Undoukai: FIGHT!

Scenes from the Beautiful Mountain School's Sports Festival \(^o^)/
Fight! The Red Team`s Trendy Takayo makes team spirit fashionable with an English twist on the classic sports festival hachimaki (headband). Running in the rain is no reason to be be kawaikunai yo!

Good form!

Student president Shin cheers on his teammates during the crucial Senshu Relay, in which the runners are elected by their team members based on their speed. Not only is he fast (he comjpletely lapped the rest of the runners in one race), he is also thought to be the cutest guy in school, because he "looks like a foreigner." He got the highest test score in the school, and he`s good at English, too! Go Shin!

The White Rabbit: an event in which the lightest teammate is forced to risk his life running on the backs of his friends as they race around the track. Once the 'rabbit' successfully passes over them, the other kids race to the front of the line and assume the position until they have covered half the distance of the track. Sound dangerous? It is! The poor red rabbit fell down 6 times before finally breaking his ankle and being replaced.

The 3rd year students special event, the "Chain Gang Escape." Ichi ni! Ichi ni! Us teacher^types got cool *staff* shirts with Kitunchu, written on the back, supposedly the Okinawan dialect for people from Honshu. The top character 北、means north. The lower character, 人、means person.

Note that both of their legs are tied together, as well as to the people behind them. Events like this emphasize acting as "one heart" and "one mind."

Whtie team may have one, but Terrible Takayo, Yo Yo Yuya, Shin-chan and Kaz got nothing but love for each other. Peesu!

My girls! Natsuki, Ami, Mio, Takayo, and Ami.

Another %$#&'$ speech! For God`s sake please stop talking! Its pouring, and my bento awaits!

Hip hip Horray! Yuya is flung into the air by his loosing teammates. No tears! For the first time in 3 years of undokai, no tears! Its all good at the beautiful mountain school!

Cambodia: Here I Come!

A beautiful Miko, or shrine maiden, wearing a hanagasa (a hat decorated with fake flowers) during Gion Matsuri.

I'm on my way to Cambodia and I won't be back until the 31st... Just in time for the never-ending Sports Festival practice, also known around here as the second term of the Japanese junior high school year. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss some prime matsuri time (festival season), but at least I made it to Gion Matsuri this year, even if it did rain everyday! Here's a few more images from the archives...

Actually, the rain was a good thing. Yay for Japanese umbrellas!

This little White Herron Dancer was interviewed after performing at Yasaka Shrine, but she wasn't the only one. A Gaijin's (foreigner's ) impressions of Gion Matsuri, tonight at 5! Thats what makes the news in a country with a comparatively low crime rate (^_<)

Yoiyama Kyomai : Gion Matsuri

Geiko from Gion glide gracefully across the stage with their shamisens, as the long trains of their kimonos flutter behind them.

The Geiko took their place on the side of the stage, sitting seiza style, on their knees, and played as 3 maiko danced in the traditional Kyoto style. The maiko in the purple Kimono is Suzuha, who if I am not mistaken, recently appeared on the cover of the Japanese Playboy magazine! She is renowned for her classic beauty among many of Gion's customers.

Kotoha, a high ranking maiko (in green) and superb dancer, performed the lead role in the short performance. The young maiko behind her is only in her first year. Her upper lip is not yet painted, and her collar is still predominantly red.


The extravagance of the flowing layers of colorful silk kimono, the breath-taking contrast of the porcelian-white makeup and delicately painted red lips, and the grace and dignity of the dance set to the haunting music of the shamisen create a scene of ethereal beauty beyond description.

As their dance ends, the maiko bow low to their audience. The maiko wear a very special hairstyle during the month of July specifically for Gion Matsuri.