Matsuri upon matsuri

Japanese summers are filled with festivals, or matsuri, which were abundant in Kumamoto this year like always. In preparation, I went shopping for my first yukata with Billy, a wonderful German girl living here who has an amazing eye for style and frequently wears yukata or kimono.

She took both Kohei and I to a little store she frequently volunteers at in the middle of nowhere, and what a gold mine. I’m super lucky in the sense I’m not particularly tall, the only struggle is that sometimes my ass ruins the flow of the yukata and screws up the pattern. Billy was such an asset; she helped me find not only two yukatas, with obi and all of the other accessories, but I found the most beautiful furisode (kimono with long sleeves) that I’ll be able to wear once it gets cooler.

All of this came to ¥13,000 which is an absolute steal, as some yukata alone cost that much. Kohei got even more of a bargain, his yukata was only ¥500. I’m going to start taking lessons with Billy, in the hope one day I’ll be able to dress myself and even continue wearing them once I go home.

The first chance I got to wear my own yukata was at Sheridan’s junior high schools summer festival. It was super cute, with lots of food stalls, so many kids dressed in their own yukatas, and some dancing that Sheridan and I of course joined in on. My favourite part was the banana auction, which I got overly excited about and won a bunch of about 12 for the most ridiculous price. I practically turned into one by the end of the week I ate that many.


I don’t know what gave Sheridan’s school such high status, but special guest of the evening was beloved Kumamon. I’m not sure who was more excited, the children, or Sheridan who was practically hyperventilating next to me.

Sadly, I couldn’t go to my own school’s summer festival because something else even more exciting was thrown my way. Last year, on the day I moved into my apartment, was the Hinokuni Matsuri. It’s probably the biggest festival in the year for Kumamoto, and I remembered getting drunk off Strong Zeros while watching hundreds of people dance in a parade and dancing along with them. 

This year, I got the chance to perform the otemoyan dance myself, along with Sheridan, Kohei, Olivia, Mitra and Bilal. It was so much fun, and not even the impending typhoon headed our way was going to stop us dancing for two hours. Best part of the night? Kumamon danced with us during the parade.

Scousers reunited!

After months of planning, Laura finally made her way to Japan, and after some lone adventures in Tokyo and Kyoto, she finally made her way to me. I actually felt like a proud mum when I met her at Kumamoto station, because she’d managed to navigate alone for 3 days prior without my help. It was like we’d never spent any time apart, and I’m proud to report that within hours my Scouse accent had returned to its full glory. Kohei asked me on the phone what the hell had happened to my voice... Poor boy is going to get a shock if he comes to England this Christmas!

Laura is my sort of home away from home. She always reminded me of Liverpool when I was at uni, and reminded me of Keele when I was at home. She was my first real visitor besides my parents, and it was nice to see how easily she took Japan in her stride and seemed to fit into my new life here.  Evenings were spent having girly catch ups, and the days were filled with adventures. 

We visited Suizenji Park and got kakigori (shave ice) on her first day, and that evening, with it being Kohei’s birthday, had an all-night shindig that involved all of the karaoke, candid Polaroid pictures and a raging hangover the next day. I introduced her to many food firsts too: gyoza, okonomiyaki, Ichiran and basashi. I’ll admit, she took to basashi better than I did. I’m happy to say it’s taken me one whole year to eat raw horse, and I’ll happily live in Kumamoto for many more years and never have it again.

Being the amazing teacher I am, I promised my junior high school’s rugby team I’d watch them play their prefectural semi-final the next morning. I’ll admit, I was full of regret upon waking up, but it was all made worthwhile when the student who invited me (and admittedly my favourite kid in the entire school) finished the game and did our handshake with me pitch-side in front of everyone. If that doesn’t mean I’m cool, I don’t know what does.

 We made a quick little jaunt to Yuge Shrine, a fertility shrine which made for some fabulous photo opportunities. Although we had planned to visit Kurokawa Onsen in the afternoon, there were a few bumps in the road (aka landslide closures) that made us reconsider, so we turned back to spend a chill afternoon watching my boys play in the final.

 

Although work came around hard and fast, I’m so happy Laura spent as much time as she could with me during her whirlwind tour of Japan. I’m sure she’ll write her own blog about it shortly, which you can find at laurameetsworld13@blogspot.co.uk . It’s worth a read purely for the little adventure my neighbour who I’ve never met took her on, after obviously working up the courage to strike up a conversation thinking she was me!

Onsen-ning in Oita

Since we would be away from each other on both of our birthdays, Kohei and I decided to go on a little road trip to Oita. From the beginning, I decided that Oita is probably one of the most beautiful prefectures I’ve been to so far. It could have just been the timing, but the lush green mountains and rice paddies were in abundance. 

I’ve never seen so many rice paddies in my life, and I’ll give the farmers credit, they’re very innovative using space. By that, I mean even small areas between the forks in roads were growing rice.

I got a chance to eat some local delicacies, with Kohei taking me to a hidden local joint for some toriten, tempura style chicken popular in the prefecture, before heading to get a special type of pudding cooked using the steam from the local onsen. Creamiest pudding I’ve ever eaten, and the views weren’t bad either.

The Hells of Beppu were beautiful, and wonderfully hell-ish in the heat, but being able to stop at a footbath and cool down was delightful. Kohei almost fell head first into a lily pond too, not that I tried to help or gave him any sympathy. I think he was actually a bit shocked at my true colours coming out when I was instead crying with laughter.

I’ll tell you what the highlight of the drive through Beppu was though. Stumbling across a Jurassic Park themed love hotel that I’ve vowed to return to.

I’ve always wanted to stay at a ryokan, and the experience is one that everyone should have at least once. Upon our arrival at the little hot spring town of Yunohira, we were greeted with sounds of the nearby river, and a cobbled street reminiscent of many years ago. After checking in to our beautiful little tatami room, we went for a little wander (beer in hand of course), then both dressed in yukata and headed for dinner, a rather varied array of tsukemono.

After dinner, we took a little stroll down the street, by which time was lit up by the most beautiful red glow from the lanterns. It truly felt like I’d been transported back in time. Later we headed to the private outdoor onsen, which was so relaxing and an amazing place to clear your head, even if it was just too bloody hot at times. We even got to take another bath the next morning after breakfast, and now I really wish I lived close enough to a hot spring to take a dip every day.

The next day we took a drive to Yufuin, visited the famous floral village and had a mooch around all the little stores. On the way home, Kohei agreed to take me to Sanrio Harmonyland, earning himself some major brownie points. It’s definitely a family theme park, with Kohei and I being the only people there without children (I guess you could say he was chaperoning one of his own all day). I actually really enjoyed myself though, with the simplicity of the ferris wheel, carousel, little teacups and the boat ride adding to the chill vibe of the weekend. I even got to meet Hello Kitty herself, which has been more than a little overdue!

 

Driving home Kohei took me on a little detour to his childhood town, around to his high school and some other spots. We didn’t have time to really explore, but I realised how much of an inaka (countryside) boy he is at heart, especially when he told me as a kid he’d catch frogs near the rice paddies. My heart melted at the thought, and I honestly can’t wait to get a chance to go back to Kanda and have him take me to all of his favourite spots, including his Grandad’s little farm. Wish me luck on that one, I’m sure I’ll end up kitted out harvesting some in-season fruit when I next go.