Kyudo

Okay....this is going to be a techinical explanation of Kyudo and what I have learned so far. If you want history and the like then feel free to search for it online, there is more than enough information out there.

In any case, I'll start with the many jobs I am expected to perform as a first year (though the second years also regularly help out as they are the ones teaching us these jobs).
Before practice we have to sweep the dojo, being careful not to turn our backs to the small shrine (I think it must be shinto) which I suppose house a kami(shinto god). After we're done sweeping we have to clean the floor with a rag-for an image of how we do this think to a japanese movie or anime you have seen where children run up and down the halls bent over at the waist and pushing a rag strait down the floor. It's actually kind of fun, though I always feel a bit foolish.
During this time another pair of people will be setting up targets (mato). This is pretty precise as well...at our range there are 6 targets and they each have names; omae, niteki, santeki, yonteki, ochimae, and ochi. During practice competitions there are sometimes only three and then the names become: omae, onaka, ochi. Knowing the names comes into use with another job. IN any case, for setting up targets you have to line up with markers on the walls, lift and drop the target in the air (and up down swinging motion) and then set it down. Oh, you do this after you have soaked the dirt they are stuck into. After you've pushed them into place, you yell "Onegaishimasu" and someone will stand in the middle of the dojo and check the targets. They'll call out the targets name and one of the following: ageru, sageru, migi, or hidari (all directions), if the target needs to be moved. After they are in the proper place you push them into the special holder things that keep them even more firmly in place. Then you sweep in front of them and that's that.
Now....5 minutes before practice we have to go to the dressing room and shout "jikan desu(it's time)". 1 minute before practice we shout it again inside the dojo.
If people are practicing outside we have to set up these hay things which I havn't done yet so I don't know the specfics. Some other things we have to do that I have yet to learn are things like keeping score, setting up the kami shrine, and the like. I also havnt learnt all the cheers that we have to shout during competitions.
During practice we take turns fetching arrows (ya) and cleaning them. This is pretty easy but you have to know where to put the arrows (typically the second years just tell us) and they go in one of two boxes "mae" or "ushiro" (front or behind). When you're fetching arrows, if they are keeping score, then you may have to double check for them. This is incredibly embarrasing because I messed up so bad the first time I tried it. First I forogt to mention when you are heading out onto the range you must stick your hands in first, clap them and wait for everyone to shout "doozo". The you look in checking to make sure everything is clear, and then you run in with your hands at your waist. If you're needed to check arrows then they well shout the target name and "onegaishimasu". The you go to that target, look at it without sitting down or bending too much, and then shout "Kakunishimasu." Then they shout hai or either onegaishimasu and then you say the target name and the number of arrows in it. Everything is normal numbers and counters except for when all four arrows are in it and I cant remember that term. also, if there are no arrows then you shout "zanen". During actual competitions you do this regardless of wether the score keeper thinks they got all the shots or not.
Also during competitions the two people fetching arrows will wait inside the target arrow (behind walls). during this time if there is a shot and miss you hold out a target showing its backside. If its a shot and hit then you hold out the front side of the target and shout "atari", holding it until the next shooter readies their shot.
After practice is over we are in charge of cleaning the targets and pasting new covers onto them. during practice we also have to make sure all the shoes at the entrance are neat and orderly.
Oh, and when we get to the dojo, like before we've changed or anything we have to go to the door and bow while shouting "konnichiwa" and when practice is over we bow and shout "shitsureishimasu."
So that takes care of chores...or at least the ones we've learned so far.

So after learning all that I have to learn "hasetsu" or the 8 steps which are the movements of kyudo. I learn these steps from senpai (older students) and before they teach me I must bow to them and shout "onegaishimasu". Afterwards I shout there name and bow and shout "arigatoogozaimasu." There is quite a lot of shouting going on^.^
Now, as for the 8 steps, I'll do them one at a time, mind you, I havnt done this with a bow so I'm describing the skeleton of the movements:

1-Ashibumi-footing
Okay...basically the first step is to spread your feet starting with left and then right. You're supposed to spread them about half your height. From what I understand you line your toes up with the center of the target.

2-Dozukuri-correcting the posture
At this time you are to straiten your back and lower you shoulders and keep a very fine strait posture....as if a string is holding you up...you put your hands at your waist in very specific positions which I cant even explain.

3-Yugamae-readying the bow
This is basically bringing your hand in front of you in a sort of circle which reminds me a lot of ballet.

4-Uchiokoshi-raising the bow
Here you raise your hands up above your head while keeping shoulders down and the top of your hands flat.

5-Hikiwake-drawing the bow
The first part of this step is straitening your left arm(holding the bow) and bending your right at the elbow so that your hands are still above your head but have partially drawn the bow. At this point you must continue to keep your shoulders relaxed but also make sure your left elbow is strait and not flattened (this is hard to explain but if you press your hand against a table and try to move only your elbow you'll see what I'm talking about-its a lot harder to do without pushing against something). The second part of this leads into:

6-Kai-Completeing the draw
This is the most complicated part and is always where I mess up. You must draw but not use power. What you are doing is extending your arms, both of them, out even furthur and as strait as possible. During this time you still keep your shoulders relaxed and once you complete the draw it is the Kai form. You must hold it for about 5 seconds. Your hands and elbows cant shake and you're not supposed to breathe either.

7-Hanare-the release
Once you've finished Kai to release in a swift strong motion, straitening your right arm.

8-Zanshin-continuation
This is basically like follow through as you hold the hanare release form...

9-Yudaoashi-lowering the bow
and then you put your hands back at your waist.

Of course, its a lot more complicated than I can even explain...
Personally I'm loving this. I'm actually pretty good at the steps as long as Im not holding anything but they have these rubber practice things andas soon as I hold one I am awful. My shoulders are up and I use too much power. I'm trying but it's been along time since I've been so frustrated with something. I mean, I guess It must have been this way with kung-fu but its been such a long time and since then I feel like most things have come fairly easy to me...but this kyudo is hard! I really like the feeling though, it's nice tobe challenged.

Now...eventually I'll have to pass a test. Let's hope I can! I'll be tested on chores as well as hasetsu so It'll be a lot to learn. In the mean time my arms hurt a lot^.^

Umm....
I did some research and found out if I ever get a bow it will be about 227 centimeters long...
nice...

yup..
okay then
Much love!

Earth Day

Sunday was earth day here in Japan, and I guess america as well. Of course, I didn't know this until I stumbled upon the celebration in Yoyogi park. But that comes later.

Sunday morning, Tyisha and I met Yukari and a friend of Tyisha's, Ben, at Roppongi station.
Roppongi area is a very down tow, kinn upscale shopping, art and whatever you want to find kind of area. I'd only ever really been there at night before. basically at night there's the cheap and sketchy area for poor people like me, and then the really nice expensive people where models and lots of rich foreigners like to hang out. That's the thing about Roppongi. I know of no other place in Tokyo that has so many foriegners, even more so than Sophia! Seriously, when I'm there I see more foriegners than Japanese people! Of course, a lot fo the foriegners in this area probably actually live and work in Japan.

In any case, our group was meeting at Roppongi so we could check out the Parisian Artist's exhibit at the rather new National Art Center, Tokyo. The main reason I wanted to go is because I thought it was a Chaggall exhibit and Yukari loves chaggall and I wanted to learn more about him. But it was more on a lot of different artists, including Picasso and some other big names. I liked the first half of the exhibit and then it got into some post modern stuff which I don't know much about and find a lot harder to appreciate unless I can get some info on the piece. Unfortunatly, everything was in Japanese and french so it was hard for me to get much information.


After that we grabbed lunch at an all you can eat Indian restaurant. I am still digesting all the Nan (sp?) bread I ate while I was there...it was soooo delicous and the staff was really polite. PLus the restaurant played bollywood films and I just adore that!

For dessert we were going to go to coldstone but the line was around the building. Apparently coldstone is pretty new and hopin here. At least it wasnt a 3 hour wait like when I tried to go to krispy kreme.


After that We headed for harajuku. On sunday's people gather on a bridge near the station and display whatever they like. Many people dress up in the, now, somewhat famous "harajuku style" from gothic lolita looks to cosplay. There are also random entertainers and some people sell art work. I'm thinking next sunday I'll go and sketch people for 300 yen a pop. How's that for an Arubaito(part time job)?

In any case...these were my favorites:


This guy was hilarious. All he did was stand there with that sign and kind of swagger his knees and hips. At one point he looked at me and did the slimiest wink grin thing I've ever seen, but it was more funny and scary. I beleive he was advertising a circus of some sort. I did take a flyer but I can't read most of it.


This group of Elvis impersonators were also pretty entertaining. They mostly kind of turned on some loud music and did all the classic elvis moves. I watched them pose with a child. They seemed pretty friendly...I should have gotten a picture with them.


This last group was actually furthur inside yoyogi park. they were practicing fake combat. It was pretty neat but I can tell they probably havnt had much real martial arts training based on their footwork, bent wrists, and other little giveaways. Then again, I dont know much about the types of weapons they were "using" but I can't imagine any sort of fighting style looking so loose. still, they were obviously really into it.



After that we wandered furthur into the park and stumbled upon the earthday celebration. Seriously, it was hippie town. What I love about Japan is the intense niche groups almost anything you can think of can gather...from gospel music, to lolita style, to hippidom. I really enjoyed wandering through this little festival although I was disapointed at how many fliers there were everywhere (an awful waste of trees for people who claim to care so much about earth). The best performance here was by a band and belly dancer. Very nice. Made me think of Jessie.


In any case...
It was a very full and fun day.
More pictures in the new photo album: Earth Day!

In other news:
I will have a post about kyudo up shortly, Im just very tired these days...

Much Love!

Pokemon Center!

This is a filler post until I can research some more kyudo info for you guys!


That's right, Tokyo has its own real live Pokemon Center!
(apparently there are three but I've only been able to find the one near Tokyo station)

This place opened about 6 or 7 years ago and then it was crazy popular. People had to sometimes wait two hours just to get into the store! Even now, especially on holidays, the store is chock full of little children trying to buy Pokemon paraphanelia, from pokemon dolls, to cards, to school supplies, to food and candy! It's really fun to go in and look around and watch kids frantically beg their parents and grandparents for stuff. I think I'd actually love to work there but that probably won't happen.

I did buy some pokemon cards there. I can't help myself, the critters are so cute!
Here's a pic of the madness:

And classes begin again....

Well...classes started last week. I had orgionally registered for five classes again, only because so many appealed to me and I just couldn't help myself, but in the end I dropped one.

The classes I am registered for are as follows:

Japanese (the next level up)-
The japanese class seems to have increased drastically in intensity. We are now learning to read and write 50 kanji per lesson and then to just read another 50 per lesson. We learn about the same amount of grammar but focuz a lot more on reading and conversational speech than we used. There is lots of scenario type work. All in all, I like the change. I feel more challenged and I can tell I'm definatly going to learn a lot.

Modern Japanese Fiction-
This class is with my favorite teacher from last semester (the one from Cinema). It looks to be a good class, as good as the last one with her, and we've already read a few interesting modern stories. After reading so much classical Japanese literature it will be very interesting to compare.

Literature in Film-
This class is different from the Japanese cinema class for several reasons. The focus is equally spread between lit and film (usually relating the two) and also doesn't necessarily focus on only Japanese lit and film. Also, the teacher doesn't seem as confident as my other teacher though I find his stammering endearing and usually I end up speaking up more because I feel so bad as he stutters along. I mean this in the kindest way, because he's a super nice teacher (from what I can tell) and seems passionate about what he is teaching.

Japanese Religions-
This class is going to be really great. We're going to be talking alot about religion in Japan today and how it has grown and changed and where you can find it and that sort of thing. We've already talked about a lot of interesting stuff-for example: most people in Japan will claim they have no religion but still go and pray at shrines and participate in events like the new year's celebration I went to. Of course, they may go to these things without much belief and more out of social tradition but still..they are religious actions. In any case, I could talk about it for hours...what I hope we sort of get into, but which we probably won't since it's a bit too specfic and, well...hard to define, is Japanese tradition and religion versus Japanese spirituality. those who know me know I distinguish a lot between spirituality and religion, though I feel the two can obviously, and usually the results are better, go hand in hand. ha ha...I could spend many entries writing about this sort of stuff but I'll move on.

In any case, those are my classes and I'm quite happy with them.
I'm also still int he art club though I havn't had a chance to go yet this semester (I'm going tomorrow and friday though!).

Part of the reason I've been so busy is because I also joined a new club-Kyudo!
That's right, I finally found the traditional archery club at school!

And here's the thing, not only is the archery very Japanese, but so is the club. What I mean by this is basically the rules are very strict. As a first year, at all the regular practices I clean and fetch arrows and bow and call the elder students "sempai". I absolutely adore it.
In order to actually learn kyudo I have to email the older students and get them to teach me in my spare time. I havt to do about 15-20 solo practices before I'll even be considered for the test, which I have to pass if I want to hold a real bow and wear a hakama. Chances are, I won't pass till sometime in late June. But I'm okay with that.
I also have to buy a navy blue suit. This is the only part that worries me...suits aren't cheap here and I've been trying to figure out where to get a good cheap one but I'm not having much luck. I asked manami and she doesnt really know either. I'm sure I'll figure it out though.
In any case...I'lll write more later about the specfics of kyudo.

I'll also do my best to keep the entires coming regularly (one a day) from now on.

Much Love!
Jessica

Hanami-Appreciating the Cherry Blossoms

I think spring is one of the seasons most looked forward to in Japan. This is due to the blooming of Sakura, or cherry blossoms. The bloom for a brief two weeks or so between late march and april. This is so important that they have forcasts specifically catering to the blooming of sakura.

ON a side note, Tyisha didn't understand at first why they were such a big deal. This was because she thought they bloomed all summer. I also didn't think it could possibly be such a big deal because I heard that Sakura smelled and that it wasn't so enjoyable to go see them because of Hanami.

Hanami is a tradition that Japanese enjoy during the spring. It is essentially a picnic and party underneath the Sakura in whatever park they choose. The most popular are Ueno and a park in Shinjuku area. But Japanese take Hanami, as they do most things including Sakura, very seriously. Commiting to a Hanami invloves planning and work to organize it although once you'ee in the midst of the party it is tons of fun.

In any case, what this leads to is my desire to have a Hanami party. Last week I asked Okaasan about it and the plan was set in motion. At the time however I didn't really know what I was gettng into. Obviously the whole family was going and Tyisha and I as well as Manami invited friends. We planned to havbe everyone bring 1000 yen to help pay for food and drinks and then Manami planned out a menu.

We chose to have it on sunday and apparently that is an extremely busy day to have Hanami. Okaasan told me we'd probably have to go early to look for a spot. I had no idea how early though. She woke me up at 6:30 sunday morning and we got to the park around 7. It was already almost completely full of the blue mats most people choose to use! Some people had stayed during the night gaurding locations. We were lucky though and found a good spot and even had nice neighbors who helped watch it for us when we went home to cook.

Here's what it looked like that morning:


and our spot:


So Okaasan and I headed home to help get things ready. Our menu consisted of Norimaki, waffles, choco banana, popcorn, a type of soup, and donoughts...plus whatever we chose to buy from the store. Manami made the norimaki all on her own and it was delicous! I made all the popcorn using the machine mom brought the family during her visit. Both Manami and I made the chocolate bananas but it was very difficult and I ruyined the last one by getting water into the chocolate which makes it clumpy. We made tables out of old cardboard boxes and everyone showed up at one oclock to carry it all. Our final party consisted of the family, tyisha, me, andrew, yukari, manami's friend Mikti, and friend of okaasan's and her family.

here's the preparation:


ASo after we carried everything to the park we thanked the people who helped watch out spot profusely. They were extremely nice and when they left they gave us their home made seat cushions! When we got there the park was extremely crowded with people. It was still really pretty to me though. All the trees had bloomed and the sakura were gorgeous and I realized that this Hanami thing was actually a great way to appreciate the beauty and festivity of spring. And when the wind blew and petels fell like rain everyone clapped. It was great! We all sat around our homemade tables and ate and drank and talked. It was very fun!



Now...around four oclock most everyone was ready to go home except Andrew, Tyisha, Yukari and I. So everyone packed up most of the stuff and headed home while we stayed to talk and drink some more (up until this point I had been drinking chu hi-a wine cooler type drink- with coke). Right as Everyone was about to leave another neighbor, and odler Japanese guy and his friend, came over and gave us four cups and some of his sake. It was very funny. Then he gave us his Sake and went back to his group! After that the rest of the group went home. Then the guy and his friend came back and sat with us drinking sake and talking! It was so funny and interesting. We sat for at least two hours, probably longer drinking and talking with them. Of course, we had all switched to Sake at this point which is a little more potent than chu hi. Of course, the old guy said that when you drink under the Sakura then you can't get drunk. I find this to be completely untrue^.^

Us with the guys:


As it got later our group decided for some reason we wanted to go out! (it was probably my suggestion) so we packed up the rest of the stuff and headed home. We were all pretty toasty by this point and Otoosan said I could go out when we got home but did say yukari could spend the night. I was very silly and I talked a lot. Andrew eventually went home. The night only got blurrier for me. I did get a little sick and after that hit the sack. Apparently Yukari and Tyisha stayed up late watching tv and talking.

All in all...I can now see why Hanami and Sakura are such a big deal. Sakura are gorgeous and Hanami is about the funnest and most splendid thing I have ever done in Japan. It was also really good for my Japanese considering as the night got later I spoke less and less in English.

I would gladly do Hanami again (though maybe without the Sake). It was a great and interesting experience.

Much Love!
PS:thanks to my mom who still comments on the posts^.^ Also, classes start on the 12th if anyone is curious and I somehow managed to pick up 5 classes again...though I'll go into that in more detail later. The good news is they are mostly on one day so I'm not going to be as stressed out Everyday.

And all my pictures are now uploaded. The Newest albums are Nara-Mom and Rae, Hanami, Strawberry Fields. So check em out^.^

Strawberry!

On Saturday Otoosan took Tyisha and me on a little excursion with some of his coworkers.

So we drove for several hours to go pick strawberries. I assumed that it would be pick as many as you can in a certain time period but instead it was al you can eat in 30 minutes. A little stange but still fun. After eating our fill we drove for another couple hours to a very old and famous ryokan so we could do some onsen dipping. It was very relaxing...except for the part where an older woman tried to get us to go in the mixed bath. I'm pretty sure otoosan was in there so I'm glad I figured out what she was saying...it could have been awkward.

After that we ate some sushi and then it took several more hours to get home because of traffic. I think I spent more of the day sleeping in the car than doing anything else but it was still great fun^.^

More pics in the album strawberry fields...
and here's the ladies:

Much love!