Taiko Festival time!

Back in October, I briefly mentioned how I’d just started taiko drumming with Chloe and Kim. Our group actually dances Eisa (エイサー) which is the traditional performing art originating from Okinawa. There a three types of drums; odaiko (the big one I play), and two smaller handheld ones, shimedaiko and paranku. 

I’ll admit, after weeks of practicing our posture and form, the basic foot work and the correct arm placements for hitting the drum, I felt like a big girl when I got handed a drum and told to put it on. Needless to say I felt like I had a temperamental child strapped to me that neither did what I wanted, knocked me off balance and threw itself in the opposite direction.

Fast forward to almost 6 months later, having just performed for the first time at the Ryukyukoku Matsuri in Oita. Don’t get me wrong, I was nervous as anything, especially since they’d decided to change the formations 3 times in the week leading up to the performance. 

Extra pressure was added when they announced how the Kumamoto team had three ALT’S; like I needed more eyes staring at me and my glowing whiteness.

That was an ongoing theme of the day though, since being the only foreigner does make you stick out. However the children whispering “gaikokujin”, seeing me smile, asking me if I understood and freaking out when I replied were actually pretty cute.

Despite the killer early morning meeting at 4:30am, the entire day was something I’m so glad I got to experience. Especially since now the younger members of the group have warmed to us, rather than staring at us petrified like they once did. We only performed one song being the novices we are, but we’re being taught more routines as the weeks go on, so maybe next time we’ll get to show off our skills a little more. 

I’ll admit that despite feeling like a pretty cool Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle all day, I’ve never been happier than when I could finally take my tabi off (which I’d been taped into might I add). Cankles don’t exist in Japan, that’s something I’ve had to come to terms with.

Idyllic Itoshima.

Last weekend, Kohei and I took a mini road trip to Itoshima, a beachy area in Fukuoka prefecture. Despite having a few issues with the SATNAV (by that I mean “reaching our destination”, but in fact being in the middle of an empty field), we had the BEST day visiting all sorts of quaint locations along the way.

 

Bistro&Café TIME

There was some ominous fog when we arrived, so much so that it looked like a plotline to a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel; the paddle boarders venturing into the fog, only their board washing back to shore, and skeletons appearing from the waves. However, when the fog cleared it became a truly beautiful brunch spot. The café only serves two dishes of the day, one meat and one fish, which we both tried. I would completely recommend this place, especially for the fact it sold ginger ale which I’ve not had in the longest time, and the pork just melted in your mouth.

London Bus Café

My home away from home, although obviously London isn’t a patch on Scouseland. The last thing I expected to see along the coast of Japan was an actual bus, converted into a café, selling gelato. It provided super adorable photo opportunities though, and I’ve just made their authenticity go through the roof from having an actual British customer.

 

Café JASPER

Indoor palm trees, surfboards and trinkets galore. A little café on the ground floor of the owner’s house with the most refreshing homemade lemonade. I’ll definitely be going back to purchase on the quirky mugs decorating the place. They’re not for sale yet, but being the magpie I am, I’ve got my eye on a beautiful little iridescent one.

One of my favourite locations was not one of these places, despite them all being so wonderful. It was in fact a little beach where we just sat and watched the world go by. The bonus being the super picturesque swing between two palm trees for us to enjoy. The amount of stares Kohei and I get from Japanese girls is quite hilarious too. We do get sneaky pictures taken of us sometimes, but hey, I guess that’s just another gaijin problem I have to get used to.

Drip drip drop, little (by that I mean relentless) April showers.

My parents recently visited Japan for the first time, and I was able to join them for all but one part (Tokyo) of their whirlwind journey. We visited Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Miyazaki prefectures, all in the space of 9 days. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

The only place I hadn’t been to before was Hiroshima, and what a beautiful place. My parents had timed their visit to coincide with the cherry blossom, and once we arrived in Hiroshima, the sakura were in full bloom.  Hiroshima itself was somewhere I’ll definitely be returning to soon. It had such a relaxed vibe, and that, along with hundreds of people enjoying hanami (cherry blossom viewing) along the riverbanks, made it utterly beautiful despite the greyness.

Visiting the Atomic Bomb Museum was a solemn one, as you’d expect, however I’d recommend anyone to go to the museum in Nagasaki instead. While Hiroshima is still the more well-known of the two atomic bomb targets, that is seemingly its downfall, as I felt like I was being hurried through the museum without any time to reflect.

The day we took a trip to Miyajima was the only day we weren’t soaked. It’s somewhere I’ve wanted to go for a while to see the Great Torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine, and it didn’t disappoint. We also took the cable car to the top of the moutain, and the view was just stunning. Momiji manjyu is now one of my favourite local delicacies, and the fried version, age momiji, is something else.  

I also had the most hilarious food experience after going to a recommended ‘hole in the wall’ Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki restaurant. After explaining to the elderly woman working (doing everything alone might I add), that my mum wasn’t a particularly adventurous foodie, she proceeded to practically shove things in my mum’s mouth to prove it was okay and cook away at 100 mph.

Never did I see the day I’d be taking my parents to purikura, but we took some hilarious photos there. The one I chose in Hiroshima apparently gave my dad a sensory overload, much like the pachinko parlour I told my mum to just pop her head into.

My parents have vouched to return to Japan again, and I can only hope they decide to take things easier. Here’s me, over a week later, still catching up on sleep after Japanese-ing to within an inch of my life. 

All in all though, I’m happy they actually got to see what my life over here is like, especially after meeting Sheridan and Clare, and spending a few evenings in cute little Kumamoto. 

They got to meet Kohei too! Even if I did have to spend a day nursing him to recovery, I’ll give him credit where credit’s due… he attempted to keep up with my dad’s bourbon drinking, not a feat many would take on. 

So here's to next time, when their new found love for Kumamon and fancy Japanese toilets will have hopefully blossomed even more. またね！

Two nights in Nagasaki.

Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Musuem & Peace Park
I’ve been told by many that this is the much better experience compared to Hiroshima, which I’m yet to visit. I really appreciated being to take all the information in without hordes of people, and learn so much about the lesser-known of the two cities that suffered from such a horrific ordeal.

Kohei told me that one of the tour guides was speaking like he’d experienced it all first-hand. His spirit never seemed to waver during the time we were there, despite us being able to see the cataracts and keloid scars on one side of his face. It was solemn, but truly humbling.

Glover Garden
Another famous spot in Nagasaki. Within the grounds are two secret heart stones, that if found, legend says they will grant happiness to those who found them together. Happy to say we found them, and so did Pooh Bear. I’ve been forgetting to take him on little day trips I make lately, purely because they’re so impromptu, so I think he enjoyed the outing.

Mt. Inasa 

We headed up to Mt. Inasa after sunset on Saturday evening to visit Fuyu no yu, a place which most definitely didn’t disappoint. There’s something slightly special about relaxing in an onsen, accompanied by good friends, with the view overlooking the twinkling lights of Nagasaki. I fully recommend the salt sauna, however, I don't advise scrubbing your body raw and returning to 42 degree water afterwards.

Megane Bashi
Hands down my favourite place in Nagasaki so far was the so-called Spectacle Bridge.  Early on Sunday morning, Kohei and I took a stroll along the river, frolicked on the stepping stones (by that I mean I almost tripped and fell in about 4 times), and found yet another heart stone set in the wall. 

In the afternoon, we returned with manju in hand and sat on the riverbank to watch the koi swim by.

I also made a group of little friends, something which was a theme on this trip; on the ferry from Kumamoto I fell in love with a 2 year old who played peek-a-boo with me, clung to me like a koala, and refused to let go until I’d walked her to her family’s car.

Nearby was a cute little spot where I tasted my first Castella (カステラ), a light sponge cake which is a delicacy in Nagasaki. However, I think the novelty of the cute portion sized boxes outweighed the actual cake. 

All in all, although it was a fleeting visit, I’m looking forward to going back for a day trip with my parents on their upcoming trip. I wouldn’t have chosen a better bunch of people to sing along to Destiny’s Child in the car with (I'm looking at you, Clare and Sheridan), even if I did want to vom on the ferry.

Strawberry picking & saying goodbyes.

It’s finally edging towards spring in Kumamoto (despite pleas from my delicate pale skin), which means its strawberry galore. Thanks to Clare’s host mum, both Sheridan and I were invited along for an afternoon of strawberry picking in nearby Ueki.

Despite not being what I imagined (inside little greenhouses rather than immense fields of strawberries), it was a great day out and I’m looking forward to even more fruit picking in the future. The highlight for me was befriending some of the cutest children I’ve ever seen, who had picked some strawberries bigger than they were.

Fruit in Japan is one of the things that can sometimes be ridiculously expensive; just yesterday I saw a watermelon going for almost ¥8,000 (about £55). To put that into perspective, my day ticket to Tokyo DisneyLand costs less. However, I’ve never eaten such flavourful strawberries in my life, and I’m definitely a convert. I’m even branching out in my baking; this week I made a white chocolate matcha cake in my rice cooker for Sheridan’s birthday, topped with said strawberries, which was rather yummy if I do say so myself.

As the title suggests, I had some goodbyes to make this week too. I attended my first junior high school graduation ceremony, and although I’ve only taught my 3^rd graders for just over 6 months, it was actually pretty sad. So many little personalities I’ve grown to love will no longer brighten my day. To name a few:

• The kid who always showed me his socks because it stressed me out when he insisted on wearing knee high ones in summer.
• The kid who told me he loved me every day, proposed to me one lunchtime, told me the service was at 6am the next day and now we’re married.
• The kid who insisted I called him Goripanman (Gorilla + Anpanman) and it took me months to learn his actual name.
• The kid who was equally as clumsy as me during cleaning time, and we’d bond cleaning up our messes and whispering about Hello Kitty and K-pop.
• The kid that warmed to me when he learnt I listen to ONE OK ROCK, then spent ages talking about the new album and how he was studying English harder to understand it all.
• The wonderful bright soul who would always be beaming from ear to ear, who wrote me a beautiful goodbye note and never failed to energise me with her infectious smile.
• The kid I didn’t know cared so much, but came to me after graduation tearful, gave me a hug, and helped me get all of these pictures with students that I would have never seen again otherwise.

What I realised was just how much I love my 2^nd graders, and how much of a mess I’ll be when they graduate next year. God help me if I stay here for the full 5 years; kids I started teaching in elementary school this year will be graduating junior high… I’ll probably feel like I’ve lost about 180 of my own children.