News from AJET: June 2016
STOP DROP AND ROLL!!!! ERRRMAGGEERHD!!!!!
Now that your attention has been grabbed, prepare to be saturated with the torrential deluge of information that is like being caught in the torrential deluge of rain during “Tsuyu– the rainy season” soaking you right down to the bone, however in this case the rain would be “Information” and the soaking would be… um… DELUGE!!! Kworrr!!! Splosh!!! Slash!!!
As ever so briefly mentioned, June is June (yes, really it is) and is at the heart of rainy season which is Japan-wide… with the sole exception of Hokkaido. To flaunt this fact, Sapporo in Hokkaido hosts The Yosakoi Soran Festival! This festival celebrates the arrival of summer with Japan’s favorite modern dance– yosakoi. It is a huge dance-a-thon with hundreds of dance troops descending on the streets to dance and in some cases sing their way into your hearts. It is estimated over a million spectators take in the revelry and the event is considered the number one dance/competition/festival in Japan. So my advice? Get to the chopper!!! Go and see it!!! Giddy up!
Sapporo a little too far to travel? How about Kyoto you filthy boat-hugs!!! If you like traditional Japanese performance style events, then Kyoto, with its culture rich environment is the perfect place in June to catch Noh performances!!! You don’t know Noh? To use someone else’s words that are not my own, “Noh (能) is a form of theater involving music, dance and drama, originating in the 14th century. It was developed together with kyogen, which are comical pieces performed during interludes of the main noh performance.” (end copyright infraction) So now you know Noh, and for more information visit this website.
On another note, my sources have also revealed to me that June is the time of the phallus matsuri!!! Yes!! DONTSUKU MATSURI– a festival where young women ride around town, a-whoopin’ and a-hollering while riding on a giant, wood-carved (eh-hehehe…. wood…) phallus! Well, my details are a little sketchy, but it certainly seems like an interesting festival nevertheless, with various wood carvings, dango and other food all shaped like… well, Richards I guess. Shizuoka is the proud host of this matsuri, with the purpose being to pray for good marital relations and fortuitous fortune and fertility among couples and their decedents.
Basically, what I am trying to do is encourage and enable you my fellow Hyogoan JETs! The month of June has secret treasures waiting to be discovered! From the wonderful to the weird, they are there! Be sure to keep an eye on the Hyogo AJET web page/FB group for locally organized or HAJET endorsed events and activities and as always, feel free to contact one of your friendly HAJET reps if you need some advice or assistance with anything that boggles you. Also feel free to check out this website for more information.
This has been the wonderful me, reporting in for June… ENJOY!!!
Chris Goodman
