Golden Week 2019

Golden Week has been a great time! I really wanted to stay busy and make the most of my holiday. And I feel like I did.

Wednesday after watching the horseback archery, I went out with my Japanese coworkers to an izakaya (Japanese pub). We had a great time. We ate a mountain of food and drank delicious nihonshu (Japanese rice wine). One of the most surprising things I tried was raw horse meat! It was surprisingly tasty with a kind of natural spiciness. It was such a fun night we stayed at that izakaya for six hours.

The next day I went out to Tokyo to meet with some friends from training.  It was great seeing everyone again after a year. We went to the grounds of the Empirical palace. The previous emperor, Akihito, had just abdicated and the new emperor, Naruhito, had been named. We went out for sushi for lunch and then went out to sing karaoke. It was a lot of fun!

That weekend I went out for some top quality Japanese wagyu beef! It was the most delicious beef I had ever tasted. I almost cried it was so good. They had the grill mounted right into the table so you can  perfectly cook the beef exactly to your personal liking.

Golden Week was such a great time. I saw and did so much! The surreal flower garden, horseback archery, and the crowded mountain top. And all the delicious food and great company.

Fighting The Crowd Up Mount Tsukuba

On the Friday of Golden Week I headed out with my friend Jesse and his friend Aki to Mount Tsukuba. It was a beautiful day. We drove from Mito to Tsukuba, an hour and a half journey, but due to traffic it was at two and a half hours. After finally parking outside the mountain we stretch to the sounds of loud speakers playing yodeling music. All around the entry path is an amusement park with frog statues all around. We started up the mountain. The path was rugged, and slick from the rain from the day before. At some point a path had been planted but the Earth shifted the stones to leave the trail completely uneven. But clear enough to climb up. There were a few people trickling in as we climbed up, but at the half way point we find a small sized group sitting around at the half way point. Not to be detoured we pressed forward but not too far, the crowds started thickening. And before long up the climb, things slowed down. And then we were just standing in line, on up a mountain! We could see the mountain top, just a short distance away but the line was at a stand still. The issue occurred to me not only was us and the crowd climbing up but there was a cable car going up and down. That not only was the cable car carrying people down off the mountain but it was also carrying people UP the mountain. I felt foolish standing in that line up a mountain and not having that simple fact occur to me sooner. Shortly after Jesse voiced that he speculated that it would take us an additional two hours just to finish the climb to the summit. That was about that. We decided that Golden Week wasn't the time to climb Mt. Tsukuba. So with the summit in sight, and a long crowd of folks between us and it, we turn our backs and start climbing back down the mountain. On the way down before reaching the half way point we passed by, I suspected, 400 people all standing in line to reach the summit. It was a thrill to climb Mt. Tsukuba, and I really would like to return to complete the summit. We left Mito at 8:30 and returned 5:00, truly Golden Week isn't the time to climb a mountain.

Yabusame: Horseback Archery At Kashima Shrine

For my Wednesday during Golden Week, I set out to Kashima Shrine. Kashima is very famous for it's sword fighting schools, but it is also famous for yabusame, horseback archery. Before the yabusame display there was a rice planting ceremony. It was very amusing. All the little girls would wear flower hats, clap and dance around a circle, all while the priest beat the drum. One of my students was there and said hello! It's always nice to see a student outside of class.

After the ceremony the horses and archers paraded into the shrine grounds with a parade float following behind. After entering into the shrine grounds they held their own rituals. Offering local vegetables and prayers before moving everyone to the long stretch of path. It was a really long stretch of land. With three targets that were set up. Before each run, the archers would ride past on display.