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VENUS / JETS -Amazing Japanese Cheering Squads Part-3 -The Finals of All Japan Cheer Dance Championship 2016-

2016.11.16

JETS and Grace JETS

On November 19th, 2016,

one of the greatest adult cheering squad in Japan, "VENUS" which has been formed

by alumnae of Fukui Commercial High School "JETS" (high school cheering squad)

will be in Tokyo for the finals of “All Japan Cheer Dance Championship 2016”

conducted by Japan Cheer Dance Association (JCDA).

 

We visited VENUS’s rehearsals last month.

They placed a handmade poster that said “16more times”

in front of their rehearsing space while they were rehearsing.

The poster seemed to heighten the momentum toward the championship.

They take their time to stretch and warm up well.

 

It does not matter if the one who is talking is younger or older.

 

During their practice, everyone can talk about opinions and/or suggestions comfortably.

When a member talks, others pay attention, listen to the person well and response nicely

with smiles.

 

They also help each other when anyone has any trouble with their moves.

Most importantly, they all have the same goal which is to win the championship.

They made me realized how important teamwork is.

 

On that day, they smiled and laughed a lot in a few of those gaps-between-practices.

Being cheerleaders must be hard but their smiles and laughs showed me how enjoyable

to be the ones.

Toward the end of the practice, they had a run-through with the music.

From the beginning to the end they concentrate very hard on their every movement,

facial expression breathing and everything in between.

Right after they finished the run-through, they were running out of breath

and sweating so much that they couldn’t even talk.

I realized that to perform perfectly as they always do,

they put so much more energy, concentration, time and effort than I imagined.

 

We will visit "the Finals of All Japan Cheer Dance Championship 2016" on November 19th,

so please stay tuned for upcoming videos and blogs of VENUS!

 

Also the movie, “Cheer and Dance” in which a few members of VENUS were modeled

will be released in March, 2017. So this is another thing that we can be looking forward to.

Official Site for "Cheer and Dance"

*Available only in Japanese

 

T.F

TOEI Kyoto Studio Park|Experience Samurai Movies in Kyoto

2016.11.13

Japan Systembank Corp.

I went to the TOEI Kyoto Studio Park in my company trip at the end of last month. We can choose one among four courses “Lake Biwa and Kyoto|Odaiba|Lake Kawaguchi and Isawa hot springs|Kyoto Studio Park” and I chose the Kyoto Studio Park as I haven’t been there for a long time. This year, each company trip has “Team-building” concept and we tried “Finding buried gold program” by groups.
(*This program is only for group tour and you need a reservation.)

 

And, the program was pretty difficult. If you join the program from now, I strongly suggest that you research beforehand and be flexible in your thinking :) (H.S)

 


We arrived at the Kyoto Studio Park. In the parking area, there were so many tour buses.

 


The park was full of elementary students on school excursions.
There were a lot of foreign tourists as well.

 


It feels as if time has slipped to back to the Edo Period.

 


This is a scenery of period dramas!

 


You can meet Ninja there.

 


It is in the final stage of finding gold. They are working on the last puzzle.

 


We arrived a restaurant for lunch. It is ”Rokusei"where is next to Heian Shrine
and can be used for wedding receptions.

 


Their specialty is wooden pail lunch box. The wooden pail box is made by Kiyotsugu
Nakgawa, who is a human national treasure. The box is a fine craftwork which is
lacquered on the inside. Kyoto cuisine served in it compactly and beautifully is wonderful.
They served sashimi and matsutake mushroom steamed dish in an earthware teapot
besides this.
Nakagawa's son's studio : Nakagawa Mokkougei Hirakoubou

Sake making experience / Fukui Prefecture　　-Arigato Project 2016 began-

2016.11.09

Sake

The project of making sake from the scratch, “Arigato Project” of this year just started.
The participants start making sake by planting rice and they take one year to finish making the sake.

The project has been established since May of 2013 by authorized dealers of Kokuryu, “Yushino Kai” as main members cooperated with Juridical Agricultural Union and Kokuryu brewery.

 

In one year, through the experience of making sake, the participants learn about sake and the charms of Japan and Fukui.

 

 

After one year, the sake, “Arigato Sake” (officinal name is “Kokuryu Adoso”) made from the rice they planted will be completed and ready to be given to the people that they would like to thank to.

 

Participants are from ages of 20 to 30 who live in Fukui Prefecture.

 

One of the purposes of this project is to let young people know about “good sake”. According to a staff at Kokuryu brewery The sake which people have for the first time in their lives can influence their perspective and/or image of sake throughout their lives.

 

I hope that the participants will know the “good sake” and have good times with their family and/or friends.

 

 

T.F

Special Exhibition “The Budda statues of Fukui Prefecture”

2016.11.08

Arts and crafts

The exhibition has been held in Fukui City History Museum since last month.
I saw it once personally and twice for coverage.
There are a total of 34 statues and all of them are specially displayed from temples
in northern region of Fukui Prefecture.
I was impressed that there were such many historical Buddha statues remain here in Fukui.

 


“Kokuzo Bosatsu” The oldest extant wooden Buddha statue in Fukui,
which was made in Heian Period.(in the 9th century) owned by Jingudo Temple, Echizen City.

 


“Seishi Bosatsu” owned by Seishido Temple, Sabae City. A memorable statue in Kamakura Period(in the 13th century), which has eyes made of crystal inserted at the restoration.
So its face looks painfully for some reason but if you look it from diagonally behind,
you can see its original face’s beauty.

 


“Shokannon” in Heian Period(the 11th century) owned by Saikoji Temple, Sakai City.
Althouth it might be hard to see in the photo, it puts its right foot forward a bit.
Because it is said that Kannon is the Buddha who rescues people from pain all over the place,
and the right foot seems to move, which expresses that it is going to help you now.

 

As I looked the Buddha statues several times, I became feel closer to them.
I not only felt comforted, but also I felt peaceful as if I was wrapped up in selfless love.

 


Whether you are in interested in Buddha statues or not, why don’t you visit this exhibition?
It will run until November 23rd. (H.S)

 

*I took the photos with special permission.

Amazing Japanese Food

2016.11.03

Sake

Have you ever missed the foods from your countries when you visited overseas?

 

As I lived abroad, I realized how great Japanese foods are, so I missed them so much.

 

Japanese cuisine has everything from great tastes, benefits for health, and

to fancy appearance. More over some traditional foods have been passed on for a long time

so they have special meanings that we’re supposed to eat them in certain seasons,

on special events and/or with purposes. For example, we eat Mochi(soft and stick rice cake)

during new years in Japan, and we eat it wishing for long and healthy life.

 

There are many articles in the world which are written about how delicious and/or healthy Japanese foods are.

 

Japanese food has become very popular around the world and there are many restaurants opened up more and more.

In 2013, with the cooperation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diplomatic Missions,

“Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)” conducted a research

on numbers of Japanese restaurants in foreign countries.

2006 -24,000 restaurants

2010 -30,000 restaurants

2013 -55,000 restaurants

 

Moreover, Japanese food was selected as No.1(83.3%) for everyone’s favorite foreign food in the world in March, 2013.

(Researched by JETRO, Japan Extremal Trade Organization *multiple answers allowed *food from one’s home country is not counted.)

We can see clearly that Japanese food has been very popular around the world.

 

I would like to share a video of “international ME”,

“Japanese Food / What To Eat in Japan (Lesser Known Must Try Japanese Food)”

 

There are so many Japanese dishes which I enjoy so much

but two of my favorite ones from the video are Sukiyaki and Stawberry Daifuku.

Which dishes do you like or would you like to try?

 

 

T.F

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