The day after our Edo-Tokyo museum trip, a couple of us gathered together with professor Roberts and his wife to go to a festival in Zushi, just past Kamakura. This festival started with a parade of samurai marching through the streets of the town, all while vendors sold such delicacies as gyoza, yakitori (chicken kebabs), roasted corn, and taiyaki (custard-filled soft waffle-like pastry in the shape of a fish). The costumes of these samurai, retainers, and the princess (Hime-sama, we called her) were elaborate, detailed, and ever-so impressive contrasted against the modern buildings surrounding the procession. After we shared a lunch and watched the exhibition make it's way through the streets of Zushi, we headed down to the beach nearby where the main event would take place.
It is here that Yabusame, the age-old exhibition of horseback archery, was enjoyed for the next few hours. Such a pleasant day spent on the coast, alongside new friends, viewing such a unique celebration of the Japanese heritage, I was so content to just sit there and take in that singular moment in time. How did I exactly find myself in such a lucky opportunity as this? What did I do to deserve this chance to go across the world and take part in this special event? I couldn't come up with an answer, but I knew that I wanted to do all I could to help my future children get a similar opportunity one day.
Amidst high school taiko drum performances and festival foods, we watched the many archers race down a stretch of sand such that they had three chances to hit a target before reaching the end of the roped off section. With how fast they were going, it was certainly a challenge to hit any of the targets, most of which got progressively smaller, until eventually the target was a clay plate that, if broken, would explode in a mess of shiny confetti. Very few of these were ever hit, but when they were, the effect was so exciting! And in addition to borrowing Zaru's amazing camera lens to use on my camera, many amazing shots were taken. I simply MUST have a telephoto lens one of these days when I get back to the states.
The day was finished off with Professor Roberts being super-kind to us and buying us all Starbucks, as well as a souvenir from the festival. Apparently, they make souvenirs out of broken target pieces, burning kanji into the materials to commemorate the event, so I got a piece of one of the wood targets. Also, for the first time, I tried out a gingerbread latte, which was pretty much fantastic. Not as strong of a gingerbread taste as I expected, but still greatly appreciated, especially when one is freezing to death.
The next major event was good ol' Thanksgiving. Of course they do not celebrate this in Japan, but the UC students decided to hold a bit of a potluck/group meal to spend the evening. Almost everyone attended, save a couple of the shut-ins, plus a couple of the Meigaku students especially important to us,
making it quite special overall. It was good to have this moment and sum up all we were happy to have in our lives, here on this lovely little island country. A lot of us thought that, since turkey wasn't exactly readily available, we would go with the next best thing and get fried chicken, so KFC and McDonalds was our go-to for the evening. My meal? 15-piece chicken mcnuggets. I don't buy McDonalds anymore, but this just proves how special the occasion was. My first Turkey Day with more than 2 other people at the table, and I'd have had it no other way. Thanks, all.
That weekend was spent doing some Black Friday shopping in between trying to feel better. I had come down with a bit of an illness and didn't want to spread it around, so I had to cancel my plans to meet my host family for my host-grandfather's birthday dinner on Saturday. I felt really bad, but I knew it would be better to save risking them getting sick from me. That would have been way worse! I hope I get to see them again before I have to leave for the states.
I wasn't entirely better in time, but I forced myself to go to the infamous Studio Ghibli museum in Shinjuku, as we had had our tickets pre-purchased (over a month ahead of time, at that). The way it works is you purchase for a certain time frame and you get 2 hours to enjoy all the many Ghibli exhibits throughout the premises. Unfortunately, they do not allow pictures inside the museum, but I can assure you it was nothing short of magical. Recreations of the Ghibli studio, storyboards, inspirations for many of the movies, influences from Western fairy tales, statues, a giant Catbus kids could go inside and play around on (SO JEALOUS!), and even a movie theater showing a rotating selection of short films. Ours was a story about an old couple who lived a quiet life in the mountains, tending to fields, but one day encounter the secret world of the mice who inhabit the area around their home. It turns out these mice have a friendly rivalry with a few of the larger white rats, such that they hold sumo competitions to prove their dominance. None of the mice can win because of their size difference, so the old couple help the mice get big and strong to win the next competition. It was so cute! And just like Disney movies, you don't really need to know the language spoken to understood the events (though it did help picking out words here and there I understood to supplement the film). Such a cool place! I would love to go back, especially in future years, since they change exhibits from time to time like in an art gallery. Studio Ghibli is, without a doubt, unrivaled in their production of quality animation for the entire family, regardless of age. Simply wonderful~
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