Otto's blog

Cool Cars in Ichinomiya #14

2月

28日

I guess this is what you get if you leave two cars in the same garage together for too long!

More likely it`s what you get from a mechanic with free time, spare parts, & a sense of humour.

Because the engine is in the back of VW Beetles, there must be quite a lot of space under the bonnet/hood in this car - pretty handy.

What do you think of it?

#車

Happy Birthday to Me

2月

24日

Today`s my birthday. I won`t tell you my age, but if you want to know, you can look at the calendar in my classroom - some students kindly wrote my age there in big numbers. Thanks, guys!

As you can see, some students also wrote birthday messages on my whiteboard.

My students really like me, don`t they? I guess they must also like getting extra homework...

#ブログ

Ichinomiya `Field Athletics` Park

2月

22日

If you`re bored with the standard 2 swings [blanko] and 1 slippery slide [suberi daiso] at your local park, how about checking out this place? It`s next to the planetarium (*my previous blog post).

It was a bit too difficult for Owen, who has only just turned 3 years old, but he still seemed to enjoy trying the different challenges with my help. I think it`s more suitable for kids aged between about 4 and 11.

My wife told me she went there when she was a kid, so it`s been there for a long time... Do you know it? Have you ever been there?

Here`s a link:
http://hamada-sports.com/ichinomiya_chiikibunka/ichi/facility/athletic.html

#アウトドア

Ichinomiya Planetarium

2月

22日

Did you know there`s a planetarium in Ichinomiya? I didn`t!

This is the website:
http://hamada-sports.com/ichinomiya_chiikibunka/ichi/index.html

We went there on Sunday. The last time I went to a planetarium, I fell asleep as soon as the lights dimmed. But not this time! This time I stayed awake. For 10 minutes. Then I fell asleep. And snored [ibiki o kakita], according to my embarrassed wife.

Anyway, it was only 60 yen to enter - really cheap. And it was pretty interesting (well, the first 10 minutes was anyway!). So if you have kids, or you`re interested in astronomy, or you can`t sleep, I suggest visiting Ichinomiya Planetarium.

#ブログ

Character Toilet Paper

2月

20日

I like the character `Crayon Shinchan` & Owen likes the cartoon `One Piece` (even though I hardly ever let him watch it, because it`s so violent) so my wife bought this special toilet paper, which she noticed at the supermarket - cool, isn`t it?

Speaking of which [so ieba], did you know Teragoya sells `Let`s Study English` toilet paper? My wife bought a packet of that too... We have a lot of toilet paper in our house now!

#ブログ

Yakudoshi Ceremony

2月

10日

`Yaku` means `calamity` (a disaster) and `toshi` means year, so `yakudoshi` kind of means `bad luck age`.

For Japanese men it`s the ages 25, 42 and 61, and for women 19, 33 and 37.

Men who don`t usually join the Konomiya hadaka matsuri sometimes decide to join it when they reach these ages, in order to get rid of this `bad luck`.

Anyway, on Sunday I attended a special ceremony at my local shrine for people of `yakudoshi` age. About 70 people attended. It was an interesting ceremony - the priest read some mantras [shingon] , then some guys threw black beans around the room (one got stuck behind my ear. Fortunately the lady in front of me didn`t see it - she was excitedly picking them up & putting them in her pockets), then he read all our names. That took a while; I almost fell asleep...

Afterwards we received these gifts. I`m not a big fan of dried black beans, but I love Ichigo Daifuku (strawberries in soft ricecake) - yum!

Have you ever attended this kind of ceremony?

#ブログ

Post-Matsuri Report

2月

8日

This year`s naked festival was a lot of fun. Fortunately the weather was good - mostly sunny with very little wind - so it wasn`t too cold. In fact, I even got a little sunburnt [hiyaki].

I joined the same group (in this photo) as last year. We then joined other groups in the neighbourhood to form the Haruhi Town group, which had about 150 members altogether. After we had tied all our bamboo poles together, we proceeded to Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa.

My group didn`t hang around (wait) at the shrine for the arrival of the `shin-otoko` (the man who everyone tries to touch for good luck), which was good - this year he didn`t arrive until about 6pm (we got there about 3.30). Too late! By that time we were relaxing in a public bath. Mmmm.

There are lots of Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri videos on Youtube. I found my group (but not me) in this clip, just in front of the big `torii` gate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41GPyo1ZF_o

Did you go? Why? Are you interested in drunk, naked men?

#ブログ

Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival)

2月

1日

Yes, it`s that time of year again, when normally sensible [kigakiku, kinokiita] men decide to get near-naked and run drunk, freezing (= very cold) & screaming [sakebigoe] through the suburbs [yagai, kougai] around Inazawa carrying lengths of bamboo.

Of course, if you did this on any other day, neighbours would call the police & your wife/mum would be furious (= very angry). But on this day, your wife/mum will just say "Be careful, okay?" and you can do it! And your neighbours will wave & cheer! And sometimes give you free alcohol too! And the police will stop traffic for you to pass!

I imagine in heaven there is hadaka matsuri everyday.

Anyway, this year the festival is on Saturday, February 4. Konomiya Shrine is a short walk from Konomiya Station (Meitetsu). Groups of men start arriving in the afternoon, so that`s the best time.

Maybe see you there!

#ブログ