First published: April 14th 2012
A Sakura (Cherry blossom) bloom in Ritsurin Koen!
At last, Spring is here! As I currently write, the sun is shining brightly outside the window, and with it comes the gentle warmth that's edged out the winter chill. It's a remarkable feeling to finally be able to walk around in a shirt and jeans and not feel like hypothermia might set in at any moment (for all that Scotland has a reputation for cold, I still stand by my statement that my Winter in Japan was thecoldest that I have ever experienced). While the weather has, of course, been inconsistent (with the occasional patches of dark cloud and even thuderstorms), the climate is warmer and I no longer need rely on my air-con to survive getting dressed in the morning.
Spring has proved to be a very fulfilling time for me, full of little moments of excitement and adventure which - combined - made the coming of Spring a very enjoyable time for me, not least because of all the beautiful
sakura (cherry blossoms) that have begun bloomed in the past couple of weeks! One of the most iconic images of Japan, I'd heard much of these delicate trees for years, and was excited to finally see them with my own eyes. However, nothing could have prepared me for these wonderful sights; seeing these
sakura in person has been an incredible experience that has made every morning cycle to work a joy. I had never anticipated that the sakura would be so plentiful, so common, and so pretty. Seeing those petals in a photograph is one thing, but seeing them with my own eyes for the first time was one of the most moving and breathtaking moments of my life.
March was full of adventure and exploration, including the aforementioned trip to Naoshima, and later, a week of volunteer work in the areas affected by the tsunami and earthquake in North East Japan last year. Looking back, it's hard to believe it was all contained within just one month.
Bunraku puppetry!
Witnessed on the same day I returned from Naoshima.
I met with a few of my fellow JETs in Starbucks for an expedition to see traditional
bunraku puppetry. Originating from Osaka, bunraku puppetry is a famous traditional form of Japanese theatre, and was on my "to do" list of things I wanted to see during my time in Japan. Fortunately, fellow JET Jasper Wood (a jovial Irishman who wears a constant smile) lead our party to Miki-cho, where an amateur puppet group would be performing during the day. Arriving far too early, we were eventually lead into a small auditorium and greeted by the leader of the bunraku group; a jovial fellow whom despite appearing quite elderly, was quick on his feet. Despite a general inability to understand the language spoken, there was a friendly and warm atmosphere around the room.
The performances consisted of dancing puppets, sword-fighting puppets, a romance between puppets... The variety was quite extraordinary, as was the depth of expression conveyed by many of these wooden people. One performance - my peronsal favourite! - was an animated and energetic narrative of a man attempted to court a female in a style reminiscent of Punch & Judy, which was ccompanied by a wonderful shamisen performance and singing. The puppets danced around one another with umbrellas opening, closing, twirling and being thrown between the two... It was a shock to learn this complex performance had been performed by just one man, hiding upon the stage. Another highlight was a sword-fight involving a single samurai defeating all who challenged him in graphically violent yet comedic ways (noses falling off the opponent, for example, or heads suddenly breaking in two with a well-timed 'Pop!'). This sequence ended with a wonderful moment when an elderly woman entered the arena, and finally took down the samurai with her walking stick.
Our time at this theatre was hilarious, entertaining, and technically impressive (those performers had some skill!). Overall, it was simply a great day out.
Not just puppets! This performer also impressed our group
with a dance which included a rapid alternation of masks.
Standing with the leader of the bunraku group:
Arran Chambers, Johnathon Perkins, Jasper Wood and myself.
I should also mention that I made a small appearance in the March edition of the food magazine 'Komachi'. Or at least, the back of my head did! During my first visit to the Penta5on bar near Shimokasai JHS in January, I was asked by the staff to pose for a small photograph which showed a foreign visitor to the American-style bar, which was being featured in the March edition. I was happy to agree, and found myself posing for a handshake with the owner, Hodaka Shido. In the finished article, you can only see the back of my head and my suit, with the handshake being the focus of the shot. Still, it was really quite nice to be asked to be a part of this little feature. I picked up a copy for myself, and made sure to grab the journalist for a quick photo to keep for myself!
Luckily, the tabloid paparazzi failed to gain access to these exclusive shots.
In food news, Mister Donuts marked the season with a range of impressive Sakura-themed donuts! Still on sale at time of writing, I've tried a few of these now, and they're all rather good! - partially iced and with a fruity filling. Recommended!
Everybody loves donuts!
Meanwhile, I decided to take my coffee a step further than the average instant powder that I'd been having. As you may know, I absolutely adore coffee - it's one of my biggest vices, and a constant drain on my finances, but I'm happy for those beautiful blends to suck my wallet dry. I'm coffee's bitch, is pretty much what I'm saying. And feeling a need to improve upon what I was drinking in the house, I picked up a french press from Kaldi Coffee Farm (the fantastic foreign foods store in the AEON near my home), along with some beautiful colombian beans that were grinded in front of me and freshly sealed. Opening the bag at home filled my apartment with a delicious smell - if I could have drunk the walls, then trust me me, I would have.
Daily coffee consumption has rapidly increased in Casa de Hugh.
This month also marked the painful re-release of 'Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace' in Japan. Slightly later than a few of the other international releases, I was afraid to see that not even Japan could escape the terrible clutches of one of the most disappointing movies ever made. I could write at length about all of the reasons I dislike this movie, but I still prefer it to both of the subsequent prequels... Anyway, I was invited to go and visit with Richard (from Naoshima!) and Mark Tada. Despite an initial reluctance due to my strong dislike of the movie, I decided to take the plunge so that I could spend more time with Richard and Mark - two individuals I didn't see a lot of.
I'm afraid to say the film was still shit.
Fun with Darth Maul. Horrifically bad move, though.
Above; Richard, and below; myself.
(However; I did not go unprepared. I took along the all new digital download of
Mr. Plinkett's Phantom Menace audio commentary from
RedLetterMedia on my iPhone, and spent some of the film listening to the spot-on criticisms and hilarious observations. If you haven't heard of Mr.Plinkett or the guys at RedLetterMedia yet, then be sure to check them out! They're doing some fantastic work - notably the
70-minute long Phantom Menace review! Worth watching for anyone who enjoys good comedy or critiquing the prequels.)
One good thing - the lobby were selling some pretty nifty Doraemon popcorn holders. I couldn't resist picking one of these up.
Perhaps the one good thing I can thank The Phantom Menace for.
Of course, it wouldn't be March if there wasn't a Paddy's Day celebration.
Matt Wright entertains the crowds in Shamrock.
Unfortunately, he had to compete with a fair amount of noise that evening!
St. Patrick's Day fun in Takamatsu's Irish bar 'Shamrock'.
Our favourite Irish bar, 'Shamrock' sits midway down the Takamatsu shotengai (shopping street). I'm a big fan of it's owner, Hide, who does a 5-a-side football club with many of the ALTs on Sundays (which I admittedly never attend), and is a passionate enthusiast of Scotland and Scottish culture (with a damn fine array of Scottish whisky on display). I enjoy drinking here when I keen, though I must admit I haven't gone as often or as frequently as I would have liked to. The bar is the spitting image of a traditional pub from back home, and every time I drink there I feel like I'm stepping right back into Scotland.
Naturally, being the Irish bar, it was inevitably where almost the whole gaikokujin (foreigner) community in Kagawa descended on March 17th for St. Patrick's Day. And after a swift head count, it transpired that there was actually 4 (!) Irish men and women within the bar that evening! Incredible.
Good times with Sam Jones of SAMTV infamy.
Thumbs up, indeed!
Takashi and Takahito (and myself, inbetween).
I sometimes wonder about these guys.
Props must be given to Hide and his team at Shamrock for being excellent hosts. It was a great night - and I especially enjoyed the food in display, too! You just can't beat the traditional beef stews and broths.
A mascot for the Hanshin Tigers flaunts his leaflets.
March also had a welcome surprise mid-way through, in the form of a bonus public holiday! Tuesday 20th offered a welcome opportunity to finally see a Japanese baseball game at the Kagawa Prefectural Baseball Complex, only a short cycle away from my school at Shimokasai JHS. Japan has an infatuation with baseball, and it's easily the most popular sport among it's youths. In fact, looking through the window on any train journey around Japan will inevitably lead to more than a few viewings of baseball being played in a field somewhere.
Arran and I cycled along to the stadium and arrived to see a surprisingly high number of spectators. Wondering if it would still be possible for us to get seats, we ran as fast as we could to the entrance selling tickets, and decided to splash out on a pair of the best seats in the stadium, right next to the batting area. Walking around the grounds, we discovered that the teams playing were the hugely popular Hanshin Tigers, which Arran assured me was a pretty big deal; and their opponents, the Hiroshima Carps. As an Englishman and a Scotsman, Arran and I really didn't have a clue what was happening for the majority of the game (British and baseball are two concepts that don't really go well together). In fact, this was only the second baseball game I'd ever seen (the first being in Toronto, Canada), as well as Arran's first! Ready for a new experience, we watched our first baseball game in Japan.
Carps vs. Tigers!
For around about the next two hours of my life, I sat and watch men in a field hit a ball around a stadium.
...you know, I still don't quite see the appeal.
Regardless, it was a fun experience, and certainly a unique one. While I'm not sure I'll ever understand what makes baseball quite so popular, the crowds certainly did, and took a great thrill in chanting and singing to encourage the players. Towards the end of the game, the crowds produced an unexpected number of coloured balloons. Waiting for the cue, they went off all at once in a dazzling display, where they all span upwards and fell down onto the field. Of course, they were all removed before play continued. Supposedly, this is a big feature at Tigers games, and the crowds always buy the balloons at stadium stalls before the game - ready to let them off as it nears it's conclusion.
Balloons and baseball?
Surely I'm not the only one who thinks they bear a resemblance to sperm?
Even though I barely had a clue what was happening, and the game ended with only one (!) solitary point being scored by the Tigers during the game (Tigers win! Yay!), it was still a unique insight into Japan's most popular sport.
Personally, I still prefer football (or "soccer", as you Americans would have it!).
An interesting item I acquired in March was the
shakuhachi. During the month, I visited IPAL - an establishment that supports foreign citizens and encourages international integration - where I spoke about Scotland with some members of their English club. As a gift to thank me for talking to them, the leader - Mr. Anabuki - offered me a
shakuhachi, which is a traditional Japanese flute that makes a distinct and melancholy sound.
Shakuhachi are incredibly expensive, its seems, but luckily this was a spare practice
shakuhachi that Mr. Anabuki happened to have, and so it was offered to me in case I wanted to have Mr. Anabuki - a man who has played
shakuhachi for many years - teach me how to play. After a few attempts to make some notes (during which time, of course, I was absolutely terrible), I agreed to have Mr. Anabuki give me more tutelage in the future.
Unfortunately, as life has been so incredibly busy, I have had no oppportunities to practise since then. However, I am keen to contact Mr. Anabuki and pursue this instrument further!
Practising the Shakuhachi with Mr. Anabuki.
Unfortunately, I don't have any sharper images than this!
Strange sights in AEON; men dressed as Sailor Moon-esque warrior girls
The fight scene that followed was it's own kind of bizarre.
March also saw a period of rapid change in the school environments where I taught! Unlike in Scotland, where the school year runs from summer to summer, the Japanese school year runs from April through to March. Thus, the graduation ceremony was suddenly and unexpectedly upon us, making it time to bid farewell to many of my favourite third-year chugakkou (junior high) students as they departed for high-school (luckily, almost all of my shogakkou (elementary students) transferred directly upwards into the junior highs that I teach). It was quite a bittersweet moment, but offered a fantastic opportunity to see a Japanese graduation ceremony for the first time.
The Hinomaru (the circle of the sun) national flag flies
on graduation day at Katsuga JHS.
Graduation at Katsuga JHS.
This was quite something. I enjoy learning about the cultural differences between schools in Scotland and in Japan (of which there are many!), and here was another example of differencer from my own experiences at Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy. Unlike there, where the end of school was marked with a wonderful prom, a farewell assembly (and, usually, a meeting for a cup of coffee with the head teacher); the Japanese schools held university-esque graduations, with parents in attendance wearing kimono, formal attire and suits. Students were led down the central red carpet by their classroom teachers, before bowing and receiving a certificate from their head teacher. It was very reminiscent of my own graduation ceremony from the University of Stirling - except that these students were still in their teens, and would have these ceremonies multiple times during their school careers!
The school's brass band plays a farewell salute to the graduates.
You can see a video of this event on my YouTube here.
The graduation ceremony lasted for a couple of hours at least, during which time many songs were sung and played by the students and the school's band. After the graduation ceremony finished, the students marched out with their parents to the accompaniment of the school's brass band, which quickly moved from the audtorium to the front of the school. Many students lingered on the grounds for a long time, talking to friends who would be going to different schools and taking photographs with their teachers. I was happy to pose with the students for photographs, and stayed with them for at least an hour or so, before finally they left for pastures new. It was sad to see some students that I was very fond of move onwards, though of course I wished them well. For myself, it may well have been farewell; but for them, it was a new beginning.
Sadder still, however, was the loss of several of my favourite colleagues, who were moving on to work in other schools.
The farewell enkai for Katsuga's departing teachers at the Clement hotel.
Seeing so many friendly faces leave was quite an emotional experience.
The Japanese school system is designed so that the teachers rotate between schools every few years, averaging around once every three years. This is completely different to the system in Scotland, where teachers may stay in one school for their entire career. The reason for this is unclear, and I'm yet to hear a definitive one (the best summary I've heard of this so far was simply; "That's just what they do."). Teachers do not get to decide whether or not they transfer schools, and are only given a couple of weeks notice before they depart. I think this a bit of a painful system, and I'm not so sure I should like to endure it myself... Regardless, I had made a great number of friends amongst the teachers who were selected to leave. It was a bittersweet moment to watch them leave; a chance to meet new teachers and make new friendships, but also the loss of many who had been so welcoming in kind during this first year in Japan.
Sakura bloom in Ritsurin Koen.
I'll be updating this blog shortly with entries about many of my other Spring experiences: my time doing volunteer work in Tohoku, a few overnight stays in Tokyo, and seeing the sakura at Hanami (the Spring flower-viewing parties for the sakura blooms). Spring has been an incredibly busy time thus far (though not at school, of course, due to the the Spring vacation!). It's been remarkable how much I've managed to do in these last few weeks, and I'll be sure to share it all with you shortly.
Right now, the sun is shining outside my window on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and I'll be off to a hanami party this afternoon. I think I'll walk to the local shrine before I head into town, and enjoy the sakura there for a moment. I'm keen to experience these blooms to their full, and enjoy the return of the warmth that has been all too rare in recent months.
Spring in Japan is truly beautiful. For anyone interested in visiting Japan, I'd say that right now would be perfect.
