Last week I talked with a teacher who is getting married soon. It reminded me that Japanese weddings are different from western weddings in one specific way.
American style ceremonies are very popular here. Unlike in American weddings, it isn't traditional for guests to bring a gift. No, here guests are charged to go to the wedding, usually around $300. Around half of that price is returned to them in the form of a gift from the bride and groom.
I think it is an interesting custom. It pays for the wedding, and provides money for the new couple, and--hopefully-- the guests feel appreciated. It also cuts down on people who barely know you trying to shoehorn themselves in on the guest list.
Showing posts with label customs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label customs. Show all posts
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Where Taikos are Born
Did you ever watch Mr. Rodgers neighborhood? Do you remember when Mr. McFeely would bring a fun video that showed how things were made? I remember the crayon video and the matchbox cars. If I'd had a video camera, I'd send Mr. Rodgers a video of a taiko workshop.
All the taikos our club play were made by a man who lives two hours away. We met him before our performance but we didn't know that he had made them.
Saturday our taiko leader took us to get bachi (drumsticks). They are basically just poplar dowels cut to the proper length. When the plan was being made to go get drumsticks, I figured we would go to a local music store. Only after we were in the car and headed south did we find out that we were going for a two hour drive. Alright, just roll with the punches.
Out in the hills, not even in a town, we pulled up to a house with a workshop and shed nearby. Our taiko leader went to the house and greeted Mr.______ with a small gift, as is polite. He invited us into the shop. The front half is a store. It is filled with drums and other wood crafts. There were small shrines that are carried by four or eight men during festivals. There was a stuffed horse with a saddle on it and a samurai helmet on the saddle. I wonder if it was all authentic. It looked like it. I tried not to stare like a giddy nerd. There were also traditional masks, carved from wood. Some of them were painted with crazy mustaches. There were a few samurai wigs, used in a traditional form of dance. All in all, it was awesome.
We chose the right size drumsticks from the display models and then the owner took us in the back to cut them to length. He asked us not to take pictures of the shop (I think because it was messy). It was cool to see a shop where at least two generations of this family have been making drums. All the tools were there, although I'm not sure what all of them were. There were stacks of drum heads ready to be applied to new drums or old drums that need fixed. There were saws and lathes.
It was pretty awesome to see. That sense of wonder kicked in. Here, was living breathing culture. Here was history, continuing into the present and hopefully far into the future. Here, I was the guest. It was awe inspiring and humbling. Kelli and I are so lucky to live here and see things like this. It's a blessing, no doubt about it.
All the taikos our club play were made by a man who lives two hours away. We met him before our performance but we didn't know that he had made them.
Saturday our taiko leader took us to get bachi (drumsticks). They are basically just poplar dowels cut to the proper length. When the plan was being made to go get drumsticks, I figured we would go to a local music store. Only after we were in the car and headed south did we find out that we were going for a two hour drive. Alright, just roll with the punches.
Out in the hills, not even in a town, we pulled up to a house with a workshop and shed nearby. Our taiko leader went to the house and greeted Mr.______ with a small gift, as is polite. He invited us into the shop. The front half is a store. It is filled with drums and other wood crafts. There were small shrines that are carried by four or eight men during festivals. There was a stuffed horse with a saddle on it and a samurai helmet on the saddle. I wonder if it was all authentic. It looked like it. I tried not to stare like a giddy nerd. There were also traditional masks, carved from wood. Some of them were painted with crazy mustaches. There were a few samurai wigs, used in a traditional form of dance. All in all, it was awesome.
We chose the right size drumsticks from the display models and then the owner took us in the back to cut them to length. He asked us not to take pictures of the shop (I think because it was messy). It was cool to see a shop where at least two generations of this family have been making drums. All the tools were there, although I'm not sure what all of them were. There were stacks of drum heads ready to be applied to new drums or old drums that need fixed. There were saws and lathes.
It was pretty awesome to see. That sense of wonder kicked in. Here, was living breathing culture. Here was history, continuing into the present and hopefully far into the future. Here, I was the guest. It was awe inspiring and humbling. Kelli and I are so lucky to live here and see things like this. It's a blessing, no doubt about it.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Yukata
This week we didn't have much chance to study Japanese, so we convinced our tutor to have dinner with us and then teach us how to wear our yukata. A yukata is a light robe, a lot like a kimono, but not as heavy. Men and women wear yukatas in the summer time. We had a chance to see many families dressed in their yukatas. The little kids were unbelievably cute.
I don't think any style of dress looks as elegant as a kimono. A kimono is modest yet feminine. It can be a work of art. It can cost as much as a work of art.
A few weeks ago I saw an obi that was $450. I found out that is cheap. A friend of a friend bought an obi for $10,000 dollars! That is the most expensive belt I've ever heard of. And that was just the obi.
Saturday I saw some kimonos and obis in that price range. I've never seen a price tag with 1,000,000,000 on it before. Now I have. On a silk yukata. It was extraordinarily beautiful. But the price was out of this world. Can you imagine spending $10,000 on one item of clothing? And then you still have to buy the rest of the outfit. No thanks.
I'll stick with my $15 cotton yukata that I got off of the clearance rack.
I don't think any style of dress looks as elegant as a kimono. A kimono is modest yet feminine. It can be a work of art. It can cost as much as a work of art.
A few weeks ago I saw an obi that was $450. I found out that is cheap. A friend of a friend bought an obi for $10,000 dollars! That is the most expensive belt I've ever heard of. And that was just the obi.
Saturday I saw some kimonos and obis in that price range. I've never seen a price tag with 1,000,000,000 on it before. Now I have. On a silk yukata. It was extraordinarily beautiful. But the price was out of this world. Can you imagine spending $10,000 on one item of clothing? And then you still have to buy the rest of the outfit. No thanks.
I'll stick with my $15 cotton yukata that I got off of the clearance rack.
Funny story. My belt isn't actually tied. The knot is permanent and it velcros down. I bought the equivalent of a yukata clip-on tie! What a nerd.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
The Police Chief with Pink Slippers
In America, families can be divided into two basic categories: the ones who ask you to take your shoes off when you come in, and the ones who don't. The families of the former category would be enamored with a certain trait of Japanese culture, the genkan. The genkan is the entryway. In our house it is about 3 feet by 3 feet of tile right after you step through our front door. There you take off your outside shoes, step up onto the wooden floor (without touching your socks to the tile), and then walk around barefoot or in slippers.
The Japanese home has a few levels of cleanliness or purity. The genkan is the transition from the dirtiest (outside) to the cleaner interior. Most homes have wooden floors with small area carpets or a tatami room. Tatami are traditional small handwoven straw mats. To this day they are hand made. You are never supposed to walk on carpet or tatami with shoes, so you have to take your slippers off if you want to step onto a carpet. When nature calls and you have to step into the toilet room, some homes provide bathroom slippers. You slip of your slippers outside the bathroom and step into the bathroom slippers as you enter the toilet room.
Oh, and it isn't just homes that have a genkan. Public schools, some businesses, and even medical clinics have genkan. Wherever you go, they provide little slippers for you to use. Should you ever visit, try to bring your own slippers. The public slippers are slicker than snot. Seriously. It's like trying to walk on banana peels that keep falling off your gargantuan, gangly American feet. I have yet to make it up a staircase without having to walk like an Egyptian: two steps forward, one step back. Maybe that's why they're called slippers.
For a few weeks all that taking off and putting on shoes makes you a little crazy. I've never accurately counted, but I think some days I switch shoes at least 6,200 times. It took about two days to begin hating shoes with laces. I bought sneakers for indoor shoes. Guess how they are held shut. Laces, don't make me laugh. Velcro, still too much work. My friends, I purchased...wait for it... zip up shoes. Oh yeah. Easy on, easy off. I'd be the envied at any nursing home.
Most people don't take shoes with them wherever they go. Some people leave a pair of indoor shoes at their work. Well what happens when someone goes to a public event where they have to dress nice and don't bring their own indoor shoes? Men in dapper business suits might be wearing bright red slippers or white velcro tennis shoes. When the police chief goes to a kindergarten, that's when you see the chief of police in uniform, sitting on a tiny folding chair, wearing Hello, Kitty slippers. If that doesn't cut down on genkan resentment, I don't know what will.
The Japanese home has a few levels of cleanliness or purity. The genkan is the transition from the dirtiest (outside) to the cleaner interior. Most homes have wooden floors with small area carpets or a tatami room. Tatami are traditional small handwoven straw mats. To this day they are hand made. You are never supposed to walk on carpet or tatami with shoes, so you have to take your slippers off if you want to step onto a carpet. When nature calls and you have to step into the toilet room, some homes provide bathroom slippers. You slip of your slippers outside the bathroom and step into the bathroom slippers as you enter the toilet room.
Oh, and it isn't just homes that have a genkan. Public schools, some businesses, and even medical clinics have genkan. Wherever you go, they provide little slippers for you to use. Should you ever visit, try to bring your own slippers. The public slippers are slicker than snot. Seriously. It's like trying to walk on banana peels that keep falling off your gargantuan, gangly American feet. I have yet to make it up a staircase without having to walk like an Egyptian: two steps forward, one step back. Maybe that's why they're called slippers.
For a few weeks all that taking off and putting on shoes makes you a little crazy. I've never accurately counted, but I think some days I switch shoes at least 6,200 times. It took about two days to begin hating shoes with laces. I bought sneakers for indoor shoes. Guess how they are held shut. Laces, don't make me laugh. Velcro, still too much work. My friends, I purchased...wait for it... zip up shoes. Oh yeah. Easy on, easy off. I'd be the envied at any nursing home.
Most people don't take shoes with them wherever they go. Some people leave a pair of indoor shoes at their work. Well what happens when someone goes to a public event where they have to dress nice and don't bring their own indoor shoes? Men in dapper business suits might be wearing bright red slippers or white velcro tennis shoes. When the police chief goes to a kindergarten, that's when you see the chief of police in uniform, sitting on a tiny folding chair, wearing Hello, Kitty slippers. If that doesn't cut down on genkan resentment, I don't know what will.
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