On the 17th of July, I skipped school to go see the parade-thing for the Gion festival. There was a fuckload of people, but not as bad as it usually is, or so they tell me.

By the way, I realized that maybe it makes more sense to write text about a picture above the picture, rather than below it. I’m still sort of torn on this one, but I’m gonna give it a shot. Here’s The New Me!

As you can see below, the car lanes were empty of cars. And people. Except those who were a part of the festival. We regular folks were standing on the opposing sides watching. From what I saw on TV, I thought everyone was just running around in a big mass of people helping out carrying the things, but that might have been some other festival. Anyways…

Each one of these things came with a troupe of people doing things. In fact, the big carriages (hokos) had loads of people. What you see below is the very first hoko, Naginataboko (長刀鉾). The guy holding the big banner has the name of the float/carriage written on the banner. Each hoko had a “flag-carrier” like this.

As you see below, these things required a lot of people to move! (This is the same hoko as above.) The people are wearing rather traditional clothing as you can see, and there was a feeling that each float and its people were a group on its own, slightly apart from the others. Every group seemed to have its own style, both on the outside, clothing and decorations, and on the inside, in how they behaved and acted.

As you can see below, a lot of people are sitting in, and on, the hoko as it is being pulled. Unfortunately I didn’t catch it (too far away), but if you look at the center of the “balcony”, there’s a little boy sitting there in very elaborate garbs.

At the beginning of the festival, there was this white rope hanging across the road, crossing the path for the hoko. The float was pulled up close to the rope, after which the little boy pulled out a katana and cut the rope, allowing the hoko passage. Pretty cool, but I couldn’t really see anything from where I was standing.

Standing at the front, you can see two guys dressed in white, leaning outwards holding a rope. These guys were directing the hokos, sort of. They had this really cool series of movements involving fans to tell the pullers to start pulling and stuff.

Naginataboko, from the behind. The detail put into these things is unbelievable.

There were a lot of kids involved in the festival. I was worried they’d succumb to the heat, but they seemed fine.

Number 2 out of 32 — Mousouyama (孟宗山)! (No, I didn’t take pictures of every one of them! In fact, I didn’t even see all of them.)

Mousouyama, the actual float, not just the flag this time.

As you can see, the “feeling” of this one is completely different from the other ones. Those carpets or whatever they are, sure look sweet.

Number 5, Kankoboko (函谷鉾). Magnificent piece.

A lot of music — or, sounds — were involved in the Gion festival. In fact, stores all over Kyoto (not only the city but the suburbs as well) played Gion festival “drum-recordings” in the speakers inside the food stores. To remind people of the festival, perhaps. Or maybe just to liven up the day. The float-inhabitants, or however you wanna call them, were into music too. In the picture below, a bunch of people are playing flutes. I adore their tails. You just wanna jump out and grab one and pull.

Two words — “cool dragon”. I would really like to have that tapestry for my birthday.

Okay, that’s quite tall.

My mom (and some of the Skotos people, I bet) would kill baby seals to get her hands on some of these clothes. She’s a drama teacher. What else can I say?

Same one, from the behind.

If you read the previous post (Gion part 1) I mentioned that some of the big floats weren’t “big” per se, just different from all the others. There’s one particular one with dancers. The float itself is small, but the dancing makes it a hoko anyway. Below is the “main” dancer, from what I can tell. I love his outfit. His dance was pretty cool too.

These guys were a part of the dancing hoko as well.

We actually made a movie of the dance, but I won’t upload that here.

Anyway, this is a selection of the pictures I took. If I’d had a real camera I’d have gotten more and better. I’ll get one before the next big festival I attend.

The end!

A cockroach just sauntered by me and smugly slithered into my PJ’s. Luckily I wasn’t wearing them at the time.

I slapped the PJ’s with my school book a couple of times, with enough force to kill a largish rat.

Then I shook the PJ’s, but no cochroach fell out. Le sigh, I said, and looked around, under the couch, etc. but no cochroach. Shook the PJ’s more and this time it fell out. Yay. Alive. What the?

Cochroaches must honestly be the creepiest thing out there. The combination of big, intelligent, fast, and hard-to-kill just weirds me out.

I wish I had a cat. I could just sic the cat on the things whenever they appeared and the prob’d be solved. Crunch crunch.

You in cochroach-infested areas of the world, what should one think about to keep them out?

“How can we who feed on the dead
We, murderers
Find it in us to despair and mourn our relatives.”

On June 1st, me, my girlfriend and her parents went to Tenryuuji, which is considered a world heritage ([wikipedia article]). It’s basically a pond, surrounded by a series of little gardens of various kind. There’s also a building you can go into which has a pretty nifty dragon painted in the ceiling, but you’re not allowed to take pictures in there, so I can’t show you. I can show you pretty gardens, though.

The main area is the place with the gardens. The gardens actually surround this big mansion-like place, where monks do rites and stuff on occasion. Regular folks can’t actually go into the mansion on these days. Luckily this day wasn’t one of those days so we could go inside as well. Anyway, let’s start with the actual getting there.

(more…)

The 6th of May (I know, I’m sort of behind), I went to “Fushimi inari-taisha (伏見稲荷大社)” [wikipedia], together with my girlfriend and her parents. It was more or less a gorgeous day and it was a very beautiful sight. It was a huge temple area, with a trail leading up around with various things to see on the way. We didn’t go all the way (papa-san was getting hungry *grin*) but what I did get to see made me wanna go again. Pictures:

Arrival, a little before noon.

The first thing you did when you arrived was a small cleansing ritual (simply washing your hands and mouth with water from some… thing.

The cleansing thing. You can see a number of little “scoops” with which you gather water, pour it over your one hand, then over the other, and then finally take a sip from it, and spit it out into the area below (surrounded by the gray stone).

There was a pretty cute little map over the whole area. It’s a link so you can click it to see a more sized-up version if you are curious.

Map over the Fushimi inari-taisha (伏見稲荷大社).

I’d make a modified version with a red line following the path I took but you know, I honestly don’t really know where we ended up going. It is quite a lot bigger than it looks on that map, though. I think we walked around for an hour or so, but on that map, we may have moved a few inches or three.

One of the things I particularly love about Japan is the ancient “monster-culture”, or however you wanna call it. There are monsters in every society’s history (ogres or whatever), but the Japanese one stands out somehow. I’m afraid it may have to do with Nintendo.

“Hi.” (This fellow was guarding the entrance to the place, if I recall. Pretty imposing when you’re standing there being stared down at, to be honest.)

I have a hard time finding beauty in structures, but I must admit things like the above strike me as beautiful. I can look at something and often think “Oh. How quaint.” but that’s as far as it gets.

Or how about this one. Gorgeous, if you ask me. Or maybe I’m just Japanophilic.

You found things like this all over the place, as if someone had indifferently strewn them out over the floor without a thought. Incredibly beautiful, and sometimes only noticeable within a single step, in between a narrow path leading away from the main one you’re trekking on. I can’t imagine how many things I missed as I walked there. It’s as if they’re made to be walked again, and again, and each time you’re meant to discover new things.

There’s me, and uh, my girlfriend, who’s hiding. Behind me. As you can see, I’m wearing a Skotos t-shirt (”Why Yes. I am God.”)  — still faithful, after all these years. We are standing against one of the many, many red pillars making the gates (torii, I believe they’re called). These things did never, ever end. I can’t imagine just how many of them there were. This place is one of the more famous ones, so you may have seen it on TV or so, if you haven’t been here personally.

You found these occasionally, i.e. the torii-path splitting up into two directions. Oh and there’s me, too. Look how white my skin is. I’ll be scorched this summer, I just know it.

Another map. There were a variety of maps over the place around the place so you could sort of see where you were. I like these for some reason. A billion times cooler than some computer-made “You Are Here” map.

Another “hidden” spot that you would easily miss if you weren’t looking to the sides all the time. Their unobtrusiveness makes spotting them feel almost sinful, and taking pictures felt like stealing something precious from somebody. But I took a picture anyway. I hope the gods won’t mind (actually, if I understood papa-san correctly, this whole area is dedicated to the god of trade — so by showing you this, you might feel enticed to visit, which the god of trade can’t argue with, now can s/he?).

Ooh, a flower. *snap*

Speaking of flowers, I’m going to try to get the pictures up from Ten-something-something that I went to before. I forgot the name (heh), but it was more or less a collection of gardens. Incredibly gorgeous, and if you happen to like flowers and plants, you’d be in the die-now-happily state. I personally don’t really like flowers that much, but being there and seeing all the gardens and arrangements made me appreciate our flowery friends on a whole new level.

Something that you tend to find everywhere in Kyoto, especially in places like these, are the tiny little streets that stretch out in every direction. Their love for octopus might have inspired them, who knows. Or maybe it’s that they’ve been far more preservative over their heritage from the old times than we have, in Sweden. Regardless, I hate to sound conservative but I completely adore these.

A gang of… monster-dogs. Or are they bulldogs, the guys in the middle row? No, they look more like goblins.

The last image. Buddha stuffs. There were lots of it all over the place, but this one was particularly large and … goldey.

That’s it for now. I’ll try to get the Ten-something-something pictures up as soon as possible. Oh, and I’ll figure out the name of Ten-something-something as well. I think I’ve got a brochure lying around here somewhere with it written on.

Earlier today, I listened to Pachelbel’s Canon in D and was surprised to notice that I was moved to tears by the piece. It somehow affected me more than music usually does, and it’s not that I’m particularly weepy right now or anything. It just penetrated my senses in a way and on a level I’m not used to. I for the first time heard, saw, how the two violins (I think they’re violins) “play” with each other, throw concepts at, and inspiring each other.

For the first time in a very long while I craved to play some instrument again. I haven’t played anything actively in god knows how long, and when I tried to play the piano recently I just looked at the keys without feeling that “connection”. I guess music is one of those hobbies I’ve put to eternal rest.

In any case, I now wonder what classic music I’m missing out on so feel very free to give me tips on pieces you particularly like.

Oh yes. I am in Japan.

Only in Japan.

In other news, I JUST realized that my lap top has an SD slot. Imagine that! My cell phone has a MicroSD with an adapter thingie that came with the chip that works out of the box on my computer. Unfortunately the camera, while better than those you get on Swedish cell phones, isn’t like the real thing, but at least I can “show you stuff” (the above picture was taken using the cell phone cam). Expect pictures, though I’m still in the “uh-oh” stage which I entered right as they told me I was in the intermediate class, not the beginner’s class back in early April. If you don’t hear from me, it’s just that I’m still recovering from the “uh-oh”’s.

Hey folks, I just thought I’d drop a line now that I’ve finally gotten things set up so that I can blog. I’d love to sit and write about all the things I’ve seen for hours, but I’ve gotta study. Long story that I’ll write about later, that.

In any case, I’m in Japan, the plane didn’t crash, everything is quite a bit overwhelming, and I’ve eaten the organ in which fish keep their eggs. Knowing Japan, it was most likely raw too.

More soon. I’m alive anyway, in case you wondered.

So, 6 days from now (on Friday), I toddle aboard a plane that goes to Istanbul, Turkey. Then I sit there and stare at a wall for 5 hours or so, after which I trundle aboard a second plane that goes to Osaka, Japan. Gee, I’m finally going.

I for one am amazed that I *am* going. So many hurdles in the way of my trip that could’ve prevented me from pulling it off, like government aid restrictions and the like (say “CSN!” to an unsuspecting Swede and they’ll react about the same way another human would, if you were to exclaim “Blood, blood, blood!” (Hitchhiker’s Guide reference, there…!)). For the record, this is the itinerary: Stockholm, Sweden 02:10 PM on April 4th —> Istanbul, Turkey 06:35 PM; Istanbul, Turkey 11:55 PM on April 4th –> Osaka Kansai, Japan 04:55 PM on April 5th. Aside from the 5 hour wait in Istanbul, looks good to me!

My mother keeps harassing me about preparing for my journey, and has been doing so now for the last 7 or so days. Admittedly, I’m moving outside the country and will be there for 2 years, but how can you possibly prepare for such a journey 2 weeks before the plane leaves? I’m not shipping anything there since Sweden has no affordable plans for such things (you wanna send something FROM Sweden, you gotta send it express, no cheap boat routes available, whereas sending stuff TO Sweden, you have those options — it makes no sense).

(returns after doing some packing — decided to start today, and take things slow — how on earth am I going to fit it all in there?!)

Speaking of the aforementioned in-parenthesis problem, I have one big trunk (150-something litres, i.e. 35-something US ounces (non-liquid)), one big backpack (75 litres, i.e. 17 US ounces (non-liquid)), my lap top (in its own case), and a carry-on bag that won’t be nearly as big as the trunk/backpack. So if I guess the carry-on bag will be something like 10 litres, that puts me at around 240 litres or so. In there I intend to fit all necessary clothing, a bunch of books, the more expensive parts of my computer (CPU, RAM, MB, 3 HDD’s — not because drives are expensive, but because the drives have tons of stuff on them that I’d like to have available), and, more importantly, gifts. Yeap, mostly got chocolate but got something else too for my girlfriend (she might be reading so won’t tell you what it is!). I think the limit per bag is 20 kgs… or was it 40 kgs…? Gah. *checks*

… 20! Figures. But if I pack right, each bag may weigh 20 kgs so I’ve got 40 kgs to play with (that’s about 100 lbs in total, unless I’m mistaken), and the carry-on may weigh up to 8 kgs. Don’t really wanna lug around 8 kgs but hey. (Does that include my lap top’s weight? I guess I won’t go too close to the 8 kg limit or I might find that out the hard way.)

Oh well. Today’s a sort of farewell party for me with the family. It started out well with my mom being grumpy this morning and tossing vacuum cleaners at me while I slept (seriously…!), and then she lumped the cooking chores upon me and went out to help my brother with something he needed help with. The party is in over 4 hours so I’m not sweating it just yet, though. Thought I’d take it easy, pack some, write on my blog-gone-extinct, and I guess start working on dinner once we’re a little closer to dinner-time.

Tomorrow, in fact, is also a farewell-thingie for me but at lunch time. My sister has kind of excommunicated herself from our family — at least during the bigger gatherings — so she tends to come visit for lunch the day after we have some big party. I suppose that sounds worse than it is, but is worse than it appears. The result, in any regard, is waffles. Lots and lots of waffles. With varying flavors of jam and whipped cream. Waffles are not a dessert in Sweden, for your information. It’s a perfectly normal thing to have for lunch, and even dinner.

Speaking of days, I’ve noticed that every single day, there’s something I have to do that is at least semi-important. Last week I had TWO things every day that I had to do. I was so sure I’d miss some appointment somewhere, but so far it seems like I’ve pulled it all off — embassy visits, dentist appointments, etc. And the only day I don’t have anything planned for now is Tuesday. Monday I gotta go to the Japanese Embassy to get my visa, and I am also meeting up with old friends from high school, and on Wednesday I gotta go to the dentist AND I gotta go to another dentist. Yep, two dentists, one day. Dentist-ophobes beware! (I know “dentist-ophobe” isn’t a real word, but I can’t recall what the real word is right now). On Thursday… I gotta pack whatever’s left! And on Friday the plane leaves.

You know, the more I type, the more I realize that there was a lot to be said after all. I keep thinking I don’t have anything I want to blog about, but once I sit down, all kinds of stuff just sort of pop up. I guess a “real” blogger would have simply written one of the many things I’ve written above, posted it, then written the others and kept them unpublished and then published them one at a time with a couple of days in between. Good to keep the audience listening, and all that (I think Technorati, for example, only considers a blog active if it is posted to once a week at a minimum — boy I’m lucky if I post once a MONTH to this thing).

Speaking of “popping up”, the word for “appear” (as in “come out”) in Japanese is “deru” (出る). I went out to grab lunch a few days ago with a former teacher of mine who happens to be American, which has somehow lead to us speaking English when we talk (both in emails and in person). When I switch languages like that, though, I tend to get confused sometimes, and at some point I ended up responding to her in Swedish. Realizing that I was suddenly speaking Swedish, I wanted to say “Swedish is ‘coming out’” (not sure why I wanted to word it that way), and what I ended up saying was “Swedish is der-ing!” Der-ing? Talk about bastardizing languages in general. Was fun at the time though, but she probably didn’t get the reference and I didn’t explain.
In any case, I can’t wait to get started, both on seeing Japan in general, and in learning Japanese, and actually being able to socialize with my girlfriend. But I think one of the things I look forward to the most is seeing the people, as I think there’s a lot to be discovered about humanity in examining cultural differences. I do intend to blog more, especially once I get a new digital camera (expect lots of pictures!), so don’t unsubscribe now, despite my incomprehensive, rather-too-large and sporadic-to-the-point-of-true-randomness blog post titled “About time!”.

My bro sent me this video clip link whatever. It looks pre-arranged, but maybe not. If not, awesome guy. I wanna be like that when I grow up.