Japanese Holiday Special: Setsubun, Valentine's, and Strawberry Picking!

So throughout my spring break and leading into February, there are quite a few holidays.

The first one is called Setsubun. It is celebrated on February 3rd by throwing beans into and out of your house. Why, you ask? Throwing the beans outside while yelling "oni ha soto" symbolizes banishing the bad luck from your house. The opposite goes for throwing the beans into your house: all the good luck flows into your house by saying, "Fuku ha uchi!" :) This holiday gets even better because you get to eat giant sushi rolls called, "Ehoumaki." I went to my favorite local yakitori place and made my own ehoumaki! Because it's a yakitori restaurant, instead of filling the roll with raw fish, we filled it with minced meat! lol It was a lot of fun to make and delicious to eat!

Putting in the rice~ 

The final product! :) Yum! 

The next holiday that came up was Valentine's Day! In Japan, people celebrate Valentine's Day with the girls giving boys chocolates. A lot of the girls hand-make their chocolates. So my friend, Abby, and I decided to take part in the fun and make chocolates of our own! :) It was a tasty adventure~! 

The chocolate making kit we used

We even decorated the first batch! 

Finished product was wrapped in cute bags to give out to friends :)

Finally, my last adventure of the break was strawberry picking with my host family! We travelled by bus to Wakayama Prefecture and visited not only a strawberry picking farm, but an ume-pickled plum- farm as well! It was a long, tiring, but very fun day.  

White plum blossoms

Adorable red blossoms

The strawberries were so juicy and yummy! 

After seeing the plum blossoms, I'm excited to see what the cherry blossoms will look like! Everything in Japan has been absolutely beautiful, so I'm sure the cherries will be gorgeous as well. 

School has started up again for Winter Intensive courses, so I've become quite busy! Classes are interesting and fun, and everyday is an adventure full of amazing people and memories! Super excited for what lies ahead~ :D

My Experience with Japanese Theater: Kabuki

Two nights ago, Host Mom and I took a trip to see traditional Japanese-style theater: kabuki! I've heard that it's something of an "acquired taste" so I was worried I wouldn't like it. However, I figured I have to take my chances while I'm here, so I went for it! Plus, if my Host Mom was going, why not tag along? I was pleasantly surprised to find that I extremely enjoyed myself :)

Here's a really neat video explaining the distinctive features of kabuki and shows portions of the "fox" play I saw:

The theater was in the heart of Osaka, bustling with excitement. The delicious smell of takoyaki and ramen wafted past me; it was a shame I had just eaten lunch! The crowd was let into the theater around 3:30pm, and the performance started at 4pm. The entire thing was broken into 3 different parts: dance, mini-play, and traditional kabuki.

The "dance" portion was the shortest, lasting only about 30min. It's called Sanbanshou (三番

叟）, and is often performed during the new year. It tells the story of a nobleman setting up a puppet to dance for him. The puppet dances- twisting, turning, and eventually gets his strings tied up. The nobleman tries to fix him, but doesn't seem to be able to. 

Dancing doll

The second part, the "mini-play," was a sort of comedy. The story details the worries of a small village during the feudal era. Choube, their "village idiot" drinks all day, steals horses and nuns, and causes mayhem wherever he goes. One day, the local feudal lord visits the village, demanding they tell him who stabbed one of his samurai guards. The village has tied up Choube, tells the lord they have no one like that in their village, but Choube breaks free and bravely tells the lord it was he who stabbed that samurai! Surprisingly, instead of punishing Choube, the feudal lord rewards him by making him one of his honorary guards. It was a hilarious story with plenty of breaking props on stage. 

Mystical fox

After a 30min intermission, the final story started. It was a beautiful tale of a magical fox and drum. There was acrobatics, 2-second costume changes, and amazing stunts. I couldn't take my eyes away! 

It's a long video, so in case you don't want to watch the whole thing I picked some key points: 6:30; 8:00; 10:00 to the end. Hope you enjoy it! 

 

The costumes and sets blew me away. The expertise of the kabuki actors themselves was also extremely impressive; I could tell how many years of experience and practice they have put into their work. An interesting fact about the actors is that it runs in the family; in order to be recognized as a major kabuki actor, one must come from a long line of kabuki actors. I thought that was pretty intense! No wonder they're all so wonderful at what they do! :) Kabuki was an amazing experience, and I hope more people will give it a chance! 

Inside the theater! During the intermissions, we ate our lunch boxes in our seats. It was pretty cool :)

All in One: Tokyo Disney Sea and Coming of Age Day

It's been nothing but non-stop since...well, since I've arrived in Japan! haha But, I've picked out a few special memories to share with everyone!

First up is my trip to Tokyo Disney Sea! It was an absolutely wonderful experience!! Tokyo Disney had a special "New Years" theme, so I was expecting it to be crowded. The day started off at 5:30am, leaving the house at around 6am. My boyfriend, Shun, and I arrived at Disney Sea around 7:50am. There was a HUGE line of people just waiting for the park to open! Like us, these people had bought their tickets online and were waiting to be the first ones in the park. The minute we passed through the ticketing gates, people started running. I've never seen anything like it: children, families, couples all running to get Fast Passes to the rides at 8am. Shun and I got into the park and instead of running, we took pictures. About 10 minutes passed before heading to get our first Fast Pass...the whole day's worth of Fast Passes for the new Toy Story Mania ride were gone- every single one for the WHOLE DAY!! Plus, there was a 4 hour wait for those without passes...We were shocked. Then, all around us people were still running to get their next Fast Pass, knocking into others without apologizing. Japanese people are normally very well-mannered, but once they get into Disney all hell breaks loose! haha :D

The special New Years Disney Sea show was fantastic! Mickey, Minnie and the gang spoke in Japanese!! It was weird, but cool to hear them speak another language.

Another interesting thing about Tokyo Disney Sea was that the main character wasn't Mickey, but his teddy bear named Duffy! In the States, I had never heard of Duffy. However, here in Japan, he's everyone's favorite Disney bear. Everyone at the park carried with them something Duffy related- a stuffed animal, keychain, hair tie, etc. There was one little carrying around Minnie Mouse, but after a closer look, she was a foreigner! Disney Sea even has a show dedicated to Duffy:

I must admit, he is pretty adorable :)
Despite the freezing cold of January, Disney Sea was tons of fun!! Can't wait until I get another chance to go again!

Next up is my Coming of Age experience!
January 14, 2013 was Coming of Age Day in Japan. Unlike America, when you become an adult at 21 years of age, Japanese youths become adults at age 20. On a single celebrated day, all 20 year olds dress up in traditional kimono (suits for men) and go to their hometowns for a special ceremony. Most youths see their old hometown or elementary school friends during this time. Even though I haven't lived in this city for long, I received an invitation to attend the Coming of Age Ceremony for Nishinomiya City. In the end, I decided not to attend the ceremony. My host mom was kind enough, however, to lend me her daughter's kimono so I could take pictures and still celebrate my "coming of age." I went to the neighborhood beauty salon and got my hair done and kimono professionally put on!
Here's the end result:

The art of putting on a kimono was really similar to paper origami! The two ladies who put on my kimono did such a beautiful job! 

My "tabi" or socks in beautiful golden sandals

Minnie Mouse and I both wearing kimono! :) 

I've experienced nothing but wonderful things since coming here, and an happy to share all of it with you! Special thanks to my host family; I'm super lucky and happy to be with such a wonderful, nice family!!

Here's a special picture of me and my adorable host brother: