Saturday dawned nice and late, as a I took the opportunity to sleep in since it presented itself, and also because I knew I'd need as much energy as I could get since I would be spend the vast majority of the day dancing in the Mito Komon festival parade called "Carunibaaru IN MITO!"
At three o'clock I arrived at school dressed in my black sweat wicking shirt, black pants,
white tabi "shoes" (more on this in a minute) and Matsuri (festival) headband that all the girls had to wear fro the festival. The boys wore white pants with bright blue shirts that said "IBARAKI UNIVERSITY" in Japanese and English, so for a moment I wished I was a boy because I really wanted that shirt! Ibaraki University doesn't really have a lot of stuff like Penn State does with their name on it. Prior to this, I had only seen the shirt sold at the school store that was the same simple shirt but in three different colors.They gave us our happi coats, festival fans, clappers and obi belts (the happi were different
from the boys to the girls. The girls' was more colorful and had shorter sleeves, while the boys were darker and said "FESTIVAL" on the back in Japanese. Both had Ibaraki University written down the collar in Japanese.) and we started practicing for a good half hour before it was time for them to bus us to the parade route. The Canadian professor, Joyce, and a friend of ours, Kana, were also dancing with us in the festival, so it was sure to be a great time. :)When we finally got downtown, I was so overwhelmed. There were lights, streamers, balloons, festivals, costumes, dresses, yukatas, paper lanterns, banners and just about any other decoration you could think of in the streets and hanging from lamp posts, buildings, businesses and even garbage cans. There were booths of Kakigori (shaved ice), children's games (such as the ones were you try to catch a gold fish with a little rice paper net that you so frequently see in manga! I rally wanted to play but I could not justify spending $3 on an attempt to win a goldfish I neither wanted nor could keep.), yakisoba, yakitori, jagabataa, takoyaki and pretty much any other type of yaki food (yaki means burned, cooked or grilled depending on the food) that you could think of and eat and walk with at the same time. It was amazing. There was music every where -- cymbols crashing, people shouting, singing, taiko drums, Japanese flutes and harps/guitars. If someone told me that I had to pick one thing and one thing only that purely represented Japanese culture, I would say their festivals. Its an explosion of Japanese life and culture!
We finally got to our spot in the parade route, and I was surprised to see that instead of the
parade just going one way down a route, they had one half of the main drag of town going one way and the other half going the other way on a loop from the Station to the Koban (police box) at the end of the road. The parade was delayed because of an ambulance needing to get through, but once everyone was ready to start, we were all pumped! I was surprised to find that while every group had their own theme/costumes, we were all dancing to the same music, that was blasted through speakers on trucks every other intersection or so...and we were all competing to see who had the best dance! No one was expecting Ibaraki University to win though, since they never do and they never bother to change up the dance...but it was still really fun.
Unlike American parades, and I'm chalking this up to the insane amount of heat during the Manatsubi period, this parade would go for 30 minutes, then break for 10, everyone would dance for 30 minutes, break for 10 and on and on for about 4-5 hours (that's probably why they also had the breaks. People were dancing all out when they were dancing, so this thing was a game of endurance.) After every break the music would switch the song that we had not just danced (we had two different dances) and we would start dancing again.The second dance we had was a killer, especially for Tony and I who had just climbed Fuji
two days prior. The dance was mostly comprised of leg lifts, jumping on one leg, and can-canish kicks while running/walking...and did I mention that the sole of these tabi (two toed socks) "shoes" had thinner soles than even my flip flops? We felt every part of the road and the impact from jumping up and down rocketed the whole way up our legs. Every time we would sit down during our breaks to eat or drink (since they provided us with food and drink. Sakura (cherry) Tea? Absolutely delicious), one of the teachers or staff members would ask us why were so tired when we were so young...but when we told them we had just climbed Fuji the day before, they would look at us and ask "Why are you HERE?!"It was such a fun experience though and I wouldn't change it for anything. Everyone was so happy and upbeat and it was just...amazing. Everyone was so united and having so much
fun that it was absolutely crazy. The students dancing in particular were crazy and had insane amounts of energy. Every time that a dance set ended they'd start a little mosh pit, jumping up and down (that Tony and I, of course, eventually joined) and shouting for a good minute our two and when we were dancing they started calling out chants and making noises to certain dance moves, so it was really fun. Also, whenever we were doing our can-can type move in the 2nd dance and were standing still because the parade got backed up, they'd kind of turn it into a "duel" with the dancing group next to us going in the opposite direction until both groups would flat out be running into the other group's dance line...and everyone was fine with it! The other groups thought it was hysterical and everyone was having such a fun time that nothing mattered. Tony and I eventually got a second wind for the last hour and a half of the parade and joined them in all the dueling, mosh pitting and shouting. It was so much fun!I tried taking some video from my perspective (aka holding it in my hand while I danced.) but er....that idea sounded better on paper, so I'm not going to bother and make all of you car sick.
After the parade, we were all exhausted, our feet were achey from the tabi and were all starving, so they bused us back to school where we had a little dinner of Edamame, Tako, Ebi, Cha-han and Chicken nuggets and they made some people stand up and give little speeches (I had to make one...I'll try and get it up here soon!). I had to leave early because UNESCO was having a goodbye party at Ofukuro for Marina, Michuran and I that I was all ready hours overdue for because of the parade, but Satou-san (the person in charge of our parade group) was so nice and let Tony and I keep the Happi coats since they said Ibaraki University. And did I mention he let us keep them for free?!
At the party at Ofukuro, all the UNESCO members got a huge kick out of my parade clothes
and surprised me by making me stand up and say my favorite memory from UNESCO, which of course, was camp at Gozenyama :). They then gave me a little photo album of pictures of me with UNESCO members throughout the semester doing various things, so that was really sweet. :)I spent most of the remaining hour of the party with Yagi,
Maki, Maru and Uehara and at one point Yagi and I went to go outside to have a water gun fight, but we got derailed on the way down stairs and ended up talking with Uehara (the club's president), Ofukuro's owners/some of the other customers who had this adorable little boy who couldn't stop staring at me (we figured out it was me and not Yagi or Uehara because he was staring at me when I walked across the room and he just followed me.) It was really fun and I even got to demo the water guns for the little boy...by shooting Uehara. :) They were really, really nice, and when they left we headed back upstairs to eat ice cream and say one last final goodbye to the members of UNESCO. I didn't spend as much time as I did with maybe other clubs...but they still are my friends and were oh so nice and I'm going to miss them!
And the light up bow on my head is courtesy of Michiran who didn't feel like taking it home to Korea with him.
The first part of Sunday was spent mostly lounging around in bed and (kind of) getting work done. Four days of constant activity, some of which consists of climbing a ridiculously tall mountain can be very draining! After a while though, Tony and I headed down to the festival and eventually met up with Aaron, Marina and Elena. The parade during the day 
wasn't as exciting as the Saturday's, mostly because instead of people dancing up and down the streets, there was a mikoshi procession (Mikoshi are portable shrines balanced like a palanquin amongst a group of 20 or so men on their shoulders.) It was really interesting to see them since I had never really seen one in person and to see the kind of strength it takes to lift those things? Especially because they are bouncing them up and down as they go and chanting, shouting, singing and sometimes even balancing small children on them as well! I have some videos of this amongst some other stuff, so once I find the time, I'll get them up here, I promise! It really was fascinating!
Once the sun started to go down was when things really started to come to life. Boxing demos went down, dance recitals were held, Karate schools held demos in the streets, more vendors were selling stuff, the mikoshi parade was still going and then of course, the rockabillies came out. Rockabillies are kind of like the Fonze and everything 50s meets kind of a gangsterish persona? But its more 50s than anything else. They were the saddle shoes, jean cut offs, bowling shirts, leather jackets, girls have the bandanna bows in their hair and the boys have their hair either died or cut/combed like the fonze or something like it...and some of that hair was seriously big. I think I saw one guy who the front of his pompadour was about 8 inches long. It defied gravity! They were actually pretty good dancers. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of them, but I did managed to capture some video before my camera died...but yes...again that will happen when I find the time!
The amazing thing about these parades is that while the Japanese are normally so straight laced, during this one time a year, everyone comes out of their shell and its okay to go down right insane and walk through the streets in all kinds of costumes, or, if you're a middle aged man carrying one of the mikoshi, only a fundoshi is okay (kind of like a sumo thong speedo thing...its not a pretty sight). Its okay to go dancing through the streets, dancing, singing, carrying on, talking to strangers and other general merriment. There is a sense of unity in that everyone is different ( a very weird thing for Japan) and the air is alive with electricity, energy, excitement and that special kind of feeling that comes with any holiday that only comes around once a year. Its colorful, loud, obnoxious, in your face but in all the right ways and I wouldn't have it any other way. It would go to a festival just for the atmosphere and the people watching! It really is something else!!!
After a man from one of the mikoshi groups gave me a five yen necklace for good luck just because (I mentioned that it was okay to talk to strangers today!) we headed back to the Kaikan for the going away party of the students who are leaving this semester. It was a lot more chill and laid back and smaller than the opening party we had the beginning of the semester, so that was really nice. The magic club came again, and they've gotten a lot better since last time. I got to participate in a card trick that was really just out of this world and had all of us stumped and involved the card backs changing colors from red to blue when there wasn't even a blue deck involved. Then we played Bingo...and I won and took home this baby...
That, is an ionizing fan. Its lovely and works great...its just that it weighs about 5 plus pounds and I'm trying to think why they thought it was a good idea to buy this for a going away party? I'll attempt to bring it home...but if not...here it shall be immortalized forever :)
I'll write more about Tony and my going away party and our graduation ceremony later. I gotta jet though! Meeting Marie at the station before I go to stay over at the Oohiras!
wasn't as exciting as the Saturday's, mostly because instead of people dancing up and down the streets, there was a mikoshi procession (Mikoshi are portable shrines balanced like a palanquin amongst a group of 20 or so men on their shoulders.) It was really interesting to see them since I had never really seen one in person and to see the kind of strength it takes to lift those things? Especially because they are bouncing them up and down as they go and chanting, shouting, singing and sometimes even balancing small children on them as well! I have some videos of this amongst some other stuff, so once I find the time, I'll get them up here, I promise! It really was fascinating!Once the sun started to go down was when things really started to come to life. Boxing demos went down, dance recitals were held, Karate schools held demos in the streets, more vendors were selling stuff, the mikoshi parade was still going and then of course, the rockabillies came out. Rockabillies are kind of like the Fonze and everything 50s meets kind of a gangsterish persona? But its more 50s than anything else. They were the saddle shoes, jean cut offs, bowling shirts, leather jackets, girls have the bandanna bows in their hair and the boys have their hair either died or cut/combed like the fonze or something like it...and some of that hair was seriously big. I think I saw one guy who the front of his pompadour was about 8 inches long. It defied gravity! They were actually pretty good dancers. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of them, but I did managed to capture some video before my camera died...but yes...again that will happen when I find the time!
The amazing thing about these parades is that while the Japanese are normally so straight laced, during this one time a year, everyone comes out of their shell and its okay to go down right insane and walk through the streets in all kinds of costumes, or, if you're a middle aged man carrying one of the mikoshi, only a fundoshi is okay (kind of like a sumo thong speedo thing...its not a pretty sight). Its okay to go dancing through the streets, dancing, singing, carrying on, talking to strangers and other general merriment. There is a sense of unity in that everyone is different ( a very weird thing for Japan) and the air is alive with electricity, energy, excitement and that special kind of feeling that comes with any holiday that only comes around once a year. Its colorful, loud, obnoxious, in your face but in all the right ways and I wouldn't have it any other way. It would go to a festival just for the atmosphere and the people watching! It really is something else!!!
After a man from one of the mikoshi groups gave me a five yen necklace for good luck just because (I mentioned that it was okay to talk to strangers today!) we headed back to the Kaikan for the going away party of the students who are leaving this semester. It was a lot more chill and laid back and smaller than the opening party we had the beginning of the semester, so that was really nice. The magic club came again, and they've gotten a lot better since last time. I got to participate in a card trick that was really just out of this world and had all of us stumped and involved the card backs changing colors from red to blue when there wasn't even a blue deck involved. Then we played Bingo...and I won and took home this baby...
That, is an ionizing fan. Its lovely and works great...its just that it weighs about 5 plus pounds and I'm trying to think why they thought it was a good idea to buy this for a going away party? I'll attempt to bring it home...but if not...here it shall be immortalized forever :)I'll write more about Tony and my going away party and our graduation ceremony later. I gotta jet though! Meeting Marie at the station before I go to stay over at the Oohiras!
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