tarento (Talent) shou (show)

So, every year our program puts together a talent show at the end of the semester for students to show off the skills they learned and/or utilized in their community involvement projects. This year, these included a dance by a student who had joined a street dancing club, two Christmas carols sung by choir students, a rakugo (relaxed speech) presentation (essentially, a yukata clad individual sits on a cushion and with the help of only a fan and their creativity tell a store using their facial expressions, actions, and simple words - it is a one man play, and hugely entertaining - the goal of the show is to make the audience laugh), a presentation on a language created by a group of linguists some time ago and now spoken by a number of people worldwide, a viola player, and the kyudou forms. In case no one had guessed, I was the one showing off the kyudou forms, and apparently my "air arrows" were pretty cool, fueling the running joke that I moonlight as a Japanese superhero (shooting spirit arrows at demons invisible to normal people). I also set the background powerpoint slides to go a bit longer than I should have, and got nervous when I ended up ahead of my slides; the result was a conspicuous nod that apparently made it look like I knew what I was doing. Well, all I can say is that I'm glad someone at least thought I looked cool.

The two images above are actually of one of Kyoto's biggest temples, located in the heart of the city (or at least, near my school and in a busy area). I visited with a group of friends to enjoy a large flea market held there on the 25th of every month. I ended buying a kimono and an obi, which I fervently hope (though I only spent about $50 on kimono trimmings in my stay here) I will actually be able to figure out how to wear. I now have Halloween costumes for the next several years :)

As with most temples, this one had a variety of interesting features, including these lined up lanterns of varying heights. My assumption has always been that when these lanterns are lit they ward off dangerous spirits, but of course, I do not know the real reason. They are certainly fun to look at, however, and taking a picture from the short end makes for an interesting perspective picture. The guardian at the end definitely does protect the temple, and there were several situated around the gates and grounds. Around the same area were a pair of cows which, if you pet their heads and then your head, will supposedly make you smarter. Needless to say, temples dedicated to helping students pass their exams are relatively common throughout Japan (and well utilized). There are also interesting structures like that below, which includes a variety of racks with candles placed at varying heights. Again, I do not understand the meanings behind many of these things, but I can say that people definitely utilize them.

Fair food is definitely important here. If visiting Japan, try to attend one of these flea markets or festivals, where one can purchase Taiyaki (fish shaped fried bread typically filled with red bean paste, but also with macha (green tea), custard, chocolate, caramel, etc. depending on the location of the stand), takoyaki (fried balls of octopus and bread), candied apples, fried chicken, and a variety of other regional and seasonal goods. Crepes are also delicious, through slightly different from their French counterparts.

The temple had an interesting display of images above a public seating area, probably monks or other famous peoples associated with the temple in the past. Some were framed and hung like these, others were murals painted onto the wood of the seating area itself. Either way, the look was fantastic.






I have mentioned before that there is something majestic about the Japanese temple. This is true for many of them, though the more I visit, the more I get the sense that each temple has a very different character. There are some that are small and rarely visited by anyone but the locals, and they have an old, gentle feel to them. Bigger, tourist-filled temples are bustling and seem somewhat to lack some spirituality in certain cases, while retaining all of their glory in others. Temples dedicated to academics are often filled with exam students, and have a strangely heavy air about them (perhaps the atmosphere from desperate individuals filing through), while those for love are always charged with a certain indescribable energy.

Without a doubt, going to the different temples to experience all of these varying "atmospheres" is interesting. Fortunes are also available at the shrines, usually written on pieces of paper drawn at random (or based on birth date, which is arguably still random) called Omikuji. Draw at your own risk, since a large proportion of such fortunes do not entail particularly good luck - then again, you can just tie them to the nearest tree and have them negated, so somehow it seems like there is no need to worry.

Interesting stones and tablets like this one are also common around temple grounds. Perhaps one day I will put in the energy to translate some of the kanji (assuming I can) but it seems many native Japanese speakers also do not understand. Maybe ancient secrets are written on these gently shaded, secluded stones. It's fun to imagine such a possibility.