Dougyoretsu Part 1

So, since this occurred months ago in September, I finally felt the urge to write about it. I'm such a lazy panda sometimes. Woops. Dougyoretsu means "drum parade" or something of that sort. Remember how I posted about playing Taiko way back in the day? That was practice for this drum parade. :) Remember how I posted about making mochi? That was for this drum parade. I am just so on it. Haha.

After weeks of practice and trying to overcome my failure at keeping rhythms, the Dougyoretsu was upon us. The opening ceremony was Saturday night, (the same day we made mochi!) We each had to go buy our own tabi socks (ninja socks! the big toe is all on it's own, perfect for flippy floppies.) The drum group let us borrow happi (japanese coat) gold obi to tie them shut, fun head decorations, and zori (fancy flip flops.) Since these outfits were for tiny Japanese women, our happi were pretty short, and our zori way too small. My heels were hanging of the end. I don't think I'll ever get my white tabi socks clean again.

 Michael, Me, Kayla, Luc (he's French!)

 Kayla, Sarah (she's Canadian!), Me

We got dressed in our finery and met up at the drum shed near Matsue castle to get ready to go. The opening ceremony was held in the parking lots surrounding the castle. We (and by that I mean the men) had to push the cart holding the giant drums to the castle down the roads. Pretty hilarious.

 Stopped at a red light.

 Our final resting place in the parking lot!

Once we got to the parking lot, we set up camp with a giant blue tarp spread out, and a surplus of snack food and alcohol. So much alcohol. Those drum guys sure love to drink.

Once it was time, we started playing. We got to share the parking lot with one other drum group, but ours seemed more popular, probably because we'd stop playing and let the people watching try. Jake came to see, and I forced him to play some. It kept threatening to rain, but it never poured, just sprinkled on and off. A fun night indeed.

Go Jake go!

After playing, we got to pack everything up and haul it all back to the drum shed. Then we went home to sleep as it was probably 11 or so, and we had to be at the drum shed for the actual parade the next morning at 7 am. Way too early....soooo early....

look forward to that next!

Gessho-ji Temple

One of my trainer's friends, Keiko-san, lives in Matsue, and was looking for someone to teach her kids English. I offered my services, and she took me to her house to get acquainted and discuss details. On the way to her house, we stopped at a Temple close by. Gessho-ji temple is the family temple of the people who were the rulers of Matsue back in the day, and contains 9 generations of graves. It was built in 1664. It's very peaceful and pretty. The graves and monuments marking them are separated into different areas, with stone pathways connecting them. Many have wooden entrance gates. The woodwork is pretty spectacular.

Entrance gate carvings.

One of the grave sites. Each of the monuments are unique, with different set ups, sizes, and surroundings.

The stone pathways had interesting spacing. It was a bit of a challenge not to step into the cracks and twist an ankle. Miki-chan, Keiko-san's 1 year old seemed to especially enjoy walking on the pathways, even though they gave her a lot of trouble. adorable.

Miki-chan insisted on climbing the stairs herself. 

Beautiful carvings in the roof of one of the entrance gates.

Miki-chan!

Giant stone turtle carving. His head was higher than mine. The legend is he used to wander around the city at night causing havoc, so the residents put the giant stone pillar on his back to hold him in place.

 

 After viewing all the different graves, we stopped at the last building and lit some incense. After lighting the incense, you clap your hands together and pray for whatever you need to pray for. After that, we went next door to the tea house for green tea.

 The incense stick I lit.

 Inside the tea house. No shoes allowed on tatami (the straw mat flooring)

Miki-chan was very excited. She kept running around and opening doors. Here she is trying to make a cabinet her new home.

 The small garden the tea room looked out on. It was very pretty.

 Green tea and wagashi. yum.

Miki-chan was all about the wagashi. 

Afterwards, we went to Keiko-san's house to talk, and she served me yakisoba. Ah, delicious. Her 3 children are adorable. I look forward to teaching them :)