Last week I told my students that I was getting married this summer. They were all very excited for me.
This week as a surprise the 5th and 6th years at one of my elementary schools made me a gift. They presented it to me by all standing and saying in unison "Congratulations for you wedding." They had poppers and confetti, it was very exciting.
I absolutely love it, it's definitely one of my favorite gifts I have ever received.
Pan is the Japanese term for bread, An is red bean paste, Anpan is bread filled with red bean paste, and Anpanman is....
A super hero who's head is made out of Anpan.
He is the main character of one the most popular children's shows here in Japan.
The story of Anpanman:
One day Uncle Jam was baking Anpan, when a shooting star came down from the heavens into his oven. The magic of the situation created Anpanman. He is very kind, and he always tries to help the people around him. If someone is hurt or hungry, Anpanman will offer them a piece of his head. Anpanman's weaknesses are water or anything that makes him dirty. If Anpanman gets dirty, or hurt Uncle Jam bakes him a new head. Once the new head is placed upon his shoulders, the old head flies off his shoulders, and Anpanman is revitalized.
Anpanman and his nemesis Bakinman
Anpanman's nemesis is Bakinman (Bacteria man), his goal is to beat Anpanman and spread disease all over the world. He usually is portrayed as a mischievous bully.
Nearly all the characters on the show are made of some sort of food. The show is very sweet, even as an adult I spend many evenings rooting for Anpanman. The stories are cute, and the characters are good role models for children. I like to watch the show, because it is my level of Japanese.
All my students know and love Anpanman. The younger kids wear Anpanman T-Shirts, and have Anpanman backpacks. Nearly anything worth buying in Japan can be found in a plain version, a Hello Kitty version, and an Anpanman version.
Todays post is connected to yesterdays trip to Suwa. Connected with the shrine we visited yesterday is the tradition of cramming a bunch of men onto a log, and then yanking that log down a hill. It's absurd, and dangerrous, in fact it"s absurdly dangerous.
Many people have died, and many more are badly injured, but the tradition survives. It has been around for more then 1200 years, and is due occur again in 2016.
The log riding is one of several parts of a ceremony of renewing the shrine.
Stages of this tradition are as follows:
Caring for and grooming the tree
Creating the tools for cutting down the tree
Cutting down the tree
Bringing the tree across the rough terrain back to the shrine (and hence the log riding)
