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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.
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!
`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?
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?
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!
What`s the connection between these 4 items? Can you guess?
Would you like a hint?
Too bad! No hint! (Maybe I`ll give you one in a day or two...)
UPDATE:
Okay, it`s hint time. The first letters of the items are:
1.k_____ 2. s_____ 3. o_____ 4. (Mazda) B_____
By the way, are you going to the Gifu Teragoya party this Saturday?
UPDATE:
Time`s up! I`ve put the answer in comments.
It was my turn to choose Ichinomiya Teragoya`s Student of the Month for January.
I chose Atsuko because she has a fantastic attitude to studying & using English. Not only is she attentive in class, she also also does a lot of extra study at home. For example, she writes every day in her English diary, & she checks out English language websites. And of course she reads my blog & sometimes comments on it too - excellent!
She has improved so much since joining Teragoya - good job, Atsuko!
A former staff member of Ichinomiya Teragoya has set up a website (mostly written in Japanese) about teaching English phonics to kids. If you`re interested in that kind of thing, please take a look.
The address is: www.easycrazyabcs.com
Quite a lot of snow fell on Christmas night, so we made a snowman the next day (called `Boxing Day`). However, the next few days were sunny, so he started to melt pretty quickly, as you can see. Owen learnt a new word: melting!
We used green cherry tomatoes for the eyes, a red one for the nose (I found them in the mother-in-law`s garden), stones for buttons & mouth, sticks for the arms, & pine needles for hair.
I hate winter, but I quite like making snowmen.
How was your Christmas day?
After waking up, Owen checked what Santa had left him in his stocking, then we caught the train into Nagoya to attend church. Nowadays I don`t often go to church, but I make a special effort to go for Christmas. Even if you`re not Christian, I recommend going to church at Christmas - I`m sure you`ll find it interesting & enjoyable. Go on - next year - challenge!
When we got home we unwrapped all the presents under the Christmas tree, including parcels from my family in Australia, then ate Christmas cake, which curiously is an important part of Christmas day in Japan, but not in Western countries!
I had a busy but enjoyable Christmas day this year, and I hope you did too.
Happy Birthday, Jesus!
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birdy 
PSPINC JP 
内倉憲一 
bokushi 
KUMA 
yukio 
エメラルド 
田仲なお美 
mokomoko