We gathered in a large hall, along with several families of other foreigners, and were helped on with our kimono and obi. In actuality it was kind of a cross between a yukata – the simple, one-layered, thin-material worn in summer- and a real kimono, which is thicker like the layer we wore, but includes many complex layers of material and padding.
Somewhat restricted, we slowly made
our way to the matsuri, which of course kicked off with all of us displayed on
stage and asked questions about our origins! As I may have mentioned before,
the population here is 99% Japanese. This means that any foreigner outside of a
big city is often de facto a local celebrity, and people will unabashedly stare
at you.
At best, they will pepper you with
questions about your country and your opinion of Japan; invite you randomly to
their home for dinner and parties; leave their shops to accompany you places if
you’re lost; explain things to you slowly; and treat you like an honoured guest.
I appreciate all this very much, even if I feel I don’t deserve such special
treatment all the time. At worst, they cross to the other side of the street on
sight or give you the evils (I’m looking at you, Miyazaki grandmas); prefer
standing in a choc-a-bloc rushhour bus to sitting next to you; fall off their
seat in surprise every time you use chopsticks or a Japanese word; and ask very
personal questions about your religious and political beliefs, how much your
possessions cost, your exact relationship status, etc.
Living here, you are generally excused
almost any faux-pas or silly mistake by virtue of being a foreigner, and so you
kind of oscillate between trying to disprove assumptions by integrating, and
just doing "gaijin smash" and lazily taking advantage of your
perceived special status! I think that this ‘free pass’ results partly from
necessity and from genuine consideration, of course, but also perhaps partly
from the assumption that foreigners could never possibly understand, integrate,
or conduct themselves like anything but a thrashing fish out of water. This
assumption may not seem particularly problematic until you imagine applying it
to Japanese living in the UK.
But, this is only one side of the coin – the other is
tremendous kindess and forbearance – in a country still quite unused to the
foreigners. Despite the cliched image of the Japanese tourist, leaving the
country to go on holiday is still pretty uncommon here. I’m only beginning to
learn about Japanese history, but it was still illegal to leave Japan until
1868, and in the preceding couple of centuries no foreigner was to enter on
pain of death – so it’s little wonder that immigration and gloabalisation works
a little differently here.
I say all this not to detract from
the perfect day or from my experience generally in Japan, but to give a
balanced picture of what it’s like to live here. I have zero problem with
showing off on stage in a kimono and receiving applause for existing! I’m sure
most ALTs will take all these things for granted, but perhaps not the people
reading back home!
After our moment in the limelight, we
shuffled off to enjoy yakisoba, tea ceremony, archery (called kyudo), and of
couse, the ume! (Sakura are the famous cherry blossoms that come later in the
year, while ume are the smaller fore-runners.) We also twitnessed the talents
of a group of precocious pre-teens shake their thang to Beyonce. The spring sun
was bright and warm as we drove back through the snow-capped mountains.
 |
| This woman was a kimono-folding powerhouse! |
 |
| Waiting for tea ceremony to begin |
 |
| Getting involved with some pounding |
No comments:
Post a Comment