JET Program organized this super amazing culture day. It was a great way to appreciate participate and learn about some aspects of Japanese culture. There were many seminars available that introduced us to various activities. I chose Japanese cooking, Taiko drumming and the martial art - Aikido.
Aikido stands for "the harmonizing energy path" - it is not to resist the law of nature, but to harmonize without using physical strength. It is a defensive form of martial art which teaches the students to use their enemies own force against them. and it reminds me of all the movements my dad used to use on me when i was a kid - b/c i used to attack him lol..
The sensei’s in this workshop were inspiring and it was amazing to see the 80 year old sensei in such great shape. He reminded me of Mr. Miyagi! HAHAHA…
Taiko Drumming
Taiko is a traditional form of Japanese drumming. It is prevalent in many Japanese festivals. It is said that the drum can be heard until the end of the village. The drums were also used in warfare, to make big sounds to scare the enemy.
Ive seen the big drums at the nebuta festival when I first got here. Those drums are very LOUD!
Our teacher was very serious as he was drumming. He was very precise in movements and how he hit the drum. It looked easy but it was much harder than what it seemed. I think I was too focused on getting the correct form down. It definitely takes a lot of practice!
TAIKO.. fun stuff!
Japanese Cooking
As well all know, I cant cook! Lol.. but in this class we made onigiri - “rice ball”. We shaped the rice in a ball,
placed an edible item in the middle and wrapped it in seaweed. It was yummy.
We also made okonomiyake? I don’t know how to describe it, but there is shredded fish somethings on top and they dance after they are placed on top. It is similar to an omelet? With seafood type of filling?
