My experience of part time working at Japanese sekkotsuin

Seikotsuin is a new word and a new place for me once I reached there to assist my friend working at the reception and assisting the Sensei(doctor) of Seikotsuin. Its a massaging center of Japanese style. They have some masagging chairs and other equipment there. The one I went was the Watanabe seikotsuin of Tajimi near the Tajimi station. Watanabe sensei is really kind and she tried explaining things in English. As I was exposed to Japanese fully at this place it was really difficult for me during the first days. I was supposed to help my friend, Mrs. Nittaya(Noi) in cleaning and my job is to enter the details of the patients in  the computer and help in other matters like documentation and other things. By a month, I also become part of that Seikotsuin.

Due to some physical problems I took a gap of around half a month from there and again joined. We had a great time there. Most of the patients coming there were old people, with their body pains and other issues. The main part of the treatment is some special tapes. There were tapes of three different sizes which has the shape of a gate and there were other shapes too. Based on some details about the pain and the part of the body, Sensei will do massaging and paste these tapes over specified parts of the patient's body. At last, most of them were given some pricking in the back side of their toe which I was scared of seeing. The pricks were done using burned incense sticks. 

When Noichan got sick for some days in between, I was supposed to do everything at the Seikotsuin. The main part is taking some readings of every patient using an instrument there. Sensei explained it to me and I rote it in a piece of paper for my personal usage. The first time, it was difficult for me to carry out this part as I have to check my piece of paper frequently. Later, it was interesting for me and I could do it without checking everytime. But the days when Noichan was absent were sometimes difficult to manage everything alone if the number of patients increases. 

As the patients are mostly old people most o therm are friendly and patient.They will not rush at all. It is actually a real relief for me during my first days.As I took time for returning the balance amount and prepare their documents ready when they come, they will wait with patience. Later I managed myself to carry out everything and talked with most of them about myself and India as they wish to know various things. Most of the old ladies are talkative and they like to talk to us if we are free. Some of them will bring souvenirs and presents for us when returning from their trips. Some have different hobbies like doll making, bag making, gardening, flower making and so on. Such people used to bring veggies, flower bouquets, and other items or us. Even they used to bring home made Japanese food items also. The people coming there will be coming again and again as the treatment should be carried out for some days .

 I went there for improving my Japanese which I achieved to a great extend. I had only the morning session that is officially till 12 pm or sometimes it will last for 1 pm or even after that. After the morning session at the clinic, we ate lunch together which all of us take from home. We exchanged various food items. From there, I learned to eat Japanese food items, experimented eating new foods. Sensei explained many Japanese things: about the food , language usages and so on during our lunch time.

My friend who as already working there is a native of Thailand and married to a Japanese staying here in Tajimi with her two children. Sensei is a native of Kyushu island of Tajimi and she moved with her hubby to Tajimi. Eventhough she is around 60 years old she is very energetic and loves hiking and travelling. She is still trying to learn English well but her busy schedule is a bottleneck for her efforts.:(

I learned many Kanji characters and their reading and was able to read some of the names of the patients and I was able to prepare the admit card and other documents ready for  new patients after some time. The main advantage of my  time there is that I learned to manage the money : to easily tell the amount in Japanese and understand what the customers are telling back, to return the exact balance amount with telling the amount tot hem and so on. Also I learned the way to behave int he polite Japanese style to the patients and other people. The usages of some Japanese words and expressions and the correct way of doing things in the Japanese style : like in documentation as well as eating. :P

I am thankful to the Sensei as well as my friend, Nittaya who gave me a chance to join them for a long time of six months there. Also most of the customers who visited us during this time were friendly and helped me in one or other way with my Japanese. Thanks for their presents and cuisines they made for us. 

Hinamatsuri, the doll's festival

        Hinamasturi is a festival celebrated in Japan on the 3rd day of March. But some parts of Japan have celebrations and doll arrangements lasting for a month. Usually, it is celebrated in families having a girl child and hence it is considered as the Girl children's festival. A set of dolls will be arranged in every home in special order. The dolls as well as the arrangement in the traditional way is costly and hence some houses will have only to main dolls for celebrating the Hinamatsuri.

      The exact arrangement contains dolls arranged in six or seven platforms/steps and it is based on the reduced priority of their social status beginning from the top.  The upper two layers of dolls have twelve layers of Kimonos one over the other and it shows their social priority. They are the Emperor and the Empress and their closest people. 

    The topmost step has the Emperor(Odairisama : おだいりさま) and the Empress(Ohinasama : おひなさま). The Emperor have a baton in his hand and the Empress holds a fan. This step also has two lanterns on the edges and they are called Hibukuro. The second platform has three ladies holding different items in their hand and they are called san nin kanjou (さんにんかんじょ). The third line has five male musicians with their instruments. They are called gonin bayashi(ごにんばやし).The forth step holds the ministers named Udaijin(うだいじん) and Sadaijin(さだいじん), two Samurais with their weapons. It also holds a Sakura and some other plants.The next step has three people called san nin jyougo(さんにんじょうご)  with faces of various expressions - anger,cry and laugh. The last platforms contains some jewel boxes, carriages etc. and there were two Kimonos also held at the bottom stage. 
      
   The arrangement and the appearance of the Hinamatsuri dolls are really attractive. There is another children's day festival meant for the boys also. And it will be celebrated in May.

Have you seen Kabuki?

        Hearing about Japan, Kabuki is one of the word that comes into our mind. Kabuki has a long history until no as it has gone through many technological and timely changes. Kabuki shows are now conducted in special theaters and sometimes small shows of Kabuki will be conducted by various cities. And the Kabuki I have watched is of the second kind.

A Brief history 

       

       Kabuki is the most famous Japanese classical dance drama. It is said to be originated from Kyoto, the previous capital of Japan. During the ancient times, the performers were only ladies. But currently, all the roles are played by males. Kabuki theatres are present in big cities associated with tea houses,food courts, etc. provided with souvenir shops and other attractions. From its ancient form, Kabuki has made timely advancements in it's performances, clothing, music, stage arrangements, appearance etc. incorporating technology. The stories are told via music and it will be only a part of some long story. 

Types of story told

       Usually the stories fall into three main categories: Jidaimono which are the historical Samurai stories, Sewamono which tells the story from the current society-comic or love story and the Shosagoto which gave importance to dance. The artists who performs in Kabuki nowadays become popular in TV shows also.

Kabuki stage

          The Kabuki stage has a path extending out in to the audience and is called hanamichi( flowerpath). It was the entry path for the actors from during the ancient times.But as technology developed, the stage arrangements and actors' entry also made advancements including rotating stage,sudden appearance or disappearance of the actors, and flying artists. Mawari-butai is a rotating circular stage while Seri is the special arrangement which brings the artists or sometinmes an entire scene onto the stage as a whole. Special threads are used to hang the artists on the stage to make the characters fly on the stage which is called Chunori.

          As the artist show up on the stage, the audients will shout his name to encourage him. There will be music played in the background which uses special small drums  and Shamisan-a three string musical instrument. 

     Makeup

 The make up ( Keshou) for Kabuki mainly uses rice flour as the base. Based on the characters, different colours are used to complete the rest of the make up. Red lines indicates good characters and heroes, Blue or Black lines are for negative roles, for supernatural characters green lines are used and purple color is used for showing nobility. These lines are called Kumadori.

Where to watch?

         Usual theatre performances will conduct two or three different shows per day with entry tickets.  Sometimes local performances will be carried out in special stages at different cities. For small troupes people used to throw money wrapped in papers on to the stage. They might not be having entry tickets for the show.

Tsukushi, the edible weed

               
                        On the way to Inuyama with our friend's family, he suddenly stopped the car on the way, beside a paddy field. The field seemed to be bare with muddy surface and there were two people picking something from the sloping edges of the field. And we were really confused about why we are there. Then our companions also started bending down at the slopes and picking something from the ground. It was some weed, called tsukushi, the horsetail which will show up the stalks during the onset the spring and they told it is really delicious and can be used in Japanese dishes. 

                         As we people don't know how to cook it, we helped them with plucking some stalks for them which we collected in a cover. And we saw an old man with a cover full of stalks and still continuing his job over there. He seems to be picking it from the morning. Since it was really a quite place far away from the city and it as not at all crowded, it was really interesting to pluck it without any hindrance. As the rays are quite warmer even at the starting of spring, it was intolerable for us after some time. 

                   But we managed to pluck half a cover of the weed stalk while my friend explained the cooking procedure. His wife cooked some tsukushi for us the very next day. She cooked it in oil with meat  and it was delicious.

Umematsuri at Oo-Agata(Himenomiya) Shrine of Inuyama

           
                We visited the Oo-Agata Shrine during the Ume-matsuri (plum festival) on March 21,2015 and the entire plum trees were flowered by the time. 

                  There were a wide variety of plums from all over Japan with different colour shades : White, Pink and Rose being the dominant. The view of small mountain behind the shrine covered with plum trees of different colours is really exciting. 

                         The steps to the top of the mountain and the small pavements were adorned with the flower petals by the wind. The breeze seems charming when it showers over us the tiny petals to welcome us. The site form the top is still more interesting and couldn't feel like getting out of there leaving such a beautiful place. Since the winter has just leaved, the slightly cool breeze and the warm sun rays provided a better climate that allowed us to spend much more time over there without any problems. Everyone seems really enjoying the breeze as it showers a petal  'rain'. 

                      Oo agata is believed as the goddess of wedding and childbirth. The wooden wishing plaques(ema) of this shrine were written the wish for a child or better married life.

                    The shrine had a lot of visitors and hence a lot of small souvenir shops including a small plant and fruit stall. There was some grant event called Oagata Jinja Hohnen-sai(Harvest festival) held on March 15th every year and this year's had just done last week. There were still some rituals and programs being conducted there.

After spending some time infront of the shrine, we waited at the place arranged or some event ithout knowing when or hat is going ton there. The seats arranged there were simply awesome. We sat there for some 30 minutes. As there is nothing happening till then, we decided to return.

Minamichita,Aichi (南知多、愛知県)

Strawberry picking (いちご狩り)
           
                     It was my Japanese teacher who invited us for Strawberry picking with them. As strawberry is one of my favorites, I was really thrilled about the day. As it was the starting season of Strawberries, the first taste of Strawberry of the season can be made a feast, I thought. We decided to eat a lot of berries, and reached Minamichita's Ichigogari. It was really cold and the wind was too strong. We waited inside the car for the time to start.

                        At 10am, it started. For half an hour of strawberry picking, it costs 1600 yen per head. Before getting inside the greenhouse, they gave us a plastic plate and a small cup of sweet milk cream. Entering inside and seeing a lot of Strawberries hanging down from the plants grown at a height of our hands, we were confused about which one to be picked and from where. Every berries were staring at me with its cute colour and freshness. My teacher started eating and her plate seems to have lot of sepals. We also started eating. It was really sweet and it tastes more when ate with the cream.

                      During the first few minutes, I ate a lot and thought that it's really simple to eat some 50 fruits. But as I reached some 18, I was full and couldn't eat more. Then we started clicking some snaps. Along with that ate some berries too, very slowly. By around 20 minutes. We decided to quit. Tired!! After taking a group photo with the help of a person in charge there, we returned.

Flower garden ( 花ひろば)

                   After the Strawberry picking, we went to the flower garden nearby where we can pluck 10 flower stems of Nano hana( 菜の花 ) and as many as the slender stems of the same which is a very tasty green leafy vegetable. It costs 430 yen per head and they gave us scissors and cover for collecting the stems. The field was covered with yellow flowers on one side and the other side with the younger ones without flowers(those used for cooking).

                   On the way back we entered a restaurant. The restaurants of Minamichita are mostly serving seafood, as the place lies near to the sea.  And for the first time, I ate Sashimi, the famous raw fish recipe of Japan. I was a little scary, but was able to eat 2 pieces and it doesn't tastes bad. I could eat it, I realized. And there were some other food items too, served in-front of us, fishes,crabs,prawns,oysters etc.  There were some tanks with live fishes and oysters near the reception, which they are used for cooking. It was really a good experience.

                        After that, we just stopped near the shore. There were barbecue arrangements on the seashore, where we can buy fresh seafood and enjoy there. Since it was really strong cold wind blowing outside, we returned very soon. This place must be surely enjoyable during summer.

Sakana hiroba(魚ひろば) 

                    The next places we visited are the sakana hiroba(魚ひろば) of Toyohama and the Ebisenbei no Sato(海老煎餅之里). Sakana Hiroba is a fish market with lot of varieties of fresh fishes at also cost.  they are selling some fish products also. 

Ebisenbei no Sato(海老煎餅之里)

            Ebisenbei(海 老煎餅之) is a common Japanese rice crackers with shrimp. There were a lot of varieties of senbei found there. They are providing free samples of each type of senbei and people are rushing to taste each to decide which all to buy. There was some program conducted inside for the children here they are taught how to make senbei and decorate it.

                   We bought some senbei packets and say "sayonara" to the Minamichita reion for now. With the hope that we could enjoy a summer over there very soon.

Nabana no Sato (なばなの里)

Dec 28,2014

                      We decided to go for the winter illuminations of  Nabana no Sato. As we checked for the bus timings from Nagoya, it seemed convenient but on searching for the train timings and the fare, we could find that the cheapest one is the JR. There is another line bound to Nabana no sato called the Kintetsu line. But JR seems cheapest and we decided to take JR. Arriving at the Nagashima Station, which is a small one without any ticket checking system too, we walked to the bus station near Kintetsu Station which is only some 5 minutes of  walk. Fortunately, we were able to get inside the first bus that started from there upon our arrival. The bus was bound for Nabana no Sato.

                      The lighting starts at 5 pm only, but it was already crowded when we reached there at 4:15 pm. Taking the entry tickets worth 2000yen, we get inside. The  entry actually costs only 500 yen, but the rest amount was given as the coupons that can be used for shopping inside the Nabano no Sato.  

 As we had more than half an hour, we decided to use our first coupons for a Yakisoba. It was really interesting to watch the three Yakisoba cooks. They were saying "Oishiku nare, Oishiku nare" while making the Yakisoba. It exactly cost our single coupon of 500 yen, we both have another two coupons each for further shopping inside. After enjoying our Yakisoba, we walked around nearby the entrance itself. 

 

      There was a round observation deck, like a mushroom, which is rotating all around the illumination area. Eventhough we decided to enter it once the illumination starts, we couldn't do it because of the heavy crowd that arrived after 5pm.

       At 5pm, the bell rung and the lights were turned on. There are no words worth to describe the feeling when we were surrounded by lights all around. Different colors,different shapes, camera flashes all around, and can't make an  approximate  count of the people present there. The crowd moved like a flowing river, without any end. We also joined them. The rest , I could only describe with the snaps that follows.

 

                    And at last we were guided through a tunnel full of lighting and that 10-15  minutes of walk made us to think that we were becoming part of a fairy tale. There is no opportunity for us to make a click peacefully, due to the crowd.

                     At last, it was a show of some 15 minutes, the Nayagra falls, with lakhs of LED. It was amazing, as we couldn't believe it was all the tricks done with light. The flowing Nayagra, in different illuminations, birds flying across the falls. And the falls during winter when it seems to sleep solidified. We watched four times, through four different directions, each of which provided different experience for us. There is an observation deck to view this show from where we can enjoy the beauty of illuminated falls at its peak.  

               While returning after the Nayagra waterfalls show, there was another small tunnel of lighting, which was greenish(leaves) with some flowers in between them.

               It started raining by that time and we get inside some shop, used our coupons for some souvenirs  and hired the next bus to Nagashima for the JR train.