Otto's blog

Algarve Cup Final

Mar

9

• Comments(2) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

Japan`s women`s football team beat the United States 1-0 to reach the final of the annual Algarve Cup in Portugal - excellent! Unfortunately they lost 4-3 to Germany in the final, but I think they can be proud of that result. Well done, Nadeshiko! And well done Aya Miyama - she received the tournament`s Best Player award.
Did you watch any of the games?

Cool Cars in Ichinomiya #14

Feb

27

• Comments(7) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

I guess this is what you get if you leave two cars in the same garage together for too long!

More likely it`s what you get from a mechanic with free time, spare parts, & a sense of humour.

Because the engine is in the back of VW Beetles, there must be quite a lot of space under the bonnet/hood in this car - pretty handy.

What do you think of it?

Happy Birthday to Me

Feb

23

• Comments(3) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

Today`s my birthday. I won`t tell you my age, but if you want to know, you can look at the calendar in my classroom - some students kindly wrote my age there in big numbers. Thanks, guys!

As you can see, some students also wrote birthday messages on my whiteboard.

My students really like me, don`t they? I guess they must also like getting extra homework...

Ichinomiya `Field Athletics` Park

Feb

22

• Comments(1) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

If you`re bored with the standard 2 swings [blanko] and 1 slippery slide [suberi daiso] at your local park, how about checking out this place? It`s next to the planetarium (*my previous blog post).

It was a bit too difficult for Owen, who has only just turned 3 years old, but he still seemed to enjoy trying the different challenges with my help. I think it`s more suitable for kids aged between about 4 and 11.

My wife told me she went there when she was a kid, so it`s been there for a long time... Do you know it? Have you ever been there?

Here`s a link:
http://hamada-sports.com/ichinomiya_chiikibunka/ichi/facility/athletic.html

Ichinomiya Planetarium

Feb

21

• Comments(3) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

Did you know there`s a planetarium in Ichinomiya? I didn`t!

This is the website:
http://hamada-sports.com/ichinomiya_chiikibunka/ichi/index.html

We went there on Sunday. The last time I went to a planetarium, I fell asleep as soon as the lights dimmed. But not this time! This time I stayed awake. For 10 minutes. Then I fell asleep. And snored [ibiki o kakita], according to my embarrassed wife.

Anyway, it was only 60 yen to enter - really cheap. And it was pretty interesting (well, the first 10 minutes was anyway!). So if you have kids, or you`re interested in astronomy, or you can`t sleep, I suggest visiting Ichinomiya Planetarium.

Character Toilet Paper

Feb

20

• Comments(3) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

I like the character `Crayon Shinchan` & Owen likes the cartoon `One Piece` (even though I hardly ever let him watch it, because it`s so violent) so my wife bought this special toilet paper, which she noticed at the supermarket - cool, isn`t it?

Speaking of which [so ieba], did you know Teragoya sells `Let`s Study English` toilet paper? My wife bought a packet of that too... We have a lot of toilet paper in our house now!

Yakudoshi Ceremony

Feb

9

• Comments(10) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

`Yaku` means `calamity` (a disaster) and `toshi` means year, so `yakudoshi` kind of means `bad luck age`.

For Japanese men it`s the ages 25, 42 and 61, and for women 19, 33 and 37.

Men who don`t usually join the Konomiya hadaka matsuri sometimes decide to join it when they reach these ages, in order to get rid of this `bad luck`.

Anyway, on Sunday I attended a special ceremony at my local shrine for people of `yakudoshi` age. About 70 people attended. It was an interesting ceremony - the priest read some mantras [shingon] , then some guys threw black beans around the room (one got stuck behind my ear. Fortunately the lady in front of me didn`t see it - she was excitedly picking them up & putting them in her pockets), then he read all our names. That took a while; I almost fell asleep...

Afterwards we received these gifts. I`m not a big fan of dried black beans, but I love Ichigo Daifuku (strawberries in soft ricecake) - yum!

Have you ever attended this kind of ceremony?

Post-Matsuri Report

Feb

7

• Comments(4) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

This year`s naked festival was a lot of fun. Fortunately the weather was good - mostly sunny with very little wind - so it wasn`t too cold. In fact, I even got a little sunburnt [hiyaki].

I joined the same group (in this photo) as last year. We then joined other groups in the neighbourhood to form the Haruhi Town group, which had about 150 members altogether. After we had tied all our bamboo poles together, we proceeded to Konomiya Shrine in Inazawa.

My group didn`t hang around (wait) at the shrine for the arrival of the `shin-otoko` (the man who everyone tries to touch for good luck), which was good - this year he didn`t arrive until about 6pm (we got there about 3.30). Too late! By that time we were relaxing in a public bath. Mmmm.

There are lots of Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri videos on Youtube. I found my group (but not me) in this clip, just in front of the big `torii` gate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41GPyo1ZF_o

Did you go? Why? Are you interested in drunk, naked men?

Konomiya Hadaka Matsuri (Naked Festival)

Jan

31

• Comments(8) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

Yes, it`s that time of year again, when normally sensible [kigakiku, kinokiita] men decide to get near-naked and run drunk, freezing (= very cold) & screaming [sakebigoe] through the suburbs [yagai, kougai] around Inazawa carrying lengths of bamboo.

Of course, if you did this on any other day, neighbours would call the police & your wife/mum would be furious (= very angry). But on this day, your wife/mum will just say "Be careful, okay?" and you can do it! And your neighbours will wave & cheer! And sometimes give you free alcohol too! And the police will stop traffic for you to pass!

I imagine in heaven there is hadaka matsuri everyday.

Anyway, this year the festival is on Saturday, February 4. Konomiya Shrine is a short walk from Konomiya Station (Meitetsu). Groups of men start arriving in the afternoon, so that`s the best time.

Maybe see you there!

Bye-bye Bicycle

Jan

30

• Comments(7) |
• Reply |
• Permalink

More & more, I noticed a loud creaking [kiikii] & grinding [togu, guraindo] noise when I was riding my bike to school. At first I thought it was my knees, but no, it was my bike. I applied some grease & oil to the chain & cogs (& a little to my knees, just to be sure) but it didn`t fix it.

The guy at the bike shop said it would cost 5000 - 6000 yen to repair, but my bike was already in pretty bad condition (as you can see in the picture above), so I decided the time had come to buy a new one.

I knew I wanted a `mamachari` shopping-style bike with a basket, like my last one, but it was still hard to choose; there were lots of things to consider:
- no gears? 3? 6?
- 26 inch wheels? 27? 28?
- Dynamo or LED light?
- what shaped handlebars?
- what color?
- how much did I want to spend?
- how would I look on it? Like Cadel Evans (2011 Tour de France winner)? Or a hungry circus monkey?

Anyway, I`m satisfied with my final choice. I bought it from Asahi Bicycle Store, near my school. It was 21,000 yen (about $250).

*click on the picture to enlarge