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A Tale of New and Old Friends... and Festivals!

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Remember Oda Nobunaga, the warlord who sieged Gifu Castle a hella long time ago and subsequently re-named Gifu and attempted to unite Japan? Well, on 10/2/10, Gifu celebrated him and we got to watch! That's "him" to the left.

We headed downtown with a teacher from my school and a very good, old friend from Oberlin who we hadn't seen in 5 years (since graduation). Ai, the teacher, nicely came from her home in Ginan-cho - about an hour away from Gifu - to hang out for the day. Nik came from Yokohama, near Tokyo, to spend the weekend with us in our humble, furniture-less abode. It really was wonderful to spend time with both of them, to feel like we were sinking into our life in Japan, and reconnecting with an old friend on the other side of the world!

To the left is a true kibasen, or mounted knight. We enjoyed a very short parade that was a historical re-creation of Oda Nobunaga's various armies, confidantes, counselors, Christian ministers, and female figureheads. It was very interesting to see the costumes, especially when children dressed as archers and naginata (halberd) infantry marched by. Oh, they are such cute little killers! As is clear from the picture, the ancient warriors were on a very modern street full of giant billboards for outrageous Japanese products and services. Matt says: the anachronism was so blatant it verged on farce.

I particularly enjoyed watching a taiko performance. A troupe gathered in the middle of a blocked-off street filled with food vendors and clothing wares. Drumming and dancing to accompanying music, the troupe was a flurry of rhythm. They managed to balance extremely heavy drums strapped over one shoulder while navigating through various martial arts poses, jumping, turning, and lunging. The movement could be slow and sustained, as when they dropped to one knee and with a slow, insistent drumbeat took many measures to rise through a lunge to a standing position. It could also be quick and vibrant, as when they sped around the performance space jumping into the air with incredible height and vigor. After their performance they asked spectators to put on the drums and dance with them. The only people who did this were Matt and myself... who is surprised?

After the main Festival attractions finished, a bunch of us ALTs went to my favorite Gifu haunt, The Natural Cafe. We had an amazing dinner of curry and Mexican spicy rice. They were both actually spicy and made without gluten, so my tummy was happy. I ate Jasmine Boba Annin Dofu for dessert, which is a slightly alcoholic tofu dessert of epic yumminess. We got to see the resident tortoise again, and he wowed our friends who hadn't been there before with his size and gentleness. Nik took a great picture of us, so get to know my new friends:

From L-R: me, Matt, Rachael, Nik, Rachel, and Chelsea.
By the way, this year at the Olympics Oda's 17th descendant, Oda Nobunari, placed 7th after many complications with his laces. Check it!
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