雛祭り Hina Matsuri

I am feeling pretty darn happy with myself today. In addition to a really fun trip to Kyoto last weekend, my Japanese seems to have taken off this week. The truth is, its hard to tell which led to the other. Did my happiness make me more willing to use my Japanese, or did my Japanese make me happy? Just like culture shock, lanaguage ability seems to be a bit like a roller coaster ride- there are serious ups and serious downs. Most of the time, my Japanese is A LOT better when I'm really happy, but when I am overwhelmed or stressed out I can hardly even say the most basic phrases. For what ever reason my Japanese is better this week than I think it has ever been. All the sudden people keep telling me how much better my Japanese is! People have been telling me "Jozu desu ne!" (your good at _____, in this case japanese) for a long time, but the truth is that jozu desu ne doesnt really mean anything substancial. Japanese people seem to be suprised when foreigners can say anything, and around Tanabe they are suprised enough to even see a foreigner at all. Although "jozu desu ne" seems to have little meaning, I do take seriously so many people telling me my Japanese has gotten better. At times I can tell a huge difference, but other times I guess I forget how much I have learned since I have been here. I can have somewhat in depth converstaions at this point. Though I recognize my grammer and pronunciation are not very good, I can communicate and have a conversation about most subjects. The real shocker came tonight when I went to my ceramics class and found myself understanding a good deal more of what the teacher was saying. Not only that, but I wasnt stammering to get anything out. I wasnt exactly trying to make conversation with him, but it was a serious improvement. I realize that I'm tooting my own horn a bit here, but I have worked hard to try and learn this language. I have a long long long way to go, but I finally feel a bit more like I am really getting somewhere with it. Its a really wonderful feeling to realize all the sudden that you really can communicate (even if roughly) in another language.

Anyway, to make the week even better I had a really wonderful trip to Kyoto on sunday and monday. Monday was Hina Matsuri (Girls Day Festival), and I decided to take monday off of work to go to celebrations in Kyoto. Traditionally Girl's Day is celebrated by floating dolls down the river in order to get rid of evil spirits. The custom came over from China centuries ago, but seems to have died out in most places. Kyoto, the imperial capital that is, one of the last places that still practices Nagashi Bina.

I made up my mind that I would go, even if I had to go alone. I was a bit worried about it, but I figured I would really regret it if I didnt go. The truth is that it went far better than I could have imagined. I had no trouble getting to where I needed to be, and I had a great time. Traveling alone also gave me the opportunity to talk to other people at the festivals, which I would say is probablly what helped launch my Japanese this week.

The festival at the Shimogamo shrine was incredible. I got there REALLY early to make sure I would have a good spot, and people were really helpful. One of the priestesses sat and talked to me for awhile, and 2 Japanese women came and talked to me and told me exactly where to stand so that I could get the best view, and so on. I ended up with an excellent spot, and had a lot of fun. The leaders of the festival are a man and a woman dressed as members of the Imperial family during the Heian period. Their clothing was truly amazing, and unlike anything I had ever seen. They start off the ceremony by releasing their own straw dolls down the river, and a number of other representatives follow. After they have finished, hoards of people descrend to the river and release their own dolls. The place was PACKED, and when people started letting their own dolls go you could hardly move, even to get out. The whole thing was really interesting and a lot of fun.

[Shinto Priest purifying the "Imperial family".]

[Women drop their dolls into the water.]

[The empress walking down to the river.]

Later on I went to the Ichime Shrine's celebration which is a bit more typical of modern hina matsuri celebrations. These days most people don't float dolls down the river, but instead set up 5 or 7 tiered shelves with ornatley decorated dolls. The top shelf holds the emperor and empress, the next three court ladies, the third 5 musicians, and so on. These dolls are really expensive, and are given to girls when they are very young. The girls would never dream of playing with them, they are only set up prior to the matsuri and taken down promptly afterwards. Rather than showing off the dolls, the Ichime shrine had a demonstration at a nearby building in which they dressed people up in the costumes the dolls wear. (Like the previous festival, they wear Heain period clothing.) Demonstrators show exactly how to put on the multi layered Kimono and believe me, it is quite an art. The kimonos are folded in and out as if they were doing origami! After putting on 10 or so layers or kimono, the person can hardly move about on their own. It was a good follow up from the celebration I was earlier at Shimogamo because it made me appreciate even more just how stunning their outfits really are. After that I had some very traditional, very bitter green tea, and mochi (pounded rice cakes) which I love. They are not so much the like the rice cakes we think of, as the rice has been pounded over and over until it makes a very sticky think consistancy. Sweet beans are often put in the middle. They are one of my favorite Japanese foods.

[People dressed in Heian Period style as Hina Matsuri dolls.]

It was a great weekend, and a great week! I only hope that my great week will continue up until sunday for my GREs!