Festivals and Some History

Now that my asthma has finally chilled out, I have time to write about my awesome festival experience on Tuesday.

After a hellish midterm, Claire and I skipped afternoon classes and went to Kyoto. The 22 happens to be a pretty big day in terms of festivals. In Kyoto, there is the Jidai Matsuri, or Festival of the Ages, and just up the mountain from Kyoto is the Kurama Hi Matsuri, or Kurama Fire Festival.

At about 1:40 Claire and I rushed out of Sanjo Station to the sounds of the procession passing by. The Jidai Matsuri, or what we saw of it, is a giant parade that goes from the Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine. The people in the parade dress as people from Japanese history between the eras that Kyoto was the capital. The festival started in the 1890s when the capital and palace of the emperor was moved to Tokyo. Let me be honest, even Claire and I, who love Japanese history, had no clue what the hell was going on for most of it. The ladies in front of us for awhile would discuss the different eras, but we couldn't quite place them chronologically. What we did know is that after an hour and a half, Heian Jidai popped up and we knew that that was practically at the very beginning, so we figured that this was a very long parade. Well, just tonight at dinner my host mom explained that it goes from recent history to ancient history. So we DID see the Meiji Restoration soldiers~!!! AND SAKAMOTO RYOUMA! And even better, I'm about 99% sure we saw TOMOE, my favourite character in the Heike Monogatari!!!! Her story in short: she was a samurai retainer under Minamoto Yoshinaka and before his death he told her to get lost because he didn't want to die with a girl. So she ran into battle, yanked off some guys head to honor Yoshinaka and then rode off into the hill where she shed her armor and disappeared. Seriously, how cool is she?

After thinking we still had hours of the parade left (when it was probably only a few more minutes), we left to go on a small adventure before heading to Kurama. Where did we go? MIBU DERA. What is Mibu Dera? The headquarters of the Shinsengumi. But who are the Shinsengumi? In short: one of, if not the, most dangerous police forces in Japanese history. It essentially started when a group of guys became friends of the owner of a dojo up in Edo (now Tokyo). The friends all eventually became the owners retainers (kinda, but not really since he's not an actual samurai). Then they all joined this army that marched to Kyoto (the capital at the time) to protect the Shogun. The army returned to Edo when the Shogun left, but a group stayed in Kyoto and became the Shinsengumi. Their job was to police the streets and keep the rogue samurai of other clans from causing trouble. They did a lot of great things and a lot of bad things. If this were any other country in the world, they would probably be villains since they lost the civil war of the Restoration, but they are actually pretty popular here, as is their enemy Sakamoto Ryouma. I love the Shinsengumi. I love reading about them. I'm currently watch a phenomenal drama about them. Seriously, they are just the coolest.

So we went to their headquarters. It was literally just a normal temple. And that probably made it even cooler. Not really a lot of touristy stuff. There was a guy there who I'm pretty sure was dressed as Okita Souji, my favourite member. He was with two friend in kimono and they were taking pictures. Claire and I thought it was hilarious. On the temple grounds they have a garden that costs the best 100￥ I've ever spent to get in. It is a very quite and peaceful place, even if you don't like/care about the Shinsengumi. They have a pond with turtle and koi, a stone with a song carved into it that my host mom just read and said it was quite sad, which, from listening to her mumble it, yeah, it's sad. I mean, seeing as how they pretty much all died horrible deaths during the Restoration.... Yeah.... There is also a bust of Kondo Isami, the founder and head of the Shinsengumi. He would be the guy that owned the dojo in Edo.
On our way back to the train station we passed a place that we realized was the museum. Sadly, things like that close early and it was already 4:30/5:00 at that time so we couldn't go in. But I am planning on doing a project on them, so I'll go back soon probably~

After that we met our friend Ali for dinner at an Indian restaurant. It was yummy but the guys who ran it couldn't hear the difference between 'check' and 'chai' and also couldn't understand us when we tried to explain it in English or Japanese, neither of which they seemed to speak very well. So we ended up with 400￥ chai. Oh well.

The Kurama Hi Matsuri is a huge festival held every year in Kurama. People parade through the streets with lots of fire. They start with small torches and the progressively get bigger until they take two or three people to carry on their backs. It really sucks for the person in back because the fire and ash is falling onto their bare backs. They would shout to the nearby helpers who would help douse them in water to keep from burning. Despite that, everyone seemed to having a great time! The only drawback was the ridiculous amount of police officers crowding people into certain areas. I understand that it's tough to deal with huge crowds flocking to a small village at night, but we were in that village for almost 4 hours and only walked a bit down one road before we had to go home to catch the last trains to Osaka.
Okay, actually there are two drawbacks, the second being I sometimes forget I have asthma? All the ash and smoke triggered it pretty bag and I had a couple fits in the village and quite a few more the next morning. I also lost my voice, which meant I didn't have to talk in class for a day~ Yay~!!

Claire and I had a bit before the train left so Ali, who lives in Kyoto, took us to the palace. We didn't have enough time to really see it, and it was dark and stuff. It was really fun walking around Kyoto at night though, and Ali is a great tour guide!

Shinsaibashi and Takarazuka

This is going to be an adventure post.

Let's start on Saturday, when I went with my good friends Claire, Jannine, and Tahire to Shinsaibashi, a district in Osaka. Holy shit is this place awesome. We come off the train to meet this giant, covered street lined with shops called Shinsaibashi Suji. It's pedestrian only and probably stretches for over a mile. One thing of note is that shops here typically occupy one floor of a building and most buildings are at least 3 stories tall. There were a lot of shops. They were also a bit expensive so I didn't buy a whole lot.
After a while we moved locations to another shopping district that seemed targeted at college kids, especially those who followed specific fashion trends. Suddenly there were visual kei and lolita shops next too hipster and hippie shops. Loads of CD stores and a few live music clubs. We hung around there for most of the afternoon. I bought a new bag in a second hand shop and we were all handed demo CDs on the street. I was really excited to get it, but I haven't put it in my computer yet, fearing it may not be a CD. ... hmmm
After shopping, we went to a SUIPA!!! Sweets Paradise to be specific. Meaning all you can eat sweets for 70 minutes. Oh yeah. It was awesome. We headed back to the Suji after dinner and played in some arcades and took sticker pictures. Also, as it turns out, the sticker picture area of the arcade we went to is also where all the yankee girls meet up to smoke and and take pictures. It was not fun. YOU ARE NOT COOL BECAUSE YOU SMOKE IN THE ARCADE YOU STUPID GIRLS!! One thing I miss about America is the smoking bans. But it was an awesome day. I really loved hanging out with people outside of Hirakata again. I feel like there is definitely a bubble that needs bursting out of.

Now Takarazuka.
On Monday we had a national holiday again (I swear I've had maybe 2 Monday classes all semester). About a week or two ago I mentioned to my host mom that I wanted to go to Takarazuka, so we bought tickets for Monday and made plans and such.
First, let me explain Takarazuka. Though Takarazuka is actually the name of the town, when most people talk about it, they mean the Revue. Started in the early twentieth century, the Takarazuka Revue was created as an attraction to the last stop on a train line leaving Osaka. Since it's beginning, the Revue has risen to international acclaim for it's performance. The unique aspect of it being that only women perform on the stage at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre. Composed of 5 troupes (Flower, Moon, Star, Snow, Cosmos) of female performers, the Revue has performed everything from West Side Story to War and Peace. They also do more traditional Japanese storied, though none are playing right now. I'm quite sure they have a rendition of the something involving the Shinsengumi, but I've only seen picture at this point.
So onto my experience at the theatre. It took about an hour to an hour and a half by train to get from Hirakata to Takarazuka. My most mom and I left at 8:30 that morning and made it with a bit of time to spare for the 10:30 show. Even though it was a Monday, the theatre was packed with people, mostly women. There were shops here and there selling Takarazuka themed food, gifts, and even a post office where you could send things with the official Takarazuka seal on it. Fan clubs for the performers were there, lining up to go in. Women of all ages were present, ranging from elementary schoolers to grannies, all dressed in a different manner of ways. There were women in the latest fashions, lolita, crossdressers, house wives and kimono. It was literally one big girl's fest. And it was awesome.
The show we saw was Gone With the Wind, which was never one of my particular favorites but the actresses did a fantastic job. I really felt for Scarlet, even though I only understood about half of what she was saying.They sets and the costumes were beautiful and extravagant in true Takarazuka style.
Afterwards I managed to survive the gift shop and come out with some things, including a photobook of one of the actresses. I sort of want a DVD but they are around 100$. So probably going to pass on that. At least until I have a job again.
All and all, it was an amazing three day weekend. I did a few other fun things but these were definitely the most note worthy. Now to studying for midterms!

Vending Machines and Karaoke

As requested, this post will contain information about a bunch of things including vending machines in Japan!

So let's start with vending machines! Firstly, let me say that I don't actually have that many fun vending machine stories. Or, at least ones I find interesting. Except maybe buying beer from one. That was fun. But in Japan, there are a lot of interesting things you can buy from vending machines. These vending machines are everywhere. For example, in the lunch area at school there is a collection of at least 10 vending machines in a row where you can get pretty much everything you need for lunch. They have good melon soda.

A list of all the things I've seen or heard of being in vending machines:

1. Drinks
• Bottled drinks
• Canned drinks
• Hot drinks in cups
• Cold drinks in cups
• Melon Soda
2. Food
• Including ice cream yo
3. Beer
4. Cigarettes 
5. Umbrellas
6. Socks
7. Magazines/books
8. Omamori

My favorite is definitely that last one. I've never seen a vending machine that sells them, but apparently outside some shrines, Shinto good-luck charms called omamori. Usually you buy them from the priestesses inside shrines, but, you know, sometimes you're in a hurry and need a blessing. 

There is a drinking and smoking age here, but with everything purchasable via vending machine I figure there isn't much respecting it......Not being able to smoke means nothing from the cigarette machines, but a friend of mine has used them and was happy to report that they even come with gum so that your breath smells better!

The beer ones are alright. You can also get sake if I remember correctly. 

The other thing I want to talk about is karaoke. Because karaoke is like one of the funnest things to do ever. I've never actually done Western style karaoke, but I've heard you pretty much do it in front of a bunch of strangers. Yeah, that's weird. In Japan (and Korea) you go with your friends. You rent out a small room for a few hours and sing your heart out. I went for the first time this trip some time last week. Me, my friend Claire, and her friend Yukari went to an AWESOME place with all you can eat ice cream. We stayed for about two hours and it barely cost us $5. Yeah. 

This weekend I went with some friends to an arcade where we also got some awesome karaoke. The nice thing is there is English songs for people who don't know Japanese music, so even some of my friends who don't like Japanese music can enjoy! There's also Korean and Chinese music. It's the best. I could spend hours in karaoke. 

So yeah, two pretty interesting things about Japan so far :)

If there's something else you want me to talk about please let me know in the comments!!