TSUANO -- Fall in Japan on a rainy day.

Once again Brett, Jennifer, Supervisor/friend Shoko and I joined forces to see a bit of Japan. This being fall, and we being in a nation quite obsessed with its four seasons, we set out to see the changing leaves, which has a specific word in Japanese which I forget. Shoko took us to some of her secret favourite places which included a little waterfall, pool, and creek that was hidden away off of a mountain road. It is so secret that I will not post pictures of it. I will however post some pics of the aforementioned leaves.




Makka. Which is to say, "pitch red" (like pitch black). The Japanese maple turn some serious shades of red and gold. Very bold indeed.


This is me being chilly on a bridge that crosses a river that runs 100 meters below. Very long way down indeed. Shoko freaked out anytime Brett or I came near her because she thought we would throw her over or something. Not really, but you know how people are when they are near the edge of a very long drop. Please note how low the railing is... I could trip over it for crying out loud.


Very tall waterfall that you can't really see. It's not the secret one though.

Kudamatsu Mall Bunkasai cont'd.

These pictures give a tiny glimpse into the phenomenon of fashion in Japan. Everyone is fashionable in Japan. In one way or another, people dress on purpose. Little kids, grandmothers, they're all rockin' something good when they go out. It is not uncommon for me to see a super-fly young couple grocery shopping together with their super-fly three-week-old baby. This is in stark contrast to my own growing up when I wore faded trackpants with tapered legs well into my senior years in highschool. But I wore them well.

You're never too old to dress young, is the unofficial motto for most contemporary Japanese.




Likewise, you're never too young to dress old(skool). I think I saw a pipe in his breast pocket.

Kudamatsu City Bunkasai (Cultural Festival).

This was one of the last festivals of the 2 week festival blitz that happened all over Yamaguchi-ken this year (every year, a different ken hosts the national cultural festivals). This one was held at The Mall and the parking lot was converted into a fair or market of sorts. Quite strange, actually, I'd never seen anything like this because they were selling - get ready for a huge shock - USED goods! It was reminded me strongly of markets in Uganda, of all things, because the vendors just spread out a blanket or tarp on the ground and laid out their stuff. I'm not sure if this was a special day for used clothing and stuff but I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Below are some random things for sale. What is Bruce Lee doing with his thumb?






Those trees are pretty sweet. I bet you're jealous because you think it's warm here. It's not. It's warmer than Canada, but when your school or apartment doesn't have insulated walls or central heating, 14 degrees feels much colder.



These kids were just jumping and spinning in midair...I don't know if they were practicing for something, but they were really good at it. I wish they would've practiced in front of a solid background though.


Below, a cheerleading group doing a pretty quick routine to "Hey Mickey" (you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind...). I'm not cheerleading routine expert, but this seemed pretty high level for little kids.





This picture has nothing to do with this bunkasai, but I thought I should post it. It was from the Kudamatsu Junior Highschool bunkasai from a few weeks ago...a picture drawn by a student who shall remain anonymous because I don't know his or her name.

Women's Volleyball continued.

On Saturday night I saw these women do something which I thought was impossible. They were playing undefeated Serbia/Montenegro, the top team at this tournament with a perfect 6-0 record. And they showed it in the first two sets by totally dominating the smaller Japanese squad. The S/M spikes were just malicious; they hit so hard the ball was often not visible to the naked eye. I gave it up, to be honest, and told myself that Japan is just playing for pride at this point. Turns out they have a lot of pride!

Our girls really started clicking in the third set and the attack combinations, blocks, digs, were all firing perfectly! The turning point in the set (and ultimately, the game) was when Japan got two crucial blocks from the most unlikely player: tiny captain Takeshita!

Japan then basically cruised through the next 3 sets and took the match 3-2!! Unreal.

JAPAN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL aka my favourite thing to watch on TV.

The women's world volleyball championships are being hosted in Japan now and I have quickly become addicted to watching it on TV, as well as shouting and agonizing and sweating over every rally. I have also come to terms with the fact that I have an unrequited crush on these women. Most are within my age range. And I am tall enough for most of them. They are really good...sometimes inconsistent, but they are often brilliant and it is very exhilerating to watch.


My favourites are #11, #12, #5, #3 (team Captain Takeshita) and Libero #6. The Libero, Kaoru (aka `The Princess` as the media has dubbed her) is just amazing, her digs and returns are often spectacular and sometimes singlehandedly keeps her team in the game. Takeshita is amazing too.


This is Kimura Saori #12 and she's the youngest player on the squad at 20 years of age.

Takahashi Miyuki. She is only 170cm tall but can absolutely crush a volleyball. She played in Italy last season.

Above and below is national team captain Takeshita. I like her because she is just so cool. She's like a zen warrior on the court or something, never loses her cool, always steady and present. Also, she's a phenomenal setter; you just have to see it to believe it.

Ken's Taiko DEBUT! HOSHI DAIKO - @ Akiyoshida Culture and Music Festival

The next sweet "away" gig with my favourite people who bang big drums with precision. You may recall that I visited Akiyoshida three weeks prior with Shoko, Brett, and Jen to see the limestone caves. We left bright and early 6:15am but that didn't deter some of the men in the group from cracking a few beers in the back... about 12 hours too early for me. When we got there, I was astonished to see a whole parade ground swarming with drummers and taiko! Overhearing other people talking, I realized that the "Ibuki" piece that we had been practicing for a while (the long, difficult one) was going to be performed en masse with probably at least 15 taiko groups from around the ken. Something like 200 drummers, plus students from two jr. high schools working the bamboo sticks (long, huge pieces of bamboo that are hit with sticks... very impressive when hit in unison with about 200 students; it makes a sharp *CLACK* sound). The composer of the piece is a young woman who is also a very good conductor - kept smiling, encouraging us, kept us together, etc.

What can I say? It was incredible! The sheer power of all those drums!

The rest of the day was individual groups giving performances and they were really really good. A whole day of taiko, beautiful weather, good food, good friends... ideal.

I forgot to get a picture of me in my uniform, but I looked pretty cool. Actually, everyone looks really good in their uniform.... for some reason, all the men in my group (average age of 50) are buff. They smoke and drink and are somehow really fit. The women too, and the girls (they don't smoke or drink though). And then me. I'm still skinny and un-buff. But I am the tallest.



Here is a pic attempting to capture the whole field full of drums. You can see the bamboo sticks in the foreground and the big "odaiko" (literally, "big drums") lined up along the back...the subwoofers of the taiko ensemble. Our odaiko was the biggest one there.



Since it was a music concert, there was a performance by this male choir, composed mostly of old men trying to catch their collective breath while wearing hot suits in the hot sun.



This was a wicked show put on by a small group, I think 5 adults and 4 elementary-age girls. These two women in the middle were the showstoppers, they had a unique setup of three drums (low-middle-high range) for each of them and they worked them like magic. I would've married either of them at the drop of a hat.



This guy was in the same group as the above women. I want to be him. Look at how cool that is. It was like a mixture of martial art and music. The interesting thing about taiko is that knowing and keeping the rhythms is only half the task. Equally as important are the movements of your arms and legs and to do it in unison with everyone. So this guy had the sweetest and most impressive-looking part of playing the side-drum which I want to do before I die.



Maki, a girl in our group.

OKI takes my camera.

One day after school (at Suetake) I was chillin' with my guitar and along came Oki and Kyoko, two adorable 9th graders, and they plunked themselves down beside me to listen to me noodle. I had my camera sitting beside me (I had been taking pics of bunkasai preperation that day) and Oki went ahead and took a picture of me playing at which point I told her to take as many as she liked, so she and Kyoko disappeared for a bit and came back with a few of the pics seen below. Actually, I think it's a great way of getting pics of students or teachers without being awkward... saves me the trouble.



These are 4 girls who stopped to chill with me. They are wearing their "gym clothes"; usually they wear these shorts and t-shirts (minus the blue jumper you see there) underneath their skirt and tunic(?), which must suck in the summertime.


This is a teacher, I don't know his name.


This is Masaya, a very musically gifted 9th grader, as well as being selfish and mischevious (so Yamashita sensei tells me). He plays percussion in the fabled Suetake brass band and plays the marimba, drum kit, timpani and bells with such skill and grace it's almost professional. He is one of my three "guitar club" members. When I asked at the start what they could play, he whipped out "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton and I nearly fell over.


Kaoruko, a cool 9th grader who is also Mizuki (speech champ girl)'s best friend. The three of us had a great chat one day after school while they told me how stupid boys are, how lame their school uniforms are, how tall my bike seat was, etc. Very fun.


This is the picture Oki took of me. The sun doth shininged bright upon my faceth.