Fireflowers are blooming over the Sea

I think it is no secret that I love 花火 (hanabi, engl.: fireworks), especially the Japanese ones ^^
Unfortunately, this year the most fireworks in Tokyo take place in August, so I won't get the opportunity to see many. Therefore, I went out for my last one. Many co-workers recommended me this one by saying it is "unlike the usual ones". So I went together with Niko to Kamakura after work. Man, this is already the .... how many times did I already went to Kamakura? :D

With two beers each, we went to the beach to have the best viewing spot. At first it was hard to find a place because it was already very crowded when we arrived, but eventually we managed to find a spot. There we enjoyed the scene and man, this was the best 花火 I've ever seen ^^
As you see in the photographs, many of the fireworks were exploding right over the sea. And they were right in front of us, so we could practically feel the sound from the vibrations in the air :) It was indeed the best one I could hope for as my last 花火 in Japan for probably some years.

They didn't only had hearts, they also had more complex figures
like the comic face of a kitten :)

Own Thoughts: Japan and the dealing with the 2nd Sino-Japanese War

Warning: The following post contains my opinion, based on my own thoughts and talks with many different people, most of them Japanese. I don't claim to be right, I just want to express my observation and opinion about it.

Okay, let's get started: Since some time, there is one observation in particular I wanted to write about. The dealing of the Japanese people with the Sino-Japanese wars, especially the second one (1937 - 1941). When I got to know some Japanese better, I asked some of them: "What did they teach you in school about the 2nd Sino-Japanese War?". The only source I had until then were primarily movies and articles which focused on the cruelties of Japanese during that time. Every medallion has (at least) two sides, so I wanted to know their point of view to get a better understanding.

But unfortunately, Japanese don't learn much about this war. It was often said to me that they just learn that this war happened and that was basically it. For me, this was the complete opposite to the German education about the Second World War and especially the Third Reich and its cruelties. To be fair, cruelties are usually the part which is left out of historical education, although this is the one things we can learn the most out of, in my opinion.

With my previous mindset, I thought that Japanese students also get educated about the cruelties during the Sino-Japanese war, because it is one of the more recent events. Also resulted the policy of this time in so much loss and pain for Japan, I thought they would be teached to prevent such a thing from ever happening again, like Germans are teached about the Third Reich.

In this moment, I recognized that I didn't know much about how other people learn about their countries history. Every nation deals different with it, which is probably also something which leads to many conflicts. How can you understand somebody really, when you learn from the past different? Or is this really a problem after all? To be honest, I cannot even say if it's better to forget or to be constantly reminded about things in the past you didn't do.

If anyone got offended by that, please accept my apologies. I think this is a difficult topic for everyone in which many sides play a major role. Overall, I think everybody should decide how strong the past influences the own perspective and opinion.

A Day in Nature

My final day in Sapporo began, so I used my time to clean up my apartment and get ready to leave. Then I noticed that I didn't take any decent photographs of it and the surrounding area. So here they are ^^

Sleeping / Living Room

My Neigbhors ;)

Because it was such a wonderful day, I decided to spend it in the Parks of Sapporo. Or better said, I did some "Sitting in different Park" marathon (kind of) :D
I didn't went along a fixed route, I just went to the largest one, the Odori Park and then I went wherever I wanted to. I did many breaks in between just to sit down (bench or ground) and to enjoy the scene in front of me. And that was basically my last day in Sapporo :)

My "Lunch Pack" ^^

Plant Life in the Odori Park :D

Water Fountain in front of the Sapporo TV Tower

Hmmm .... I still can't figure out what type of plant the red one is...

Some kind of Priest if I remember it correct

Many artists use the Odori Park as Location

By the way, the Japanese Crow seems big in comparison to the European one :D

Yeah, just some grass while I layed down ^^

I don't like Selfies much, but here I couldn't resist :P

"Oktoberfest" in July :D

And like in Winter, the German "Maibaum" stands
in the Odori Park ^^

Sapporo: Time Travel and Classic

I started the day by visiting a place which I saw last time but I couldn't finish my visit even after 5 hours: The Historical Village of Hokkaido or in Japanese: 開拓の村.
This place has a vast amount of original and rebuilt houses from the mid of 19th to the early 20th century, also known as frontier period of Hokkaido. There you can get a really good understanding about the lifestyle at this time from nearly all stratums of society by simply being there.

This time, I went another route than last time to see all the buildings I've missed. Of course, there were some different circumstances too: Last time was the beginning of winter and snow had already fallen. Therefore, only 3 or 4 other visitors were in this whole area. So everyone could inspect the buildings without any disturbance. But to be fair, even with more people around this time, almost the whole time I was alone in those buildings ^^

I also made observations I couldn't have seeen otherwise. For example, at this day many families were there to draw the buildings on paper. All the kids and many adults sat on on a mat or chair and drew their pictures. I don't know if a special kind of event took place this day or if it was something that just usually happens there.

Again, I was impressed how deep the act of drawing is rooted in the Japanese culture. Whenever there was a sunny day and I went to a point of interest in Japan, there were at least 4 painters already working. Most of the times elderly persons, but as I saw this day, starting from a very young age, many younger people exercise in this craft too. Is this maybe one of the big reasons why Japan has so many artists? I think so :) In Germany, I've seen just a very few persons drawing outside.

I would like to tell you more about my time there, but actually it is something you have to see with your own eyes and experience with your own senses. For anyone who is interested, at the bottom you find more pictures (as usual ;). If you ever get the chance to be in Sapporo, don't miss this ^^

After spending most of the day in the village, I went back to Sapporo. Because I just walked the whole time, I just went to a park nearby and sat down in the grass along a lake. The previous day, I asked Kai-san, the owner of the apartment in which I stayed, about his favorite drink, because I like to know what locals recommend, not some guidebook ;) He recommended me a beer called "Sapporo Classic", so I bought one before I went into the park.

Sitting there, drinking a beer while watching at the water was just ... amazing :)
Interesting how such a small act can awake such emotions. I don't know how long I sat there, but I know it was one of the few moments where you are just relaxing and not thinking about anything.

And by the way, the beer tasted very good ^^ It actually reminded me more of a German beer, because it was stronger in taste than the usual Japanese beer. Don't get me wrong, I like the Japanese beer, it's just very mild in my opinion :)

After my stop in the park, I went to Susukino and the districts nearby to see and feel the nightlife of Sapporo :) I just had to stop a bit earlier this time, because my way back home took quite a while :D But thanks to Kai-sans explanation and Google Maps, I found the right bus on time ^^

Nightlife in Sapporo

Classroom from back then

Man, they just had fun, didn't they? ^^

Lightbulb

Buddhism(?) Altar

Storage Room

More people drawing their pictures :)

I really wish I could have such a painting in my room ^^

Barber Shop from the late 19th Century

How to brew Sake and the Equipment :)

Entrance Gate to a real Shrine in the area

Statue within the Park

The Lake at which I sat down

As I said, everywhere in Japan, you see hortensias at this time ^^

Silent Flute Player