Apple trees....

On our fourth day of bootcamp we went to stay at a beautiful farm stay house way out in the country of apple orchards. They are really famous for their apples here - apparently apples are more delicious when grown at higher altitudes.....and judging from the homemade apple juice I had, they are right!

We had a feast of all kinds of delicious foods for dinner (many thanks to Yukari and her parents!) and enjoyed some time relaxing with each other. It was beautiful surrounds, so green and lush (this is what I miss when I'm in the cities).

dinner!

In the evening there was a bit of drumming :) although even in Japan you can't drum ALL day long! Afterwards we went outside and could even see stars! and Dean did some 'light painting' with his fire staff and slow exposure camera....(sorry photos are coming later...)

A very good sleep (except for the very loud furin "windchime" outside) and in the morning I went for a wander along a couple of the country lanes. We got to see the apples in the making - they put bags around the good ones to protect them from blemishes / birds and insects. Some are left for the animals as a 'peace offering' :)

green :)

apple bag trees

An absolutely delicious breakfast, although it was decided that as part of bootcamp we must all try natto. In a restaurant I was at recently natto was described as 'slimy fermented soybeans' and that is pretty accurate. Its very ...slimy. and bitter. Some enjoyed it, others...not so much.

mmmmm......slimy....

After the fun....back to drumming!

Natsu Matsuri - Summer festivals at Hirugami

Each evening for the week we were at the workshop, there was a 'summer festival' just down the road from our ryokan. So each night we would go down and check it out, and dine on the yummy food you can buy from the stalls there.

Summer festival time is the time of Obon in Japan, which is a special celebration to honour your ancestors, as it is believed that the ancestors return to their family homes at that time to celebrate together with them. So many people go to visit their family temple and attend natsumatsuri in that area.

What happens at Natsumatsuri?

Each local festival is a little bit different but they all have the same kind of fun ambience. There are usually a lot of families and people wearing "yukata" (the cotton, summer kimono). And there are stalls selling all kinds of food - (for some reason often on a stick) eg. yakitori (chicken on a stick - very yummy), hot dog sausages on a stick, BBQ'd corn on the cob, cucumbers (on a stick), chocolate dipped bananas, toffee apples, candy floss, and my favourite summer treat - kakigoori. This is shaved ice with syrup, but you can get such great flavours. My number one flavour is Green Melon. Delicious.

Cucumber - on a stick

Apart from the wide range of food, there are also game stalls, some of these are similar to ones in other countries - hoop toss, shooting something to win a prize etc. But there are also waterballoon fishing (water balloons attached to string float in a paddling pool and you have to hook the string with a little fishing line).

and Goldfish scooping - there is a tub of little goldfish and with a little paper tub you have to scoop as many as you can. This is hard because the paper can easily break!

goldfish scooping

And then there is the entertainment!

At this festival they did the bonodori (the Obon dance). This is usually a dance specific to the region, although there are some versions which are popular all over Japan. For this there is a stage set up with ladies doing the dance, and everyone else dances around the stage. The dances are usually quite simple and are repeated over and over while the music (often taiko drums with a song) is played. It is so cool to see so many people doing it, including little kids who are just learning too :)

bonodori

One night we all went down in our ryokan yukata to do the dancing as well. It was lots of fun, but tiring as you repeat it so many times!

heading down in yukata

In between dances they had a taiko group performing who were amazing. It was still very hot and humid at night, but they were really energetic and even did split jumps and everything! It was really fun to watch them and they played different songs each time.

At the end of the evening there would be a fireworks display which was really huge. Then we would head back up the hill for a soak in the onsen and a long night sleep!

Wadaiko Bootcamp

The Tokara Wadaiko Bootcamp was fantastic!

Each day we would have breakfast all together at the ryokan at 8am - this was a traditional breakfast with rice, soup, cooked fish, usually some ham or fried egg with salad, cooked vegetables, and if we wanted we could also have toast. We were using so much energy that we usually did!

This was served with water, coffee or Japanese tea.

Always different, always beautifully presented and delicious :)

Breakfast

All of us on Day One!

At 9:50 the ryokan "papa" would drive us to the community centre where the workshops were held. On the first day we had introductions and rules etc, but after that we started at 10am usually with "uchikomi" these are basic drill patterns that test your endurance! The idea is to keep going past the point where you can't do it anymore....it really did test us!

We also learnt how to tie and tighten the rope shime - this is very hard and made me glad that the shime we use are bolt tightened!

We would stop for lunch at about 12 and all head to the supermarket or the convenience store nearby to get something to eat. This was always fun as it is always exciting picking something and discovering what it is only when you are eating it!

The range of food is so completely different to what we have at home!

After lunch we would do a number of different things designed to improve our coordination and ambidexterity (working on developing left and right hand control), learning a new song which is one of Art Lee's original compositions, and kakegoe / kiai practice. (This was always done last and usually ended in giggles!).

It was very hot and we would always end up soaked with sweat, with new blisters and our hands and every day a different muscle group was aching! It was fantastic!

The practice place

After class we would help to load the drums into the vans for them to take to the performance venue for the summer festival performances in the village where we were staying.

Each afternoon Tokara performed there and even after watching the performance everyday for a week I was still enthralled by them. The performances were so energetic (even though I knew they were all really tired!) and so lively and dynamic with funky rhythms....they were mesmerising!

Each time they would get people from the audience to come and have a little turn on the drums. There was always a mix of very small children that could barely reach the drum right through to grandmothers and grandfathers, but you could see the joy they got from having a go themselves!

Afterwards we would pack up the drums again and head back for our evening entertainment..... :)

Ryokans...

So here I am in a beautiful ryokan in the Hirugami part of Achi village.

It is so beautiful.

Still very very hot and humid though!

Misaka Ryokan Entrance

You enter the ryokan and leave your shoes at the entrance, put on some slippers and head up to the room. I am sharing with two other workshop people who will become very good friends :)

In the room there is an entrance way to leave your slippers, and a toilet, basin and shower as well as a little fridge. Then a sliding door leads into the main room which is tatami mats, with 3 futons set out and a little table and low chairs, a luggage area (no tatami), some cupboards with our yukata, towels and bathstuff in. There's a TV, a very old phone (the ones that have a round dial - ie not a push button), and a window which looks down to where the festival is each night.

This is my bed!                                                         

My room

After sorting out my stuff, we check out the bathroom (ofuro). This is a communal area (gender separated), with basins and shelves to put your towel and clothes, then you enter into the shower area which is tiled and has a line of low level showers against the wall - each with taps and mirror and a range of bath soap, shampoo etc. You take a little stool and a bowl and sit on the stool and wash yourself. Once clean you can hop into the bath, or in this case there was a natural outdoor onsen which was delightful :) even in the heat it really helped - especially later in the week when our muscles were sore.

That evening we met up with some of the other workshop participants, and Art Lee who was running the course. It was really exciting to meet everyone, all from different parts of the world (Germany, Belgium, Holland, Australia, Canada, and me!). There were nine of us all together.

I had "zaru-soba" for dinner which is cold soba noodles served on a bamboo mat and eaten with yummy soy sauce based thin sauce.
Then a very good night sleep on my futon before it all begins.....

Day 2 - Crazy Nagano experiences

This morning I woke up and the little cold which I was recovering from had turned nasty - I actually completely lost my voice! (I know, most people can't imagine me without a voice)....
I was really upset - I didn't know whether I should go to the workshop still, or what to do.....so I went to the doctor (another new Japan experience).
Luckily the hotel people were so lovely and found one nearby who spoke english.
As in most countries, visiting a doctor in Japan involves a lot of waiting. First I signed in, then waited to be seen by the nurse to describe my ailments, then waited to be called by the doctor, then waited for tests to be done, then waited to see the doctor again, then waited for my medicine, and then waited to pay.
Everyone was lovely and it was really quiet as it was a Sunday morning.
The medicine here is interesting - I got some tablets, but I also got some that was a powder in little sachets (like salt sachets you get from a restaurant or something). Still tastes yuck though ;)
So...since I had no other place to go and didn't know what to do I headed down to the workshop place. This required a 4+ hour train ride (long train rides are not so bad as they mean you can have some nap time) :)
Our options were to be picked up in the evening from Iida city (where my train stopped) or from a bus stop - so I asked the bus driver at the station if he stopped at this bus stop and he said yes....but actually.......we arrived at the end of the route and I'm like, umm....where was the bus stop and then he said "oh we don't stop there, but your hotel people will pick you up from here"....but I said, why would they pick me up here when I rang and told them to pick me up from the other bus stop? ....anyway, he ended up ringing the ryokan people for me, and I was found and everything was fine ....just another crazy start to the whole thing!

hot hot hot!

I have arrived in Japan. All up its almost two days - counting driving up to auckland airport, a 4 hour transit in Sydney, then arriving at Narita airport at 7am this morning.

Nagano City

First impressions:

- lots of friendly helpful people! like the guy who was sitting beside me in the plane who helped me figure out the trains to get from narita to tokyo station....and helped me buy the ticket!

- nihongo is hard! I am getting by but I must look/sound like I will understand a lot more than I do!

- the Heat and Humidity. It is insane. I dont know how I will manage to play taiko in this weather!

- the smoking - heaps more than anywhere else Ive been. they still have smoking cars on trains and in hotels etc....and in the internet cafe im in right now.

- The people - soooo many.

- The buildings - almost overwhelming....I actually sometimes feel a bit claustrophobic in Japan with all the people and the buildings around. And strangely it seems that in big bustling cities its easier to feel lonely.

feeling very out of it right now and my body has no idea what time it is or whether its hungry or tired. I am a walking zombie!

Im going to find some quick food, head back to the hotel room and tomorrow try and find my way to the workshop ryokan......

where it all begins!

Tokyo Station

in the train

A single step....

Day zero
So this is it! Tomorrow I am on a plane to Japan to spend a month on a taiko pilgrimage!
So far, I have almost finished packing - and psychologically preparing myself for the hot, humid weather that awaits me as well as trying to brush up on my language skills.
Feeling very nervous and excited.....

I arrive in Tokyo on Saturday morning and then head straight to Nagano city for the night, before arriving at the hirugami resort where I will spend the week in taiko bootcamp!

here goes.....