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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KumaFesu

Last month I went to the KumaFesu to see what was all about. The weather was pretty bad - it was raining all day and generally gloomy. I also really don't like going anywhere alone, but you can't drag people out into the cold rain. So, I did go alone :D

University festival

This weekend we went to the University festival up on the hill.

On Saturday they had the girls' beauty contest - 'our' girl won. On Sunday - the boys' (dressed up as girls) beauty contest. The guy in the white wig was hilarious. Didn't bother to see who won that time. Among other activities there were lots of bands, even an orchestra (I think they played some anime music), karaoke contest, some sort of event with dressing up in traditional clothes, and lots more.

Shiori-san's band was playing on Saturday. This time around I could hear her voice properly - really great. Got a bracelet-like thing that glows in a dark.

We ate lots of usual stall food. Mmmmmm takoyaki...

Sunday evening they had fireworks. They were supposed to start at 7pm, and we tried our best to wait until then. But we got hungry and super sleepy (because we're trying to be like normal people, and waking up earlier), so we left a bit before 7. The thing was, it seems the fireworks only began at 8pm. Good thing we didn't bother waiting.

Ate dinner at the pasta place. It was packed and we could only get a tiny table. It was very hard to juggle our food around. But very tasty. Except for the time I started choking. Remember kids - don't talk while you're eating. Or at least, not when your mouth is full of gooey cheesy rice.

A week's worth or so of things

Lots of stuff to recount. First of all, on Thursday I got to talk a bit to the two Chinese ladies in the YMCA group. It was kind of fun. The most important thing is - I can talk without worrying I sound stupid, because they're on the same level as I am.

On Saturday we went to Uto to watch a firework competition.

Uto is an hour away or so, and the reason for holding the fireworks' display there is because it has a river.

Sooooooo many people. Big bridge :) We ate lots of tasty things - I especially liked the chicken(?) in sweet sauce and the crepe with chocolate and banana (I made some thin pancakes at home later on).

The fireworks themselves were divided into sections. There were some standard flower entrees, and in between them show-style ones. They were awesome!!! One of the most amazing and imaginative ones was the Requiem.

Two of Shiv's students caught a cold. It seems Shiori-san's is pretty serious. Still we were lucky, since some nice people let us sit on their mat. No wet grass - happiness. I did take some warm clothes with me, but it didn't feel like enough. If we ever go there in the same season, I am taking a blanket.

On Tuesday we had two more people join us in the YMCA group. The lesson dragged on a bit as the teacher was trying to see if the new guy could read all the hiragana. I guess the lessons will become a bit slower now that there are more people, but, hopefully, not fatally so. Also, there are 6 people, so it's good for dialogues.

Trying to shift our sleeping schedule. Not going so well. I went to sleep early-ish, but woke up in the early hours and couldn't sleep. Then slept until 11... Le sigh.