Summertime in Japan: Week Six

Yet another week has whizzed by, and now there's only a fortnight left before the program is over and I leave 函館市 for 東京 (Tōkyō)! It was a busy week with plenty of work and plenty of activities: here are some highlights.

Each 留学生, in addition to his or her normal coursework, must complete an 'Independent Study' project about 日本文化 (nihon-bunka/Japanese culture). I chose to learn more about 神道 (Shintō, lit. the way of the gods), the native, polytheistic religion of Japan which coexists with 仏教 (bukkyō/Buddhism, lit. teaching(s) of the Buddha) as the faith of the majority of Japanese. Last week, I went to an お祭り (omatsuri/(honorable) festival) at 豊川稲荷神社 (Toyokawainari Jinja/Shinto Shrine), established 安政一年 (Ansei 1/1854). 豊川稲荷 is a god of abundance, and this was the single largest event of the year. It was quite an event! Dancing, libations, カラオケ (karaoke, lit. "'invisible' orchestra"), and an hour-long prayer service all were occuring at the same time.

Earlier I had also visited a shrine commemorating war dead, 護国神社 (Gokoku Jinja), and I also received a note this week from that 宮司さん (Gūji-san/(hon.) head priest containing some photos from my visit and a very kind letter wishing me all the best in my future studies and work. This was in addition to the bag of お土産 (omiyage/souvenirs) he gave me at the time of my interview. He was a truly kind person!

Every day in class, we each take turns with 日直 (nicchoku/day duty). The 日直 comes early, prepares the classroom for the day, gives the day's announcements in the morning, and then gives a short speech and leads a discussion on a topic of his or her choice. For my turn last week, I decided to give a speech about 四字熟語 (yo-ji-juku-go/four-character idioms). These are idiomatic phrases consisting of four 漢字 (kanji/Chinese characters). Examples include 十人十色 (jūnin-toiro/"Ten people, ten colors"="Different strokes for different folks") and 美人薄命 (bijinn-hakumei/"A beauty, a thin life"="A beautiful woman is destined to die young"). After my speech I had my class break up into small groups to come up with their own 四字熟語. My favorites are 大笑長命 (daishō-chōmei/"A big laugh is a long life") and 一話二訳 (ichiwa-niyaku/"One word, two translations"). The latter has been demonstrated to all of us many times here!

I went bowling for the first time in many years last week with my host 弟さん (otōto-san/(hon.) little brother) and host お父さん (otō-san/(hon.) father). I bowled 104 and 105, which is much better than I usually do. In a characteristic display of Japanese modesty, my host お父さん beforehand insisted he was completely 下手 (heta/unskilled, lit. "lowly handed") and proceeded to near a score of 200.

This is オリエンタルキチン (Orientaru Kichin/Oriental Kitchen), a small, nook-in-the-wall restaurant where I usually grab my lunch. For a mere 五百五十円 (go-hyaku-go-jū-en/¥550≈$6) I can get a delicious グリーンカレー (gurīnkarē/green curry) and アイスコーヒー (aisukōhī/ice coffee).

At the ジム (jimu/gym) the other day, there was an adult dancing class. This reminded me of a great film, Shall We ダンス? (Shall We Dansu?). There is a lot of interest in ballroom dancing in Japan.

On Saturday, I headed with some other 留学生 to climb 函館山 (Hakodate-yama/Mt. Hakodate).

(Chris Purdy, Purdue '11; Laura Specker, Williams College '08/University of Hawaii at Manoa; Hilary Ledwell, Williams College '12; Sandra McKee, CSU Monteray Bay '10; and Samik Sikand, Boston University.)

Although I had been up via the cable car before, it was definitely satisfying having climbed to the top! I celebrated by buying a little treat at the café on the summit.

Afterward, Chris and I continued to hike around the 公園 (kōen/park) for a couple hours. It was truly a きれいな日 (kirei na hi/beautiful day); it's hard to believe that so much 自然 (shizen/nature) is so close to the 都内 (tonai/metropolitan area) of 函館市.

Little Buddhist statuettes and shrines dotted the trail throughout the hike.

Finally, this past Sunday I participated in the yearly お祭り of 北斗市 (Hokuto-shi/Hokuto city), the city adjacent to 函館 in which my host family and I actually live. I volunteered with my host お父さん to help carry an お神輿 (omikoshi/portable shrine) of good fortune in the parade. It was a lot of fun! The shrine took about twenty people to carry. It was fun seeing people watching realize that a 外国人 was helping and then start excitedly talking to one another. The procession took about two hours, but, thankfully, we got to take plenty of breaks using stands being carried alongside us.