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Saturday evening after classes, I changed into a Shinsengumi uniform (this scarily enough, led to my boss doing up my hair in a high pony tail and millions of pictures). M. pulled out a tanuki tail and ears and we headed off to Kokura for a Halloween get together with the JETs who we usually go to Japanese with. I would like you to picture if you will, me dressed as a Shinsengumi, and my friend as a tanuki driving in a car covered in clowns (our company logo) towards a random city which we don't have a map of. Got it? Good, cause our night just got more surreal from there.
Once we got to Kokura, we found parking but otherwise couldn't find anyone else. This led to our wandering through the drinking district. This led to shouts of "Shinsengumi!" from lots of drunk Japanese people (I was particularly amused by the gang of tough guys who stopped in their tracks upon seeing us.) We got hit on by a guy whose best recommendation about himself was that he "knew lots of information about Kokura" *L* We then finally gave up (all the attention was getting to be a bit much) and called our friends, one of whom was nice enough to come pick us up (turns out we were in a completely different area). Once there, photos ensued. Like so and so. Yes, that is a Shinsengumi and a tanuki attacking Godzilla. Why do you ask? Also, note the Japanese guys staring in shock/fascination in the background of the first pic. That was our whole night *L*
The rest of the night is a blur or drinking and dancing and being chatted up and talking etc. I actually didn't buy that much, but we all got lots of free beers. These two guys were desperately trying to pick up at least one foreigner that night and we ended up playing a janken drinking game that I still can't understand the rules to, but was fun. They didn't speak enough English and we didn't speak enough Japanese to answer anything more than basic questions though so it was a bit of a loss on their part. Good beer though *L* There were tons of costumes (it took me forever to figure out that the guy in the goku costume with a curly yellow wig was supposed to be a super saiyan *doh*) and mine was very popular (among the Japanese cause they recognized it, and amongst the foreigners who just wanted to play with my swords *L*). The dancing was okay, but it was a bit too crowded to manage it and too loud for too much talking. I met the Canadian handicaped basketball team (I'm not sure of their proper name) and just had a good time wandering around the different bars, chatting and drinking.
Sometime around 3 or 4 we decided to leave and managed a rather cheap taxi back to Shimonoseki where I crashed on A.'s floor (I love living in a land of futons). Around 8 or 9 we had to get up and I headed off to Shimonoseki proper since there was no point in my going home yet cause the alchohol wasn't out of my system and I wouldn't be able to drive back from the train station. So, I had a fantastic danish and milk roll for breakfast then set off to wander. I had the swords sticking up out of my backpack, which led to looks of both "wtf?" and "cool" from the people I encountered, which is weird since you think Japan would be one of the few places you could wander around with fakes swords and people wouldn't give you a second glance *L* I ended up at a flea market in the middle of the city (after accidently finding the red light district - first actual proof I have that soap land's exist...) which was weird to wander around, so after, I headed off to the local international office to finally check out the library they have. It turned out to be rather disappointing and I was reeling from lack of sleep and not really a hangover, but the effects of the alchohol on my body. Stopped at the daiso, stopped to get a drink. Went to the bookstore. Ran out of things to do. Debated eating ramen for lunch or catching the next train home, and thus decided to go home.
Once there, I showered and since I couldn't take a nap with my hair wet, I decided to go to the local festival which was five minutes away. I figured that would only take a few minutes since it had to be small. Boy was I wrong. It was filled with people, and half of them were in wild costumes from traditional kimono to Heian livery. There were the usual food stalls, and I had taiyaki (I know it's just anko in a bun shaped like a fish - but it's shaped like a fish!) Inside was a large stage. Before I could approach it I heard someone yell out "Sensei!". Turns out it was one of the little girls I teach on Saturdays and her father out to see the festival. It was so funny. She wouldn't say one word to me, but they followed me back to see the drumming and stayed with me for a half hour. She even gave me a balloon yo-yo *g* Anyway, we came just in time to see them start the dragon dance. I gather it was about two dragons fighting and then falling in love(?) or something. Either way, it was damn cool. See? *g* (That's the princess standing on her cloud (car. hehe) and singing while the dragons and drummers go at it on the stage.) There was an even bigger dragon that was carried by older men around the outer stage area that had firecrackers in it.
Afterwards, they had everyone in costume come out in a circle (I had come near the end) and do the usual circle-dance I can never remember the name of (bon odori?). While they were doing this others were distributing potato sacks all over the stage and to towers on the four sides. I was left wondering what they're going to throw at us. The dance finally stoped and everyone approached the stage and they dumped out the bags to reveal hundreds of mochi in little bags. Plastic bags magically appear in the hands of all the people around me. I ready my camera, and a few men let fly early and I get hit in the head, but also get my first mochi. They make them wait five minutes then finally everyone lets fly and dear god, it's crazy and dangerous, but mostly crazy. I only got one other mochi but I was too busy taking pictures. Meanwhile, everyone around me seems to forget they're Japanese for a moment since it's finder's keepers and if you drop your mochi, whoever picks it up gets it and nevermind the little old lady trying to kill you as she retrieves it. Once the main stage was exhausted, everyone rushed to the four towers and fought over the few left until they were all truly gone. And like magic, everyone was Japanese and polite again and I was so very very amused. I wandered around for a few more minutes, bought another taiyaki and a tiny candy apple, then headed back home where I somehow managed to stay awake until midnight before crashing and getting the 9+ hours of sleep I actually needed.
It's been a great, crazy weekend. I hope everyone else has such a cool Halloween:D
Once we got to Kokura, we found parking but otherwise couldn't find anyone else. This led to our wandering through the drinking district. This led to shouts of "Shinsengumi!" from lots of drunk Japanese people (I was particularly amused by the gang of tough guys who stopped in their tracks upon seeing us.) We got hit on by a guy whose best recommendation about himself was that he "knew lots of information about Kokura" *L* We then finally gave up (all the attention was getting to be a bit much) and called our friends, one of whom was nice enough to come pick us up (turns out we were in a completely different area). Once there, photos ensued. Like so and so. Yes, that is a Shinsengumi and a tanuki attacking Godzilla. Why do you ask? Also, note the Japanese guys staring in shock/fascination in the background of the first pic. That was our whole night *L*
The rest of the night is a blur or drinking and dancing and being chatted up and talking etc. I actually didn't buy that much, but we all got lots of free beers. These two guys were desperately trying to pick up at least one foreigner that night and we ended up playing a janken drinking game that I still can't understand the rules to, but was fun. They didn't speak enough English and we didn't speak enough Japanese to answer anything more than basic questions though so it was a bit of a loss on their part. Good beer though *L* There were tons of costumes (it took me forever to figure out that the guy in the goku costume with a curly yellow wig was supposed to be a super saiyan *doh*) and mine was very popular (among the Japanese cause they recognized it, and amongst the foreigners who just wanted to play with my swords *L*). The dancing was okay, but it was a bit too crowded to manage it and too loud for too much talking. I met the Canadian handicaped basketball team (I'm not sure of their proper name) and just had a good time wandering around the different bars, chatting and drinking.
Sometime around 3 or 4 we decided to leave and managed a rather cheap taxi back to Shimonoseki where I crashed on A.'s floor (I love living in a land of futons). Around 8 or 9 we had to get up and I headed off to Shimonoseki proper since there was no point in my going home yet cause the alchohol wasn't out of my system and I wouldn't be able to drive back from the train station. So, I had a fantastic danish and milk roll for breakfast then set off to wander. I had the swords sticking up out of my backpack, which led to looks of both "wtf?" and "cool" from the people I encountered, which is weird since you think Japan would be one of the few places you could wander around with fakes swords and people wouldn't give you a second glance *L* I ended up at a flea market in the middle of the city (after accidently finding the red light district - first actual proof I have that soap land's exist...) which was weird to wander around, so after, I headed off to the local international office to finally check out the library they have. It turned out to be rather disappointing and I was reeling from lack of sleep and not really a hangover, but the effects of the alchohol on my body. Stopped at the daiso, stopped to get a drink. Went to the bookstore. Ran out of things to do. Debated eating ramen for lunch or catching the next train home, and thus decided to go home.
Once there, I showered and since I couldn't take a nap with my hair wet, I decided to go to the local festival which was five minutes away. I figured that would only take a few minutes since it had to be small. Boy was I wrong. It was filled with people, and half of them were in wild costumes from traditional kimono to Heian livery. There were the usual food stalls, and I had taiyaki (I know it's just anko in a bun shaped like a fish - but it's shaped like a fish!) Inside was a large stage. Before I could approach it I heard someone yell out "Sensei!". Turns out it was one of the little girls I teach on Saturdays and her father out to see the festival. It was so funny. She wouldn't say one word to me, but they followed me back to see the drumming and stayed with me for a half hour. She even gave me a balloon yo-yo *g* Anyway, we came just in time to see them start the dragon dance. I gather it was about two dragons fighting and then falling in love(?) or something. Either way, it was damn cool. See? *g* (That's the princess standing on her cloud (car. hehe) and singing while the dragons and drummers go at it on the stage.) There was an even bigger dragon that was carried by older men around the outer stage area that had firecrackers in it.
Afterwards, they had everyone in costume come out in a circle (I had come near the end) and do the usual circle-dance I can never remember the name of (bon odori?). While they were doing this others were distributing potato sacks all over the stage and to towers on the four sides. I was left wondering what they're going to throw at us. The dance finally stoped and everyone approached the stage and they dumped out the bags to reveal hundreds of mochi in little bags. Plastic bags magically appear in the hands of all the people around me. I ready my camera, and a few men let fly early and I get hit in the head, but also get my first mochi. They make them wait five minutes then finally everyone lets fly and dear god, it's crazy and dangerous, but mostly crazy. I only got one other mochi but I was too busy taking pictures. Meanwhile, everyone around me seems to forget they're Japanese for a moment since it's finder's keepers and if you drop your mochi, whoever picks it up gets it and nevermind the little old lady trying to kill you as she retrieves it. Once the main stage was exhausted, everyone rushed to the four towers and fought over the few left until they were all truly gone. And like magic, everyone was Japanese and polite again and I was so very very amused. I wandered around for a few more minutes, bought another taiyaki and a tiny candy apple, then headed back home where I somehow managed to stay awake until midnight before crashing and getting the 9+ hours of sleep I actually needed.
It's been a great, crazy weekend. I hope everyone else has such a cool Halloween:D
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From:
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We also had a pretty good Halloween weekend - one of our friends down here in London has a crazy weekend-long Geek Halloween Party. I think it's the first time I've actually been able to enjoy Halloween since I was about five :)
From:
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From:
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Oh! They have this in Korea too! When I was in high school and studying late at night, my mom would sometimes buy these for me if she was running an errand after dinner and passing by one of the carts.
In Korea they also have something where the bread is shaped like a chestnut, and the filling is partly chestnut flavored. Very yummy.
I miss Korean street food.
From:
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From:
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Your weekend looks like it was the craziest and coolest weekend in all of weekenddom! :O I'm glad you had such a great time. ^_^ <3
*saves pic of Shinsengumi/Tanuki vs Godzilla* xD
From:
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But whaddya mean a picture of a princess standing on a cloud (so to speak)? It's a link to the IDP info page! Bah, I feel cheated.
From:
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And yes, Shinsengumi! WHOOO!!