Rakugo at Utsunomiya Kyowa Univ.

A few weeks ago, I attended open lectures in Utsunomiya Kyowa University and had a lecture of Rakugo with my family.

Rakugo is a Japanese verbal entertainment. A lone storyteller tells a long and complicated comical story.
A Rakugo storyteller who usually remains seated uses words and facial expressions to portray various characters.In the lecture, firstly the teacher whose stage name is Rakki Tei Sanda explained what Rakugo is all about, the history of Rakugo, how to speak Rakugo stories and how to become a good story teller in English.

Then, we students were asked to memorize a short comical story from the text and perform Rakugo in front of the audience.

It was a really tough job, but very interesting. We enjoyed it very much.

Beijing 2008 Olympics

Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games have been over.
I really enjoyed watching the games: swimming, judo, wrestling and 100m/200m dash are the most exciting competitions for me.
Japan got fewer medals than those of four years ago in Athens, but their performances moved me very much.
Thanks all the athletes for showing us wonderful games!

Staying in Shimane in Obon Period

We went back to my hometown Shimane prefecture with my family last week in Obon.

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the deceased spirits of our ancestors.

It is believed that these spirits return to their families during the period.

People return to ancestral family places and clean their ancestors' graves and make offerings of flowers and incense.

I went to my father's grave and made offerings, too.

To tell the truth, meeting with my family living in Shimane is more fun for me than religious ceremonies.

My mother is now 83 years old.
She can't walk easily now but always welcomes our visit. We stayed just three nights there and came back here before the traffic becoming crazy crowded.

I really enjoyed visiting Shimane again.

Burning wood in the pan is called Mukaebi or welcoming fire. It is said that the fire illuminates the way to the home for the ancestors’ spirits.

Leaving Utsunomiya for Shimane

Few hours later from now, I leave Utsunomiya for Shimane where I was born, with my family on summer vacation. We have only five days common holidays this year.
Shimane is about 1,000 km away from Utsunomiya. It’ll become a very hectic travel, but I’m excited to be able to meet my family living in Shimane and visit where I was born.

During the vacation, our bunny rabbit Nobi stays in my daughter’s friend’s home. Nobi wears a flower of morning glory that bloomed in our balcony.

Summer Festival: Miya matsuri

We had Miyamatsuri summer festival in Utsunomiya today and yesterday. I went to the festival with Rina. She holds an apple candy. Apple candies are sold especially in summer festival. To make a candy, they use a whole apple putting candy source on it.
It’s really yummy.