Final post

This is my 108th and final post. My final post on this blog, at least. I created a new blog (click here), so please keep reading posts on that one. Anyway, it was an interesting experience having a blog. I wrote an entry almost every week except for during vacations. Sometimes (most of the time) I didn't feel like writing a post, but now that I look back on it, it helps keep my memories more secure. When I read my blog again in twenty years or so, I think I will read it and be like, "Oh yeah. I remember that. That was so fun," or something like that. Also, the purpose was to keep in touch with my friends in America. But, now that I am back with them, I was thinking, "well, I'm back with them now, so I don't need to write one." However I wouldn't want to keep my friends in Japan in the dark. So, I figured I should keep writing a blog. The fact remained that I was not in Japan anymore. So, I made my new one, luckis in america. I think that writing a blog will help because sometimes I can compare my memories in America to my memories in Japan.

Now, I will summarise my experience moving, and life in Japan. Before we moved, I was really sad. I had lived in Deerfield (America) all my life and I didn't want to leave my comfort zone. The weeks leading up to the move, I was dreading it. Once I was in Japan, I was even sadder. I had no idea how to speak the language. I didn't know all the small things in everyday life, like you stand on the left side of the escalator. I felt really out of place. I dreaded the first day of school. It's bad enough to join a new school, but to join in the middle of the year, it didn't seem appealing. But I made friends instantly. The first break time on may first day at school, I actually had fun, which is unexpected at the first day of school. From there, life took on a pattern. I was having fun. My parents wanted me to start something new, for example my acting school in Japanese. I didn't want to do it at first, but it turned out to be all right. There were some exceptions, where I didn't like something. But now I realise that all those things I didn't like in Japan, probably would have happened in America too. So, all in all, Japan was a good experience. And when it became time to leave Tokyo, I was sad. I felt the exact same way when I moved to Japan. I didn't want to leave my friends. But I now have friends -and memories- in both America and Japan.

Hiroshima and Kyoto part 3

Throughout our time at Kyoto, my mom and I did many crafts.

Maki-e, the first craft we did, was very interesting and hard. Maki-e literally means sprinkled picture. The process goes like this; first, you put the designs that you want onto the object you want. Then, with a tracing paper, you trace it onto the object you want to decorate. Then on the object, you get these white scratches. After that, you take lacquer (basically glue) and paint over the scratches. This was the hardest step for me, because while my design looked okay, I usually had WAY too much paint, and that made it look sloppy. However, the results got better because of the last step. The last step was also the most fun, as you get to pour gold powder over your drawings. I had two designs on my plate; Mt. Fuji, and a dragon.

Nishijinori is traditional weaving. Really. You use feet pedals, and a stick that compresses the string. I think that it was really cool and time consuming. We made a placemat... in an hour. And, on top of that, we were making the easiest pattern, which is no pattern. After we finished ours, we saw a professional making one, and the machine was super complicated. Ours was foot pedal, put the string through, off the foot pedal, compress it three times, repeat. Hers was like, pull gold through, lift part up, put one colour through each one, compress it. Pull a string that shot something through, repeat. Also, she was going really fast. But the person that made the design must have had a really hard job. You see, for the machine to know which strings to lift up, they have to write a binary type thing to tell the machine, and it must have been really confusing. I thought that was really cool, and even more time consuming. The person said "about ten centimetres an hour". That is super crazy!

Kyoyuzen is a stencilling project. When you think stencilling, it sounds easy, but it wasn't. First of all, to make the designs good, we had to blend colours, and make a gradient. For example, my panda needed yellow and pink in some parts, and yellow and red in others. Also, for my turtles, there was the challenge of lining each step up exactly. Because most of the designs had multiple stencils in multiple colours, this was hardest for turtle, because it had the most steps of the ones I did. Even though I put tape marks, it still looked a little messed up. But, the last one I did, a dragon, was really good because I didn't have to mix, and I had learned my lesson about keeping it in the same place. So, even though it was hard, it might have been the easiest craft. I think that it also looked really good.

The crafts were really fun, and rewarding. It is really interesting how they are traditional, and most of the process is the same. Stay tuned for part 4.

Hiroshima and Kyoto part 2

Hey guys, I'm back. Where was I? Umm. Oh, yes. The day after we went to Miyajima, we visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. I won't go into to much detail here. I just want to say, it was really sad. So many people died from the atomic bomb, and learning about all the different facts about it really depressing.

After that sad expedition, we headed to Kyoto by shinkansen. The first thing we did in Kyoto was meet with my friend from school, and go to a shrine with over a thousand Japanese gates. Unlike the gate at Miyajima, they were not very tall, I could reach up and touch the top. As there were a thousand gates, we got quite tired while going up, and so we turned back. Still, it was really interesting seeing all those gates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxNWDFJ0Uxg


The next day was one of my favourites. In fact, it might take take up rest of the blog post. This is because we went to a place called Eigamura. It is kind of like Universal Studios, because they had attractions for kids, and the actual sets being used for TV shows and movies set in the past. In fact, right when we were there, a TV episode was being filmed right at the park. That is pretty amazing.

The attractions were really cool also. My favourite one was designed to show you how ninja houses are made- with secret doors everywhere. First, we go to three rooms where we get instructed how you would know if it is suspicious, what kind of doors the make. Then, after three rooms, they say "good luck, find your way out." This was actually, well, some parts were really easy, but some parts we had to get clues. So, I think this was actually a really interesting experience. I really want a house like that.

Another coolish thing we did was ninja training. I think I was a bit old for it, because nine year olds would have enjoyed it best. But, shurikenn throwing was fun, crawling around is cool, and sliding down a plastic roof... AMAZING!!!

But this place was not limited to sets and attractions. They had shows. The best one was probably the behind the scenes show. First, they demonstrated how they can make the four seasons easily. First, they have one guy stand in front of the camera. Then, for spring, another person held a sakura branch in front, and it looks like a tree is there. For summer, the sakura is exchanged for a normal branch. Also, the person has a fan (because it's hot). For fall, leaves were blown from an electrical fan, and a branch with red and yellow leaves was shaken. For winter, a bare branch was held, and some sort of fake snow was falling in front of the guy. For the action scene the director first lead the actors through it step by step, and it seems like the actors were being purposely stupid. Sometimes, they would over react, and once (well, twice) the guy "fell asleep" after being cut in the run-through. But, in the final shot, they were very serious, even if one of them changed the script. This was probably the funniest show, and I learned a lot about directing. For instance, you can do a lot off screen and no one can see you. It will make a lot of good effects.

Eigamura was very fun, and interesting. Be sure to stay tuned for more events from the Hiroshima/Kyoto trip.

Hiroshima and Kyoto

This week, my mom and I went to Hiroshima and Kyoto. It was an interesting experience. This is a very long story, so I will tell you one part right now.

First, we took a Shinkansen to Hiroshima. I think it was amazing, because on the Shinkansen, it is really smooth, so it is difficult to tell if we are moving, or at a station. The Shinkansen ride was pretty uneventful.

Once we got off at Hiroshima station, we dropped our bags off at coin lockers, and then took another train and a ferry to miyajima. This island is famous for a huge gate, or torii that sticks out of the water. Other things that the island is famous for are; red bean filled pastry, rice scoopers, and deer all over the island. Yes. I said deer all over the island. There were just deer walking all over the island, and people were just patting them on the head, taking pictures, like deer walk around cities all the time. The deer were so cute. But also in the competition were... the owls. Now you are probably thinking, 'what do owls have to do with Hiroshima?' The answer: nothing. But, still, when we saw a sign for owl petting, we went in. The owls were so fluffy, and awesome. There were all kinds of owls, from tiny ones that can fit in a cup, to big, puffed up ones, that are around the size of a soccer ball.

After the owls, we took slow walk, making our way to the huge gate. On our way, we had a delicious lunch. Hiroshima is famous for eel, and I always thought of that as disgusting. But, I tried a bite, and it was actually really good! After that, we went to see all the temples. The big gate was really interesting because, unlike other smaller ones, it was more 3D. There was the simple gate design, but then also four stabilisers.

Another cool thing about the gate is that at low tide, you can actually walk out right next to it. However, as did not visit at this time, we did not have that privilege. There was also another shrine on stilts we went to. The reason it is on stilts is because when it is high tide, water flows under it. So basically, it was a bunch of buildings connected by buildings. I think it was interesting because some shogun (leader) renovated it, but he left some of the old parts, so there was an orange-ish buildings snd a dark brown buildings. There was a big bridge, that was slanted so much, I think it must have been really scary to walk on it.

That's all for today, so stay tuned for the next part of our amazing trip.

Sayonara (goodbye) party

On Friday, most of the grade went to Emma and Clara's Sayonara party. Lots of kids were leaving Nishimachi this year, so it was very sad.

However, that sad note did not stop most people from having a good time. The music was good. The food was excellent. It was an all around good time, thanks to the people who set up.

Wait. I didn't do that part yet? Sorry. So, before the party, I helped set up with decorating, and the music. Emma and Clara blew up balloons, their moms and I helped put them up, and I made the DJ's spot. There was lots of balloons, and string for decorations, that only lasted about 5 minutes. Some kids are just really immature. Also, helping was really fun, because I said, "You're not allowed to go in yet," and I was allowed in.

The party was not what I expected, but it was fun. There were no major outbreaks. The worst thing that happened was when a kid was using a balloon as a pillow, and then someone popped it, so the kid's head hit the floor. For some reason, most of the kids stayed outside the party room, on the lawn, for reasons which I don't know. Also, we had planned to do a "guess the song, but that went really wrong, because we were doing whoever raises their hand first, but a lot of people were complaining about our judgment of that.

Finally, it was time for goodbyes. Lot's of people were crying. The majority. And the people that weren't? Something was wrong. Everyone was hugging each other, even people they would see next year. It was really sad because, while I would visit Japan each summer, some of them will not live in Japan. So, the next time I see them may be at the class of '19's graduation party. So sad.

Laser trap

Yesterday, my friends and I went to a place called Laser Trap in Harajuku.

I expected a laser tag kind of a game, but it was completely different. It was like you were infiltrating a bank, and there was a laser grid you needed to get past. So, basically, you were in this black room with these really cool green lasers crisscrossing the room. The aim of the game was simple. Get across the room and touch the yellow lights, then come back and touch a red light without touching the lasers. If you touch one, a siren goes off and you lose points. Also, in hard or pro mode, if you break so many, you are out. There were four levels. Easy, medium, hard, and pro. Also, there was a sub game for the little kids (and the crazy kids) where you just run around and break the lasers. I preferred the infiltration one better because while you get nervous, it actually takes some skill because you aren't just running around, and because it has a longer lasting memory. Think about it. Which would you remember longer. You running around in a room, or you crawling and jumping and dodging lasers?

The game was really fun. I was actually not very bad at it, because it mostly involved sliding on the floor. The scoring was like this: you start off with 999.99 points, and they subtract your time. Also, every time you break a laser, you get minus some amount of points. For the breaking game, some amount points for each laser, and points for the red lights I think. Me and my friend got 5th for a laser breaking one, and I got 7th for hard level. Also, my friend got 2nd on the pro mode, for the harder room. YAY!!!
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Even though it was completely different from laser tag, they are both equally fun. Laser tag makes you very tense, whereas laser trap makes you feel nervous because you have no idea when a siren is going to go off. I might like laser tag a little bit better, because you can play with more people than in laser trap, where you can only do two at a time. I think they should make a mode with as many people as you want. Also, they could have moving lasers as a whole new level.

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone unless you are claustrophobic (fear tight spaces). This is because the room is pitch black, and the lasers look like solid objects. Everyone else, you should definitely try it. Recommended to parents also. Even if you don't want to do it, you can still watch your friend on the live TV. You should really go to Laser Trap.

Pro taiko people

Today, my family, along with my friend's family, went to watch a professional taiko performance. The group was called Kodo, and they are really cool. My friend's sister's friend is in the group, and he was really good.

The really cool thing was that I had started taiko before most of them, and that might mean that I might be able to join. Also, I had learned two of the songs they played, but they raised it to the next level. They played it much faster, and they had added some parts to it. Still, it was cool to be able to play what they played. So, in a way, I felt kind of professional.

Also, this group was not only confined to taiko. They had three people play the drums (rock drums), a mini cymbals player, a timpani person. So, that was cool how they were not completely traditional. Also, the outfits were really different from the usual stuff. They wore leotards, but shiny blue. This is very different from what we usually wear. In Nishimachi, we have to wear an apron over a shirt, but this group was more about not getting restrained, whereas the apron does not help movement. So, the group is very modern.

My view as a taiko player is not so far from "Wow! They are so good!" Actually, some parts are not that hard, but other parts are not. Like, when they are just hitting loud, it is not so impressive, but when they synch, and play at the exact same time, move their drum at the exact same time, it is pretty cool. I wish I could be that good. Also, I think that I can learn, a little modern touch never hurts.

The Kodo performance was really cool. It was very unique, and interesting, especially because my friend's sister's friend was in it. I think it would be really cool if I could be in this group, but I would need a lot more practice.