August 31 2014 Mitaka's Awa-odori Festival!

After several weeks of sweltering heat, the weather has finally cooled down! Praise God! I'm a warm summer person, but this wasn't warm, it was HOT and sticky and thoroughly unpleasant!!! Not to mention our air conditioners are happy for the break!  
                                                                           

 

During the week it's pretty much been all business, running errands and trying to take care of things. My current quest is to get myself a hanko Japanese signature stamp. (Here's an example from the internet.)
                                                                                     

 Gary already has his but I need to get one so I can sign official documents. Gary's Japanese teacher went to the trouble of helping us with our names in Kanji. Our Kanji characters for 'Case' end up meaning 'state of grace or favor' which I think is nice.  After I get my hanko we will take both of ours down to the municipality office and get them registered and then we're all set to officially sign stuff!

As many of you know we have a special speaker coming to Japan next week. Jimmy and Patsy Pena have always come wherever we have been! I'm very excited to get to spend some time with them! The fliers Gary had ordered arrived but he had a previous commitment so I decided to do a solo outreach and hit the streets on Saturday to see how many I could pass out. There are no pictures of me because it would be awkward taking selfies of yourself outreaching! Lol!  I did discover a very large residential area in the blocks behind the church. Since I still don't speak the language well enough to communicate anything complicated, I mostly left fliers in mailboxes which is nice and legal here in Japan.
Yay!          
                                                                           

                                          I like the traditional style roof on this house!

                              I also posted fliers on any neighborhood bulletin boards I found.

After a few hours of that I was hungry, so I went and ate a Big Mac at McDonald's promptly undoing any calorie burning that I had accomplished! It did hit the spot though! Nom Nom Nom!!!!

When I exited McDonald's I saw that folks were setting up for the summer festival of the dance. I found this information online:

Mitaka Awa-odori (dancing festival)

This event is held every August at Mitaka Station South exit Chuo-dori. This year marks the 30th anniversary, and it has been already familiarized by the local citizens as a regular summer event. The arcade shop owners as well as company's branch staff and office workers in the neighbors form groups call "ren" to practice, and on the event day they mingle and enjoy competing with each other. They get some support from Tokushima, the birthplace of Awa-odori dancing.

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It was interesting because people had taped out their seating before hand and then just came back later for the parade! I, of course, had nothing to stake out a spot with so I just sat on the curb in true gaijin/ hobo style and waited for the parade to start. Fortunately, I had a book with me to pass the time! After about an hour the street got quite crowded but I had a good view from my street side seat!

                                                          
                                             See?! I'm liking that parade saving seat thing!

      First came the ladies in the beautiful Yukatas (summer kimonos) so many beautiful patterns! They were followed by another group who danced more acrobatically, and finally the band consisting of Japanese stringed instruments, flutes and percussion. Lots of percussion!!! Drums Drums Drums! Even though the groups all did the same song, each group had their own routine going on and it was interesting to watch!
                           This lady knelt right in front of me, I loved her Yukata pattern!

                                                        So many patterns and colors!

                                                                        So pretty!

And if you look closely on their feet you will see that they are wearing getas. Getas are wooden shoes with two transverse supports underneath.
                                                                           

                         
                                                                          
                                            They danced the whole parade on their toes!

                                                    Notice how their sleeves look like wings!

The acrobatic dancers.

                                                                 Young women

                                                                            
                                                                   Young Men

                                                                          

                                                     Middle aged

                                                               And a really old guy.

                                                                            
                                     

 

 

                           Actually their were several senior citizens that participated.
                                                                                  

                              Some folks tied the handkerchief under their noses, not sure why.

                                                           Very energetic!

 

 

                
                                                     Sometimes the two groups danced together.
                                                                                   

                                                                              
                         Some were dancing with what I think were supposed to represent lanterns on their arms, they had some cool moves!
                                                                          

       
                                                                         
                                           This guy was a happy lantern dancer!                                                           

 

                                                                          Drums!

 

 

 

                               You were just as likely to see a girl drummer.

                                                             
                                                                                 Or a  little drummer boy!
                                                                                  

 

 This group must have been the comedy relief, check out the guy with the sunflowers on his head.

 

                                     These folks brought along a picnic! Smart!

 

 

                  Here's a short video, sorry about the poor quality. You can see the mad fan dancing skills!

 

So that about covers my Saturday! By the time the parade ended it was dark and time to walk home!

 

                                                                                 Until next time!

August 21 2014

Hi folks! So I took a week off of blogging, it's been SO hot outside that I didn't really go out or do anything except for the absolutely necessary! I did try to go out one day but only made it as far as Kichijoji and it was so hot and muggy that I rushed home and took a nap in the air conditioning instead! 
Sunday after church we went out to lunch with Roger. We ran into Aya outside of the restaurant and she joined us as well. We had a nice lunch and visited for a very long time! Our little church has reached the point where folks hang around afterwards just visiting and chatting, I love that!

It's still quite hot this week, but I did manage a day out to Sunshine city in Ikebukuro! My sister had told me about an aquarium she went to on a school trip back in the 1960's when we lived in Japan and I wanted to find it. The interesting thing about this particular aquarium is that it is on the 10th floor and rooftop of a building! On my search for the right place I ran across this giant statue of Ultraman! My mom has a picture of me wearing an Ultraman mask for Halloween one year. He was my hero!
                                                                    

                                                         Of course I had to take a selfie!

 

I'm not really very scientific in my explorations, I look up the general directions and then just take off walking. If I get stuck, I ask somebody and usually I make it to my destination and end up seeing lots of extra stuff too along the way!

 

                                                
                                           Ikebukuro was a very busy place!

 

Finally I arrived! I had to wait in a long line to buy my ticket but it was worth it!

 

The jelly fish tunnel!

                                      
                                          Hello Kitty with fish in her belly! Makes sense.

                             
                                   A seal in a bowl on a roof...sounds like a Dr. Seuss book!

 

A fish the size of a child, except uglier.

 

                         
                              A man using a pair of tweezers to meticulously clean an aquarium!

 

Lots of fish.

The largest crab I've ever seen! Stretched out, it was longer than my arms spread wide.  I wanted to eat this SO bad, but saw no way of sneaking it out of the aquarium and I don't have a pot big enough to cook it!

                             Yup, seals are still doing tricks for people in exchange for small fish.

                           Penguins aren't for sale, they do tricks only to amuse themselves.

 

There was this giant octopus that blew smoke at people, it was at the entrance of the Special Exhibit I paid Y300 to see. Turns out it was an exhibit of really poisonous sea creatures. They labeled their lethality by # of poison bottles next to them.  Unfortunately, it consisted of a tiny space stuffed with a couple hundred people so I escaped as quickly as possible, only seeing a lion fish from a distance, as it was very hot in there!

 

Then I headed back to the train station and home.

I was quite hungry by the time I reached Kichijoji station so I stopped at Potihars (I call it Potifers)Indian restaurant for dinner. I had mutton curry, tandoori chicken, a kebab of mystery meat, and a pickled onion, chile chutney  with rice and naan.   It was tasty and reasonably priced, so I left happy.

 

 

There you have my day of adventure! More interesting than if I blogged my day yesterday which consisted of laundry, cooking, cleaning out the fridge and then going to clean the church!

Today, I will probably mop the floors in the house...woohoo!

I believe in working hard and playing hard... though some days I also believe in sitting on the couch and being lazy!

Laters!!!!

 

August 7th 2014 Ode to half a century!

                                             Tomorrow is my 50th birthday!
                                                                   

 Looking back over my first half century I'm not real sure how much wiser I am but I'm definitely older and fatter! They say that the first five years of a child's life are the formative years. By the time I turned 5 years old I had lived in New York, Mississippi, Japan and Oklahoma... I guess that did kind of set the stage for my adult life! While we settled into Wisconsin rural life during the rest of my growing up years, it seems that once I hit adulthood I've been on the move ever since! I can honestly say though that my first half century has definitely been an adventure and while not $uccessful in the worldly sense, I know that even if I kick the bucket today, I won't enter God's kingdom empty handed. I was blessed to see some pictures from our first church in Mexico City the other day. It truly amazes me to see all that God has done when I remember all the trials we went through pioneering that work. It was definitely God, our Spanish wasn't very good and we were flying on a wing and a prayer trying to figure things out! And despite us, God built a work that lasted and is going strong for Jesus today! I am praying God does the same work here in Japan!
                                                                     

                                                                   (Mexico City)

God also gave us the opportunity to pastor in other cities and other churches and it's always been a blessing to see peoples lives changed and healed! I was thinking about our wedding anniversaries the other day. Our 10th was in Mexico City, 20th was in Panama City and the 30th was in Tokyo... wonder where we'll be for our 40th?!  God called me into the ministry when I was 16 years old, and I never had a clue what all that would mean, I truly never could have imagined all of this! My first half century was filled with growing up, marrying and raising a family.Our children are grown now and we're embarking on a new adventure here in Japan! God is good and I'm looking forward to what the second half century of my life is like! The one thing I'm sure of, whatever it entails, it'll be done at a slower pace than the first half... the spirit is willing but I don't move as fast as I used to! Hopefully the slower pace will mean I'll make half as many mistakes!

I did some more adventuring the other day! I read that Godzilla was in town so even though temperatures were in the 90 degree range with about the same amount of humidity I took off for Roppongi!  I wandered around and finally spotted my quarry!  
                                                                   

                                                         Gary made this little montage!
                                                                           

After playing with Godzilla I found a neat and peaceful little park in the middle of all the city bustle!

This is the "resting house",there were folks enjoying their lunch break and one guy taking a nap! It was very peaceful to sit in the shade and enjoy the scenery! 

                                                        This was the pigeon hang out.

I walked all around the park crossing the streams on stepping stones and listening to the cicadas singing their chirpy song!

After the park I was quite hot and thirsty so I headed back to the air conditioned shopping mall. I was VERY excited to find this in a 50's style diner!

Root beer is not a Japanese favorite and is almost never served in restaurants. Apparently, there is a Japanese medicine that tastes like root beer so folks don't like it. (Hope if I get sick I get the root beer medicine!) This is the first A&W root beer I have found!

Here's the restaurant, space is at a premium in Japanese restaurants and the seating is Much closer together!

People are quite expert at ignoring their neighbors.

There was a publicity stunt going on for what I think was a tv show or a movie?  Not sure, but it was fun to watch! It involved a lot of yelling and katana swinging!

Then it was time to go. Here's a couple of random pictures from near the train station in the Roppongi area.

I got back on the subway, which took me to Shinjuku train station where I got off and made a side trip to the Christian book store and then to Krispi Kreme to pick up a treat to take home!  Then it was back to the train station and finally home where I promptly took a shower and some ibuprophen! 

Signing off for the last time in my Forties, it was a good decade!