experiences – Page 24 – goinggaijin.com

Ofunehoko

Yesterday was the second yoiyama, the day (and night) before the second grand parade of Gion Matsuri. As I have mentioned last week, it was a very special yoiyama for me: I was invited to volunteer at the Ofunehoko, the large boat-shaped float that always ends the Ato Matsuri parade.

Now you’re probably wondering how I, as a foreigner (with very bad Japanese to boot) can help out at one of the most important Japanese festivals! Well… it was all really by accident… I am a member of the Miyakogusa, a volunteer organisation of Kyoto where people of all ages (mostly women of a certain age though) do a variety of activities: From visiting shrines and temples, to cleaning up the Imperial gardens, to presentations on Kyoto’s history, this is all volunteer driven and organised. How I got to be a member of this is an even more unbelievable story, I’ll tell it some other time.

Anyway, the leader of the Miyakogusa is a very energetic woman (!) and she seems to have many sundry connections and know everybody, including the people from the Ofunehoko, which has been restored only a few years ago. About a month ago or so I received a phone call from her where she invited me to take part this year. Of course, when Gion Matsuri calls, you don’t say no. And thus I ended up working yesterday, selling chimaki charms and books and little tenugui hand towels…

It was a very interesting experience. Two weeks ago there was an introductory meeting where we were explained the history of the Ofunehoko, little details to its size, weight, number of men to pull it… Then there were the practical things: How much was each item, where would we get lunch, where is a toilet for us volunteers… Everything was planned to the last dotted i – including what to say when selling something and asking for the money – actually, we were “giving” things to people, since “selling” is a dirty word when it comes to items blessed by the gods…

The level of detail that went into the planning made the whole thing yesterday run very smoothly. When I arrived at the spot, I was set up with two Japanese into one team – we were to do everything together and change stations regularly. There were three stations for us: The small northern and big southern tent, where we sold the chimaki and other things as well as entrance tickets; plus the entrance to the house, from where you could enter the Ofunehoko and take a look at the street from above.

Mostly the work was easy, there were hardly any foreigners requiring assistance, and the Japanese I talked to were easy to satisfy. Part of the smooth ride was surely that I took the morning shift from 10:00 to 16:00, I could see a sharp increase of visitors towards the end of my shift. Then especially the entrance to the house got busy: We were to take the shoes of each visitor, clip a number onto them and hand an identical number to them, so we could find their shoes on returning and give them back. The later the afternoon, the more people wanted to go upstairs, and even though they were only admitted in groups of 10, it sometimes became quite overwhelming when just as many came down the stairs also.

Anyway, I had great fun and I made a couple of new friends. Some of my old friends visited me at work as well, even though it was very hot. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures from the inside of the stalls, it would have been an interesting and rather unique view on Gion Matsuri! After 6 hours of standing only (there were seats but not enough for everybody) I was exhausted! Not so much from the heat – we had enough free drinks and cold patches to stick underneath your clothing – but because my feet hurt so much…

Fun incident: All of us volunteers had to wear yukata. It took me about 45 minutes to get dressed; first the spanx and the towels (long story), then the yukata itself, and then I needed 20 minutes just to put on the obi! By the time I was done, I was soaked in sweat – definitely a good start for the day! After all that work, I was mightily proud of myself, but obviously it was not good enough still. At some point, one of our yukata-wearing customers looked at me disapprovingly and said: Turn around! She then proceeded to pull hard on the back of my yukata – the part that reaches down below the obi, and after a few minutes, she was satisfied: the pulling had produced a better neckline in front – and in fact, other women passing by later did comment on this! Only in Japan…

Busy Again!

Whew, I had a busy day yesterday… Much of it was fun though, for once.

Very first thing in the morning I visited the Eki Museum in the Isetan Department store next to Kyoto station. The museum is small, but it has excellent exhibitions. Until the end of July, they show early shin-hanga woodblock prints, featuring the works of several artists. However, the exhibition focuses on landscapes, in particular those of Yoshida Hiroda and Kawase Hasui. Most of the times, I only buy postcards at the museum shop, but this time I splurged on a book of prints by Hashiguchi Goyo (my favourite shin-hanga artist) and a somewhat larger reprint of a scene at Kuroba River by Yoshida Hiroda. I bought it because it reminds me of Austria…

Afterwards I went to Nitori, a kind of Japanese version of IKEA. They sell furniture and all sorts of home furnishings… I didn’t buy much, but I love walking through the aisles of such shops wondering “what is THIS thing good for?”

Next stop: bank. I needed to pay expenses for my grandmother’s funeral, which means: international bank transfers… This is always a painful experience with silly questions like “where did you get all that money from?” and “what the hell are you going to use it for?”, which is really not anyone’s business – it’s MY money after all. However, this is the Japanese government’s way of trying to curb money laundering and illegal immigration (the latter by making it hard for immigrants to get money back to their countries) as if those people wouldn’t have a way to forge documents etc. This is not my first time to transfer (my) money abroad, so I came prepared, but the Australian lady on the counter next to mine wasn’t quite so patient. I guess after spending two hours at the bank and getting nothing done because they keep asking for yet another document, I wouldn’t be cool anymore either…

On my way home, I dropped by at Yasaka Shrine. There were no more food stalls unfortunately; the speed with which the Japanese clean up after their festivals always amazes me. Nearby, I bought some cheese cake from a famous bakery. I haven’t tried it yet – it’s really too hot to eat anything – but I’ll have it for breakfast tomorrow.

After a full day out in the heat, I was exhausted. The next three days I have no meetings, but still plenty to do in the office and at home. And then, on Monday, my very own Gion Matsuri, I’m very excited already… I’ll tell you all about that on Tuesday!

Heat Wave

Have I complained about the heat already this year? It’s hot. Very hot, and as you can see, it will stay like this for at least another week: Well, this is quite usual around the time of Gion Matsuri. In fact, during the Gion Ato Matsuri, where the highlight will be next Tuesday, there always seems to be a peak in the heat wave. Speaking of Gion Matsuri: I went last night to the yoiyama, where the inner city changes into a party zone. This year, I wanted to see the kagura – a sort of sacred dance/theatre – performed in Yasaka Shrine. I was not disappointed, even though I came a bit late and had to watch from way far back. Kagura is a bit like Noh when it comes to the masks and costumes, but much more dynamic. I think half of the plays I watched consisted of people mock-fighting each other with swords, and dancing around each other for the main part of the play. And that at more than 30 degrees – the actors must have been exhausted at the end!

I certainly was, so when the performance ended at about 9:30, I decided not to go further to the inner city. Crowds are not something I enjoy, and there were enough food stalls at Yasaka Shrine already to eat my fill. The only thing missing were the baby kasutera that I love so much, but there will be another opportunity to get those, I’m sure.

Gion Matsuri – Building Phase

In Kyoto, all through July, there is Gion Matsuri, what I like to call “the biggest party in Japan”. While the main party night is on July 16th, i.e., next Monday, people are getting ready: The yamaboko floats for the saki matsuri parade on July 17th are being built right now.

Today, I went with two of my friends to get a glimpse at the new floats. Building of the biggest ones has already started, but the smaller ones are not out yet. We first had lunch in a tiny restaurant serving excellent sashimi, then we walked around the inner city and watched five of the big floats being built. Although they weigh more than 10 tons, there is not a single nail used anywhere, they are held together by elaborately tied, nay: woven ropes of rice straw. The whole frame is then covered with beautiful tapestries, the originals of which are hundreds of years old and are on display during the three days of yoiyama, starting on July 14th. Below is the building of the Kikusui Hoko, one of the large and popular ones.

One of the favourite things for Kyotoites to do during Gion Matsuri is shopping. For yukata and obi, but also towels and new handbags… anything cloth-related, really. So, we went to one of the Yukata shops nearby the Kikusui Hoko to have a look around. Gion Matsuri is the one and only occasion where I am wearing a yukata – a summer kimono – myself, and while I am interested in the patterns, I didn’t really want to buy one: I already have two, and I’m not a big fan of pink flowery clothes.

However, my friends decided on the spot to buy a new yukata for me! Isn’t it lovely? (I know that this is not the correct way to fold it!) I think these are bell flowers and some sort of feathers, a rather common pattern. I got dressed in my new yukata on the spot (and I hope I can remember the correct way of doing so) and could spend the rest of the afternoon looking really nice and mature (according to my friends), and I did get a number of approving looks as well. I also bought a new pair of geta – summer sandals – mostly because the straps on my old ones are broken and cannot be repaired. I am not a huge fan of the new pattern on the geta, but now that they are proper Japanese ones and not “made in China”, I can have them replaced at any time.

So, I had a fantastic afternoon at Gion Matsuri! To my friends (who are reading this): Thank you for spending today with me, thanks for the lunch and the tea, and, of course: Thank you so much for the beautiful yukata!

Dry

Since so many of you have asked: I’m fine, don’t worry!

Even though it rained for two weeks straight here in Kyoto city, the only thing affected here were the walking paths on the river banks, which had to be closed throughout. In the western part of Kyoto city, Arashiyama, there were a few mudslides, but nothing serious. Four people did die in more rural areas of Kyoto province, though.

The most affected areas were in Kyushu and around Hiroshima. Even today, there are places nobody could get to so far, so there is serious concern that the death toll will rise beyond the current 150 people or so. Apparently this was the worst rainfall in decades throughout the country, and efforts to clean up will take a long time, even though there are 75.000 people helping right now.

In Kyoto city, the rain has stopped on Sunday already; literally over night, just like somebody closed a faucet. It is now time to get hot and humid all over Japan, but I hope that people in southern Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku will be safe.

Similarities

It is always interesting to me how cultures so different as the Japanese and European ones can be so similar sometimes. Two of my friends, whom I have told about the death of my grandmother gave me little gifts to aid in remembering: A set of candles and some incense. We do use candles in Europe as well to remember the deceased, but the Japanese ones that are burnt in Buddhist temples are much, much smaller, barely 10 cm long, and more delicate. The ones I received are hand painted with lotus flowers – a popular Buddhist theme where people are believed to be born again on the other side on a lotus flower (and may even share it with their loved ones for all eternity).

Outside of church and some very special occasions, using incense is not common in Europe. Here, however, people burn it in temples and in front of the family tomb at certain holidays. Also, even in the cities, many Japanese people still have a butsudan in their homes, a small shrine where they keep a Buddha statue or image and tablets bearing the names of their dead family members. When praying in front of the butsudan, both candles and incense are used.

It’s always nice to see different ways of dealing with the same problems. And it’s nice that my friends think of me – and teach me the Japanese ways.

Offline…

Something has happened. I’m sorry, but I’ll need to go offline for a while.

I hope I’ll be back soon.

Extension

We have a new construction site in the neighbourhood. Once upon a time, way before I moved here, there was a hotel just north of my apartment block. Since it had been demolished, there were discussions on what to build on that empty space instead. For many years, the neighbourhood associations have fought against a pachinko parlour, apparently one of the main contestants for a building permit.

The fight is over, and, glad to say, the neighbourhood associations have won it: Instead of the gambling hall, there will be an extension of the shopping centre, situated right next to the spot. The extension will add about 50% of floor space to the shopping centre, which is already enormous now. I am wondering what kind of shops will come there, and if there will be new ones or just the current ones enlarged. Probably a bit of both. Also, there is another shopping centre two blocks away, which belongs to the same chain – maybe they are planning to get rid of that one, since it is very old already.

Anyway, construction has already started last month, and according to the schedule I have received (since I live in an area affected by the noise, this seems to be mandatory), they want to be done with construction by the end of July. I am curious if this will work out, but if they say so…

In the picture above you see the current state of the construction. There will be a one floor deep basement, and they are now getting rid of the concrete remains of the hotel’s basement, and drill a few holes of their own. What I noticed when going shopping in the evenings (the big brown building on the left is the current shopping centre), is that the frogs are gone. A few weeks ago still, there were frogs in the ponds built inside the old basement to the left, and they were happily croaking away. Now, everything is quiet, and looking at the picture, you can see no more water anywhere on the grounds. It seems the Japanese don’t care much about things like this, they probably just filled in the old basement and let the frogs fend for themselves. This would be unimaginable in modern Europe. I hope some of the frogs survived…

Growth Spurt

Just a quick update on the sad trees I posted a month ago: Even though I did not think they would make it after the extreme cut they received, they absolutely did! They don’t look as good as the trees on the other side of my house, but still, it is nothing short of a miracle:

Passing On

One of mz elderly friends is still full of energy, but she says she wants to prepare for old age, and tries to make things more easy for her. For example, she moved her bedroom to the ground floor of her house and had a very small kitchen installed there. She says, in case she’s sick, bed, bath, and kitchen are now all within 20 steps of each other, so she can stay at home. Another way to prepare for her is to get rid of stuff. She is not quite as sentimental as I am, but still, she prefers to give her things away to people who would use them further, rather than just throwing them away.

And this is how I came into the possession of 12 of her old kimono. Not expensive, formal silk kimono, of course, but rather casual ones from cotton and similar light fabrics, mostly intended for summer. I have made it clear that I cannot wear them – besides having the wrong body shape, she is much smaller than me – but she says it’s fine if I cut them up and use the fabrics to make something else. So, I have made rough plans for one jinbei, one pair of summer pants, three dresses, and two jackets. And one lovely summer yukata I will keep for myself, even though it is a bit on the small side. The rest I am not sure about, there is one with a really strong pattern that should be kept intact if possible.

So far my plans. I have talked about my unexpected gifts to my English students, and they were quite excited about it. So, I invited one of them over last week to have a look at the kimono and maybe give advice on what to do with them. And when I was unpacking them one by one and put them in front of here, there was one she went all crazy about: “Oh, how beautiful!” She was so excited about it, that I asked her to try it on – and when it fit, I gave it to her. That’s the nice thing about kimono: As long as the fabric is holding up, age does not matter at all. In fact, many expensive kimono are passed on through generations of women! Size does not matter much either, so it really boils down to whether you like the pattern and color or not.

And with one simple act, I have made two of my friends happy: By taking from the one, and by giving to the other. If life were so simple all the time!