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      • School's Out!
        08/31/08
        Like all kids, young oni are happiest when school is out for the day.



        Actually, these boys are preparing to dance Onikenbai as part of a local junior high school's sports day.

      • Not What It Sounds Like
        08/28/08
        I can't believe we've been here over a year and only mentioned our primary grocery store in passing.



        Here's hoping the bar associations I belong to don't hold our frequent trips here against me!

      • Races with Trains
        08/26/08
        Every week, I ride my bike to the other side of town a few times. The route runs under the shinkansen tracks, then turns to run parallel to them for a while. Often, a train will come along while I'm riding, preceded by its magnificent roar. It's a race I never win, but for those few sec

      • Rainy Season, Part Two
        08/24/08
        Summer gives us one more reason to be skeptical of the weathermen. They are the ones who declare the opening and close of rainy season. The rainy season, tsuyu, is supposed to last from early-to-mid-June until mid-July throughout Japan (except Hokkaido). This year, the Japan Meteorological Agency

      • The New Yardstick
        08/20/08
        Here's an interesting test of your language skills: how quickly, and through what means, can you deflect the solicitors?

        Last year at this time, I had a very limited arsenal. Someone would come to the door wanting to talk me into something. All I could do was look uncomprehending

      • Bitter, Lumpy Goodness
        08/17/08
        A friend gave us a couple of goya this weekend, one green and one white.



        Goya, or bitter melon, is a staple of Okinawan cuisine. It's very bitter but refreshing, and tastes of quinine and grass. Its juice is refreshing when mixed with shochu and soda in goya sours, an

      • Bon Odori
        08/17/08
        Last Friday night, our ward held its Bon Odori. Bon Odori, or the Bon Dance, is a community event associated with Obon. According to Buddhist custom, Obon is the time when the spirits of the deceased return to visit their families' household altars. Bon Odori is a joyful dance that commemora

      • The Name Game
        08/11/08
        We received new checks from our bank in America today. Much to my dismay, after numerous communications in writing with the bank, my name is misspelled on them. I'm used to this sort of thing, after thirty-three years of it. I'm certainly not used to having my name be the easy one to sp

      • Traditional Arts?
        08/10/08
        During our meandering around the festival areas last weekend, a friend and I caught the end of this performance:



      • Tanabata, Part Two
        08/06/08
        Tanabata really is the festival that keeps on festing. As we mentioned in last month's post, some communities in Japan celebrate the "Night of Sevens" on July seventh, while others celebrate on or around August seventh, the date of Tanabata on the traditional Japanese calendar. Jud

      • Girls (and Boys) in their Summer Clothes
        08/04/08
        During matsuri, lots of people come to the festivities wearing traditional clothing. Most often, they're wearing yukata, a lightweight kimono.



        Men's yukata tend to have simpler patterns and less decorative obi (belts) than women's yukata.

      • The Road Not Traveled
        08/04/08
        Last week, we finally had some time for an overnight stay at a hot spring. We'd originally planned to go to the northern Iwate coast, but a recent earthquake had damaged the area, and we felt it was best not to go get in the way of the cleanup efforts. Instead, we headed inland, to an onsen i

      • Four Demons Dancing
        08/02/08
        It's Michinoku Geinou Matsuri time again, so there's lots of dancing going on at various places in town. Yesterday, this Onikenbai group performed at Suwa-jinja.

      • The Cosmos Knows
        08/01/08
        Every time I go over to my koto teacher's house, she has a new ikebana arrangement in the entryway. They are always composed from flowers in her beautiful, rather traditional garden. This week's arrangement featured a white lily. I didn't know the Japanese word for lily, so I asked

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