April 27th, Yabusame Archery Competition in Towada

The next day, I was able to witness "Yabusame" live and in action and wow...I was super stoked to see such coolness all in one weekend. This was an all women's event that had about 30 riders. The tournament was ran in tradition style with the best riders moving to the next round with quarter, semi, and finals. Each round consisted of 3 riders with 2 passes each attempting to nail 4 targets. If the riders had the same number of targets scored, then the deciding factor was the time and average speed. YES THE SPEED WAS RECORDED!! I guess it makes sense because it would be super unfair if some riders rode really slow hitting all targets huh?

Here, let me break it down for you a bit. If you have ever tried archery, just standing still and hitting the mark is pretty hard...now mount yourself on a horse...get bucked up and down.... pull an arrow out...careful, don't drop it now... load the bow (I mean get that arrow onto the string)....then try to hit your target while blazing by. WTF!! It must take an insane amount of practice and concentration huh? I was surely impressed.

I've come to find that Towada city is a great place. Theres a lot of traditional events that promote culture and uniqueness. I was glad I stumbled upon the website that had all the good info about it...sometimes you just get lucky. Also, Towada has a lot of yakiniku restaurants! Gotta love that!

April 26th, Yosakoi festival in Towada

Dance dance dance the night away! What a cool way to end an evening and watch the magnificent tradition jazz'd up dancing of Towada's Yosakoi Yume festival. This was held on the main strip in Towada City after the towns people all gathered to witness this live dance off. I was stoked to observe and take pictures. Awesome!

There was a cool vibe in the air that night and I think it was mostly because of the timing. Let's see.....Sakura in full bloom, people out in the cold (6C) celebrating spring, festival of dreams...c'mon what a win win combination. The dance off consisted of about 30 teams from all ages wearing unique traditional festival style clothing to techno stylish poppin' like MJ's thriller....it was sweet. Did I mention this was also at night? Ooooh, what a stage.... Professional photographers, news people, amateurs, hobbyists, were all there snapping away. It was extremely hard to freeze movement but I did manage to grab a couple of banger pics that I enjoyed. To my surprise, Tohoku was also there representing true Tohoku Town pride. And they rock'd the show. In my opinion, best dance of the night!
Anyways, it was a good time had by all and I was really happy that I went and watched the show. Next time all I need is a friend to drive so I can have a few beers at the food stands. Yummmmmy!

Tomari: Wall Paintings

The surf was huge and out of control and so Brian and I decided to go shoot pictures in a small fishing town called Tomari. It's really really small, but there is something special about this town and you know what? I'm really not sure what it is. I've always been attracted to the simple beauty of the town's layout....on a hill over looking the ocean with one major road that stitches the town together. It's simple. Everyday you wake up, the red sun rises over the crystal ocean and when the night comes, the sun sets behind the mountain of forest. It's nature that surrounds you and you can witness a glimpse of her beauty right here in this town called Tomari.

Down at the fishing port, the waves are blocked off from crashing into the resting boats. The smell of salty ocean and fish remind me of when I used to go fishing on the Oregon coast with my dad. How the times have changed, but because we are able to remember so much... things feel like they remain the same. Trapped in our memory. There is this cement wall that stretches about 40 meters long and on it are pictures drawn in by Japanese fishermen and their children. Enduring the pleasant and harsh sides of nature, these pictures will also stand the test of time. Here are some of the memories of Tomari.

Playing around with cameras.

A while ago, after I got my 40D I sold Brian my Rebel XT (Digital Kiss N, 350D) for cheap and really happy he decided to buy it. I've been a fan of Brian's photos from way back and this was when he knew little about photography. He just has a natural eye for cool things and now that he's got a dslr, I can't wait to see the photos he takes with it. It's gonna be awesome.

Here we are playing with our cameras after a wicked day of "chill" surfing. I say chill because the sets were spaced out and we didn't have to do a lot of duck diving. The paddle back out was so easy and relaxed. Sometimes we'll be surfing in what some may call, " A witches cauldron". Hell! I was testing out flash settings and he was trying to figure out his camera in lowsituations. Fun stuff light ....just being dorky.

better choices, better life....

I returned home from work around 4:30pm on Thursday, October 26th. I kicked off my shoes, set my backpack in it's familiar corner and proceeded to open the door to my living room. I remember thinking to myself, "Damn, I need to tidy up the place a bit." My futon floor bed wasn't put away and yesterday's clothes had yet to find the hamper. I walked over to my computer, sat in my computer stool, and turned on the silver box. I got up and poured myself some 'mixed fruit' juice from the kitchen and returned to my chair. Suddenly, before I could sit down and get comfortable, my doorbell rang.
"Who in the.......could this be?" I rarely have visitors so I was thinking it was either a solicitor or the post man. When I opened my front door I was burdened by surprise. There were 3 children and 1 short lady about late 30's all bundled up in proper winter jumpers.
"Uhm, can I help you?" sounding a bit confused.
She had a warm smile that was very sincere.
"Yes, are you Thomas?"
"Yah, I'm Thomas," I replied. Though, shortly after I said that I felt like I might have just confessed to an unknown crime.
Her smile got bigger, "I'm Mariko Sensei and I teach at the ECC in Tenmabayashi. We are having a children's Halloween party and was wondering if you would like to come." She held out her hand that gripped a piece of paper with a bright orange pumpkin on it.
"Oh wow? Really?" I was a bit more shocked than enthusiastic. I received the invitation and quickly glanced at it....Saturday......11:30am to 1:30pm......Tenmabayashii ECC building. On the backside was a map that had instructions on how to get to the place from my house. FROM MY HOUSE?! The tidbit of info I had gathered all accumulated into a bad recipe of.... "Saturday? Damn I wanna surf." My second reaction was, "Wait, how did she know where I lived?" Adding fuel to the flame, I was feeling a bit uncomfortable because the kids she brought were my 1st grade students. They were so excited to see me as I gave them a number of hi-5's. They were yelling out, "Please come, please come!!" What was I to do? How could I say no? In spite of their cute faces I didn't want to commit on such short notice and so I responded with, "Well I'm not sure if I will be free. I will call you tomorrow evening if I can attend." Given the situation I thought that was an acceptable reply. I mean who invites someone to a Halloween party with 2 days notice? Halloween just doesn't pop up like a random household cold. Although, I have to hand it to her, bringing the kids along really was an effective strategy...dirty but effective. This lady was clearly thinking because she knew I wouldn't be able to decline in front of the kids. I thanked her and said goodbye to children and slid my door shut. I returned to my computer stool, sat down and sipped my juice feeling a bit like I was man-handled....toyed to be exact.
I returned to my juice and screen to check the weather report for the following Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather report showed strong onshores that day. Honestly, I wasn't stoked to surf in junk and therefore I decided to accept the invitation to the Halloween party. Also, I was looking forward to the party because I did know a lot of the ECC students that were going to attend the function. And of course it would be a great photo op as well. I called Mariko Sensei to tell her I would attend, but she was out and instead I left a message. I slept well with the decision I made. I was excited to see my cute kids all dressed up in Halloween gear.

When I woke up at 8am I did my morning routine, but like any good surfer would, I checked the surf report one last time. This was the worst decision I could have made because it tore me apart. Ignorance would have been bliss. The weather report showed perfect offshore winds with swell coming in from the east!! OMG!! I was about to die. I took the phone from the charger and searched for Mariko Sensei's phone number. I pressed the "on" button and looked at the numbers and miraculously, I stopped myself. I turned the paper over again and looked at the map. There was a star that marked my house and an X that marked the party location. Was I really about to come up with some phony excuse so I could go surf? Looking at what I was about to do, I felt like I did not deserve that star. I took in a deep breath and when I exhaled I killed all my aspirations for surfing that day. I grabbed my camera and proceeded to the X. Extreme!!

As I pulled up the few kids that were outside came running up to my car with smiles cheek cheek. I put on my costume which consisted of an afro wig, a skeleton mask I made during one of my elementary school lessons, and lastly a cape. As I entered the building I saw all the kids dressed up in various costumes having fun. At that moment, I knew I made the right decision. If I could have this day back I would do exactly the same thing. Celebrating Halloween with some of my elementary school kids comes once year. While I love surfing, waves will always come another day.

Osaka Part 2: I'm home!

Ken's house was a very nostalgic sight to see. A great mix between Japanese traditional housing and western style decor all tastefully juxtaposed together into a lovely place I call my second home. It was nice to Ken's mother, Maureen, who hasn't changed one bit. I guess some things never change and for once this is a good thing. Maureen's warm smile instantly drew me to give her a big hug. It's not often I hug one of the Yamashita's, but oh well...some things do change I guess.

Casey took me to his room to drop off my backpack and we set up the mini bed which is where I was to sleep for the next week. Casey was already complaining about the heat in his room and he was right. It was extremely hot. "Beep", the A.C. flashed on and started to blow cool 27 degrees C of air across the room. The funny thing is, 27C in Aomori is considered hot! 27C in Nara, was like a quick dip in the pool....so good.

After 2 hours of chatting to the Yamashita's in the family room, Ken came home and it was like his PS3 was specially equipped with "Ken motion sensor detector device" and automatically turned on the system as the door shut behind him. He ascending the stairs, opened the door, dropped the bag, "beep" was heard, and then grabbed the controller. Of course, Casey and I naturally gravitated towards his room.
"Yeeeeeea", was our greeting.

Osaka Part 1: Arrival

It had been almost 2 years since the last time I visited Osaka. My memories of the city still felt crystal clear, but I felt it was time to stop living in memories and booked a flight ticket from Misawa airport. My boss was kind enough to drop me off at the airport and surprisingly the flight only took an hour and 40 minutes. I had completely forgotten about the heat in Osaka until the moment I exited the airplane doors and it hit me like a face full of fist. At that instant, I understood exactly how a microwave worked.

I pursued to grab my backpack and headed for information and there I was politely well.....informed. The bus ride to Tenoji took over an hour due to Osaka heavy traffic. Nonetheless, I was overly happy with the fact the bus was blasting A/C at maximum capacity. I was chilled. Arrival at Tenoji came to a surprised because I was listening to music and did not hear the intercom. The fact that everyone was quickly exiting the bus gave hint that this was the only stop on-route. I descended from the bus and once again grabbed my bag and marched towards my train. Eagerly, the heat flocked to my body and attached itself in the form of sweat. I was feeling nasty. You see.... as I left Aomori, it was 20 degrees and raining and therefore, decided to attire myself with pants and a short sleeved shirt. This was a total mistake as pants was a ridiculous call for someone carrying a 15kg packpack.

After 40 minutes of sitting on the train from Tenoji to Yamatokoizumi, I was dumbfounded that everyone around me were also in pants. I guess they must have adapted to the heat and therefore had a built in resistance. Either that, I've just become a sweaty pig over the years. I looked out the window and what I saw was exactly how I remembered it. Nara had not changed much in 2 years. Actually, it hasn't changed much from the 1st time I visited which was 8 years ago in 1999. I inserted my train ticket, exited the station, and scanned the parking lot. The taxi drivers noticed my backpack labeled 'traveler' and flinched. Soon I found Casey in the K-car waiting. I greeted him with a, 'Jyeah dong' and hopped in the ride and we split for home.