Twice a year, the entertainment district in Tokushima comes to life through the music of jazz. This event called Tokushima Jazz Street features many professional and amateur jazz musicians from Tokushima and other parts of Japan. The one night event takes place on a Sunday, from 7pm to 11pm. The price of admission is 2500 yen (approx. 30.00 USD) and includes entrance to over 10 participating venues. On February 4th, I went to see one of my students perform, Dr. Naito and his Sereia band. Check out my video of my recent stroll around Tokushima Jazz Street, ending with performances by the Sereia band!

Well… Christmas is around the corner and so begins the house calls for Santa Clause in Tokushima! As I’ve written before, every December I’m asked to be Santa Clause at various kindergartens and elementary schools in Japan. This year the experience was on the largest stage to date! For almost 200 kindergarten students and their family at an event hall called Bunka no Mori, I dawned the red and white costume once more to bring the joy of Christmas to the children of Japan. On a side note, a big shout-out to my boy Olli from Iceland who recently left Japan for his Igloo! I was surprised to learn that Iceland has a population of only 300,000 people, that’s the size of the city I’m living in! As credits are always in order in "show biz," the Big O was my camera man and involved in the production of the first four installments of MY LIFE AND TIMES IN JAPAN videos. So without further a due, I bring you the latest: Santa Clause Rocks the House in Japan!

Recently school bullying has become a hot-button issue in Japan in desperate need of immediate action to stop an increasing amount of suicides by hopeless students. As a foreign teacher living in Japan, I believe I have a unique perspective on this situation, which inspired me to write the following condensed opinion – published in Japan’s national English newspaper, The Daily Yomiuri.

Immediate Action Needed to Combat School Bullying

With all due respect to writer Whahei Tatematus, who’s statements were recently published in the Daily Yomiuri entitled, (“Society must face up to bullying problem,” Page 3, Nov. 14), it’s my opinion we should not broaden the problem to society at a time where students are feeling most desperate and in need of our help now. As a foreign teacher living and teaching in Japan, I believe the lack of strong guidelines for disciplining students is the root cause for the increase in bullying in schools, which is resulting in suicides. Today’s public school students in Japan are free to behave in any inappropriate way they choose to without fear of serious repercussion from teachers. I am under the impression teachers are handcuffed by the power of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), which I believe needs to allow teachers to teach and discipline appropriately for the sake of their own children. In addition, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry needs to revisit any existing disciplinary guidelines and provide teachers the authority needed to effectively teach and protect students. If students are perceived to have more power than teachers, how do you think the student being bullied feels? Let me answer that, hopeless. Students must be held accountable for their inappropriate actions in school. I believe by implementing something as simple as detention would immediately reverse the current trend. Detentions are a common form of school discipline in the United States. When students break school rules they are detained after school for one hour regardless of prior commitments. By taking away students’ own time spent in after school activities, such as sports clubs or simply going home, then maybe students will be more tentative when teachers say that bullying will not be tolerated.

My apologies to my loyal readers, it’s been a long time since I’ve last posted a blog… So without any further delay, let me catch you up! During the first week of April, my younger sister came out to visit me. With only a week to show Dekyi Japan, each of our days were jam-packed with sightseeing. Without going into too much detail, our trip included visits to Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and around Tokushima. Having already been to all the places I chose to take my sister, I think I’ll remember a few occasions as being the most memorable. First, being in Kyoto during cherry blossom season was beautiful and everything I was told it would be. Although the streets of Gion were especially crowded during this very popular season, the beautiful weather and festive ambiance energized our visit. As I’ve previously written, picnicking under blooming cherry blossom trees is an annual part of Japanese culture and there is no better place to take-part than in Maruyama Park in Gion Kyoto. So, in the spirit of the season and Japanese culture, my sister and I sat down for a short hanami (cherry blossom picnic). Also, our decision to take a day trip to Nara was a good one. Visiting Nara again and the famous Todaiji Temple was a peaceful break from the busy streets of Kyoto. And finally, visiting the Kazurabashi Vine Bridge, located deep in western Tokushima was fun as well. See some pictures below of my sister’s trip to Japan!

Last Wednesday morning it snowed in Tokushima City, which was a big surprise considering it’s mid-March and spring break for students start at the end of next week. Typically, the snow rarely sticks in the city, but the day before yesterday, the park outside my apartment was blanketed and traffic was almost at a standstill… National traffic accident statistics show that Tokushima is notorious for bad drivers. There seems to be no middle ground to the rules of road etiquette here, one is either being carelessly reckless or overly cautious. For example, when given the green light to cross a crosswalk in Tokushima, it’s absolutely necessary to wait at least another 5 seconds while looking both ways, in order to avoid the numerous cars that run red lights. Driving back home, there’s a point when one has to decide when the light is yellow whether to speed up or slow down in order to make the change. However, this point is not universal. The decision by Tokushima drivers is not made while the light is yellow, but rather after the light has already turned RED… As for highway patrol, it’s almost non-existent it seems. With electronic speed traps that everyone knows the locations of, who needs police officers? On the flip side, my predecessor told me that snow once caused a Tokushima resident to abandon their car in the middle of the street… Below are some rare pictures of snow in Tokushima City around my beautiful city villa, known as Naka Showa Cho Heights. I’ll be moving to a new apartment soon, so this is a last tribute to my hood.

Next Saturday night in Saiidaiji, Okayama, the Hadaka Matsuri returns for another evening of men running around in thong underwear while nearly freezing to death.  Commonly referred to as the Naked Man Festival by foreigners, this Japanese festival is by far the most unique I have ever been involved in.  With a group of ALTs from Tokushima, we signed-up for the festival two years ago and it was an experience I will never forget.  Although referred to as the Naked Man Festival, participants are not fully naked.  Each person is given a fundoshi, a very long white cloth wrapped up and around the naked body of a competitor.  Similar to a loincloth worn by a Sumo wrestler, this piece of clothing is the only thing keeping festival participants warm from the cold of the winter.  Surprisingly, fundoshis are quite comfortable and are now my preferred choice for undergarment.  Just kidding. 

Like most Japanese festivals, heavy drinking is customary and required for this event in my opinion.  The evening kicks-off around 8pm, as participants prepare for a ritualistic tour of the temple grounds.  By 10pm, thousands of men can be seen running and chanting in groups.  The male bonding experience requires several jumps into a pond for cleansing purposes.  Followed by visits to the main pavilion, where wishes are shouted to the gods.  After which, the pack makes their way around the temple grounds, paying their respects to the two deities Senju Kannon and Goousho Daigongen. While running, they are doused by the temple priests with holy water. This whole process is repeated for hours, with men running in all directions, while thousands of spectators watch. 

The finally of the event takes place at midnight, where all the non-frozen participants make their way to the main pavilion.  Clearly not capable of holding the number of people trying to enter, pushing and shoving is necessary in order to hold one’s ground.  Fights breaking-out are not uncommon at this stage as testosterone levels reach an evening high.  Men get pushed off the edge of the pavilion, pushed down stairs, trampled and squashed for the chance of obtaining New Year’s prosperity through the power of blessed magic sticks (a shingi).  At the strike of midnight, the lights are switched off, and the glowing magic sticks are thrown in the air by the temple’s priest.  There are several sticks thrown in the air, with two being the most coveted.  The lights come back on, and everyone tries to wrestle away the sticks, which results in utter mayhem.  Having never seen the end, apparently the winners are the men who manage to return the shingi across the temple grounds, and into the hands of the waiting priest. 

Ringing in the New Year in Japan is very different than in the west. Although with some effort, finding a countdown party is possible, however, for most Japanese its uncommon to celebrate in this fashion. In Japan, it’s tradition to visit a temple or shrine of choice during oshogatsu, the period between January 1st to 3rd. This visit is called hatsumode in Japanese and serves as an important opportunity to pray for a prosperous New Year. Although paying your respects can be done anytime during oshogatsu, the most impressive visits are at the actual turn of the year, when large temple bells are rung at midnight. Depending on where you live in Japan, the temple in which one may visit during oshogatsu may differ. Some families may choose to visit a local neighborhood temple or shrine, while others may prefer a more prominent historical one, such as Tokyo’s Meiji Shrine, which attracts several millions of people during the three days. This year, I visited two of the most popular temples in Tokushima for hatsumode – Oasahiko Temple and Yakuoji Temple. Following in Japanese customs, I also purchased an omikuji, a New Year’s fortune written on a slip of paper. These fortunes are usually received by pulling one out randomly from a box. There are several degrees of good and bad fortunes, from a Great blessing (dai-kichi) to a Great curse (dai-kyō). The omikuji predicts the person’s chances of his or her hopes coming true, of finding a good match, or generally matters of health, fortune, life, etc. When the prediction is bad, it’s customary to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree on the temple grounds. As for my fortune for 2006, I was lucky enough to receive a daikichi from Yakuoji Temple in Hiwasa. I guess my boys back home can rest easy as the 6-peat championship is now in the bag!