Maiko Henshin

On Saturday Martin, Debbie and I went to Gion to do maiko and samurai henshin, where you can pay people to dress you up like a maiko. Even white people can do this although it looks silly (see below).

For the girls, first we got dressed in these white robes and then they told us to go upstairs to get our makeup done. They put loads of white paint and powder on our faces and then began work on our eyes. They outlined the edges of the eyes in red and painted our upper lids black.

After the make up, which took about 20 minutes, was finished, we went to get dressed. The henshin place where we went had loads of kimono to choose from. Debbie went first and chose pink, so I chose red. After taking five minutes to dress us in our chosen kimono and obi, they put a wig on our heads. The wigs were really tight and heavy but from far away they looked like they could be real hair.

There was also a "half wig" option that we could have chosen for an extra price where they take your real hair and sort of meld it with the wig in the back so that things look more natural. For those white people that don't have black hair, they take the front part of your hair and paint it black. We chose the full wig option because it was cheaper.

When we were ready they took us into a room to have our photos taken. We couldn't go outside because it was pouring (and I think that costs extra anyways). Photos took all of five minutes each and then we were given free time to take photos on our own camera:

It was fun. I would do it again if I felt like paying the money.

After henshin we went out for lunch and it didn't stop pouring until early evening. I went out to Hub with Mayuka and three of her friends that she hadn't seen since middle school.

Tonight, Sunday, is the last night at my homestay. There's nothing special planned but still it's sad :(

Farewell Party

Images from Friday's AKP Farewell Party:

Julia and Martin playing taiko with their taiko group

Half of our Japanese class and Imao sensei !! <3

Smith Girls :)

Koto

Since December I've been practicing the koto and on Friday at the AKP Farewell Party I was finally able to show off my skills. Here's some pics of practice and my sensei:

Jessica played shamisen

This is in Okada sensei's house where she teaches lessons

We played "Hana Goro" at the party

Joshi kai and Sanzenin

Friday was the last day of classes for my junior year of college. Final exams start next week. To celebrate everything, Hubbard sensei, our AKP Resident Director, held a pizza party at her house.

Following that, I went to my first ever 女子会 (joshi kai), or girls night out:

Today, Saturday, I went to Ohara to meet up with the people I'm gonna spend the next two months interning for. Ohara is a beautiful place north of Kyoto in the mountains. I'm going to be working on an organic farm and learning about organic cloth dying and weaving. I get to stay there too and I'll be living in a house with a girl around my age who's living in Ohara for about three or four years in order to learn the dying/ weaving trade.

The people I'll be working for are very interesting and different from most Japanese people I've met. They're super genki (full of energy) and welcomed me right away. I think my work will be hard but ultimately fulfilling.

The owner had her young apprentice show me around the town a bit and so we stopped by the famous Sanzenin temple:

Some of Ohara and its surrounding mountains.

Shamisen and Koto Performance

On Sunday I went to a shamisen and koto performance put on by my koto teacher. Jessica was playing two songs on shamisen and so I went to see her in the first half. Even though the koto is beautiful, to be truthful I don't really like the sound of the shamisen or the sound of Japanese traditional music in general. At one point four young girls in their twenties maybe came out to perform koto and did a more recent song which was beautiful. I'll upload some of it later.

Maruyama Park

Saturday I finally went with my friends to Maruyama Koen, a park famous for its cherry trees. We did hanami and Mayuka made us a bento lunch:

Maruyama koen is known for being extremely crowded during the cherry blossom viewing season and so there were blue tarps spread out anywhere with hardly any space to even walk. Furthermore, since it is the beginning of the semester many school clubs and circles claim a spot to both do hanami and new student introductions. Later in the night (and even during the afternoon/ late morning) things can get rowdy when the sake is brought out. We saw many circles setting up their areas for late night revels by carting boxes and boxes of alcohol to over to their tarp.

In the late afternoon, Mayuka and I went for parfaits at a local shop in Gion. We wanted to go to a place famous for its green tea ice cream but the line was incredibly long due to the masses of people who are in Kyoto for hanami.

Anyway, it was good we went to the restaurant we did because I was able to see a Maiko up close. She sat down at the table next to us with her older man companion and they both ordered strawberry parfaits. It was weird that she was at the not-famous shop. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture :(

A view of the Takano River from a bridge near my house

Sakura

Cooking Party and Cherry Blossoms

This week was my Japanese cooking class's 太い手 (futoite) cooking party. The name, Futoite means "fat hand" in Japanese but also hints at what we made: futomakuzushi, inarizushi, and temakizushi. All of those are kinds of sushi.

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DUKU!

Here's 1/3 of our class project for the annual AKP Happyokai. It tells The classic tale of Duke the dog and his loving owner as told in terrible Japanese dialogue.

This is based off a short story, "Duke," that we read in Japanese class about a girl whose dog dies and then she meets a boy who may or may not be Duke reincarnated and they go on dates and then make out.