竿燈祭り・Kanto festival

3 August ~ 6 August - and I went there every day.

So it might be best to talk about what Kanto actually is.

Firstly, it is a really old festival. It has a history of more than 3oo years, starting from the Meiji era and during that time it was celebrated to pray for a good rice harvest and the lanterns were to symbolize the rice stalks swaying in the wind. It was a small local celebration then with about 20 or more Kanto lantern pillars, but nowadays the amount of pillars has increased more than 10 fold and the festival has even caught the eyes of people overseas.

As by tradition, the lanterns are only carried by men due to the heaviness, but until the end of elementary school girls can also take part of the carrying (the smallest lanterns are about 5 kilos to 10). Afterwards they can be the taiko drum or flute players (most of the players actually are girls).

An essential part of Kanto - music. You can hear it from afar even not seeing the lanterns and already your hairs start to stand up. It's just so powerful. I can't really imagine the parade without the music. It just wouldn't be the real thing. But no can it be Kanto without the lanterns, now can it? Also the hayashi kotoba/kakigoe or the accompanying shouts to cheer the people on - 'dokkoisho, dokkoisho' is mostly heard, but the full-length version is actually 'dokkoishossho, dokkoisho, oetasaa, oetasa, nekko tsuita, oetasa' which of course is too long to say all the time (and has almost no meaning), but during today's last show it was shouted out in the speakers.

The usual festival hours were from 7 in the evening till about 9, but it sadly felt even shorter.

The towering lanterns over everybody's heads were so enchanting and magnificent that you just couldn't turn your eyes away. They quite scarily resembled people, walking slowly in the streets, bowing when the accidentally run into one another, scramble a bit and then slowly move on, gently swaying in balance of the people holding them on their shoulders, hips or foreheads.

Compared to the gentle lanterns, the people under them were running around like frantic ants on a hot summer day, which actually was true - it was hot and sweaty as in a sauna.

I can't say that it was a simple festival, but compared to all the complicated things in the world, it might have been the most clear example of the natural balance of everything - rapidness and calm, light and shadow, dream and awake... Yin and Yang in a really magical form.

But I most clearly remember today - the last of Kanto.

Different from usual, I didn't go far from the entry road along the pavement, but stayed near the crossroads where small children were gathering with their parents. Because there was a lot of space and a good view over the little heads I thought it might be the best place for me too to enjoy the show. Also concerning Kanto, it was the curve where the paraders turned around to go for the next round in the Kanto Road and for that there was a wide open agora (or in other words the fore-mentioned crossroads) to do the turn more easily. A lot of performing groups gathered there and it looked really crowded both on the ground and in the air. I arrived there during the end of the second performance and the beginning of the last. When the final whistle blew you could just see the flashing cheery eyes of the lantern holders, the stand-byes and the musicians. Whilst in air, the lanterns started to dance their gentle hypnosis for the last time, but then something even more intriguing happened. One person lost his balance and one of the Kanto pillars fell. So did the person next to him and his lanterns. And another. Then the next until most of the big lanterns on the curve fell down. It was like a blazing giant domino game. And I loved it! (How cruel, but I wasn't alone.) But that didn't mean the end of the show - they lighted the candles again and continued with all their might, but because they already had participated for 4 days, they seemed exhausted and the lanterns fell after that incident too. But they just kept on going.

Finishing whistle and everybody clapped and cheered. Finishing speeches from the mayor and another round of clapping. It was Fureai Kanto time - a chance to try to hold a kanto yourself, play the taiko and take photos of it all. Because it just might have been my once in a lifetime chance, I also grabbed hold of one of the pillars. It was the middle sized one, but still really heavy. If not mistaken, the middle one is about 30 kilograms. The biggest is about 5o and when decorations are added, it will be even more. I tried to hold it above, but of course I only succeeded in touching it correctly. Balance was a completely round zero.

God it felt great! Everything!

And adding to Kanto (or the time before it), I just spent the most magnificent day during my home stay so far. Because one of my sisters came back from Osaka for a home visit, we decided to go out to Nikaho city, me, host mum and the two sisters, to the more southern part of Akita prefecture past Honjo. We had a reservation in a place called Garden Cafe Time - a huge beautiful garden cafe where on a garden house veranda you can enjoy the healthiest homemade dishes in the world. Or so I believe. The place is just swallowed in a cloud of herbal aromas - mint, thyme, parsley, lavender, rosemary, all sorts of different flowers - everything was there. (The site is only in Japanese and there are no photos doing the place justice so I'll upload some pictures tomorrow. :)

Later we also went to a local small onsen, which had really rich baths. By rich I mean mineral wise. After that we went to THE BEACH.

YAHOOO! My kingdom! It was really awesome and fun and long waited, plus the water was so bright blue that it felt like burning in my eyes.

I just wish I had eyes coloured like so.

Lastly we yet again went to an onsen but a different one called Nemuno oka (ねむの丘) located at a road station. The building itself looked high class and when you entered the main doors there was a clear sign saying 'Baths on the 4th floor with a beautiful view of the sea.'

No kidding.

We just happened to arrive there during sunset.

Did I mention the water? Yeah, it was really rich. And it felt like burning my skin this time around. That might have been because of my sudden light sunburn. The sun in Japan is unbelievably strong - I don't go 'fried chicken' so easily...

Whilst driving back I sent my mate the Sun to the back of the horizon, spending some magical minutes constantly looking at the slow sinking of the orange melted sky and canary coloured clouds floating in a lavender purple sea. I almost felt like crying because of the sheer sight of all the beauty at that moment.

Only thing left to do now is to paint it by heart so that I could have a piece of the magic with me always.

Still being the luckiest bugger in the world. :)

Ta-ta and Hail hoy!

Hey ho an' a Pottle of rumm

Camp life = Park Life!

Yes people, I'm back from my adventures at the JRC camp! It was unfortunately really short but none the less really fun!

It was held at a youth centre quite near my home (about 15 minutes by car), but due to bad weather we couldn't do any outdoor activity which was a bit unfortunate, but didn't make the camp any less fun. There was plenty to do indoors too.

For example we learned how to do CPR, how to wrap bandages on different wounds and what to do during times of trouble etc. It was also called 'leadership camp', so there were workshops about cooperation and discussions about self independence and the like. We also did a bit of volunteer work by translating Japanese children books into Khmer and sent them off to Cambodia. I can't speak Khmer, and I never will, but the translating meant sticking Khmer sentences over the original lines and a label with your name on the last page. It was my first time doing that sort of work and I really think I'll start doing charity in the future (and not just stick stickers into books).

We were all divided into separate groups and I was actually put into the junior high school one, which meant a whole different environment for me, but everybody was really lively and childishly curious so I had a lot to talk about with them and really felt in the group. There were people from all around the prefecture so we got to mingle with many, many different people from different ages. I so missed events like that. Reminded me that awesome last year a bit. :)

Also I got the chance to meet two AFS exchange students there and hear about their feelings and thoughts about Japan. They were quite different from mine, but still we had a lot in common too and for that we stayed up quite late to talk and laugh. Quite loudly... I hope we were no bother for others... Honestly.

I also met a teacher who really resembled Miyazaki Hayao to me and I secretly took reference photos of him for my drawings. I have really sneaky schemes with those. Hahaha! :P

Overall it was a really fulfilling and eye opening experience, which helped me to understand even more clearly the reasons for me being where I am and also where I want to go. And all in really good company.

And speaking of where I want to go, Kanto is tomorrow! And that's not all - we might be going to Aomori too for the Nebuta festival, the big celebration with gigantic lantern monuments and definitely going to Oomagari in Akita for the might be biggest fireworks festival in Japan. And with my host sister that I haven't met yet!

I just learned these things today when I got back so I almost fell off my chair when I heard it all. I just might actually be the luckiest bugger alive. Oh, and there's Obon too...

But that would be the subject for my next post.

And lastly about my school - still on summer vacation, but before going to camp I said my goodbyes and 'good lucks' to my kendo mates who are currently in Okinawa (first day) already, getting prepared for the grand tournament. I'm really rooting for them because they have worked so hard for it all. They should win it. Definitely. That would be perfect. :)

But that means that I'm on a break from kendo too. It's somewhat a bitter sweet feeling but a good rest is always welcome.

There's also going to be a prefectural calligraphy contest in my school too on 10th but I don't know if I can go there because I'm going to see sumo then.

Yes. SUMO.

I'm going to see Baruto for goodness sake! I'm definitely going to yell something in Estonian. Just a 'hello' would be suffice. Ya~~hoo~~!

And in the end, I still don't get to rest. Damn me. Hehe!

I suddenly got an urge to draw sumfink... I wonder what it would be...

That calls for my urgent exit! Thanks for dropping by and reading my late night musings.

The little pirate sails again!

Ciao.

Hippari to sappari to to

Hipa! I hope everybody's doing well.

Have you ate pancakes recently?

I know I have.

As usual - kendo is still on going! Giving my best and stomping and screaming as much as I can. I think I've made some progress, but that's only logical I guess. I've also tried some kendo free fighting and I am a weasel. Slow, but still a weasel. Interpret it as you wish. Just give it a bit negative feeling.

On the other hand, the teacher told me that I might be able to enter a tournament for newcomers around the end of this year.

I AM SHOCKED.

But nonetheless overly happy! It's still a 'maybe' situation, but I'm doing my best to be ready when it should happen.

On a different note, on the 18th I went to eat kakikoori (shaved ice with syrup) with the 'Kendo Girls' (naming sense!). It's been quite some time since I last went out to do something relaxing after school and it really was fun! The place we went to was a through and through kakikoori restaurant (!) called Chawa, serving only ice and sugary liquids! I'm completely honest when saying that it serves the best shaved ice in Akita. I ordered one with a really fresh grapefruit jam on top and it was soooo good! :3 I also got to taste kiwi and mango from my friends too. Yummy yum yum omnomnom.

Also on that day I went to see Arrietty with my host mum and sister (just a day after the release! Yau!) which also was my first time going to a Japanese cinema. I must say that it is COMPLETELY different from the Estonian one. For instance we have no goods' shops there, which is somewhat a pity... but I got an Arrietty memo book and just for laughs I also bought a classic swirl lollipop. The big one. I still have most of it left. Ah, it's so nostalgic. I think I was 5 when I last ate one. :D Plus, there's no applauding in the hall after the end. Whu~?

(A heads up for those who don't know, Arrietty is the latest Ghibli Studio production. Be sure to go and see it. :)

Next time (if it actually comes) I want to see Toy Story too, one of my all time Disney favourites.

On Monday I had my YFU summer orientation (yippii!) in Hachimori Bunakkoland (almost the most upper part of Akita pref) which is famous for it's beech forests and seashore. It was a cloudy day, which was actually a blessing. Great for driving and for my poor, poor eyes, oh my.

I was happy to see my friends still alive and I was quite surprised to see so many short stay (American) students in Akita. I thought it was a quiet place concerning the matter of exchange study, but I guess I was wrong (which was good). After the introductions we went to trek the forest of Mononoke. Yep, it really looked exactly like the scenes from the movie, which is no wonder, because the backgrounds actually were inspired by the forests there. Unfathomable that I was lucky enough to go there. My heart almost stopped when I saw the first rapids of the river flowing under the tree branches, hitting the rocks by the riverside with high splashes and the sprinkles unexpectedly softly landing on my face. I almost could feel myself sinking into the forest.

After the breath taking experience, we had a huge barbeque, but it was quite tricky to eat without burning your fingers off. The grill was so damn glowing hot! But we all survived with minor casualties. Later with our tummies full, we all got to chat to our hearts content and relax. I also taught some Estonian to the exchange student going to Estonia in the beginning of next month, which was a novel feeling. Me? A teach? Naah! Unfortunately though we soon had to part ways again.

From that point 'quality family time' began. We jumped through the nearby Hatahata-kan onzen which had a wonderful view to the sea whilst you were soaking in a boat shaped bath on the veranda. Afterwards we went to eat garlic ramen nearby, which as my host dad said was quite famous around those parts. He was proven to be right quite soon. Late lunch anyone?Awesome garrrlic, delicious garrrlic, I'll sing to you about garrrlic. Reminded me of my mum's cooking a lot for some odd reason.

Anyway, no problems with vampires from now on.

Heh, like I've had any.

We arrived home quite late that night after a 2-hour drive, but on that night, over a long time, I slept soundly like I used to in my early ages. Sniff. The glory of children.

In the orientation I learned that I have a chance to go to a Junior Red Cross camp for 2 days during the last weekend of July. I decided that I'll go so I'm really giddy for it. What will happen there I wonder...

So for closure, I had a lot of fun time during the weekend past, but the best part was unquestionably the time when I felt like I actually got into the magnificent forest of Gods and Spirits of Ghibli Wonderland.

I'm planning to go there again sometime.

In person, in my dreams, by any means.

And speaking of Ghibli, Totoro is on so I'm flying.

(Sorry for the abruptness!)

Until next time and bye-bye! And thanks!

Sails hoy!

PS Photos will come later this week. Promise. Although there isn't much.

Simply put

Hello again!

I thought that because I had a happy week end, I wanted to share it with you. :)

First off, on Saturday I had my usual guitar class and after that my mum came to pick me up and we went to a nearby department store to see an exhibition of world famous animations' watercolour storyboards, which' poster mum had seen earlier that day. Of course it was only Japanese anime scenes, for example TOM SAWYER. O_O''

I didn't know that until that point. Shocked the air out of my lungs. Oh, foolish me...

Later that evening the two of us went to search for a bicycle route to my school due to my bus pass expiring and that I only have a couple of weeks of school left, so to buy a new pass is just a waste of money and also it's a good chance to really enjoy my life in Akita City. To really get in to it. Also it's good exercise. In the end we were successful. :) From next week I'm officially a cyclist.

Just kidding. But going to school by bike in Japan really seems and feels student like. Makes me proud to be part of the gang. ;)

During the ride I also met some of my classmates and friends along the way and got to talk to them. It really felt like I really belong here. Really. I repeat myself too much.

And today (Sunday) I got to go to kendo for the first time during week end, which means morning lessons. It was really refreshing! Up until now, everybody had tournaments, exams, out of school lessons etc, that robbed me the chance to train during Sats and Suns.

I got really good advice from my kendo classmate about various techniques so I feel quite fulfilled currently. Getting better, getting better!

Having got back from school, my mum yet again had found out about an exhibition in an old Japanese style shop in the city centre. It was a duo exhibition of Kusanagi Osamu (paper cut prints 切り絵) and Kyoko (rice paper dolls 和紙人形). They are an artist couple (How awesome is that? Perfect!) who are really famous in Akita and perhaps outside too. They have designed many product packages and also quite a few souvenirs. The old shop, where the works were displayed, was an art piece itself. It had an air of magnificent history and the walls and floors seemed to have their own stories hidden in them.

Tour finished, we went to a coffee shop right next to the building and drank really delicious ice coffee there. We also got to taste a pound cake called King's Pound. It too was really tasty and heartily sweet.

After that we went home.

In the end, it's a simple story and simple happiness.

But isn't that the best one?

Lots of hearty greetings from the East!

I'll yet again sail to bed.

Heipsus!

I woke up to a bloody earthquake today. AN EARTHQUAKE! As an alarm clock!

It was a mild one, but anyways an earthquake!

Flicker through

Hello one and all!

Sorry for my long absence, but I have a good reason for that which I'm going to explain right now.

Firstly I got to go to a concert on 26 June. And not just any concert, but Ikimono gakari's. Have you heard about them? If not then you should.

Anyway, it was an overly energizing experience with a lot of dancing and finger swirling involved (or towel swinging when bought) :) . Even the elderly and parents carrying their small children were dancing away light-footedly.

The band itself was so unbelievably sweet and lovely and they gave off an aura of immeasurable friendliness. When they made a break during the concert and talked with the audience (for over half an hour!) it really felt like as they were your closest friends that you haven't seen for a long time. They (we?) talked about Akita's specialties, what they did the day before the performance, how they got lost, how they were noticed by grannies with grandchildren and dogs, how they got scolded at the market when they tried to explain that they were Ikimono gakari and so on. They're really funny, I must admit.

So how did I get to their live in the first place? Truth be told, I actually first heard about the band during my first week in Akita (why not before, I don't know) from my host sister who is a really big fan of them. I grew to like the band too and some days later we got some mail.

Usual isn't it? Mail.

But then it turned out that inside the envelope were my mum's pre-ordered tickets for the concert.

I flipped. 'I'm serioulsy one hell of a lucky b******' I thought.

The concert lasted for a whole 3 hours (it was planned to be 1 and a half), 19 songs were sang (including encore) and they said that it was their first time performing in Akita and that they felt really nervous... Didn't seemed like that at all. They were fantastic!

And to everyone's happiness, they promised to come back once more... because babahera was really delicious.

Ahh! They really stole a piece of my heart (and money, due to my towel purchase) :)

And continuing with music, over the past month, I've been practising for our school choir contest, which culminated on 29 June.

For that cause, I went to school everyday about 30 minutes earlier than usual and sang 'Tashika na koto' by Oda Kazumasa (a really beautiful song) with my classmates, who like me couldn't really manage to squirt out a decent voice due to the early hours. I must admit it was painful :/ But we kept on going.

And going... Going... Did it again during lunch break... And after school. Everyday.

Our class might have been the most hard working out of all the classes.

Then the 29th came and everybody of Kita High went to Akita Hall with all of our little hearts thumping like that of a mouse's.

Final practices in front of the building, final check on our formation, 3 times 'Ganbare!' and squealing jumps and inside we went.

The contest itself was divided by grade - 1st years, 2nd years and 3rd years respectively and also there were prizes for the best pianist and conductor.

Anyway, our class was the last one to perform out of the 2nd years, after which were the 3rd years and our schools choir's performance and lastly the evaluation...

Our hearts were thumping even faster than before.

1st years - can't hear because of my heart racing. And finally 2nd years - third place, second and first...

WE GOT THE FIRST PLACE, PEOPLE!!! Wooooohooooo!!!

We all jumped out of our seats with joy, yelled our lungs out and some of the girls even started crying. Our hard work was paid even more than we hoped for.

And guess what. We got candy! Yeah, we're still children you know. :')

I still can't believe it that I was a part of the winning choir. Me, a girl who was repeatedly said to never be any good at singing or music of any kind. I'm quite proud of myself and really proud of my awesome class overall. I'm so happy that I was lucky enough to land in Akita out of all places. Truly a picture image of Japanese life.

(Because I'm so jumpy and happy, I'll throw in some lucky stars for all of you after this entry ;) )

But that is definitely not all of what has kept me busy.

After the contest the whole school started preparing for...

Pamparapapapapaa~~ (drumroll)

Akita Kita High School's Summer Culture Festival!!!

YESS! I finally got to participate in one! It was held on 2~3 July (Fri/Sat) and there were many awesome games, exhibitions, performances and of course the classic Obake yashiki (Monster rooms). I tried everything out and went to all the show rooms and enjoyed every bit of it. In addition, in the inner school yard were many food stands selling ice cream, various drinks, including floats (a drink with a floating ice cream scoop on top, hence the name), takoyaki (fried octopus in a pasty), churritos, taiyaki (sweet fish shaped cake with filling) and so on. I was completely blown away by the magnitude of the whole thing. It was so awesome! We had tons of guests to who also seemed mesmerized by the scene.

I can't (yet again) express my feeling through this pixelized system. A once in a lifetime chance and I got to experience it full on. Can't believe it...

But about our class, we prepared a human stamp rally game, which the goal was to find at least 5 cosplayers (me and my classmates) around the school grounds and inside the buildings and sweetly ask us a stamp. If not, we would run away. Man, it was fun!

But it wasn't all game and running, but also some bureaucracy was involved.

Our class was divided into 3 groups who all did differently themed cosplays (explained in a previous entry) and also different jobs depending on the time. Ones were handing out stamp papers (serious business), others were the prize givers (even more serious, because we were counting the amount of candy we handed out) and lastly the cosplayers. We were really popular actually, especially with small children. :) Of course I was the Mad Hatter, as promised, and I might say that I was especially popular with EVERYBODY. I can't really count up the times when people asked for a photograph with me, or even an autograph (whoa!). I gave quite a fright to some small kids however, who literally fell over when they saw me and ran away as fast as they could (Might be the fact that I'm a foreigner :/ who knows).

There was also a public cafeteria opened on the second floor which served really delicious dishes made by the school student's. For example, I ate miso ramen and curry bread on the first day and cooled udon on the second. Well... that's not all that I ate in total, but let's leave it at that or I'll get embarrassed, hohoho.

(I also put up quite a few photos of these events which have been collecting dust in my camera, so please go and see them in FB if interested. :)

Lastly, about my everyday life a tad.

Well, I've been going to kendo for about a month already (celebration!) and I'm progressing slowly but steadily and crashing into bed out of tiredness as soon as I get home every day. I've been on a Kumon break because of my lack of time but I'll start again tomorrow.

By the way, this Monday I have no school! Yeehaa! And Tuesday will only be the festival clean up.

Soon, my 4th month of home stay will also pass. The time is a magnificently fast little bugger.

Also, quite soon, I'll be on my summer holidays in Yamagata again (starting from the 22nd) for Obon (お盆) and I'll also get to see Kanto (竿燈祭り), quite a famous festival of Akita in August.

Oh, the anxiousness... there's so much to look forward to every day, starting from school and ending with all the traditional festivals of the Land of the Rising Sun.

As always, thanks for taking time to read my blog and commenting. Hugs to ye me hearties!

Good luck and good ----- (insert the proper word according to your situation)

I'll hoist sails for this time.

How to open

　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　海に行った昨日

　　　　　　　　　　村上を読んだ今日

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　剣道の明日

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　試験である明後日

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　この鴉がナくして欲しい。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　本当に。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　五月蝿い。

（平成二十二年六月十四日）

I went to the beach yesterday,

I read Murakami in Japanese today,

I'll go to kendo tomorrow,

I'll have exams the day after tomorrow.

I just want to get rid of this raven.

Really.

It's noisy.