Heartwarming wedding party

This was my last volunteer job for the year 2012 and it was a very worthy one.

One day in spring I got an e-mail from a Japanese woman in Australia.  She was looking for a volunteer interpreter for her Australian husband and his family. They were going to have a wedding party in her home city, Nagoya in December.

On that day I met her for the first time, she introduced me to her husband, and to his family.

When she wrote me the first mail, she mentioned that her husband desperately needed an interpreter sitting next to him at the main table during the whole party.  I wrote back to her that it would not be a good idea.  I was pretty sure people would love to see only the happy couple at the main table. A presence of an interpreter may distract the attention. More than anything else, she could be a best interpreter for her husband.  Yet my idea was not accepted.  Her husband explained to me that they would like to spend much time talking and sharing with their relatives and friends and not for themselves.  So their guests found an interpreter sitting next to a bridegroom on the party day.  My colleague then interpreted for his mother and brother at a table of both families.

The whole party was just heartwarming. Although the bride planned everything in detail beforehand, there were some surprises which she never knew of ----such as a speech of her father and a lively entertainment by her ex-colleagues of flight attendants. Welcoming surprises brought them lots of laughter and happy tears as well.

As for my job, most of the time, I translated by whispering to him. Sometimes I just refrained from interpreting on the spot because I wanted him to feel the atmosphere first.  I did so, for instance, when the bride's uncle chanted a Japanese traditional poem. I explained its meaning after his performance.  He made some questions about Japanese culture and this gave me a chance to talk to them about our traditions. 

My role was more than interpreting.  It was challenging for me.  I felt very much thankful that they gave me an opportunity to have a wonderful experience.

Discussion with Guest-speakers

Well, I wrote this post halfway last month.

My days were quite hectic with different activities.

One of these I write here is actually dated back in Nov.  So what? 

Will you forget about a time gap in a story?

I just begin from where I stopped last time.

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At last my busy week was over. I almost forgot this is the last day of the week, Saturday!

Today I went to the study meeting for volunteer interpreters. Actually we had a special event called the International Exchange Meeting. 　We invited two guest-speakers who talked about what they wanted us Japanese to learn about their countries.
A German lady guest talked about production and handling of garbage and cash/cashless payments.  A woman from China talked about one child policy and dangerous food.
Then we had a very good discussion pointing out some crucial aspects to understand the situation and compare with the situation in Japan. The main purpose of this meeting was the active participation of everyone in the discussion.  By asking and answering questions from each stance of three different countries, it was really an enlightening discussion that we enjoyed after all.

Well maybe I'd better update my blog about the discussion today some time soon-----hopefully. It was indeed good to learn something new from someone in a different country.

Autumn leaves are at their best

We believe that this year's autumn colors are most vivid that we have seen for years.

Even in Nagoya Castle site which is located right in the center of the city, all the colors of the trees are just stunning. So vivid and colorful enough that they never fail to give us a great admiration to the nature.

It is often pointed out that Japanese autumn leaves are very colorful from green, golden-yellow, orange, brown and red of all brightness.

If you see a picture of Japanese mountains in autumn, it is like a mosaic of different colors.   They say that varieties of deciduous and evergreen trees living together make this colorful foliage possible in Japan.  What a wonderful art work of the nature. 

Now the leaves are at their best colors for some more weeks and soon the grounds will be covered with fallen leaves.

Newly renovated Tokyo Station

This past October 1, Tokyo Station was open after the five-year renovation work.
The original station building was built in 1914 as an icon for a strong image of Tokyo as the capital of Japan. I read some book that the building took after greatly from Victorian Gothic Style by Tatsuno Kingo, the designer of the original building.
Unfortunately it was destroyed by air raid in WWII. After the war, the building was renovated but someway it was not just as the same as it used to be due to some construction regulations.
But it came back this time with an original design and somehow much powerful construction against earthquake.
Now the new Tokyo Station is not only a place for people to take trains but also a huge site of city with various purposes for people, such as to pass by and enjoy the museum, the undergroud shopping arcades and to stay and dine at Station Hotel.
I took this video from the 7th floor of the facing building across the road. 

Tokyo Station City

Tatami-----a prerequisite item for a Japanese house

(a tatami room with an alcove at a Japanese Inn;from a website)

Our house is a typical Japanese style.  That means most of our rooms are tatami rooms.  Tatami mats, if we take a good care of them, it lasts about 20 years or so. Recently one of our tatami rooms finally needed to be renewed.  The inner core of every tatami mat in the room got too soft although we'd had the tatami craftsman change the woven surface coverings of tatami over times by then.  We felt it while walking on them  that it was not a surface but a inner core that didn't function.

(a tatami craftsman renewed our 8-tatami room)

Tatami mats that cover a floor in a traditional Japanese room are something very unique and special that symbolizes the Japanese style of living. It has a long history over 1300 years. In Japan we take off our shoes at the entrance since we sit down on tatami mats in a Japanese style room.

(3 components of tatami mat)

Tatami is made up of three components: surface coverings known as tatami omote, inner bases called tatami doko, and edging borders, tatami beri.

Tatami coverings are made from a plant called “candle rush or “igusa” in Japanese. It’s a thin sheet of woven rush grass.  Tatami doko is a tightly packed pile of rice straw stacked in many layers until it is about 5 cm thick.　Getting these two components ready,　a tatami craftsman stitches a surface covering onto an inner base.  And finally edging borders made of woven cloth are sewn onto a body.  Tatami used to be handcrafted through all the process by skilled craftsmen. It is quite a hard labor so today machines help some part of these steps yet the quality can’t beat skilled craftsmen' s work.

(Nowadays a tatami craftsman use a machine, too)

There are very good reasons to spread tatami in a whole room.  Summer in Japan is very humid and hot.  We also have a damp rainy season just before summer starts. Flooring with tatami mats is ideal from an environmental viewpoint.  Tatami components are made of dried stalks.  A dried stalk has many air holes in it like a sponge and this allows air to come in and out. Good circulation helps to create a comfortable space.  Tatami mats also give a room a refreshing greenery smell.

(dried candle rush (igusa) and its stalk cutaway image)

By the way, the size of one tatami mat differs depending on the local region, but briefly speaking it is just as big as a western size single bed. It is very convenient in a way that we describe the size of a room using numbers of tatami such as a 6-tatami room or a 8-tatami room.  Suppose I say my house consists of two 6- tatami rooms, three-8-tatami rooms and one 10-tatami room, which is not true, though.  This makes easy for anyone to guess how large my house is. 

(a traditional guest room with an alcove)

Nowadays, Western style housing is more common in our daily lives. Yet we still have a Japanese style room with tatami in at least one or even two rooms of a modern house. 

I think Tatami is something special and important to identify ourselves as Japanese.

all the way from another world

I just walked back from our house grave in the temple with some lit incense sticks which I brought back from the grave altar.  It is believed that the souls of the ancestors come along with me, being guided by some lit incense and a small fire for welcoming at the house entrance.  

This is one of the biggest traditional Japanese Buddhist events to commemorate our ancestors' souls as well as those of all people in the past.  Now they are with us for three days to spend time with their descendants at their homestead. Welcome back.

Obon is the biggest traditional as well as religious event besides the New Year in Japan. We have about a week holiday during the Obon nationwide.  In general many young family living away from their parents  put themselves into hustles and bustles of packed trains with people and roads with cars in order to visit their houses they've grown up.  A happy family of several generations visit the house grave together to pay a respect to their ancestors. Definitely Obon makes it possible for many family members to get reunited to enjoy the holidays.  This way Japanese people are more likely to put an importance on a family unity.

Tomorrow our house monk is coming  to give a sutra for our ancestors in front of the house altar. Then the day after tomorrow,  they are ready to go back to their world of the dead riding on a egg plant cow or a cucumber horse which are standing by on the altar.

Our Obon has got underway just now.