This last week has been a crazy one! Our schedule has been pretty tight the last two weeks leaving me a little tired but I finally have some time on my hands! As far as cultural experiences go this week has been great and I’ve had two big cultural events to tell talk about! The first was we had a very traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, were we got to participate in. Three lovely ladies (whose names are slipping my mind) showed us the art of having a tea ceremony, every little step in a tea ceremony has so much meaning and it’s interesting to see. I can say that I couldn’t keep track of everything but one of the main things is that when you are presented with your tea cup you must turn it two times to the left to show your humility as you will never drink from the front of the cup. The elegance of the event is really what captures you as not just the host but the guest all put thought into how they should behave to show their appreciation and gratitude. The next part of that day was amazing as we got the opportunity to try on a traditional summer yukata, a yukata is different from a kimono as its only used in summer and is much lighter than a kimono. The process to put one on would require two people  but it is none the less fun! The back of the yukatas are beautiful as obi is tied around your waist tight and a beautiful bow is formed in the back, this is probably what took the most time to accomplish but I think it was the part that was well worth it!  The experience of wearing a yukata is wonderful and really gives you a sense for how delicately woment traditionally had to walk since those yukatas are tight and also narrow at the bottom for women, even during the tea ceremony I noticed how small of steps all of the women took and I really understand why now. Clothing is such a huge part of culture and wearing a yukata and being able to try it on just brings you closer to understanding the subtle things about Japanese culture that are more hidden. 

Now the next part of this week was just as exciting as we were able to attend a traditional Japanese festival! Now this festival is actually a pre-festival to the big festival in august and has only really emerged in recent years but simulates what will happen at the big festivals. This was probably one of the coolest events that we were able to see as all of the men in our group were able to carry a mikoshi(shrine)  together with other Japanese civilians. This actually a very traditional act that happens at every autumn festival, all the men got to wear very traditional clothing, they got to wear traditional jikatabi(a type of Japanese sandal) and happi( a rode adorned with the organization one is associated with.  It is traditionally men who carry mikoshi but there are women teams now and I hope the group next year is able to experience this. The festival was too fun for words, the excitement of watching everyone having fun and being spirited carrying the shrines  was just a great experience, we were able to experience a part of Japanese culture that you don’t usually see, Japanese culture in comparison to American culture can be subdued but to be able to see everyone at the festival lest loose is a great experience. I personally got to perform on a taiko (a traditional Japanese drum) and that was amazing, the group who performed were amazing and willing to teach me how to play as well! I wasn’t really any good but seeing all of them perform in their festival clothes and having them teach me some basic songs was something I will never forget!  Now that my busy week is over I only have three days left in Japan sadly, but I’ll try to update in one big blog with the next weeks events!

It’s been another few days since my last blog but on Tuesday I got the chance to visit Miyajima, a world heritage sight. Even just stepping into Miyajima from the ferry ride was a magical experience, there were deer everywhere around us! For me at least seeing dozens of deer interacting with humans and each other was fairy tale like, it truly was a good first way to start this trip. Now MiyaJima is beautiful, it is a bit of tourist attraction but still rich with heritage and traditional food shops. Even the shopping had more authentic Japanese goods so if you’re looking for a place to get good souvenirs this is the place. After looking around the town we were went to the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, the shrine is beautiful and a vibrant red!  Their a specific set of rules on taking pictures so make sure to check them before you start taking any just out of respect of the shrine. Although I wished I got a more in depth look into the culture and actual practices about Shintoism I didn’t really get the opportunity to learn about it there. I did get to partake in the Japanese tradition of getting a fortune and tying it to a wall, the tradition behind this really is that if your fortune is good tying it will allow it to come true will if your fortune is bad tying it will allow you to mitigate some of the negative effects of the fortune. All in all I enjoyed the shrine but I wish I got to understand more about the actual religious practices of the shrine, Miyajima its self is beautiful with gorgeous views and is a must see just because of all the deer! I only have a few pictures I gather from the other program students as at the time we went to Miyajima my phone was still lost but my phone was actually returned to me next day! If your going to lose your phone the best place to lose your phone is in Japan at least!