Friggin funny

A story from another friend who teaches at a nearby school. If you have ever wondered about vegetarianism in Japan, this should give you a pretty good idea --

The question on the test went something like this: "John does not eat beef, chicken or pork. He does not eat fish. He only eats rice, fruit and vegetables. What is John?"

Out of a class of 40 students, only TWO attempted an answer. One student wrote "A cow." The other student put - "Poor."

HAHAHAHA!!! You can't really say they are wrong, right?!?!?

Enkai

I just got back from my first enkai - the notorious Japanese co-worker drinking party. It is actually rather odd that I have lived in Japan this long without going to one, but there were some unusual circumstance and my school has not had one since I arrived.

The enkai is a really interesting part of Japanese culture, and they are famous among foreigners as being the time when you see your typically straight-laced co-workers get all goofy and finally say what they really think. They actually serve an important function -- Most Japanese people are so shy, and there are very strict social rules they have to follow, so alcohol provides a much needed outlet for everything that gets pent up everyday. In Japanese society, the primary concern is with harmony and politeness, meaning people often can't say what they really need to say, for fear that it might cause discomfort or embarrassment to the other person. But once people start drinking, all the rules go out the window. And the idea is that anything - I mean anything - can be said at an enkai, with no repercussions the next day. The drinking is a convenient excuse, and anything that is said or done gets blamed on the alcohol. And the next day, no matter what happens, people go back to business as usual. What happens at the enkai, stays at the enkai. Not surprisingly, this where a lot of work problems finally get talked about or actually solved.

Enkais are also famous among foreigners as being the time when the secret English speakers come out of the woodwork, and people that have not spoken to you all year are suddenly your best friend. Another funny characteristic about Japanese people is that although most of them know a least a little English, they are usually too shy to speak it, which comes out of the fact that the education system focuses so much of grammatical accuracy rather than communication. Furthermore, they hate to embarrass themselves, so most will avoid speaking to foreigners, even if their English is rather good. Again, when the alcohol flows, this goes out the window. I have a friend who had a math teacher (who had never spoken a word to him for two years) sit next to him for a whole hour and pour out everything about his life story: his marriage problems, his issues with teaching, his depression -- really personal stuff, and the next day he wouldn't even so much as say hello.

So you can see why I was looking forward to it! This enkai was actually rather tame though, probably because it was a smaller group of teachers and half weren't even drinking. But it was still fun. I got to see some of my normally stiff coworkers loosen their ties and get a little red in the face, and my vice-principal who almost never speaks to me asked me out for pizza. And the food! The food was kick ass - sushi and sashimi followed by tempura followed by crab miso soup followed by dessert - the usual feast complimented by free flowing beer. Sigh, I am gonna miss the food here when I go....

I have oodles and oodles of photos to post, but I don't think I will ever get around to most of them. I haven't really been in the mood to sit at the computer lately, which is actually a good thing!! But here are a few for now....

This is the cherry tree right outside my bedroom window, right before a big storm rolled in.

Right around the corner from my apartment.

Spring in Japan is so beautiful....

Now that is what I call exotic food!

He-She Found in Japanese Countryside

Some cute student humor for you. This is like Where's Waldo - examine the photo below and see if you can find two pictures of me.

Haha, ok that is way too hard. Did anyone actually try that?

But there is something really funny in that picture. For the yearbook, each homeroom makes a photo collage page. The one you see above was made by 34 HR, one of my favorite classes of all time. But if you look closer, you see this:

See that person with the bald head and the blue shirt? Does the body look familiar? Yup, it's mine. And the head, that belongs to Micah, the other ALT at our school.

Here is the original photo:

I love my students:)

Hounen Matsuri

Why yes, that IS what you think it is!

(and if you don't know what it is, my blog really isn't the place to learn!)

Pretty realistic, neh?

A few weekends ago, some friends and I went to the annual Hounen Matsuri, fondly known amongst foreigners as . . . The Penis Festival! It's held every year on March 15th in the city of Komaki, which happens to be near where a friend of mine lives. Hounen means "rich harvest" in Japanese, so this particular matsuri is actually part of a larger season of fertililty and harvest festivals held throughout Japan at the beginning of spring. The reason why it has become so famous, especially with foreigners, is because it involves carting a 2.5 meter wooden phallus through the town.

I think the natural reaction to festivals such as this is to simply say, "Japanese people are friggin' weird!" without making any attempt to understand what it actually is all about. But taken in the context of Japanese religion and culture, this festival is not weird at all. It is actually really interesting! Allow me to be a teacher for a moment. (History, not anatomy)

Think about this - coming from the West, we are taught that anything having to do with sex is sinful and naughty, and therefore must be confined only to the appropriate contexts, such as the bathroom, reproductive sex and MTV. So to us, parading genital images around in public seems shocking. But stop and ask - where does this idea of sex = bad come from? Why, Christianity of course!

Japan is not a Christian nation though. In fact, Christians make up less than one percent of the population in Japan. You can bet if the Christians had any influence here they would do their best to put an end to this festival. The vast majority of Japanese people, around 80%, are both Shinto and Buddhist. The Hounen Matsuri is a Shinto festival. This is not to say Shinto condones sexual liberalness though - in fact, a long time ago the phallus originally was attached to an effigy of a man, but that was considered too inappropriate. But it not a religion that automatically condemns everything related to sex. Whether it is appropriate of not is all about the context.

Here is the basic history of the festival...

The Hounen Matsuri centers mainly around a shrine called Tagata Jinja (jinja means shrine in Japanese) which is about 1500 years old. A female deity named Tamahime-no-mikoto is enshrined here. According to the history of the shrine, Tamahime was the daughter of a feudal lord. She married a man named Takeinadane, who was killed in battle. Over time, the area was developed by Tamahime's family, and eventually she was enshrined as a diety at Tagata Jinja. (These are the things you got to do in Japan if you had enough power - turn your own family into deities!)

The shrine, which today is filled with all sorts of phallic objects, is actually in honor of the earth's power to renew and regenerate. People go there to pray for fertility, plentiful harvest, and all other forms of abundance. So it is not actually phallus worship. The phallus merely a symbol for what is actually being worshiped. (Apparently there is another nearby shrine filled with objects resembling the female genitalia. )

During the year, locals visit the shrine to pray for a healthy child, material fortune, relief from illness, among other things. And every spring, the whole town comes out to pray for a bountiful harvest as part of the Hounen Matsuri. There are many things that take place, but the main event is the transport of the giant wooden phallus between shrines. The phallus starts at one of two different shrines, and ends at the Tagata Jinja. This is considered symbolic of the male Takeinande visiting the female deity Tamahime.

Here is an interesting factoid - every year, a new phallus is made by master craftsmen, out of a cypress tree, because the Japanese believe that newly made things express more purity and vitality. (Perhaps this is also why everyone here seems to have brand new cell phones and cars!)Each year, the old phallus is sold to someone in the local community, meaning that there are lots of these big wooden penises all around town. Now that's a conversation piece!

That is the basic rundown as I understand it. On to the pictures!

The procession is led by a Shinto priest, who hands out salt for purification.

The deity Sarutahiko-no-okami

Local Dignitaries wearing Shinto shawls

There are plenty of penis shaped things being sold, including lollipops.

The crowd anxiously awaits.

Jessie gets lucky!

There were a dozen or so women carrying smaller wooden phalluses, which are brought over for the crowd to touch for good luck. All of these women must be 36 years old - 36 is considered to be the unlucky age for women, and carrying a phallus for the festival is thought to offset this bad luck. It is considered an honor to be chosen for this.

I just hope she doesn't grow up with unrealistic expectations.

Japanese festivals usually involve plenty of free sake! These women also had to be 36 years old.

And then came the main attaction! The phallus is carried by teams of 12 men, all aged 42 years old - the unlucky year for men. Including the shrine it is housed in, it weighs over 800 lbs! As they carry it, there is plenty of dancing and chanting, bouncing and spinning. Pretty wild to see actually - one of those moments that feels almost unreal, and afterwards I was thinking, "Did I actually just see that?"



3 adorable Japanese dudes display their um, goods. I don't think they were actually eating these, but using them as a way to get the attention of foreign girls. Worked for me :)
After the procession came the throwing of the mochi, and I have to admit I don't know the significance of it. It was a pretty serious deal though, with people pushing and shoving for their chance to catch a mochi-cake. I even saw two people with baseball gloves! Good idea though, because those things are rock hard - in fact, we met a girl later that was holding ice to her cheek because she had gotten hit by one. Dangerous!

Reach for the Mochi!

One of the best parts of this festival was the FOOD! Ok, Japanese festival food is always great, but this one had it all - the usual treats that you always expect to find, plus a few, um, "specialties" in honor of the male anatomy.

This little guy was helping to sell Penis Saute.

A new twist on chocolate dipped bananas.....

But really, who could resist?

The next morning, we managed to drag ourselves to the store, helped by the fact that it was a lovely spring day, and pick up ingredients for lunch. Pretty ambitious for the day after a night out, huh? I had to include the photo because we were so proud of our lunch: Kimchi jjigae, rice, maki sushi and lots of fresh fruit.

Lunch

Fun festival! I recommend trying to make it if you are ever in Japan in March. But be warned, you will NOT be the only foreigner there!

Shizuoka

A few weekends ago, it had hit me that I hadn't yet bothered to see much of what my own prefecture has to offer, so I took a trip into Shizuoka City and did some sightseeing. I was actually pretty surprised too - there is some cool stuff around here, minus the throngs of tourists! Sometimes you just have to look in your own backyard ....

Sengen Jinja, Shizuoka City

Bride and Groom, Shizuoka City

There always seem to be wedding ceremonies at Japanese temples, at least when I go. This couple was more than happy to pose for me - gotta love that about Japanese people. I dig the traditional wedding wear - especially the bride's -- so colorful and elaborate. Although the groom definitely gets the better deal in the comfort department! Is it just me, or does he look waaaaay younger than her?

Purification Basin, Sengen Jinja, Shizuoka City

Toilet with a View, Shizuoka City

Further evidence that straying off the beaten track is worth it - I came across this old toilet on the hillside. Shizuoka actually means "Peaceful Hill" in Japanese. What a nice place to take a leak!

Mt. Fuji, Lesser Known View

Here's a shot that never makes the postcards. Can you see Mt. Fuji in the back? A little hazy, but it's there. You wouldn't know it unless you come to Japan, but much of the area around the base of Fuji is ugly, ugly, ugly. It's mostly industrial factory area. Fuji City has something like 350 smoke-stacks and the whole area stinks most of the time.