Village Festival and our Latest Addition

Last Sunday was the village “just-for-fun” festival. The festivals prior to this one were somewhat religious in nature, but this one is just an excuse for the locals to party. Last year it rained and so the event was moved into the building that houses the indoor baseball field. Fortunately the weather was fantastic and the festivities were held outside in the main park. In this photo you can see the park as folks prepare for the day. I took this picture by walking a short ways up the ski slope. The white things are long pieces of Styrofoam, which serves as seating. The round pit of sand is the sumo ring, the site of Aaron’s infamous wrestling matches. On this day, it was used as the spot where they lit all the barbecue grills. It was really quite the undertaking!

All around the seating area were booths set up by a wide variety of people. There was a small pen with some of the mayor’s dairy cattle (calves), a booth giving away free milk samples, food vendors, games of chance, and vegetable stands. People began to arrive around 10:00 and the performers started their show about 10:30. By 11:00, men caring grills full of hot coal began to circulate around the seating area. After buying a barbecue “set”, you simply cooked your food and ate while listening to the singers. The barbecue “set” consisted of a few skewers of chicken, a scallop, a large shrimp, half of a small fish, a bit of beef, and some Japanese pumpkin. Everything is cooked on the grill, which is usually shared by a group of people.

After setting up.jpg
Calves tied to the play structure
Ridge fanning the grill
"Grill, anyone?"
Folks grilling and eating

After the performers were finished, there was a milk-drinking contest. Fortunately, the contest was one of speed, not quantity consumed. All the while, our children had been running pell mell around the park, playing with their friends and trying to talk us into buying them cotton candy. However, after the milk-drinking contest, I gathered the boys up so we could watch Aaron compete in the wood cutting contest. He joined Mr. Tao, Mr. Kamaya, and the mayor for this event. Each team of four had to cut through a log. Every 30 seconds, a whistle would blow and a different person took over sawing. Aaron team did very well and I could hear people around me exclaiming with surprise, “wow! Look at sancho-san (nick name for the mayor) go!!” The nine teams competed in two heats. Aaron’s team won their first heat and came in second all around. It was really fun to watch! Those older men really knew what they were doing!
The Mayor sawing
Aaron sawing
Mr. Kamaya (my boss) sawing

The day before the festival, we decided to go to Asahikawa for the day. After much debate, Aaron and I had decided that we could no longer be happy without a furry creature in our lives. So, we are now the proud parents of an amazingly small rabbit. Ridge picked her out and we spent most of a two-hour drive debating her name. I will now treat you (ha ha ha) to a long and perhaps tedious explanation of her name.

Ridge began the conversation by be immovably set on the name, “Spot.” Aaron and I immediately said, “No way!” I insisted on a Japanese name for our little Japanese bunny. In the end, we compromised. The bunny has been officially named, “Mizutama”. This means, “spot” in Japanese. But wait! There’s more! “Mizutama” is written as two kanji. (1) “mizu” – means “water” (2)”tama” – means “jewel or drop”

Also, a quick lesson on Japanese nicknames. To make someone’s name a pet name or a nick name, you add –chan if it’s a girl or –kun if it’s a boy. For example, Ridge’s teachers call him, “Ridge-kun”. We call Ridge’s friend Aiko, “Aiko-chan”. Got it?

Okay, now let’s put these two mini-lessons together. The rabbit’s name is Mizutama. She’s a girl, so we can call her “Tama-chan”. This is a nickname for Mizutama AND a name on it’s own. Basically, “Tama-chan” can also mean “little jewel”.

I know, I know – that was more explanation than you needed for the name of a rabbit that weight less than an apple. But, we were really quite pleased with ourselves to have come up with a name that has a kind of double meaning. Not to mention the fact that she is still named “Spot”, essentially.