Yokohama Port Opening Festival and Ocean Day

Yesterday, I attended the annual festival commemorating the port opening of Yokohama. 6,000 fireworks were released over the course of an hour and 10 minutes, which made for a pretty good show. My school hosted a party for its students, which was particularly convenient, since our school overlooks the part of the Yokohama harbor where the fireworks were set off. Snacks and drinks were plentiful, and it was a pretty good time overall, even if my teacher spent some of the party correcting my speech for tomorrow, LOL.

Today is Ocean Day, a recently introduced Japanese national holiday to celebrate the ocean. The day marks the return of Emperor Meiji from a boat trip to Hokkaido in 1876. It's a pretty uneventful holiday, all in all.

A trip to the National Diet

I went on a class field trip to the National Diet building yesterday (the Japanese equivalent of Congress) and toured the Upper House (the House of Councillors). The Diet isn't currently in session, so it was something of your typical historical/national building tour, but it was definitely interesting to see where all of the action (or inaction) of the Japanese government happens. I frequently see the chambers of the Upper and Lower Houses in newspapers and on the TV. I was tempted to buy a set of Japanese sweets imprinted with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's face. But I managed to restrain myself.

One interesting fact: Everything in the National Diet building is constructed of Japanese materials except:

1. The stained glass
2. The doorknobs (which were made in the U.S.)
3. The mail chute system (also made in the U.S.)

And here's me pretending to be a genki Diet member:

Kyoto

I went sightseeing in Kyoto this past weekend and saw Fushimi Inari Taisha, Ginkakuji (which I don't recommend visiting until after the construction is finished), and Kiyomizudera. I am loving my language program and living in Yokohama, by the way. For now, I have a speech to write!

Novelty gravestones: Morbid or eternally cute?

I have homework to finish before this morning's first session, but I just wanted to share photos of these gravestones that I saw in a shop on the way to Sojiji the other day. The "Baseball Santa" tombstone is a a particularly strange amalgamation of concepts:

The Japanese can make anything cute...

So, every day on my way to class, I walk through or past the tallest building in Japan, the Landmark Tower (and an amusement park with one of the world's largest ferris wheels, but that's not the subject of this particular entry). While I definitely think it's pretty cool, the Landmark Tower is not what I think of as "cute" - it looks more like a medieval fortress crossed with a skyscraper and tends to ring more "imposing" or "impressive" in my mind. Exhibit A, the Landmark Tower:



But of course, I was simply seeing the building with my non-cuteness-creating American eyes. The Japanese, however, know exactly how the cuteness of this building would manifest, if the latter so desired. Exhibit B, an advertisement for the Landmark Tower's 15th anniversary:



I particularly like the declaration of "I Love You!" at the top. And the way that the top section of the building so nicely imitates a mouth just where one is needed.

Second day of classes was good, but I have so much homework!

First day of language classes...

It went well, but I am so so so so tired. I woke up around 4:30 am (partly because I'm not fully adjusted to Japanese time and partly because that's when the sun comes up in this crazy country), had a busy morning of classes, and then went on a class field trip to Sojiji, Yokohama's largest Buddhist temple, for a rather intense tour (all in Japanese, of course). Highlights included witnessing some type of Buddhist ceremony and experiencing zazen (which included getting whacked by a Buddhist priest with a large piece of wood - and it was a good whack). Anyway, I still have a lot of homework to do, and my brain is fading quickly, but here are some pics:


Our tour guide


One of the buildings of the temple


One of the shrines within the temple

It's been an interesting first week back in Japan. But for now I'm off to try and finish this homework before I pass out.