Last day.....

Now I have come to my last day!
Usually at this point it feels like time has gone by really fast, but this trip has been so full of different experiences that it doesn't feel fast at all. But it does feel wonderful. And tiring.
When I came to Japan I wanted to soak up as much taiko as I could....and I have to say I have certainly achieved that! All the places I have been, people I've met, things I have seen and learnt...it is all so phenomenally incredible. It will take a long time to digest it all I think :)

And speaking of digestion.....my last day of course, was full of some shopping....and eating :) I met Keiko and Kenji on a very rainy day in Tokyo and my last meal - was udon. Delicious.

Tokyo Taiko Contest

Today I met up with some of my bootcamp friends as we all went to see the Tokyo Taiko Contest. It runs all weekend, and today was the finalists for the Odaiko soloist and the Open group sections. They all have to play the same set song, and then one of their own pieces. It was really interesting watching them all as each one had their own take on the set song and some made it seem quite flat and technical, while others really brought it to life. The different groups really gave it their own style and flavour as well and it was interesting to see how each person had interpreted the song.
They were all incredibly talented though and I'm sure that choosing the winner is not an easy task!

Today the weather turned cold and rainy! (as you can see I was not prepared for that - the umbrella I'm holding isn't even mine!).

But it was lovely to meet up with Kenji and Keiko for dinner :)

Awaodori Festival

In the evening we set off for the Awaodori Festival in Koenji. This is something I was really looking forward to, and as it turned it seemed like the whole of tokyo was looking forward to it too because it was packed with people! I don't think I've ever been in crowds like that before!

Awaodori is a traditional dance from Shikoku and they have a massive festival there in August every year. The one in Tokyo started from people who had moved from Shikoku, and now heaps of different dance teams participate. They all dance up the streets which are lined with thousands of happy onlookers.

Most teams had a few different groups - a guy in front with a really tall pole with lanterns which he would spin around, a group of kids, some people in socks with fans and lanterns, guys with the yukata tucked up and dancing really low, and women in yukata dancing in the wooden shoes (geta) (this looks really hard!) Then they would be followed by the musicians which usually had some shimedaiko, flutes and shamisen and sometimes a bamboo log drum, and big drums at the back. It was really interesting to see them all - and I felt tired just watching them all dance for so long in the heat!

the kids :)

dancing on geta!

the musicians

Tokyo!

Sadly, my time with Hide came to an end and I had to head back to Tokyo. On the way I got a great view of Fuji!

I met up with Kenji Furutate - another of our taiko gods(!) and had lunch at the very flash Italian restaurant where he works (while pursuing a career in professional taiko). It was very good and I highly recommend the creme brulee.

We randomly were given tickets by one of the waiters to the aquarium nearby so went to check it out. It was really small but cool - they had jelly fish floating around and lights on them to show the fluoresence spots. Trippy....

Then we headed to Asakusa - for shopping :) ...I wanted to find some presents for people, and in particular was hunting down some 'lucky poo'. The word for poo and the word for lucky sound similar in Japan so they have these little souvenirs that are 'lucky poo'. Poor Kenji asked so many shopkeepers for me but it proved very difficult to find!

at Asakusa

with Kenji

One of the best things about travelling is when you are just going along to some tourist spot and there happens to be something awesome happening there just by chance! Today happened to be the asakusa samba carnival! So on our way back we got to see some of the parade :)

Shopping!

On the way back we stopped at Jazz Dream. Which is a massive outlet mall. It's right beside an amusement park - which Hide had thought to take me to but decided that I should have some culture instead :)
The outlet mall was huge, and full of all kinds of shops from Dolce and Gabbana, to Louis Vuitton, to Canterbury NZ!
After wandering all over the place and checking out so many things we decided it was time to eat..... Hide suggested we could try one of the restaurants in the mall that sells famous steak (like kobe beef but from this area).....but the line was sooooo long....and we were tired and hungry. So we decided to give it a miss, and headed for......
BIKKURI DONKEY!  (= SURPRISE DONKEY!)

I'd seen the signs for this earlier and have never been.....apparently it's a big restaurant chain in Japan and sells 'hambaagu' this is basically meat patties (like the hamburger but no bread). I asked Hide what they have: "hambaagu, rice, curry sauce" . Me: "what about with a burger bun?" ....Hide: "No. Hambaagu, Rice, Curry Sauce".
So....we went along. I also asked why its called Bikkuri Donkey. Apparently the food is so good even a donkey would be surprised! (although most donkey's I've ever met would probably be surprised at anything that wasn't grass....but I don't know any Japanese donkeys).

So here we are. Surprise!

(I actually broke the rules and did not get the rice and curry sauce one...I got cheese and fries. No buns though). :)

The biggest shrine...

The next day Hide came and picked me up after he had done his morning temple duties, and we headed off to Isejingu. The biggest shrine in all of Japan.
We picked up breakfast on the way at a weird little cafe place. The set breakfast is called "morning" and varies depending where you go, but here it was a big piece of toast, banana, boiled egg and iced coffee or tea. It was quite a long way from the temple village and we travelled by car (this is a new thing for me in Japan!)...they have great motorways, in fact at one stage there was a road above and below us! crazy!
But most of the highways are toll roads so you have to go through toll booths at different points.
It was a beautiful drive though, lots of trees on every side.

Ise shrine is amazing - the whole area has old style shops and streets selling all kinds of traditional goods.

The shrine itself is a number of different buildings including some really old preserved parts which have the old thatched roofs and everything. The gardens are lush and green with the beautifully manicured trees, and the walk around the shrine grounds is really peaceful (in spite of the crowds and tours) with trees everywhere and bordering on a river.

You can feel the serenity.

Ise Shrine

Afterwards we had 'kakigoori kyuukei' (=icecream break). Kakigoori is one of my favourite summer things. Shaved ice with syrup. We have them in NZ too, but in Japan its better. And here at Ise shrine, they have famous kakigoori. You have to try it. It's cultural.
This one is with green tea flavour - and inside is anko (red sweet bean paste) and mochi (rice cake). And it's huge! We only just finished one between us!

Drums and Festivals

I spent two days with Hide, and on the first day we did some drumming practice. He had diligently written out some practice drills for us to do, and a whole lot more for me to take back to work through with the group! So we did a really awesome drum set drill which he called 'basic practice' but is more like 'super awesome song'. It was soooo cool. I love it. I sing it all the time.
Then we did 'shuffle' or 'swing' practice, which was quite funky - one hand is keeping the swing rhythm while the other is doing other rhythms on top. You kind of have to split your brain in two to really do it!

Then after practicing we headed off to a local festival. It was interesting because there are some common elements (games, food, people in yukata etc) but other different things from the hirugami festivals.

There was a group drumming a local festival drum song - two drummers would play along with the a couple of shimedaiko (using the bamboo sticks) and flute players, and they would repeat the same rhythm over and over again, with the players taking turns to keep the rhythm going. It was interesting to see their style - drumming on the side and with sticks that look like short baseball bats. There were drummers of all ages, and a couple of the teenage guys would go hard out! In fact, a lot of them had their hands taped, and later in the night I noticed there was blood on the drums!

We found a range of different yummy festival food - this great savoury pancake type thing, yakitori (chicken skewers), yakisoba (noodles) ...and more!

There were massive lanterns hanging up which later on they lit with massive candles.

Two or more guys would come and string up this big candle thing and run it down the line to the lanterns. Then they were lit, and carried up into the lantern through a trap door in the bottom.

Unfortunately it was summertime, so you couldn't really see the lighting effect until quite late at night....we decided we were too tired...

So we headed off for ofuro (japanese bath). More on this experience in another post :)