week 27

so 6mths in japan...wow! it has gone so slowly, but i have done so much when i think about the last six months activities!! but no time to reminisce at the moment as once again i am uber busy with school and extra curricular stuff.

i had an elementary school visit which went really well again although singing heads shoulders knees and toes 20 times was tiring! shoggako kids are so rewarding though so it makes the sleepiness worthwhile.

this week i played tennis, met katie and jill to plan a trip away in a few weeks, went to a jazz club in fukui with john, kim, andy, his gf, beata and some japanese dudes and went to berrys for mmmmmilkshakes with a friendly face or two. the jazz club turned out to be a little costly but the ambience in this basement bar wascomforting and soothing and the music played by some forty something japanese men was pretty funkster. Berry's was great as i got the chance to talk nonsense and have fun with a load of alts, oh and the milkshakes are always to die for.

ohhhhhhhhh and on thursday we were bombarded with snow :) :)
it was so glistening and pretty all around. i loved it! but it felt like xmas which was odd.

the snow didnt last long though as it mostly melted on saturday whilst i was in gifu with jordana, katie and meagan. we went to the Hadaka Matsuri in noguchi town. i had heard about it randomly and decided i wanted to go and so i drove down early in the morning. with suprising ease we arrived at the temple for a day of madness and fun!

Hadaka matsuri is better known as the naked man festival and takes place at different places and temples over japan. the festival's purpose is to purify men's souls. thus men in loin cloths run around the streets of the town, into the temple and through a river shouting 'washoi, washoi'. this weekend was also setsuban in japan which is supposedly the official end to winter (not that winter has arrived this year-yet). so combined with the nakedness was some mame (bean) throwing.

we arrived in beautiful weather and walked to the village's temple (built in 1200) where lots of people were praying and hanging around. we looked around and then watched an unexpected event. on a raised platform about 6 people appeared dressed in blue traditional costumes and threw paper bags of beans at the people below! the japanese do not like to lose out! they were scarmbling, pushing and pulling with such force and determination it was unbelieveable! some of the older people actually got knocked over and had to be helped up! crazy. i was lucky enough to get a pieceof paper in my bag along with the mame which meant that i had won a small prize, go me!

whilst watching the mame throwing a japanese version of tommy cooper appeared and started jibbering away in japanese, i tried talking with him in my less than extensive japanese, and he began to lead us somewhere! we were taken into a room below the temple where the people who had been throwing the beans were now gathered. we were shown to sit on the tatami and given red bean fish and coffee. mr cooper with the help of some other japanese people who spoke some english, spoke to us and asked us the usual questions. then he asked us whether we wanted to have a go at dressing up and throwing the beans! of course we were very happy to do so! so at 11 we got our chance to lob beans at japanese people! very surreal and funny, apologies to the old man i whacked on the head with a bag!!
after having a little wander around the village we were ushered by another kind japanese guy into a smokey barn where we found the men getting ready for their appearance in the loin cloths. the room was obviously full of 98% men, but i felt more comfortable to see a couple of women in the corners. there was a big open fire where a japanese beef soup was being cooked. we were offered the soup which was delicious. whilst eating we had our photo taken about hundred times which was a little odd. this is the first time in japan that i have felt so foreign. in fact towards the end of the day this did become quite annoying and i felt rather uncomfortable at being the centre of attention.

the men who were preparing themselves seemed to be having a great time, smoking, laughing and drinking vast amounts of sake with their friends. im not sure if anyone can participate in the loin cloth wearing or if you have to be chosen, but there were around 30 men. apparently every year, some ages are classed as unlucky (this year apparently it is 19 and 44 for men) therefore if it is your unlucky year it is a good idea to take part in the festival to purify yourself. the men were helping each other put on the loins and then spat sake on each other with great vigor! it was omoshiroi to watch!! i did feel rather sorry for the men whose anatomy must have been frozen. they all stood shivering around the fire, but im sure the sake helped warm them and eradicate any nerves.

after some time they then huddled as a group and ran from the barn to the temple. they danced around and had water thrown at them. they then entered the temple and took part in a ceremony which we didnt see. later on however they appeared again at the riverside. they ran around and then into and through the river! complete madness. after this they ran back to the temple had more water thrown at them and also rice which obviously stuck to their wet bodies!! it was so funny to watch this especially when i didnt understand the deep cultural and religious reasoning behind the festivities! nonetheless it was funny and very fun to watch!
How could i follow up a day with over fifty naked japanese dudes, not easily let me tell you! I had quite a mellow morning playing tennis, doing a few chores that needed doing and then john and kim and i went to our local museum- the bamboo doll museum.

What the hell are bamboo dolls i hear you cry, well they are dolls made entirely of bamboo you silly person. They are pretty magnificent actually with incredible perfection and intense craftsmanship. We got to see some old men working on some dolls. They must have had the patience of saints to sit there and split bamboo with knives to the thickness of 1mm. Apparently these dolls are very well known in the world of japanese dolls. And so i should think. Theyre the best bamboo dolls ive ever seen.