Living & Working in Ishikawa, Japan
Courtesy of Drachenman
Finally, an excuse to bring your flip-flops out of hiding! If you’re sticking around Ishikawa this Golden Week come on out to Uchinada Beach, just 15 minutes from KZ station, on May 3rd and 4th (Thursday and Friday) for this exciting daytime event.
The Uchinada World Kite Festival is in it’s 23rd year (last year was cancelled due to tsunami concerns), and it is the first event to re-open the Uchinada Beach area after winter – lots of fun, food, and sun to be had! If you’ve not been to this festival yet, I recommend it. The kites themselves are enormous! They seem more the size of a hot-air balloon than a kite and the people that fly them come from all over the world. The stunt kite competition is also very impressive, with teams of up to eight pilots flying their kites within inches of each other and performing all manner of figures and formations in the air while somehow narrowly averting disaster.
There will be cheap Japanese kites for sale, festival attendees are encouraged to try their hand at flying their own tako!
Read on for schedule and transportation info:
Every year, our JET neighbors in Toyama put on an International Charity Show to raise money for local and international charities. The first Charity Show was held in 1990, and 2011 marks its 21st anniversary. The show is attended by more than 900 people every year and is written, choreographed, and produced entirely by JETs. Sorry for the short notice, but if you’re free this weekend, you should definitely check it out!
On July 1st & 2nd, the Toyama International Charity Show Committee proudly presents Dance Royale, the 21st annual Charity Show.
A visual and aural treat, Dance Royale is a musical comedy that follows the trials of high school student Rin and her teammates who belong to the school’s Pop Idol Team club. This light-hearted tale of the underdog promises to entertain while reminding us that there is no ‘I’ in team.
IFIE is having its first ‘mini international movie festival’ on 2nd & 3rd of July. Here are the details:
What: Bollywood (India) Movie “Monsoon Wedding” & Korean Movie “King & the Clown” (王の男)
When: Monsoon Wedding on 2nd July 13:00 – 16:00 / King & the Clown on 3rd July 13:00 – 16:00
Where: Rifare, 4th Floor (Room ABC)
How much: FREE!
What else: Enjoy some Indian & Korean snacks after the movies.
You need to make a separate reservation for each day. For more info email: joho AT ifie DOT or DOT jp, or click to see the flyer here: IFIE Mini Film Fest
See you movie buffs on 2nd/3rd!!
Yes, yes, yes, summer festival season is here! This guest post was written last year by Ginny Middleton, a second-year ALT working in the Noto. This festival is one of Noto’s most famous, so if you aren’t taking the July 2011 JLPT (or even if you are), plan to attend!
Noto Abare Matsuri 暴れ祭り(Fire and Violence Festival)
Photo thanks to gazoo.com
Arguably the best festival in the Noto, Abare Matsuri (the Fire and Violence Festival) will take place from 9 am on the first Friday and Saturday in July every year (1st and 2nd July 2011 – same weekend as the JLPT)–although most of the best parts are after dark. The festival is held in the rural town of Ushitsu 宇出津 in the northern Noto peninsula and has been running for 350 years!
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This information comes to us from Ishikawa CIR Rohan:
Kanazawa IFIE International Salaon
Hello everyone,
IFIE is organizing its first International Exchange Party ‘Salon de Talk’ of 2011 on 1st of July. This time we’ve decided to make it a 2-in-1 affair. You’re welcome to wear a traditional ethnic costume…I’ll probably try and look Indian…for a change!
Please see the attached poster for details. Let me know if you’re interested in participating (rohanranade AT ifie DOT or DOT jp)…but please HURRY, since there only 30 slots available for foreigners.
Have a great week!
Hard to imagine amidst all that is going on right now, but hanami season is just around the corner. Here is some info about a cherry blossom festival near Kaga provided by our pink PA, Anna:
Daishoji Hanami
Daishoji Hanami Matsuri
Daishoji Cherry Blossom Festival will take place in Kaga on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th April. As well as relaxing under some beautiful cherry blossoms, this small-town celebration offers portable shrine processions, Lion’s Head dances, boat trips down Daishoji river and all the usual festival stalls and food.
All activities are within walking distance of Daishoji station (approx. 1 hour from Kanazawa station, Y820). From the station walk straight down to the main road, turn left at Lawson’s and follow the 305 until you arrive at the river.
This Saturday, April 24th from 6:30pm – 10:30pm, there will be a big outdoor party hosted by World Eclectic, Groom, and Kappa-doh. Come down to Shintenchi Street, right behind Labbro in downtown Kanazawa, and enjoy food, live music performances, and shopping (street vendors selling glass-blown crafts, candle crafts, and more)!
Current weather forecasts are showing it will be cloudy, but at least that’s not rain! I’m crossing my fingers.
Photo: Forever Wiser
The Cultural Exchange Section at Kanazawa City Hall is organizing a week of French Arts for the first week of May, during which a variety of French events will be organized to share and show off the charming French culture to the Ishikawa public.
On May 8th at 7pm musical pieces and excerpts from the French opera, “Samson and Delilah”, composed by Camille Saint-Saens will be performed at the Kanazawa Bunka Hall (Cultural Hall). Doors open at 6:30pm.
The opera is based on the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah. Samson, a man bestowed with incredible strength, falls in love with Delilah, who tries to figure out the secret of Samson’s strength and rob him of it.
Interested?
Tickets are 1,500 yen and can be purchased through the Ticket Pia at Family Mart/Circle K/Sunkus, at Daiwa Korinbo (8th floor), the Ishikawa Ongakudo, the Kanazawa Bunka Hall or the Kanazawa Citizen’s Art Center.
You can also email Sophie: sophie [at] city [dot] kanazawa [dot] ishikawa [dot] jp to reserve your tickets. In that case, please pick up your tickets at the 4th floor of Kanazawa City Hall, Monday-Friday 9am and 5pm. You can give her the 1,500 yen.
Thanks to Sophie for the event information!
Photo: Anna
15 excited volunteers headed to Inamien Children’s Home in Kaga this weekend for the first of our (hopefully many) Ishikawa Volunteers orphanage visits.
Inamien is situated in the onsen town of Katayamazu, in southern Ishikawa, and houses 60 children in total, from the ages of 2 to 18. Inamien is a really bright, modern and well-resourced Children’s Home, with amazing facilities including an incredible outdoor adventure playground (which we are definitely hoping to have a go on during our next visit).
Orphanages in Japan aren’t quite the same as those you might have seen in other countries or back home. Few of the children are technically “orphans” – it’s more likely that they come from single parent families, or households which struggle to cope with their needs. Some of the children may have learning difficulties or behavioral problems, but often, as we saw on Saturday, they are just very sweet kids who are delighted to get some adult attention.
Our aims were to hang out with the kids, talk to them in English and Japanese and have fun! First, we separated children and volunteers into 3 groups. One group did drawing and coloring, which resulted in some amazing portraits of the volunteers, particularly Herbs. The second group did origami, where the adults tried and failed to match the shuriken-making skills of the Elementary kids. The third group played games with the kids, and watching Jon-Mark getting chased, caught and felled by a 5-year-old during a game of ‘Duck, duck, goose’ will be a lasting memory. After 20 minutes the children changed activities. At the end we played a game of Daruma-san ga koronda (which is similar to ‘statues’, or ‘What’s the time, Mr Wolf’).
Photo: Anna
All the resources we used at Inamien were funded by the money raised at the Ishikawa AJET Casino Night in February. Thank you Stacy and Bill and everyone who made that happen!
The kids were so happy to see us and it was a really enjoyable, feel-good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Afterwards the Director of Inamien told us they’re looking forward to our return in May. Thanks again to everyone who came along and made our first visit a success!
We had such an overwhelming response to our request for volunteers from all over Ishikawa. As well as the 15 people who came along on the Inamien visit, we also have another 14 people who have shown interest in volunteering. The next step is to start organizing visits to orphanages in other areas of the prefecture.
If you’d like to get involved, or know of an orphanage or Children’s Home in your area then please contact Anna at volunteerishikawa [at] gmail [dot] com
For more information on Japan’s orphanages in general, go to the Smile Kids Japan website.
Photo: chawan-ya.com
Fukumitsu Sake Brewery, in downtown Kanazawa, has been in production since the Edo Period (1600s), and they’re being kind enough to allow JETs and other foreigners in for an exclusive tour in English! This is a rare chance to learn about how this traditional drink is made, and learn about some of the cultural heritage of Kanazawa, and Ishikawa Prefecture.
The tour will begin with a DVD explaining the process of brewing sake. Then, we will be given a chance to tour the facilities where they make the sake, so we can see how it’s made (most tours don’t include seeing the facilities, so we’re really lucky!). Finally, the tour will end with sake tasting…for free.
This is a really cool tour organized by one of the JETs, and the price can’t be beat, so get yourself signed up right now!
When: March 20, 2010. 2:00pm
Cost: Free!!!
Where: Fukumitsu Sake Brewery (Kanazawa City石引２丁目８−３). See map. A 5-10 minute walk from Kenrokuen. If you’re afraid of getting lost, Travis will meet a group at the Kanazawa Station at 1pm and then walk to the brewery together.
Sign-Up Deadline: March 19th…so act fast!
To Sign Up: Contact Travis at aoishinobi [at] gmail [dot] com
This tour is not limited to JETs, so if you know someone who’d like to come along, by all means invite them!
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