Have Blog, Must Write.

Even though nothing especially exciting has happened in the past few weeks, I feel compelled to write once in a while lest I lose my precious few dedicated readers which I can count on one hand, even after having lost my thumb in an unfortunate smelting accident.

The other day I was witness to a heated discussion between a fellow JET, Aaron, and his friend Randy. They went to college together and both did a year of exchange in Japan. Both have been living in Japan for approximately one year, four months. Therefore, both were evenly qualified to debate (heatedly, I might add) a topic that is near and dear to many people's heart and stomach: the quality - especially the freshness - of food in Japan verses "back home".

Aaron was of the opinion that food freshness and quality is quite excellent in Japan. Randy's view was that food quality in Japan, generally speaking, is a sickly distant cousin to the culinary paradise that is America.

To illustrate his point, Randy brought up the bento, which is basically a delicious Japanese meal served cold (popular lunches for people on the run. I meant "on the go", lest you think bento are for bandits only). Randy asked Aaron if he truly believed that cold, day-old rice is as good as fresh, hot rice. Aaron argued that that is a matter of opinion. Randy reminded Aaron that he (Randy) doesn't believe in subjectivity - there is an objective world, and objectively speaking, bento is an inferior food product! (for more on the objective world, see "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand).

Aaron became exasperated and expressed disbelief that they were even having this conversation. Food is a matter of taste, if you will. How could Randy declare bento, which is a cultural and dietary staple, to be an inferior food product when clearly the Japanese have been enjoying it for decades?? "You're talking about food culture, man!", Aaron kept saying.

"Exhibit B" in Randy's case against the quality of Japanese food was the weakness of the Japanese bread - or any baked good, really. Personally, I have to concede at least half a point because I agree that Japanese bread is long on fluff but short on nutrients and robust flavour. The cakes and cookies are all right, but again, I come from an area which has a rich baking heritage borne of generations of German immigrants that landed in south-western Ontario many years ago.

After I watched this exchange and meditated on both sides of the argument, I have to say that there are some things in Japan which are superfresh and delicious and kicks any country's arse; like any kind of seafood, especially in coastal areas like Yamaguchi (although there are very few prefectures which aren't coastal to some extent). However, Japan comes up short on things like meat (much of which is imported from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, to name but a few) and baked goods. Also, fruit is often freakishly large (due to certain pruning techniques which channel all the trees nutrients into fewer fruits) but also freakishly expensive and not as sweet as back home in Canada.

Oh! And cheese! Man, I miss Canadian cheese.

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When I told Aaron that I was writing about his discussion with Randy, he emailed me back with this message:

"cool. I hope you include his ethnocentrism and idealization of American food stuffs."

Bento lunches. Different kinds of rice, veggies in various stages of pickling, fish, beans....

Fox Wedding Festival: Hanaoka, Kudamatsu.

This is probably the biggest festival in Kudamatsu; "The event of the year!" exclaims Karyo High School's Brett Plotz. The myth behind the Fox Festival is that one night, a monk at the local shrine in Hanaoka was visited in a dream (or was it???) by the spirit of a fox who begged the monk to find his body and bury it, for until his body was buried, the fox could not go to heaven. So the next morning, the monk set out for the hills and combed the forest for the fox's body, eventually finding it and burying it. In gratitude, the fox blessed the monk and the town of Hanaoka and promised them prosperity.

I'm unclear where the wedding part comes in; according to one of the old men in my English conversation class, that part was "man-made", added on later, but I'm pretty sure there's a story behind the wedding as well.


There was a long parade with many floats and drunken men carrying big litters. The tiny streets of Hanaoka were lined on both sides with many street vendors selling delicious foods like roasted chicken, pork, beef, cakes, crepes; also, they were selling some gross things like roasted octopus.


Those poor kids. These men, all wasted before-hand as is custom, would deliberately sway and stagger their way down the street, occasionally spinning the litter in a circle and then throwing it up in the air and catching it. I would've totally blown chunks if I were one of those kids in there.

Some of my students who took part in the parade by dancing and looking awesome.


The fox army, or something.


Remember Chika? She used to be in taiko (she was also in the taiko video "Miyake" which I posted sometime ago - she rules!) with me but since she moved to Yamaguchi city for boarding highschool, I don't see much of her. But this day she was face-painting ... and face-painting... and face-painting... from 9am til 4:30pm she later told me.


Some of my 7th grade girls behind me.


The wedding. The groom is in white and the bride is in green in the middle. Their identities are top secret; even they don't know who the other is. I don't know how you get chosen but it must be kind of a mixed honour; you're the centrepiece of the whole festival, but nobody knows it's you.


Awesome play. This is the scene where an evil dragon is attacking an innocent young woman.

Attacking.....aaaand....

Swallowed up. The "special effects" were amazing - the woman really looked like she was gobbled up by the dragon, which, in case you were wondering, is being manipulated by a very skilled small person inside the dragon costume.

Taiko practice...

Shout out to Jonny D who came to taiko practice with me and took a bunch of pics and video. This was when we were rehearsing for the big Ondekoza gig (see post below).

JOSH PYKE: Lines On Palms

Awesome.

How Ken's Heart Melted Like Butter In A Hot Saucepan.

Every fall, in every school in Japan, students put on a Cultural Festival at their school whereby all the various clubs, teams, and classes put on a show or display or presentation to show what they're all about. This can take the form of plays, videos, live perfomances (i.e. brass band, choirs, dance troupes) and speeches. It's really really fun times (at least at my schools) and the vast majority of the kids really get into it.

I had the good luck of being assigned to Suetake jr. high on the last day before their festival began so there were no lessons -- everyone was busy all day with rehearsing, putting up posters, crafts, artwork, sound-check, and the like.




So with nothing much to do, I did what any irresponsible person who wanted to amuse himself and his students would do: I climbed upon my faithful steed, strapped on my guitar, and went door-to-door rocking.

Generally, I don't think teachers are supposed to act so silly, but since I'm not a "real" teacher, I can get away with it. I went down the 7th graders hallway and was met with wild cheers and eager smiles; as a reward for their adorable cuteness and general good humour, I rocked out a dramatic rendition of "Lines on Palms" by Josh Pyke (see video above). Since I had just recently been introduced to that song (from Hana), I didn't know the words yet so I just scooby-doo-ed my way through the song.

I gradually made my way to the second floor where the 8th graders were ready and waiting to have their minds blown by my rock. I jumped into Billy Joel's "Longest Time" and the kids started clapping on the OFF beats (which never happens in Canada) and dancing around me! I couldn't believe this was Japan; it felt like a Ugandan classroom all over again! These kids were FEELING it! Some of their teachers were even poking their heads around the corner and smiling and bopping their heads a bit -- I bet they were wishing they weren't real teachers so they could let loose.

The perfect ending to the day (and possibly my life, if I had died that night) came when, on my way back to the staffroom, a group of my favourite 7th grade girls intercepted me. The great thing about junior high kids (esp. 7th graders) is that they are essentially still kids. They're not too cool laugh at my lame jokes and are genuinely happy when I take the time to talk to them.
Anyways, I was chatting with them and one of the girls ran back into the classroom and rushed back a minute later holding something in her hand. It was a tiny Momotaro (google him) figurine, scratched and dented and obviously had spent most of his life attached to someone's pencil case. "It's from all of us!" she said with a big smile and pressed it into my hand.



[See the little Momotaro the girl on the far left is holding. Ami, the girl in the middle, was the one who presented me with the gift]

As the old saying goes, "Little gifts from little people make a big difference."*


*I totally made that up on the spot right now.