Matt's Blog
2009年10月23日 17時26分15秒 (Fri)
Friday, October 23, 2009
This is my first entry into my new INFES 2009 blog. Ayaka asked me to do this blog last week, but I have been very busy so I have not had a chance to get it started. I'm not really sure what I should write here, so I'll just describe some of the things that me and my friends have been doing while here in Japan!
Last night, my friend Melina and I went to a まつり in Kurama. It was a fire festival that our teacher had told us about. We left Kansai Gaidai around 3 o'clock, taking the Keihan Line to Demachiyanagi, and we switched then to the Eizan line. We took that to Kurama. The train from Demachiyanagi to Kurama was absolutely PACKED. We were all crammed in, and the guards had to push the last few people to make them fit. When we got to Kurama, our first mission was to find food because we hadn't eaten and wanted to do so before the festival got started at 6 o'clock. We walked the full length of the town, and found some food stalls making mochi balls (みたらし団子?), frankfurters, takoyaki, curry, and cat tails (ねこしっぽ？), which are like long thin donuts with either anko or custard inside of them. I tried all of these things, and I especially liked the mochi. As we walked back, a man dressed in all white began the precession with a large torch. As he walked, he screamed "さいり、さいりょ”...I think...which we were told was the name of the temple.
After the first man started, every family in the village carried small, medium, or large torches up and down the main street, until they threw them into a large bon-fire at the steps of the temple. Also, lining the streets were fires in metal lanterns. This lasted for about 4 hours. It was very mesmerizing watching them all walk by with huge torches, carried by 3 or 4 people. The children who helped were very cute in their festival clothing. Eventually my friends and I made our way through the throngs of people, and got a great place to stand right next to two huge gold みこし. They carried them through the streets, still chanting, and eventually took them to a small shrine on the other side of town. Afterwards, they threw dried squid onto the stones around the fire, and then gave it out to everyone. It was very delicious. Then, the passed out cups of sake.
My friends and I then walked around the temple at night, which was cool, and eventually pitched a tent and camped for the night. It was cold outside, but we had sleeping bags so we were pretty warm. The next morning, we woke up and saw the temple in the day, and climbed to the top of the mountain to see all of the shrines. It was absolutely gorgeous. We caught the train back home just in time for my friends oral exam, and for me to do terribly on my Japanese reading exam! Oh well, seeing the temple and the festival were worth not studying!
Until next time,
Matt
This is my first entry into my new INFES 2009 blog. Ayaka asked me to do this blog last week, but I have been very busy so I have not had a chance to get it started. I'm not really sure what I should write here, so I'll just describe some of the things that me and my friends have been doing while here in Japan!
Last night, my friend Melina and I went to a まつり in Kurama. It was a fire festival that our teacher had told us about. We left Kansai Gaidai around 3 o'clock, taking the Keihan Line to Demachiyanagi, and we switched then to the Eizan line. We took that to Kurama. The train from Demachiyanagi to Kurama was absolutely PACKED. We were all crammed in, and the guards had to push the last few people to make them fit. When we got to Kurama, our first mission was to find food because we hadn't eaten and wanted to do so before the festival got started at 6 o'clock. We walked the full length of the town, and found some food stalls making mochi balls (みたらし団子?), frankfurters, takoyaki, curry, and cat tails (ねこしっぽ？), which are like long thin donuts with either anko or custard inside of them. I tried all of these things, and I especially liked the mochi. As we walked back, a man dressed in all white began the precession with a large torch. As he walked, he screamed "さいり、さいりょ”...I think...which we were told was the name of the temple.
After the first man started, every family in the village carried small, medium, or large torches up and down the main street, until they threw them into a large bon-fire at the steps of the temple. Also, lining the streets were fires in metal lanterns. This lasted for about 4 hours. It was very mesmerizing watching them all walk by with huge torches, carried by 3 or 4 people. The children who helped were very cute in their festival clothing. Eventually my friends and I made our way through the throngs of people, and got a great place to stand right next to two huge gold みこし. They carried them through the streets, still chanting, and eventually took them to a small shrine on the other side of town. Afterwards, they threw dried squid onto the stones around the fire, and then gave it out to everyone. It was very delicious. Then, the passed out cups of sake.
My friends and I then walked around the temple at night, which was cool, and eventually pitched a tent and camped for the night. It was cold outside, but we had sleeping bags so we were pretty warm. The next morning, we woke up and saw the temple in the day, and climbed to the top of the mountain to see all of the shrines. It was absolutely gorgeous. We caught the train back home just in time for my friends oral exam, and for me to do terribly on my Japanese reading exam! Oh well, seeing the temple and the festival were worth not studying!
Until next time,
Matt
コメント
ayaka
wao!
great trip!! <br />
but I understand why you looked so tired on that day,haha! <br />
but I understand why you looked so tired on that day,haha! <br />
投稿日:2009年10月26日 10:59
委員長☆永理佳登録ユーザー
無題
たのしそうだー
いいね
ねこのしっぽってなにかわからん！
いいね
ねこのしっぽってなにかわからん！
投稿日:2009年10月26日 13:16
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