Seijin no hi!!

Today is a national holiday in Japan because of what's known as Seijin no hi 成人の日「せいじんのひ」 (literally "Adult Day"), the coming of age day. It's held on the second Monday of January and on this day, all those who have turned 20 years old between April 1st of the previous year and March 31st of the current one are invited to join in the festivities! Those who attend usually dress up in formal attire when they go to celebrate their new maturity. For girls, this means a furisode, a kind of kimono with long sleeves that drape down and traditional zori sandals. Men used to wear a kimono and hakama (sort of like loose fabric resembling pants that goes over the kimono) but I'm told by my friend that nowadays men usually dress up in a Western suit and tie. (I think the kimono's cooler personally ;))

Having turned 20 just last July I was invited this year! Talk about good timing for my study abroad! I was originally not going to go though because my host mom told me the ceremony is kind of boring. But when I was finishing breakfast my host mom was like, "Have you ever worn a kimono?" and I answered no, and she said "You should wear one today!" and I was like, ".....WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?! o_O" So later she brought out all the pieces of the kimono (that she had hand made!) and started dressing me up! Kimonos really are a complicated process! First there's the white tabi socks which have to go first (it would be difficult to put on socks when you have all those layers on you and you're tightly strapped in!), the underdress (at one point she looked down and saw I was still wearing my pajama pants and laughed herself hoarse haha) which has long sleeves to fit into the long sleeves of the top layer, an underbelt to hold it up, a colored piece to show through the top color, the top layer which has to be adjusted to the right length at the obi (belt) which comes next and has to be wrapped around your waist a couple of times, then some more decorative pieces on top! （あぁ疲れた! "Ah, I'm tired!") Nowadays, girls dress up their kimonos a lot adding color ropes and even modern belts! Then my host mom helped me do my hair which I curled in the front, and she braided on the sides.

After all that this was the final product: =)

You can't see my feet in this picture but host mom kept having to tell me to put them angled at a certain way (one kind of pointing into the middle of the other) because that's how they used to walk. Weird, eh? Anyway, we're going to have a peek at the festivities today so hope you enjoyed this small bit!

Word of the day: 巻く、まく or maku。This is the verb you use when you talk about rolling or curling your hair!

UPDATE:

Okay so I just got back from the Seijinshiki (coming of age festival) and it was really fun! But there were SO many people!! I could barely move! The first thing we did was walk to the temple which had a ridiculous line and took forever to get through, as it usually does. As we were lining up I noticed a bunch of twigs that everyone was holding. I asked my host mom and she told me these are fukuzasa (remember fukubukuro?). Well I found out fuku means "lucky" so the fukubukuro is literally "lucky bag" and fukuzasa is "lucky bamboo leaves." Zasa is from sasa, bamboo leaves, but it becomes voiced (s -> z) when put with the first bit (thank you Linguistics...). So every year families buy fukuzasa and keep it for the rest of the year so it can gather your bad luck. Then when the next year turns, you bring the fukuzasa from last year to the shrine, put it in a big pile which is burned later, and then you buy a new fukuzasa for the next year which is supposed to bring luck and success.

Fukuzasa looks like this!

Unlike other times when I've been to temples, this time when we entered there were four priests holding long sticks with a bunch of strips of paper in a kind of pom pom type shape. When you step through, they shake it over your head which is supposed to rid you of all the bad things that happened in the past year. This is called おはらい、or oharai which means Shinto purification. Interestingly, there was another entrance on the side that said 「まぐろ」maguro. We weren't really sure what they were referring to but when we went in we saw that it was talking about a giant tuna! Lined up there was the tuna, vegetables, candy, etc. My host mom told me that this is an おそなえ, Osonae which means an offering to the gods. So everyone threw coins at the offerings (kind of like a wishing well); some people even stuffed coins INTO the open flesh of the tuna! It was a strange sight.

After that we got おみくじ omikuji, written fortunes. I got the same one that I got at New Year's! Highest luck with the God Yebisu! Coincidence? =3 It said things up until now have been bad (burns, surgery, swollen feet... lol) but from here on the gods will lend me power and give me very good luck and health. =) They also came in a really cute fish holder so, totally worth it haha.

We stopped to have some あまざけ amazake which literally means sweet sake or alcohol but it was non-alcoholic (go figure). It was outrageously delicious! It may have just become one of my favorite Japanese drinks! It's made from fermented rice and just has a great, sweet flavour to it. It was also really warm which felt great considering how cold it was outside. When we were done we wandered around the festival shops (there were loads everywhere!). They were selling lots of matsuri (festival) food: cotton candy, chocolate bananas, yakisoba, takoyaki,  candy apples, even candy strawberries and oranges! I bought a candy apple since I had wanted one the last festival I went to and never got it. *うれしい^^* Then we grabbed some yakisoba and headed home with the masses. Fun!

Word of the day: りんごアメ, ringoame which means candy apple! Yum! =)

それではまた次回！^-^

Bringing in the New Year: Sendai! ^^

After seven hours on the night bus, I finally reached Sendai! A much colder region of Japan, there was even some snow accumulated on the ground. I was so tired that they just took me straight back to my friend’s apartment where I iced and put up my foot, and ate breakfast and we chatted. We spent the day pretty much relaxing and talking. Then that night we went out to eat curry at this really nice steak place (they were probably pissed that they only customers they got ordered the cheapest thing on the menu) and then we went to an onsen! My first real one! It was a pretty cool experience. An onsen is a Japanese natural hot spring/public bath. So you do the same thing that you do with any public bath: wash and bathe before you enter the bath with a bunch of other naked women. But the difference with a natural onsen is that the bath is outside! The mixture of the piping hot water with the chilly winter air was blissful. So relaxing. There’s also a bunch of etiquette rules that goes with an onsen. For instance, you are given one small towel when you go in, about the size of a hand towel. You can use it when washing with the provided soap and shampoo but when you go in the actual bath you are not allowed to let it touch the water because that’s considered unclean. So you can use it to cover your parts when you walk out but make sure to move it to the top of your head (the typical spot) when you enter the water. You also have to sit down while bathing. You have two waterspouts, one out of a faucet, and one that’s attached to a showerhead. You use the showerhead to rinse your hair and then you fill a basin with the faucet and use it to rinse the towel, douse yourself with to remove soap. We talked with a Japanese woman while we were sitting in the onsen and she was surprised to see two white girls out in this middle of nowhere town. But it was a really neat experience and I would definitely go again.

I spent most of my week in Sendai eating, sleeping in, drinking, karaoke and going out. It was a really nice vacation and I had really great hosts. =) The small town feeling was a nice change. All of Harold’s friends were really nice and even drove us around. They also gave us loads of homemade, delicious Osechi, food for the New Year! One of his friends gave us a full out 3-layer box of Japanese goodies that were elaborately prepared by hand by his mother accompanied by homemade apple juice! We were also given homemade mochi from his other friend that we ate hot and it was delicious. Mochi is a kind of Japanese food that’s unlike anything I’ve ever had in America. It can be put in soup, stew, or eaten just as a sweet. Harold’s friend, Tajima, put it with sweet, handmade sauces that were really amazing. Mochi itself is white and it has a kind of chewy, melty, sweet flavor to it. It’s probably one of my favorite foods in Japan.

New Year’s was quite a different experience than I’m used to. In Japan it’s custom to visit the local temple at midnight when it turns from one year to the next. So we set out to the nearest one around 10:30pm. It was so cold! But we walked up the 220 steps to the top (and nearly keeled over) to stand in line to make our wishes for the new year. When the clock finally changed to 12am 1/1/11, we screamed out “Happy New Year!” in English among a thousand plus Japanese people which incurred a few looks. We also exclaimed the Japanese expression, of course. ;) The temple gates were opened and we filed in line to make our prayer/wishes. So customarily, you throw in a small coin, bow twice, clap twice, make your prayer, and then bow again. We found out from our Japanese friend that on New Years, if you throw in a 1 yen coin, it means you have a crush on someone and wish to become one with that person. You throw a 5-yen coin in if you already have a lover and want to continue with them. And then you throw a 10-yen coin in if you just want love in general to find you that year. I just threw in 11 cents for the year 2011. I sent my Happy New Years texts to all my friends and yes, the phone lines are just as crowded on New Year's in Japan as they are in America. It took about 5 tries to get it through. I did learn, however, that Yoi Otoshi Wo, which is what you say to others as a “Hope you have a good year!” type of saying is only used BEFORE the New Year. You’re not allowed to use it afterwards. Oops.

The Torii of the Temple we went to! We had to walk up all those steps >.<

Then after you finish making your wish, there’s a festival that takes place around the temple. We all picked 100 yen New Years fortunes for the fun of it and were pleasantly surprised! They were all good. =) Mine was apparently a very nice one, and it said I would have good health this year. (Boy could I use that!) The fortunes also contained one of the 7 lucky gods. I got Yebisu, the god of fishermen who is known for bringing good luck and health. Yay! His name is also known for a Japanese brand name of beer. *G* After that, we enjoyed some free, hot tea that they were giving us and it was so nice because we were so cold! The streets are filled with food stands you can buy from too. It was pretty cool to have a festival at 1-2 in the morning, though admittedly we were so cold we did not stay long. We bought some small sweets (chocolate bananas anyone?) and headed back to the car. On the way back, we heard this woman saying, “touch touch touch” in English behind us. We were really confused so we turned around and a woman and her five-year-old daughter were coming up to us saying, “touch, high touch.” They wanted a high five from us! It was so adorable! I guess they had noticed us because we were foreigners in a very local, not often traveled to area and wanted to say hello. So we wished them a happy new year and headed home. It’s also a custom in Japan to stay up and watch the first sunrise of the year but we were so exhausted we just passed out when we got home haha. Maybe next year!

When the year changes, it's customary for stores and homes to put up kadomatsu, a kind of new years gate decoration around the entrance door. It's placed to welcome ancestral spirits and house gods of the harvest. So there will be a pair (representing male and female), one on each side and they are usually made up of three stalks of bamboo that are artfully cut. These are placed at different levels and represent heaven, humanity, and earth.  Pine branches, and other decorative features like berries and fans can also be added to make it more e. I noticed them a lot around Miyagi and I thought it was a really neat tradition!

Now just imagine two of these framing the
doorways of Japanese homes and shops! ;)

On my last day in Miyagi we drove to the shopping area of Sendai for some last minute fun and so I could get omiyage (gifts) for my host family. We wanted to make sure we did purikura together to commemorate the trip so we did that first. It was really fun taking time to draw all over them and thoroughly add smileys, sparkles, and bows everywhere (there was no one behind us so we were able to take our time. Purikura takes a surprisingly long time because there’s so many options, tabs, colors, etc.- you’d be surprised!).  After eating (we found a diner!) and shopping around for a bit, it was finally time to leave so my friends took me to Sendai station to buy omiyage for my family. I asked them what food Sendai is most known for and the answer: cow tongue. Yeah. I did try it. It was actually pretty good but I don’t think I could actually eat it because the thought grosses me out. But I bought it for my family (who loved it by the way), said my good byes, and boarded the bus for home! What a great oshougatsu (New Year's Holiday)! ^^

Okay, that's all for my trip! Thanks for reading. <3 それではまた次回！

Word of the day: まつぽい or matsupoi is a word from touhokuben (the accent of the area of Sendai I was in) which means “really bright.” We used it a lot because of the reflection on the snow! ^^;

Phrase of the day: 明けましておめでとうございます！ Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Happy New Year!

Tokyo Adventures Part 2!

So we finally reached Hachiko! We traded taking pictures with some other friendly American tourists. For those who are wondering what I’m talking about, Hachiko is the name of a very famous Japanese dog. The story is that Hachiko would always come to greet his master, after his long day of work, outside of Shibuya station. But one day, his master did not return. He had tragically suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. But for the next 9 years of Hachiko’s life, the dog continued to come to the station to meet his master, at the precise time when his train used to come in every day. Hachiko was given away after his owner passed but would escape to carry out the loyalty for his master. He noticed that his master no longer lived in their house but would go and search for him at the train station where they had spent so many years together. Over the years, many of the daily commuters had noticed Hachiko and would even feed and nourish him during his wait so his story became publicized. The statue remains fixed where Hachiko would always stand and is a symbol of loyalty to the Japanese people.

From there we kind of wandered to other highlighted prefectures. We visited Akihabara, the biggest electronics district in Japan that is also home to many anime, manga, and gaming shops to geek out in. We got to Ueno park pretty late in the day so it was actually kind of creepy with a bunch of weird, half drunk guys out. So I went around taking pictures, camera in one hand, mace in the other. xD By the end of all that, we were pretty much dead on our feet so we went back to Hatagaya and collapsed at our hotel.

The funny thing about visiting other places is that it makes you appreciate things about your home that you normally take for granted. Tokyo is fun for shopping and for a short vacation but honestly if I had come to Japan and just gone to Tokyo, I think I would have been disappointed. My vacation made me realize how much I love Kobe: the towns, the accent, even the familiar voice announcing my train station. You just can’t get a good feeling of Japan from Tokyo like you can from the less well-known prefectures. I’m happy to say it made me realize how much I love the Kansai region and that I picked the right place for my study abroad in Japan! Yay!

The next day, I kind of ventured out on my own. I went to the Ginza district of Tokyo, which is another big shopping area known for more expensive brands: Louis Vuitton, Apple, Sony, etc. I actually didn’t know how to get there so I asked a policeman at a Kouban (police box) for directions and he was this old Japanese man and was really awesome. He told me exactly how to get there. He was so nice and helpful! He seemed surprised that I could speak Japanese and kept switching back to English out of habit of talking to many English-speaking tourists haha. So I did some more shopping; got a few more articles of clothing and did some accessory shopping at a Forever 21 there and just kind of wandered. I met up with my friend midway through the day to hop a bus to Tokyo Tower. It looked exactly like the Eiffel Tower but... in Tokyo. *G* We rode up to the main deck and spent a lot of time taking pictures of the skyline and ourselves with the skyline.

Tokyo Towaa!

The view from the main observation deck =)

When I had taken my fill of pictures, I left to meet up with a few other friends to go out drinking. It was fun to kick back and chat for a few hours. We went to an Izakaya (bar) for nomihoudai until I had to go home to re-check in to the hotel. By the end of this day my feet were killing me so I took a long soak in the tub (much cleaner than American Hotel bathtubs). But I still woke up with aching feet so I took it easy for my last day in Tokyo. I debated going to Tokyo Disney but decided in the end it would just be too much walking for me to handle. And Studio Ghibli was sold out for all the days I was there *tear* so I went to Asakusa with some friends to visit the Sensoji Shrine, known for the 2 mighty gods, Raijin and Fujin, god of thunder and wind respectively. It’s the largest Buddhist temple in Tokyo and also contains a beautiful 5 story Pagoda. 

After perusing around the temple and taking pictures because it was a gorgeous day, I went to Harajuku to check out a bit of the nightlife, and then left to get my bus to Sendai!

The bus system was insane. The company had about 50 buses all going in different directions, and they were all late. There must have been about 2000 people waiting outside in the bitter cold for their buses. You had to sign in first when they called and then wait for the bus to be called by megaphone, which was hard to hear besides the fact that they were announcing in Japanese. So I got closer to the speaker so I could hear more clearly and bunkered down on my bag to wait because no way I was standing for that long. About an hour later, I heard my bus call and staggered to my swollen, aching feet to limp to the bus where I slept uneasily for the six-hour ride. Not the most comfortable part of my trip.  It wouldn’t have been so bad if my feet weren’t painful to move in any direction. So when I got off at 6am, I could barely walk and basically limped slowly to the subway and took one line to meet my friends. *しんどいわ*

Wait for the final installment of Nana's winter vacation! それではまた次回！

Word of the day: しんどい, Shindoi. This is an expression you use when you feel you can’t go any further like, “I’m beat!” or “I’m exhausted!” It has a feeling of, “I am going to die if I go any further. ~_~” Very useful. =3