The many adventures of one girl in Japan...

Ya, so sorry I have not updated for a LOOOONG time...far to busy doing far to many things....

Here is a really quick update of some adventures I have had...

1. SAMURAI FESTIVAL!!

I went to a massive samurai festival that is held every spring in Kofu at our local castle. It was EPIC. It is held in honor of Lord Takeda Shingen

He lived and ruled over the area that is now Yamanashi-ken back in the 1500's. He fought many battles against Uesugi Kenshin who ruled in the north (in what is now Nagano-ken). So, in honor of him locals (and fellow gaijin) dress in authentic samurai apparal and play the roles of Lord Shingen and his many generals and army as well as Uesugi Kenshin and his many generals and army.

Women are also welcome to play parts as samurai in the army of Lord Shingen or Kenshin or play one of Lord Shingen's many wives.

There is a great procession of all the samurai from Kofu castle towards Kofu station and down the main street (Hewa-dori). Some ride horses and others go on foot. Great fires are lit on either side of the street. Deafening guns are shot and many battle cries are heard (Hey hey Hoooohhhhh! Hey hey HOOOHHHH!). It is really quite an epic sight.

The next weekend in a neighbouring town of Isawa on a great grass field near a river there is an actual MASSIVE battle renactment between Lord Shingen and Lord Kenshin.

Bonfires are lit by the river and the opposing troops run at eachother with swords raised and battle it out. Some of the samurai even dive into the river and go at it there. Deep red blood (aka dye) streams through the water. Smoke from the fires and many guns clouds the field. You have to blink a few times because it all looks so real (or perhaps like a scene from The Last Samurai).
Good times.

2. The Nashi-500 (aka a MASSIVE SCAVENGER HUNT!!)

a bunch of JETS in my ken set up a HUGE scavanger hunt that took us all over Yamanashi-ken. We all formed groups and themes and drove all around our beautiful ken on a great adventure. I signed up at the last minute so I ended just with one other gal - Kat in her car. I dressed in flapper gear (complete with boa and flapper hat).

The first round of the game we were given a list of hints about places in the ken (like Onsen - hot springs), famous temples, etc that we had to solve. After solving the riddles of the places, we had to drive to them and take a digital photo as evidence of our journey.

The next round we were given a list of "challanges" that we had to perform. Such as "take a picture of you hugging an old lady, take a picture of you with atleast 3 students in school uniform, kiss a fast food mascot (!), take a picture with a police officer, play pachinko, etc" It was a crazy time.

After the whole adventure we met up at a restaurant in Minobu (a beautiful area of Yamanashi-ken south of Kofu) were we partied, set off fireworks, and awarded certificates to the winners of the scavenger hunt (Our group came in 4th place, oh dear!).

3. Many other crazy Adventures

I went to Saitama (the area North of Tokyo) for Golden week (a national 4 day holiday in spring) and spent the weekend at a women's retreat with a bunch of wonderful ladies. We had a bbq for two days along a river; played alot of live music together; played tennis, volleyball and soccer; bonded and partied...good times were had by all...

I travelled to Kyoto and Osaka (I took the bullet train or Shinkansen for the first time!!) and hung out with a gal (Pixie) I met durring golden week...we danced all night in Osaka, ate wonderful food, went out for karaoke (where we sang show tunes), and basicly had a good wild time...

I've made many new friends near and around Tokyo who I now often go out dancing with in Tokyo.

So, basicly, I am living it up. Life is sweet and good and I am doing fabulous.