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!

Earthquake

Yesterday, while taking a break from reading Cracked.com, I got a message from someone on facebook. They hoped that I was alright, and to message them back when I could. At first, I thought it was because I had just changed my privacy settings to super high, and that they thought I was feeling down. At the same time, I decided to check twitter, where I read that there had been a massive earthquake in the Tohoku region of Japan.

At around quarter to three in the afternoon yesterday, there was an earthquake off the coast of Sendai, Miyagi prefecture. Initial estimates of its magnitude were around 7 according to the United States Geological Survey, but it was later revised several times, to its current magnitude of 9. On the Japanese Meteorlogical Agency's scale, it is magnitude 7, which is the highest on the scale. It is the strongest earthquake to have hit Japan since records have been kept, and it ranks as the fifth largest earthquake in the world. Because of the earthquake, there have been multiple tsunami located in the Tohoku area. Looking at pictures of the affected areas, it is frightening. Waves crawling up land and totally demolishing houses, boats, and roadways, tossing cars aside as if they were toys. The entire Sendai Airport is submerged, complicating connecting flights to Narita and Haneda Airport. Although the epicenter of the earthquake was located off the coast of Sendai, not only the Tohoku Region, but also the Kanto Area, has been affected. In Chiba Prefecture, there was an oil refinery that ignited and blazed out of control. Of all the pictures I have seen, that scene is the most frightening I have seen. A huge red fireball burns, with black smoke billowing away. Fire fighters were unable to control the blaze for a long time, because it was simply too hot to approach.


The oil refinery in Chiba on fire.

According to NHK, the death toll is (as of 4:27 PM 12 March) around a thousand people dead, with hundreds more missing. Most casualties are because of the tsunami which have been repeatedly pouding the coastline. But there have been reports of people dying because they fell or had things fall on them during the shaking. Hundreds of people have been driven from their homes, and many are without power and running water.

Actually being in Japan while this is all going on, makes it a whole lot scarier for me, than it would be if I was in Hawaii. I mean, I'd still feel bad, but right now, I have friends in Tohoku and Tokyo. Thankfully, they are safe, but to be honest, I dont know how I would have handled it if they were hurt (or worse). From what they've posted on facebook, they're without power and inconvenienced, but alive and unhurt. Since I learned of this whole thing, I've been watching the live stream from NHK World's website. Also, I've been opening Twitter a lot more often, to see what the BBC or NYT is reporting, as well as translating NHK's tweets. Although it's not really anything, I somehow feel that this is my small part in helping. I would like to donate money to the Red Cross, by texting that 90999 number, but it doesnt work in Japan.

I am thankful to report that here in Hiroshima, we have not been affected at all by this terrible disaster. But I cannot help but feel sad at the pain the people of Tohoku are feeling. So many people are dead, and those who are alive have lost so much. But humans are resiliant, none more so than the Japanese. They are strong, and will survive this tradgedy.