Oshare Farm Style

I don't know if it's all that common anymore but farm women in Japan during the War era often wore "monpei," or large baggy pants to work in the fields. Even though it's 2011, I was also expected to wear monpei to work every day:


Sometimes when we were working in the fields we also wore these stylish bonnet things. Even though we looked like old people, they were pretty good about keeping the sun off our faces. There was also the option to wear arm sleeves. Mine were a little too small so I opted not to wear them. Who wants a band of tan around their upper arm anyway???

ジャンボ & 送別会 (Jumbo and Going Away Party)

On my last Sunday in Japan, Mayuka and I went to "Jumbo," a restaurant known for it's HUGE okonomiyaki and yaki soba:



The okonomiyaki wasn't as jumbo as I expected but it was still big and delicious~ Even though we got regular size yaki soba it was bigger than the jumbo okonomiyaki. I wanna know what the jumbo yaki soba looks like. It probably takes up the whole grill.

Afterward, I headed north to Kitayama Dori to visit my okaasan one last time before leaving. She owns a cafe and some friends and I were treated to her delicious cakes :)

Finally, I enjoyed one last Japanese parfait at Karafunea. I love that place. I'm leaving on Tuesday and it's sad but at least I can spend the fourth at home with family.

More Images of Ohara

Here are some pictures I took while working at Ohara Kobo, a weaving and dyeing shop/ farm in Ohara, Japan.

Loom with Shuttle and Scarf

The Dye Shed

The Shop/ Showroom

After Harvesting Onions

The Workspace

Images of Ohara

Recently I've moved from Kyoto to Ohara since my study abroad program ended. I'm working at a place called Ohara Kobo, an organic dyeing and weaving shop. The shop owns a lot of land where they farm organically and I'm doing a lot of work to grow veggies and plants used in the dyeing process. Right now we're laying down manure fertilizer and transplanting ai, or indigo, into the field.

The job is a lot of physical labor and every day is exhausting. We work from around 8am to 7 or 8pm every day with one day off a week.

I'm living above a local restaurant owned by the shop owner's daughter's family. Last week they had me working in the shop one day as a waitress with one of the shop's apprentices. Together me and the other girl made 80 onigiri rice balls and then served a group of around 40 Japanese people who all belong to an English conversation class.

It turned out that the class was being taught by a woman named Venetia who has a gardening show on NHK. I'd never heard of her before but my host mom says she knows her.

Speaking of my host parents, I've seen my host dad around occasionally. I saw him in Ohara the other day while I was working in the fields. He often rides his bike from the house to Ohara and back and he happened to pass by us and we chatted a bit. I saw him again today near school. So funny. Today I'm just gonna chill out and enjoy my day off :D

Japanese Beach BBQ

On Monday I took the train to Kobe for a BBQ with my friends:

We did yakiniku and grilled meat and fish and veggies. There was also watermelon and marshmallows for dessert ~ To find out who could eat the last watermelon we had a seed spitting contest^ haha

Since the BBQ place was right next to the beach we spent the afternoon playing badminton and frisbee. Some pictures my friends took:

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 :)