My friend Melanie has a tradition on her blog where she posts a single photo every Friday with no words which illustrates a moment from the previous week. I felt inspired by the concept and decided to adopt it for my own blog. Each week I will post a single photo with no words from a moment in my life - either from the previous week or something or someone about which I've been thinking. A simple yet memorable image to share with everyone.

Amidst the scorching August sun and thick humidity common to Kumamoto Prefecture, the town of Yamaga in southern Japan, hosts its annual lantern festival. Thousands of people descend upon this small hot springs town to watch local women dressed in matching yukata, cotton kimono, while wearing delicate hand-made golden lanterns atop their heads.

The festival consists of two days of events, mostly centered around Omiya Shrine and Yamaga's famous lanterns. On the first day only a select few women dance down the main street for the gathered crowds. They repeat their performance and pause to take pictures. Afterwards attendees are entertained with taiko performances, children's games and popular festival food because the event is concluded with a flashy fireworks show over the Kikuchi River. On the second day after various events 1,000 women dance while wearing matching yukata and lanterns. They move gracefully to the slow music of the accompanying shamisan before men dressed in traditional clothing bring forth palanquins which have been blessed by the shrine.

Yamaga's Lantern Festival re-enacts a local story about a visit from emperor Keikou and his entourage. The thick fog from the Kikuchi River impeded their travels and the local people of Yamaga ventured out with lighted torches to lead them back to the village. The people of Yamaga recreate this story as part of concluding events of the lantern festival.

Though the festival has strong ties with Omiya Shrine, a local Shinto Shrine the event corresponds with o-bon, an annual festival during which Japanese return to the ancestral homes, clean the family graves and welcome back their ancestors. O-bon celebrations throughout Japan feature women dressed in yukata dancing the o-bon odori along the streets. The festival incorporates this dance as well which highlights the syncretized nature of Buddhism and Shinto in Japan. Few Japanese are one religion or the other but integrate practices and rituals from both into their lives.

Below are pictures from the two days of the festival.

My friend Melanie has a tradition on her blog where she posts a single photo every Friday with no words which illustrates a moment from the previous week. I felt inspired by the concept and decided to adopt it for my own blog. Each week I will post a single photo with no words from a moment in my life - either from the previous week or something or someone about which I've been thinking. A simple yet memorable image to share with everyone.

なつかしい (natsukashii) the Japanese word to express nostalgia embodies my most recent trip. Eleven years ago I moved to Kikuchi, a small town in southern Japan where I lived and and taught English for two years. Though this wasn't my first trip back to Japan since I left (I returned in 2010 for a class) it was my first trip this area I once called home.

Returning to Kumamoto-ken brought forth a flood of memories as I walked along the streets and visited places that I had once known so well. Naturally things have changed a lot since I left Kikuchi both in the physical sense and, in my case, maturity-wise. I'm no longer that fresh faced kid, directly out of college working my first professional job. The inevitable life experiences of an adult since then have changed my own perspective on many things including my time in Japan. Living as a foreigner in a small and somewhat conservative town in a rural part of a homogenous country is difficult and at the time I mistook my personal struggle with the isolation and homogenity with a dislike for life in Japan. Currently living in a similar situation here in Korea I realize now I actually enjoy Japan and Japanese culture and when I returned I felt a familiar warmth. I will always look back fondly on this trip not just because of it was an incredible vacation  and I met so many kind-hearted people but also because it allowed me to put so much into perspective within my own life.

Over time I'll update this page as well as the Globe Trekker section with photos from my trip - I took several thousand so it's a lot to sort through. Until then please enjoy a few highlights which will forever stand out in my mind in an overall fantastic trip.

Eri

Eri was a friend and co-teacher at Kikuchi High School. Her energetic and upbeat personality cheered me up when living abroad felt overwhelmingly difficult. I loved our little chats at work and the time we spent together outside of school. Over the years we've managed to keep in touch via Christmas/New Year cards and e-mails though both of us have moved around quite a bit since we parted ways 9 years ago at Fukuoka Airport. I was excited to meet up with her in Kikuchi for a tour of our old school and a visit to Kikuchi Gorge. Eri, always hospitable and truly kind, sent me a message the next evening to invite me on an impromptu road trip to the gorgeous islands of Amakusa in southern Kumamoto on the following day. We enjoyed a day surrounded by lush green mountains, glistening blue waters and excitable dolphins. Afterwards we spent the evening in Yamaga enjoying the sights and sounds of it's annual summer festival. It was so heart warming to see that our friendship had continued even with the distance of an ocean between us.

Kikuchi

The small town  of Kikuchi moves at a slower pace than cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka. As I wondered around all the familiar sights it almost felt as if I never left - sure the video store wasn't there anymore but my local hang out was in addition to my favorite sweet shop. However, for the most part Kikuchi hasn't changed much over the 9 years with one exception - Kikuchi High School. The main building in which I worked and the gymnasium were gone and a brand new building and grassy park were in their place. It was surreal to see a place with which I was once so familiar to suddenly be so foreign. However, though I realized that time really had moved on since I left Kikuchi I still felt an overwhelming feeling of nostaglia as I walked the halls of Kikuchi High School with Eri and we reminisced about our time there.

山鹿灯篭祭り

Kumamoto typically boasts some of the highest temperatures in Japan and with the accompanying humidity summers can be quite miserable there. It would've been physically more comfortable to visit the area at a different time but I was determined to see a local festival which I had missed both years while I lived there. The Yamaga Lantern Festival is an annual event which combines aspects of Buddhist rituals, Shinto practices in addition to dancing, drumming, games, beer and food on a stick. This festival is renown throughout Japan because on the 2nd night one thousand women dance wearing yukata and delicate hand made paper lanterns dance near Omiya Shrine re-enacting the welcoming of the Emperor Keiko from historical times.

Amakusa

In the two years I lived in Kumamoto I had only heard mention of the beautiful islands of Amakusa but had never taken the opportunity to visit them myself. I incredibly regret not doing so. Amakusa is a gorgeous tropical get away - it's what I imagine Hawaii to look like with pristine blue water, lush green valleys and tall mountains in the distance. I suspect there are lovely beaches on the islands but we only had a few hours to spend there so instead we decided to go on a boat ride out into the Sea of Japan so we could watch the local colony of dolphins. Afterwards we stopped at a local restaurant which freshly prepared some of Amakusa's famous seafood. Though I only had the opportunity to spend a short amount of time there Amakusa is really one of the most beautiful places I've seen on all my travels.

Food

As a vegetarian my food choices were severely limited in Japan but what I could eat was delicious. I truly enjoy the subtle flavors and quality ingredients incorporated in Japanese dishes. I was concerned I would have difficulties finding food to eat and there were definitely some frustrating moments as I searched a restaurant that could meet my dietary restrictions but when I found a possible place the waitstaff were incredibly helpful in catering to my needs. It seems I still speak enough Japanese to get across the point that I eat absolutely no meat otherwise this would've been a much more disheartening and complicated experience (and probably one that would've involved eating much more meat than I would care to consider).

Perhaps the best meal during this trip was at a small tofu restaurant in Kumamoto, a place to which Mayu, a friendly couchsurfer introduced me. Couchsurfing is an online travelers' community and meeting Mayu was my first couchsurfing experience - it turned out to be a great one, we had a pleasant dinner with her friends and I enjoyed the food so much I returned the next evening!

Kami-Sama

As an anthropologist interested in localized religious practices I think it's natural most of my time in Japan was spent at Shinto shrines. In only 9 days I visited more than 25 shrines and at each one I asked the kami to look out for me during my trip and if they would be so kind - not to let it rain too much. Though each and every day had a forecast of thunderstorms it rarely rained while I was in Kumamoto and Fukuoka - and when it did the showers tended to be brief. It is unusual I am so lucky when it comes to weather (it's guaranteed to rain at least once every time I visit Chicago from afar). I am thankful I got to enjoy my vacation outside enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the area rather than looking out a cafe window wistfully hoping it'll stop raining.

Visiting so many shrines in such a short amount of time allowed me to gain more perspective on the similarities and differences between shrines as well as the religion of Shinto, itself.

This past trip has made me reflect on how truly fortunate I am - travel is one of my greatest passions and I have been very lucky to have had numerous incredible experiences. My travels have allowed me to gain new perspectives into my own life and come to appreciate the diverse range of cultures throughout the world.

My friend Melanie has a tradition on her blog where she posts a single photo every Friday with no words which illustrates a moment from the previous week. I felt inspired by the concept and decided to adopt it for my own blog. Each week I will post a single photo with no words from a moment in my life - either from the previous week or something or someone about which I've been thinking. A simple yet memorable image to share with everyone.

I came to Japan in mid-August specifically for this festival. I'll be back tomorrow when 1000 women will dance the streets wearing these brightly colored yukata and lanterns.

Slightly over nine years ago I moved from Kikuchi-shi, Kumamoto-ken in southern Japan back to the United States. I had lived in Kikuchi for 2 years where I taught English at two local high schools. It was my first job after graduating from college, the second country I had lived in outside of the U.S. and a very eye-opening learning experience.

Tomorrow, for the first time since I said goodbye to my friend Eri and boarded the U.S. bound plane, I will return to the region. I'll revisit Kumamoto, Kikuchi and Fukuoka - enjoying the sites, sounds and  food I used to enjoy while living there. This isn't my first time back to Japan since I left - I returned for 2 weeks in 2010 for a class. However, this is the first time I'll be back in a place that is familiar and filled with nostalgia.

For this reason over the next week there won't be a "quirky Korea" post nor a "Friday photo" one. I'll post photos of my trip once I get back and have time ~ with school starting the morning after I return it might be a while before I have a chance to get something posted.

My friend Melanie has a tradition on her blog where she posts a single photo every Friday with no words which illustrates a moment from the previous week. I felt inspired by the concept and decided to adopt it for my own blog. Each week I will post a single photo with no words from a moment in my life - either from the previous week or something or someone about which I've been thinking. A simple yet memorable image to share with everyone.

For the past week or so I've been paying learning a lot about the Olympics - the topic of my week long summer camp at Mungyeong Technical High School.

As I've mentioned in previous posts even during school breaks students come to class. For some students summer camp is optional and since English is a very unpopular subject at my high school my class consisted of only 4 first year boys. I decided that in order to make the most of the week I would give the students their own Olympic goal - if they attended class regularly and participated as much as possible I would treat them to pizza on our final day of class since Friday was our movie day.

I decided to approach the Olympics as a tool to review countries, continents and ordinal numbers, introduce and review vocabulary including sports, movement verbs and terminology such as winner and champion. The students were able to demonstrate their knowledge through various exercises including mini-presentations on Olympic athletes and creating an Olympic logo for our town and a poster showing support to the Korean Olympic team. We also made no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies together which turned out pretty tasty.

They seemed to enjoy the lesson and were keen to see how Korea compared with other nations. Not surprisingly Korea leads in Olympic medals in taekwondo (it also leads in medals for archery). I felt a little bad providing them with the statistics of the United States since its 2590 Olympic medals dwarfs Korea's 260. However, South Korea easily beats North Korea in the Olympic medal count and they seemed satisfied with that fact.

I was incredibly pleased through out the week with the students' performances. They listened carefully to each lesson and were able to repeat the information during the next day's class period. I'm not sure if they really enjoyed the lessons but they actively participated in class and produced some really creative work. I was happy to provide them with a little party of pizza, chips, pop and cookies as a reward for all of their hard work.

All countries and cultures have their quirks and Korea is no different. These are things that while usually are taken for granted by a native might cause a visitor or ex-pat stop and say "huh, that's odd." Often these oddities can provide additional insight into the culture. Quirky Korea is a weekly posting in which I share a picture of something that struck me as odd during my time here. Sometimes the picture will be self-explanatory, other times it will need a bit of context.

How ingredients are incorporated into food varies between cultures and the types of food we eat as a child develop our own understanding and acceptance of different flavor and texture combinations. When you live in a different country suddenly everything you knew to expect when it came to food is challenged. Visiting a bakery in Korea can be an interesting experience because there are a lot of flavor combinations which a Westerner just wouldn't expect. Pastries at the local Tous les Jours are filled with sweet potato, red beans and green peas (pictured below). These are three foods which most Americans would never associate with a sweet fluffy pastry. However, they're quite tasty. One thing I will never grow accustomed to is the garlic bread - which instead of a savory delight of salted butter and garlic is typically sweet in Korea with a sweet butter smeared atop the baguette. It was an unpleasant surprise when I first tried the garlic bread I bought to accompany the pasta dish I had spent the evening preparing.