The calligraphy activity

- Short-Term Program
06/18/2015

The calligraphy activity was so much fun!

Besides the typical Kanji and Kana, we also had the option of painting a picture. I chose the picture option because it gave me the opportunity to blend 2 cultures together.

Since I am fond of both Japanese and Persian culture, I decided to paint a Farvahar.

Since it’s ink, and not erasable, we are given practice sheets to practice before the final drawing. Once you have a design that you like, you can attempt the final drawing on a nice piece of paper.

Be sure not to rush yourself, because haste makes waste.

Also make sure to take breaks because calligraphy, both writing or painting, is very tedious and does strain the mind.

Also be sure to take a 10 minute break before you attempt your final drawing.

Sensei also mentioned that once the ink touches fabric,it will NEVER COME OFF. Wearing an apron is also necessary for this activity. No matter how good you think you may be, spills do occur. They did happen on the day of our calligraphy activity. Luckily, it was only on the table and not our clothes.

Never the less, this activity was extremely fun and it fun for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Calligraphy is found in many other cultures besides Japan, it’s applicable to everyone! I personally loved this activity because it allows you to be creative, and there are no limits to what you can create.

-Ashton Zadeh

Shodou

- Short-Term Program
06/16/2015

To be completely honest, I was not sure what to expect. I did not have very high hopes, until I quickly discovered that my horrible handwriting skills did not affect my shodou, as the characters are too large for it to matter.

Youtube videos don’t do justice to how beautiful and difficult shodou can be.

As soon as I attempted the very first line, I realized just how difficult it was.

Sensei made it look very easy, because she is an experienced shodou veteran.

Surprisingly, my skills quickly improved.

After a little practice, I tried to write a poem, but it proved too advanced for my skills; I quickly ran out of space on the page. There is a surprising amount of planning required. You have to visualize each stroke and its size, else your drawing will look lopsided or you will quickly run out of space.

At first, I found maneuvering the ofude to be extremely difficult, but after some practice, I quickly became–less terrible.

For me, the most interesting “script” is semi-cursive. I feel it strikes a good balance between artistic and actually legible. The part I disliked the most was that the table was not at the right height for shodou; my arms had to be cocked at an awkward angle.

Other than that, I had an extremely enjoyable experience. By far, the best part of the whole experience was that we got to keep all of our shodou equipment! I am very much looking forward to attempting shodou on my own.

Dazaifu and Kyushu National Museum

- Short-Term Program
06/14/2015

For our first week’s activity, we went to Dazaifu Tanmangu and the Kyushu National Museum.

The shrine, dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, was extraordinarily beautiful.

Michizane was a very renowned Japanese poem writer and a devoted scholar.

The shrine itself was built upon his grave, and many people go there to pray every day.

Throughout the entire shrine and surrounding gardens, there are many different species of plum trees.

Unfortunately, they were not in bloom when we went. Even so, the gardens and ponds were some of the most tranquil, if not the most, I have ever seen.

A 10 minute walk from the shrine is the Kyushu National Museum.

Even though the building itself is immense, the number of exhibits are surprisingly few. I myself am not very fond of museums, especially ones where I cannot read the descriptions on more than half of the exhibits, barring the names. Even so, this museum has some very interesting items inside. The more “important” exhibits have English descriptions, however, many smaller ones do not. Be prepared to spend about an hour in the museum, at least.

After learning about Japan’s rich history and culture, we went to an extremely charming and quaint cafe. We ate ume mochi (plum mochi) and drank matcha (green tea). The conflicting bitter and sweet tastes were extremely delicious, and a perfect way to end a great trip.

The shrine

- Short-Term Program
06/12/2015

The trip to the Shrine was a very interesting and personally rewarding.

I was a bit uncomfortable at first because I wasn’t a follower of Shinto, but when I found out praying at the shrine was optional; I was very excited to go!

The gardens and grounds around the shrine were very immaculate.

There were countless gardens around the temple that I couldn’t get enough pictures of.

They really draw you in.

I personally loved all the water gardens with the flowers in bloom.

There were also many Koi ponds around, which are commonly associated with Japanese culture.

After the shrine visit, we went to the Kyushu National Museum.

There weren’t only Japanese artifacts there, but artifacts from all over the world including the Middle East. I was particularly surprised seeing Persian artifacts like carpets and jars in the museum.

The only thing I really didn’t like about the museum was that photos weren’t allowed. I understand that they’re rules, but I know I have friends and family that would have loved to see photos! Their rule is so strict that you can’t even have your phone/camera out while in or near the exhibit. It was dark, so I was using my phone for light to read the pamphlet, and I was told to put it away, even though I was just sitting down on a bench by the restroom, nowhere near the exhibit artifacts.

Overall though, no matter what your background is, you will enjoy sightseeing at this temple, and maybe find some neat souvenirs at the Museum gift shop!

-Ashton Zadeh

Dazaifu Tenmangu

- Short-Term Program
06/09/2015

The Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine trip was a lot of fun.

It was rainy in the morning but by the time we got there it was just overcast which meant it wasn’t that busy which was nice.

First thing we did was wash our hands.

It was good to learn the proper method. It is important to learn these little cultural facts as it helps connect us more to the language.

After properly washing our hands we entered the shrine to pray for success in studying.

Dazaifu Tenmangu is a shrine for the god of knowledge so it is particularly good for praying for success in learning.

I didn’t know which coins were the best to donate at shrines so it was nice to find out that you should use 5 or 50 yen coins due to the hole in the middle.That way you can see through them into the future.

After praying we walked over to collect a fortune.

I only managed to get an average luck fortune.

Despite that I know my luck was good as next we made our way to the Kyushu National History Museum.

The museum was hosting an exhibit about different Asian cultures as well as Japan’s history with its Asian neighbors.

My favorite part was the room with all the katanas.

I have always been interested in katana swordsmithing and it was cool to learn some of the history behind the best of Japans swordsmiths.Overall the museum was an excellent place to visit. It has a lot of beautiful pieces with great explanations and supplemental material.

No trip to Dazaifu Tenmangu would be complete though with some umegaemochi and macha tea. So we made our way to the main street near the station and stopped in a nice looking restaurant to try some. We were not disappointed. The mocha was warm and delicious and the macha was cool and refreshing.

Definitely the best way to end the trip.

I had a lot of fun and look forward to the next activity.

Washi making#2

- Short-Term Program
06/04/2015

In this week’s school activity at NILS Language School, we got to make traditional Japanese paper crafting. It’s called Washidzukuri.

The actual process of making the paper is complicated and takes a lot of time.

We only got to make the easy part.

First we could choose what kind of crafting we wanted to do, you could choose between fans, name cards, bookmarks etc.

I decided to make the bookmarks.

After going through the process of creating the paper base we got to pick different kind of dried flowers and grasses to decorate our paper swath.

After we were done decorating, everything had to dry, while it did, we walked around the building and looked at beautiful traditional Japanese handicrafts.

I’m very happy with my finished bookmarks, I think they’ll make a very nice souvenir for my family.

I’m glad that I not only learned about Japanese paper making, but also got to experience it myself.

Hakata Ningyou

- Short-Term Program
06/01/2015

Our first activity was painting Hakata dolls.

This was my second time doing this activity and it was more fun than last year!

There were different options for dolls this time and they were all very interesting.

We also were able to interact with other people as there were others shopping for dolls and one person even asked us for our opinion.

I think my favorite part of the activities is learning more about Japanese culture and the Hakata Dolls are always very cool to hear about their history and why they are important.

Yusentei park

- Short-Term Program
05/29/2015

The Yusentei Park is a traditional Japanese garden/park.

It has a big pond with Kois in it.

We got to feed them and some pigeons and even pet the Kois.

After enjoying the beautiful garden we drunk Matcha tea and got Japanese candy.

It was so delicious!!!

At the park were also wedding couples who made pictures while wearing beautiful Japanese style clothing.

Ramen and Gyouza

- Short-Term Program
05/26/2015

For this week’s school activity I was especially exited, because we got to make our own Ramen and Gyouza!

I’ve eaten Ramen here in Japan a lot of times, but never made it myself.

The day before the activity Hirose-sensei taught us about the different kinds of Ramen that exist and how to make Ramen and Gyouza.

The day of the activity we went to “child kitchen” and got to make our own Ramen and Gyouza.

It was very interesting to see the process of how Ramen and Gyouza are made (and it was fun too).

The best part was of course when we got to eat our self-made food.

Delicious!

Hakata Machiya

- Short-Term Program
05/23/2015

Our teacher took us on a trip to the Hakata Folk Museum where we got to see different displays of Hakata throughout the years.

It was interesting to see the displays of miniature towns and scenes.

There was so much detail in every one of them and you could tell how much effort was put into each.

We also got to watch a video about the Hakata Yamakasa festival.

It showed us how they build the shrines each year and all of the hard work that everyone puts in to making them.

The festival looks very difficult and requires a lot of commitment, but everyone works together to make it possible which I think says a lot about Japan in general.

After visiting the museum we walked to the Kushida Shrine.

The shrine is very beautiful and after visiting the museum I think we all appreciated it a little bit more.