Wedding Wow Friday

There's a bridal shop in Otemae-dori, the main street of Himeji, that I like to stop at on my way home from work for no other reason than to admire the oh-so-over-the-top amazing dresses. The display changes every few days or so, but the dresses...! Only in Japan could you get away with wearing it.

Okay, so this one's kinda classic...


...beaded bodice, ruffles, just as you'd expect


Back in black and purple


But if you take a closer look, it's a modern kimono!


Pretty in patchwork pink?

You can see the detail close up

I've questioned some colleagues about their own wedding ceremonies, and all had chosen the traditional "Western wedding" - with the white dress, chapel, reception, bouquet throwing ... Go figure?

Oh and by the way, yes this is in Japan - did you notice all the English on the window?

Posting some more fabulous fashions next Friday,
Monica

Nada Kenka Festival

The Nada Kenka Festival is held on the 14th and 15th of October every year and I was lucky enough to go on Wednesday the 14th, thanks to an invitation from the Himeji Board of Education.

The red town

Essentially, the portable shrines, called yatai, are paraded through the town to the entrance to the shrine, where they are vigourously heaved up and down by a hundred or so men standing underneath it.

In this festival, there were seven participating towns -

The green town enters the arena

The yellow and blue towns

Once the men have paraded the yatais, they then collide them with each other - apparently, the more noiser and the harder they clash, the better the harvest will be for the year.

Two yatais clash

Four young drummers sit inside the yatai and keep a drum beat - you can see one drummer in the photo below.

The green town heaves their yatai

The yatai weigh about 1.5 tonnes - or about the size of a small car - and the men carry it on their bare shoulders. Yeow!

Glory is fully lifting the yatai!

Is this dangerous? You betcha. Take a look at the video clip below.

Whoa! The green yatai tips over (14 secs)

The traditional attire for the all male participants is called a fundoshi - a cotton cloth wrapped tightly around the nether regions.

Bare essentials

We had the VIP seats, therefore the best view of the action.

Heave!


The yatai is supported on heavy wooden beams
which the men use to lift it

Still not sure what it's all about?
Watch it here (1 minute 40 secs)

And of course, being VIPs for the day, we were treated to lunch.

How could I forget the food shot?

People have said that men often die at this festival because the clashing of the yatais is so violent. And so yes, the following day, reports of the death of a man appeared in the papers. It is, after all, called the kenka (fighting) festival.

Until next festival (and oh yes, there's more!),
Monica

Men in Mawashi

During spring vacation in March, we ventured to Osaka to watch a Sumo tournament.

The banners promote the wrestlers

We bought the cheapest tickets, so we sat in seats high in the stands. Everybody closer to the action had their own sectioned position with blue cushions to sit on.

We sat behind the scoreboards
but still with a good view of the action


The wrestlers make their grand entrance
in ascending rank order...


...and show their kesho-mawashi (silk aprons)...


... before performing their ring-entering ceremony

Watch the wrestlers make their entrance


Wrestlers will first stomp their feet to drive away evil spirits


Two fists on the ground means ready for action -
it can take several minutes for this to happen


It's on!



Watch a bout of Sumo here



Haven't seen enough?
Watch another one here


Um, I've got someone I'd like you to meet....


And finally, dinner in Namba -
fried chicken and prawn setto

Mawashi, by the way, is the "belt" that Sumo wrestlers wear. If it comes off in a match, it is automatic disqualification for that player. You'd have to have it on pretty firmly - did you see the way the men grab them ... upwards!?

Until next time,
Monica

Spiky balls and pink stems

I told you some posts ago that I signed up for Ikebana lessons. Well, I had my first lesson tonight at a local community centre.

Our challenge - this is Eiko's beautiful example

Starting out - bowl, spike and flowers


We started with the green balled stems

We started by choosing the most beautiful balled stem and measured the length by twice the diameter of the bowl plus the height. The subsequent stems were cut at 85% and 70% of the length of the first stem and were placed behind and in front of the first.

See? Spiky balls

Then the next addition was the pink stems. The most important one needed to be 50% of the first green balled stem and angled out towards your right shoulder. Then the other two stems needed to form a triangle in the arrangement at differing heights.

Pink stems

Mini purple chrysanthemum provided the final touches


Ta da! My first attempt at Ikebana

We had to disassemble our work in order to take it home, so the real challenge was recreating the beauty at home!

Sadly, it's not quite the same, but this doesn't stop me from admiring it lots. I wonder how long the flowers are going to last.


Until next creation,
Monica

Festival Food

If there's a festival, you can guarantee that there will be an alley of stalls nearby cooking and selling food.

This one's fried crab, prawn, eel and octopus
in the shape of a leaf in Hiroshima


Okonomiyaki


Yakitori - chicken on skewers


Choc coated bananas


Squid on a stick


Takoyaki - fried Octopus


Sausages wrapped in an omelette with mayo on top


More okonomiyaki


Yakisoba - fried noodles

It's fun to wander and see the different kinds of foods on offer but some of the food preparation methods are dubious...! My "safe" favourites are yakisoba, barbequed corncobs and toffee strawberries - now they are the best!

Until next time,
Monica

Mount Rokko

I spent a wonderful day with a fabulous group of people exploring Mount Rokko, Kobe, last Monday.

Us

We ascended by ropeway


Taking in the view


First stop was the Hall of Halls
Music Box Museum...


... where we saw many antique-esque music organs


This Decap Dance Organ lit up and played automatically -
together with accordians and percussion: Wow!


Group shot in front of the "Harvest" automatic organ


Then we moved onto the Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden


The leaves here are starting to turn early


The koi were big here, and obviously hungry


The climate here is similar to that of Southern Hokkaido


Something unusual


Ah-ha. I found a flower.

After this, we ventured to Mount Maya where we waited to see the lights of Kobe. Minasan, arigatou. Totemo tanoshikatta desu!

Until next mountain adventure,
Monica