Towards the end of Nawang and Rigo's trip to Japan we took the train down to Ikumi beach in the little town of Toyo.  Ikumi beach is located 2-hours south of Tokushima City near the Tokushima/Kochi prefecture border and is popular for being a world class surfing beach.  Shikoku Island is home to some of Japan's best surf.  In 1997 Ikumi beach hosted the Tokushima Pro Surfing World Championships.  Our trip to Ikumi was for the sole purpose to take a surf lesson, a first for all of us.  When we arrived on Thursday afternoon, it was raining unfortunately and the surf school instructor said no lessons were being provided, so we had to wait until the next day.  The next morning, we checked-in for a private lesson, including board rentals, and then hit the waves - literally.  Simply making it out into the waters was challenging at Ikumi beach as the waves can be so strong that it can knock you back as you try to make your way out!  In short, surfing was incredibly challenging but worth the trip!...  by the end of the experience, we were all making our way through barrels with ease!    This being the last blog about Nawang and Rigo's trip to Japan, let me say thanks again for making the trip, it was definitely great times!!  See ya in Cali someday!!

 

 

Continuing on about Nawang and Rigo's Excellent Adventures in Japan...  another highlight of our action packed 2-weeks together included a rafting trip with the Happy Raft company down the clear waters and challenging rapids of the Yoshinogawa River.  The Yoshinogawa is the second longest river on Shikoku Island, it's 194 km long and spans across all four prefectures on the Island.  It is regarded as one of the three greatest rivers of Japan along with the Tone and the Chikugo, and is nicknamed Shikoku Saburō (Saburō is a popular name given to third sons in Japan).  After the last night of the Awa Odori Festival, we set off at 11 A.M. Sunday morning to the small town of  Iwahara, Ootoyo-cho located in the middle of Shikoku Island.  Happy Raft has many adventure options including, One-Day rafting, Canyoning and combinations of the two, but due our time constraints we chose the Half-Day Oboke course.  Oboke is the name given to the rafting canyon, which means in short, big danger.  Ironically, Oboke just happens to be the middle name of Bani, an Australian friend of David my co-worker who decided to join us on our journey.  With a video camcorder in-hand, Bani, a.k.a. "Big Danger" documented our experiences, including some of his own dangerous highlights.  Words are hard to epress how much fun rafting was, and although I admit I am not much of an extreme sports person, this was a lot of fun and I definitely plan to take a crack at the One-Day course in the future!  Thanks to Bani, I don't have to write too much more about the experience, because he made a YouTube video of it!  Just a small disclaimer, when Bani asks me, "Can you tell us about this shirt of yours?" I thought he said, "... about this trip of yours?"...  That wild outback Australian accent will get you every time...  :)

 

Note: For more information about Happy Raft, see their website at www.happyraft.com  

 

       

This 2009 Awa Odori was one of the best in my many years in Japan, because my good friend Nawang and his friend Rigo came to Japan to take part in the festival!  During their 2-weeks in Japan I experienced many new things myself, so I plan to write a few blogs detailing some of the many highlights of our time together.  After spending a couple nights in Osaka, Nawang, Rigo and I headed back to Tokushima where I introduced them to the largest 4-night summer dance party in the world, known as the Awa Odori Festival.  As I have in the past, we danced the first night of the festival with the Tokushima International Association (T.I.A.), a fun international dance group.  Unlike many professional groups that practice months prior to the festival, T.I.A. is called a niwaka-ren, meaning a group that just goes out and wings-it.  After a reception party with food and dollar beers, we practiced and took their new, and in my case polished dance skills to the big stage!  The second night of the festival, I arranged tickets to watch the show from the stands to get a different perspective as spectators of the dancing.  The third night of the festival we danced with the Asahi Beer group.  Unlike with T.I.A., where foreigners are given a lot of rope to be funny and are expected to act like "dancing fools" for the amusement of the crowds - Asahi Beer is a proud group, comprised of almost all Japanese members, including the celebrity Asahi campaign model, Koboyashi Yumi.  Being introduced to the group for the first time by my student Toru, the pressure was on all of us to dance to the best of our abilities.  With T.I.A., we wore the traditional "happi" coat and headband, however, with the Asahi Beer group we were required to wear the white shorts, plus the "tabi" socks as well.  In full traditional Awa Odori gear, we danced into the night with as much grace as 3-guys filled with Asahi Beer, wearing tight shorts and uncomfortable rock magnet socks could have mustered...  All kidding aside, a BIG THANK-YOU to Toru, his wife and sister for the wonderful experience!

 

  

Recently, I went to Osaka to watch Elliott Yamin perform at Osaka Billboard Live!  Elliott Yamin rose to fame during the 5th season of American Idol in which he placed third in the popular American singing contest.  His self-titled album, released in March 2007, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums chart and at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.  The album was certified gold in the United States in October 2007.  Retitled Wait for You, the album was released in Japan in May 2008 and certified gold here in September 2008.  The 5th season was the first that American Idol aired in Japan and was also the first season I ever watched the show... and I have to admit, I became hooked.  Whether because Japanese television is limited in good variety, or because singing is so popular in Japan, I found myself tuning in to popular culture every week rooting for Yamin, clearly the most gifted singer from the 5th season.  After Elliott Yamin's debut album, he recently released his sophomore album, titled Fight for Love in May 2009.  His single You Say is currently the #1 R&B single in Japan.  After the concert, I had a chance to meet him and wish him luck in the future...  I also invited him to karaoke after the show, but after back-to-back concerts on consecutive nights he kindly declined...  either he was too tired, or didn't want to go head-to-head with my skeelz...    I'm thinking the latter as well... 

Note:  A link to: Elliott Yamin's Official Japanese website 

 

 

Last Saturday morning was the graduation ceremony at Tomida Kindergarten and it marked my third year of teaching at the school.  As I've written before, teaching English at the kindergarten is a very rewarding feeling knowing I'm probably their first English teacher and what they carry onto elementary school is from our lessons together.  Tomida Kindergarten is a unique private school which incorporates regular English classes for its students, an important skill necessary earlier than ever before.  Recently in Japan, the government has finally taken measures in order to adopt English language education more formally at the elementary school level.  Beginning officially in April of 2011 and in Tokushima City this year, English will be officially recognized as a subject for 5th and 6th grade students, requiring schools to administer 35 periods a year.  Previously, English was often incorporated into Integrated Studies periods as a component of "International Understanding," but this relaxed education policy will soon change.  The focus of the new English curriculum guidelines will focus on speaking and listening only, in order to ease the burden on junior high school teachers who previously had to teach all four components of the foreign language from a beginning foundation.

 

      

Recently I received news that Hiroaki, my student attending Bunri High School in Tokushima passed Kyoto University's entrance examination!  Kyoto University is the second oldest university in Japan and is ranked among the top 25 universities in the word and is considered the Yale of Japan, it follows only Tokyo University as the most prestigious university in the country.  Tokyo and Kyoto University were once imperial universities, which trained Japan's leaders before the war.  The competition to enter the top public universities in Japan is cut-throat, tests results mean everything.  Students applying to national public universities take two entrance examinations, first a nationally administered standardized achievement test and then an examination administered by the university that the student hopes to enter - not easy.  Some national public schools have so many applicants that they use the first test as a screening device for qualification to take their own admissions test.  Such intense competition means that many bright students fail for admission to the college of their choice.  An unsuccessful student can either accept admission elsewhere, forego a college education, or wait until the following spring to take the test again. A large number of students choose the last option. These students are called ronin, meaning a masterless samurai - then spend an entire year, and sometimes longer, cramming for another shot at their dream university.  A painstaking, life holding decision in which every day is in preparation for another chance to start their lives.

 

                             me & Hiroaki

In Japan the most important and elaborate holiday is Oshogatsu - the celebration of the New Year!  During Oshogatsu, making a new year's visit to a shrine or temple in order to pray for a prosperous new year is Japanese tradition.  Typically, most Japanese will pay their respects on any day from January 1 - 3, which are usually holidays in Japan.  In the past, I've visited Oasahiko-jinja (shrine) and Yakuou-ji (temple), Tokushima's most popular shrine and temple for celebrating Oshogatsu.  However, there is no comparison to visiting the massively popular Meiji-jingu (shrine) in Harajuku and Senso-ji (temple) in Asakusa during Tokyo's Oshogatsu!  As you can imagine the lines were extremely long at both historic places and it took forever to get to through...  but worth the wait!  Check out my Tokyo Oshogatsu video below and my picutres in my Tokyo album! 

 

Meiji-jingu (shrine) is located in Harajuku, Tokyo.  It is the Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shoken.  After the Emperor Meiji died in 1912 and Empress Shōken in 1914, the Japanese people wished to pay their respects to the two influential Japanese figures.  Thus, Meiji-jingu (shrine) was constructed and their souls enshrined on November 1, 1920.  Over 3-million people a year visit the shrine during the 3-day holiday from January 1 - 3!

Asakusa is a district in Taito, Tokyo, most famous for the Senso-ji (temple), a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Bodhisattva Kannon - it is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant.  The outer of the two entrance gates is the Kaminarimon ("Thunder Gate"), this Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning.  Beyond the Kaminarimon is Nakamise-dori with its numerous shops.  There are various opinions about the origin of the name of Asakusa.  Many believe it originates from the Tibetan word "Arsha-kusha" (meaning the place for a saint). 

         

Recently, I returned to Tokushima from a 2-night trip to Tokyo in order to ring in the new year in style!  This trip included several events, including a visit to Tokyo's most famous shrine and temple!  As for Meiji-jingu and Senso-ji in Asakusa, I'll save that experience for a separate blog and focus on New Year's Eve for now.  New Year's was great!  Although counting down to the new year in Japan is not common, there are no shortages of countdown events in a city with over 12 million people, including nearly 400,000 foreigners.  During the day I strolled around Shibuya - known as one of the fashion centers of Japan, particularly for young people, and as a major nightlife area.  Shibuya is often considered the Times Square of Japan and is famous for its hectic intersection crossing.  In the evening I went to an early show at Tokyo Billboard Live, a classy concert hall located in Tokyo Midtown to see Arrested Development.  I like the genre, but not a super big fan of Arrested Development - really just wanted to check out Tokyo Billboard Live regardless of who was performing...  as for the concert, it was great!..  Arrested Development can still rock and every seat in the house was good!..  Afterwards, it was back to Shibuya to count it down at Vuenos Tokyo and onto Rappongi for after-hours!..  Good times!..  Check out all my pics in my Tokyo picture album and also my New Year's video below!  Happy New Year to all my friends and family back home! 

 

         

 

 

             Elizabeth, me, and Nima in Chinatown 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                     R&R