`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?
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?
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!
![Bye-bye Bicycle]()
More & more, I noticed a loud creaking [kiikii] & grinding [togu, guraindo] noise when I was riding my bike to school. At first I thought it was my knees, but no, it was my bike. I applied some grease & oil to the chain & cogs (& a little to my knees, just to be sure) but it didn`t fix it.
The guy at the bike shop said it would cost 5000 - 6000 yen to repair, but my bike was already in pretty bad condition (as you can see in the picture above), so I decided the time had come to buy a new one.
I knew I wanted a `mamachari` shopping-style bike with a basket, like my last one, but it was still hard to choose; there were lots of things to consider:
- no gears? 3? 6?
- 26 inch wheels? 27? 28?
- Dynamo or LED light?
- what shaped handlebars?
- what color?
- how much did I want to spend?
- how would I look on it? Like Cadel Evans (2011 Tour de France winner)? Or a hungry circus monkey?
Anyway, I`m satisfied with my final choice. I bought it from Asahi Bicycle Store, near my school. It was 21,000 yen (about $250).
*click on the picture to enlarge
The Taiko performance at Gifu Teragoya on Saturday night was great. The guys put on a powerful performance - we were all impressed.
Afterwards they let us try drumming on the big drum (in this picture) if we wanted to. I didn`t try, because I`m not good at keeping a beat, & I didn`t want to embarrass myself (well, more than usual anyway) but some students & teachers tried. Some could do it, but others weren`t so good...
Have you ever tried taiko drumming? Could you do it?
Today is Australia Day, so to mark the occasion, here are a couple of songs by a famous Australian band called Cold Chisel. They were huge (= very popular) about 30 years ago. Then they split up.
Then they reformed.
Then split up again.
Then reformed.
Then split up.
Then finally last year they reformed again - Yay! They`re all pretty old now (& the drummer passed away last year), but I still like their music. Mostly it`s hard rock, but you might find these three songs a little easier on the ears:
Choir Girl (1979): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzyDVcnLJ7U
My Baby (1980): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLy_3LV7K0
Flame Trees (1984): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILd1O44BDqc
Happy Australia Day!
What`s the connection between these 4 items? Can you guess?
Would you like a hint?
Too bad! No hint! (Maybe I`ll give you one in a day or two...)
UPDATE:
Okay, it`s hint time. The first letters of the items are:
1.k_____ 2. s_____ 3. o_____ 4. (Mazda) B_____
By the way, are you going to the Gifu Teragoya party this Saturday?
UPDATE:
Time`s up! I`ve put the answer in comments.
It was my turn to choose Ichinomiya Teragoya`s Student of the Month for January.
I chose Atsuko because she has a fantastic attitude to studying & using English. Not only is she attentive in class, she also also does a lot of extra study at home. For example, she writes every day in her English diary, & she checks out English language websites. And of course she reads my blog & sometimes comments on it too - excellent!
She has improved so much since joining Teragoya - good job, Atsuko!
A former staff member of Ichinomiya Teragoya has set up a website (mostly written in Japanese) about teaching English phonics to kids. If you`re interested in that kind of thing, please take a look.
The address is: www.easycrazyabcs.com
Vegemite is a kind of strong-flavoured, salty spread (paste). It tastes good with butter on toast. Yum!
Well, I think it`s yummy because I`m Australian, but people from other countries often say it tastes terrible.
Anyway, one of our staff recently went to Australia & she bought these new, vegemite-flavoured chips (`crisps` in British English) for me as a souvineer. Thanks, Yuki!
Have you ever tried Vegemite? If you really want to try it, you can get it at Kaldi stores.
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