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!

SNAFU

I wanted to go to Kyoto again to find some omiyage for people back in Hiroshima as well as in Hawaii. I originally planned to spend the first part of the day there, and the remainder back in Osaka. Unfortunately, this plan didnt really happen. Mostly because I have forgotten the layout of the main shopping area in Kyoto since my last visit, and also because I didnt realise how far away Kyoto is from Osaka. However, I bought the things I needed, and have enjoyed my last day in the Kansai area. I just finished packing, and even though I'm yawning like crazy, I want to write my last blog post for this trip before going to bed.

The Teramachi area of Kyoto is simply a wonderful place to find omiyage. Whether you need a distinctly Japanese item, or if you're looking for things on the cheap, I suggest you check there first. In addition to omiyage, I wanted to check Chicago, a used clothing store for some kimono things. I'm sure there are places like this in Osaka, but I dont know them, and I like Kyoto, so after leaving my hotel, I headed to the Hankyu Umeda Station. I was not expecting the train ride to be as long as it was. The way people talk, it sounds like getting through the Keihanshin area is fast and easy. However, I should have realised that the opposite is true, considering it took about forty five minutes to get to Kobe, from Osaka. To get to Kyoto, it took me about an hour. And when I got there, I promptly got lost. I thought I had remembered the area around Shijo, but I think that was wishful thinking. It took me about another hour to figure out which exit to take, and from there, which direction to get to Teramachi. Even more frustrating was the fact that I later discovered the exit that leads from the station directly to the beginning of the market.

In any case, shopping in the Teramachi/Nishiki Market area was just as wonderful as it was the last time I was there. One of the men in Tsukikage asked me to buy him a turquoise obi for him, and since Chicago is the only used kimono store I know of, I made it a top priority. When I got there, they indeed had a turqoise obi, but I ended up not buying it. Compared to the other obi, it was a bit skinny, and that made me wonder if it was appropriate for an adult man to wear it. And because it was a bit expensive (about thirty dollars, ten dollars more expensive than the others), I didnt want to buy a mistake. I didnt know who I could ask for help, so I regretfully left it behind. I will have to ask around about that, but if it was indeed useable, I feel bad.

A store nearby Chicago was Octopus Army, and it specializes in mens clothes. I was enticed by the mannequin outside of the shop. What caught my eye was its shoes, a pair of beautiful black boots, with blue laces. Boots are very common here in Japan, and I have come to admire them. I really wanted to buy them, but it was about a hundred and fifty dollars, which is way more than I ever plan to spend for shoes. I eventually succumbed in buying from the store. I bought one of the polo shirts they were selling. It is rather plain, with the main body simply being black with a small writing on the left chest area. But the collar is an interesting black and grey check pattern, and I really like it. When they let me try it on, with my white long sleeve underneath, it looked really good. However, it was fifty dollars, which would make it the most expensive shirt I've ever bought. I really agonized about it, and I probably drove the store clerks crazy with my hesitation. What didnt help was it had competition. The shirt I bought beat out a t-shirt with a panda that said "Money doesnt buy happiness" (IRONIC RIGHT), and a white and blue polo. Also, it came only in medium, that actually fit me, but was also a bit tight. It looks fine when I was standing up, but I worry for what it looks like when I sit down. In any case, I bought it, and rationalized that it is my Boy's Day gift to me (a day late). Since it was so expensive, I need to wear it on days that I need to look amazing on. Watch for it, ね!

By the time I finished everything that I needed to do in Kyoto, I headed back to Osaka. By this time, it was about five, and not only had I spent a fair amount of money, but my legs were very sore (yup, still not fully recovered). At this time, I realised that even though I came to Osaka, I spent more time and money in Kobe and Kyoto. Isnt that a bit ironic? After thinking it over, I decided to walk around the Umeda area, and try to support Osaka businesses. With that in mind, I headed to the HEP Five building thing, which I heard was a big shopping mall. And it certainly was! There were ten floors, and so many shops. Naturally, there were a lot of clothes stores, with some really nice stuff for sale, but it was way too expensive for me. There was a piercing shop that caught my eye, but unfortunately, the ones I liked were too big for my holes. I did enjoy the music store in there, and picked up a mixed CD. It's certainly different from most of the other music I listen to, but if I ever need a party mix, I found it.

This concludes my trip to Kansai for Golden Week. Tomorrow morning, I have to wake up early to check out of the hotel and catch my shinkansen back to Hiroshima. It has been a lesson in wasting time and making mistakes. I missed the MBLAQ fan meet on Wednesday, and today I got lost in Kyoto. There are so many things I would change if I could turn back the clock. But you know what? Even though I cant replace lost time, or undo my mistakes, this trip has not been a complete failure. I got a lot of great presents for my nephews for Boy's Day, my mom for Mother's Day, and my father for his retirement. And also I got a lot of omiyage for my friends. Even though things went wrong, I guess I should keep my success at the forefront of my mind. With that, I bid you good night.

Round Two!

Today, I finished the second week of school for the Spring Term here at Hiroshima University. Although break was a fun time, being put back to work hasnt been a completely bad experience. It's good to have structure in life. However, I already know which classes I'm going to get burned from, even though we've only had two days of instruction. I can only hope that my enjoyable classes stay that way, and keep me from going crazy.

現代史, or "Contemporary History" is on Tuesday afternoons, and is a rather terrible way to end the day. I saw it in the syllabus database, but I decided to take it only after I learned that one of my Japanese friends was going to take it. Its content is basically post-war German history; not exactly my cup of tea, but hardly offensive. However, after the first class, I began to have doubts about it, mostly because the teacher rambles on and on and on. It's worse than most teachers because I dont think he realises how boring he is. I would drop it, but stupid me didnt believe my friend when he said he was thinking of dropping the class. After I got the professor's signature and turned in my registration form, I learned that my friend had indeed dropped the class. This past week's lesson wasnt better than the first. We discussed the German constitution, and I have no idea what was going on because the constitution is written (well, translated) into very formal (read: Verbose) Japanese. Even if I had been able to read the fifty million kanji that were on the screen, I still wouldnt have been able to understand the slides, because I have rarely seen (if ever) any of the grammar structures. For the moment, I havent withdrawn from the class because I havent actually registered for it, but because the grade for the course is completely dependent on the final, there is a chance I could pass it. However, the textbook is written in Formal Japanese, which means I get stuck every other character. Since I can withdraw at any time, I suppose there is no rush to drop it, but I am seriously worried about that class.

The other class that worries me is my 古典中世文学演習 class, which is on classical Japanese literature. To get credits at UHM, I need to take two classes here to equal on UHM class, so I decided on this one. I learned of this class from my literature professor from last semester, but the reason I really need to pass this class is because it'll give me credit for EALL 371 (Traditional Japanese Literature), and possibly JPN 466 (Readings in Classical Japanese). The other Japanese literature class that was recommended to me would only have gotten me EALL 271 (Traditional Japanese Literature in Translation), but I'd rather take that class at UHM next semester, as it will get me a writing intensive credit (which I really need). But from the first class, I had a bad feeling. For one thing, the professor speaks really fast, in my opinion, so I can barely process what he says, much less understand. The course content doesnt help either. We're reading a text called 八重葎 Yaemugura, and I've only been able to find snippets about it on the internet. But that's not the problematic part. We have to translate the original text from 変体仮名 to 現代仮名遣い, and then into Modern Japanese. What is 変体仮名 you may ask. It is an older form of ひらがな, and is less standardized and more calligraphic. In other words, it's like reading cursive, from back in the day, when people would write everything in size eight font, with E's after the TH, and having more OU's than you need. And to top it all off, the professor isnt exactly happy to have a foreign student in his class. When I asked him to sign my registration paper, I asked him straight up, Is it okay for me to take this class? He never answered my question. He didnt say, "This will be a wonderful class for you!", or "It's going to be difficult, but try your best!", or even "No, this is too hard for you". Thankfully, I have a few friends here who can help me translate, but I'm not really sure what section I've been assigned to translate, or who is in my group. Of all my classes, this is the one that I'm very sure I will screw up in, and everyone in the class will think I'm such a dunce.

Having said all of that, there are a few classes that I am excited to take. With the exception of Level 4 Japanese (it's going to be the same as last semester -_-;), My Level 5 Japanese class, Japanese poetry class, Politics and Foreign Relations of Japan class, and Cross Cultural Studies on Education class all look to be very fun and interesting, as well as useful.

My Level Five class is the 分析 class, or Analytics. Its goal is to better our writing, by comparing natural Japanese with the Japanese of people who are learning it. Although we do have to write an essay every week, the essays are hardly long (half a page typed), and (so far) the topics are really basic (eg 自己紹介 Self introduction). I think this class will be the most important of all my Japanese classes here, if only because it will encourage me to practice the grammar and vocabulary I am learning, as well as make me think like 日本人. Although I doubt I will ever become native level fluent, I think this'll help me get as close to that as I can. The teacher of the class is a bit spacey, and I dont always understand him, but the gist of the class is fascinating. Even though I may write or speak in Japanese, sentence formation is always in English. That is, I determine what I want to say in English, translate it to Japanese, and then display it (in the form of conversation or writing). However, this means there are transcription errors, because some English forms cant exist in Japanese, or vice versa. By looking at sentence formation from a Japanese perspective, perhaps my Japanese (or way of thinking) can become more "natural".

The Politics class I'm taking looks interesting, although because of the literature class just before it, I've always been in a foul mood (really need to work on that). The two professors that teach it have such bubbly personalities, and seem to have a relationship akin to Lucy and Ethel (DONT JUDGE), I feel bad that I dont enjoy their class more. Ostensibly, the course is to teach us how the Japanese government works, and how it interacts with other countries on the international level. Seeing as I would like to work on that international level (although probably on the American side [sorry Japan]), taking this class was a given from the start. Like I said, I have yet to go to the class happy, so I cant really say much about how I think it'll be going. We are given the chance to do a presentation on a topic related to Japanese poltics or foreign relations, and to be quite honest, I'm happy for that. In my application to the program here, I said that one of the things I'd like to accomplish is telling people about the Japanese in Hawaii. For better or worse, the Japanese in Japan have forgotten their brethren in Hawaii, despite the strong ties that once existed (and actually, still do). I have to tell the profs when I would like to present, but I already know my topic. (I imagine if the lit class didnt bring me down so much, I'd be much more excited for this class. Fuck Japanese lit.)

My Japanese poetry class is taught by the teacher I had last semester in Japanese literature. He's such a funny teacher, and even though I'm not going to get credit for it, I decided to take his class anyway. The poems were written by various poets during the Taisho and Early Showa period, and so feature some archaic Japanese. But it's mostly in the form of ゐ, which is modern い, or maybe some 旧字体 kanji. But nothing diffuclt (LIKE SOME OTHER LIT CLASSES). Although I dont understand the explanations completely, the short ones are sufficiently simple enough for me to not only understand them, but also enjoy them. Finally, the other plus of this course is that I actually know people in it! One of the Chinese girls I knew from last semester's class is back again, with a friend of hers, and I also convinced one of the American girls to take it with me. Two of the Korean girls are taking it too, so we finally have a noticable group of HUSAs to combat those hostile Japanese kids. (<----That may be the paranoia talking, I dont know.)

To be completely honest, I signed up for the education class for one reason: I WANT FIELD TRIPS. I had heard through the grapevine that the education class offeres field trips to local schools, and I knew that I wanted this class. But the professor that teaches is it so friendly, and it actually does sound somewhat interesting. Last class we discussed what culture is, and it was insightful, inasmuch as it confirmed what I have been notice: Culture is a fluid property, and can be used to group people together, as well as drive them apart. Although I planned for this class for silly reasons, I am glad I'm taking it. If only I was going to get credit for it...

Today is Thursday, so I had my Level 4, Japanese lit, Politics, and Level 5 classes today. While three out of the four were good classes, Japanese lit brought me down a lot, and I'm still bitter about my 現代史 class on Tuesday. And on top of that, I've had some personal issues that I need to deal with. Despite all that, I need to focus on the good things that are happening. This semester, I have Wednesday and Friday off, so I'm hoping that I will use the extra time for good use; namely, working hard for the difficult classes I have. And more long term, I need to realize that I need to push myself to become the best that I can be. This semester will be difficult, and there is a really good chance I will fail some classes (sorry Grandma, I'm not my sister). But you know what? Even if there is shame from an F on my report card, I need to try my best to make that a high F. British Ben ended his last blog post with "頑張っている". That is a mindset I should adopt. 頑張って、わたし！

Loose Ends

Today was my last full day in Kyoto! As such, it was imperative that I finish doing everything I planned to do here. I had planned to see the two 本願寺, as well as 松尾大社. If not for a few embarrassing events, today was a calm end to a very fun trip.

My hotel is only a few blocks away from the two 本願寺. They are the head temples for the two main branches of 浄土真宗: The Western Branch and the Eastern Branch (大谷派). While I'm not really a Buddhist, my grandparents and all of them went to Papaikou Hongwanji, and I have a lot of friends that went to the ヒロ本派本願寺. I was originally under the impression that the two temples were seperated by a great distance. But when I consulted a map of the city, I found that they are only a few blocks away from each other. I first went to the 東本願寺, which is closer to my hotel (also visible). The temple complex is pretty large, and is surrounded by a wall and moat. An interesting thing about this temple is that they have a huge flock of resident pigeons that you can feed if you buy a small bag of food (100￥). I like feeding animals, but this was either the most hilarious or the most frightening thing I have ever done. Have you ever seen the movie "The Birds"? In the movie, the birds go crazy and start to swarm (and attack) the people of a little town. That's pretty much what happened to me when they noticed I had food. I tried not to scream when a MASSIVE WALL OF PIGEONS surged towards me; out of reflex (and a bit of fear), I swung my arms around and may have hit a bird or two. I never want to be in the middle of a pidgeon storm, so I dont know if I'll ever be feeding those pigeons again. Anyways, after dealing with that, I headed to the main buildings. I didnt know what to expect, but the buildings were pretty much like every other 本願寺 I've ever been in, except on a much larger scale. Photography was not allowed, so I cant show you what the inside looked like, but if you've ever been in a temple, you can imagine the floor of tatami, and the raised platform where Amida Buddha is placed. After browsing the gift shop, I headed over to 西本願寺. And except for the flock of pigeons, everything that I said about the 東本願寺 goes for 西本願寺. I suppose I shouldnt be too surprised, but I was mildy amused that the two were almost exactly the same thing.

It was here at 西本願寺 that I had one unfortunate encounter. Because this year is a big anniversary for the death of Shinran Shonin, the two temples are undergoing renovation/restoration. One of the main halls of the temple was closed off from public access. However, because I saw a group of people walking around that area, I assumed that people were allowed there. But no, a few seconds later, a priest (trainee, I think) and a security guard came running over to tell me that no, you're not allowed there. Arghh. I quickly sped away to the bookstore, with my tail firmly set between my legs.

I wanted to visit 松尾大社 for a long time now. Mostly because it has a similar name to me, but as it turned out, it's a very peaceful shrine to visit. Getting there was the most complicated set of train transfers I've had to do. From Kyoto Station, I took the subway to 四条烏丸, where I had to transfer to the 阪急線 bound for 桂駅. From there, I had to make a final transfer to the 阪急嵐山線 to arrive at 松尾駅. I think this is the farthest out of the city I went on this trip! From there, I walked up to the shrine. The shrine area is rather large; probably the largest shrine I've been to yet. There are multiple shrine thingies, each devoted to a different 神様. I couldnt read all of them, but I did pray at a few of them. The main shrine was pretty nice too; apparently, its architectural style is different from most shrines. They also have a mini museum type thing, where three wooden statues are on display. I feel bad, because the old man in that section played the recorded explanation of the statues, but I have no idea what they were saying. I need to translate the little pamphlet they gave me. From there, I walked up a short path to where there is a small waterfall. It was here that some noble guy back in the day saw a turtle bathing, which led him to build 松尾大社. Because of the turtle, there were many turtle shaped objects around. I should have waited to buy my mother's omiyage here, because she would have loved to get a turtle お守り with our name on it! But instead, I got a small お守り for myself, as well as a book on the shrine. I highly recommend you to visit this shrine if you ever go to Kyoto. Although a bit removed from the city, it was so very peaceful there. It's also surrounded by nature, what with the forrested mountain in the background, as well as the waterfall and resulting river.

I suppose the unfortunate event that happened here wasnt so bad; in fact, for the temple, it was a very good thing. Because I didnt understand what was going on, I paid double admission to the small museum thing they have. There were two windows to pay at; one near the front gates, and another at the start of the path to the museum. After I paid the second time, I realized my mistake when I saw that she gave me the exact papers that the other window had given me. Oh well, I guess it's a good thing I'm helping out the family business, right?

I made my way back to my hotel, where I promptly fell asleep. I dont know how or why, because today was a pretty chill day, considering I only went to three religious sites. Also, while I had to go a bit aways for 松尾大社, it was mostly on a train, so I didnt even rack up that many steps today. And before sleeping, I had a coffee drink from the downstairs cafe!

In any case, after about three hours of sleep, I put myself together and headed back to ヨドバシカメラ to pick up my rice cooker. My aunty apparently feels sorry for me that I cook my rice on the stove, so she gave me money to buy a rice cooker. While it was fairly expensive, it cooks more rice than a single serving cooker that was the same price, so I got it. To make it worth my while, I'm hoping that we go on picnics and stuff during the spring, so I can have an excuse to make musbi, or spam musubi, or something. Feeling a bit hungry, I headed up to the top floor, where all the restaurants are. I decided on eating at a tempura restaurant, and I'm glad I did. I got the 特製海老丼, which had shrimp, shiso leaf, まいたけ mushrooms, and some kind of fishy thing. The waitress must have thought I was an idiot when I asked if it came with rice (PROTIP: If you see 丼 anywhere on the menu, it comes with rice), but the plate in the picture looked too shallow to have rice. But indeed it did, and the sauce that came with it was really something else. Thicker than the regular tempura dipping sauce, it went nicely with the meal. Another interesting thing about this restaurant is that water and miso soup are refillable. I was quite surprised when the waitress came over and asked if I wanted more miso soup after I had finished it. While it was a bit expensive at 980円, I was very satisfied with it, and do not regret it in the least.

I walked back to the hotel and began to pack. I dont know how, but I managed to get everything I had folded and into my suitcase in about forty five minutes. Which is pretty fast, if you know how I tend to spread out all over the place. However, I think I went shopping a little too much, because my suitcase is way heavier than it was when I got here. I think it's mostly because my rice cooker (which I hope doesnt break >.<), but I dont think all the scallops, ika, and rest of the things I bought are helping. Now that I've showered, all my clothes (except tomorrow's outfit) are packed away. I'm ready to check out at eleven, head to the station and leave on my bus a little after twelve. I've had just a wonderful vacation here in Kyoto. Catching up with an old friend, seeing many cultural properties, and of course SHOPPING! Haha. And while there were a few mistakes and embarressments, I think I can live with them. I will return to Hiroshima happy. ^_^