Tanabata(The Star Festival)

Tanabata (七夕) or The Star Festival is a Japanese festival which has its origins from China. It is celebrated on the 7th of July and the reading for the Kanji 七夕 itself means the evening of the 7th. There are more than one myths associated with this festival but the most popular story goes this way.

"Orihime(Weaving Princess) who is the star "VEGA" used to work very hard weaving beautiful clothes near the banks of the heavenly river Amanogawa which is the "MILKY WAY". She once met Hikoboshi(The Cow Herder) who is the star "ALTAIR" who lived on the other side of Amanogawa and they fell in love instantly and shortly after married. Once married, Orihime stopped weaving clothes and Hikoboshi let his cows stray. The Sky King, Orihime's father was angered by their neglect to each other's duties and separated them and forced them to live on either sides of Amanogawa. Orihime was heart broken and wished that she could meet her husband. Her father took pity on her and granted her a wish that she could meet Hikoboshi once in a year on the evening of 7th July. When they were to meet on the first year, they could not cross the river as there was no bridge. They sought help from some Magpies, who spread their wings and made a bridge for the lovers to meet. "

On Tanabata, people decorate bamboo branches with colourful decorations and also hang strips of paper with wishes written on them. It is believed that your wishes will come true if you pray to these two stars on 7th July. There's another catch to it though :) If 7th of July happens to be a rainy day, the magpies cannot come out and hence the lovers cannot meet and have to wait for another whole year to meet again. And for us mortals it would mean that, if it rains on 7th July, no wishes are going to be granted.

Me and my friends here (Sn,V and Su) had the wish of trying out the Japanese Kimono from a long time. There are lot of places which rent out Kimono, but the rates are in tens of thousands of YEN and we weren't ready to spend more than a thousand yen :) Though we were not aware of this "Wish granting festival", our wish was granted anyways. An all ladies group led by Y-san, have a service for foreigners on the 2nd Saturday of every month, where we can try out the Japanese Kimono for just 500 yen!!! So, on Saturday July 11th we went to the Atsuta Lifelong Learning Center in Nagoya and tried out the Kimono. The group intended to celebrate the Star Festival on that day so that they could impart knowledge to foreigners like us about this interesting piece of Japanese culture. So all of us made some decorative pieces with coloured paper(this form of art is known as Origami) and wrote down wishes on strips of paper to decorate our bamboo branches (Sasa). Then there was a small tea ceremony where we tasted the "bitter" green tea and some snacks!! It was an educative and interesting experience which we thoroughly enjoyed!!

Although I know that July is the rainiest month of all in Japan, I hope against hope that, every year July 7th remains a NON RAINY day in Japan !!

The Japanese Doll festival

If you are a South Indian and know about the Navarathri Golu, it will be a pleasant surprise to know that Japanese have "Golu" too. I was surprised when I heard about it and wanted to see it. The invitation from my japanese friend Tomoe-san to see it in her home came as a blessing. When I saw it, I was amazed at the similarities between the two cultures.

The Japanese call it the "Hina Matsuri"- Hina is the name of the empress doll and matsuri means festival - and is celebrated on March 3rd. It is celebrated by families who have girl children for the future happiness of their daughters and so the english name for the festival is Girl's Day. The Hina-ningyou or the Hina-dolls are displayed on a tier of stairs and the number of stairs is generally odd(1,3,5,7) similar to what we have in South India.

At my friends' home they had 3 stairs. The replica of the emperor O-Dairi sama and the empress O-Hina sama in royal court costumes occupy the topmost stair. The dolls on the next stair are the three ladies who serve "sake" to the imperial couple and they are called the "san-nin kanjo". My friends told me that, actually, the complete arrangement would also consist of five court musicians below the san-nin kanjo called the "go-nin bayashi". This festival also marks the beginning of spring. The light called "bonbori" and peach blossoms called "momo no hana" form an integral part of the decoration.













I learnt from my friends that the empress wears twelve kimonos though I am not sure of the significance. The display of dolls begin by mid February and ends on March 3rd. I was impressed seeing the arrangement and could not help marvel at the delicate features of the dolls which showcased the perfection Japanese are known worldwide for. As tradition goes, the grandaparents buy the Hina ningyou for a girl's first Hina matsuri and so Tomoe-san's parents had bought the doll set for their granddaughter,Kaho chan, shelling out a whopping 300 thousand Yen which would be equivalent to 1.2 lakh Indian Rupees. This aspect is different than our golus because, our dolls would not cost us more than a few thousand rupees.

One of my friends also sang a song about Hina matsuri which goes like this....

Akari o tsukemashou bonbori ni (Let's light the lanterns) 明かりをつけましょう　ぼんぼりに

Ohana o agemashou momo no hana (Let's set peach flowers) お花をあげましょう　桃の花

Go-nin bayashi no fue taiko (Five court musicians are playing flutes and drums) 五人ばやしの　笛太鼓

Kyo wa tanoshii Hinamatsuri (Today is a joyful Dolls' Festival) 今日は楽しいひな祭り

In Japan, during this season, we see the O-Dairi sama and O-Hina sama everywhere and I too received a tapestry containing their pictures from my friends for the happiness of my daughter ;-) I was told that I am not to display it after March 3rd. Even my friends would take off their doll display after March 3rd because of an old superstition (yes,the japanese have superstitions too!!) that it will be difficult marrying off the daughters if the display lasts beyond March 3rd.
Happy Hina Matsuri!!

Chhod aaye hum woh galiyaan

"We have left those roads behind"!! This is not the first time though!!
No points for guessing.......... we moved from Nagoya, thanks to the transferable IT profession that my hubby is in. If huge pay packets and better life style is what IT jobs offer, uncertain, non permanent nomad's life comes free with it.

We are now residents of a furnished one room apartment in one of the residential areas in Chiba and Nagoya is pretty far from here. I miss our huge apartment on the 6th floor back there, the balcony, the huge tatami bedroom, the overall familiarity of the surroundings, the Chikusa park and most important of all, I miss my friends back in Nagoya. Preksha also misses these things I guess, because she seems to be clinging to me most of the time. She cant see the cars speeding by from the balcony because we stay in the first floor now. I particularly havent liked the new place except for the fact that Tokyo DisneyLand is just a 20 minute train journey from here.

The last couple of weeks had been very taxing, packing, cleaning, sending parcels.......lots of stuff to be taken care of. We sold all our stuff back in Nagoya since we are planning to MOVE AGAIN!! But this time we will be going back to our home, Bangalore. Thats the only thing that makes me happy about this move, because this way we are getting closer to going back ;-) Just a month to go and then here we come Bangalore!!!!!!!!!!!

The moonlit night

I wonder if there is anybody in this world who doesnt like to watch a clear night sky with the silvery moon and the twinkling stars? The reasons for the liking might be different ofcourse. Yesterday night, we went to sleep watching the moonlight........ Sounds romantic, Isnt it ?

One of the sides of our hall and the master bedroom has glass doors which opens to a common balcony. Yesterday, just as we were getting ready to sleep after putting my daughter to sleep, me and my hubby noticed a small ball of light through the curtains. My hubby asked me if I could see the moon through the curtains and I was ashamed for not realising that it was the MOON. So we opened the curtains and lied down on our bed watching the moon. The night sky was very clear with so many stars, bright and dull, big and small. It wasnt a full moon day, but the light from the moon was so bright that we could see each other's faces without the night lamp.

Any number of generations would come and go, but moon will be an inspiration to the technology geek and the poet alike. As I said, they might have their own reasons. Like, while my hubby is watching the moon, he is thinking about the science behind it......how far the moon is from the earth, how much more farther the stars are .........and so on. But such thoughts never cross my mind when I am looking at the moon. For me, watching the moon is soothing to my eyes and heart, the moonlit face of my hubby, romantic ;-). While looking at the moon, I have a feeling that somebody elder, like my late grandfather, is watching over us and I feel safer. I am not sure how long I watched the moon before I drifted to peaceful sleep with a smile on my lips. While talking about the moon, I remember one of the poems we had in school called "SILVER" written by Walter de la Mare........

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.

The Koyo Story.....

For those who dont know what Koyo is, "Koyo" is a Japanese word and means "The autumn colours". And I have been waiting from last year to see the autumn colours in Japan. I missed it last year because I returned to India for my delivery just as autumn started in Japan. But was very sure that this year there was no reason I would miss it. But this year too,I missed it ..........almost.

We had earlier decided to visit "Korankei", a place famous for viewing autumn colours and located not very far away from Nagoya. The colours there was supposed to be at their best during the last week of November. So we had decided to visit Korankei on Nov 25th, a Saturday. On Sunday, Nov 26th we were supposed to attend an Indian get together, our first one. But as the proverb goes "Man proposes and god disposes", our plans were disposed.

The reason was autumn itself or the Rotavirus that generally strikes in late autumn or winter and kids and infants are the ones usually affected. Poor Prekshu was infected by Rotavirus and started vomitting on 19th. She had severe diarrhea and wouldnt drink the electrolyte fluid given by the doctor. The choosy fussy eater, like her mom, did not like the taste of the sweetened water. She got dehydrated and looked so pale that it broke my heart to even look at her and I spent most of my time sulking. Finally on friday, Nov 24th she was given IV fluids and I can never forget that day in my life. It was so hard on me to see my darling baby being poked with needle and lying on the bed crying constantly. But it had to be done and Prekshu looked a lot better when it was over.

So, we called off our trip to Korankei and also the Indian get together. But I wanted to see Koyo and so after a lot of research on the net we decided to visit Jakkoin Inuyama since the webpages claimed that the koyo there lasted until Dec 10th. So on 2nd Dec, a saturday again, we visited Jakkoin Inuyama.

We reached Inuyama with no high hopes, we were prepared for the worst. We hired a taxi from the station to Jakkoin and the taxi driver's comments were disappointing. According to him, it was late to see the autumn colours and told us later that it was still beautiful after he heard our sigh of disappointment. The sight on the way that led to Jakkoin was a proof to what the driver had to say..........it was late........we could see only withered trees. When we reached Jakkoin, we realised that we had to climb almost 1000 stairs to reach the top and get the view. I was already in one of my worst moods..........climb 1000 stairs carrying Prekshu , to see what? Withered trees? My poor hubby had to carry all the luggage and Prekshu's stroller. But while climbing the stairs we realised, it wasnt that bad after all. There were nice colours if not excellent ones. I would not call the view from the top as breathtaking, but it was good. We could atleast claim that we saw Koyo, a little late, but it was still beautiful. We met a Pakistani family and it was nice to hear hindi mixed with urdu, the kind spoken in old hindi classics. An old japanese gentleman , accompanied by a young and beautiful japanese girl approached us because they recognised that we were from India. We were shocked to learn that the old gentleman was a professor in sanskrit and Indian Philosophy and the girl was his student and he knew a lot about West Bengal. We spent some time at the top taking pictures and started our descent. The descent was easier than the ascent and we finally returned home in a better state of mind than we had left home with. My hubby promised me that next year, if we were still in Japan, we would surely see the autumn colours at its best. I only hope god does not dispose it next year.

Little world

No, I am not talking about the size of this beautiful world where we live in. Little World is one of the major attractions at Inuyama and we had been there last weekend........finally. We have been planning to visit Inuyama from past one month but have been postponing it due to our laziness and greed for those extra hours of sleep during the weekend. After a lot of blame game, me and my husband came to a consensus of making it to Inuyama on saturday, the 12th. But the rain god had other plans. To our dismay, saturday was supposed to be a rainy day. We deserved the disappointment, as we hadnt bothered to check the weather forecast before planning, though we live in a country where weather forecasts almost never go wrong. So we decided to go the next day, if weather was good. My hubby's colleague Lakshmi was also supposed to join us. Thankfully, it was great weather on Sunday. We reached Nagoya station to take a train to Inuyama at 10:45 though the time we had earlier decided was 9:45. The start was not very good and so I had no high expectations about the rest of the day or the place.

We reached Inuyama (which literally translates to Dog Mountain and am not very sure of the history behind the name) at around 11:45 and got an english pamphlet which listed the major attractions to be visited. I had already checked the internet earlier and decided to visit the Inuyama Castle and Meiji Mura Open air museum. On checking the pamphlet we decided to visit "Little World" first. Change of plan again, sure the day was going to be bad.... I decided. Also it was so cold and windy at Inuyama and it was just 12pm. To add on to my worries, Preksha was so clingy and would not even go to her dad or sit in her stroller. After a 20-25 minute bus ride we reached Little World.

Little World is a park which houses the building styles from around 20 different countries in actual size. At each country's location, there are craft shops, a restaurant which serves that country's food and a costume counter where visitors can try out the costume of that country and get their pictures clicked. The first houses we visited were of Japan's Okinawa and Hokkaido and then going through Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, France, Italy, Germany, Peru and many more , we finished our walk at the Indian house. Though cold and windy, it was a bright day and the autumn colours were just beginning. We could see some trees in light yellow and light hues of red along the path. It made a perfect weather and location to take pictures and my hubby was the happiest of all as it was the first time he was photographing outdoors with his new digital camera. Preksha's mood had also improved and I got enough time to do all the girl talk with Lakshmi who was also thoroughly enjoying the day. Me and Lakshmi tried out the Peruvian attire which was a white top and a white skirt with laces and a wide brim hat with flowers around it and kept my hubby busy as he had to click so many pictures of the two Peruvians. We had spaghetti and margerita pizza at the Italian restaurant and continued our walk along the path lined with trees in green, yellow and red.

The Indian house was a surprise because the building there was that of Kerala and being from Kerala we were so happy and amazed at the perfection with which things were depicted. There were sign boards in yellow with malayalam and English written on it along the path (like the ones we see along the highways in India) and the house was almost perfect. The hall had a photo of Lord Krishna, a calendar from some jewellery shop, many black and white photographs and so many other things which was typical of old houses I have seen in kerala. There were snaps of people wearing the mala(to Shabarimala) which is typical of the photos I have seen in most of the houses in Kerala. They even had a BPL TV and the bulbs were all of PHILIPS. The kitchen had exactly the kind of things I have seen in all my aunts' and uncles' houses in Kerala. There was an electric post outside the house, exactly like the one we see in India. The restaurant also looked like one of those you see on the highways in Kerala but the food was north indian though, with the menu having naan and north indian sabzis. There was a costume counter which was crowded with japanese women and others alike to try out the Indian saree. The costume was complete with bangles and bindi and the women seemed to be enjoying wearing the bright sarees. They were walking around so effortlessly with the saree on, that it had me thinking of those days in college when, walking with a saree on was always a challenge.

It was 4pm by then and we did not have time to visit any other place we had planned earlier. But none of us had any regrets about it because we had had our share of fun. It had also started getting colder and Preksha seemed so tired because of the cold.... so we decided to return. We got into the bus saying bye to Little World but my hubby and me had decided that we will go back there in another week's time to see the autumn colours in its full swing. I had earlier read a bad review about Little world on the net and I am planning to post a counter review soon. If any of you ever happen to visit Inuyama, Little World is a place to visit for sure.

A Rainy Day in Japan

Its another rainy day here and I have come to hate such days. Its just 5pm and the lights are already on. The sober weather seems to put off my mood too. The clothes on the line havent dried. And worst of all, me and my daughter are going to miss the evening walk to the park, yet again. Thats something we look forward to everyday, or atleast I look forward to. My 8 month old prefers the main road with the fast cars screeching on the concrete roads and huge lights of casinos blinking , to the more laid down and darker park.

There was a time though when I used to love rainy days. A time when I used to make excuses to get out of home and drench in the bangalore rain. A time when I loved the feeling of rain water running down my cheeks. A time when I used to love to see water drip from the curls on my forehead. The rains that used to start with the smell of mud and leave with the entire city washed of its impurities and greener. The rains then also meant the inevitable power cut which meant no TV and in turn gave us the time to sit on the balcony with family and sip a cup of hot coffee and munch hot bajjis.There was no worry that I could not go out and meet people because there were so many people around me, at home!! I remember I used to love to sit there on the balcony and look at people on the road rushing to get shelter from the rain. Some on bikes with their raincoats, and some drenching since they did not expect the rains. Some walking with umbrellas and how I used to love to look at the different kinds of umbrellas in different colours and be disappointed if the majority carried black umbrellas. All these seems like a distant past now though it was just 6 years ago. Just 6 years???

Here in japan, there are no impurities to be washed away by the rain and the city always looks green, rain or no rain. And umbrellas are a thing of fashion here and you can see them in all the wonderful colours of the rainbow and more. But there are no people drenching as they didnt expect the rains, since the weather forecast is the world's best. There is no smell of mud, because there is no mud on the roads. There is a balcony and I am good at making coffee and bajjis, but my 8 month old cannot eat bajjis or drink coffee, and my husband would not return from office until its dinner time, and my parents and my brother and sister are thousands of miles away. But I guess I need to take solace in the fact that life has changed in the past 6 years and my family too would be cursing the rains now, as my brother,my dad and my sister would get stuck in the traffic jam caused by the overflowing potholes and my mother would not enjoy coffee and bajjis alone.

My daughter says "Enough of taking a break, Can I have my solids for the evening please!!"