Japanese Performing Arts

October 26-28:

Wow, what a weekend it was in Sasebo. I barely got home at all. On Saturday, I went on a tour with FIS (Friendship International Society), the group who sponsors my Japanese lessons. We visited Hirado, then wandered to the next island over, famous for a giant statue of Budda:

And also for a scenic road/trail called the Kawachi Pass:

Though the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, it was very much like being in Scotland again. We had a picnic in the pass, which was lovely, then went on to a small town to take in a local festival.
Our guide, a native of the town we were visiting, said that the festival was a local harvest celebration, held every year to thank the sea god for all the fish they had caught. Usually, there's a Kabuki play involved, but this year, it was "just" some traditional Japanese dance:

We were also told that the dancing was all done by local ladies. I thought it was quite good. Definetely worth the trip.
Also, in Sasebo this weekend was a festival called Yosakoi. The Navy ladies have been getting excited about this festival since early September. Yosakoi, as they described it, is a dance festival. Tons of dancing groups come to town and they (you guessed it) peform dances all over town. While all this is accurate, it doesn't really do the festival justice. It's a very difficult thing to describe, but I'll start with what I know: marching band (sorry for those of you who aren't band geeks). Think of it like a band competition at a high school: there's people in funny outfits wandering around, there's a big arena where people are performing, and lots of other people running around helping get the uniformed people where they're going. Now make the high school a whole city, add two more arenas, and close off a few roads for good measure. Have the uniformed folks running from stage to stage and dancing on the closed roads in between. You'll be getting closer to what Yosakoi is like now. Here's a picture of the main stage from above:

In my head, I had imagined that the dancing would be of a relatively modern sort based on what I see kids doing in parks occasionally. I had also figured the dancers would be college/high school aged. In fact, while some of the music had a modern spin to it, and the moves reflected that, mostly it was a more traditional form of dance, I would say. Also, the dancers ranged in age from just old enough to walk to old enough to be grandparents. Here are some of the pictures, but they don't really do the thing justice. It was a really cool weekend.

Soon to come: Halloween pictures from three parties (more than I've ever been to in one year in the States), and pictures of Dory in her Halloween costume.

Reasons they're not up yet: Grad school, grad school, substitute teaching, grad school, a speech contest, nanowrimo, and grad school. Stay tuned...