Today was one of those days where you run around from one meeting to the next, try to squeeze all sorts of other things somewhere in between, and by the time you come home you still have the impression of having achieved nothing… Oh well, most of my days are quite relaxed anyway, so one exception is not going to break me. I am feeling tired though, I’m sure that’s allowed. So, this might mean an early bedtime for me today.
Category: experiences
Yet again
Just in case you were wondering: yes, I am still practising soroban. I am not going to the usual evening classes any longer, but nevertheless, I practise six days every week. I have been trying to pass the test for 1st kyu for more than half a year now, and there is always a little something that does not work out. However, I am not willing to give up.
The next test for 1st kyu will be on Sunday morning. Once again, I will go there and do my best, and I am feeling as prepared as I can possibly be. Let’s hope there is nothing out of the ordinary that will throw me off my track yet again… Wish me luck!
Chosen
We’re in the middle of Gion matsuri already! Today is yoi-yoi-yoiyama, 3 nights before the Saki matsuri parade on Sunday. When you go to town these days, every shop plays Gion bayashi – the rather unmelodious festival music with flutes, cymbals, and drums, and the Gion lanterns are everywhere.
The other day I talked with a friend about Gion matsuri, in particular about the chigo, the young boy that has numerous duties during this month and rides on the first float of the Saki matsuri. I now know that he is considered sacred throughout this month, which means he is not supposed to touch the ground. Also, he is not allowed to come into contact with women – his mother included. For a boy of 10 years of age, this is probably not very easy, and I wonder if all the attention is really worth it.
It is definitely worth a lot to his family. In general, what you hear is that the chigo is chosen among the families of Gion. This is true, but the important word often omitted is wealthy. My friend said that the one-month honour of your son being the chigo comes with a price tag of some 30 million YEN, which can buy you a nice house in Kyoto. A healthy donation to Yasaka shrine is only a part of the costs, there are all sorts of other gifts to consider, as well as food and drink for the people coming to your house throughout the month, in particular those affiliated with the Naginata hoko.
Certainly, there is a lot of prestige coming with these kind of things, but still… Is such a high price worth it?
Closet
When I wrote about my inventory list here, I could not have known that this would become one of the most popular posts on here. Besides the comments, I also received a number of emails from friends about it. One of them was inspired enough to start counting her own things – and she claims she owns even more T-shirts than I do…
Anyway, since that post was so successful, I thought I would share one more of my organising tricks. Have a look at the photo below. It shows the hop half of my closet. Notice anything?
Yes, I mean no, this is not all of my clothing, just the things I am wearing at the moment on a daily basis when I go out. There are a few dresses that are too long for this closet which are stored elsewhere, as are my jackets and my black suit. Socks and underwear are stored in drawers at the bottom of this closet, and my winter clothes are tucked away completely right now. So, this is not what I mean.
Look again – notice the colours? Yes, the contents of my closet is sorted by colour, black on one side, white on the other, the other colours in between; shirts to the left, pants to the right, and the T-shirts below are similarly organised. The same holds for my socks and lacy underwear (nope, no pics here ;-)) and even my jewelry. In case you are wondering, it’s not a sign of OCD (I hope), and it is not a requirement of living in Japan either; in fact, I have been doing this for years.
The reason is that in the mornings, at the time when I get dressed, I run on autopilot. And the last thing I want to do in this state is go hunting all over my closet for my favourite *insert colour* T-shirt. The way things are sorted by colour means: If it is not on its pile, it is in the laundry somewhere, so I have to wear something else. This simple organising trick makes my morning routine very simple, stress-free, and autopilot-able.
A side benefit is that you see what you own. And if you have 15 red T-shirts already, it is not quite so easy anymore to buy number 16. Mostly, that is. Why don’t you try it out – maybe on a small part of your closet only? Just pants for example, or just T-shirts. The sorting can be maintained easily, once it has been established; and even the first sorting does not take that much time, promised! As long as you don’t have as many T-shirts as me or my friend, that is…
Another Year
Ladies and Gents: Time for celebrations!
This morning I received my visa extension – I can stay another year in Japan!
To be honest, I had gotten a bit nervous already, but this time there was no need for extra paperwork. Obviously my lawyer knows exactly what to do, she’s worth every yen I spend on her!
I have celebrated the occasion with a truly Austrian meal: Brettljausn with Austrian rye bread, cheese and Leberkaese (huge thanks to the friend who brought it for me from Australia of all places), and gherkins and a boiled eggs and tomatoes… It was delicious!
So, I have another year in Japan, another year to get the company going and to prove worthy of the trust people put in me here. This one goes out to all my friends, whether here in Japan or overseas: Thank you for your support! You mean a lot to me!
EU Film Days
It’s this time of the year again: The EU Film Days are in town! Films from all over Europe are shown, often in their original languages with English and Japanese subtitles. Many films have won prizes at some film festival or other and are a couple of years old though.
I have not heard of any of the films for this year, except the Austrian one: The Wall. However, I went to the Bulgarian “Victoria” today with friends from Bulgaria. It was a very, very slow film with hardly any dialogue, and even though films from Eastern Europe are usually a bit hard to digest, this one about the relations between women of three generations made me (and my friends) even uncomfortable at the end.
Anyway, If you are around in Kyoto or Tokyo and into something completely different and un-Japanese, do have a look at the films. The official homepage is here: http://eufilmdays.jp/en/schedule/
Nagoshi No Harae
It is June 30th today, the day of the Nagoshi No Harae summer purification. With two of my Japanese friends I went to Kifune, a tiny little village north of Kyoto, to watch the ceremony.I have written about the ceremony before; it was a bit different this time around, I guess every shrine has their own peculiarities. I went through the chinowa wreath myself the prescribed three times – twice, actually – and bought a tiny little chinowa wreath to take home.
Kifune village is gorgeously sitated in the middle of the mountains with not much space next to the river and the road. The trees are enormous and cover most of the sky above the road the further you travel up the river. Kifune is famous for its many exquisite and expensive restaurants on the river – and I mean ON the river: platforms are built over the most shallow parts where people can sit and enjoy their meal with natural air condition. We did not spend that much money though, we only had coffee and cake before we left. I will share some pictures of Kifune and its wonderful trees in my post on the weekend.
Rainy Season
We’re in the middle of tsuyu again – Japan’s rainy season. For now, it is still quite pleasant and cool and not humid at all, at least it does not feel this way. I had to calm a friend of mine who is coming to Kyoto for a couple of weeks and is worried about the heat and humidity, but there’s nothing to worry about – yet. Also the rain is rather well-behaved this year: the really heavy rains happen mostly during the night, and although the days are grey and cloudy, it is not too bad. Let’s hope I didn’t jinx it now – I have plans to go out on Thursday…
Prayers
The other day, after I went out to buy chocolate at my favourite store, I stopped by Shimogamo shrine on the way home. I hadn’t been there in a while, and as the shrine is within a very old forest with huge trees, it is always pleasant to go there.
It was rather late in the afternoon and there were hardly any people, so I took my time and went to the main hall to pray – as usual a very simple “Let me stay in Japan” prayer. Probably many people would have more elaborate wishes – money, fame, whatnot, but for me this is the most important thing.
I have always wondered what the Japanese would pray for at a shinto shrine, and I finally asked some friends about that. It seems that most people ask for two very simple things: kanai anzen (家内安全) which can be translated as household or family safety, as well as hi no yojin (火の用心) which means protection from fire. One of my friends claims she is not superstitious. However, these are the only two things she would ever dare pray for. She says that if one were praying for money for example, you never know where it would come from, and whether you might not have to suffer for it in the last consequence…
Upgrade
Last week I received a letter from national health insurance with my fees for this year. In Japan, health insurance fees are calculated from your income of last year, not the current one. In the last two years I always paid the minimum since I did not have any income, but now that I have to pay myself, I promptly got an upgrade on my health insurance fees.
I now have to pay almost double what I paid last year! Compared to what I would have to pay in Europe it is nothing, but still… At least I don’t have to do anything since I allowed automatic deduction from my bank account; the insurance company will adjust the deduction themselves. That’s a bonus, always.
I wonder what happens if people retire for example, and have much less income from one year to the next. Will they still have to pay full insurance fees on whatever they made the year before? I remember that one of my housemates in the old house constantly struggled with health insurance and tried to convince them that he really didn’t make as much money as they thought. Obviously I have no intentions of retiring any time soon, but it would be interesting to find out…