Let's see if I can catch you up on the last few weeks.
Sunday, Sept. 13, I went on a bus tour of Nahari, a nearby town whose claim to fame is its preservation of some elements of traditional Japan.
(The bus actually left from Kochi City, which is an hour west of Aki. Nahari is 20 minutes east of Aki. Ben lives in Muroto, which is even further east of Nahari, and since it would have been slightly ridiculous for either of us to go all the way to Kochi City only to come right back to the east side, he offered to pick me up so we could meet the rest of the group in Nahari.)
Silky smooth
Our first stop on the tour was Fujimura Silk Mill, which also had a cool paper art exhibit on display.
(Lisa shouted, "Ben, do something funny!" This was his response.)
(Not sure if the artist was going for a Darth Vader theme here or what...)
(Ads from back in the day.)
(Silk. Duh.)
(The reject cocoons.)
(The paper art was really incredible!)
Then we boarded the bus and headed to lunch.
(Me and Gary on the bus.)
Something fishy
(Craig and Gary, caught a little off guard.)
Lunch — bonito and veggies, onigiri (rice balls) and katuso no tataki!
Katsuo no tatki, a Kochi specialty, is tuna seared over an open flame so that the outside is cooked and the inside is still raw. The tour guides demonstrated how it's made...
...then had volunteers give it a shot!
Seasoned with yuzu, salted and sprinkled with green onion, it's simply heavenly. Mother — and anyone else morally opposed to raw fish — avert your eyes.
And for dessert, fig jelly:
(Good taste, strange texture. And quite difficult to eat with chopsticks.)
The after-lunch entertainment consisted of a magnetic fishing game.
(My third place prize — chocolate koala cookies that have quickly become my favorite Japanese snack.)
I took a few pictures of the scenery...
...and then it was back to the bus for our next destination.
House party
Next activity on the tour: checking out a traditional Japanese house.
(An old-school phone. I wonder if it still works or if it's just for show.)
(These doors were made from 500-year-old trees.)
(The roof has a sea-monster theme for protection.)
Storage room:
(An actual well.)
We had a quick break for tea, then went to our final — and most fun — destination on the tour.
Fun and games
The last stop on the tour was a house-turned-museum.
(No, probably not.)
(Kimonos: surprisingly tight.)
My fellow JETs Lisa, Lauren and Hollie got to model too!
After we kimono-clad ladies finished posing for a LOT of pictures, it was time to play some games.
Anyone remember Cat's Cradle?
Anyone remember Cat's Cradle?
After everyone finished untangling their fingers from the string, we played another game — sort of like pin the tail on the donkey, but with parts of the face, and the blindfolded one's teammates are supposed to give guidance.
The mother of the guy who owns the house embroidered this wedding garment by hand, to be passed down from generation to generation:
After the explanation of the wedding garment, four of us were chosen to demonstrate the 3-3-9 wedding ritual:
(Sacred sake is poured into three cups three times each, and each cup is sipped three times by the bride and groom. Hence, 3-3-9. Bride and groom played by Annie and Ben, sake pourers played by Lisa and me.)
The last activity was a skit:
The person in front talks and the person in back moves his/her own arms accordingly.
It's funny because the person in back always ends up smashing food into the face of the person in front.
Peter and Huw gave it a shot.
Random shot of the guys:
(Peter, Craig, Huw, Ben and Stephen.)
That's all for Nahari. Sorry about neglecting the blog! Look out for two more catch-up posts this week.
Peace,
Britt
No comments:
Post a Comment