Living & Working in Ishikawa, Japan
Setsubun is February 3rd this year, and you’ve probably already seen ogre decorations in your school or ogre masks on sale at your local department store. Here’s a rundown of Setsubun traditions and events in Ishikawa.
First off, what is Setsubun? Setsubun is actually a bit of a misnomer, as the name 節分 just means “seasonal divide” and refers to the midpoint in between solstices and equinoxes as determined by the classical Chinese lunisolar calendar. There are actually four setsubun in a year: 立春 (risshun, spring setsubun, February 4th), 立夏 (rikka, summer setsubun, May 5th), 立秋 (risshuu, fall setsubun, August 7th) , and 立冬 (rittou, winter setsubun, November 7th). In the classical Chinese lunisolar calendar, these dates–not the solstices and equinoxes themselves–are considered to be the beginning of the new season. Of these four, only the spring setsubun is a major festival in Japan, so the term stuck to that day.
Traditionally, Setsubun was a time to celebrate the end of the coldest period of winter and a time to drive away any lingering bad luck. The most famous Setsubun tradition is 豆撒き (mamemaki), throwing beans to cast out evil spirits and purify the home. Some homes with children choose a family member to wear an ogre mask and throw beans at them, yelling 「福は内、鬼は外!」(fuku wa uchi, oni wa soto, good luck in, demons out!) and slamming the door behind them when they inevitably run away.
Shrines will have similar Setsubun festivities where visitors can purchase beans to throw at volunteers in ogre masks. Sardine heads and boughs of holly act as a further deterrent for bad spirits, and visitors can pick up any protection or luck charms they might have forgotten at New Year’s.
In recent years, supermarkets and convenience stores throughout Japan have picked up the Osaka tradition* of selling 恵方巻 (ehoumaki, whole sushi rolls) at Setsubun. Eating the whole roll in silence while facing the given year’s chosen direction is said to grant good luck.
Interested in seeing some Setsubun festivities but don’t have access to a household full of small Japanese children to throw beans at? Kanazawa’s Utasu Jinja has a Setsubun Festival every year. The geisha and maiko of Kanazawa’s Higashi Chaya district perform a fan dance at this festival and then throw blessed beans to the crowd so visitors can take them home for luck.
What: Utasu Shrine Setsubun Festival 宇多須神社節分祭り
When: Sunday February 3, 2013.
13:00 Sake tasting
14:00 Setsubun matsuri opening ceremony
14:30 Geisha performance (fan dance)
15:00 Bean-throwing ceremony
Where: Utasu Shrine, Higashi Chaya, Kanazawa
Getting There: From Kanazawa station, take the Loop Bus to the Hashibachou Kouban-mae stop (橋場町交番前), L6. The shrine is a 5 minute (and very scenic!) walk away.
Walking directions from the bus stop:
Experience Kanazawa has more details about the festival here.
If your town has an awesome Setsubun festival, please comment with info!
福は内、鬼は外！
Foodies of Ishikawa, you’re in for a treat! Yuka Kokon is offering a class next week at Noppo kun restaurant about how to make and season foods with salt koji, an Ishikawa specialty. What is salt koji, you may ask? Koji is a trendy fermented seasoning (like miso) made of steamed rice and the same fermenting agent used in sake and soy sauce.
In this class, you will be taught how to make your own salt koji and also how to use salt koji in other recipes.
Class Information
When: Thursday, January 24th, from 10 am to 12:30 pm.
Where: Noppo kun Restaurant and Natural Foods Market in Nonoichi
石川県野々市市本町2-1-24
Cost: 2,500 yen. This includes lunch!
Contact: koji.seminar(at)gmail.com
The organizer of this event is English-proficient and will be on-hand during the demonstration. Both the chef and the organizer are excited to share this little-known specialty with Ishikawa’s foreign residents, so even if you can’t attend, pass word along!
Salt Koji Cooking Seminar (ENG)
Following on from the Kobe Luminarie, `Asunaro Tours` is offering trips to Mie Prefecture`s most beautiful winter illumination, Nabana-No-Sato.
Nabana-No-Sato
Nabana-no-sato Winter Illumination
Tour 1:
Cost: Y5,500
Operation Days:
- December 8,9,15,16,17,21,22,23,24
- January 1,2,3,5,6,12,13,14,19,27
- February 2,3,9,10,11,14,16,17,23,24
- March 1,2,3
Length: 1 day
Includes:
- Roundtrip bus fare and inter-area bus travel between Kanazawa/Kaga Stations and the light-up area.
- Stop offs at Jazz Dream Outlet Mall (4hours), Nabana-no-sato Winter Illumination (2.5hours, includes entry fee to the Begonia Garden)
Departs: Kanazawa Station West Exit 7:30am (next,Kaga Station)
Returns: Kanazawa Station (last stop via Kaga Station) 23:30
Tour 2:
Cost: Y8480
Operation Days:
- January 19,20,22,26,27,29,31
- February 2,3,6,8,9,10,11
Length: 1 day
Includes:
- All-you-can-eat lunch at Gamagoori Orange Park (ebi-fry,beef steak,crab,pork shabushabu,kishimen noodles, chirashi-zushi sushi, etc winter`s best foods)
- Nabana-no-sato Winter Illumination (3hours, includes entry fee to the Begonia Garden)
Departs: Kanazawa Station West Exit 8:30am
Returns: Kanazawa Station 23:30 : This tour departs from & arrives at Kanazawa Station only
Again, for bookings and further information, go to your local Hokutetsu Bus office or contact Hokutetsu Koukuu on 076-242-3337. Pamphlets available at Hokutetsu stations and bus offices.
Winter in Japan = snow. Right?
Wrong. Winter in Japan = snow and illuminations!
Hokutetsu/Komatsu Bus company are offering several great-value day/weekend trips out to some of Japan`s most fantastic illumination events, and it`d be a shame to miss out 
Listed below are the details for the Kobe Luminarie ones:
Kobe Luminarie
Kobe Luminarie
By far one of Japan`s most famous illuminations, the Kobe Luminarie is held every year in memorial of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. It is on from December 6 – 17th, 18:00 – 21:00. Expected to be very crowded on weekends in particular, so anticipate queuing and moving around the display in lines on weekends (unfortunately).Tour 1:
Cost: Y4500
Operation Days: Every day from Dec 6th – 17th
Length: 1 day
Includes: Roundtrip bus fare from Kanazawa/Kaga stations to Mitsui Outlet shopping Park, and on to Kobe Luminarie event area.
Departs: 7am Kanazawa Station (West exit) (next,Kaga Station)
Returns: 24:00 Kanazawa Station (last stop,via Kaga Station)
The itinerary is completely free-plan, so you can do your own thing until departure time from the Luminarie
Tour 2:
Cost: Y16,980
Operation Days: Every day from Dec 7th – 17th
Length: 2 days/1 night
Includes:
- 1 night`s accommodation for 1/2persons per room at Chisan Hotel Shin-Osaka (9pm-9am, western room,breakfast included)
- Roundtrip and tour bus fares from Kanazawa/Kaga Stations, within Kobe City, Osaka City, and to and from Mie and Aichi prefectures
- Day trip to Kobe Harbourland (free plan exploring), and Kobe Luminarie (free plan)
- Day trip to Aichi & Mie prefectures, Outlet Mall Jazz Dream, and Nabana-no-sato Winter Illumination (entrance fees included, free plan)
Departs: Kanazawa Station West Exit 7:30am (next,Kaga Station)
Returns: Kanazawa Station (last stop) 22:30
For further information, or to book one of these tours, you can go to your local Hokutetsu Bus office, or phone Hokutetsu Koukuu on 076-242-3337. On booking the tour, you will need to pay either 20% of the fee as a deposit, or the whole sum upfront. The pamphlet for these `Asunaro Tours` is available at Hokutetsu Kanzawa Station, and other Hokutetsu stations and bus offices, and it may help to have it on you for simplicity-sake when booking
In addition, MKBus Tours is offering a rather no-fuss roundtrip tour for Y3800 (excl Y100 donation to the Luminarie), departing December 8,9,15 & 16th from Kanazawa Station West Exit 8am, and returning there at 24:15. See the link below for the bookings procedure (telephone and furikomi):
The Senmaida (1000 rice fields) Light Up is brightening up Wajima on October 13th (Saturday) this year.
Senmaida lit up at night.
Senmaida is a designated national cultural asset, and is lit up with 30,000 candles every year after the rice cutting. If you’re interested in volunteering to place all those candles, now’s your chance!
Every year, JETs from around Ishikawa volunteer as one of Senmaida’s akaribito–light people–to place and light candles in the rice fields. This year, 350 volunteers are needed, and each will receive a special gift (a tote bag and face towel are shown on the website) as well as something to drink, for their work. The sign up sheets for volunteering can be found here: http://semmaida.kuronowish.com/senakari/tomoshi.html
Transport to Wajima Michi-no-eki is usually organised amongst volunteering JETs (carpools), or you can make use of the Noto Furusato Ticket for trains as far as Anamizu. For more information on the bus bus from Anamizu to Wajima michi-no-eki here. You could also take a bus to Wajima.
Free shuttle buses to Senmadia will be available from the following locations to transport volunteers: Wajima Michi-no-eki, Wajima Marine Town (14:20), Nafunegyokou (14:35), Sosogi Furusato Taikenjisshukan and Najimi-kaizen centre (14:20).
14:20 – Free shuttle bus for volunteers starts operating
14:50 – All volunteers meet at Senmaida Pocket Park
15:00 – Activity explanation and separation of volunteers into groups
15:20 – Start placing candles
16:30 – short break (each volunteer is given something to drink). The remaining candles etc will be collected, and the volunteers must each take the tools for lighting the candles
16:50 – start lighting candles
17:30 – finish lighting candles, event starts
17:50 – volunteers create a circle with flashlights
17:00 – UNESCO sites in the Oku-Noto
17:30 - Wajima Wadaiko-toranosuke (wadaiko drum performance)
17:50 – Opening ceremony; volunteers create circle of light
18:30 – Ishikawa-ken Intangible Cultural Asset; Gojinjodaiko taiko drumming
19:10 – Quintet CIRC
19:50 – Yanawaraba mini concert
21:00 – End of event; shuttle buses back to Wajima Michi-no-eki and other designated shuttle bus spots.
Note: For non-volunteers, the shuttle bus is ¥200, and starts operating from 16:00.
Senmaida is truly a beautiful sight, so if you can go or missed out last year, I highly recommend it! 
For all the runners out there 
The 19th Kanazawa City Residents Marathon (第19回金沢市民マラソン) will take place on November 11th this year.
The races available are: 3km, 5km, and 10km. There is no half or full marathon, despite the name. There are also family races available for families with children of elementary school age.
Entry Period: Now until October 5th 2012
Entry Fee: ¥2000 (+¥200 handling fee). Only one race can be entered per person.
Entry Process: You can enter online via jtbsports.jp (you need to sign in for free & search the race) or via post office furikomi money form. You can find the form in the first PDF at the bottom of the page here: http://www.fukui-sports.jp/event/detail.php?cd=221
Where: 金沢市営陸上競技場 (Kanazawa-shi-ei Rikujo-kyogi-jo)
Reception: 10 November, 10am – 5pm, and 11 November 6:30 – 7:20am.
Opening Ceremony: 7:20am
Race Start: 10km course @ 8am, 5km course @ 8:10am, 3km course for general public (not school students) 9:49am.
Time Limit (10km course only): Those runners who have not passed the 5km mark 40 minutes after the start (i.e. at 8:40am), and/or the 6.6km mark in 50 minutes, will be disqualified.
- Runners who complete their race will receive a completion certificate
- Each runner will receive a DIY health check form, to be handed in at reception when receiving your number cards.
- There is no parking at the event, but there will be allocated parking areas for use, as well as a shuttle bus to the event (from these, presumably).
- There will be a massage tent set up for any muscular inflamation or other sprains
- The 10km race runners will be organized at the start line into blocks according to their self-predicted race completion times
Please see the official site for more information (Japanese only): http://www.kanazawa-city-marathon.jp/
So, who`s keen to “enjoying” running together?
Conveniently in line with festival season, JR West has introduced a new special ticket – the Noto Furusato Free Ticket.
What:
The ticket allows you to travel between the JR area Kanazawa station <-> Wakura Onsen station, and the Noto Tetsudo area of Wakura Onsen station <-> Anamizu station (Nanao <-> Wakura Onsen is also possible on this line) for 2 days as much as you like.
The ticket is only valid for use on normal trains (i.e. Shirasagi, Hokuetsu, and other rapid express trains are out). However, these lines have the most awesome `futsuu-ressha` you`ve ever seen, so you still get to travel in style
Cost:
Adults Y1500, children Y300.
The ticket is on sale until October 11 2012 (purchasable up until the day before you intend to use it), and usable between July 6 – October 13 2012. Be careful in specifiying your date(s) of travel because these can not be changed once you have bought your ticket.
Extra stuff:
By showing your Noto Furusato ticket at the various tourist attractions (including the Notojima Aquarium) you can receive entrance fee discounts, and various free goodies (ice-cream included!).
The pamphlet for the ticket is available at all major stations and JR offices, and includes a full list of the attractions, their discounts and access methods. There is also a train schedule attached.
Since the Noto will be hosting some of the best festivals this summer, and is a place that is usually a bit difficult to access, this ticket really is a bargain So `let`s enjoying` the Noto this summer!:P
Special note about Wajima Taisai transport:
- Using this ticket, you can go as far as Anamizu station. From Anamizu, there is a regular bus that runs between Anamizu station and Wajima station. The last bus on Friday 24/8 is at 19:30 to Wajima station, arriving 20:04. They run from early morning until 19:30, so those of you on holiday can easily go up earlier. The whole journey takes a total of an hour more than the Wajima express bus. You can see the bus timetable here:
http://www.hokutetsu.co.jp/htd_hp/timetable/rosen/0960_1_1_01.html
Salutations! I hope this post reaches you in good and pleasant spirits. I’m writing to tell you about an amazing festival that is taking place this week in the Noto!
“Where is the Noto?”, you might ask. The Noto is the northern half of the Ishikawa prefecture. The Noto is split up into 3 sections: Kuchi-Noto (Entrance of Noto), Naka-Noto (Middle of Noto), and Oku-Noto (Depths of Noto).
One of the biggest reasons to come to the Noto is the massive festivals that take place throughout it. In fact, if you have free time or cultural furlough this week, I’d recommend that you come to Wajima for the Wajima Taisai. As one of the premiere festivals of the Oku-Noto, you can count on having large amounts of merriment and long lasting memories. The festival comes highly recommended and is a must see event for JETs and visitors to Ishikawa.
Where:
Times and Locations:
The Festival is a combination of the festivals of four different shrines in Wajima in the towns of:
Ama-machi (海士町): Aug. 22 (Wednesday) 16:00 – 23:00
Kawai-machi (河井町): Aug. 23 (Thursday) 15:00 – 24:00
Fugeshi-machi (鳳至町): Aug. 24 (Friday) 8:00 – 24:00
Wajimazaki-machi (輪島崎町): Aug. 25 (Saturday) 8:00 – 11:00
Resident Expert Tip #1: The festival starts getting exciting after 8:00pm
Resident Expert Tip #2: Find a Kiriko Team, follow them and you’re bound to have fun.
Highlights of Wajima Taisai:
If you’d like to forge your own path in terms of festival planning, make sure to take a peek at the Wajima Taisai event page: http://www.city.wajima.ishikawa.jp/kanko2/maturi/taisai.html
Transportation:
Depending on where you’re coming from, it’s quite easy to get to Wajima.
By Bus from Kanazawa:
Ø Buses leave for Wajima from Kanazawa station roughly once every hour throughout the day, 7 days a week, from PLATFORM 1 from the East Exit (the main exit with the big wooden gate). It takes 2 hours each way and costs 2200 yen one way (3950 yen round trip, if you purchase beforehand in the Station). Pay when you get off in Wajima.
Ø Bus times from Kanazawa Station Platform 1 to Wajima: 7：20, 8：50, 10：00, 12：35, 13：35, 14：35, 15：35, 16：35, 17：35, 18：35, 20：10
Ø Bus times from Wajima to Kanazawa Station Platform 1: 5：35, 6：40, 8：10, 9：10, 10：10, 11：10, 12：10, 14：00, 15：30, 16：40, 18：10
By Car from Kanazawa, Nanao, Anamizu, Tsubata, etc:
If you’re going by car, just take the Noto Yuryo toll road. Make sure to take the Anamizu Exit on the Yuryo and at the first intersection, take a left and then follow the road signs to Wajima (they’re all in English, so you shouldn’t get lost). The tolls from Kanazawa to Wajima cost about 1600 yen round trip (it’s much cheaper if you’re coming from anywhere in the Noto), so I suggest carpooling with some buds to keep costs down. There is plenty of free parking at the Wajima Station.
Once again, for more information make sure to take a peek at the Wajima Taisai event page: http://www.city.wajima.ishikawa.jp/kanko2/maturi/taisai.html
Please come out and partake in the festivities, if you can! It’s a great primer for Ishikawa’s festivals and also an excellent break from life at school or your BoE.
Happy Travels!
Alex will be a second-year ALT in Suzu. Where’s that you ask? Oh, it’s in the Noto. You know … the place with rice fields … and kiriko. That’s the one.
Please check the attached PDF for all you need to know about the official Ishikawa AJET events for orientation 2012! Get amped!
If you’re looking for something interesting and fun to do next weekend (July 20th and July 21st), why not come up to the Noto and visit Suzu City for the 2012 Iida Toroyama Festival in Iida Town.
There will be plenty of fun and interesting things to see and do all over Iida Town including various floats, food stalls and fireworks, just to name a few of the activities that you might get to see or try out. Look out for many delicious foods and snacks too!
INFORMATION:
When:
Friday July 20th 4:30pm to 11:00pm
Saturday July 21st 12:00pm to 12:00am
Where: Ishikawa Prefecture, Suzu city, Iida Town (Japanese: 石川県珠洲市飯田町)
Transportation:
From Kanazawa by Car:
For scheduling or brochure information in Japanese, please take a look at the following photos:
For more information in Japanese, be sure to check out: http://bunanomori.com/toroyama/
Alex will be a second-year ALT in Suzu. Where’s that you ask? Oh, it’s in the Noto. You know … the place with rice fields … and kiriko. That’s the one.
Upcoming Events
