Hinamatsuri - 雛祭り

At the beginning of march every year there is a Hinamatsuri (ひなまつり). It's a festival of dolls and cute girls (^_^)

In Kumamoto the doll sets that represent the emperor, empress and the court are displayed in Shimotori (下通).

The placement of the dolls is kind of complicated at first glance, because it's difficult to tell what some of them are. On this picture there are emperor and empress, court ladies, court musicians, food and ministers, samurai with some trees, furniture, carriage and some swords.

The Emperor doll from one of the sets.

The Empress from another set. I think I'd boil in all those layers if I wore her kimono.

The details on the dolls are awesome.

Also during hinamatsuri we (foreign people :))) get to dress up for cheap in furisode (振り袖) - a long sleeved kimono. Generally these are worn by young unmarried girls. But who cares about the details when you get just a few hours to wear such pretty clothes. It takes about an hour to put on and they wrap so much stuff around you to get that cylinder shape that it feels like a corset. I think a few hours is more than enough for people who are trying it on for the first time.

This is the kimono I got to wear this year. I generally can't be bothered with intricate hairstyles, but other girls make their hair look very fancy indeed.

Last year I chose a blue kimono with a much more grown up design, but I think this one suits me better.

After dressing up we get to have a mini tea ceremony - basically we are brought sweets and tea. Then we get to take photos. As a last treat we get to see a small traditional music number and a dance. We get to learn a few simple moves as well. It's a different dance every time and this year we got a prop - a kind of a stick with bushy tassels on the ends. Reminded me a bit of those pompoms cheerleaders have.

After all the fun and excitement we get to take off all our finery and go home.

I will definitely come next year as well (＠⌒ー⌒＠)

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Clap4Dream

On 22nd of February we went to the Clap4Dream event for Ultrabook.
It took place at the shrine grounds near Kumamoto castle.

It's 2 o'clock at night, and I can't sleep because Shiv is away in UK. Well, actually it started with a mosquito bite that wouldn't stop itching no matter how much medicine I put on it.

Anyway, a lot of stuff happened in August, not all of it that great.
The good stuff was the university projects, I suppose. We had a workshop in an elementary school in Uto and another one in Minami Oguni as well as random trips.

The elementary school was designed with no air conditioning or heating. The no heating in Japan is normal, but not the absence of air conditioning in 30+C in the summer. The school had a very minimalist interior with floor to ceiling windows. All the spaces generally had only 2 walls. Some French architect seemed pleased he could meet a foreigner to get an opinion. We also got to hang out with the architect who designed the building and his office staff. He was also awesome because he paid for our meals.

The Minami Oguni project is still ongoing. We had 2 workshops so far and another one is coming up at the end of September/beginning of October. It's pretty hard for me because of the language barrier, but it's super fun hanging out with my classmates (lab-mates?). My favourite bit is the ride back :D

We had a trip to a ryokan for Sonyan's going away project presentation/drinking party. Watching grown people who never dance trying to mimic Michael Jackson in 'Beat it' is very funny. However, I was too tired, so I went to sleep an hour early.

The bad stuff was me being stung by a jellyfish when I was in Shimonoseki, and then the sting becoming irritated with inflammation. Falling out of the bus and hitting my back and elbow. Had to go back home, my arm was so much in pain I couldn't move it. Getting my foot caught in a blanket and falling face first onto an ironing board. I broke the ironing board and bruised my nose that started bleeding.

That about sums up some of the stuff I did or had happen to me up to this point.