Why Don't You Try Some Japanese Culture?

I think the best part of traveling or staying overseas is communicating and being friends with ordinary people. I hope you all enjoy your stay here and make friends with people in the area.

I knew a woman who worked as an ALT in Saku for three years. She practiced judo at a judo class in the community and got a black belt, a license. She learned Japanese at a Japanese class. At the judo class, no one spoke English, so, it was a good place to practice Japanese. She also got a Japanese license, and in three years she spoke Japanese well. Then, with her Japanese skill and English, she got a job in a big Japanese company in Tokyo and got married to a Japanese man!

I'd like to introduce some Japanese culture or activities you can experience here. If you are interested or want more information, please contact me. Maybe I can help you. Don't hesitate to join these activities, even if you don't speak enough Japanese. Mostly, Japanese people welcome foreigners who try Japanese culture. When you do something with ordinary people, you will better understand Japanese culture and enjoy your days in Japan more fully. I believe this can be a way to understand each other and make a better world.

1. Chado/Sado - Tea Ceremony
The manners used to invite and serve tea to guests. Many people feel a spiritual meaning in the ceremony. Tea masters have classes.

2. Ikebana - Flower Arrangement
The way to arrange flowers of the seasons. It's an art to show the beauty of nature.
Ikebana masters have classes.


3. Shodo - Calligraphy
The art of writing letters or poems with a writing brush and black ink.
If you ask, school teachers of Japanese can show you this kind of art.

4. Taiko- Japanese Drumming
This is not only music but also a performance. There are many taiko teams in this area.


5. Koto - Japanese Zither
The most famous Japanese musical instrument, which has thirteen strings.

6. Judo
A way to fight without weapons. Of course, it's a sport now.
7. Kendo - Swordsmanship
The way samurai, swordsman, practiced fighting. It is now a sport, and many people say that manners are important, in addition to basic positions and fighting.

8. Karate
Some high schools have clubs, but we don't see many karate masters in this area.

Spending time with local people doesn't have to involve Japanese culture. There are many clubs or activities you can join. Here are some examples:

Sports: baseball, tennis, hiking, mountain climbing, running, many kinds of dancing.
Music: choir, orchestra, rock bands
Art: painting, photography
Volunteer or NPO activities: Community Aid Bridge is a non-profit organization that aims to promote internationalization and global understanding in Saku, Japan, and the wider global community. Here's a photo from their annual Nepal Charity Lunch in January:

PRINCESS IKOMA AND TSUKIGE, A YOUNG HORSE

--An old folk tale in Saku--

We have many folk tales, and this is one that has been told for a long time among the people in this area.

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A long long time ago, this area, Komoro, Asashina, Mochizuki, and Kitamimaki, was a big pasture. People bred horses for the emperor and when young horses got strong enough, they took them all the way to Kyoto,the capital, through the Nakasendo trail. The pasture bred many good horses, and so horses from Mochizuki were famous in Kyoto.

One day, a baby daughter was born to the lord of the fief, and on the same day, a beautiful horse was born at the stable. The lord was very glad and named his daughter "Ikoma." It meant "vivid horse." The horse had white hair with bright brown spots, and people called him "Tsukige."

As they grew, Ikoma became a beautiful girl and Tsukige became a strong, beautiful horse. Ikoma often rode on Tsukige and ran around the pasture. They seemed to be so close and happy. Ikoma was so beautiful that her name was known in Kyoto. She was called to come to Kyoto and be one of the emperor's wives. Her father was very glad, but Tsukige would not eat any food and got sick. The people worried about him and asked a healer. His answer was that Tsukige was in love with Ikoma and he became sick because he heard she was leaving. Hearing this, Ikoma refused to go to Kyoto.

Her father got so angry that he said to Tsukige, "I'll give you my daughter if you run all around the pasture three times before the evening bell." Everyone thought it was impossible, but the horse started running. He ran and ran as fast as the wind. He ran so fast that he was almost finished! The lord got irritated with this and shouted, "Ring the bell right now!"

When the horse heard the bell, he stopped running. Desperate, he jumped down into the River Kakuma far below and died. Ikoma was so full of sorrow that she left home and became a nun to pray for Tsukige.

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More than twenty years ago some people worked to make a choral suite of this folk tale. A poet and a composer visited Mochizuki and were inspired with the tale and folk music . It was performed several times, but it has not been played for fifteen years.

Recently, the national government of Japan has demanded that small towns and villages be annexed by big cities. If they refused, the government threatened to cut off financial support to these small towns. As a result, many towns and villages disappeared in the last five or six years in Japan. Mochizuki Town is now a remote region of Saku City.

There are some people who worry about losing their community identity and the suite of the folk tale, which they helped create. They decided to sing the music themselves at last. They asked a professional singer and a pianist to help and started practicing last September. Many of them have no choir experience or can't read musical notes. But at last, they are going to have a concert on September 24th (a public holiday) in Mochizuki.

Summer is the Season for Peace

In Japan, summer is the season to remember the war and its victims, and to pray or act for peace. The reason is that more than 300,000 people died as a result of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the war ended at last in August of 1945.

However, 62 years have past since then, and the survivors are dwindling. Nationalism is gaining power, and conservative leaders, once again, want to make Japan a country with an armed force. TV shows or newspaper articles about war and peace are very few.

Even so, there are activities and gatherings for peace during the summer, and many people join them. One of them is the Anti-Nuclear Weapons World Gathering. Every year it is held in Tokyo and in Hiroshima. Groups, labor unions, and communities raise money to send their members to the gathering, but of course, not everyone can join. However, as a way to join the activity and express their thoughts, they walk. The walk starts in many places in Japan: for example, Rebun Island in Hokkaido on March 6th, Kochi on May 21st, and Okinawa on June 4th. They all walk to Hiroshima through every prefecture, Some people walk all the way to Hiroshima, but usually people join one day or half a day and pass their messages or flags to the next walkers.

The motto of the walk is:

No more Hiroshima,
No more Nagasaki!
Let's make a world without nuclear weapons;
Let's keep Japan's pacifist constitution!
Join us. Let's walk together!

The 2007 peace walk in Nagano started on June 29th. (The people who walked through Niigata prefecture arrived at in the north of Nagano prefecture on that day.) They walked through many cities and towns and relayed to the people of Gunma and Yamanashi prefectures.

On August 6th Hiroshima City will hold a ceremony to memorialize and pray. The city has a museum about atomic bombs and their damaging effects. Why don't you visit it? Although it may be difficult to participate in the ceremony, its important that we be aware of, and learn from, these events.