So, it's been two weeks since the start of Golden week and I thought I'd give everyone (nobody) an update on what I did over my 9 day vacation. So what exactly is Golden Week? Golden Week is essentially Japan's 3rd longest holiday period of the year. Unlike Obon and New Year's which both seem to have more of a traditional feel and real meaning behind them, Golden week is a conglomeration of three different holidays; Emperor Showa Day, Constitution Day, and Children's Day. None of these holidays seem to mean all that much to the average Japanese (that I've talked to of course) and in fact, most of the students that I asked didn't even know what Golden week actually was. It was interesting to ask my students what their plans were because most answers consisted of the word study and nothing. So essentially, Golden Week is to Japanese as Spring Break is to Americans. But in all honesty, Golden Week is great. It's the beginning of Spring and it is also a full week off from work.
After much contemplation and derailed plans, Natalie and I finally solidified a good plan of attack for our vacation; we would explore the Kansai area; the area that consists of Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka . It's one of the biggest cultural mecca's of Japan.
When making our plans, we had researched an electronic music festival and decided to head out there on the first day of our vacation. After a long day of teaching on Saturday and a long night of packing, we headed out to Osaka for the Nagisa Music Festival. Although we were both exhausted and fried from work, we managed to make it there by 11 am on Sunday (with the help of a smooth ride on the bullet train) and when we arrived we were not disappointed. The weather was absolutely gorgeous; Sunny skies, a few clouds, Spring greenery, and warm weather. Even upon arrival to the nearest train station (and still a bus ride away from the festival grounds), we could tell that we would be in for a fun and vibrant day. After purchasing some beers (too few in hindsight), we made our approach to the festival grounds. We could hear the loud bass from a mile away and we could see the colorful tents and stages of Nagisa. Nearby was a trash processing plant disguised as a colorful work of modern architecture. It was kind of a foreshadowing of what the festival be about; exploring the counter cultures and creative recesses of Japanese culture.
Before entering the grounds, we were greeted by a familiar face; Arthur from Skyline High School (Natalie's high school). We had met him in Kyoto when he was a bouncer for a local club. He seemed to be a really nice guy and that's not something you say about most bouncers. I think he was just surprised we had remembered his name. Either way, after downing our beers, Arthur pointed us in the right direction and off we were to the festival grounds. I won't go into too much detail onto what we did but I can say that we had an amazing day; We danced, we played, we drank, we ate, and we danced some more. The area was bursting with life and creativity and color. It's not something that you are able to see everyday in Japan, especially in the work environment where everyone tries their hardest to be as gray as possible and as form fitting as possible. It's sometimes hard to be in such an environment but at Nagisa, things were different. These people were the Japanese at play, The Japanese who didn't fit in, The Japanese who wore black suits in the week but spend their weekends in color and every other type of Japanese. This is the Japan we came to see. It showed us a different side, a fun side, and a lighter side.
The festival grounds were filled with people dressed in their funkiest garments. We saw dreadlocks and crazy hair styles. We saw Japanese rastafari and Japanese beat boys. We saw girls transplanted straight from Harajuku. We saw people who forgot that it wasn't Halloween. We saw children and older people. We saw beards, piercings, and tattoos. We saw transvestites. We saw French people and Thai people. Seeing them was part of the fun. And then there was the music; There was dubstep and some more dubstep. There was some reggae inspired electronic and some house. All of it was fun but we tended to let loose near the hippie stage; the slower going electro dub step reggae inspired sort of mess that is right up our alley. Besides dancing, there was a big jump rope at one point and it was fun hopping in and out and watching the random passersby failing miserably at such a simple endeavor. We talked with baby Ryota and swapped music taste near the port of potties. We met Boi from Thailand. We met some French people out to have a good time. And eventually too tired to continue, we went to our hostel. It was an eclectic and vibrant day filled with surprises.
When we got to the hostel, Natalie quickly went to bed but it being so early, I went out in search of some dinner. After wandering around, I filled my stomach with some Ramen and Gyoza (I can never get away from those two dishes as a combo). When I got back to the hostel, I met one of the coolest and most interesting Japanese guys (Hiroaki) that I've talked to in Japan. Although we couldn't quite understand each other all that well considering our limited ability in one another's native tongue, we talked for a couple of hours about everything from music to traveling. It was the kind of conversation that makes traveling fun and it concluded a great first day of vacation
No comments:
Post a Comment