伏見稲荷大社Fushimi Inari Shrine

（なぜか分からないんですが、これを翻訳したくない．．．すみません。）

Finally, I do something other than go to the arcade.

As is typical, the weather refused to cooperate. The fact that I could see snow falling when I got on the train at Kutsukawa should tell you how cold it was today. At least it was sunny when we got to the shrine itself; that and the hiking I did went a long way towards keeping the cold off.

Anyway. I went with my host mom to Fushimi Inari today. Apparently she has a friend who works at the gift shop there. In practice, that means "free stuff", and while it was a little embarrassing to be getting free stuff from someone I'd met literally a minute ago, I couldn't really get a word in edgewise to say "no thank you". Besides, the water came in handy.

You see, the actual main shrine at Fushimi Inari is at the base of a hill. I mean, it's called Mt. Inari, but it's not really a mountain. 233 meters is not worthy of being called a mountain, as far as I'm concerned. I did end up spending around an hour walking around up there, but I did a lot of looking around and praying at shrines along the way and other things that weren't "walk from point A to point B".

My host mom didn't even start up the hill. She got as far as the rear shrine before turning around. Of course, this was hardly the first time she'd been to Fushimi Inari, and the rear shrine is plenty far enough to see one of this shrine's major selling points...

 ... the Senbon Torii, one thousand of these easily-recognizable gates. (Apparently my host mom tried to count them once. Got up to around 300 before giving up.)

Frankly, after that I feel like not much happened. I mean, it's a shrine. I've been to plenty. There were the ema, the little wooden card things that you write a wish on and hang near the shrine. They were in the shape of a fox, since foxes are important at this particular shrine. You could draw to get a fortune; mine was excellent. There were protective charms; none really interested me.

There were these "Heavy-light Rock" things (Omokaru-ishi). Apparently if they feel light when you pick them up, then whatever you were praying for will be easily granted. I mean, they weren't impossibly heavy, I suppose. But now I forget what I was wishing for. Well, even if I remembered, I seriously doubt I'd share it here.

What else happened... Oh right. Cats.

So according to my host mom, people do abandon cats at shrines like this. Because they're, well, shrines, people don't just kill or chase away the strays. Divine messengers, and all that.





I of course realized none of this at the time. I was in my usual frame of mind. Which could probably be summed up as "here kitty kitty... aww cute kitty"... yeah, I have a weakness for cats. (Or there's this XKCD comic.)

It was an interesting little hike, and a cool shrine to be sure. But I worry that shrines are getting to the "seen it all before" stage. I don't know what to do about that. Other than find a few more (like, oh, Ise) just to confirm my suspicions...

ようこそ、岡山県へWelcome to Okayama Prefecture

So this last weekend was one hell of an interesting one. Every year, KCJS students go off on a trip to... pretty much somewhere other than Kyoto. Okayama Prefecture seems to be a popular destination, considering that they went there last year too. My hosts in Okayama Prefecture had a picture of some of last year’s Brandeis students at a festival that’s held every year around this time.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Two caveats: one, as you may have noticed, this post will be the one exception to my posting in English and Japanese. I do not have the time to do my actual Japanese homework and translate a post of this length. Second, since I didn’t really have an Internet connection there, I had to merely write this post day by day, and now I’m posting it all at once. So this is going to be very long. Prepare yourselves!

Friday

We left Kyoto at nine in the morning. We gathered at Doshisha and were loaded onto two buses, one heading up into the mountains and one (the one I was on) making for the coastline.

Japanese highways are really not that much different from American ones. I mean, there’s the whole “drive on the left side of the road” thing, but that’s about the only difference. The highway did have a lot of tunnels though. I suppose that’s to be expected in a country with so many mountains.

We drove through Himeji City on the way... it saddens me to realize that the White Heron Castle, Himeji Castle, is undergoing renovations, and will be for years. I wanted to see that castle... *sigh*

We got lunch on the way, and arrived in Asakuchi City around 1:30 in the afternoon. I didn’t think this would be all that special, but apparently it was... there was a welcome ceremony with all sorts of Asakuchi City people making speeches. In Japanese of course. And we met our hosts for the next three days too. My hosts were really nice people; I would have been perfectly happy staying with them for a lot more than just three days.

Once the speeches were over, we all went over to a nearby school, Konkou Academy, and were given a tour of the school. Words cannot describe how awesome this was. My host family and I were one of the first to get there, so while we were waiting, I had some of the Japanese students peering out the windows at myself and one of the other KCJS students to arrive early. I love being a source of amusement for Japanese students...

Once everyone had arrived, the school’s band put on a quick little concert as their welcoming ceremony. It was really wonderful; music is one of the things I have a soft spot for, so yeah. After that, we were taken over to see some of the other club activities... first was some martial art whose name I honestly do not remember. All the same, those wrist holds and takedowns looked absolutely painful. I am very, very glad I didn’t volunteer to participate in that.

Then we watched the judo club at their work. Which was mostly grabbing their opponents’ clothing and trying to trip or throw him. This... also looked painful. At least for kendo, which came after that, they got to wear armor of a sort. Of course, when you’re using a wooden sword as a weapon and striking at the head, without armor you’d be killing people. So yeah.

The kendo was also awesome because after the two club members demonstrated their abilities, the instructor offered to let us take a wooden sword and try some of the attacks ourselves. That was awesome. Probably the most fun I’ve had here in Japan yet.

Finally, we participated in a tea ceremony, courtesy of Konkou Academy’s tea ceremony club. With twelve people, it was a little cramped and a little rushed... but then again, the snacks and tea are delicious, so I’m not going to begrudge any chance to participate in a tea ceremony. The Japanese guy sitting next to me seemed surprised when I said I liked the tea... I don’t think he was expecting that.

With that, our tour of Konkou Academy was over, unfortunately. It was ridiculously fun. Okayama Prefecture knows how to make people feel welcome, that’s for sure. I wonder if I’ll ever have a chance to go back there, sometime...

Well, after that my hosts drove me to the coastline. Asakuchi is right on the Seto Inland Sea, and there was a breeze coming in off the sea. It felt great... I really don’t go to the coast often enough, especially considering my home is really close to the ocean. (Well, the Chesapeake Bay. To be precise.)

I met my hosts’ grandchildren, who are (in the true style of kids everywhere) overly energetic. They somewhat awkwardly greeted me in English... it was so cute! They live with their parents, not with my hosts, so we didn’t have long to chat, but I kicked a soccer ball around a little and played some baseball too.

Finally, we made it back to my hosts’ home and had a relaxing evening... dinner was good (nabemono... look it up), and then I showed my hosts where I was from on Google Maps while we were all relaxing in front of the TV.

And this was just one day! If the rest of the weekend is this much fun...

Saturday

“If the rest of the weekend is this much fun” indeed. Holy damn.

The day’s activities started at 10 with a trip to Ryūnan Nursery School in Asakuchi, where one of my hosts’ grandkids goes. They had me sit up front and field some questions about myself, both from the teachers and the kids. I ended up singing the first part of the opening theme to Space Battleship Yamato, somehow.

We then moved on to coloring these little paper doll elephants, and then had them fight each other, sumo-style. That was... interesting. It’s hard to describe. I didn’t win all that often, not that I minded.

Then came lunch. I don’t even remember what we ate for lunch. Rice was involved, and I’m pretty sure there was miso soup too... but this is Japan, practically every meal has those.

Before I left the nursery school, the kids gave me a little card and a paper necklace to thank me for coming... to repeat myself from yesterday, it was so cute! Even though it’s exhausting to hang out with little kids, it was so much fun!

At this point, I could have spent the rest of the day doing nothing and still have had an awesome day. But that was far from it. Next came a visit to the Kamogata Machiya Park. There, I got to play with a kendama! It’s this little toy that’s a ball connected by a string to a little cross-shaped piece of wood. You hold the cross-shaped part and try to get the ball to land on the ends of the cross. For such a little thing, it is surprisingly difficult... although I was getting decently good at it by the time we left.

We also tried walking on stilts. “Tried” being the operative word. I couldn’t manage it. Pity no one had a video camera, or we’d have some interesting YouTube fodder.

There was also a koto lesson in progress when we got there... when it ended, I got a chance to play the koto myself. Now that was interesting. Having played piano in the past, rhythm wasn’t a problem, but it was still kinda hard.

Nothing else interesting really happened until dinner. Of course, dinner was a barbecue party with my hosts’ extended family, so yeah. Yakitori, crab, shrimp, sushi, onigiri... the amount of food there was just insane. Now if only they had had soda, it would have been perfect. There was plenty of beer, but they already knew that I didn’t drink (not even legal yet in Japan, much less the United States), so that wasn’t an option.

And after dinner... I believe I mentioned a festival? The Ōura Shrine Annual Autumn Festival (Shūki Reitaisai), at a shrine in Asakuchi City, would be that festival. I believe that all of the KCJS students in Asakuchi attended. And all of the guys helped with the festival.

By “helped”, I mean we helped to carry one of the portable shrines. Those things were heavy. I mean, damn, with a good thirty people all carrying it, you’d think it wouldn’t be all that bad. Oh no. I’m typing this four hours later and my back and shoulder still ache a little.

But it was still great fun. I got taiyaki for my trouble, so I was happy. Everyone (else) was drinking beer and having a great time. If there’s one thing I’m really going to miss when I have to go back to the U.S., it’s going to be the festivals. (If only for the taiyaki.)

One more day... there’s no way anything could top that Saturday, though.

Sunday

Well, today was much quieter. Went on a trip to Fukuyama Castle, mostly because I admitted to my hosts yesterday that I liked castles. Like most currently in Japan, Fukyuama Castle is rebuilt... only a very few survive in their original state, and the only one that comes to mind right off is Himeji. (See above about Himeji’s current state. *sigh*)

The problem with this outing was that the museum is in Japanese. Now, I like history, and I like learning more about history... but I simply can’t translate museum signs from Japanese into English in any reasonable length of time. My translation works best when I’m sitting down in front of a computer with a good two or three hours to spare.

All the same, it was cool. Any traditional Japanese castle with tower is good in my book, and usually the museums show what they looked like back when they were built and/or at their peak. It makes me wonder how anyone ever dared to challenge them. I mean, seriously... a moat, outer wall, inner wall, built steadily higher on a hill... I guess this is why siege warfare was invented.

We also got lunch in Fukuyama Station... I got hamburger, which apparently here in Japan just means a slab of meat. Not that I minded, it was good, and it’s not like I was expecting a bun. Oh, and rice, of course. Although my rice was served on a plate for some reason... news flash, I’ve been in Japan for a month, I can use chopsticks and would like my rice in a bowl where I can actually eat it with chopsticks, thank you very much.

Finally, I got a souvenir to take back with me from Fukujima... momiji manju, these little tasty cake-like pastries with filling, shaped like autumn leaves. They’re filled with all kinds of things... this set was an assortment, with anko (red bean paste, like taiyaki... yay), green tea, chocolate, and mocha-filled ones. (Having already eaten them, considering it took me a while to write and post this... the anko-filled ones were the best. Just saying.)

That was pretty much it... by the time we returned to Okayama, it was time to leave for good. Tearful goodbyes were had (okay, not all that tearful), souvenirs and thank yous were exchanged, and we loaded up on the bus back to Kyoto.

... There’s only one weekend that could possibly top this, and that would be one spent in Tokyo. Oh wait, we have a break coming up later in October...

北野天満宮Kitano Tenmangu

On the 25th of every month, a large flea market is held at Kitano Tenmangu, a large shrine in northern Kyoto. Being that today was Saturday, I had absolutely no reason not to go. I mean, I could just be a shut-in anime fanatic that leaves their room for food, maybe, but that would just be stupid.

毎月、25日に、北野天満宮でフリーマーケットがある。その北野天満宮は京都の北に大きい神宮だ。今日は土曜日だから、行けない理由がない。まあ、引きこもりになるけど、その仕方は絶対バカなんだ。

I took my usual route into the city, Okubo to Imadegawa by train, and got on a city bus at Imadegawa over to Kitano Tenmangu. The bus was packed. I mean, I'm used to crowds after riding the subway every morning, but this was ridiculous. Let's just say I wasn't the only one going to the shrine.

いつも通り、大久保駅から今出川駅まで電車を乗った。今出川駅で、市バスを乗って、北野天満宮前に降りた。そのバスに、人が多すぎた。毎日電車を乗るから、人がたくさんいることは問題じゃないけど．．．僕だけ神宮に行くことじゃない。

Pretty much right after getting off the bus, I took this picture, of the torii gate next to the road. Sadly, you can't see the taiyaki stall that I made a beeline for right after taking the picture. All the food was out front; all of the stalls visible in the picture were selling food of some kind. And I love taiyaki, so of course I had to get a snack! (uguu~)

バスを降りた後で、この写真を撮った。写真で、北野天満宮の鳥居が見える。残念だけど、たい焼きの店が見えない。その屋台店は全部食べ物の店だ。そして、たい焼きが大好きだから、もちろん食べた！（うぐぅ～）

And right after I bought my taiyaki, I ran into a friend purely by accident. I hadn't really contacted anyone else, so I wasn't planning to meet anyone, but it wasn't at all surprising to learn that I wasn't the only one there. There were a lot of places to buy kimonos, and a ton of food places too. I didn't really see much I had to have... I do want a kimono, but I'd rather have help from my host parents for that. I did buy a small fold-out fan, which is probably not necessary now that it's starting to get cooler.

たい焼きを買った後で、友達を出会った。誰も連絡しなかったから、会う予定がないけど、友達がいるのはびっくりじゃない。このマーケットで、着物の店と食べ物の店がたくさんあった。買いたいものがあまりない．．．着物を買いたいけど、僕のホスト両親を手伝った方がいいと思う。涼しくなるだから、多分必要じゃないけど、扇子を買った。

Oh, and I kind of got lunch... the taiyaki wasn't the only food I bought. A little while later, I picked up a pork bun and ate that. It wasn't great (auuu~), but I felt like I should at least try it. Anyone care to guess why I felt like trying the pork bun?

そして、昼ご飯を食べた。たい焼きだけじゃない。後で、肉まんを買って、食べた。あまりおいしくない（あううぅ～）けど、食べてみたいと思った。まあ、「なぜ肉まんを食べてみたいか」とは答えられるか。

The shrine itself was also packed almost beyond belief, which I imagine is part of the point of having this market. I thought about buying a protective charm and praying at the main shrine building, but I'd rather do those kinds of things when there aren't long lines involved.

神宮も人は多すぎた。僕はお守りを買おうと思ったけど、そんなことは人が少ない時にした方がいいと思う。

Besides, I took some cool pictures. Are those naginatas?

まあ、かっこいい写真を撮った。こんなのは長刀か。

Well, anyway. I had fun. The flea market was really interesting, but I would kind of like to come back and see the shrine when it's not filled with people. So I bet this isn't the last time I'll be going to Kitano Tenmangu.

とにかく、楽しかった。フリーマーケットは面白かったけど、人が少ない時の神宮も見たい。だから、この時は最後の北野天満宮に行く時じゃない。