What to do...what to do....

The powers that be have decided that this year's Christmas party for staff and students will be held at a local hotel.  I presume they'll hire out a room typically used for small wedding receptions.  This is quite a change from a three years ago when we held a pot-luck dinner at a local community centre.

The regional manager also tossed in another request: the teachers and local school manager are to entertain the guests.  In the past we resorted to a Xmas trivia quiz.  Unfortunately the students started to memorize the answers.  So one year we did a shortened version of the Monty Python "Cheese Shop" sketch.  The students were mostly bemused so the following year we were told to put together presentations about Xmas at home using Powerpoint slides.  Now we're being asked to do what the teachers at the Yamagata school are doing: perform a few songs accompanied by some kind of instrument.  Great...none of us down in Yonezawa can really play any musical instruments.  One guy has stage fright.  The other guy can't sing to save his life.  I haven't played a whole song on a guitar since junior high school.

On Tuesday evening our school manager had a sort of serious sounding conversation on the phone with someone.  My interest was piqued when I heard my name a few times.  After she hung up, taken a deep breath, and sighed, she wandered over and asked if I could play the guitar for the Xmas party.  I cautioned her that she had to choose easy songs to play.  "How about that Eric Clapton song about heaven?", she asked.  I checked the chords online...it could be doable. "Or something people could sing along to...like 'Country Roads'?", she continued.  That, I had a bit more confidence in.  She continued on, "...and I'd like to sing 'Diana'.  Can you play that?".  Okay.  That one had me stumped.  How a 26-year old could go about choosing to sing that song was beyond me.  I've seen fellows in their late 50s and 60s tackling that song at karaoke but never anyone really young.  Nonetheless, I said I'd look into it.

At the end of the discussion I think I got saddled with learning three songs; Country Roads, Diana, and that Clapton tune.  I can probably figure out how to play the Clapton tune.  But part of me would rather tackle The Tragically Hip's "Bobcaygeon".  Which raises a small dilemma...while I'd get more satisfaction out of playing and singing "Bobcaygeon", no one in the audience would have a clue what the song is about or why I chose it.  What to do....  Maybe I should just do both tunes.  But first I need to get my hands on a guitar.... 

So Someone Has Tried Their Hand at Brewing Beer

Last weekend I met up with a friend to go over a few e-mails.  She wanted to check with me to see if she had understood the contents of them properly as they were written in English.  After that was done we settled down to having a few drinks.

After we had finished a round at the place we had met, she asked me if I knew about Gokuraku Brewing.  I professed I wasn't aware of the company.  It turns out they are running a brewhouse restaurant and bar not far from her home.  Given the interest I displayed she guided me there to sample their beers.

The place is probably an old workshop or small factory which was converted into a microbrewery and restaurant.  The ceilings are high but the place is not too brightly lit.  So it's a comfortable place to be.

Initially I was going to order a glass of their "ukogi" beer.  "Ukogi" is a name applied to several species of plants in the genus Eleutherococcus.  The species typically grown in Yonezawa is E. sieboldianus.  Its Japanese name is "himé ukogi".   Anyways, I was dissuaded by my server who suggested a flight of beers instead.  In it are the two beers the company brews; ukogi beer, and Tateyama apple beer, and a sample of Sapporo, a commercial brand,

As much as I like to promote local products, I find it a bit difficult to recommend these beers.  They both suffer from a strong acidic aftertaste.  My friend says that they've improved since their initial offerings.  I sense there is some potential here but I believe the brew master might want to refine his skill making a decent pilsener or lager instead of starting off with esoteric flavours.  Nonetheless, I hope he can do well enough catering to the curiosity seekers so that he can afford the time to refine his brewing skills.

Waking up to a Drumbeat

I was awakened by a distinct sound this morning.  It was the sound of a drum being hit.  Soon the sound turned into a steady drumbeat.  Then I start to hear chanting.  I cracked open the shoji and took a look outside.  Some kind of ceremony or ritual was taking place in front of small Shinto shrine on the property next door.  Given that this is the first time I've seen any activity in front of this structure, I grabbed my iPhone and shot the following video.  If you've got a sharp ear and you'll notice the difference between this chanting and that which is done by Buddhist priests....

(You can also listen to it here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/8936205@N02/29835085493/)

A brief update....

I was back in Vancouver in September.  Spent two weeks there and had a wonderful time.  Met up with plenty of friends and enjoyed reconnecting with everyone.  I also was introduced to someone whom a friend had confused me with.  At a reception last year my friend said "I just saw one of your relatives here".   I had no clue what was going on because I was quite sure none of my relatives were in attendance.  Turned out the mistake happened since I share the first name as another fellow my friend was thinking of.

Anyways...I was thinking of writing a post which involved a somewhat grisly subject.  It had stemmed from a conversation in Yonezawa where I was trying to impress upon the locals how bad a road kill skunk smells.  One fellow quickly one upped me; he had witnessed an accident in Tokyo involving a drunk man and an incoming commuter train.  Enough said.  I've decided not to go into further detail.

On that note I'm going to excuse myself....

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Side note: As I logged on to this site today I was shown a blank page with the message that the page wasn't being displayed because my browser doesn't support Javascript.  Actually, I use a script blocker...end of story.

Back in Niigata City...

I went to Niigata city on Sunday and stayed there for two nights. Met up with a friend who lives and works there. I splurged a bit and stayed at a Dormy Inn. Most of the hotels in that chain have nice onsen (hot spring) baths. In this particular one the men's bathing area is on the top floor (10th floor) and the women's is on the 2nd. Thus the men's bathing area has an open air bath but not the women's one.

First night there we had a bite to eat at an izakaya (Japanese tapas bar) which I picked because they had "nodogoro", a local fish specialty, on their menu.  The fish gets its name from its almost black gills.  Following that we went to a craft beer bar. They had one weird one from the Shonan (Kamakura to Enoshima) area down in Kanagawa prefecture. It was a bright emerald blue. Didn't taste like beer at all. It was more like Kool-Aid.  That definitely won't be a beer I'll be look out for in the future.  After that we walked around and popped into a wine bar. I said "Let's pop in here and get a drink so I can use the loo". Three glasses of wine later we were still in the place.  We should've ordered a bottle of wine.  The woman running the place used to work at another pub which my friend used to frequent. They closed up during the winter.  Apparently their landlord had wanted to renovate the building but changed their mind at the last minute.  The pub owner told the landlord he had already sold all his furniture, fixtures, and equipment was there was no way he could stay open. 

The next day I went on a trek in the pouring rain. Visited Hakusan Shrine (build in the 16th century), Gokoku Shrine (built in 1944/45), the old Saito family summer residence (the somewhat large garden was closed because of rain), and the Niigata City Museum (also known as Minato Pia). I think I walked about 18km to cover all that.

Bandai Bridge, Niigata City, on a rainy Monday

We were going to have dinner at a Thai place but it was closed and the place that featured Okinawan food was full. Ended up at a yakitori place. After that we went to a "snack" (karaoke and snacks) bar and finally ended up at Bar 37, which is one of my friend's usual haunts. One of the customers remembered me from my visit to Niigata last year. The next morning I stuck my nose in the Niigata Manga and Anime Museum. Didn't have time for the Evangelion themed Japanese sword collection exhibit.

I travelled to Niigata city this time by train. I didn't want to deal with parking for a two night stay. Took local trains on the way there. Took an express train from Niigata to Sakamachi on the way back. Very comfy. Similar experience to riding a shinkansen train but obviously lower speeds. The train from Sakamachi to Yonezawa was just one car. The line isn't electrified so it was a diesel engine train.

It's what...!

Yes, it's August.  But it doesn't quite feel like a typical August.  It was hot on Monday but yesterday (Tuesday) a big thunderstorm rolled in and just hung about.  It dumped quite a bit of rain on this region.  Mostly in the form of squalls that lasted for about half an hour or so.  The heavy rainfall led to flooding warnings being sent out several times in the day.  At one time an evacuation warning was in place for a hamlet up in the Kuriko Pass area.  That's the pass leading from Yonezawa to Fukushima city.  I presume the danger passed as I didn't see an evacuation order.  Right...in case one is wondering, these warnings are sent out by local authorities to all mobile phone devices in the region.  Of course this means that residents on trips to other areas in Japan will receive the warnings, to the alarm of the locals around them.  Such was the case for a student who was in Saitama when the March 11th earthquake struck: she was on a commuter train and her cell phone was the only one to receive a warning of the earthquake and go off with a loud audible klaxon.

Off on a complete tangent...an acquaintance proudly announced on a social media site that he had received a couple of "two-four"s (my words) of "Space Beer"(sic).  It's beer brewed using barley grown in space.  I don't recall which company made the beer (it's one of the big four - Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo).  Needless to say, the beer is not on sale in stores.  There couldn't possibly be enough of it to permit that.  It's only available by mail order.  While such a product has a high novelty factor, I can't imagine it'll taste all that much different from a usual Japanese pilsner style brew.  Which is a bit of a shame....

Welcome Back, Summer!

The weather through late June and early July was classic Japanese rainy season weather...rainy days with bits of clear sky and mostly overcast conditions.  Temperatures weren't too high and the humidity wasn't too bad.  Then came this past weekend.

Saturday was still a bit on the dull side.  Clear in the morning and overcast in the afternoon.  Sunday was overcast in the morning and it cleared up in the afternoon.  Then "It" went off.  That klaxon sound that announces the arrival of summer.  The cry of a cicada.  The particular individual insect let loose on Sunday afternoon with a high decibel racket that could've raised the dead.  He continued for about a minute and went silent.  The next day, he had a lot more of his kind accompanying him.

For me, the sound of late spring is the sound of frogs coming from flooded rice paddies.  I'm not 100% sure which variety though.  I suspect they're Japanese tree frogs.  Frogs aren't the only creatures to be found around rice paddies.  I've also seen herons standing in flooded rice paddies once the plants have grown a bit.  I thought the birds were likely hunting for frogs.  But it turns out frogs aren't the only occupants of rice paddies.

Another occupant of rice paddies is a fish known as medaka.  It's also known as the Japanese rice fish or Japanese killifish.  I was first made aware of this fish by one of my students.  It was in her first attempt to use the word "cannibal".  She wanted to tell me that she had had two fish but ended up with one because one got eaten by its tank mate.  I asked her what kind of fish she had and she replied "Medaka".  She didn't know if it had an English name.  A quick search on the Internet turned up the names mentioned earlier.

Carrying on with the rice paddy theme, here is a photograph I took of this year's rice paddy art display just on the outskirts of the Onogawa Hot Springs hamlet.  This is the eleventh year they've been doing this in these parts.  The subjects this year are Sanada Nobushige (more popularly known as Yukimura) and Uesugi Kagekatsu.  My understanding is that they were allied, prior to the Battle of Sekigahara, with Ishida Mitsunari.  I can only hazard a guess that their images were concealing frogs and fish at the time I took this photo two weeks ago.