Girl's Day

March 3rd in Japan is the time to celebrate and recognize young girls during Hina Matsuri. Sadly, I must wait for Boy's Day on May 5th to get my fair share of the celebration but in the meantime Kawai-san threw a large party at our house inviting all her friends. During the Hina Matsuri (Hina meaning doll and Matsuri meaning festival), families usually prepare a set of Hinaningyo or an elaborate set of Japanese dolls arranged on a traditional staircase. The sets are usually handed down from family to family but since Kawai-san only has a son we borrowed our set from a friend. Shoko-san also set up Hinaningyo in her house for the holiday.

During the day Saeki-san somehow went on Japanese radio talking about Hina Matsuri and the party we would be having that evening. She also mentioned that I would be performing Guitar Zamurai for the celebration. Never one to disappoint, I wrote up a skit about some of the people attending the party:

(a sample about Saeki-san, translated into English but subsequently losing most of the humor):

I am Haru-chan (meaning "girl of the spring," Saeki-san's nickname)
"I am always quiet and reserved"
Didn't you say that?
But! Because when you have a conversation you can't stop talking...
It's Too Bad!
Please go talk to a wall.

(Isn’t Japanese humor silly? Here's another)

I am Saeki Jiro.
"My white guitar is very expensive"
Didn't you say that?
But! Because your hair color matches your guitar
It's Too Bad!
Pretending you are 30 years old.

The party atmosphere was wild and a ton of people came. Kawai-san's Kimono teacher talked all about the origins of Hina Matsuri, what the dolls on the stairs represent, and touched on the traditional colors of the Hina Matsuri. Afterwards we feasted upon copious amounts of food followed by Takuro's performance of "Mexican Samba."

"Mexican Samba," or more appropriately "Matsuken Samba" in Japanese, features Ken Matsudaira (the star of a popular Samurai tv-show) wearing a bright yellow sequined Kimono dancing to Latin music with enough backup singers to rival a Broadway musical. You can listen to it here.



Takuro performed Mexican Samba for his school closing ceremony so he already had the outfit ready to go for the party.

The party slowly transformed into a concert. Tomoya, Takuro, and Jiro-sensei played some hard rock guitar tunes. I was dying by the time Jiro sang "Smoke on the Water" and begged for an encore. Saeki-san played the flute with Nano-chan on saxophone, followed by Jiro and me playing "Dock of the Bay," complete with Otis Redding's newfound Japanese accent.

At the end of the party, the Kimono teacher brought out a large wedding Kimono for Amanda to wear. I wore a less impressive male Kimono jacket, which still looked rather snazzy.

Overall, a very amusing Girls’ Day festival.