Sunday in Nagano to Narita Drum Festival
Trying to get as munch uploaded before I head out to Okinawa!
On Sunday morning, my host father and I did the other objective in coming to Nagano: filling a large container with fresh spring water to take back with us:
After that (I tried carrying the plastic container for a little bit. It was like my Anime Expo 2006 suitcase) we packed up to leave, and I noticed the room I’d slept in had some really nice carvings:
This is the little house where my host grandfather lives. It’s close to the main house, but far enough away that it’s not too noisy. He’s about 80, but still is able to get around, cooks and bathes for himself, etc. I met him for a few seconds, but he had just woken up and was a little sleepy for conversation.
And a few more pictures to remember the place by:
A fairly typical street corner:
The be careful of wildlife sign. Monkey!!! In the northern part of Nagano prefecture there are the onsen that monkeys also enter, but we were too far south for that.
Some pictures from the rest stop. This first one. I suppose there MIGHT be people who have never used a Western-style toilet before, but this just made me laugh!
The herb/tree garden next to the rest stop. Seriously, the rest stops in the US look like complete garbage after seeing what Japan has to offer.
A very hazy shot of Mt. Fuji:
More driving photos.
Check out this highway map!!!
The sakura were in full bloom near our apartment:
Now, I was very tired after the drive and decided to take a nap. My host mom offered to wake me up because the local cherry blossom festival was going on and I wanted to see it.
Four hours later, I wake up at 6pm and was confused. My host mom said she thought it would be nicer to let me sleep, but she brought back food from the festival for dinner, so it was okay. Well, I really did want to go… we went after dinner, but it had finished, and was mostly people taking stuff down.
sigh… at least I got to see the sakura at night and from the car.
The next day they were still in bloom on campus, so it was really okay. I ate lunch under one of them.
After class I went wandering around the area with some friends. The obscenely loud game arcade:
Hey IU anime class people!! Your teacher would approve of this game machine!!!
For lunch, I had omerice with croquets, very tasty!
After lunch we decided to go to the Toys R’ US between school and the station two of us use. It was pretty much like any in the US, except for all the anime-based toys:
It’s not terrible uncommon to see a small building between two large ones like this, but it still looks kind of weird:
Fish pond on campus:
All the students in out program had a tea ceremony cultural activity one afternoon. Here is one of the special snacks we were served:
Equipment and room:
We tried missing the tea ourselves, but it was more difficult than expected. You aren’t supposed to use your arm, but your wrist. There’s a reason no one under 50 is ever considered a master of the tea ceremony:
A few days later, I went with some friends to Harajuku. This is an ACTUAL TACO STAND
I know the Japanese are into layers now, but this is ridiculous!!
At least the clothing has amusing labels:
I tried the teriyaki chicken burger at McD’s. I was not impressed.
More pictures of sakura:
On the way home that day, I heard the unmistakable sound of a band playing--- well, next to the university are a middle and high school. It was the middle school entrance ceremony, so you think they’d play something Japanese and tradtitional, right? Wrong! The band was playing Stars and Stripes Forever ?!?!?!!
Now, let's move on to the Narita taiko festival! I saw this neat trolley near Narita station, but couldn't quite it a closeup shot of it:
On of the station. And a bonus taxi. There are always taxis at the train station, but I rarely see anyone using them, since they cost about $7 or so just to get in, so I imagine they stay in business by ferrying people who miss the last train of the day.
Once everyone appeared, we made our way to lunch. There were many stalls like this one along the way:
and all sorts of banners and kites
Besides taiko, there were many other dance and drum groups performing:
The street was quite interesting to walk (literally) down:
Eel (a local speciality) drying in the sun:
My eel lunch!
An adorbale fat cat ornament:
After lunch, we wandered around the main temple.
Doggy cutoffs...
Stalls selling all the souvenir junk you could ever want:
We had some free time at this point, so we wandered up the street to see more performances. I realized I could probably use the movie function on my camera, so I tried taking some videos. Please excuse the quality on these.
Then, I filmed the rest of it:
A street performance that I only caught the end of:
And an orchestra performance. Short because I didn’t know if it was recording sound or not.
Then we headed back to the temple for a tour.
Drinking fountains in Japan are tricky, as they shoot water straight up.
It was then time for the evening performance.
A friend and I decided to do a little shopping, and walked to the largest book-off I have ever seen:
I saw an express train from the airport while waiting for my train:
The next day, Mini decided she wanted to explore the inside of both of my suitcases:
Japan is full of fun drinks in vending machines. Sometimes the bottle is an interesting shape as well!
sometimes with odd ingredients:
My cafeteria serves fishdogs.
phew!! More soon, if I have the energy!!
On Sunday morning, my host father and I did the other objective in coming to Nagano: filling a large container with fresh spring water to take back with us:
After that (I tried carrying the plastic container for a little bit. It was like my Anime Expo 2006 suitcase) we packed up to leave, and I noticed the room I’d slept in had some really nice carvings:
This is the little house where my host grandfather lives. It’s close to the main house, but far enough away that it’s not too noisy. He’s about 80, but still is able to get around, cooks and bathes for himself, etc. I met him for a few seconds, but he had just woken up and was a little sleepy for conversation.
And a few more pictures to remember the place by:
A fairly typical street corner:
The be careful of wildlife sign. Monkey!!! In the northern part of Nagano prefecture there are the onsen that monkeys also enter, but we were too far south for that.
Some pictures from the rest stop. This first one. I suppose there MIGHT be people who have never used a Western-style toilet before, but this just made me laugh!
The herb/tree garden next to the rest stop. Seriously, the rest stops in the US look like complete garbage after seeing what Japan has to offer.
A very hazy shot of Mt. Fuji:
More driving photos.
Check out this highway map!!!
The sakura were in full bloom near our apartment:
Now, I was very tired after the drive and decided to take a nap. My host mom offered to wake me up because the local cherry blossom festival was going on and I wanted to see it.
Four hours later, I wake up at 6pm and was confused. My host mom said she thought it would be nicer to let me sleep, but she brought back food from the festival for dinner, so it was okay. Well, I really did want to go… we went after dinner, but it had finished, and was mostly people taking stuff down.
sigh… at least I got to see the sakura at night and from the car.
The next day they were still in bloom on campus, so it was really okay. I ate lunch under one of them.
After class I went wandering around the area with some friends. The obscenely loud game arcade:
Hey IU anime class people!! Your teacher would approve of this game machine!!!
For lunch, I had omerice with croquets, very tasty!
After lunch we decided to go to the Toys R’ US between school and the station two of us use. It was pretty much like any in the US, except for all the anime-based toys:
It’s not terrible uncommon to see a small building between two large ones like this, but it still looks kind of weird:
Fish pond on campus:
All the students in out program had a tea ceremony cultural activity one afternoon. Here is one of the special snacks we were served:
Equipment and room:
We tried missing the tea ourselves, but it was more difficult than expected. You aren’t supposed to use your arm, but your wrist. There’s a reason no one under 50 is ever considered a master of the tea ceremony:
A few days later, I went with some friends to Harajuku. This is an ACTUAL TACO STAND
I know the Japanese are into layers now, but this is ridiculous!!
At least the clothing has amusing labels:
I tried the teriyaki chicken burger at McD’s. I was not impressed.
More pictures of sakura:
On the way home that day, I heard the unmistakable sound of a band playing--- well, next to the university are a middle and high school. It was the middle school entrance ceremony, so you think they’d play something Japanese and tradtitional, right? Wrong! The band was playing Stars and Stripes Forever ?!?!?!!
Now, let's move on to the Narita taiko festival! I saw this neat trolley near Narita station, but couldn't quite it a closeup shot of it:
On of the station. And a bonus taxi. There are always taxis at the train station, but I rarely see anyone using them, since they cost about $7 or so just to get in, so I imagine they stay in business by ferrying people who miss the last train of the day.
Once everyone appeared, we made our way to lunch. There were many stalls like this one along the way:
and all sorts of banners and kites
Besides taiko, there were many other dance and drum groups performing:
The street was quite interesting to walk (literally) down:
Eel (a local speciality) drying in the sun:
My eel lunch!
An adorbale fat cat ornament:
After lunch, we wandered around the main temple.
Doggy cutoffs...
Stalls selling all the souvenir junk you could ever want:
We had some free time at this point, so we wandered up the street to see more performances. I realized I could probably use the movie function on my camera, so I tried taking some videos. Please excuse the quality on these.
Then, I filmed the rest of it:
Click to viewA street performance that I only caught the end of:
And an orchestra performance. Short because I didn’t know if it was recording sound or not.
Then we headed back to the temple for a tour.
Drinking fountains in Japan are tricky, as they shoot water straight up.
It was then time for the evening performance.
A friend and I decided to do a little shopping, and walked to the largest book-off I have ever seen:
I saw an express train from the airport while waiting for my train:
The next day, Mini decided she wanted to explore the inside of both of my suitcases:
Japan is full of fun drinks in vending machines. Sometimes the bottle is an interesting shape as well!
sometimes with odd ingredients:
My cafeteria serves fishdogs.
phew!! More soon, if I have the energy!!