NHK Orchestra in Fukuoka(My Christmas thing!!!)

Across building and Central Park in Fukuoka

Getting closer to Christmas and New Year’s, I always feel like doing something classic and unforgettable(‘classic’ and ‘unforgettable’ are quite well-associated in my brain because typically I do not put my time, energy, or even money on things classical). To make it up to myself who has to work long and hard to make customers who want to spend Christmas and New Year’s doing something classic and unforgettable and is not able to have any time for recreation, I decided to go to NHK Orchestra Concert which was supposed to be held about a week before Christmas(the date was 16th).

The ticket and pamphlet

As a matter of fact, I had been looking for a ballet show like ‘Nutcracker.’ Most of the ballet shows ahead were to be held in January in 2019. Watching ‘Nutcracker’ was a kind of my or my family’s ritual for every December for a while. My only niece, Clair, practiced ballet pretty enthusiastically, even thinking of doing professionally(For now, one of the few heritages she practiced ballet is that she is a bit better at stretching than typical people). One of the reasons I chose the NHK Orchestra is that ‘Nutcracker’ was to be played.

Another reason for me to choose it is that I want to compare NHK Orchestra with KBS Orchestra. Definitely, NHK was established earlier than KBS, and I expected its longer history could give me something more elegant and classic.

The most surprising thing: it was not music but aged audience

But the most surprising thing was shown even before the start of the concert. There were so many elderly citizens. I did not calculate one by one, but more than half of the audiences looked aged to enough to be called ‘elderly citizen.’ In case of South Korea, so called ‘elderly citizens’ don’t comprise the majority of classic music concerts, and moms crazy with their kids’ education, their kids, and (if they are obedient or unlucky) their husbands are the main customers(let’s put aside young couples who try to show up their liberal art). I made a few assumptions. Probably there is a very generous policy for discounting the prices of tickets for elderly citizens in order for them to enjoy their retirement more culturally. Or, the elderly citizen had enjoyed so called economic booms before so called ‘Forgotten 20 Years’ and afforded to buy the lifetime memberships before they retired.

The secondly most surprising thing: just music. Seriously it was just music.

Nutcracker is about ‘Christmas.’ However, in the concert, there was nothing related Christmas or something. The concert was purely about ‘Nutcracker.’ As far as I know and remember, back in Korea in many classic shows, there are many decorations or visual aids shown to lift up audience’s Christmas feelings. Sometimes, in highlighting parts, videos of the ballet performances or movie scenes are temporarily shown on a big screen to the side. There was no Santa Clause hat. There was no color ‘red.’

One common thing:falling asleep

There were many people who fell asleep listening to the music. I understood. The music was quite relaxing (or boring). It was not a good choice to listen ‘Nutcracker.’ I should have watched the ballet.

Next show to watch: a musical

As far as I know, a musical company ‘Shiki’ has a long and brilliant history after its establishment. I even remember a documentary aired by a Korean TV channel which dealt with the Korean actresses and actors who were struggling to get roles in musicals of Shiki. And I even remember I have seen a building of the theater which is used exclusively by the company in Tokyo. In Fukuoka, the company uses theaters in Canal City which is the biggest and the most popular shopping mall in Fukuoka.

“Shakespeare in Love”

Of course, “Shakespeare in Love” is more popular as a movie. It is supposed to be performed from Christmas to New Year’s. I liked the movie. I watched it about 10 years ago. I am not sure I can have a day off and watch it. But, I am looking forward to it.

“Lion King”

“Lion King!” Everyone knows musical, “Lion King.” Checking the site of Shiki, I got to know the next one is ‘Lion King.’ According to the schedules shown on the Internet, the show starts in March 2019. Spring! I hope to watch it with my niece, Clair!!!

One thing I got to know: I loved Christmas and miss it in Korea

I am not sure why, but I have felt down December. I just hope it goes over fast. Christian or not, everyone back in Korea seemed serious over Christmas and tried to do something(even my ex-boss suggested me to drink draft beer with fried chicken together. He was not Christian. I miss him). For now, I have no one like that. I live in Japan. I live in Hita.

McDonald in Hita: the most Christmas like place in Hita

Ending the script, I am in McDonald listening to Christmas songs like Michael Bolton,   and Mariah Carey. It feels like Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Popularity of Korean Pop Culture in Japan: it is not temporary

Korean Pop Culture: it's still popular among Japanese

 One of the things I have been quite surprised since I came to Japan six months ago is that Korean Pop culture is getting more popular. The popularity is not restricted just to mid-aged ladies who go crazy over Korean Dramas. It's been quite widespread from generation to generation(but I would exclude mid-aged and older Japanese males). Before coming to Japan, I thought the boom was exaggerated by patriotic Korean journalists. However, the reality is the boom is still going on and may not end soon. Let me show a few cases.

Case 1: a grandma of an old udon restaurant in Hiroshima.

 I visited Hiroshima last April to see a friend of mine. I stayed in a hostel the night I arrived and the next morning I found an old and a bit rusty udong restaurant nearby. I tend to look for old restaurants thinking that sometimes I get luck having a rare chance to eat something traditional but not well-known. There was none except for me and the old lady. I introduced myself as a Korean because I had to have her understand why I repeated asking some questions(I still have difficulty understanding local accents). She showed me an old magazine with broadcasting schedules for Korean Dramas. We talked over a very old but legendary Korean Drama titled 'Winter Sonata.' It was aired more than 15 years ago, but the main actors and actresses were still her favorites. One impressive thing was that she thought Korean ladies are quite tall(actually, the main actress in the drama is quite tall even as a Korean lady). I got free rice thanks to being a Korean. I was privileged not discriminated.

Case 2: my two co-workers are big Big-Bang fans.

 I don't know their exact ages. Probably late 20s or early 30s. Japanese don't ask people their age like Koreans do, which I like. Both of them have been to Big-Bangs concerts. We happened to go to a Karaoke together and one of them tried to sing Big-Bang's songs like 'Fantastic Baby,' I helped them pronounce a few words correctly. Doing the rap part is quite hard for them.

Case 3: a young guest  was a big fan of Twice.

 'Twice' has been commercial models for Yahoo Mobile quite a while. Their pictures are everywhere. There are toy vending machines from which you can get a cocoon with a toy in after slotting coins in the supermarket where I go quite often. The theme of the vending machine was 'Twice.'

Teenagers shopping in a souvenir store for K-pop Stars in Canal City in Fukuoka 

The Past of Korea and Japan: Colony and Colonizer

 There are much more cases which exemplifies the boom of Korean Pop Culture. But the thing I wanna say is not about my pride over my culture. Considering the history of early 20th century between Japan and Korea, it is a very unique cultural phenomenon which are rarely seen in other areas in the globe. More specifically, Korea was the colony and Japan was the colonizer. During the colonization, Korean culture was treated inferior to Japanese one. One of the most distinctive examples was that during the late colonization era, Koreans were not allowed to speak Korean in public places such as schools and even forced to change their names to Japanese ones. Those kinds of oppression affected people's frame of mind in both cultures. Koreans felt inferior to Japanese culture and thought Japanese culture was more advanced than Korean one(like it has been more westernized). For instance, it was not allowed for Japanese pop entertainers to do business like releasing albums or holding concerts until late 1990s. It was because of the fear that if Japanese pop culture are allowed to be imported, it will dominate Korea and Korea would be culturally colonized again.

 Partly the fear was plausible. Officially and unofficially so many things from Japan were copied and reproduced in Korea. Many of the cartoons I enjoyed watching when I was a kid were made in Japan.

 Generally, even though a country became independent from the colonizer country, the country's cultural hegemony tend to keep strong hold in the the country. Looking at India, South Africa and other countries which were under the umbrella of British Empire,

we can see that people with high education or status prefer British culture. The cultural hegemony has not been eradicated yet.

 But when it comes to the cultural flow between Korea and Japan, the tide changed opposite comparatively quite suddenly. You can see it talking with Japanese and Korean youngsters. In spite of invalidity for generalization, I see the changed tide. Even some Korean youngsters started to think Japanese Pop culture is quite unique but a bit oldish. They say their fashion and styles were things like 10 years ago they saw in Korea. Even some Japanese youngsters think Korean pop culture is quite cool and more fashionable than Japanese one. 

 Recently I saw some interesting goods with brand 'Seoul.'  Avoiding the rain, I got into the biggest mall in Fukuoka named Canal City. I walked around and checked the prices. There were green T-shirts with logo 'Seoul.' In Zara, there was perfume with brand 'Seoul.'

 As a Korean who had been fascinated with Sony Walkman and Anime like Dragon Ball and Slam Dunk and taken it for granted that Most of Japanese goods are more sophisticated and fashionable than Korean ones, the ongoing tide of Korean Pop culture in Japan looks quite amazing and in a way unbelievable. 

in H&M

in Zara

At last I saw Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival partly:Nagarehiki(流れ引き)

Before reading the blog, you can watch the video of the event held on 19th of July, the most popular part of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival(日田祇園曳山祭り) on Youtube!  I made it.

Click the link!

Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival

Hita(日田), a small city with rich tradition

 Hita has quite a lot of festivals considering its size of population and width. Among them the most popular and oldest one is Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival(日田祇園曳山祭り). Before coming to Japan, I had hoped to see what a festival or masturi(祭り) in Japan is like and compare it with ones in South Korea. One of the reasons I had been interested in festivals in Japan is that I quite often happened to read news articles that criticized monotonous and bureaucratic styles of local festivals in South Korea, many of which compared them with Japanese ones with great fame bringing lots of tourists not just from Japan but from all around the world. Luckily, I got a day off on 19th July, when the main event called 'Nagarehiki(流れ引き) was supposed to be held.  Actually, my boss got me the day off because he wanted me to take pictures and videos of the festival and spread them on the Internet as a sort of promotion of tourism of Hita.

First of all, I would admit it was fantastic and worth watching!

 I remember a friend of mine, after glimpsing my photos on Facebook over Hita, jokingly  said,

"Hey, Jerry! you are having a great paid vacation!"

Of course, his comment is quite far from reality(I work in Hita). But 19th of July was the day when I felt like he was somewhat right.

The origin and history of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival

 The first question I had over Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival was why they have done it so long? Of course, it wouldn't be completely wrong to say that it has taken place by local leaders to attract more tourists and revitalize its local economy. But originally the festival took place for 'survival.' What was the most scary thing before the modern times for people who lived in a small city like Hita 400 years ago? It was contagious diseases. Whether in the West or the East, when it broke out, it could be disastrous enough to destroy the whole city. In the situation when no one knew how it breaks out and can be removed, the only thing people could do was praying for God or gods that it does not break out. Translating praying for God or gods is 'matsru(祭る)' in Japanese and when 'mastru' changes into the noun form, it turns to 'matsuri(祭り).' Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival is a maturi where people gather and pray for the god who protects them from contagious diseases. 

 Even the name 'Gion(祇園)' implies 'a place with passionate wish.' There have been a number of shrines in Japan with diverse purposes. Shrines serving the god who prohibits contagious diseases are called 'Gion Shrines.' There have been many Gion Shrines throughout Japan (the most popular one is located in Kyoto) and Hita also has had a few. Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival is run by the Gion Shrines people related to them. Gion Shrines worship a god called Gozu Teno, who is known to protect people from contagious diseases. A few Gion Shrines were located throughout Hita area including Kuma, Mameda, Ikebe, Kabu, and Tsutsumi, each of which had used to hold its own festivals or matsuris. 

 Around 1655, the first small scale kakiyama in which people in each area held their own float and marched streets appeared. It was accompanied by bells and drums. The first big scale Yamaboko Festival was held in 1714. Yamabokos are tower-like statues decorated with characters in ancient legends or myths from Japan or China and platforms supporting them which are carried by people on the streets. They are the things  people from Hita, Kyushu, Japan, and the world are excited to see. The festival was held in Kuma and Mameda(it is the same even now). As time went by, the sizes of Yamabokos got bigger and bigger with more sophisticated decorations. Even the music accompanied  became more organized getting through the early Edo period(from early 17th century to middle 19th century), when the first manager of the Koyama-gumi troupe which was a kind of music band made to energize the festival composed the first organized music for the festival by the order of the local magistrate at that time. The music was later refined by his son, Matsukichi. At the bottom of a Yamaboko, there is space where dozens of people can get in. The space is for the troupe to get in and play the music when the gangs outside carry the yamaboko.

 For the last decades, the festival got its reputation not just  nationally but internationally. It was designated as a National Intangible Folk Culture asset  in 1996 and  inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible  Cultural Heritage list in 2016 with other local ones in Japan.

This is Museum of Hita Gion Yamaboko. You can see big and high yamabokos whenever you want!

July, the month of Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival

 The main events are held around late July. But seeing overall procedures, it begins on the first in July. My privilege as the resident of Hita was that riding my bike passing through Kuma-mach and Mameda-mach heading for supermarkets for grocery shopping, I was able to see the whole steps of the festival throughout the month.

Here is the summary of the procedure of the festival in July(I got an English pamphlet in the museum). 

On the first day of July, a ceremonial event called Koyairi takes place.

Two weeks before the marching events, another ceremony is held, when  the float wheels are lifted out of the pond, where they have been usually placed. Then the painted yakata(float box) and wheels are assembled and decorated.

One week before, the floats are washed late at night on the Saturday one week before the festival, using the water of Mikuma River.

Two days before the main events, there is Nagarehiki, when the floats are given a " test drive' to check the balance and stability. As a matter of fact,  it is the biggest event and attracts lots of tourists because all yamabokos gather in the square of Hita Station. 

Festival day, usually Saturday, Mokoshi(portable shrine) ritual is held, and the floats are carried through the town, starting at about 9:00 pm.

Next Day in Yaburi, people involved in the festival celebrate the success of the festival and store the items used back to the places where they used to be. 

Ye, it's a Japanese traditonal festival and quite different from Korean ones!

 Comparing with traditional festivals I have seen in Korea, I could see three distinctive traits of  Hita Gion Hikiyama Festival.

 First, All the items involved in festival such as yamabokos and costumes of the participants were quite fancy or more positively splendid.  Surely, one big reason for the fancy is that the economy of Hita during Edo period was quite robust. Hita was flourishing as the financial and logistic hub of Kyushu Island. For big festivals, it takes lots of money. Another reason could be that Japan was relatively less influenced by Confucianism than Korea and each local area were quite independent from the central government. Confucianism, more specifically Neo-Confucianism emphasizes frugality of not only leaders but people of communities and nations. Therefore, in Korea where Confucianism was the dominant idea or doctrine for more than 600 years before the collapse of Chosun Dynasty in 1910, it was not encouraged to have local festivals spending an enormous amount of capital. On the other hands, in Japan Daimyos(大名) who were kinds of lords who were quite autonomous from the central powers like emperors or shoguns(将軍) wanted to show off their prosperity in order to justify their authority and power. Festivals were great opportunities to do so. Even leading business people used festivals the same way. Luxurious Yamabokos represented wealth and prosperity of leading business people in Hita.

 The second thing I was impressed with was the participants were quite inter-generational. Except for a few dignified traditional festivals, most volunteers who perform in traditional festivals in Korea are quite aged. Even though there has been slow change to rediscover and revalue the traditional culture among young generations, it is true that traditional cultures are not respected and protected voluntarily by the people in communities in Korea. However, in Hita, I could feel and see visible and invisible system and connection of people in the community nurturing the energy to dignify and preserve their local culture. I watched boys pulling yamabokos with old gentlemen, where there were long and steady communication among generations. It was envious.

 The last impressive thing was that only men were allowed to pull Yamabokos or play music inside yamabokos. Of course, many women volunteered as supporters giving out drinking water ,but main roles were just for males. It reminded me the news I watched on TV a few months ago. A politician was speaking on a sumo stage. All of a sudden, he got a heart attack. Two female medical staff rushed up to the stage, but a staff broadcast to warn the two ladies to get off the stage because it is not permitted for women to step on the sumo stage. I still think Japan is a very discriminatory society against women.

One of my dream came true

 One of dreams came true. Moreover, it gave me a great chance to think more deeply over Korea as well as Japan. I guess I've adjusted to the new living environment well enough to feel like writing blogs like this one. My plan is to expand my experience from small to big, from Hita to Japan. And I hope it goes further from Japan to East Asia, then the world.

Wish me luck!

Creatures in Miyajima

 On the third day in Hiroshima visiting a friend of mine, Michael, I headed for miyajima(宮島) taking the tram. Actually, I hadn't planned to visit the well-known Itsukushima Jinja(厳島神社), but Micheal recommended me to see it and suggested joining the trip, which made me decide to spend the last morning there. Moreover, he said there is a Starbucks in the island( there is no Starbucks in Hita and I go to McDonald to get a wi-fi usually). I didn't enjoy Starbucks, but nowadays one of the first things I check when I go somewhere in Japan is whether there is a Starbucks nearby. 

 I and Michael were supposed to meet at the Starbucks in the island, but I got a text message on the way that he could't make it for a thing which he had to deal with bureaucratically. 

Surely, my official objective is to enjoy the scenic views of the island and its mystic shrine, but I was more attracted to the moving creatures around like human beings, birds and etc. 

Middle School Students

 The first creatures I had been faced up with was a mass of middle school students and their teachers who were taking a field trip to the island. They looked quite like Korean students and teachers overall. But I could see things I don't see in a school field trip back in South Korea. One thing was that students were wearing uniforms and even the teachers were wearing suits. In Korea, many schools allow students to wear their own clothes on the day of the field trip and teachers tend to wear quite comfortable casual clothes to be more active. Field trips needs students and teachers to move around quite actively and widely and especially for teachers wearing light and comfortable clothes makes more sense to me. 

 But Michael who had worked in a Japanese public school a couple of years gave me a different perspectives over dress codes on field trips in Japan . According to his explanation, on the field trip they should reveal themselves to the public and  it is significant for students and teachers to wear elegantly. I could say  it is from 'saving face' culture in Japan. In Korea and China, and even western countries, there exist customs or social attitudes to save faces, but the spectrum and degree differ from culture to culture. Having listened to Michael's explanation, I could understand why the students were walking and waiting more in order than Korean students were, from a different aspect.

Deer even here

 I've been to Nara which was a capital city in the ancient times several times where you could see lots of deer around the parks and even in the temples. I was relieved to see that there are not as many deer as in Nara. I did't have to worry over stepping deer dung. But they are living creatures enough to get me a few pictures. Additionally, in East Asia deer are treated as sacred animals. 

Blowfish(fugu)

 Looking down the water in the shrine, I was really amazed seeing tens of blowfish moving around. I hadn't seen blowfish in nature. I had seen them in fish tanks in front of sushi restaurants in South Korea. The more places I get around in Japan, the more impressed I get with the affluence of nature in Japan. I am not sure I can generalize, but there may be a stereotype among Koreans that Japan had been a quite tough place for living or surviving because most of the terrain is covered with high mountains and can't produce enough staple grains such as rice. The stereotype has been justified with the fact that historically Korea had suffered from the pirates from Japan who were starving fishermen otherwise and during the Colonization Era in the early 20th century Japan took lots of grains to its Islands and led to the long lasting starvation in Korea. But looking at the sea and mountains with its huge natural resources, I've started to give a question to the stereotype. 

Heron

 I had been used to them because there was a small pine tree forest near my apartment with lots of nets of them back in Korea. But I hadn't known how well they hunt or fish. Actually, watching the heron fishing with great success rates was the most astonishing thing I saw in Miyajima. 

A question going further: what is the nature of Setonaikai(瀬戸内海) like?

A thing to do in the near future: kayaking around the seashore of Miyajima

Christianity in Hita I've experienced just superficially

 One of the first things I tried to find in Hita right after arriving was a church where I could join services, Bible studies or etc. As other areas in Japan, finding a church is not as easy as in South Korea. In Anjung(안중) where I lived more than ten years back in South Korea has more than 10 churches whose names I remember, small or big. There may be more, I guess. I was not even curious  about which kind of denomination of the church in Hita would be. I had just thought it would be better than having no church around.

Luckily, It was not that hard to find. A Lutheran church with a big preschool behind  was located right across McDonald where I would be craving for Big Mac and French fries after getting bored with Japanese or Korean food. The existence of the Lutheran church got me a bit of joy and surprise because back in South Korea there are few Lutheran churches (in my life, I saw only one Lutheran church back in South Korea in Hannam-dong(한남동) in Seoul where there is a quite big German community around. I thought joining a denomination I was not used to or involved in could be a great opportunity to broaden and deepen my perspectives towards Christianity in East Asia( One of the reasons I had decided to move to Japan was figuring out how Christianity has taken roots in Korea, Japan, and China each. 

Whenever I went grocery shopping after work which was typically late in the evening, I checked out whether there was a service being done on a regular basis or someone doing something there. Actually I wanted to know if there are Bible studies or something during weekdays because my day-off is just on Fridays, some times Thursdays, not Sundays. After a few trials, I managed to find someone working in the church. He was not a pastor. There was no Bible studies. There used to be, he said. I asked him whether there are any services or activities during weekdays. He answered 'no.' He said there are two services just on Sundays. Moreover, there was no pastor fully in charge of the church. Pastors of Lutheran churches in Oita Prefecture keep taking turns of having services in Hita. Even though I didn't get any specific statistics over religious life of people here in Hita, I could clearly presume that Christianity is not flourishing as actively as South Korea. 

Another day I happened to find a quite Catholic Cathedral like building. At first I thought it was a real Cathedral building. In Kyushu there has been a long history of Catholic churches starting from Francis Xavier in spite of a long lasting persecutions by Dokugawa Bakuhu(徳川幕府) in the middle. Relatively Catholic Churches are more spread  and visible than Protestant Churches as far as I had experienced. 

Over Francis Xavier click down here!

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier

It was not a church. It was a wedding hall. There was no cross at the top of the roof of the building. Of course, back in South Korea, there are many wedding halls, but they don't look like church buildings. Many of them adopt Greco-Roman styles. Possibly, Christianity is treated not as a religion but as a culture from the West by the majority of Japanese. For example, watching Japanese animations and dramas, there are lots of scenes where couples are having a wedding in a church or church-like building with a pastor officiating. But, it is just a type of wedding and doesn't have any religious meanings related to Christianity. 

Having failed to find an opportunity to do something social in the only church I had found, I started to read the Bible before going to bed or just right after waking up in the morning. And it became my habit to check out the bulletin board in front of the church after shopping, which is almost all the time empty.