Back with a bang!

While I was bored out of my mind at school the first week back from winter vacation, thankfully there was a lot going on outside of school to keep me entertained. From the "burning buns" at the Daizenji Fire Festival to the ecclectic statues in the Peace Park in Nagasaki and ending with an all night club crawl in Fukuoka, it was quite the week.

*****

Last Monday night was the annual Fire Festival in Daizenji. Men of all ages dressed in nothing more than white loincloths to protect their most precious parts from the January cold, drink lots of sake and then run around the temple with burning torches. These smaller torches are then thrown into some bonfires, and larger torches, each carried by a few men are lit and brought in front of the temple. There's some ceremony and chanting and then the 5 huge torches supported by long sticks are lit. Once the huge torches are lit, the January cold all but disappears as the heat spreads over the crowd. A few crazy men shimmy their way up the big torches to cut of the ropes that bind them together so that the ropes don't burn through and fall on the people standing close by, but this seemed to be entirely optional, so only the craziest men with the neediest egos climbed their way to the top.

1. Bonfires
2. The big ones all lit up
3. Death wish

After the crowd has watched this all in awe for the appropriate amount of time, the men hoist up the large torches on sticks and start to carry them away. We didn't stay long enough to actually see where they ended up, but it was pretty amazing to see how the quickly the dense crowd parted when the torches headed their way.

*****

On Saturday, Jamie, Allison and Cory decided to chance the rainy weather and go to Nagasaki for the day. We took the highway bus with all the old people from Fukuoka and spent the day walking around the city. First stop was the Peace Park, which was more of an impromtu outdoor art museum with some really awful peace-themed statues donated by different countries from around the world.

1. And the award for ugliest statue goes to....the one above! Entitled "Triumph of Peace over War" the silver boxes represented the chaos and horror of war, while the shinning red ball on the top is peace. It was donated by Argentina; they probably got it from a minimalist Scandinavian country and didn't like it, so they renamed it, made up a cheesy description and sent it to Nagasaki, glad to get it off their hands.

2. This one is a little better. The faces in the middle are of the bomb victims, and the shape of the crane is a hope for peace.

3. Who doesn't love interactive art?! Peaceful Jamie and Cory of the future moving forward hand in hand.

4. Hmmmm, I cannot figure out which country donated this statue. I wish it said or something. But really, where's the peace message in this one?

5. The biggest statue in the park, with a whole lot of symbolism attached. The hand pointing up points to the threat of nuclear weapons. The other outstretched arm is pointing towards a world of tranquilty and peace. His eyes are closed because he is praying for the souls of those who lost their lives to the bomb. The tucked-up leg shows repose and meditation while the other one is poised for action to help humanity. Got all that?


6. Shrine for the unknown vicitims of the bomb. The offerings of bottled water and tea are a bit much, and certainly not much to look at. Oh Japan.


7. The fountain was my favorite part. Of all the statues, I think the spraying water in the shape of two wings expressed a hope for a peaceful future the best. As you can see, by leaving Kurume/Fukuoka, we also left the grey, rainy weather behind!


8. Just down the street from the Peace Park is the Hypocenter Park, marking where the bomb exploded. The Peace Park was on the top of a hill, but the Hypocenter Park is in between two hills, and there was lots of "borrowed scenery." And that's pretty much the only impression it left me with.
9. As a port city, Nagasaki has long been a center for trade with other countries. And as a result, it's a pretty international city, as evidenced by its food. Nagasaki is famous for castella, a nice spongy, yellow cake brought over by the Portuguese. Its sooooo well renowned in fact, there is a mini-castella shrine!!!


10. After paying our respects to the castella gods, and thanking them wholeheartedly for bringing such a lovely sweet to Japan, we sat down for an afternoon tea/cake set. Only I had coffee. Still quite delicious!

11. Fresh from our sugar rush, we took the lovely moving walkways up to the top of an area called Glover Gardens, sort of a foreigner enclave in Nagasaki built by Mr. Samuel Glover and his successful merchant buddies.


12. The view was quite nice, but what is that gigantic orange ball?

13. The garden part with a view of the shipyards.


14. Jamie's dream house. You can see the corner of mine in the upper left of the picture. Both had amazing views, but for a historical tourist attraction were a bit run down.

15. We went to China-town to try and find dinner, but all of the restaurants we passed we disappointingly empty and we were kind of full of cake, so we bought some nikuman dumplings from a cute old lady instead and headed back to the station for the requisite purikura and a bit of browsing at the New Years sales before dropping exhausted into some nice plastic chairs at the smelly bus station to head back to Fukuoka. All in all, it was a fun day; and I am really glad I went to Nagasaki, but I am not sure I ever need to go back.

*****

Last night and into the wee hours of this morning were spent in Fukuoka at "Nightwalker" and event where a $10 wristband bought you cover into 28 bars and clubs that were open all night. Most places required you to buy a drink ticket at the door, but it sure beat paying a bunch of different covers. There was a great crowd, foreigners and "natives" alike. We made some friends, saw some rediculous outfits and were amazed at how fast the night went! [The way the trains run, if you really want to go out in the city, you have to make it an all night affair. Things don't start to pick up until around 11 or later, which is when the last train leaves for home :-( ]

1. This guy was at the first club we went to. Missing in this picture are his sunglasses, white sweatpants and lazer pointer. Notice the shirt tucked into the boxers. I guess this is how they roll in France. Just watching him, and he could dance, thankfully, was worth the price of the wristband.

2. Some friends we found later. Pretty much all I can remember about them is that the guy in the jacket with the tan sleeves kept saying "crazy japanese" in English and pointing to himself. They invited us to come to one of the clubs with them, but then in line, a mini fight broke out and we bolted for the tiny elevator.

If the rest of 2008 is as exciting as this first week, its going to be one helluva (exhausting! but great) year!!