Omikoshi

Before my parents arrived, I had the opportunity to take part in a local festival in my friend Kaitlin's town. This involved carrying the '神様'(kamisama) - the god of their town shrine - around the local neighbourhoods and communities, allowing the people to pray for good luck and fortune on their houses and business etc. Whilst the God might have been a ethereal spirit, most likely weighing less than a feather, unfortunately he has to be carried in an incredibly heavy wooden box called an 'お神輿' (Omikoshi), which a large group of people carry collectively on thir shoulders. It really hurts the shoulders, and we had to carry this large box around for about 4 hours! Luckily we took regular breaks for a beer or watermelon (both of which were so so refreshing after lugging around what I felt like a wooden whale on your shoulders in warm weather).

Kaitlin cheerfully carries the Omikoshi on her shoulders. I assume that because she's smiling it means that she's not properly carrying some of the weight of the Omikoshi on her shoulders! It seems the man in front is carrying her share too!!!!!

The most interesting part of the festival perhaps for me, was my costume. I was introduced to some of Kaitlin's friends who had invited her to take part in the festival and one of them said to me 'Do you know Japanese tea-bag?'. I was a little bit confused as to why he was suddenly asking about Japanese tea - while questions like 'Can you eat Japanese food?' and 'Can you drink Japanese tea?' are common to hear, this was probably not the best time to ask these things. So I politely smiled and then he guided me to a hidden corner of the noodle bar we were in. He gave me a long cloth and told me to put it inside my underwear at the front, and bring it back out at the back. Slightly confused as to where this was going, I complied. He did a bit of wrapping around my waist, and then instructed me to put this cloth in and through my boxers again. After this second time - he said 'Off! Pantsu off!' A little bit shocked, I could do nothing but put my trust in the this rather big Japanese man. So off my boxers went, and luckily it had worked out that the cloth had very clever been formed into a sort of diaper! When it comes to personal space and such, the Japanese don't seem to have the same ideas as Westerners do. He was casually adjusting this 'Japanese tea-bag' so that everything would be secure in its place, while I was a little bit on edge, thinking he was a little bit too close for comfort! A little bit later that man asked me, chuckling 'Are you embarassed?' - Whilst the initial shock of the unknown was a bit uncomfortable, being naked at the onsen quite often means that my tolerance for embarassment is quite high!

So it turns out that this was the 'Japanese tea-bag'. A kind of traditional Japanese diaper, that was a bit tight, but allowed for a pleasant draft. To this day I can't remember the proper name for it. That, and a longish Japanese jacket called a 'Happi' was my festival costume! Luckily for the girls - they got to wear long trousers!

But despite the interesting costume and the incredibly heavy 'Omikoshi' that we had to carry around for a rather long time - the festival was great fun, and a really unique experience. For a small moment we were completely involved in the community of that town. People work together, have a laugh together, drink together, wear interesting costumes together. We were also the first ever foreigners to take part in that festival, its just one of the many experiences that make living in Japan an amazing experience.

My interesting costume! My lovely legs were available for all to admire! I like how in this picture nobody else is wearing what I had to wear! But I assure you, there were other guys in the same predicament as me!

An Update!!!!!!

Sorry everybody for the lack of updates recently! Summer has pretty much finished and my visitors of three weeks - my parents have left Japan. We had a fantastic time, and I think my parents did too.

They arrived in style, aboard a Shinkansen covered in Pokemon (a special one-of-its-kind Shinkansen!) in Nanyo where I met them at the station. Shortly after, Mr Hosokawa, one of the guys at the BoE arrived at my house with a big van intended as a carriage to whisk them around Nanyo on a little guided tour!! Fantastic! But after travelling for about 20 hours they were incredibly tired so we had a bit of Sushi and went to bed.

The following week was one for chilling out and relaxing around my city, on the Wednesday we went to a Beer Party in a local swanky hotel, we had a fantastic night there with loads of my friends like Marie and Shoko. During the raffle, I won a box of healthy foods like Tofu and such, Mum won a box of Fresh vegetables, and then Marie's friends won a crate of Beer, and the grand prize of a night's stay in the swanky hotel. What happened in the end, was Marie's friends swapped our boxes of veg and healthy foods, for the crate of beer, and the night for two in the hotel!! This was followed by my mum and dad both having to do a speech to the large group of Japanese people, and my being encouraged to sing Karaoke to them all! Fantastic night! We also went to see one of my friends performing Taiko, and ended up eating Yakitori all squashed together in a tiny little local bar with the owner speaking a heavy thick hard-to-understand local dialect, and one random customer paying for all our groups drinks! The kindness of strangers eh?

Our first big trip was a road trip! We hired a car (because my car is seriously dying) and planned to drive up all the way to Aomori, the further part of the main 'Honshu' island of Northern Japan. The road trip was great fun - toll roads are the fastest way to drive places around Japan, but they're quite expensive, so we didn't bother first of all - and chose to drive the more scenic routes. However, it took us almost 7 hours to drive up to Aomori, due to the winding roads around mountains, and the slow Japanese speed limits - a knackering journey which resulted in us more-or-less missing the whole point of us driving up - to see the famous 'Nebuta Festival' the giant lantern floats and noisy lively dancing around the city. The weather was also rubbish which meant that the floats had to be covered with plastic so as to protect them from the rain! But the drive was fantastic, and I got to see some more of Japan (Aomori gives me the impression that it is...significantly rural and hard to get to from the rest of Japan). We also saw some amazing lakes in Akita prefecture - Lake Tazawa, and Lake Towada - such beautiful lakes and amazing scenery around them, on clear sunny days. They were amazing and I'm hoping to revisit Towada sometime during August to do like the Japanese do and 'see the leaves'!

After the trip to Aomori, we took the quicker toll road route down to Iwate prefecture to stay in a lovely Japanese style hotel in a place called Osawa Onsen, it was a beautiful location situated by a beautiful stream and hill covered in mountains, with a number of onsen around to enjoy. It was there that we had a beautiful and delicious 和食 (Japanese-style dinner), which dad (very proud of him!) tried to eat....a lot of lets say! I think the food was the most challenging thing for dad - but he did really enjoy some stuff, especially Japanese-style pub grub!

Mum and dad tried there first onsens, and then it was time to quickly return back to Akayu for a bit of a rest. We managed to visit Yamagata city to check out Yamagata famous festival the Hanagasa Dance (Flower Hat dance) which was really nice to see. Various groups from around Yamagata process down the main street of the city perform a special dance using special Yamagata hats. , before heading down to the last leg of our time together, down in the Kansai area, to see Kyoto and Nara, and then finally to Tokyo.

Kyoto and Nara were incredibly hot! We stayed just outside of Nara in a place called Oji. We stayed at this small traditional Japanese style house run by a nice Englishman and his Japanese wife, all the staff spoke great English, breakfast was delicious and at a good price too! Right next to the station. It's called 'Yougendo' if you ever fancy going! (I thought it was that good I thought I'd do a bit of promotion!)

In Nara, we were lucky to see the Toukae festival (燈火会), where, towards the evening, thousands of candles were displayed around some of the famous sights and areas of Nara. It was a beautiful sight, and the temperature was a lot cooler!) Kyoto we visited the Golden Temple (my second visit), and a rather impressive Castle - Nijo Castle. Perhaps not as grand as the famous Himeji Castle, but nicely presented and a different style.

Finally, we returned on the Shinkansen to Tokyo for the last leg of our trip. We stayed in a lovely hotel (with BEDS!!!) and a nice view of the Tokyo skyline, we went on a boatride down Sumida river (not so attractive but a different experience!) and enjoyed the beautiful monorail journey and view around the Odaiba bay area of Tokyo with the Rainbow Bridge in the distance during the evening.

From Tokyo onwards, time seemed to fly. My parents had seemed to be in Japan for a really long time, but at the same time, it didn't seem so long and it was time for us to say goodbye in a very very (very) crowded Tokyo Station. (The end of our trip was during Japan's biggest Buddhist festival 'Obon', where the majority of people return back to their homes to spend time with family and celebrate the memory of their ancestors)

But we had a great time together, and as mum keeps reminding me 'it won't be long before you're back home for Christmas!' But before that, no sooner have my parents left, than my bro Tim comes over with Kieran (again!) and two other friends of mine! Busy times eh?

It's been very busy settling back into my second year, hopefully I will get a bit of time (soon soon soon!) to fill you in with more news!