Monday 14 December 2015

Christmas season at Bunka Suginami Canadian International School

Having worked for so many years in schools in BC, I am very familiar with the Christmas buzz in schools across North America: the decorations, the special projects and of course the all-important Christmas (or is it Holiday?) concert. It has been really fun to discover some of the school rituals here in a country that doesn't officially celebrate Christmas.

My first surprise was all of the excitement and hype build-up here among the students and staff because last Friday we had "The Mochitsuki". I couldn't quite figure what everybody was so excited about though I knew it had something to do with the New Year, Sumo wrestlers and pounding rice...Ah yes, the limitations of a 4 year old child's language understanding.

So Friday noon arrived and I raced up to the gym after my class to find this:


There, as can be seen, in the middle of the gym were 5 ENORMOUS Sumo wrestlers who were definitely not following the dress code surrounded by 600 excited, laughing and engaged students dressed in their usual formal uniforms.

The first thing I needed to do was to get a closer look at those physiques...


Wow, these guys were huge!

I then bit by bit began to piece together what was happening. In the middle of the gym they had the Mochi bowl, a bowl where the rice was being pounded into a rice paste by these seriously endowed Sumo wrestlers.

Representatives from each homeroom had the opportunity to pound the rice so long as they washed their hands and wore the sacred jersey. These are two of my DD girls hard at work on the Mochi:



As the students pounded away the whole gym would burst out into cheers. Of course I realized that soon it would have to be MY turn, and sure enough I was called out to participate in my first Mochitsuki event in my life! It actually took me back to splitting wood for our stove in Kaslo; not quite the same setting!



Well THAT was exciting for all! From there we all had our chance to get our pictures taken with these professional Sumo wrestlers (me with some of my collegues and students):



And then the girls all got a piece of the Mochi to eat there and then:


After the dust had settled I had a chance to do a little research and find out that this is an important good luck ritual for the new year. Households of Japanese descent around the world celebrate this way. Click here to find more info. Having the Sumo wrestlers there added to the good luck of the event. 

I was fascinated to find out more about their outfit hearing that originally this outfit was designed to show that they were fighting with nothing to hide. Since then the outfit has become highly ritual. Here is some info on this. Here is another link. 

The following day (Saturday) the school turned itself around from Sumo to a "Christmas Event" put on by the English department as a recruitment of new students to the school with over 80 kids in attendance. 

Who said that Santa didn't exist?




Merry Christmas in whatever way you chose to celebrate it from all of us to all of you!









Saturday 12 December 2015

The true meaning of Christmas ...

In counter-point to our last post, this weekend we had another OMG (!) weekend revelling in what is truly important at Christmas:

1. Family:

We were thrilled to welcome our daughter Sarah and Alexi who just finished up a climbing tour in Utah to join us in Tokyo. We love having their very positive energy around and their fresh look on our life in Japan.


They arrived Friday night and they bounced out of bed at 4:00AM Saturday morning to come on our adventure with us.

2. Pausing to appreciate the beauty around us:

After a long drive with our small group (this was one of the great trips put together by David, an adventure guide) we arrived at the foot of Mt. Shichimen. As we gradually discovered, this is a remote site of a pilgrimage that has been done for hundreds of years to an ancient temple of the Nichiren-shu sect of Buddhism (click here to find out more). We gathered at the foot of a very ancient and gnarly trail that zigzagged straight up the mountain to the sacred temple. There were prayer stations all of the way to the top:


 as well as rest stations where devout locals would come out and serve you tea:




At every turn we had another breath-taking view of Fuji, the illusive peak which up until now we had only glimpsed from a distance. Now it accompanied us in its glory the whole way up the trail. 



We were thrilled to see the Japanese Alps slowly emerge on the horizon as we climbed up the mountain:



There were 9 on our trip including 3 Americans, 5 Canadians, 1 Indian and 1 Vietnamese hikers; very fun mix:



In the midst of our serene (and steep and sweaty) climb we suddenly began hearing a rythmic and regular beat of a drum with a large group chanting. Coming upon them at a rest site it turned out to be a large group of pilgrims from all ages also heading up to the peak with us:


At the top we were thrilled to find this ancient (250 year old) temple tucked on the ridge welcoming pilgrims to this sacred site. 






The monks were all at the door ready to greet us and help us get settled in. Luckily David, our guide, speaks fluent Japanese because we would have found all of these conversations MUCH more challenging!



After dropping off our stuff in our tatami
mat room we realized that we were just in time for the sunset over Fuji. Where was Fuji? We scurried up a steep stair case:


up to the ridge and there, through the portal of an ancient gate, Fuji loomed in all of its glory. The ancients had lined the portal up perfectly to gaze at Fuji through the gate! We were breathless with the beauty:




We stood there mesmerized as the sun slowly set and Fuji changed colours. This gentle time was a thoughtful time to value family:




And natural beauty:




3. Connecting with that which is greater than us

In the evening we floated back to our simple (and cold) lodging for a simple vegetarian meal prepared and delivered to our room by the monks:



Having warm Miso soup in our tummies and having our toes warmed up in front of the space-heater helped us brave the cold as we were ushered into the main hall for the evening sutra reading. Propped precariously on small stools for those of us with more rigid knees while most settled comfortably into the kneeling position we were swept away by an hour of incense, chanting, bowing, throbbing drumming in rhythm to the sutras mixted with biting cold drafts wafting through the ancient temple. We were mesmerized by the serene spiritual focus around us and moved by the Spirit, no matter what language or what tradition it was.

It was particularly special for me to observe Guru, a deeply spiritual Hindu hiking partner from India and Phoung, a Vietnamese Buddhist member of our group, participate in the worship ceremony in their own traditions.

Dalai Lama leading a prayer ceremony

Brimming with the power of the ceremony we just participated in we races off to an early bed huddled under room size quilts:


The next morning we were forcefully woken up by monks at 5:30 who gave us 15 minutes to get ready then they came in and rolled up our futons; no lounging in bed that morning!

Following the rythmic beat of drums we went back into the temple for a morning sutra tune-up then following the beat of the drums we hurried up the ridge to observe the daily gift of light: the sunrise.


The first light was barely appearing and the wind was biting cold but the faithful were all lined up ready to celebrate a new day with the rhythmic chant of the sutras:



We were mesmerized by the combination of repetitive sound, emerging light and biting cold:





Acknowledging with greatfulness the gift of another day, the gift of a connection with That Whick is Greater than Us, we raced back down the ridge to a simple warm breakfast and hot tea from this massive kettle that has been refreshing pilgrims for over 20 years.


4. The gift of health

As we continue with the thread of the true meaning of Christmas, we spent the rest of that day (8 hours to be exact), glorying in the sheer magic of being alive, being in shape and exerting our healthy bodies. We scampered up to the peak above the temple...



Enjoyed the sweeping views out to the ocean...


Then began the long, long, long descent down the steep ridge line, past chanting groups of pilgrims, pausing to commune with sacred trees...


To do a walking meditation around a sacred bolder... (yes that is Fuji still with us)


Peak into some of the shrines with offerings of sake and fruit (this one seemed to be for cats???)...


Down past more 400 year old sacred trees...


Glorying in the magnificent fall colours...


And celebrating our health/ tired legs and sore knees as we got to the bottom of pilgrimage trail.


Ah, it good to be blessed by Family, to be surrounded by and able to appreciate Beauty, to have time to share and be moved by the Spirit in whatever form you may take that to be, and to be healthy and alive on this wonderful planet!

Before heading home we soaked at a local onsen (hotsprings) just to really soak in our blessings. 

As we approach Christmas we wish you all time to focus on and celebrate what is important at Christmas. 










Article about another person`s experience on this hike here