Start Posting again

As you may noticed, I didn't update my blog for the last weeks. Actually I was just lazy :D
From now on I will work again on this blog. Because I like to keep my dates of the events correct, the older posts will appear under this one :)

Bamboo Forest, Tea Ceremony, Horsed Archery and a Tofu Restaurant

Again, Kamakura :)
As I told in the post before, the Kamakura Festival took place. Today was the main act the so called Yabusame. It's a contest where the participants have to ride on a horse and shoot at targets with bows and arrows. So let's start ^^

Bamboo Forest
I've met with Ivy-san and Nene-san in Kamakura. Before the horsed archery took place, we went a bit outside of the main city. Despite the fact that this was the 6th time for me in Kamakura, we found a place where I've never been before. It was a temple with a small but very high bamboo forest. Because of that, everything inside was filled with a mystical atmosphere ^^

Just waited for some Ninjas ;)

At one place we could even hear some animals in the tress but we've never saw them. I tried to capture some on photo when I heard a rustling. I saw something for a moment, but whatever it was, it was too far away to identify and I was to late with my camera. Another lesson learned how important it is to have your camera always ready on your side ;)

At least I captured a bird :D

Tea Ceremony
Now Ivy-san and me went to our first original Japanese Tea Ceremony called 茶道 (Sadou) together with Nene-san. Actually there are many rules for performing this ceremony, but at that time we didn't know much about them, even Nene-san. Well thanks to Youtube & Co. I know better now ^^

For example, when you receive the bowl (?) of tea, it is placed in the position where you can see the paintings on the bowl from the most beautiful side. At first, you take the bowl onto your left hand and turn it with your right hand 3 times, so that it's turned by 180°. Otherwise you would drink from the side with the painting which would be rude :) And it's recommended to say something about the painting like "Beautiful!". And of course, have fun ;)

Tea Time :)

If you want to try this out too, I recommend training to sit in Seiza position for some minutes before you do that ^^ Seiza is a way of traditional sitting in Japan, the position itself is easy. But if you're untrained, the legs will get numb after a few moments :D But if you train this awhile, you will last long enough to drink out your tea ;)

The atmosphere in this restaurant was very calm and peaceful. With no other guests around, it was just perfect for relaxing. I liked especially the creamy and lightly bitter Macha (Green Tea) which was served. In combination with the very sweet confection, it was very delicious. Both harmonized well together :)
 
There was also an interesting construction outside on the terrace: A bamboo which led to a built spring. When you lend your ears close enough to the bamboo, you can hear the beautiful and bright sound of  dripping water. So did I ^^

Horsed Archery
At last, we went to the 流鏑馬 (yabusame, horsed archery). Unfortunately we had to wait about 2 hours with no seats before it started. But hey, it's not like you can see it live everyday ;) Because it was already crowded when we came, the best spots were already taken and from our spot we couldn't see that much. Well, at least the others, I could look over everyone :P It's good to be in Japan as tall person :D

The riders wore traditional clothes and looked very much like Samurai :) They competed at each other with some kind of K.O. system which I didn't understand. But this wasn't my biggest problem this time, it was an old man. As I said, in general I can look over everyone and make photos. But this particular man was in front of me and had a goddamn LADDER! You know, these small ones with 3 steps. And because there was really no space around me, I couldn't even move a bit to the side. You "may" have noticed, I was quite frustrated at this time, but I think I still got some good shots :)

Highlight Of The Day ^^

Tofu Restaurant
After waking up in the early morning (= 8am for me ;), walking most of the time and standing for over 3 hours at one spot was quite exhausting :D But this wasn't the end of the day :)

Some weeks before, I was invited by Yurie-san to an Birthday / Welcome Back Party for a former AIESEC intern from Bulgaria. Of course there were some AIESEC Alumni too. So despite the fact I did just know Yurie-san, it was a really awesome group to which I got a connection at first sight and we had a really good time together ^^

Wherever you may go, AIESEC Parties are the best :D
(C) Junya Ishino

Well, that was when I finally found them which wasn't that easy. Especially if you know no one and Yurie-san comes late because of work :D But thanks to Social Media, my mobile Wi-Fi router (which I found in my postbox right before) and probably the worlds smallest mobile phone (aka mine) I found them :)

And wherever you go, you will probably some of them again ^^
(C) Junya Ishino

As I said, the group was a bunch of really cool people. And in addition, there were many beautiful girls too ^^ Well, that's what I love the most about AIESEC ;) It was a really nice evening with many talks (most in Japanese) and very good Tofu. In general, I am not a fan of Tofu, but there were so many differents kinds I liked at the first try, like one who tasted like sweet curd :) It was an awesome end of an awesome day :D

And here the rest my selection for the day :)

Very soon it will be some meters high ^^

The Inside of Japanese Confections :)

Kamakura: Dancing All Day

The enemy from the story?

Kamakura: The city which I know the best from all the ones I've seen so far in Japan. Every time I come here, there is something new to explore. So was today too.

Together with Mika-san, I went here to see the traditional Kamakura Festival. It's an event that takes place over a whole week. The main attractions today were the parade of 神輿 (portable shrines) and the 静の舞 (shizuka-no-mai), a dance with quite a tragic history.

It was first performed by a princess called Lady Shizuka who was taken captive by the enemy of her beloved one. She had to perform it in front of her enemies and the dance was filled with such emotions for her beloved one, that she was eventually imprisoned and her children killed.

Of course, strong women are leading strong men :)
And making everything harder ;)

When we arrived at Kamakura, we could already see the parade. Many people were already on the streets, watching the shrines and their holders. I already did the same thing last year, so I know hard it is to hold that shrine on your shoulder. The shrines seemed also to be much bigger than the one I helped to carry oO

To motivate the carriers, some of the audience cheered them up. In the front of each shrine was also a person with a megaphone who did some kind of motivational singsong :D Well, at least there was pretty good vibe there. So we went alongside the parade and I got the opportunity to make some good photos ^^

Looks like they are having fun :D

After the parade was over, we went to the next event: A Noh-performance of children. Noh is a kind of classical theater in Japan, which is a combination of dance, acting and recitation. In the background is always a reciter who explains the general story. There are also musicians which give the whole performance the actual atmosphere, in my opinion.

The performance was nice, they even shot an arrow in the direction of the audience :D
We had also luck with the timing, because the Sakura trees around the place were losing their leaves, so the whole scenery felt a bit magical :)

Musicians of 静の舞 (Shizuka-no-mai)

Our last station in Kamakura was of course the dance named Shizuka-no-mai （静の舞）which I mentioned above. As I learned, the dancer is always a male person, despite the fact it was performed by a woman at first. In the time, this tradition was started to practice, women were not allowed to dance. Anyway, the dance was quite an event and everyone was eager to watch it. But with the help of my telescope lens, I think I got some good photos ^^

Performance of "Lady Shizuka"

Because it wasn't even evening, I decided with Mika to go to Ofuna, a nearby city. There we met her boyfriend and went to a slot machine hall together. These kind of slot machines are called "Pachislo" and are not like the "Pachinko" machines you may have heard of. In opposite to Pachinko, you can stop the slots in the order and at the time you want. Okay, they were getting so fast, that you could have thought this would need pure luck, but this wasn't the case.

When I tried this kind of game, a man next to me offered his help. Certainly I looked like achild who was confused with all those buttons ;) For example, he showed me that when you get the symbols in a specific order, you can get bonus rounds, where you just win over and over. And he got them already with one try on my machine. Three times! So I noticed that you need a good reaction and a basic understanding of how the slots were moving. It was actually quite funny to test and train my reaction skills in this way, even I lost all of my coins :D But don't worry, I just played for about 3,000 Yen and don't plan to do it in the near future again ;)

After a short dinner in the next Ramen restaurant, Mika and her boyfriend brought me to the station and I went home. Was a pretty exhausting day :D

Me Doing the Ritual Washing in Temples ^^

Better Watch Out for Her ^^

More Musicians from the Shizuka-no-mai

Past Meets Present :)

And as always, the Fox Spirits were watching us ;)

Japanese Celebrating Sakura

After my last Sakura Hunt, I wanted to find out how Japanese people were really celebrating Sakura. I already watched it with some friends, but there are many forms how you can celebrate it. Until then, I just experienced the "walking through Sakura alleys" style :D

Flowers in Front of My Apartment

At first I went to 浜離宮恩賜庭園 (engl. Hamarikyu Gardens). It is an old garden which was remodeled after a villa of the Tokugawa family (famous clan with the most influence in the Edo period) and opened in 1946. It's inhabiting all kinds of plants, even a 300-years black pine tree which is said to be the biggest one in Tokyo.

The 300-years Black Pine Tree

At first, I had to search a bit for Sakura trees, but after some minutes I found them. Many people were already there, taking photos or just enjoying the view. It was a very wonderful spot to relax, so I enjoyed it too. By taking many photos of course :D

Wasn't the only one taking tons of photos today :D

Many people were also there with their friends and families, sitting in the grass on a blanket and talking while watching Sakura tress. Kind of a surprise, because on the street, people always looking very busy and hastened. But that is a useful trick you can learn in Japan: Being very active and busy at one time, and when you have the possibility you just relax in this moment (power nap in the train, sitting in a park, ... ) With this strategy, you can feel good even after stressful months :)

My second station was the Ueno Park near the Zoo, which I visited last year already. The park is said to be the most popular spot for watching Sakura aka Hanami. So in contrast to the Hamarikyu Gardens it was very crowded. Every free space was filled with people sitting on their blankets, eating and drinking ^^ I felt like being in a big festival but actually with far more people and less booths ;)

Hard to find any free spot here oO

The event itself was also an interesting aspect for me, because most Japanese love privacy. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean that Japanese people aren't open-minded and hospitable, it's actually the opposite ^^ But this is another topic.

Despite their love for private areas with friends and families only (Karaoke, Restaurants and so on), here everyone just sat next to each other and it was so loud that I wondered how they could understand each other :)

This is another strength of the Japanese people: Adaption. If there is no space for privacy, then it's no problem. And if there is the possibility to have privacy, they take it. Of course, those were just my thoughts at this time, I didn't use accurate scientific methods to analyse it nor did I publish my results for Peer-To-Peer :P

Flowing with The Mass :)

Anyway, it was another great day and I am sure many other will come soon. Maybe already tomorrow ^^