Bunkasai: A Blend of Music, Art, Culture, Student work and Memories

This past weekend my junior high school had 文化祭, or Culture Day. It was an all-day event with so many things to see around the entire school :) The students and teachers put in countless hours of practice, preparation and planning to ensure that it would be memorable and impressive. Many of the teachers didn't leave until midnight the night before to see that final preparations were finished- lots of dedication right there!

The musical program was held inside the gym and the entire program was done twice- once for the students and a second time for the parents because there was not enough room for all the students and the parents to watch at once. The brass band played various pieces and although I have never been a huge fan of band concerts, I was blown away by the numbers that the students played. Everyone was in sync and there was even a short skit performed by a few of the 3rd year students. Some also had solos and spotlights (directed by students as well) were shown on them when they stood up halfway through the piece to do their solo. After the brass band finished, the 1st and 2nd place winners from each grade level from 音コン (held earlier this week) sang their class song.

音コン is a singing competition where every homeroom sang two songs: the song that their grade level sang and another song that was only done by their homeroom. They were judged based on on numerous criteria and the winners were announced at the end of each grade level. The 1st and 2nd place winners of each grade level went on to sing at Culture Day. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. I have never participated in a singing contest before while I was at school so it was very memorable and exciting to watch :)

The PTA chorus comprised of a handful of mothers had their stage time as well when they sang a few songs and the teachers went onstage to sing the last song with them as a surprise. The students definitely got a kick out of that and really enjoyed seeing their teachers singing :) A play was put on by many of the 3rd year students and their theme for this year was "peace" to coincide with their class trip to Nagasaki. The costumes, stage props and dialogue only added to their spectacular acting. The play was well balanced with humorous lines as well as more serious, somber tones and emotions. It was so much fun to see a different side of the students that I have never seen before :]

 Many classrooms displayed a variety of work that the students had done earlier during the school year as well as during summer vacation.

Newspaper article that the 2 年students created during summer vacation

Drawings of famous people done by 1年 students

Self-portraits by the 3年 students

Cups and memory books made by the 3年 students during and after their trip to Nagasaki

Tsuru made for the play and a school-wide effort. Everyone helped! :) 

Handmade by some of the PTA mothers. I wanted to eat them!! :]

Just one of the many amazing things made by the Home Economics club

Made purely out of colored sand on sticky paper by the art club. I'm left speechless every time I see it. 

A long, but memorable, fun and exciting-filled day! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend :)

Kobe Harbor Land and Nagata Shrine: A Glimpse into Modern Day and Traditional Japan

Happy Monday everyone!

I went for some retail therapy this two weekends ago at Umie, a large shopping complex which is located on the waterfront (did I mention that there's a store that sells everything Studio Ghibli? ^^). I posted night pictures of Harbor Land previously and because I was there again, wanted to take a few daytime pictures.

Because  a truck sticking out of a restaurant is not something you see everyday :]

Apparently Japan is pretty big on Halloween- they have so many decorations in their stores and outside as well! 

There's a boat that can take you around the area on a cruise just to the left of Kobe Port Tower

Attempted to make a panorama picture on Power Point because I don't have one of those panorama makers >.<; 

This weekend, I wanted to explore a different side of Kobe and ended up going to Nagata Shrine in Nagatajinja-mae. It is a Shinto shrine that enshrines a deity named "Kotoshironushi-no-Ohkami" who is famous for successful and flourishing businesses and industries. It has a lot of history as it celebrated its 1800th anniversary in 2001! It is also said that prayers for recovering from diseases would be answered here. This was the first shrine that I visited since coming to Japan so it was very special and meaningful for me. 

Walking towards the shrine after getting through the main entrance

It was quite an impressive sight to see the shrine with the trees behind it. There weren't many people visiting the shrine while I was there so it was very quiet (aside from a Sports Day event going on at a nearby school)

There were many smaller shrines that were placed around the main shrine. People would go to every shrine and pray there as well.

Many people write wishes and prayers on wooden tablets or plaques called 絵馬 (ema). They write their names and wishes on the backside of the tablets  which are hung up in hopes that the deity will answer it. 

Many paper cranes were displayed at the shrine--both old and new. It was interesting to see the contrast of the old, faded tsuru to the bright colors of the newer ones. 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! :) 

Elementary Sports Day

Happy almost-Friday~! :)

I hope everyone's week has been going well so far! Last weekend, I was able to attend the Sports Day for one of my elementary schools and was able to get pictures of the games and activities that they did! It was White vs. Red and needless to say, the entire day was filled with lots of excitement. None of the pictures here will show faces for privacy reasons, but I hope you all enjoy the pictures :) Their Sports Day was not as die-hard competitive as my middle school's one, but it was still so much fun to experience!

The students sat in their chairs around the field while guests sat underneath the white tents.

Standing in straight, uniformed lines before the opening ceremony

The cutest ninja's I will ever see in my life :) 

Jump rope routine with the 4th graders

They made riding a unicycle look incredibly easy. TT.TT

Fancy hula hoop waves :) 

Kibasen: the insanely competitive game where one student tries to grab the hats off each other teams while being held up by their teammates

Relay race between white and red team to roll huge rubber balls around the field first and carry it onto the stand

Tug-of-war! :)

Another relay race where the students had to roll the large rubber balls around a flag and back to their waiting team members 

Best for last: Kumitaisou~ :) 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! If you are ever in Japan and have the opportunity, please attend a Sports Day! It is truly an amazing and wonderful experience :) Thank you so much for reading!

Update: Sports Day and Nankimachi Festival

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Last week and this past weekend was quite busy so I apologize for a lack of posts. I'll try and squeeze in what I can into this post! This past Saturday was the ever so famous Sports Day for many middle schools. We may have Field Day back home, but Sports Day is in an entirely different category.

Sports Day is called 体育会 (taiikukai) for middle schools and it is usually held on a Saturday or Sunday in Japanese schools. Two or three weeks prior to this eventful day, the students and teachers put in many long, hard-working hours into practicing, rehearsing, creating formations, and much more to perfect what they would like to show their parents. The students at my school had been tirelessly practicing multiple times throughout the days and I was always in awe just to witness the amount of hard work that everyone put in.

The day typically starts off with an opening ceremony where all the students parade in, usually by year and class. Each class at my school had a banner that they made themselves and this was carried by a student as the class marched around the track. The principal gave a short speech and then the games began! The students were divided up into teams by various colors such as purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red and/or by year. There were many relay races and all the teachers participated in it as well! One of the most popular games was "kibasen" where three students held up a fourth student who fought with other teams to see who could grab the hat off the other person first.

Another popular event was 組体操 (kumitaisou) where the male students did a variety of human formations. From balancing on someone's shoulder with their arms out to handstands to human towers and pyramids, these boys did it all in the hot afternoon sun without any complaints. It was truly an amazing experience. The girls had their turn in the spotlight as well with a dance number where they were perfectly synchronized and another number where they used colored scarves to create a rippling, color wave that left the audience and myself breathless. The entire day was one that I will never forget. The countless hours of practices, rehearsals and reviews certainly paid off :) I was so proud of them all.


There was also a festival in Nankimachi this past weekend and I was able to snap a good number of photos from the day. They had a traditional lion dance piece as well as a short play and a large dragon-like puppet throughout the day. I wanted to capture not only the events that occurred, but also the number of people that flooded the streets to soak in the culture, taste the food and leave with a memorable experience.

I think that man made the little boy's day :) 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)

Sushi Fridays

This Friday was my friend's birthday so we all went out to Kurazushi for dinner and each plate was 105 yen. It was 回転寿司 (kaiten-zushi) where you can pick and choose the sushi that you want as it moves along a conveyor belt. It was fun to watch the mass variety of sushi moving along and hurrying to take the plate off before it was too late :] Everyone saved the amount of plates they ate and the birthday girl easily beat us all with 12 plates finished =]

Many of the Kobe JETs often meet up every weekend somewhere in Sannomiya and after the birthday girl's dinner, we headed out into Sannomiya and bumped into a group of them and it was a perfect picture opportunity :)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

First Week in a Blur

Happy Friday or Saturday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week :) This first week of teaching at my elementary and middle schools has been so much fun and I was able to meet many students. Some were shy and quiet, others were loud and mischievous and then there were the students that would start talking in English with me as soon as they saw me. Definitely a variety of students that I look forward to teaching for awhile :)

The students and teachers have continued to amaze me on a daily basis. On my first day, the school had a welcoming ceremony and all the students sat in perfectly straight rows in the gym with their hands clasped around their knees and heads bowed down in total silence. If a needle had dropped to the floor, I would have heard it. I asked the vice principal why they did this, and she explained that it's a practice called 黙想 （もくそう）which helps the students concentrate and focus on what needs to be done.

Every day, the students clean the school at a specific time for 15-20 minutes. Every student has an area that they are responsible for such as sweeping a hallway, washing the sink, wiping tables, etc. The teachers participate in this as well and I was put in charge of sweeping the area outside of the teacher's room. It's a good way to talk with the students and to see what they can be like outside of the classroom.

My 2nd year OTE showed me some of the work that her students had finished during their summer break for homework and I was so impressed with it :) Their homework was to introduce their town to me since she told them that I was new to Japan and that it would be nice to have suggestions of places to visit. The sign alone was adorable~ ^^

Did I mention that their artwork was amazing? I wish I could draw like them~!!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

Everything Ghibli :)

So sorry it's been awhile! I just finished up my second day at my junior high school, but that'll be for the end of the week :)

This post is coming a little late, but I couldn't resist putting it up! After one of our long days at the KEC, a few friends and I stayed around the mall area and stumbled upon a store that had EVERYTHING GHIBLI. Everywhere I looked I could see pens, keychains, towels, stickers, shower curtains, figurines, etc. that were all related to characters and movies from Studio Ghibli. My good friend in college had the entire DVD set and let me borrow it for a few months and to be honest, I don't remember how many times I watched the movies. I definitely owe him one.

I have a soft spot for Kiki's Delivery Service because it was the first Studio Ghibli movie that I ever watched :) The store had a large section of hand/face towels for Jiji from the movie and I promised myself that I would buy one the next time I came back ^^ I'm not a huge fan of cats, but Jiji is an exception.

And a Studio Ghibli store wouldn't be complete without some Totoro merchandise!! Given that he's pretty much the logo of the company, I think he's kind of important :) Definitely going to be buying some omiyage from this store for my friend back home in Hawaii!! Gotta love Japan and all the cute stuff that you can find here ^^

I even bought a small rug from Daiei that has Totoro and the cat bus ^^ (sorry! I don't know it's name :/ )

That's it for now! Thank you so much for reading :) Do you have any favorite Studio Ghibli movies or characters?