Week 3
10
17
(
)
Sunday, October 17th
Host
Family Weekend
Despite being somewhat exhaused from the homestay,
a group of us attended the Hachiman-jinja
Shrine Festival. Shinto is
the native religion of Japan, and many of its beliefs and values are
integrated throughout Japanese culture. This
particular festival (or matsuri)
was a celebration of thanks to the gods for good harvest. At
first, I was not keen on attending the festivities, but I felt somewhat
compelled to go,
and
I
thought that
I might run into
the Harada family. The festival, held several blocks from
the hotel, at first seemed to be nothing more than a carnival with food
stands and children's games. Two large, portable shrines
(called omikoshi) rested in the middle of the
shrine grounds. Grains of rice were attached to the corners
of each. I bought some food and walked around the festival;
it seemed no different than my hometwon annual fair. Several
minutes later, however, tens of men and women dressed in traditional
clothes (happi [coat]
and hachimaki [headband]),
hoisted the omikoshi and, moving it up and down to the rhythm of a shrill
whistle,
brought it up the steps of the shrine. I thought the ritual was completed
and moved in to take a closer picture with my camera. Then, the entire
entourage started to move in my direction, pushing scores of people out of the
way. The omikoshi had to be turned around so that it could be taken
out the tori for the ritualistic act of transporting the kami (Shinto
nature deity) out of the shrine. The procession of
the omikoshi is
highly symbolic,
yet boisterous and energetic. As
the procession of the first omikoshi reached
the
torii,
a
children's
band played traditional songs on drums and flutes. The omikoshi made its
way out into the street, and the group returned to bring out the other. Later,
a
group of girls
played several songs on taiko
drums, much to the delight of the growing crowd. The last piece
was a mixture of the traditional percussion with a modern version of Soran
Bushi, a popular traditional fishing song from Hokkaido. It
was
an
altogether joyous event, and during the walk back to the Hotel Sennari, I was
glad I decided to attend.
click
images to enlarge or to play QuickTime Movies
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| the
lights of the Shinto Festival |
an interesting
juxtaposition |
bringing
the omikoshi to the shrine |
the
taiko drums performance |
dancing
to Soran Bushi |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
| |
|
a
QuickTime movies of the Shinto Festival, including the Taiko Drum performance |
[TOP]
10 18 (
)
Monday, October 18th
Our last day in Kimitsu began as we checked out from the Hotel
Sennari. The night would be spent at a ryokan,
a traditional Japanese-style
inn. We began our day's events with a walk to Kururi
Castle, a reconstructed version of the Warring States-era castle tower. The
view from the castle gave us an idea of Japan's mountainous landscape. We
ate lunch across the street from the Yoshisaki Sake Brewery and then crossed
the street to sample the various types of sake,
or rice wine, produced at the factory.
click
images to enlarge
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| a
view of Kimitsu from Kururi Castle |
the
reconstructed Kururi Castle |
the
view hints at Japan's topography |
group
photo at Kururi Castle |
"konpai" at
Yoshisaki Sake Brewery |
Our
last meeting was with local PTA members, the majority of whom were
males. A member of our group asked why, despite Japanese
men being relatively uninvolved in their child's education, were
so many men typically represented on PTA boards. The response
underscored cultural norms regarded gender roles in Japan: by giving
a man a position of power, his participation in his child's education
may increase. We left the meeting saying good-bye to
our interpreter,
Koda-san, whom we felt had done a fantastic job.
The
next stop was at Kameyama Onsen, and we checked in to the ryokan
late in the afternoon. The
four men of the group would be together in one room, and we spread our belongings
on the large tatami mat
that covered the entire floor. Each of us changed into the robes
and happi provided for us, and made our way to the baths (sento)
heated by the nearby onsen. The
act of public bathing is even more ritualized and governed by norms than bathing
in private quarters. We made our way to the sento and relaxed before
dinner. Most ryokans provided meals; our meal was several courses
of typical Japanese cuisine. We stayed up late that evening, as
it was our last night together as a group. Near midnight, a fellow
ryokan guest requested that we try to keep the noise down, apologizing all
the while. It
was we who should have apologized. [TOP]
click
images to enlarge
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| the
departure of Koda-san |
Mt.
Fuji at sunset |
at
the Kameyama Onsen ryokan |
Kato-san
at the ryokan dinner |
our
meal at the ryokan |
another
group photo |
10 19 (
)
Tuesday, October 19th
We checked out of the ryokan and watched the Yankees - Red Sox
World Series game that was on in the lobby while we waited to board the bus. I
was attempting to collect peoples' digital pictures when I realized that everything
I had saved on my computer somehow was lost. In a slight panic, I
tried to recover everything (especially the images, as there were many that were
meaningful to me). I was unable to do so, and future attempts proved
futile as well. It wasn't until I returned
to
the United States that my school's network administrator was able to restore
some of the images. Some were lost for good. The images
that I was most fearful of losing, those of my homestay, had been fortunately
stored
on
the
memory
card
in my DV camera. My group members were kind enough to make a CD full
of other
images
from
many
of
our
common
experiences. We checked in again to the New
Otani, and braced for another
typhoon,
Tokage. This
one caused more destruction than the Ma-on, and over eighty lives were lost. [TOP]
10 20 (
)
Wednesday, October 20th
Resisting heavy rains, forty or so FMFers visited Nakanocho
Kindergarten in Minato
City,
Tokyo. The kindergarten students and some of their mothers had prepared
a performance for us. We decided to teach them Head, Shoulders,
Knees, and Toes. The rest of the day was spent indoors preparing for
our group presentation that was to be given tomorrow. Each of the
ten groups was to present their experience to the other 180 FMFers. Some
host city officials who had originally planned on attending, were unable to do
so because of the weather. Fumio Kitami, who had done so much for
us while in Kimitsu, would
be
present,
and
we
wanted
to make him proud.
click
images to enlarge
 |
 |
 |
| scenes
from Nakanocho Kindergarten, Minato City, Tokyo |
[TOP]
10 21 (
)
Thursday, October 21st
Most of the group presentations were better than I had expected,
and each group's experience was as unique and exhilirating as our own. Some
more computer problems almost kept us from giving our presenation, but everything
wound up going well.
The presentations took up most of the day. The last event on
the schedule, aside from returning to Narita Airport for departure, was the Sayonara
Buffett. This was the official send-off by our Fulbright Memorial
Fund hosts, and it was a memorable evening. Keeping with Japanese
custom, speeches were made, and sincere gratitude was expressed. One
of the senior FMF staffers led us with the customary tejime (click
here for a short QuickTime movie of tejime),
a rythmic hand-clapping routine that signals the end to an evening and brings
promises of happiness and good fortune. The
most
poignant
moment
came when we all sang The Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful. These
songs resonant much deeper when heard in a foreign land.
click
images to enlarge or to play QuickTime Movie
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| with
Kato-san after the Kimitsu Group Presentation |
with
Fumio Kitami |
Dr.
Kimura and Dr. Satterwhite at the Sayonara Banquet |
with
Steve Tabisz, Robert Elliott, and Dan D'Amboise |
a
group photo at the Sayonara Banquet |
|
[TOP]
10 22 (
)
Friday, October 22nd
We checked out of the the New Otani and boarded our buses to
Narita Airport. It was a fairly stressful morning, but once we got through
security and sat in the terminal, I realized that we were one step closer to
going home. Flight
UA882 to Chicago seemed much shorter than flying to Tokyo three weeks earlier. I
waited awhile at the luggage carousel for the kendo sword since it was
being shipped as oversized luggage. I looked
everywhere for it as FMFers started heading for customs, but to no avail. Eventually
I found it: it had been brought into the area on a cart with other oversized
items and never made it onto the carousel. Going
through customs in Chicago, I experienced a kind of reverse culture-shock:
people seemed
rude,
the security
personnel yelled at us to have our passports out, interactions seemed rather
impersonal and standoffish. I already missed Japan, and I could
not help but wonder what my first day back at school would like. The
final leg of the journey - a flight out of O'Hare to Bradley International
in Hartford
seemed
long,
but I was able to sleep most of the two hours. I was thrilled when I
saw my wife again for the first time, and I was happy to be home.
click
images to enlarge
 |
 |
 |
 |
| leaving
the Hotel New Otani |
Narita Airport,
Terminal 1 |
at the boarding
gate |
the setting
sun and Mt. Fuji from the plane |
[TOP]
Post-Trip
[RETURN
TO MAIN PAGE]
