Oyama Adventures

So my friend David, who I talked about in the Red Yukata, lived in Japan for over ten years after we graduated university. He was based in the "country town" of Oyama, in Tochigi Prefecture. It's about 2 hours out of Tokyo, though the bullet train can get you there in half that time. He was back in Japan for a month for work and various things, including a performing in a concert. 

In the lead up to the big concert event (more on that later), David had some spare time, so he asked if I wanted to do a day trip and visit. I said yes, since I was filling my days with various things just like this, and he promptly organised a whole bunch of things for us to do. 

I arrived about 11 and we went on a tour of the main sights of Oyama: namely the shrine and the remains of the castle. The street up to the shrine was beautifully lined with red lanterns and the tori gate at the entrance was suitably large. The walk around to the castle remains (I say remains, there is not much that remains...) had the view of the surrounding mountains, including, David assured me, Fuji-san in the distance, on a very clear winter day of course. 

We went from there (through a magical enchanted forest feeling park) to have sukiyaki for lunch. So good. 

I was full from this lunch for hours. I don't think I even ate dinner that day. I drank a lot more tea though. 

Then, David's friend, Shinozaki-san, picked us up from the car park and took us to her place. David had said that we were going to have tea ceremony tea there, which I had assumed was just the three of us. I was wrong. When we got there, there was a weekly group meeting of ladies who try to get together and practice English to help prevent dementia in old age. 

Then two extra ladies showed up, one who promptly off-loaded a slew of kimono and obi to David and I (eek!), and the other who actually did the tea ceremony for us. We did those things and then played a game of karuta (my first ever; it's a picture/poetry matching snap game played with 100 cards) while the "practicing English" ladies group were in the other room. Not going to lie, it was a little strange. 

Then we joined them, and had a half hour of English practising together. It was nice to meet these ladies who had adopted David into their families when he was a lonely Aussie living in Oyama those first couple of years. I did get a couple of photos of them, but I didn't ask about putting it on the internet, so I won't be sharing it here. Sorry! The tea ceremony was so lovely though, I haven't had proper tea ceremony in a really long time (can't actually remember when!). I'll likely explain what that whole thing looks like in another post. 

Then we got a lift back into town to David's rental to drop off the kimono he had acquired. Lucky him; I had to carry my five kilos of kimono around with us for the next visit and then all the way home as well. We walked to the station and stopped for a cool drink (another tea!) before we went to David's koto teacher. 

While he was living in Oyama, he learnt koto, a traditional Japanese musical instrument, generally called a harp since it's big and got strings that you pluck. Looks nothing like a traditional harp though. I've had David visit the school I teach at for the last couple of years and demonstrate koto to the students which has been fun. I've had the basics from him and can play one song, but David's teacher now gave me an official lesson. 

She had the music for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star out, (I'm a beginner, got to start somewhere!), so that's what we worked on. She played through the melody with me as I got used to it, then they tuned a third koto for David to play (the accompanying base line) as well, and she switched to the harmony line. After some more practice we stopped for a cup of cold tea (or was it juice? I've lost count) and a chat, and then practiced again. 

The koto sensei organises a big concert with all the students every two years. Not just with koto students, but also shamisen (a three stringed guitar like instrument that you play upright with a big pick) and shakuhachi (wooden recorder). They have so many students at the school, from kids to older people so it was going to be a huge concert - five hours long! I could feel how busy everyone was in the lead up and so I was very aware of the privilege it was getting to have a private hour long lesson so close to crunch time. 

After the lesson, I was back to the train station to head home. It's funny how "country" anything out of Tokyo is referred to, but the station was still surround by huge buildings, heaps of shops and things to do. I guess what makes it "country" is that ten or fifteen mins of walking away from the station, there begins to be "not much" in the way of "big city" stuff, and a car starts to be much more essential. Still. 

A week and a half later, Steve and the girls joined me on an adventure back to Oyama to attend the aforementioned concert. We did stop on the way there (bonsai!), and then I went off to the concert (it was five hours, so there was no way the girls (or Steve really) were going to last that long) while Steve and the girls had their own little Oyama adventure. 

They liked the enchanted forest, and the view from the castle ruins. Then they joined me at the concert for about three songs, before they decided to head home. I was so impressed with the concert. I've heard the koto before, but obviously mostly just David playing solo, or with me fumbling along. To hear twenty (or more!) of the instruments with different parts playing together was special. 

While I was at the concert, I did see David's tea ceremony teacher and one of the extra ladies that I'd met the week before. I fortuitously sat right in front of them in the large concert hall. Then they gave me more yukata and obi.  Eek again! The collection continues to grow. 

It was lovely to have these ladies to chat to during the breaks between songs though, since after each song, they have to reset the whole stage for the next group of performers. That means that they fully close the curtains and everyone lugs off their instruments, stands and music stands, while simultaneously a whole bunch of other people are trying to get their things onto the stage and in position for the next song. It's understandable that the concert is five hours long! Kudos to the people who made it all the way from start to finish and didn't take the easy way out like me. I guess those people don't necessarily have a two hour train trip back to Tokyo after the concert though. 

I have to say though, I did enjoy my time in Oyama, and happy that I could see and support a friend in his musical journey. Happy days!