Setsubun’s main attraction is mamemaki, or ‘bean throwing’. This is achieved by going to a (jinja) temple with dried beans (fukumame, lit. ‘luck beans’) and throwing them to the ground. Then you would shout “Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi!” (“Devil(s) out, good luck in!”) and pick up and eat your age worth of beans (i.e. 23 years old = 23 beans). The beans are said to cleanse the bad luck and force the demons with the bad luck out. Eating the beans is supposed to give you good luck. There was also the ritual of cooking sardines and hanging the heads outside the household.

Unfortunately, many of these traditions are not upheld. Some places, especially in the Kansai region, uphold many of the traditions including mamemaki, hanging sardine heads and holy outside the household, eating a long strip of maki-zushi (called ehoumaki) which is said to bring good luck, and going to shines, temples and even events with entertainment. However, in most places substitutions are made, beans (or peanuts) are merely eaten with a meal, the maki-zushi is brought from a convenience store. I had school lunch today where I received some fukumame beans and also had sardine as my entrée.

It’s nice to take part in these events, even if they aren’t celebrated like they used to be. Many of the kids at school seemed confused at getting fukumame, and I think many of them didn’t know what Setsubun was.

For some reason, this was probably the first time I had actually stopped anywhere in Japan for an extended period of time. I don’t mean that *literally*, but I had gone with the flow for the first few months, what with the new job, the new sights and the new places to explore. I had just stopped, looked around and taken in the atmosphere and the buzz around the place. After seeing these bands ready to play, we decided to take a short break before setting out home and sat down to watch the show.

My ear drums were nearly shattered after the live music at Kobe’s Chicken George (yes, that is the name of a real Live House in Japan – more about those later), but that experience had really got me geared up to hear more live music, so I suffered ^_^. Plus, I was invited to jam along at my mate’s band practice, so I was definitely in the mood to check out some local bands and get some pointers. First up was a three piece band. They were pretty average, nothing really stood out but they were trying pretty hard to win people over. I might have critiqued them a bit harshly; they may have not stood out, but they were far better than your average UK/US garage band. Just, not the sort of thing that would make me buy their CD. Too generic I think.

Next up were these guys:

Now, you saw these people in a previous post. When I’m in Japan, my fashion sense becomes a lot more liberal. For example, wearing a pink beanie is not only passable (and extremely cool ^_~) but also a common place occurrence. In the UK, you wear one and you’re likely to be called a fag and punched in the face. This however, is going a liiiitle bit too far in my book. I know glam rock used to be popular, but c’mon! Ok, so their image certainly caused a stir and a few laughs, but unfortunately their music didn’t do much to help further their musically futures. Still, it was entertaining to watch I suppose.

My general view is that Japanese musicians try a lot harder than some of their overseas counterparts. I’m not trying to imply stereotypes and say they’re born with a muscial silver spoon in their mouths, but the general concensus is that there is a lot more quality music from unsigned bands (especially in the jazz scene) than you tend to find in the UK or the US. After seeing some bands and playing with one, I could see that there’s a lot more drive to become a better musician and write better music there. At least that’s my opinion. Feel free to disagree, but disregard all the watered down pop and there’s a good deal of well written, well played music out there. Anyways, I digress.

Now, up third was a band called ‘Lansrat & Mery’. Had I realised how good they would be, maybe I would have captured some photos or video or something. Unfortunately I failed to get any shots, and since they are a low key band, I can’t find much on the web.

If I remember rightly, there were a guitarist, a singer / guitarist, a double bass player, a drummer and a keyboard player. Unlike the two previous bands, they started to play and my attention snapped like some heat-seeking missile detection system, straight on to them. It was probably some saving grace that my friend who was with me wanted to hear all three bands, otherwise I would have probably got up and left to get on home.

A swinging double bass line came out of the PA as they went into their opening song, ‘Shuffle!’. The composition was amazing and the music flowed the way jazz ought to; it was music that tried hard to push through the boundaries, but all the while managing to keep on the right path.

This wasn’t just jazz though, this was funky jazz. Like, jazz with a funky rock twist to it. I know i’m overplaying them a bit, but I was really stuck in the moment. They weaved in and out of individual solos, and were playing like professionals. They went into Valentine, which has my favourite piano intro of any song, ever. I actually learnt that intro by ear the next day.

After their set, I ran up to buy their CD straight away. Although it is good, none of the recordings do their live music justice. Think of Dave Matthews Band if you will. Their songs are great (if you like that sort of thing), but they really shine when they are live. The studio stuff pales in comparison.

I’ll let you make up your mind, i’ll post up the whole album. I’m not concerned about copyrights and that sort of thing, I mean I’ve searched all over for more information on the band and the album, but so far there is very little. I can’t find it to buy anywhere on the web. I think if anything i’ll be doing them some good service by word of mouth. Still, if they want me to take things down, they only need to ask.

Lansrat & Mery – Shuffle!
[Right click and save as]
Shuffle! (Single)

and if you want the rest of it:

Shuffle! (Album)

It’s definitely something you should do if you are out in Japan. Do a bit of searching and you could find some bands playing the street, usually trying to sell their latest CD’s and trying to gain attention from various labels. If you like the music, then do them a favour and buy their CD if you can afford it. They’re usually only about 1000円, and you’ll probably find a hidden gem like Lansrat & Mery. That kind of music is much rarer and a great deal more personal.

We have recently been hosting online ‘conferences’ on the fabulous “Edufire” teaching platform for any J-bloggers who find it. They’re quite a lot of fun and it also leads you to new people and new blogs. Typically a lot of chat happens, people get on microphones and webcams and talk about blogging. A presentation is made on a blogging topic by the current host.

Michael (the Gakuranman) of gakuranman.com took the reins on the most recent conference. The J-blogger conference #3 was on ‘Blog security’, and featured a talk from Michael with a presentation from Japan Soc’s Nick Ramsey.

Much of the presentation went over things that hide in plain sight if you will. Things you should do to keep your blog safe and secure, but that many people forget to do. Some of the pointers included:

-Fixing security holes by updating blogging software/platforms and plugins

-Changing passwords for different things and making sure passwords are secure by using a number of letters, capital letters and numbers

-Deleting or updating old blogs you may not use anymore to keep you passwords or details away from some hacker’s sweaty little hands

-Backing up not only your Wordpress entries, but also backing up all of your blog’s files via ftp

There was a lot of discussion from other topics as well. We talked about dealing with annoying or damaging comments, fighting spam, promoting yourself and your blog and colour schemes. Michael, myself, Buddy Lindsey from Dumb Otaku and Joseph Tame from The Daily Mumble were all on webcam, as well as Shane Sakata from the Nihon Sun on mic, giving pointers and chipping in with the discussions. The chat box was a flutter with links and questions and advice; it turned out to be an educational and very enjoyable evening.

Here’s list of blogs from people who attended, you might want to check them out favourite them or add them to a blogroll:

Dumb Otaku
Nihon Sun
The Daily Mumble
Gakuranman
CEN.TAKU.ME
The Ramen Blues
Nao or Never
Frugalista

Thanks everyone who helped out and thanks all those who came! Big thank you to Michael for hosting it in Nick’s absence, and Nick from preparing the presentation!

We discussed the possiblity of having the next conference about ‘blog branding’. If you feel like coming next time, check on edufire, or check back here or on twitter (@theramenblues for me, @gakuranman for Michael). Anyone is welcome, whether you have a blog, are going to have one or are just interested. Go to Edufire (create an account if you don’t have one already) and sign up for the class there.

Hope to see you all there next time!

Kurama is a small village north of Kyoto-shi, snuggled in the mountains. Usually quiet, it hosts the ‘hi matsuri’ every year and can usually see up to 10,000 people down one, long main road!

As the name suggests, this festival is full of fire! Large torches are lit outside each house regardless of weather and paraded up to the Yuki-jinja shrine. Fireworks go off, more torches are lit, masks and hot food are sold, and more things are set ablaze. The whole village is pretty much one long stretch of road, with a path leading up to Kurama’s largest Shinto shrine. And must I say, the place gets packed!


The main attraction are the lighting and carrying of the taimatsu (松明), the woven torches made of pine. Some of them are about 12-14ft in length and require half a dozen men to lift and carry them. These flambeau are carried around by men in traditional matsuri dress. It was pretty cold when I went and I can imagine its even colder in October if you wear this <--------

Obviously they don't leave much to the imagination ^_^’. Well, they’re more clothed than sumo I suppose! [I've mosaic'd everyone's faces out of these pictures because I haven't got permission to display them here, and I'm about 4 years to late to go and ask them.]

Well, at least there’s a lot of fire to keep them warm! I wouldn’t like to be the chief of the Fire Department over there, especially with most of the houses being mostly wooden. It’d be the Fire of London all over again.

As I said before, this festival is packed. And no more-so a time than during the train journey up to Kurama. The Eizan Dentetsu line is usually very quiet, with Kurama being a small village and all. However, come the 22nd, the trains are packed to their fullest and sent on their merry way. Sardines doesn’t even begin to cut it. But soon the place is brimming with life and this one street village becomes the host of some great festivities.



Fires are lit around the village simultaneously at 6pm, which are then used to light the torches. Children parade up towards the shrine with smaller torches, and then the men carry the larger torches. The festival is to symbolise the relocation of the Yuki shrine from the Imperial Palace to Kurama. As with most matsuri, portable shrines are carried alongside the torches. Everywhere you go, there is fire, and a lot of chanting “Saireya, Sairyo”!



At the mouth of the path to the shrine are your normal matsuri wares; masks, hot food, drink, souvenirs. There are also some large statues standing guard. These are carvings like you see to the right, most of them were like No(h) masks, bright red with long noses. If anything, these menacing statues are a sight to behold at around 10ft tall and just add to the atmosphere!

 

The festival ends shortly after midnight once the portable shines have been carried to their destination. Be sure if you are in Kyoto around October to try and attend this festival. A bit cold, but well worth it, even if it’s just for the fantastic atmosphere!

Directions to this festival (from www.jnto.go.jp):

Yuki-jinja Shrine can be reached on foot from Kurama Station.
Kurama Station is about 30 minutes from Demachi-Yanagi Station on the Eizan Dentetsu Kurama Line.
Demachi-Yanagi Station is about 15 minutes from JR Kyoto Station.

[All photographs taken by David Smith]