, there was a small earthquake. I was caught unawares, and had to tell reassure myself that it was only an earthquake, and that I've slept through stronger. "It's just an earthquake, the world's not collapsing onto itself," I told myself. When I finally boarded the train the next morning (surprisingly, there were other people that showed up for that train), I was so relieved. I have no desire to repeat this experience, but everything turned out fine in the end. It certainly makes for an interesting blog post, I think.
With the exception of my stay in Shiraichi, the first two days of the festival were just wonderful. I loved dressing up in my yukata, and seeing other people in yukata as well (both the good and the bad 着付け). The food vendors offered such a wide variety, that I was always quite full. And of course, I got to spend time with my lovely friends. Please be sure to read part two, which will be up soon!
From last week Friday to Sunday, there was a big festival in Hiroshima City. Called とうかさん Tōkasan, it's ostensibly for one of the shrines in the city, and supported by a local business association. There were so many people attending the festival! They crowded the trains, trams, and walkways, and made it impossible to pass easily in some areas. But the pest part of the festival was that most people were walking around in yukata! As a wannabe yukata afficianado, it was impossible not to go. Another added perk was the bon dance that was put on. But that'll be more discussed in part II. All in all, this was the biggest, most active festival I've been to in Japan.
Like I said, I've got a thing for yukata, so I was super excited to find a new yukata. Although there were several I liked, I eventually settled on a rather plain, dark blue one. But make no mistake, I do love it. While it does not have a design, I prefer it that way, as it seems a bit more mature. It's also quite thin, which means it's not as stuffy as one made of a firmer weave. And the obi I bought for it is another gem. It's dark blue, with an interesting pattern. It is reminisent of the daimyo 参勤交代, which you can read more about here. The other Americans here also expressed an interest in buying yukata, which got my interest a little bit. You may or may not be aware of how badly put together 着付け bothers me. I'm not perfect by any means, and I make plenty of mistakes, but people that dress slopily get under my skin like no other. I try to keep it under wraps, but apparently I was so adamant, that one of my friends here was very scared to wear her yukata in front of me. But despite being a beginner, she was able to put on her yukata quite nicely. Her obi was nicely tied, and seemed to stay put all day (which is better than I'm usually able to do). On the other hand, there were some girls wearing yukata in a way that was rather distasteful, in my opinion. Instead of being a few inches below the hairline and covering the sholders, they were halfway down the back. And the bottom seam was above their knees, not near their ankle like normal. One of the Japanese girls we were with remarked that they were dressed like the prostitutes from back in the day. But in my opinion, even they would say, "Girl, you look so slutty." I didnt take any pictures, but it was quite a sight.
While I went alone on Friday night, I was with friends on Saturday. The main part of the festival was centered on えびす通り, which we don't normally walk. It was fun to be in a new area, I suppose. According to the same friend above, that was near the host clubs, and considering we walked past many drinking establishments and a love hotel (!!?), I'm not surprised. It reminded me a bit of the Umeda district in Osaka. Perhaps one night, we'll return there and have an enjoyable night on the town. Anyways, the part I enjoyed the most was the many stalls that opened up. Like most other Japanese festivals, there were booths with the goldfish scooping game, or other games of chance for the children. For food booths, there were the usual French fries and から揚げ, and also ベビーカステラ, which were tiny sweet cakes in the shapes of cartoon characters. I enjoyed them so much! In all, I bought three bags of them, and enjoyed them all. And while it didnt really interest me, there was also a taco stand, which I thought was interesting. If you wanted a drink, there were several to choose from: you could of course pick up soft drinks and bottled water, but if you were an adult, several different alcoholic drinks were available. I didnt patronise all the shops that opened up, but simply walking the streets was enjoyable. The energy of the festival was simply electric; the hordes of people walking up and down, chatting and eating, smiling and laughing, was simply the best.
Now, Friday night was the most...interesting experience I've ever had. When I decided to return to Saijo, it was quite late. I had the choice of taking the earlier train to Shiraichi, which would stop in Saijo. Or I could wait for the Saijo train. Being really tired, I chose the former. Big mistake. Enroute to Saijo, I fell asleep. The driver of the train woke me up in Shiraichi, where he informed me that that was the last train that night. In other words, I overslept and was stranded in a city I've never even heard of. In a panic, I called my friends in Saijo, hoping that they would have some idea of what to do. They tried to find hotels in the area, or think of friend that had cars. But there were no options. Having calmed down, I decided that the only thing I could do was to wait for the first train out of there. At this point, it was about 12:30 AM, so with the first train departing Shiraichi at 5:08 AM, I had about a four hour wait ahead of me. Reassuring them that I would be okay, I hunkered down for the night.
Since Japan is a very safe country, I wasnt worried that I was going to be mugged or murdered in the middle of the night. But that's not to say that I spent a restful night in the station. For one thing, the frieght trains that passed through made such a noise! The first one that passed through startled me, and the next two that passed by made my heart thump in my chest. The second was the utter lonliness of the place. There were no other homeless people lounging about, or even a security guard. Thank goodness the station itself was lighted, because if it was not, I'm sure I would have been more frightened than I have ever been. The third and final thing that scared me was the earthquake. At about two in the morning, there was a small earthquake. I was caught unawares, and had to tell reassure myself that it was only an earthquake, and that I've slept through stronger. "It's just an earthquake, the world's not collapsing onto itself," I told myself. When I finally boarded the train the next morning (surprisingly, there were other people that showed up for that train), I was so relieved. I have no desire to repeat this experience, but everything turned out fine in the end. It certainly makes for an interesting blog post, I think.
With the exception of my stay in Shiraichi, the first two days of the festival were just wonderful. I loved dressing up in my yukata, and seeing other people in yukata as well (both the good and the bad 着付け). The food vendors offered such a wide variety, that I was always quite full. And of course, I got to spend time with my lovely friends. Please be sure to read part two, which will be up soon!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Making the Best of It
As we enter the month of June, it is with a heavy heart that I begin to look towards the end of the dream. Classes will end in nine weeks, and I will soon have to return home to Hawaii. I honestly cant believe that so much time has passed, and that my time here will be over soon. Dont get me wrong, I want to go home, and I miss Hawaii so much, and yet, this school, this city, the people, it's all become important to me. But since I cant stop from marching on, I need to make the best of the situation. I need to do what I need to do, experience what I still have not, and crystalize these memories into something much more tangible than the electrical wisps that spark in my brain.
It is surprising and unfortunate, but I still have not spent much time in the city in the nine months I've been here. Besides the shopping district of 本通, I havent really been to the 原爆ドーム Atomic Dome, which was something I really feel like I should visit. I also hear that there's a really good art museum in the city, and while I'm not an art buff, it should still be interesting to visit. And finally, there are several big department stores, like Tokyu Hands, which I havent been to yet.
In the prefecture, there are also places I should really visit. Onomichi is in the eastern part of the prefecture, and has a lot of temples. In fact, most of these temples belong to a pilgrimage route, although I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. And according to my friends that have gone there already, there's a really good ramen shop, run by a Japanese guy that lived in Miami for the last ten years. Also in the east is Fukuyama City. My reason for going there is quite personal: the Matsuo family originated there, back when it was called 沼隈郡, in the village of 千年村. While I dont know where exactly that village was, or where I would look for it, I would like to at least visit the area. If I dont, I will feel that I wasted my time here in Hiroshima prefecture.
To say that I've made friends here in Hiroshima would be a bit of an understatement. I wont deny that we've had our differences, and that under different circumstances we would never have been friends. But we've laughed together, cried together, and had amazing adventures together. Because we'll be going to different places (some to different countries), I want some kind of physical reminder of our time here. The easiest would of course be pictures. We all have digi cams, and I plan on trying to carry mine with me as often as possible. Whether they're of unusual occurences, or simply us hanging out, I want to remember these times. I also want プリクラ with as many people as I can, particularly the Japanese people. Basically the same reasons as the photographs, but because プリクラ are made specifically for friends, there is an added nuance to them.
I havent made my plans to leave Japan just yet, so I dont know exactly how much time I have left. But that's no excuse for being lazy about things. I will use what time I have remaining to make my time in Japan memorable. I dont know when I'll be back in Hiroshima, so I need to do all the things I need to do. And especially for Fukuyama, there is a bit of a personal imperative. And finally, I want physical proof of the friendships I've made here. To that end, I want to take lots of pictures with my digicam, as well as tons of プリクラ. I've got a fun two months ahead of me, I think.
It is surprising and unfortunate, but I still have not spent much time in the city in the nine months I've been here. Besides the shopping district of 本通, I havent really been to the 原爆ドーム Atomic Dome, which was something I really feel like I should visit. I also hear that there's a really good art museum in the city, and while I'm not an art buff, it should still be interesting to visit. And finally, there are several big department stores, like Tokyu Hands, which I havent been to yet.
In the prefecture, there are also places I should really visit. Onomichi is in the eastern part of the prefecture, and has a lot of temples. In fact, most of these temples belong to a pilgrimage route, although I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. And according to my friends that have gone there already, there's a really good ramen shop, run by a Japanese guy that lived in Miami for the last ten years. Also in the east is Fukuyama City. My reason for going there is quite personal: the Matsuo family originated there, back when it was called 沼隈郡, in the village of 千年村. While I dont know where exactly that village was, or where I would look for it, I would like to at least visit the area. If I dont, I will feel that I wasted my time here in Hiroshima prefecture.
To say that I've made friends here in Hiroshima would be a bit of an understatement. I wont deny that we've had our differences, and that under different circumstances we would never have been friends. But we've laughed together, cried together, and had amazing adventures together. Because we'll be going to different places (some to different countries), I want some kind of physical reminder of our time here. The easiest would of course be pictures. We all have digi cams, and I plan on trying to carry mine with me as often as possible. Whether they're of unusual occurences, or simply us hanging out, I want to remember these times. I also want プリクラ with as many people as I can, particularly the Japanese people. Basically the same reasons as the photographs, but because プリクラ are made specifically for friends, there is an added nuance to them.
I havent made my plans to leave Japan just yet, so I dont know exactly how much time I have left. But that's no excuse for being lazy about things. I will use what time I have remaining to make my time in Japan memorable. I dont know when I'll be back in Hiroshima, so I need to do all the things I need to do. And especially for Fukuyama, there is a bit of a personal imperative. And finally, I want physical proof of the friendships I've made here. To that end, I want to take lots of pictures with my digicam, as well as tons of プリクラ. I've got a fun two months ahead of me, I think.
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