The Japanese Culture Show (and other enlightening things)

Yesterday's basic interesting event was the Japanese Culture show, in which we got to try out a few Japanese things (some of which I had already tried) and watch some students from Yamate perform some things.  I will describe some of the things we did first, because the performance has some accompanying commentary better placed after the literal descriptions.

The first thing we did when we got to Yamate was to pick out a Yukata to wear.  Yukata is the traditional Japanese summer clothing.  I tried to ask Taeko if there was clothing for other seasons (I'm pretty sure there is), but she didn't really understand my question.  There is a picture of her in the house wearing a kimono, another traditional clothing, so I assume that there is.  She said that picture was taken at a celebration of her 20th birthday, which is the "big birthday" in Japan.  I guess in Japan you don't "grow up" until half of your age is 2 digits.

My Yukata was tan with various designs on it, with a grey belt-ish thing.  It's really supposed to be worn like normal clothing, not on top of normal clothing, but we really couldn't strip in front of everyone there in the cafeteria.  Maybe I should have thought ahead and wore a light T-shirt and basketball shorts.

Men's Yukata is relatively plain compared to women's.  While men's Yukata certainly looks intricate, women's Yukata is colorful and has many designs and can most definitely be described as beautiful.

We also made origami cranes.  Not much to say here, except that it was fun.  Of more not was the creation of our own fans.  Personal fans are very common over here in Japan, and for good reason.  It is hot!  We were given two pieces of adhesive paper to decorate and then put on the fan.  On mine I drew the kanji for life and love.

We also got to try calligraphy.  Because I am taking Chinese I am somewhat versed in this (not in calligraphy but in how to draw the characters).  The Japanese were very impressed that I knew the stroke order for the character. (I think I drew serenity).  

The last activity was soba noodle making.  I guess they wanted to make the process quick, so all we really did was to cut the noodles.  They tasted good, but the soba we had at home was better (probably because Shintaro's mother made it).

The cultural performance consisted of koto music (kotos are those stringed instruments you always hear when people are trying to create an Asian mood), cheerleading (Go Yamate whatever-your-mascot-is!), kendo, karate, and dance.

The koto music was interesting, but I wasn't listening too closely.  More of the concern was in conversing with my friends to see what they had been doing in the week.

The cheerleading was very good.  I remarked later to Taeko that Japan seems very concerned about quality.  Apparently by this age most people already know what they will be doing as a job.  There is much pressure to decide on your specialty early.

Kendo was, well, interesting.  It involves a lot of pre-battle festivities that consist of lots of shrieks and hitting people on the head.  I'm not really sure how good they were, but it was fun to watch.  It would be fun to learn more about Kendo.

The karate was VERY impressive.  Both the boys and girls were able to perform their moves incredibly quickly, making impressive sounds as their hands or feet whisked past at high speed.  We also watched a few boards get broken by a combination of fists, heads, and feet.

The dancing, well, let's just say that Japanese are very concerned with quality.  I am not really looking forward to our performance (except for playing the piano).  Still, the Japanese probably understand that things are a little different in America.

I must leave soon for a tour of Yokohama.

Atiki masu!