Sendai Tanabata Festival (仙台七夕祭り)

This is one of the most famous summer festival held in Japan. Its characteristics are the hanging of colourful decorations, ranging from small to very big ones, and well-wishes written on slips of paper.

Not the actual day of festival yet, but preparations are already up!

Attended a session on making mini-decorations. We made a purse, and I think mine (at the bottom right of pic) was really ugly. The folds at the edges were creased and non-uniform.

'Tutorial' on the meanings of each type of decorations. They even gave a set each to everyone as souvenir. =)

Outdoor tentage for writing wishes, then hanging on the strings provided.

I realise I've been making the same old wish for the past 15 years or so. (But they did come true! Haha)

Jellyfish-like decorations can be seen everywhere.

In Japan, there is always room for cuteness.

I didn't know Japan is such an open country...

In this span of few days I've become a camwhore like the rest. =p

Rikuzentakata (陸前高田)

The volunteer work at Rikuzentakata city (陸前高田市), heavily devastated by the tsunami, was one of the main purpose of the trip. Having seen lots of images and videos from the media previously, the sight of the destruction did not come as a shock, but I could feel a tinge of sorrow as the bus drove through the area. It can be pretty depressing to witness how a city is wiped out just like that.

Volunteer centre where we collected our work tools and did admin matters. There were quite a few volunteer groups from overseas too.

It reads 'Rikuzentakata City Disaster Volunteer Centre'

All set for volunteer work! Actually these PPE (personal protective equipment) is a little overkill. But I appreciate how the authorities prepared all these PPEs so that we won't get hurt. The nails, wooden/glass/ceramic shards, and dust from the debris can be pretty nasty.

Everything still looks pretty green and fine just before entering the affected area...

...Then scraps of vehicles come into sight.

As you can see, most of the debris has been gathered into heaps, showing how much the clearing work has progressed since.

Most of the area is still waterlogged with sea water. Pumps are probably needed to drive all these brackish water out.

Everyone is working hard to clear the debris, for an upcoming event.

These are some items we have recovered from the soil, including certificates and other belongings. Generally only those with names can be returned to the owner. Those without have to be thrown away. I dug up things like computer parts and mahjong tiles.

This notebook was dug up from the ground. The content looks so familiar. Probably belonged to a university math/engineering student.

We dug up this stubborn tree stump! =)

Being situated at higher ground, this little temple remains safe from harm.

The area in the foreground is where we worked. That served as a carpark for a small-scale festival which was held 2 days after. Yes, the locals were still determined to hold the annual summer festival here despite the rubble, showing their strong spirit in recovery.

You may read more about the festival here:
Japanese Town Reunites Around Festival
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576490212437843194.html

I hope to see a new Rikuzentakata a few years later. =)

Morioka Sansa Odori

It was my first time witnessing and participating in such large-scale dance festival/parade. What's more this was experienced in a foreign country, which added to the thrill and excitement.

This festival was held in Morioka（盛冈）, the capital city of Iwate （岩手）Prefecture, which was greatly effected by the March earthquake and tsunami. Hence this year's summer festival holds a special significance, in the sense that it gives the people hope and spirit to recover from the disaster.

These performers on standby are always ready to pose whenever they see a camera aimed towards them.

What's a festival without food stalls? Yea it was extremely crowded.

Among dozens of stalls at dozens of crowded streets, I spotted my favourite Japanese food - Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki!

This dance parade is similar to Chingay, but then, I've never watched Chingay live before. Thus it was a refreshing experience.

You can't escape the concept of cuteness in Japan.

As the sky darkened, brightly decorated floats started to roll out. Most had motivational messages written for Iwate.

Black spotted among the performers! (I also saw a mother carrying her baby on the back while dancing)

The main parade event is over, but the public is welcomed to dance along with the performers.

Of course I took the opportunity to dance along too. Took quite a bit of courage to upload this video, so don't laugh at me hor.



This must be one of the rare moments when I dance in public without feeling much embarrassment. As all of you might know, I'm pretty stiff and robotic when it comes to dancing. But the heightened atmosphere at that time really made me enthusiastic in joining the dance. It was also a rare chance to immerse totally into dancing without getting bothered by public's eye. I gradually became unaware that there were so many people around me, and my eyes stayed glued at the dancer in front as I tried to follow the steps.

Even after repeating the same steps 20 over times, I was still unable to catch the flow. Just as I was getting the hang of it, the music and dance steps changed haha...

富士山上

I finally got to see with my own eyes the most beautiful icon of Japan on my 4th trip there.

Mt Fuji can be easily spotted on the flight to Tokyo, about 15 minutes before landing.

Of course this is not the best view of Mt Fuji from so high in the sky, but I look forward to visiting it in my next trip, or maybe the next following one.

Anyway I am disappointed in ANA. The service was fine, but the seat was so uncomfortable. The seats cannot recline at all, and the leg space is very narrow. Totally couldn't rest well for both overnight flights, though there was a really fun game that kept me occupied.

曲终人散

All the fun has officially come to an end for me. It's time to get back to school and start working on my FYP. This is undoubtedly the best summer holiday I've ever had. I wonder if my graduation trip can be any better than this...

The moment my final exam paper ended last semester, I flew off to Europe. And now, I have returned from Japan just in time for the start of the new semester. Really stretching the limits of my holiday haha.

There are many many things I would like to share regarding both my trips to Japan, but I'm really busy these few days. For the time being you can read my NUS blog about the Tohoku Ambassador trip. I'll fill up more details and photos in this blog soon.

Link: http://blog.nus.edu.sg/servbot1/

Thank you very much, Japan.