A bit of Japanese culture; past and present.

I’ve been spending a fair bit of time up in Fukuoka recently, and with that came an opportunity I’d never heard about before. For the past few years, Kohei’s mum has been volunteering at the Nagasaki Kaido Event in Kokura.

This event sees participants walking parts of the old highway that stretches all the way from Kokura to Nagasaki, a grand 223km. Back in the Edo period, numerous goods were transported along this road to Dejima, Nagasaki, the only centre for overseas trade at the time.
Using the sugar transported along the highway, a confectionary culture grew alongside it, leading to the popular name ‘Sugar Road’.

We were tasked with serving zenzai (a sweet red bean soup with mochi) and other refreshments to the participants on one of the shorter courses. I had such a fun day and it was super entertaining to see people’s confusion upon realising there was a foreigner there. 

My old barista nature definitely kicked in when the waves of people arrived, and I got accustomed to the sticky fingers from the soup by the end of the day. I also got a picture with some super high up guy at one of the biggest department stores in that area, and definitely befriended his wife. Kohei on the other hand, befriended a little dog named Happy. 

Since Kohei’s mum is always so busy with work, it was one of the first times I’ve been able to spend some quality time with her outside of the apartment. Don’t get me wrong, I love our late night chats about cultural differences, but I love our matching Hawaiian aprons more. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet some of her friends lately, so I really feel like my Fukuoka family is growing little by little.

The night before I went to see One Ok Rock in Fukuoka. They’re my favourite Japanese band and despite seeing them three years ago in Manchester, I’ve always wanted to see them play on their home turf. I have to say, I’ve never felt so culturally out of place in my life; at every moment I’d usually be loud, the Japanese crowd was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. 

I’m thankful Kohei didn’t join in with the choreographed head banging and fist bumping… that being our first concert together could have been a deal breaker! Needless to say I still had a wonderful time as always, and the atmosphere was so much more emotional being one of the last tour dates in Japan for that album.  I’ve already booked tickets to see them again at Summer Sonic, a festival in Osaka which is serving as this year’s reunion with my bestie, Haruka. Looks like I've got a few months to get my Japanese rock concert etiquette on point.