Shizukuishi Culture-fest

I just had an amazing weekend! I trekked down to Shizukuishi (which borders the Akita Prefecture) for a weekend of "cultural immersion!" And they lived up to their mission! We had tons of activities planned through out the weekend, and English translation was provided so we could learn more about Japanese traditions. Food, music, dance and art were the main focal points of the weekend. We also had an opportunity to do another homestay with a family from Shizukuishi. My family was super sweet and not surprisingly "overly generous, hospitable and thoughtful"!!! Check out some pics of this educationally entertaining weekend!

Upon arriving in Shizu, we were whisked away to the Amihari Onsen in the beautiful green Ou Mountain Range. We took a series of chair lifts to the top and were greeted with fantastic views! No one was at the park that day, so it was red carpet treatment once again, as 13 foreigners were treated to a scenes of serenity and uninhabited forests. The onsen was one of the BEST I have been in yet. It was a super relaxing outdoor bath in the middle of what looked like a scene from "The Sound of Music". Nothing more liberating than being a part of nature....and nude. Could have stayed their for hours and hours, cleansing my skin with the helaing powers of the natural hot spring water...but we had a full agenda.

Read on for the next stop:

MAKING SOBA (Buckwheat noodles)

The soba was really interesting. We were given some flour and about 10 oz of water. After mixing it together very carefully, we began kneading it into a large lump of clay-esque density. Hard to believe this was actually going to be the soup I find so delicious! We rolled the disc-o-dough into a super flat square and folded it several times. We then cut it into thin strips...as demonstrated below! I also included a pic of my cooking team! Of coures eating our creation afterward made it all worth it! Oishi katta des!

MAKING MOCHI TSUKI

This was a fun way of cooking/anger management. Basically, you take regular white rice and water and pound the heck out of it with a sledgehammer. It turns into a super goopy, glue-like substance that is used to make rice balls and a dessert called Mochi Tsuki. The end product is actually quite unappetizing in appearance, think tar-covered cotton balls, but if you can get passed the texture of crazy glue in your mouth---the black sesame seasoning paste is quite tasty and sweet. What a labor intensive dessert...I will never complain again about baking a cake-in-a-box!

DINNER PARTY!

After having an amazing Japanese party-style dinner....HUGE buffets of appetizers, entrees, finger foods, desserts, salads, soups and fruits. We were treated to performances by members of the community. We heard children and adults perform many traditional instruments and dances. The variety was super and the talent quite impressive! Drums, harps, flutes, brass band and bag pipes (thanks for sharing a bit of your English flare!) Pictured below are some shots of us listening, dancing and having a jolly ol' time!

This is the Koto...a 13 string harp played sitting on the ground. After about 10 minutes, I had the chorus down to one of the songs they performed...beginner's luck!? No, just a great teacher! Thanks for sharing your skills with us!

SANSA: This is a very traditional formal Japanese dance. It begins with the taiko drummers parading into the room, then the dance team follows. They play a couple quick warm ups and then they jam out and everyone is singing, playing, drumming, dancing, moving in unison to these intense drumming patterns. I love taiko--its so beautiful and powerful. The sansa was super fun as everyone joined in the circle of fun! I left out pics of me dancing..you have seen others like it before--I am never on the right beat anyways!

So, all this entertainment and NO contribution from me...right? Not so, I brought along materials for friendship bracelets and taught our audience how to make them for their loved ones. It went over pretty well, even well received by the boys! Thanks for participating!

SYODO: Japanese calligraphy. Well, since I am learning Katakana at the moment (the easiest of 3 Japanese written languages---like 5 year olds in Japan have this down)....I am definitely not ready for calligraphy using Kanji characters. "Ganbarimas"!!! It is super difficult to control the brush and amount of ink used to make the detailed strokes that make up Kanji characters. Then you have to remember the stroke order and which way to finish the stroke...sigh! Our teacher was a hoot and tried his best to simplify things, but to no avail! Kanji is difficult to understand AND read AND write! First shot is me practicing, second one is my final piece, it reads FRIEND. How appropriate, as I met many wonderful new friends this weekend! Thanks for making this such a memorable weekend in Japan!

THANK YOU MEMBERS OF SHIZUKUISHI! You know how to throw a wonderful party! I learned so much about your culture---thank you for sharing it so beautifully with me! I appreciate the hard work and extensively planning that went into preparing for this event...it was a success and perfectly orchestrated! DOMO ARIGATO GOZAIMAS!

SHIZUKUISHI: September 17-18 2005