Festivals Galore (Late...)

Another out of date entry... sorry!

Yamaga Area お月見祭り 10/16/11

Guess I am back to a couple more late ones. Gathering pictures from people takes time! <3

People lined up to enjoy the koto

September and October are purportedly the most apt times of the year to view the night sky in Japan. The moon shines brighter, appears larger, and more often than not, there is no cloud obstruction. Because of this, and the wonderful weather, there are many festivals and activities that occur around this time of the year. 

Getting silly and pretty!

Yesterday (10/16) was one of those events. Specifically the otsukimi (moon viewing). My tea ceremony group was elected/selected/requested to serve at the festival so we became guest participants. I said yes because they told me I could wear a kimono. To that end, Saturday, although I took a train all the way out to Fukuoka (a two hour trip each way) to watch a baseball game and eat dinner with the biggest gathering of Kyushu JETs in years (about 90 of us), I came back that same night to get some rest for the festival.

Turns out I didn't have to be there until 1:30 so I could have stayed out later but we will let that go. Ended up running in the morning while my training partner slept off his hangover (looking for a new running buddy since mine has become slightly unreliable - though maybe he will improve with the New Year). This "morning run" became 10:30 even for me because I was exhausted but once I finished, showered and scarfed down lunch it was off to Yamaga to meet the tea team. The event was to be held at the kouminkan (community center) but when we arrived it was filthy so we got down and scrubbed. Between the seven of us, we finished much earlier than planned so we had a little extra time for getting pretty.

nihon buyo performance

My dance teacher (the local kimono shop owner) was not available to help us dress so we had to forfeit the idea of wearing kimono since there simply was not enough time for the one member available to tie my kimono and hers as well. Instead, my tea friends and I mixed and matched. I wore one of my friend's yukata but as the fabric was silk synthetic it was more like a kimono than a yukata so I got to use the special undergarments around my shoulders to make sure the fabric stood up correctly. The obi was the same as those of a yukata so I guess you could say I was 1/3rd of the way in real traditional garb. Because of weekly dance practice I can put on a yukata with ease so I had a little extra time to help out my friends with their ensembles. 

Once we were ready it was back to the community center (kouminkan - if you remember) with bentos in tow. They put an apron around me so I wouldn't spill all over myself the proceeded to dote on how much I look like a Japanese wife. My tea members then spent dinner trying to convince me to marry a Japanese man. I confess, the thought of staying in the this country had crossed my mind more than once but that is for another day. It really comes down to how much of my life goals my family and I would be willing to sacrifice. To dream, however, is sweet.

You guessed it ... The fabled apron

After dinner we were on the fast track to tea as we prepped the sitting and serving areas for the flood of people that was predicted. Once the festival began to the sound of the electric koto, however (yes, a keyboard and a traditional koto combined into one instrument), there were hardly any people there. It really turned out to be a real shame because throughout the night there was barely a trickle of people although the events and performers were outstanding. An a capella group followed the electric koto and they recited a poem (tanka) to a rhythm then there was the ocarina players, bamboo flutist, harmonica player and lastly a nihon buyo performance (Japanese traditional dance like I study). This was not my teachers group but instead a professional performer who has a small dance school in the area. One of my middle school students actually performed that night and danced beautifully.

The festival ended around 9 but we had to clean, pack-up, unload everything at sensei's house then sit down for some tea and sweets before she would let us go home so I actually didn't get home until around 11. Pretty late for a Sunday but overall a really good experience.

Ota village 濁酒祭り Doburoku festival　10/17/11

On the following Monday (10/17) I was scheduled to visit one of my village schools but a few days prior had received a fax mentioning that there was a local festival in the village and asking me not to drive. Well because of a long weekend and just plain forgetting, I ended up driving to work only to be greeted by a long line of cars parked as far as 2 miles from my school while people crowded the streets from there up the playground of my school frequenting the various shopfronts that had popped up that morning. They were preparing their kiosks for the shrine/sake festival that would be taking place that afternoon.

Because of the festival many of my classes were cancelled but I did get to go out and enjoy the festival with my students while we sold rice they has grown and cut then packaged up real pretty. I was kind of honored when they asked me to come along. and thus also felt obligated to purchase a bag for myself. [It was just finished this morning and was quite delicious by the way] they were selling 1kg bags of the rice for 300yen and although they started with over 100kg of the stuff, it sold out in about 15mins between the cute factor of the children themselves and them yelling and hollering "buy our home grown rice".

Prior to selling the rice, however, we visited the shrine where the main part of the festival was to be held so we could receive our free sake samples. Being as I had driven to work that day (against their recommendation) I was unable to partake in the ceremonial drinking of the alcohol but as I am not accustomed to drinking at 11 in the morning anyway, it was almost a welcome reprieve. They did give me a small sample container to bring home and I did get breathalized (for the first time ever) on my way home as the po-po were out in full force to make sure grandpa didn't drive himself home after praying. The booze was very grainy and did not suit my pallet very well but here's to new experiences!

Yamaga Area 文化祭 Culture festival 11/20/11

My tea group post-culture festival

On account of I am so late with this entry I thought I should go ahead and include another tea event in this part of the blog. About a month after the aforementioned festival, we were invited to serve tea again at a local festival. This time, however, it was a huge event and we literally spent 5 hours serving tea to hundreds of people from all reaches of the area. While it was fun, it was very exhausting and I will detail a little of what I think is important...

We had to arrive pretty early this time, getting dressed in kimono by 8 so we could begin setting up as soon as the tea group from the day before cleared out. I am getting ahead of myself though because I neglected to mention that we had to prep the day before by bringing in many MANY boxes of tea cups (茶碗）and all the other tea supplies. Anyway, once we arrived at the culture center (which doubles as the city office/board of education out here in rural Yamaga) and got set up, things were really beginning to get popping. I then spent the next five hours (until around 3:30) serving tea numerous times not just on stage in front of an audience, but also to the waiting crowds while other people performed for the public. It was a combination of tiring, embarrassing, and amazing.

Me, doing tea.

It has been a while since I thought about this festival but I still vividly remember how difficult it was to serve tea on the stage while people looked on. I guess I don't thrive solo under the pressure, well I should not say it quite like that since I only messed up a little bit during the ceremony, but it was far from easy.

All of my tea teachers and me

During the new year I attended an お茶会 (tea ceremony meeting), like the one I went to a year ago with the fancy candies and the kimono, and I watched one woman pour tea. This time I was a lot more invested in the actual tea ceremony portion of the meeting (the year before I had been a lot more concerned with making sure I didn't spill anything on my kimono or do something stupid) and I noticed how serene and peaceful the server's face looked while she was performing the ceremony. I took multiple pictures for reference to myself later because she simply looked completely zen. I decided I would try from then on to reach that kind of relaxation from tea. I think that is what they originally created it for anyway. Perhaps it wasn't for the sweets and the company after all. haha.

Delicious tea sweets

One of the tea rooms - Western style

Once the tea was done, we ended a little early and changed from our kimono into normal clothes so we could clean up. It wasn't until around 6 that I finally got home after spending a little time at sensei's house where she fed us makizushi and yet more tea. I don't think I have ever consumed so much tea in my life and once I finally got home I simply had to run on account of being so hopped up on caffeine.

There are a few more festivals I had attended since starting this entry. One was the 鬼ｰE (demon calling) festival in Bungotakeda/Kunisaki (January 29th) where we spent a very late night in a temple watching while monks danced around fire and called forth a demon dressed like the dark version of spiderman. When another demon came out and started fighting with the black demon the fire got intense and the temple quickly heated up while people began to clear out. Epic demon fighting festival - check. (I may make a movie about this later, so be on the lookout).

Monks dancing to call the demons

And here they come

Even demons respect monks

Epic demon fire fight. 

A few short days before that (January 14th) I was going to tea in the afternoon when A and M mentioned I should come into Yamaga early if possible. A wanted to wear kimono to tea and M wanted me to see a small festival taking place literally right outside her house. I did both and the festival was a little ridiculous. A man invoked a god and then took a bath in a boiling tub. People stood around to watch and get blessed by the god incarnate while he literally beat them with fern leaves dipped in boiling water. I remarked to A that Japanese people seem to be pretty masochistic. She laughed and agreed.

There were a few other festivals I missed after those big ones since I took a few trips here and there but that about sums up New Year's and year end festivals for me. Since it is almost 桜 (cherry blossom) season, be prepared for more entries yet to come concerning Spring festivals and the like. Love!

Yeah, he is getting into a boiling pot