Sketch days

Towards the end of summer, every school in Nanyo (probably generally every school in Japan) has a sketch day where all the students grab their sketch books, pencils and paints and head off around the neighborhood to select a scene fit for sketching and painting.

Of course, the event is extremely organised, with students having pre-selected (or pre-assigned?) their location, and detailed instructions on what to do and when to do it.

The first time my schedule encountered one of these sketch days was whilst I was in Akayu Junior High. The biggest school, and the one that often left me with no clue as to what was going on. I'm pretty certain that on my schedule there was a big white space on that day - no lessons scheduled and the words 'Day to sketch' in the space....I assume I just thought the day hadn't yet been 'sketched out'...ah the beautiful ambiguity of our English language. So on the day, the teachers were rushing about the place whilst I was wondering where the fire was...

Eventually, one of the English teachers explained to me what was going on, and asked me what I was going to do for the day. I rather excitedly said that I'd like to join. The teacher looked a little unprepared for that answer, but he helpfully supplied me with some paper, some brushes, and some paints. Off I went to wander around the various areas where the kids were painting. Unfortunately the sky was cloudy - not the best condition for a nice painting, but I thought i did a rather nice job of the Yoshino river that runs through Akayu. I hung out with a group of 1st grade and 3rd grade kids and the day was really relaxing, calmly painting while going 'sugoi, jouzu' (wow, really good) at each others paintings and having a bit of a laugh.

The next one was at the next school in Miyauchi - a little more prepared, but still a little difficult with my Japanese listening and speaking skills not as well equipped as they are now! Again, I was selective with my 舞台装置 (mise en scène if you will) and whilst the day was still cloudy, it was fun and relaxing.

The view I chose to paint in Sosho Park, Miyauchi

The boys enjoy chatting while they get on with there paintings

...and having the odd joke around, can't remember what was so funny?!

This year I was really prepared - being able to read the Japanese announcing the day and having a clue as to the general schedule of the day. Luckily (I thought) I was at a different school again, Okigo - and even better, the day turned out to be lovely. I chose a spot by the lake by the school, which I've always admired. The spot I wanted to paint only had one quite shy first grader in the same place, so together we painted with the occasional short conversation in a mix of Japanese and English. At lunch, I chatted with some 2nd grade girls (mostly in Japanese!) and tested out a group of 1st grade boys' English with a bombardment of questions. Its so nice that the schools have this day. Often I feel that Japanese schools first priority is sports, followed by education, and then the arts are a little after-thought. But such events like this, and the Nanyo School choir festival make me feel better about the balance.

This was the first one I did - Akayu

This was the second one - Miyauchi. (work in progress!) It was still grey and dull, so I used a bit of creative license to make it more brighter and impressionistic...!

And this is my latest - Okigo. This is my favourite, probably because its so bright and looks most complete out of all of them. The weather started off dull and cloudy, but cleared up completely and became glorious (I got a little bit sunburnt which I didn't expect!)

The Sound of World Music with Chris!

So if I was ever trying to have a break from piano playing, it turns out my hopes were inevitably dashed, because at the end of the day, I just can't resist playing whenever, wherever to whoever doing whatever!

I've been steadily doing more and more playing for various things, choirs, schools, soloists, little bits and pieces here and there, and then one of the gentlemen from the choir I was singing in asked me if I would like to do a little concert for his international society, as well as teaching the members some simple songs from England to sing at the performance too.

So, in September the performance was held, in the small town next to Nanyo -Takahata. The venue was a beautiful cosy circular hall called 'Hirosuke Hall' - and never realised it was a hall until I arrived there to play - thinking it actually some kind of architects designer houses, with an interesting slanting oval roof that really stands out among the rest of the uniform Japanese-style houses.

ALL Japanese concerts I've noticed MUST have interesting titles (this must be a stipulation required by the Ministy of Culture, in an effort to make concerts seem more interesting and appealing amidst all the Pokemon and crazy electronic contraptions that fly about the rest of Japan.) Some of the concerts I've been a part of have included 'Dream Concert', 'Thanks Concert', and then this is painted on a big wooden board that is hung above the stage. So obviously - my concert needed an interesting title - and they didn't disappoint me!

'THE SOUND OF WORLD MUSIC WITH CHRIS!' and then in Japanese 'クリスと一緒に歌いましょう！’　which translates as 'Let's sing together with Chris!'

It's definitely, plain-to-see-for-all: 'with Chris'!

The interesting thought that passed through my mind when I saw 'the sound of world music...' was that when I think of 'World Music'...I think of African drums, Spanish guitar, Moldovian folk music, Inuit throat singing etc. - however, obviously when the Japanese think of 'World Music' they think of 'Elgar', 'Mozart' 'Beethoven' - as that was the kind of thing I was playing. Perhaps if I was playing traditional English folk songs on some kind of fiddle, or recorder...I don't know, maybe that would be more 'English-style worldy music'? I wonder what they would actually consider a performance of Inuit throat singing - 'the sound of Alien music' 'the sound of Universe music' 'the sound of....well we don't actually know because we never knew Inuit's ever existed before...'

But whether or not they had any expectations of me performing 'world music' or just classical music, they all seemed to enjoy it. There was a nice baby grand Yamaha piano - and about 50-60 people came along to listen and support (and it just so happened that my bro, Kieran, Becky and Chris were in Yamagata at the same time - to further enhance the international flavor of the concert!)

This was kind of the first recital I'd ever done, so I was excited and a little nervous. I tried to make my programme accessible, entertaining and informative - containing things that the audience would probably know; my favorite pieces from my favorite composers; and I played the English National Anthem too, in the form of a 'theme and variations' by Beethoven!

After my performance of 40 minutes or so, the small choir sang a few English songs (very simple) like 'Row row row your boat', 'London Bridge' 'Greensleeves' and 'Loch Lomond' (yes, I told them it was from Scotland but they wouldn't listen to me!) and then they had invited a cool jazz guitarist who lives in the town, called Fujio Takeda. It was nice to be able to play some jazz and jam with him. He's a pretty talented man - nice but very modest and soft spoken, but very good playing style and improvisational skills, and also composes original songs too, which are very nice. His normal job is a small car mechanic with a garage at his house. Jazz is not the easiest thing for me, so it was good to get an opportunities to have a go at it again!

I got coverage in the prefectural newspaper, and the more exciting thing was that the local cable TV company came to record the whole thing - so I could well be on TV too with my performance!

After the concert, I got quite a few politely-angry messages from various people I work with or acquaintances who said they didn't know about the concert and would have liked to come! SO, in Spring I've decided I'm going to have another piano recital - I'll organize it myself if I have to, only this time it will be held in my very own Nanyo city! Wooo! Get your tickets booked for spring!

Yatta the concert was a 成功! (Success!)

TIMMAY comes to Japan!

If you happen to watch Japanese news, you will have happened to see a news-flash at the beginning of september, which caused nationwide panic similiar to the panic that was caused by Godzilla running havoc among the streets of Tokyo a while ago (this happens maybe once every two months...).

The news headline read 大きいモンスターのプリーン・ティモザイ君は日本に来ています！

Which translates as 'GIANT MONSTER TIMOTHY PULLEYN IS COMING TO JAPAN!'

(Artist's interpretation...)

But after a bit of discussion between English and Japanese Embassies, calm and understanding was restored, and Japan was ready for my little brother, and along came three other guests too! Kieran came for a second visit, along with two of mine and Kieran's friends Chris and Becky.

Unfortunately it was during school term, so I couldn't be with them all the time, but I managed to get a few days off around the weekend in order to spend time with them down in Tokyo.

I went down to Tokyo the day before they arrived, to meet up with my great mate from Yamagata lastyear, Guy, who had only just moved into his new home two days before I saw him. But it was great to see a familiar face from last year, had a good catch up, and he was kind enough to offer me a place to stay for the night. He has a nice new home in a community with quite a character. It's interesting to see the difference between living in the big city, and living in a...small...city...

The next day I met the guys at the train station, terribly jet-lagged (for once I wasn't in the same state, having taken the Shinkansen instead of the dreaded night bus!) so I introduced them to some Tempura (delicious fried, battered fish) and my superior (not quite) Japanese skills, and then we checked into our hotel and had a steady day to recover from their heavy flight.

We wrote a little prayer, as is a popular custom at Japanese temples, hopefully the gods will hear our wishes!

We did all the usual Tokyo things I've probably mentioned about beforehand on my blog, but one particular highlight was the night out in Shibuya. My Japanese best friend/mum Marie was in hospital at the time having a hip replacement, so she wasn't going to be able to meet my friends. But my other friend Shoko has a daughter who lives in Tokyo called Naoko, and she speaks amazing English, having moved to London at the age of 16 (by herself!) for a year and a half. She picked it up quickly, and we thought it would be a good idea to meet up.

The weather in Tokyo at the time was absolutely horrendous! (Towards the end of summer is Typhoon season...) There were huge thunderstorms every night, and torrential rain frequently too. On the night we decided to go out, it was raining cats and dogs, godzillas, Japanese salarymen - it was horrendous. We met Naoko outside as it was soaking, and had to run (without umbrellas) to the little bar in Shibuya that we were going to.

THEN, during the midst of this downpour of all downpours, Kieran and Chris think it a good idea to run to a relatively close combini (convenience store) and try to purchase a few umbrellas (they had sold out....)  so when we finally arrived at the bar (which wasn't too far away from where we met Naoko)...we were SOAKED.

The two Chris's demonstrate the extremity of facial expressions and feelings that the appalling weather caused us!

But the bar was pretty cool - whilst it wasn't the most amazing of bars, it hit the nail on the head as far as cool Tokyo bars go, in my mind. Tucked away on the 5th floor of an ordinary looking set-of-flats building complex, the BEAT CAFE was a tiny, cosy little bar. Apart from a little sign outside, tucked amongst all the other Neon signs (that are generally hostess bars and such), you would never come across this bar unless you actually knew of it beforehand. (Apparently some famous English rock singer has been to BEAT CAFE, it impressed Chris and Becky but I'd never heard of the bloke at all...!)

The owner was a really nice guy, playing some nice English rock for us on arrival and another resident of the bar was a Labrapoodle - one of the most amazing kinds of dog in the world! He was a brilliant dog! We had a few drinks and chatted a bit, and then we were set to go to our next bar, and the place we originally wanted to go to in the first place. The Lock Up. The Lock Up is a pretty famous pub in Tokyo - most notably for having a 'dungeon theme' to it.

We had a chat and a laugh there (at random moments throughout the night, the lights switch off and 'monsters' (people dressed up in black cloaks and masks) are let loose around the place terrorizing the customers, whilst an elaborate story-line over the speaker system, in Japanese, explains that they're trying to recapture all these monsters....which they do....for the time being!)

The best thing about 'The Lock Up' is the drinks! They have a variety of strange looking concoctions which are presented in all sorts of scientific instruments! Conical flasks, test tubes, Pipettes etc. One even came with a jelly eyeball in it! Great fun! 

Our 'dungeon'!

AN EYE!

This drink was so much fun! 

The end of the night!

After 'The Lock Up' we were up for doing a spot of Karaoke (I think we did 2 hours worth?) which, as is usually the case, was a great success. After our time was up at Karaoke, the time was something like 3am, so what better way to finish the night off than in a Shibuya club and dance the rest of the night away. That's exactly what we did. Japanese clubs are so much fun, everyone is so friendly, no hostility or violence, no mad drunks or anything - just good plain fun, and dancing with everyone and anyone. 

Then the time came when the trains started going again and we could move our dancing feet no more...about 5.30am we made our way back to our hotel to nap....!

Naturally, the next day was one for relaxing and recovering. At night we all went to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku - one of the swankiest dining places in the world. On the 52nd floor the New York Bar is a lavish setting of dark rich colours, low lighting, great live jazz, and large windows with a fantastic view of bustling Shinjuku and the rest of Tokyo. It was my second time visiting the place, the first time having dined in the restaurant area (AMAZING FOOD), but this time we got great seats in the bar area, listening to great jazz, enjoying some nice cocktails and a spectacular view.

Lounging in the New York Bar.

The view from the New York Bar - it was a little misty and cloudy that night - but at least it wasn't raining!

The trip in Tokyo was a great one, made so much fun by having a bunch of my English folks come over to enjoy it with. I had to return back to Yamagata, whilst they got to explore the western regions of Japan :-(......BUT.....the one plus side of returning back to Yamagata when I did was that I got to....ride the special POKEMON Shinkansen!

I first saw it when I met mum and dad, who rode it when they came up to Akayu for the first time. I found out that every Shinkansen line had ONLY ONE Shinkansen decorated on the outside with giant Pokemon (all other Shinkansen trains were as normal). It did exactly the same thing...but it had Japan's mascot (pretty much!?) plastered all over it!

PIKACHU!

I had to wait 4/5 days or so, until my friends returned for a visit to Yamagata. Where we enjoyed more Karaoke, puri kura and a visit to Sendai for some good and delicious Indian curry!

I think I can confidently say they had an amazing time whilst over here, and that Japan was everything people had told them, everything they had expected, and more! They tried the whole 'naked onsen' thing (well done you lot!), sampled a load of Japanese food, saw the modern, the old, and the stuff in between (ie. Yamagata). They saw and did a whole load, but I'm sure they'll want to visit again!

THANKS GUYS FOR COMING!

"One life to live" - Hip-Hop in Nagai

One day, we were driving through Oguni - though only a town, its area is the largest in all of Yamagata. It's a small town though, so I assume most of the land is occupied by giant mountains. From Nanyo it takes about 40/50 minutes to reach the centre of the town. It's out there - so, to recap - we were driving through Oguni. We stop at a convenience store and notice a poster stuck up on the wall. It was advertising a Hip-Hop 2 day festival....in Nagai of all places. Nagai is a city of 32,000 - 2 thousand less than Nanyo, but it doesn't really have anything memorable about it - no major train station running through it (its not a bad place though don't get me wrong) - so when I saw the poster for this festival, I knew it would be hilarious.

We made a big effort to make sure we would attend one of the nights. When we arrived there, it surpassed all my expectations. Beforehand, I was expecting at least a stage, and maybe at least 100 people, perhaps being a bit generous. However, at the ski-resort it was held at, there were a big set of speakers arranged on either side of a few steps leading up to the main-building of the resort. On the steps were some DJ decks...and hovering around this were about 30-40 people enjoying the festival!

The reason I expected no less than this, is because Yamagata lacks any music scene. It's the back waters of the country and its people are lovely but innocent and simple at heart. It also has an aging population, with most young people getting out of the place and leaving for Tokyo. It's a big problem in reality. However, I was happy that something was being put on for the young people who stick it out in the countryside. A few people had come over from the nearest big city, Sendai. But I met quite a few other people from places like 'Oguni' and 'Nagai' (didn't meet anyone from Nanyo!)

Me and my JET friends decided to dress up in a hip-hop fashion, and at one point me and Rebecca, after having chatted to some guys we didn't realise were DJing later, we took the opportunity to jump up on stage with them and DJ too!!

Me and Rebecca are on the right hand side (I'm the hooded one in red, she's the cool chick in the glasses) - getting the (small) crowd hyped up!

Oh and somebody told me I looked like white rapper, Eminem hahahahah!

From Kouhai後輩 to Senpai先輩

The middle of August was officially the beginning of my deja vue in this country. We had the New JET Orientation, in which I was a CCM there. What is CCM you ask? It means Commitee Council Member and its a unique part of Yamagata whereby 7 or 8 2nd year or more JETS apply, and are selected to take part in organising the seminar for new 1st year JETS, as well as organising the Mid-Year Seminar in November for all JETS. I wanted to do the CCM because at last years meetings, there was little to no advice or support on 'One-Shot' ALT situations - the very situation I'm in, whereby you visit a number of different schools. It turns out to be quite a lot of work, but it means that I can keep busy during down-time at my schools, and its also a good way of keeping your face known by all the other JETs in the prefecture.

So there we were, a year into my own experience, often being encouraged to act like an authority on various things! Perhaps I am, it was quite a nice experience to consider how much you know now compared to a year ago.

We had to do allsorts of things like workshops, discussion groups, skits, quiz shows (me and Chrissy did a fantastic quiz show routine involving Japanese puns, a theme tune, a little dance routine!)

Look at me doing some serious gesticulating!

The new Yamagata JET crew of 2008, and the CCM at the front.

Now we're planning for the big Mid-Year Seminar, with the aim of building relations between Japanese English Teachers and Assistant Language Teachers - and I have to work on a team-building excercise about trying to get off a desert island using only a few objects....any ideas?!

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!