初夢 Hatsuyume

初夢 Hatsuyume

Are you dreaming? Do you remember your dreams?
Well you should try to remember at least one dream, the first dream you have in the year.

Lucky Dream

According to Japanese legend, this dream will foretell your luck for the coming year. However it is common not to sleep at all in the night between 12/31 and 01/01, that is why in the old Japanese calender January 2nd is marked as 初夢Hatsuyume, as most people will have their first dream in the night between the first and second of January. But don't worry, if you happen not have dreamed this night, it does not mean your chance is over. You can also have your Hatsuyume on the third, fourth and so on.

Meaning

Now how to read this dream?
In Japan there are a couple of elements in a Hatsuyume which traditionally foretell good luck. Best known are the first three, ordered like this:

一富士、二鷹、三茄子 - 1. Fuji, 2. Hawk, 3. Eggplant

Mount Fuji is almost holy for Japanese, but in this case it might foretell good luck, being the highest "mountain" in Japan brining the highest luck. The hawk was regarded as the strongest bird and most clever bird, giving the dreamer similar attributes. Finally the eggplant, Jap. nasu, is more disputed. Earlier it was a really expensive vegetable only rich people could afford, so dreaming of it could signify earning enough money to eat nasu. Another theory states that since the most famous shogun of Japanese history 徳側家康 Tokugawa Ieyasu loved nasu, dreaming of nasu could foretell getting Tokugawa's good attributes or status and power.

The list continues with:

四扇、五煙草、六座頭 - 4. Fan, 5. Tobacco, 6. Blind Musician

A fan is a symbol for Japan's aristocracy and samurai and Tobacco was an imported luxury. But why number six is a blind musician, nobody could tell me. Maybe it signifies focusing on one strength and being successful with it, instead of wanting everything at once. It could also mean gaining in one area but loosing in another, but I am wildly guessing here.

Significance

In earlier times the Japanese were so convinced of the power of the Hatsuyume, that would try really hard dreaming of any of the above. For example it was already known that it is very likely that the things you have seen during the day might appear in your dream. So many people would travel to Mount Fuji, or at least look at paintings of it, try to get an eggplant or watch the sky for hawks. Then when the night would clad Japan in black, they would think of these three things when lying on their 布団 Futon hoping that the images would continue in their dreams.

Annual Event

Whether the dream has real power or not, interpreting dreams is always fun and interesting, especially with friends. Also most people celebrate Silvester or New Year with family and/or friends, so why not add one more event to your new year schedule and meet the 2nd or 3rd of January and talk about the Hatsuyume you had this year?

Unfortunately I forgot my Hatsuyume for this year already...
mika

茶道 Tea Ceremony

When speaking of Japanese culture, one of the things that should never be missing is 茶道 Sadou the Japanese Tea Ceremony (literally the way of the tea).

This Saturday me and Hung Lun were lucky to be invited at the house of the parents of Satomi-san, one of our coworkers. Her mother happens to be a 茶道先生 a tea ceremony sensei. The plan was first to go to an official 茶会 Chakai a meeting for receiving tea in a tea ceremony and later that day, we would go to her house and she would prepare tea for us herself, showing us how it is done.

茶会 Chakai

So we first met with Satomi-san, her mother and two friends of her and together we went to the place the 茶会 would be held. We entered the buildings, took of our shoes and waited in a room for the preparations to be over.
Then we were kindly asked to enter. We entered the room, and Satomi-san's mother explained us that it is custom to look at the interior decoration of the room. Usually for 茶道 Sadou, but also for a normal invitation, the host would prepare a room and choose a certain type of flower and wall scroll according to the visit, season or recent events.
After that we sat down and our guide started to work on the tea ceremony utensils. While the tea was being prepared, we were served お菓子 Okashi, sweets. It is common to server some sweets along with the green tea.
After that everyone in our group was served one bowl of green tea. The color is really thickish green, since the tea is served very concentrated. We took the bowl in our hands and turned it three times, before we started to sip.
Afterwards Satomi-san's mother told us, that now we should also look at the design of the bowls, which were also chosen according to our visit. Therefore each would pass her or his bowl on to the next participant and everyone had a look. One bowl showed the exact same flowers that were standing in the back of the room.
Finally also the other utensils were passed around. The vessel for the green tea showed the two Japanese 神 Kami (Gods) 風神 Fuujinn (god of wind) and 雷神 Raijin (god of thunder). Our guide explained that this vessel was chosen because the current season is struck with many 台風 taifun and thunderstorms.
Then we bowed to the guide and were supposed to stand up and leave to room. However since we were sitting kneeling for almost half an hour, the feeling in my feet ceased and when I tried to stand up, my feet did not carry me and I fell down... 恥ずかしい Hazukashii (= how embarrassing)

wall scroll and flower



okashi



preparing the tea

御茶 Green Tea

Like many things green tea reached Japan from China in the 15th century. At this time however tea was no drink, but was used as medicine. Therefore along with the tea itself arrived the instructions for the doctors how to prepare and serve it to the patients. And again our of this tradition later the tea ceremony was born.
Even today green tea is renown in the whole world for its healing powers. But even if you are not sick, drinking green tea will help you to keep your health and be revitalizing for your body.

訪問 Visiting A Japanese Family

So later we were invited in Satomi-san's parents house. And just like at the Chakai, they made huge efforts for our coming. Both wore their traditional 着物 kimono and, prepared the 和室 Washitsu (traditional Japanese room with Tatami mats) with a wall scroll and flowers fit for our coming. The wall scroll would talk about the 茶道 Sadou itself, since this was what we came here today to explore.
But the usual preparations for a visit go farther than that. Apart for the decoration, they prepared a feat worth of kings with ingredients from all over Japan. They asked friends and relatives all over the island for special ingredients and other things hard to get in super markets. They made a special effort for me to get special versions of certain meals without meat or fish, which really touched my heart.
Apart from decoration and food, it is also custom to choose and prepare interesting topics to talk about with your visitors. So Satomi-san's father for example prepared an atlas and let us point out where we were born, living and studying. He then would narrate his own stories along with the places we'd point to. Of course many other interesting topics came up on the way.
What we didn't know, is that Satomi-san's father is also a sensei in a different traditional Japanese art, 書道 Calligraphy. Now we recognized that he made the wall scroll himself and also various other of his works around the house. He is quite skilled and later even handed us one of his books as a present. It happened to be a calligraphized version of the 般若心経 Hannyashingyou, the heart sutra, which Hung Lun and me recited on our pilgrimage through Shikoku.

Otou-san (father) with the atlas



aperitif

Finally after the feast Satomi-san's mother went through the trouble and prepared green tea for us in the way of 茶道 Sadou. Now we could get a closer look in what actions she would take and ask her for the significance of actions of tools. Again we were served sweets, really wonderfully decorated ones and then everyone got two bowls of green tea.

wall scroll and flower, otou-san made the scroll himself



okaa-san (mother) prepared the tea



and served us wonderful okashi

So it was a day filled with tradition and interesting stories from times long passed as well as modern times. We were hosted like kings and treated as friends. We will ever be grateful to Satomi-san and her parents for this wonderful day!

mika

座禅 Zen Meditation

After trying guided meditation for a first time last month, I wanted to take my chances, while being in Japan, to experience a different kind of guided meditation. This time I took my friend from Germany and met with my friend 草柳さん Kusayanagi-san in Yokohama.

總持寺 (総持寺) Souji Temple

Going from Yokohama to 鶴見 Tsurumi (2-3 stations away), you can find the Souji Temple near the Tsurumi University. According to Kusayanagi-san it is the biggest temple in Yokohama and might as well be the biggest temple in the larger Tokyo area. In any case the area was really huge and we partly had to walk for 5 minutes to get from one room to the next.

Tsurumi Univeristy

Therefore the view, the buildings and surroundings were really impressive. Also impressive was that the temple was actually included in the even larger complex of the Tusrumi University and some other schools like a elementary school and a culture school (In a culture school you can learn things like 茶道 Tea Ceremony, いけばな Ikebana, 折り紙 Origamu, or 書道 Calligraphy).

all pictures taken from Wikipedia

座禅 Zen Meditation

Zen meditation is entirely different from the Tibetan meditation, I have joined last time. Instead of an image to focus on you just have a wall in front of you having your back to the floor. Also instead of focusing on anything, you try to completely erase your mind and free your head of any thoughts. Therefore it is actually not advised to close your eyes completely, since then immediately a series of pictures and thoughts will come up your mind. Instead you keep them half open, starring at but basically ignoring the wall.
What is also very different, is that one monk will constantly walk behind your back and check people for movement. If somebody moves during the meditation, he will be hit with a whiplash. The sound of someone being hit is really scary and many times upon hearing somebody being hit, I winced. However being hit is actually not that painful, as I have been hit once. In the end I must admit I even found it very useful, as every whiplash sound reminded me of again thinking about things instead of emptying my mind.
The mediation was split into two parts with a short break in between. The time was either 40 minutes or two times 40 minutes. I really can't say, since I did not bring a watch and entirely lost track of time during meditation. This time I could hold a state of meditation longer and more easy than the last time. It was not throughout the process, but at least for longer periods in between and it felt quite exhilarating. I fear the guy with the whiplash really helped me relax in a weird kind of way. Of course at the beginning I was totally tense, but with time I realized that this extreme feeling of tense actually made it easier to become the tenseness altogether.

During the first half of the meditation there was also the sound of a broom being wept on the ground heard, yet Kusayanagi-san later explained me the sound was not related. Apart from the broom there were Gongs to announce the break and later when it was over. There was the guy walking around with the whiplash. Another guy poked me with a finger twice, or at least so I imagine. There was some wooden thing somebody hammered on. And some more sounds.
Having your eyes almost closed and unfocused on the wall not seeing where all these sounds come from, gave me quite another experience, while I was awake during meditation. It wrapped me into a completely new world of sounds which stimulated my imagination. It felt a bit like the virtual barber shop, role playing games and video game immersion. It was at least as fascinating as the meditation itself and sometimes really hard to get away from.

Other Kinds Of Meditation

掃除 Souji Cleaning
Kusayanagi-san later explained to me that the broom was actually part of another part of meditation for intermediates. In this meditation exercise you brush yourself into meditation while cleaning the floor.

料理 Cooking
In yet another exercise you exercise yourself in meditation while preparing a meal, as strange as it sounds.

茶道 Tea Ceremony
Also the tea ceremony can be seen as a kind of meditation.

唱歌 Chanting
Viktor finally told me, that in other kinds of Buddhism the normal form of meditation is by chanting.

In the end I guess it is good to gain some experience with different kinds of meditation to be able to pick one that suits you best. You can also take elements from different kinds and mix them together for your personal meditation.

教育 Education

Which surprised me was, that after the meditation we were lead into a great room, where a head monk of the temple held a lecture on primordial lifeforms to us. The lecture was partly taken from a Russian university scientist of Biology and Chemistry and extended by ideas about Zen Meditation (座禅 Zazen). The monk illustrated how similar we are still to this first life form, by still being more fluid than stiff. To illustrate his point he made one volunteer lie down and by moving one leg or arm his entire body was floating around the ground, just like the water filled plastic glove he showed us before.
He continued by showing some toys he bought from a 100Yen stores, that should further illustrate his points and then talked about society systems. He took the system of a "modern" state where the people try to control nature in contrast to people like the Inuit, who try to life together with nature. He then continued in saying the human body is just like the system between human and nature. And you can try to control the nature inside you or try to life in balance with it.

All in all it was a little hard for me to follow, since it was all in Japanese, but it was definitely interesting. He also told us that previous lectures where about vortices, the legend of Sisiphos, and many more seemingly unrelated things, which he apparently still always related to Zen in the end. It also surprised me that the monks appear to work together with the university nearby, as well as professors as far away as Russian. The monk also was perfectly fluent in English and showed a deep understanding of what he was talking about (this time biology and chemistry). This openness and curiosity towards science is quite cool and very different to what you can find in Christianity and Islam. (Although also monasteries in Europe were the centers of science during the Dark Ages).

総持寺の情報 Temple Information

Because of these fluent English abilities, the temple also offers introductions into the Zen meditation in English: http://www.sojiji.jp/open/sanpai/zan/english.html
Of course if you are capable of understanding Japanese, you can also join the Japanese lesson at 12:30: http://www.sojiji.jp/open/sanpai/zan/index.html

You can easily find the temple when asking or searching for the 鶴見大学 Tsurumi University in Tsurumi near Yokohama, but the site of the temple also offers an access map: http://www.sojiji.jp/accessmap/access.html

Meditation is a truly great way to enrich your life, go ahead and try it!
mika

all pictures taken from Wikipedia.

狂言 Kyougen Theater

Our Japanese Sensei Rumi asked as two months ago, if we'd be interested to see a Japanese Theater performance. Hung Lun, Youngki and me were and we eagerly anticipated the day of the performance.
After I got to know that Juliane, my fellow student from the University of Erlangen, where the both of us had studied Japanese, was visiting me at this time I asked Rumi-sensei to try and get another ticket, which she did.

狂言 Kyougen literally means crazy words and is a funny theater genre like the more famous 歌舞伎 Kabuki. Traditionally it was and is performed during Noh Theater performances (the one which makes extensive use of masks, is very slow, silent and takes a long time). Noh Theater can be pretty tiresome due to its length and seriousness. That is why people started to perform a play of Kyougen Theater in between a Noh performance to cheer (and wake) the people up again :) That further means that Kyougen performances are usually not that long.

Today however we went to an independent Kyougen performance. Since as I just explained the plays are a little short, they combined two plays and an introduction into Kyougen to fill an evening.

So the five of us met in 相模原 Sagamihara, which is somewhere between 新宿 Shinjuku 厚木 Atsugi and 横浜 Yokohama and went to the 文化会館 cultural hall. We were already a little late (we could not finish work before 18:00) and when we took our seats, someone was already in the middle of the lengthy introduction. We could only understand pieces like "white garments symbolize the actor being naked". But eventually the moderator retreated and the audience fell silent as the two 二人大名 Daimyou (= Japanese Feudal Lord) entered the stage:

二人大名



二人の大名が、供を連れずに外出したので、通りがかりの男を脅してむりやり太刀を持たせる。怒った男は、大名が油断したすきに太刀を抜き、二人の小刀、素襖（すおう）を取り上げ鶏や犬のまねをしろと言う。さらに、起き上がり小法師のまねをするよう命じると、大名たちは、小歌を謡いながら次第に興に 乗ってまねをするのだった。すると男は…。
下克上の時代を感じるなぶられる大名たちの、次第に置かれた状況を忘れ、楽しく謡い続ける様子は笑いを誘います。

The Two Daimyou



One lord invites another lord to go on an outing with him. Since they have both sent all of their servants out on errands, they have no one to carry their swords, so they decide to stop someone on the way to serve them as sword bearer. A passerby dashes along on an important errand, but the lords stop him and insist that he has to serve them. The passerby objects, that he is too busy and besides is completely ignorant of the way to carry a sword. The lords threaten him with their swords. Faced with execution if he does not comply, the passerby agrees to do as they wish. The lords teach him how to carry the swords and gleefully set out on their way. But before they have gone far, the passerby draws one of the swords and threatens the lords, forcing them to hand over their tanto (daggers) and their clothing as well. Then the passerby decides to have a little fun with the pompous lords before he makes off with his loot. Because of their bright red and yellow fans, he makes them pretend to be fighting cocks and the to be fighting dogs, promising to return their possessions if they will comply. But he enjoys their performance so much that he insists to give them yet another performance of their choice. One of the lords remembers something great and they start singing a children's' song about skipjacks (Stehaufmännchen), the dolls that always right themselves when pushed over. In accordance with the song the lords imitate the skipjacks and start rolling themselves over and once they had a good start, they get engrossed in their singing and rolling about, that they don't notice the passerby sneaking away with their possessions. Once they notice they jump up and chase after him shouting he should keep his promise and return their belongings.

After a short break of us imitating the melodic voice of the actors "de gozaru", "abunaiiiiya", "soriya soriya", the second play started and the bad son Akutaro entered the stage carrying a halberd:

悪太郎



乱暴者の悪太郎は、酒を飲むことを非難する伯父を脅してやろうと、長刀を携えて出かけていく。ところが、そこでも散々酒を飲み、良い機嫌になると、帰る道すがら寝込んでしまう。あとをつけた伯父は、道端に寝ている悪太郎を見つけ、僧形にし、「今後は南無阿弥陀仏と名付ける」と言い渡して去る。目を 覚ました悪太郎は、伯父の言葉を仏のお告げと信じ、仏道修行することを決心するのだった。そこへ出家が念仏を唱えながら通りかかると…。

Akutaro



Akutaro goes to visit his uncle. He is carrying his halberd and he is very drunk. His uncle admonishes him to quit drinking. Akutaro replies he will, if his uncle will only treat him to some sake this time. Akutaro gets much more drunk as a result and eventually sets out for home, but he lies down on the ground to take a nap and sober up before he had gone very far. His uncle comes out to look for him, and when he finds him asleep on the ground, he decides to teach him a lesson by exchanging his halberd, his sword, and his cloak for a string of prayer beads, a straw hat, and a priest's robe. Further her shaves his head bold and cuts off Akutaro's precious beard. Then the uncle whispers into Akutao's ears that his name has changed to "Praise-to-the-almighty-Buddha" (南無阿弥陀仏 Namu Amida Butsu). The uncle goes back home, and after a while Akutaro wakes up believing that he has received an oracle from Buddha himself in a dream to change his name and become a priest. A real priest happens to come along the road, and Akutaro tells him the story, promising to become the priest's disciple and spend the rest of his life dedicated to serve Buddha. The priest is very reluctant to listen to Akutaro, but he is very persistent and keeps imitating the priest in every step. Eventually the priest can't hold himself anymore and breaks out in laughter. In the end they go out cheerfully singing Buddhist hymns together.

After the theater ended we went the way back to the station on foot, since there is a wonderful alley in 相模原 Sagamihara with cherry trees all along the sides. There were lights adjusted to the trees to illuminate them from the ground. And as you might know currently sakura (cherry blossoms) are in full flower in Japan clothing the whole of Japan in a dreamy and romantic touch of pink :).

魅蚊で御座る
mika de gozaru

冥想 Meditation

My Japanese friend 草柳さん Kusayanagi-san, which I got to know in the 天狼会 Tenroukai, asked me whether I would be interested in Meditation. I said I was and he told me of a temple in 品川 Shinagawa, 東京 Tokyo, which offers a guided Buddhist meditation for free. Apparently this is rather uncommon, since many temples will charge attendants between 1000 and 4000 Yen for attending a meditation.

高野山寺 Kouyasan Temple

So we agreed in meeting in front of this temple on a Saturday morning at 9:30 o'clock. The meditation is offered twice a month on Saturday morning. In case you want to give it a try, use Google Maps to look for the temple and follow the map from 品川駅 Shinagawa station.

Once we met we entered the main hall, took our shoes off and want to kind of lobby, before the inner sanctum, where black cushions on 畳 tatami mats were prepared for the meditators. A monk explained to the people, that those attending the meditation for the first time can wait in the lobby for a general introduction into meditation.

冥想導入 Introduction Into Meditation

The first thing he said, was that it is actually a bit ridiculous to give an introduction into meditation, since it is something everybody can do very naturally. Also that it is an individual thing and that we would need to explore our own way to do it.
Then he gave some general tips and guidelines like

"The meaning of meditation is not to suffer, so if our feet or something else hurts, there is no point in enduring it and suffering for the rest of the meditation."

"Forcing yourself is the wrong way. When you start forcing yourself you will actually cling more to the normal state of being, though you are trying so hard to get away from it."

"Meditation does neither require a temple nor a monk like me. You can and should do it where ever you are, at home, at work, at the train."

"Finally there are many ways how to meditate. You probably have heard at least of the 禅 Zen way of sitting in 坐禅 Zazen while not thinking of anything and just letting thoughts wander by unnoticed. Today however we will do a meditation originating from Tibet, where we focus our mind on a image. The image will be found in front of your seat and you can try and create it mentally while I speak. Think of it as a kind of visual mantra for your head."

After this explanation the monk went back to the room he came from and prepared for guiding the meditation. While he did that, Kusayanagi-san explained to me the meaing of the image, we were about to try and create in our mind. (We had already deplored our bags in the inner sanctum and had already seen the picture, the monk spoke of).

On the picture I could see a disc, in which's middle a flower blossomed. The flower had white leafs on the outside and was red and yellow in the inside. In the center of the flower a kind of opal green platform was standing. On the platform some kind of letter seemed to be dancing.

Now Kusayanagi-san explained that the disc represents the moon, and the letter is Sanskrit and means Goddess. He said meditating about an image like this, actually can be compared to summoning. At least in Tibet, where traditions and religion date far back into the history of humanity, this kind of meditation was used to summon the power of a goddess or other beings for enlightenment, guiding or help.

冥想 Meditation

The we seated ourselves on the black pillows and the monk started the guided meditation. He talked for almost one hour (as my perceived feeling of time) and between some point and another we meditated for 30 minutes.
I couldn't follow everything the monk said, because it is still hard for my to understand Japanese (btw I was the only foreigner attending), especially for such a long time and such difficult topics. What I could get is that he gently asked us to picture the moon in our mind. Now the tough thing he said was, we should gradually and slowly try to expand the moon and picture it in our mind in its real astronomical size. That our minds were not restricted like paper or computer screens, which allows us to actually picture a heavenly body like the moon in its full size. (Try it, it is really difficult!)
After a while he continued with the flower, which was growing on the moon. And yes you probably have guessed it already, he told us the secret that our mind is actually that powerful that it can both picture the moon and the flower on the moon both in their actual size, as impossible as it sounds.
Finally the goddess appeared on top of the flower. I didn't quite follow his explanation anymore at this point, but think the appearance of the goddess was left to the meditators, since it is very individual.

When I tried to meditate thousands of other thing came to my mind and I could not find myself at ease. And every time I could focus a little, my feet started to hurt so bad, that I shifted them, but then I had to start all over.
Now the funny part. Short before the meditation was over I gave up and relaxed. And just at this moment, all by itself, a flower started growing in my mind. I did not do anything and just watched as the flower, which was slightly different from the picture, was growing. A wooden platform was build in the center of the flower and someone was dancing on top. Red and yellow leaves were floating through the air, while this someone was dancing. Finally, when the people next to me were already standing up and leaving the room and the lights turned back on, I was seeing a huge moon.
I wanted to remain and seated and keep the picture in my mind, finally having found it, but that moment when I consciously tried to keep it and fend the noise of the people standing up off, the picture was gone as fast at it had appeared and left without a trace.

Temple Information

高野山 Kouyousan has an English version of its homepage here: http://www.koyasan.or.jp/english

An access map can be found here: http://www.koyasan.or.jp/english/visitors/access.html

And finally some information about the meditation group can be found here: http://www.koyasan.or.jp/english/visitors/taiken/ajikan.html

It was a really nice experience and I am eager to try it again!
mika

Arrested By The Police For Drug Dealing In Osaka

This weekend was full of crazy encounters.
After we slept the whole day after the disco, we decided to go to a game center Saturday night. There is a all you can play game center, in which you have unlimited credits, all kinds of cool video game machines and even pool and darts.

To give you an example of (Japanese) arcades:
You will find racing simulators, where you sit in a car with steering wheel and gas pedals,
you will find shooting games, where you carry and operate a plastic gun,
you will find dancing games, where you hop on a mat,
you will find fighting games, where you operate a mech,
you will find party games, where you have to push buttons reacting faster than your opponent,
you will find musical games, where you have to play drums, keyboard, guitar and other instruments,
well and pool, darts and many more.

So it was quite fun and we played until 2 am. On our way back we stumbled across a drawer. A nice and new looking piece of furniture. When we were just thinking of carrying it all the 30 min walk to the Youth Heim, since it was standing next to garbage. The owner came and told us we could take it.
So we did. And we walked for almost an hour through the sleeping and quiet city of Atusgi , carrying this drawers. People still awake were looking at us all the way. No furniture place has open 2 am, and why would 4 foreigners carry such a thing through the middle of the city. Probably they thought we were furniture burglars. Now furniture burglaring is a really ungrateful business. We had to carry it for almost an hour, and it was a real pain in the ass.

When we were almost there, we decided to make a brief stop at a Konbini, so we placed the drawer down and went for some refreshment. When we went out again we rested at the drawer. When suddenly a guy was intensely looking at us. He just got out of his cab and went to buy cigarettes at the Konbini. We laughed at his reaction to our drawer, when he finally got into the cab. But as soon as the cab started moving it stopped again and the guy looked out again at us. Then it drove on, but made a turn and came back. Finally the guy stepped out again and this time went right at us, shouting "Konban ha" (Good Evening).
I replied dutifully "Konban ha", a big mistake as we will soon see.
He asked me if I had any 麻薬 drugs and I did not understand at first what he meant, I only learned the word once back in school. Then he asked me for Marijuana and I replied that I don't have any. He didn't believe me, told us he was an officer from the Osaka criminal police department and started touching me, looking for drugs. I felt really uncomfortable and asked for his police badge. He looked for it, telling me that he has seen my face on a wanted picture in Osaka, and that I was a drug dealer. I replied I am innocent and have never dealt drugs in Osaka or whereever and (to myself) and you are drunk like hell old guy.
Eventually after my friends supported me in saying that I was a good guy, the police officer touched his balls and said "I have chicchai balls (tiny balls), you have okkii balls (giant balls)". I pretended not to understand him, to avoid going further in a conversation like this. Then he started touching me again, saying it's alright, he was probably mistaken and that I am a good guy after all. He touched me maybe for 5 times, then he touched Ryan and then he eventually left us alone, going back into the cab.

Damn I was really frightened. He really made the impression of being from the police, but he might have also been a drunk pervert or both. In the end, I guess I was really lucky to have been there with 3 friends, I don't know what would have happened otherwise.

So yes in the end I did not get arrested because of drug dealing, but it was close.
On the way home, the day was really crazy, we found a bike in the dumpster having a flat tire. So three of us continued carry the drawer, while Brian being without working bike, took it and we went home.

so be careful out there, and don't talk to drunken police officers
mika

節分 The Bean Throwing Festival

I had yet again the chance to participate in a very interesting and nice traditional Japanese festival originating in Shinto religion. But when I opened my apartment door on the morning of that day, all was white. For the first time, since my arrival in Atsugi snow has fallen and stayed on the ground. I rejoiced and looked forwards to going to the Shrine now even more.
If it wouldn't have been for the festival, I would have asked Hong Lun to build a snowman with me, but maybe we find time for that another day (the next day the snow was gone though).
However once I went back into my room, I found Emails in my mailbox from my friends complaining: "There is some strange white stuff out there, I will not go." "It is cold outside, I will not go" "Mika, the wheather is sooo bad, I don't want to go".
*sigh* Some people miss some dreaming here! For the first time (for us) snow has transformed grey clad Atsugi in a wonderful white new world. And that is what I replied, I did not tell them to go, but that I would even more look forward to go with all the snow! And so one by one they succumbed to their inner dreaming child and agreed to go! Thus five people started to the station and set course for the Jinja (shrine) in 伊勢原 Isehara, because it had a special event scheduled: The priests invited four famous Sumo Rikishi to participate in the religious practices. That seems normal in Japan, where the gap between priests and people seems not as deep as in Christianity.
日々他神社 Hibitajinja is quite high on a plateau rising up to mount 大山 Ooyama. Although we were the only ones in the bus, the shrine was really well visited.



Snow Snow! Real Snow!

節分 Setsubun





Hibita Shrine in Isehara

The Setsubun festival includes a lot of fun activities, which makes it especially attractive for children, but as elderly people told me at the festival: It is no less fun for grown ups.
In a first part beans seem to fulfill three purposed:

1. You eat as many beans, as you are years old.
2. You throw as many beans, as you are years old, at demon.
3. You throw as many beans, as you are old, in your room at home.

This is especially important and powerful if the current Chinese Zodiac year is a cycle year for you, that means the year has the same zodiac than your birth year (12 - 24 - 36 - 48 - ...).



this year is the year of the rat

It did not match any of our ages, but we did as described anyway. So after counting and eating beans:

1 ... 2 ... 3... 23

we waited for the demons. This is one of the central points of the festival. Before the demons appear a vast amount of Shinto priests would enter the inner sanctum of the shrine and start a prayer / ceremony. The first attraction was of course seeing Sumo Rikishi clothed in Shinto priest garments walking side by side with the priests looking like giants between ants. They entered the inner sanctum and joined the ceremony naturally.



Shinto priests



together with Sumo Rikishi





entering the shrine for prayer

The suddenly a big Gong was to be heard and from the temple emerged two hideous screaming creatures in bright colors. We started throwing beans at them, the traditional way to chase away demons from the temple, from our home, from our city and our hearts. So the demons fled in terror out of the temple and the people rejoiced.



The demons came



threatened us with clubs



and then disappointed and depressed that no one was scarred left the shrine



When it is cold, you make a fire



people anticipating ...



.. the coming of the priests and Sumo Rikishi



and they cameth and throweth tha beans



and tha golden coins unto tha people

We weren't sure if it was over by that, but the people stayed and eagerly stayed and starred at wooden stage, which started to fill with Shinto priests, the Sumo Rikishi and some of the wives or mothers. They would scream some phrases, hard to understand for me, and the people joined in. Then they started throwing things into the crowd. Little sacks with beans and something wrapped in white cloth. The sacks are probably the beans for your room at home, but what was inside the white cloth. I supposed a kind of お守り Omamori (a lucky charm) and tried to get one. Easier said then done, because the people no matter the aged jumped at those tiny white bags even if they would get all dirty or lie in the mud. Old ladies proofed our fiercest enemy, it was almost impossible to be faster quicker and more ruthless then they. But eventually we would also get hold of one, two or some even of three. Woo!

We made ready to leave, when we saw people lining up for something. Oh apparently you can trade your white bags for something else. Then we realized that the people all held small gold coins in their hands. So we opened the white bags and found the same kind of gold coins inside. They are called 小判 Koban (little gold coin). After waiting for a while, we saw people trading the 小判 for lottery papers. Oh so we could win something? When I got my two lots I realized that every lot is a winner. What a nice idea! No one looses. Once opened the lots contained all kind of useful prices from toilet paper to noodles and soy sauce. There was also a big price: A mountain bike.



Ryan,



Hong Lun,



Youngki,



Wendy,



and me taking lottery lots

I got のり Nori (the sea weed wrap for Sushi and Onogiri) and a flower. Wendy, our Chinese intern, furthermore gave me her 納豆 Natto (fermented soy beans). Nobody of us got the bike, but all got nice and useful stuff. Youngki even got beer and Hong Lun Sake.

And thus people returned to their homes ladden, like having been to a super market, but having had a great time with chasing demons and grabbing gold coins!

Practicing jumping and grabbing for next year
mika

寿司料理授業 Sushi Cooking Lessons

Instead Of todays Japanese lesson, we learned how to make 手綱寿司 Tadsuna Zushi and まんじゅう Manjuu.

For that we were lead to another building than usual, which hosted a big room, designed to teach cooking. 素晴らしい Wonderful!



Our group's teacher



Next to our teachers, we had high class Japanese cooks explain to us the recipe.

手綱寿司 Tadsuna Zushi

A little fact about the Japanese language. When a word is combined with another one, like above, the first sound often becomes soft. So the strong S in Sushi becomes the soft Z when combined with Tadsuna or other Sushi types like Maki Zushi.

材料 Ingredients

干し椎茸 dried Shiitake Japanese mushrooms
小松菜 Chinese cabbage
人参 carrot 1本
卵 egg ２ヶ

米 rice
酢 vinegar
醤油 soy sauce
しょうが ginger

作り方

米
Wash and cook some rice together with some 昆布 Konbu seaweed, if you can find some. Then put the rice in a large bowl and mix it with half a cup of vinegar. Stir the rice / vinegar for 2 minutes.

卵
Mix the two eggs with some sugar, some salt. Then make scrambled eggs.

干し椎茸
Put the musrooms in water and add some vegetable stock, sugar and soy sauce. Then when the mushrooms are dry and cold, cut them into stripes.

人参
Cut the carrot in thin stripes and put them into water. Add some sugar, salt vegetable stock and boil it for a short while.

小松菜
Put the Chinese cabbage into hot water and add some salt. Cook it until it gets a nice color then put it into cold water and out again. Then cut it into thin stripes.

Use a long wooden board and put your 巻きす (Makikisu the bamboo board for making Sushi, see picture) on top. Now put some with plastic wrap on top, which will make everything a bit easier.
Now make small lines of the prepared ingredients from left to right: 卵 egg, 人参 carrot, 椎茸 mushrooms , 小松菜 Chinese cabbage then start again with egg until you reached the end.
Now spread another plastic wrap and put some rice in. Warp and form the rice like a tube and make it as long as your line of ingredients on the 巻きす Makikisu. Open the wrap and put the rice on top of the ingredients.
Now wrap the combination with the plastic warp under the ingredients and use the 巻きす Makikisu to make it round and sticky. Be sure to give it a good consistency.
Finally use the sharpest knife you have, best is of course a Japanese 包丁 (kitchen knife), and cut the long tube into mouth fit pieces; then carefully remove the remaining wrap.



line them up



measure the rice tube's length



make the tube the right length



and use the 巻ききす to make it more stiff



Yatta! Your done. You can eat your 手綱寿司 Tadsuna Zushi with some ginger and 醤油 Shouyu soy sauce.

Note:
(Usually the line on the 巻きす board starts with 海老 Ebi Shrimps. So if you want, you can get some Ebi and add it before 卵 egg. And more traditional than vegetable stock is 出汁 Dashi fish stock).



My friend Noppon



Yay for vegetarian Sushi



Juan's Sushi turned out a bit ugly

Ho! but now we want a nice desert, don't we! So let's make some Manjuu!

利休 まんじゅう Rikyuu Manjuu

材料 Ingredients

黒糖 black sugar 100g
上白糖 first class sugar 35g
水飴 starch syrup 20g
水 water 65g
重曹 baking soda 4g
薄力粉 (ふるう) wheat flour (low viscosity) 200g
餡子 Anko sweet bean jam/paste 25g

道具 Tools

steam pot
frying pan

作り方

Prepare a frying pan and fry the black sugar a little. Now add the white sugar, the starch syrup and the water and fry it on a weak flame until you have a black solution.

Prepare a bowl and put the solution and the flour together with the soda inside (using a sieve if you have one) and mix it really well. Put in a tiny bit of water, if it doesn't work out.

Now form around 12 little balls out of the dough. Using flour on your hands makes it easier to form. Then take a ball and make it flat, put a round ball of 餡子 Anko inside and slow and carefully wrap the dough around until it encloses the 餡子 Anko completely.

Now you need a steam cook pot with two stages. Put water in the first stage and make it boil, then put the まんじゅう Manjuu with a tiny piece of paper into the second stage and put the second stage on top of the first stage and close the lid. Now let it steam/cook for 10 minutes and they are done.



Our two Colombian guys starting from the left Giovanni and Juan



Don't add soap!

Yatta! Oishii! (Delicious!)



Our self made dinner: Sushi and Manjuu (mine is the bottom left corner)

Tips:
If you don't have a steam cook pot, don't worry. You don't need to be Mac Gyver to create tools. E.g. try to use a normal pot with some water and put a sieve in it. If it doesn't fit, fix it with paper clips.



a two level steam cooking pot





super kawaii bonus pictures! (the child of one of the Japanese students)