We managed to get parked outside the Forum in Northallerton with no problem and Japan Day began! We first saw a demonstration of Kunjutsu (Japanese swordsmanship) katas:
The program introduced us to the wonderful people who we would encounter during our day:
We then visited the origami table where the most delightful Japanese lady showed us how to make cranes! These were so intricate that I would have absolutely no idea of how to make them again - but they are beautiful!
The story behind these little paper cranes was also described in the program:
We tried to get some lunch from the authentic Japanes street food place but were rather disappointed. The service appeared to be REALLY slow - I could hear one woman complaining that she'd been sitting waiting for an hour! We stood in the queue.....and stood in the queue...... and stood in the queue..... and never moved at all. After about 30 minutes we were informed that they had ran out of food!!!!
We decided to just give it a miss and get back to the action. Barbara grabbed a Twix from the machine, and I grabbed a tub of Edamame beans and a tub of Wasabi Peas off some little girls who were passing them around.
Our next stop was to be dressed in a kimino - me first. It is definitely a one-size fits all type of clothing as both Barbara and I were dressed in the same kimino and yet I am AT LEAST a foot taller than her - the excess fabric is taken up at the waist with belts, which the Obi then hides. The obi itself is very stiff and feels something like a corset - it really encourages you to stand up straight! We did wonder how Japanese women would get their housework done in these - as the obi would not be too comfortable to bend down in and the long swinging sleeves would trail in the bucket when washing the floor/doing the washing-up. We also wondered what traditional Japanese women would wear under this (as we obviously had our normal daytime clothing on underneath). Unfortunately the ladies did not speak English in order for us to ask them this - but they were incredibly friendly and simply delightful!
Next was the Japanes Tea Ceremony (see what I mean about the obi being stiff?!) - they again did not speak English but they were lovely and oh so concerned that we enjoy our tea! It was a rather striking colour and the consistency was thicker than our normal tea, as the tea is literally ground up in the liquid - I would have thought that this would make it more nutritious as you are taking in nutrients from the tea, which would normally be thrown into the bin in the tea bag. Other than that it tasted exactly like green tea - watch out for green tea moustaches though!
The ceremony was described in the program so that we knew what was happening:
Barbara managed to be a lot more restrained with her blending, to produce a rather more realistic picture than mine!
The girl sitting next to Barbara was producing a rather beautiful picture herself - she obviously has an artistic flair!
It was then time to explore Northallerton. A few minutes walk and we were in the High Street. We spend a very pleasant time mooching around the shops - a lovely grocer shop called "Lewis & Cooper" that seemed to sell all manner of wonderful delicacies, Lakeland, Fat Face, Barkers of Northallerton (a nice handbag in there which I put down VERY delicately when I saw the price tag!). We had a well-deserved sit down and a long chin-wag in Caffe Nero, before we realised that time was getting away from us and we needed to eat! Around the corner to The Tithe Bar we went (they had a special meal-deal offer for attendees at the Japan Day). The meal was gorgeous! I had Thai Fish Cakes followed by Fish Pie. Barbara had Goats Cheese Salad followed by a rather unusual Chicken and Broccoli Tart (it was not set - the chicken and broccoli were floating around in a cream sauce!)
We were joined by Gill and then made our way back to the venue where the intricacies of the Japanese Tea Ceremony were then displayed to us. It is like a work of art watching every intricate, ritualistic move that these ladies made as the performed the ritual. Poetry in motion!
Next was a demonstration of Shamisen music:
Both of the outer group members were male (the right-hand one being 68-years old) and yet it was noticeable that it was actually the female who was 'in charge' of this group, as we had always thought that it was the men who took precedence in Japanese traditional ceremony. She was keeping time and instructing the others when to change tempo, etc. It was absolutely remarkable to us that she is also the mother of the man on the left-hand side (who is 28) - she looks nowhere near old enough!!! At one point her son lost a string and he looked at her as if seeking permission to repair it, she nodded and he proceeded to do so. That was the only time that they looked anywhere but straight ahead - at no point did they ever look at their hands as they played some rather intricate and 'twiddly' notes - amazing!
A lady demonstrated how you would put on a kimono if you were on your own:
The kimono was described further in the program:
We then had a little break when people could refresh themselves and cool down in the heatwave. The raffle was drawn and I won! TWICE!!!
The piece of paper reads:
- right paw up - brings good luck with money
- left paw up - brings many customers/visitors
- with gold bell - brings good fortune
- with red scarf - draws attention
- with gold coin - maintain wealth
The Origin of the Lucky Cat
There are many stories surrounding the origin of the beckoning cat, perhaps the most popular being the Legend of the Gotokuji Temple. This story, which is thought to date back to the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1867), tells of a local priest, who look after the Gotoku-ji Temple in Tokyo and kept a cat. Despite his poverty, the priest often shared his limited food with his cat. One day, during a storm a samurai sheltering under a tree at the temple saw the priest's cat, apparently beckoning to him to come into the temple for shelter. Just as he approached that cat, a bolt of lightning hit the tree that he had been sheltering under, causing it to crash to the ground where he had previously been standing. Grateful to the cat that had saved his life, the wealthy samurai rewarded the temple with funding for its upkeep and adopted it as his family place of worship. When the cat died, it was honoured by being buried in a special cemetery and a statue was made in his likeness, thus initiating the image of the lucky cat as we know today.
www.japanya.co.uk
We were presented with an Iaido demonstration:
The martial arts of Japan had their own information page in the program:
Next was a karate demonstration. This man was soooo light on his feet and nimble - he seemed to be weightless! He is the man pictured in the bottom-right of the program page (who was also the Shamisen player with his mother):
He then broke a piece of wood with a karate chop - must to the audible surprise of the assembled audience:
Next we had the Nihon Buyo, a traditional Japanese dance with Emiko:
The evening finished with all participants taking to the stage for the final curtain call:
We had a really SUPER day and loved every minute of it. The only wrinkle was the Japanese street food, but we can only guess that they hadn't expected the degree of support on Japan Day that they received. The Japanese people who we met were all extremely friendly and extremely eager to please. We THOROUGHLY enjoyed our Japan Day!
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