Kojima and Haircuts

Yesterday I went to get my first Japanese haircut, not knowing quite what to expect. Shun suggested the place that he goes to get his hair cut, but I was confused by the name of the hair salon, "Panic," an apt name for my feelings. The first thing I noticed about Panic, other than the atmosphere, was the awesome hair styles worn by the guys and girls working at the shop. Mohawks, long hair, or ponytails, you name it and someone probably had it. This was reassuring because I figured if they could have these crazy cuts giving me a basic haircut couldn't be too hard.

First the stylist brought me to the back room where I was put into a reclining seat and had my hair washed not once but three times. The scalp massage was therapeutic and my hair smelled fresh. Then, in Japanese, I explained to the guy cutting my hair how I usually wore it and he got to work. He used only scissors, no electric razors, and spent a good deal of time on each section of my head. While he cut my hair I scanned the room and saw a bunch of people getting their hair dyed, and one guy in the corner was having his hair dried by some huge revolving machine while drinking whiskey and smoking. I couldn't help but laugh to myself.

After the cut my hair was washed again and I didn't even get any hair down the back of my neck as is customary with every former haircut I have ever received. In total three people worked on my hair, one for the first wash, and two for cutting and second washing. I think the total came to about $35, so not a bad deal for the good treatment.

After the haircut Shoko and I went to the supermarket where I was feeling so good I decided to cook dinner that night. I thought chili would be easy enough so picked out some chili related items and some fruit for a salad. I certainly wouldn't consider myself a good cook, inexperienced at best, but I think it’s safe to say that any idiot can make chili. I also made cheese potatoes, a salad, and fruit salad for dessert (complete with powdered sugar). The chili was pretty spicy but I think everyone enjoyed it, and Shoko was probably happy that she didn't have to cook. I promised her a pie or cake next time.

After dinner Shoko, Andee, and I went to Kyudo. We are all improving but Andee and I hit our arms with the bow string a bunch of times so that wasn't too cool. My arrows usually go straight but I'm still working on hitting the target; shooting with my right hand forward makes it difficult to aim.

Today was also action packed, to say the least. We went to Kojima for the "Kohatchi Mangou Reitai Sai," a festival where tons of people dressed in colorful outfits and face paint haul giant decorated wagons through the town, and then up a steep hill to a shrine. This is a huge affair and tons of people came to watch the festivities, lining the streets as well as the path to the shrine. The gist of the activity was taking the wagons, which have children inside playing drums and bells surrounded by people playing flutes and singing, up and down a steep incline to the shrine. There are also people on the top of the wagons with bamboo fronds shouting and singing. There is a part where the people carrying the ropes run back and forth making a wave effect. The whole scene was very cool to watch.

After witnessing a bunch of wagons go up and down the hill I ate some takoyaki (fried octopus balls, tastier than they sound) and went to Onishi-san's mother’s house for lunch. She lives on a hill overlooking the town and sea, and we were able to watch the rest of the festival on TV while she served an excellent lunch of sushi, chicken tofu soup, grapes, and apples. Toward the end of lunch it started to rain and I was glad that we left the festival or we would have been soaked.

When we came home Shoko got a call from Yamashita-san saying that there was going to be a display of Kimono at the house where we went for the tea ceremony the other night. It was raining a bit when we arrived so the four of us ran through narrow Japanese alleys behind our house until we came to the tea ceremony teacher's house. Inside were about 10 people looking at handbags, dresses, skirts, and jackets that had all been made from pieces of Kimono. Everything was very beautiful and I couldn't help but buy some placemats and bags made from the old Kimono. We stayed for some tea and sweets then came back to the house.