The Brush Up Seminar for Kagoshima ALT's met for 3 days in Kagoshima, I can't remember if it was September or October. The purpose was to get the English teachers together for sharing teaching ideas, talk about coping with adjustments, big and small, and to have those ALT's who had lived there for a year or more tell us their favorite places to buy things we felt we needed, cheapest way to get phone service overseas, travel agencies to book trips home and all around Asia, etc. It was something I was sure I would enjoy, but I didn't realize it would open up a new world for me to explore. And I would meet several people there that would would become good friends, and 20 years later, I still think of them as good friends. Rochelle (from Hawaii) taught in Okuchi, Brigid (from Chiacgo) in Amami Oshima, Simon (from Canada) on the east side of Kagoshima Bay and Shawn, (from Florida) in Kirishima, but she had been on an island named Tanegashima. Maria, (from California) was right in the city of Kagoshima. Besides Nancy, (from New Orleans area) and Brian (from Ireland), this group became my closest friends from the program for the years we shared in Japan and beyond in addition to several who would come later in the program or I would meet them at parties along the way.
We had meetings in the morning and afternoon, led by the experienced ALT's, and we had lunches together and then dinner and partying on the town. I found my way around the downtown area of Kagoshima and it was so exciting. There was a McDonald's that I would later refer to as "Gourmet Food" because it tasted like home. On a later trip I would discover a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wahoo!
In Tenmonkan, at the city's center, were shops, bars and restaurants, and the large and fascinating Yamakataya department store. This trip of a little more than an hour's bus ride into Kagoshima opened up a gateway to a new part of my world.
When I saw the monk giving a blessing to a child I felt that I should ask to take the picture, but didn't know how to say much in Japanese 2 months into the program. I said excuse me, and made some gestures. He replied, "Sure, you can take our picture." So, of course, I had to speak with him some more and found out that he lived in Los Angeles for a couple of years! Through my years in Japan I would run into him often, in the city center but also at parks further out from the city. It was always a treat, and I always thought of him fondly as "my" Buddhist monk.
I also found a personal favorite go to souvenir shop on one of these trips around Tenmonkan. It was a tiny little shop filled with wonders of ceramics, lacquered woods, knick knacks, all vividly Japanese in size, shape, form, texture and color. I would come in once a month after we got paid and make a purchase of a good piece, a tea set, dishes, something that attracted me. I soon found out the reason for the beautiful things was that it was a wedding shop. They soon learned to recognize me, here as well as several other shops that I frequented. I don't remember the name of the shops now , but the wedding shop owner is below practicing a folk art of days long gone. He was making sandals of natural fiber similar to twine for working in the fields.
Yamakataya was a mega department store, like a Macy's, but the big one in NYC with many food vendors, both food to take home and cook, and prepared foods, candies, teas, fish, the works, and many of these were in the international foods section. This was where I bought the French imported Fauchon apple tea that I so loved to drink. It was the tea used by the chef at Southern Cross and was such an indulgence it felt like going to a spa to sit and sip away, served with a beautiful tea set I bought in Tenmonkan.
Yamakataya, in addition to food, high end clothes, accessories, makeup, shoes, traditional kimono, also sold all the wonderful china, pottery, lacquered woods, fans and good quality souvenirs one could want. One floor was dedicated to art exhibits, including kimono and ikebana (flower arranging) shows. It was several stories tall, and the basement was where all the foods were. It was like a trip to Disneyland to see so many beautiful things in one place. It became a go to place for me to admire all the beautiful things, and also a place to visit many of the exhibits. I became a regular over the years I spent there.
Yamakataya was also where gracefully uniformed elevator girls extended beautifully white-gloved hands and invited you to enter the elevator, then in equally uniform voices announced the number of the floor when the door opened. I grew up in that small town I keep mentioning. Before a senior citizens' building went in there, we didn't even HAVE an elevator. The young women intrigued me, so perfectly coiffed, made-up and dressed, with a mere touch of a smile.
One of the featured activities for the ALT's if they chose to go, was taking the ferry across the bay to Sakurajima, the active volcano in the ken (province). By active, it still does some showy eruptions, but most often billows plumes of smoke and small bits of ash that can cover cars, hair and flowers and gardens with the fine gray ash. In fact, since it rains down on everything, the best way to protect oneself is to walk with an umbrella when it is active. It is a well known sight to all Japanese as it has a beautiful outline and towers above the sea. It fascinated me that a part of the weather forecast on TV always showed a directional arrow for the ash to blow so you would know whether to hang your clothes outside or not!
All ALT's received information an invitation to participate in the largest annual festival in Kagoshima, to be held in November right on the main street of the city. It is the Ohara Matsuri and features several hours of dancing in the street to very old folk music that I believe celebrates the harvests. This festival has been held for over 60 years and it is still held every November. It would be a few weeks after the seminar ended and there would be at least one practice session. Dancing in the streets, yup, definitely right up my alley. I signed up and had something else to use for a countdown of days.
This is the website for Yamakataya in Kagoshima, in Japanese. http://www.yamakataya.co.jp/shop/kagoshima/k-furusato
Future posts will include more on the volcano, Sakurajima, and the Ohara Matsuri with dancing in the streets, and fall at my favorite shrine, Takeda Jinja. Please feel free to leave comments!
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| Evelyn, Nancy, Maria and Simon learning to make sushi in Kagoshima. |
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| At our seminar some sumo wrestlers from a high school put on a show for us. |
In Tenmonkan, at the city's center, were shops, bars and restaurants, and the large and fascinating Yamakataya department store. This trip of a little more than an hour's bus ride into Kagoshima opened up a gateway to a new part of my world.
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| The stained glass dome above the center of Tenmonkan shopping district in Kagoshima. |
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| Kagoshima City near Nishi Eki train station. |
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| A Buddhist Monk gives a child a blessing in front of shops in Tenmonkan. |
I also found a personal favorite go to souvenir shop on one of these trips around Tenmonkan. It was a tiny little shop filled with wonders of ceramics, lacquered woods, knick knacks, all vividly Japanese in size, shape, form, texture and color. I would come in once a month after we got paid and make a purchase of a good piece, a tea set, dishes, something that attracted me. I soon found out the reason for the beautiful things was that it was a wedding shop. They soon learned to recognize me, here as well as several other shops that I frequented. I don't remember the name of the shops now , but the wedding shop owner is below practicing a folk art of days long gone. He was making sandals of natural fiber similar to twine for working in the fields.
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| Using both hands and feet, sandals waraji are being woven that will just fit! |
Yamakataya was a mega department store, like a Macy's, but the big one in NYC with many food vendors, both food to take home and cook, and prepared foods, candies, teas, fish, the works, and many of these were in the international foods section. This was where I bought the French imported Fauchon apple tea that I so loved to drink. It was the tea used by the chef at Southern Cross and was such an indulgence it felt like going to a spa to sit and sip away, served with a beautiful tea set I bought in Tenmonkan.
Yamakataya, in addition to food, high end clothes, accessories, makeup, shoes, traditional kimono, also sold all the wonderful china, pottery, lacquered woods, fans and good quality souvenirs one could want. One floor was dedicated to art exhibits, including kimono and ikebana (flower arranging) shows. It was several stories tall, and the basement was where all the foods were. It was like a trip to Disneyland to see so many beautiful things in one place. It became a go to place for me to admire all the beautiful things, and also a place to visit many of the exhibits. I became a regular over the years I spent there.
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| Most of these are from the shops in Yamakataya and Tenmonkan. Some were gifts, some I bought, the dolls were from my brother when I was a small child. The beautiful Phoenix (Ho Oh) is a painting by a Kagoshima artist.Yoshikawa Ryo. |
Yamakataya was also where gracefully uniformed elevator girls extended beautifully white-gloved hands and invited you to enter the elevator, then in equally uniform voices announced the number of the floor when the door opened. I grew up in that small town I keep mentioning. Before a senior citizens' building went in there, we didn't even HAVE an elevator. The young women intrigued me, so perfectly coiffed, made-up and dressed, with a mere touch of a smile.
One of the featured activities for the ALT's if they chose to go, was taking the ferry across the bay to Sakurajima, the active volcano in the ken (province). By active, it still does some showy eruptions, but most often billows plumes of smoke and small bits of ash that can cover cars, hair and flowers and gardens with the fine gray ash. In fact, since it rains down on everything, the best way to protect oneself is to walk with an umbrella when it is active. It is a well known sight to all Japanese as it has a beautiful outline and towers above the sea. It fascinated me that a part of the weather forecast on TV always showed a directional arrow for the ash to blow so you would know whether to hang your clothes outside or not!
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| This sign says it is o.k. for you to leave the ash you have collected and bagged here for pickup.
The seminar had been a wonderful event for finding new friends and new places. Japan
held many little nooks and crannies worthy of my time and exploration
and I began to make plans with the other ALT's, inviting them to explore
Kaseda with me and in turn I would visit their locales and see their
favorite spots. The plans were exciting and took time away from my
counting down the days to return home in 10 months. The adventure of a
year in Japan was starting to turn from what had been down right dismal
to somewhat pleasurable.
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This is the website for Yamakataya in Kagoshima, in Japanese. http://www.yamakataya.co.jp/shop/kagoshima/k-furusato
Future posts will include more on the volcano, Sakurajima, and the Ohara Matsuri with dancing in the streets, and fall at my favorite shrine, Takeda Jinja. Please feel free to leave comments!
