Sunday, February 23, 2014

Naked Man Festival, 2014

This past weekend, 2/18-19/2014, several other ALTs and myself took part in the Eyo (会陽), a festival held at Saidaiji in Okayama, Japan. This festival is more lovingly referred to as the Naked festival. To us, it is known as Naked Man.

The festival dates back to the 16th century. The festival's main tradition is to determine the year's luckiest man. This is done by tossing the shingi (宝木), a bundle of protective talismans, to an awaiting throng of men. The one who grabs hold of it and leaves the temple is said to achieve great luck. According to descriptions online, the traditions haven't changed much. Over a thousand people flock to this festival every year to try and risk their health, and sometimes lives, to grab at these lucky sticks. It's a sweaty, exciting, drunken, hazy, cold event that only a few can walk away from proudly. Fortunately, they allow foreigners to compete in it, as well. 


The reason we call it Naked Man is because only men can participate, entering the grounds and huddling atop the pedestal into which the priests hurl the shingi. Men are clad in fundoshi, a single roll of white linen cloth that is used to wrap up ones dangly bits and protect us from being completely naked, and tabi, Japanese toed sandals. No drinking and no tattoos are allowed. Funnily, most men are drunk, and some can be seen wearing skin-toned tape (likely to conceal tattoos). Apparently, a group of women run through the temple grounds before the men do, playing the Japanese taiko and announcing that the event is to start. 

Unfortunately, I didn't walk away with it this year, but one of the members of our group, the man who organized it from Okayama AJET, touched it. His hands smelled of victory and honor. What a glorious day! All I walked away with were bruises and stomped toes. At least I didn't lose anything. 

For those inclined to know more about it, here's a song about it.

And some pictures:




Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Translation: J-Pop songs (part 1)

This May will be the 45th JETNET event, the International Arts Festival. I was part of several performance groups, one of them being a group of us ALTs that translated some J-Pop tunes into English and performed them. Last year, we played  ヒカリヘ (Hikari e) by Miwa, Shine by Reo Irie, and Cherry by Spitz. I have signed up for another year to perform with the group, and this year we've got some good tunes to play: Follow Me by e-girls, 果てない空 (Endless Sky) by Arashi, and 恋するフォーチュンクッキー (Lovely Fortune Cookie) by AKB48. Now, I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of J-Pop, but I think these songs are known well enough by the audience that they'll have a good time.

Anyway, I've started translating some of them with the hopes of being done by May. I hope to post them here for everyone's viewing. They are by no means perfect, and they aren't final, but they're my takes on these songs. 

First up is "Follow Me" by the the e-girls. The group is a female spin-off of EXILE, meaning they have singers and dancers in their live performances. This song was their 3rd single, released in 2012. It's pretty fun, and very poppy.

高いビルの                                                                          Together, you and me
展望台のぼって                                                                 Climbing to the top of this tower
君と ふたり                                                                          Where we can see it all
(We can fly Don’t you think so? Hey)                   (We can fly Don’t you think so? Hey)


広い空と                                                                             From up here the city
小さく見える街                                                                  And open sky above surround us
ドキドキ しちゃう                                                                The view takes my breath away
(I don’t know why my heartbeat is too fast)    (I don’t know why my heartbeat is too fast)


これから始まってゆく                                                        Everything is only just beginning
私と君の未来図                                                                A picture of our future is unfolding
心躍ることぜんぶ                                                             All this excitement my heart just can't take it
大好き                                                                                 I love it!


Fly So High                                                                     Fly so high        
Follow Me! Follow Me!                                              Follow Me! Follow Me!
Follow Me! Follow Me! Baby                                   Follow Me! Follow Me! Baby
両手を広げて                                                                    Open your hands, spread your arms 

Fly So High                                                                     Fly So High 
Lucky Me! Lucky Me!                                                Lucky Me! Lucky Me! 
Never Be Unhappy Baby                                          Never Be Unhappy Baby
このまま飛べそう                                                               I feel like I can fly so high 

君と出会って                                                                    On the day that we first met
はじめて                                                                            You made me feel
自由になれた気がするよ                                               So free for the very first time in my life
You Just Follow Me                                                   You Just Follow Me

ひとりじゃない                                                                  I know that you're with me
そう分かっているから                                                      And I'll never, ever be alone
走り出せる                                                                        Running on my own two feet
(I’m not living If you’re not by my side)          (I’m not living If you’re not by my side)

転びそうな                                                                       The moment I stumble
瞬間 心を                                                                         I know that you'll be there, yeah
止めてくれる                                                                    To make my heart stop
(Watchin’ me over and catchin’ my heart)     (Watchin’ me over and catchin’ my heart)

笑ってると気付かないの                                               I’m right here laughing,  you don’t even notice
スルーしてくアクシデント                                             This train wreck of an accident in progress
時にちょっと曇っても                                                     Don’t worry  ‘cuz the skies sometimes get cloudy
大丈夫                                                                            Don't worry

Fly So High                                                                  Fly so high        
Follow Me! Follow Me!                                           Follow Me! Follow Me!
Follow Me! Follow Me! Baby                                Follow Me! Follow Me! Baby
どこまで行けるか                                                           How far can we go down this road

Fly So High                                                                  Fly So High 
Lucky Me! Lucky Me!                                             Lucky Me! Lucky Me! 
Never Be Unhappy Baby                                      Never Be Unhappy Baby
試してみようよ                                                               Come on, let's try, Yeah, you and me 

強がってても                                                                 No matter how tough you act
本当は                                                                           In front of me
涙隠してる私に                                                            I just can’t help but hide these tears away from you
You Just Follow Me                                               You Just Follow Me

A poem about Yoshino

When I first arrived in Yoshino, I was given a book called 「よしのよく見よ」"Take a Good Look at Yoshino". It is a picture book about Yoshino, featuring poems and stories about the town. It urges the reader to say the poems out loud, so that the town's children may become more familiar with their home's rich history and poetic landscapes.

The title of the book is based off a poem about Yoshino found in the Ma'nyoshu, Japan's oldest existing anthology of Japanese poetry. It was supposedly composed by the Emperor Tenmu during a visit to Yoshino. The poem is introduced with a bit of prose:

On Mimiga Peak

In beautiful Yoshino
Without stopping,
The snow falls. 
Without ceasing, 
The rain falls. 
Just as the snow
Never seems to stop,
Just as the rain 
Never seems to cease,
So too was I lost in thought
About the mountain road
Along every turn of the way

Original:

み吉野の
耳我(みみが)の嶺(みね)に
時なくぞ
雪は降りける。
間なくぞ、        
雨は降りける。
その雪の            
時なきがごと、
その雨の            
時なきがごとく、
隈(くま)も落ちず            
思ひつつぞ来し、
その山道を            

The poem then follows:

As men of virtue
Once said - "Look well, look with luck
Upon Yoshino",
We too, of virtuous future,
Must behold good Yoshino

Original:
よき人の
よしとよくみて
よしといいし
吉野よく見よ
よき人よく見

This poem is playful, using the same sounds よし and よき multiple times. It was rather difficult to translate precisely because of this. I took them to mean good, virtue, and luck, as perhaps the author wrote this piece about Yoshino in praise of it's goodness.

Sources:
「よしのよく見よ」上野誠  "Take a Good Look at Yoshino" Makoto Ueno
「宮瀧」宮瀧遺跡顕彰会 ""Miyataki" Miyataki Historic Ruins Honor Display Society

First Market, 2014

Today was Yoshino's 初市 (hatsu ichi), or the first market of the New Year according to the old calendar. It was held in Kamiichi, the region near the Kintetsu Kamiichi station. The street was lined with vendors selling foods and various games for children, like raffles to win video games. The market ended at the Kamiichi Ebisu shrine, where music was being played and two young women dressed in the white and red robes of shinto shrines stood around happily. It was a very pleasant experience, especially as I was able to see a lot of my students, their parents, drink sake out of a bamboo pole being heated by a fire, and help pound some mochi. Also, I got to walk around town dressed as Pinkle, Yoshino's town mascot.

今日は吉野町の初市だった。大和上市駅の周辺で、道に食べ物とゲームの屋台が並んでいた。上市蛭子神社まで続き、そこでにこやかにたっている2人の巫女さんがいた。とても楽しいイベントだった。普段学校でしか会えない生徒たちとしゃべってたり、食べ物を食べたり、炎で暖めた竹から注がれたお酒を飲んだり、お餅をついたりしたからだ。しかも、一瞬ピンクルの格好をつけて、歩いてた。アー、楽しかった。

Friday, February 7, 2014

Another new beginning

I've got to admit, I've hit a slump. I come home from work. I go on the internet and dilly dally. I've played some games. I watch some TV. I eat. I Skype. I sleep. I've come to the realization that I have lost a lot of the productivity that I once had when I was a student. I don't want to lose it. I want to rediscover it. I've got to do something. It's been a year and half, and I haven't contributed much to this world for awhile.

I've started and stopped a bunch of different stuff. Tried coding. Tried reading. Tried studying Japanese. Tried piano. I've got to find something I can stick to for awhile and commit to. I think if I start using this blog, it might help me sort things out and provide an outlet for me to talk about and discuss what I've done, thereby making it available for others to access, and thus laying accountability on a third, albeit anonymous, party. It is with this, that I pledge to post here weekly. This could be a good New Year's resolution.


Here's to hoping for some consistency.


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Moon-viewing with the Goons

Today I attended the staff meeting hoping that I could put in my two cents in support of having an English speech contest at Yoshino Junior High School during the school's Culture Festival. However, it turns out that such an endeavor would be only self-servicing, as in only individual students would benefit from their hard work. This was not really in line with the motives of the event, namely to have the students and their clubs shine through teamwork, primarily via the acapella competition. It got me thinking about why I wanted to hold the competition, and I suppose it could wait for another time. I've still got the rest of this contract year to think about it. Meanwhile, Mrs. Okada (the Japanese Teacher of English, or JTE, I work with at Yoshino JHS) and I will think of something for the students to produce and display at the event.

Afterwards, I came home and threw together a quick stir-fry and headed over to Claire's. There, we Goons (the nickname for the ALTs in the Yoshino-gun, or district) plus Michelle's Polish male friend ate, chatted (mostly about Polish swear words), and chilled. It's great having everyone back together again. Everyone was so over the place during the summer.

Afterwards, we headed to the nearest convenience store, grabbed snacks and made our way to this tiny bridge in Oyodo spanning the Yoshino River. The water level wasn't as high as it was during the typhoon, but the current was still pretty fast. We tried holding our breath and walking the length of the bridge, as in Spirited Away,
Source: http://www.animegalleries.net/
and I was the only person to make it half-way across. 

Here we are hanging out.



Time to study some translating and interpreting!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Before and After

On September 15, 2013, Tropical Storm Man-yi, or Typhoon 18, ravaged many parts of Japan. One of the most heavily rained on areas was actually the Kinki Region, which Nara Prefecture is a part of. The Yoshino River, which passes through my town, was full to the brim. It didn't overflow in my area, but did a little further west in Gojo, Nara.

The picture to the right was taken when I first arrived last year. This is what the water level looks like more or less on a day to day basis.

The picture on the bottom right was taken today, and shows the water level a few days after it's peak, which is still ridiculously high. I'd say it was about 2-3 meters away from the road at it's highest.