GaijinPot

Hello Friends, your lovely local Akita bijin here, ready to bring you more interesting tidbits about my Akita, and why we bijins love it so much here. Last time we met I was flying down a mountainside on my snowboard, on my way to a steaming bowl of delicious ramen and a nice hot relaxing onsen bath.  All that exercise and excitement can surely wear-a-girl out you know.  Now today, you see me here taking it easy in my little Kamakura. I’ll bet you thought igloos were just for Eskimos, right? Nope! Akita has its own brand of igloos. They’re called kamakura, and they have a very interesting history.  These miniature snow domes are built specifically for the Kamakura Festival that takes place every year in Yokote City in South Central Akita.  There is a ton of snow there so it’s really easy for us to build them.  You can walk around the city from the end of January to the end of February and see hundreds of kamakura.  The folks of this region have been doing this for over 400 years!  Imagine getting that much snow for 400 years! Wow, I guess you would have to think of fun things to do with that much snow, otherwise it could get really boring in the winter time! Anyway, they build these things as a way to connect with the gods.  The people offer the gods rice cakes and sake (rice wine), and pray for a good growing and harvesting season.  If you want to connect with nature, Akita is really the place to be.  We love our natural surroundings, and most-if not all- of our festivals have some kind of connection with nature.  During the time of this festival people pray especially for good clear water.  Good water is so important to so many things around us, one being, the lovely features of we bijins.  It is said that the legendary beauty Akita’s women possess comes from the pureness of our waters.  Hmmmm, what do you think? Oh, and if you are thinking the people in the kamakura look a little young to be serving rice wine to travelers, you are probably right.  Children usually sit in the kamakuras, invite passersby in, and talk with them in Akita’s local dialect.  It is a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.  Don’t worry though the kids are specifically chosen, and supervised by the city.  It is all very safe and lots of fun.  If you want to read more about the Kamakura Festival check out this website : http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/history/traditionalevents/a10_fes_Yokote.html. And if you want to find out more about Akita bijins, well….you’ll just have to come back and read my blog, as well as check out my past ones. So, I’ll be looking for you. Until next time….. ja mata ne!