Sumo Fun
This week's random weirdness:
Fun with Engrish. This was on a water cooler at a Thanksgiving dinner I went to: "This portable jug can be used for fishing, picnic, camping, swimming, driving, many purpose and at same time." Oh really? A cooler that can transcend both time and space. Sweet. I imagine NASA would give their left arm for one of those...
For Shodo class I had to find kanji for my name (broken down as "Jieshika Enchisu"--there aren't kanji for the katana version of my name, "Jeshika Entisu"). From the dozens of kanji available, I picked meanings I liked. Here's what I got:
"A picture of a nurturing deer who guards ancient gardens." [core meanings of the kanji: Ji=nurture e=picture shika=deer en=garden chi=thousand (as in a long period of time, i.e. ancient) su=guard/protect]. Cool, I'm a unicorn ^_^
A really smart parent invented this game to get kids interested in the chess-like game Shogi. The idea is to move pieces off the pile using only one finger and (here's the key) without making any noise. Apparently you can't make a sound in Shogi either. You should have seen the concentration these young kids showed while playing this. They were determined to not make a sound. Yes, a smart parent indeed... ~_^
Stray photo of Karatsu's castle, which I have yet to vist, but I will soon, because it's supposed to be really cool.
The Japanese grocery store is an exercise in futility. The shelves are full of weird unidentifiable stuff like this. No food should be this color. Does anyone else think it looks radioactive?
On with the show!
I'm getting behind on postings again. Bad me -_-;; Let's see, last weekend I went to Sumo wrestling in Fukuoka. I'd have say it was a pretty fun time...if a bit odd. Sumo is definitely one of Japan's stranger traditions. Still, it was cool to see it in person and not on TV, because you got to see all the ritual and ceremony in between the matches. Sumo tournaments go on for 15 days, and the wrestlers fight once every day. When we showed up wrestlers from the previous set of matches were just on their way out. Once outside they are immediately surrounded by gushing fans who insist on posing for pictures (Tourist-photo-taking, I'm convinced, is Japan's real national sport). Here's some ALTs doing the exact same thing.
We were in the cheap nosebleed seats at the very top, but the stadium isn't actually that big (and I have a very nice zoom on my new camera *grin*) so it didn't matter all that much. There are a bunch of processions and ceremonies, then the matches get underway. First a guy in traditional clothes stands in the ring with a piece of paper and sings--yes, sings--the names of the wrestlers whose turn it is to fight. The sumo guys then come up and go through purifying rituals on their respective corners of the ring. I found this rather interesting, because I've now seen the same actions at both temples and Karatsu Kunchi (which was a religious festival, actually). They wash their hands and mouth with water from a bamboo ladle and toss salt into the ring to purify it. The two wrestlers then square off for a minute and glare at each other. They repeat this about three or four times, which can get rather tedious for the ignorant spectator who just wants them to get on with it already. The point though is for the wrestlers to form a strategy for the coming fight. When the richly dressed referee crouches down, then you know it's finally time for some action. The first person to touch the outside of the ring (or, oddly enough, get dust on his topknot) is the loser. Some matches went really fast, others dragged on for several minutes when the guys were evenly matched. There was one fight where the guys pulled each other down outside the ring at the same time, so the judges had to confer and decide who had actually won. I got to see the famous Sumo guy from Hawaii, Musashimaru, fight, but unfortunately he lost :( He's been losing for a while because of injuries, and it turns out he officially retired after this fight. The audience was not happy that he'd lost; apparently the tradition in Sumo is to throw your seat cushion (the purple blurs in the air) at the ring when you're pissed at the outcome. The Japanese are funny ^_^ I got a few decent action shots, it's amazing just how fast 300-500 pound guys can move. Remind me never to make one mad at me, I think it would be like taking on an elephant... 1, 2, 3.
The next day I went to Saga City's temple because it was the second day of the 3-5-7 festival, a special day to dress up children in kimono, take them to shrines and pray for their continued health and prosperity (these ages have traditionally been considered unlucky for children, hence the need for added protection). I especially like this little boy feeding pigeons with his parents. A few minutes later I spotted him hopping excitedly up and down, acting like a typical 3-year-old. Adorable :) Here's a dad with his two daughters, a family portrait, one of the temples in the complex, and a mother wearing a beautiful purple and yellow kimono.
After that I headed to an ensemble music contest between all the members of Ogi's brass band club. They play so well, I wish my high school band had sounded half as good. But to be fair, we didn't practice nearly as hard and long as these kids. Here's a cute picture of me with some of the girls. I really like my Ogi students, when it comes time to request schools in April I'm going to ask for Ogi again ^_^
Yesterday was cool because I got to wear kimono again!! Mama-san took three of us to meet one of her friends, a teacher of traditional Japanese dance. She dressed us up expertly in our kimono (after we were done the woman dressed herself so she could teach a class that afternoon--she was done in only 10 minutes! Amazing...) and we took lots of pictures :) Here's all of us in the garden, me with an umbrella, and outside her front gate. After the purple kimono I changed into the black one for more pictures. It was really cold yesterday so we did these pictures inside: me from the front, back, and doing a little dance thing...umm except I didn't have a fan so I used my bag instead. Not quite the same effect -_-;;
I have a holiday tomorrow, so I'm planning to post some of those videos I mentioned the other week. Look forward to them! :)
Fun with Engrish. This was on a water cooler at a Thanksgiving dinner I went to: "This portable jug can be used for fishing, picnic, camping, swimming, driving, many purpose and at same time." Oh really? A cooler that can transcend both time and space. Sweet. I imagine NASA would give their left arm for one of those...
For Shodo class I had to find kanji for my name (broken down as "Jieshika Enchisu"--there aren't kanji for the katana version of my name, "Jeshika Entisu"). From the dozens of kanji available, I picked meanings I liked. Here's what I got:
"A picture of a nurturing deer who guards ancient gardens." [core meanings of the kanji: Ji=nurture e=picture shika=deer en=garden chi=thousand (as in a long period of time, i.e. ancient) su=guard/protect]. Cool, I'm a unicorn ^_^
A really smart parent invented this game to get kids interested in the chess-like game Shogi. The idea is to move pieces off the pile using only one finger and (here's the key) without making any noise. Apparently you can't make a sound in Shogi either. You should have seen the concentration these young kids showed while playing this. They were determined to not make a sound. Yes, a smart parent indeed... ~_^
Stray photo of Karatsu's castle, which I have yet to vist, but I will soon, because it's supposed to be really cool.
The Japanese grocery store is an exercise in futility. The shelves are full of weird unidentifiable stuff like this. No food should be this color. Does anyone else think it looks radioactive?
On with the show!
I'm getting behind on postings again. Bad me -_-;; Let's see, last weekend I went to Sumo wrestling in Fukuoka. I'd have say it was a pretty fun time...if a bit odd. Sumo is definitely one of Japan's stranger traditions. Still, it was cool to see it in person and not on TV, because you got to see all the ritual and ceremony in between the matches. Sumo tournaments go on for 15 days, and the wrestlers fight once every day. When we showed up wrestlers from the previous set of matches were just on their way out. Once outside they are immediately surrounded by gushing fans who insist on posing for pictures (Tourist-photo-taking, I'm convinced, is Japan's real national sport). Here's some ALTs doing the exact same thing.
We were in the cheap nosebleed seats at the very top, but the stadium isn't actually that big (and I have a very nice zoom on my new camera *grin*) so it didn't matter all that much. There are a bunch of processions and ceremonies, then the matches get underway. First a guy in traditional clothes stands in the ring with a piece of paper and sings--yes, sings--the names of the wrestlers whose turn it is to fight. The sumo guys then come up and go through purifying rituals on their respective corners of the ring. I found this rather interesting, because I've now seen the same actions at both temples and Karatsu Kunchi (which was a religious festival, actually). They wash their hands and mouth with water from a bamboo ladle and toss salt into the ring to purify it. The two wrestlers then square off for a minute and glare at each other. They repeat this about three or four times, which can get rather tedious for the ignorant spectator who just wants them to get on with it already. The point though is for the wrestlers to form a strategy for the coming fight. When the richly dressed referee crouches down, then you know it's finally time for some action. The first person to touch the outside of the ring (or, oddly enough, get dust on his topknot) is the loser. Some matches went really fast, others dragged on for several minutes when the guys were evenly matched. There was one fight where the guys pulled each other down outside the ring at the same time, so the judges had to confer and decide who had actually won. I got to see the famous Sumo guy from Hawaii, Musashimaru, fight, but unfortunately he lost :( He's been losing for a while because of injuries, and it turns out he officially retired after this fight. The audience was not happy that he'd lost; apparently the tradition in Sumo is to throw your seat cushion (the purple blurs in the air) at the ring when you're pissed at the outcome. The Japanese are funny ^_^ I got a few decent action shots, it's amazing just how fast 300-500 pound guys can move. Remind me never to make one mad at me, I think it would be like taking on an elephant... 1, 2, 3.
The next day I went to Saga City's temple because it was the second day of the 3-5-7 festival, a special day to dress up children in kimono, take them to shrines and pray for their continued health and prosperity (these ages have traditionally been considered unlucky for children, hence the need for added protection). I especially like this little boy feeding pigeons with his parents. A few minutes later I spotted him hopping excitedly up and down, acting like a typical 3-year-old. Adorable :) Here's a dad with his two daughters, a family portrait, one of the temples in the complex, and a mother wearing a beautiful purple and yellow kimono.
After that I headed to an ensemble music contest between all the members of Ogi's brass band club. They play so well, I wish my high school band had sounded half as good. But to be fair, we didn't practice nearly as hard and long as these kids. Here's a cute picture of me with some of the girls. I really like my Ogi students, when it comes time to request schools in April I'm going to ask for Ogi again ^_^
Yesterday was cool because I got to wear kimono again!! Mama-san took three of us to meet one of her friends, a teacher of traditional Japanese dance. She dressed us up expertly in our kimono (after we were done the woman dressed herself so she could teach a class that afternoon--she was done in only 10 minutes! Amazing...) and we took lots of pictures :) Here's all of us in the garden, me with an umbrella, and outside her front gate. After the purple kimono I changed into the black one for more pictures. It was really cold yesterday so we did these pictures inside: me from the front, back, and doing a little dance thing...umm except I didn't have a fan so I used my bag instead. Not quite the same effect -_-;;
I have a holiday tomorrow, so I'm planning to post some of those videos I mentioned the other week. Look forward to them! :)