The Girls Stay Busy While the Guys are Underway!

This past weekend has been jam-packed! Friday afternoon began the hectic weekend with a Wardroom Spouse outing to Huis Ten Bosch for their annual Wine Festival! Being that this Wine Festival was all-you-can-drink and had wines from around the world, it was a great chance to catch up with some of the spouses!

Yvonne, Yasmine, Kerri, Meg, Me, Jaime

Saturday, October 22: Sasebo Yosakoi Festival

Then on Saturday morning, I joined Meg and Jaime for a day at the Sasebo Yosakoi Festival! A Yosakoi Festival is one where people dance while clapping naruko (鳴子) — a kind of wooden instrument traditionally made of bamboo boards or blocks which make a noise, similar to that of castanets when they strike each other. As we watched the performances, the naruko instrument reminded me of those clapper toys that drive parents crazy:

While these hand clappers make a similar sound, the naruko instrument is handled in a way so that the "clapping" noise is timed to rhythmically match the music and movements of the performers!

When we arrived in Downtown Sasebo, we followed the music to the Ginza, our open-air shopping area, where performers were dancing down the Ginza!

While the Japanese are known for their quiet, respectful culture, during the Yosakoi Festival, we were able to see a whole other side of people! Through cheering, clapping, yelling, and dancing, these performances were invigorating!

Eventually, we made it to one of the nine stages set up around town, to watch some of the group's performances! As we watched the different groups perform, I learned that the last time the Sasebo YOSAKOI Festival happened was in 2019, and it hosted more than 170 teams from around the world — almost 7,000 total dancers — becoming “The Largest YOSAKOI Festival of Kyushu.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was only able to be held over video, but now, for the first time in 3 years, it’s finally happening in person again! I think this explains the added excitement and celebration happening all over town- it's been awhile since these talented groups have had an audience to perform in front of!

Check out this video compilation of some of my favorite dances:

As the sun began to set, we headed to the main stage to watch the large university groups perform! One of the last groups was by far the most memorable- being a university group from Hokkaido, this 50+ person team had a dynamic show that ended with all the college boys stripping down to sumo wrestler outfits and finishing their performance with very little clothing! It was a shocking sight and really took us by surprise, especially considering how modest Japanese people are! I can admit, I didn't feel comfortable taking photos of that final group, but I can say they were in bright red sumo-thong undergarments! Just use your imagination!

Here's a short video with some of the large group performances:

Sunday, October 23: Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony

As if this weekend wasn't packed enough, Sunday was also filled with another "first" experience: a Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony! A few months back, I suggested this base-sponsored ITT tour to our Wardroom Souse group and had a few takers! Jenna and her daughter Sofia, Kerri and her daughter Leona, Meg and I hopped on the bus and went to Hirado for the day!

Along the way to the tea house, we learned about how Hirado was the earliest international port town on Kyushu Island and is famous for introducing Chinese green tea to Japan. Eventually, the main international port moved down to Nagasaki, but Hirado is known as the port city that introduced Christianity to Japan! If you don't remember, we learned more about the hidden Christians during our day trip to Nagasaki last year, but this was a good refresher and reminder that Sasebo is snuggly tucked between two of the "founding Christian cities of Japan!"

After climbing what felt like a mountain of stairs to the tea house, we were asked to remove our shoes and cleanse our hands and mouths by rinsing with "cleansing spring water." Once we were "clean," we were instructed to crawl through the side entrance of the tea house for the ceremony. We learned that all Japanese tea houses have a doggy-door entrance as a way to "humble all who enter." We learned that the small entryway became famous in Ancient Japan as a way to force samurai to remove their weapons before entering the peaceful setting of the tea house.

After entering, we learned about the ancient scrolls that are displayed in tea houses. Later, Jenna, Sofia, and Leona volunteered to create floral arrangements for our ceremony. We learned that the host of the ceremony always prepares a "bouquet" of seasonal flowers from their yard for the guest. We were surprised to learn that the bouquets only consist of three flowers...not like our giant American-sized flower arrangements!

Next up, we learned how to grind the green tea leaves into matcha using the ishi-usu traditional stone-mill grinding mechanism. I volunteered to try the ishi-usu, and learned that the stone mill is really heavy and hard to spin- it took some muscles!

To grind the matcha properly, you have to spin the top at a speed of 40 rounds a minute and it takes up to 3 hours to grind matcha fine enough for tea....! Whew! No wonder it's an art form!

After grinding the matcha, our host served us each a bowl of matcha and a mochi sweet treat. As the host served our tea, we had to bow with our hands in fists to show our appreciation. Then we had to whisk the matcha and hot water until it turned frothy. Unlike traditional tea where you remove the leaves after awhile, matcha dissolves as you whisk, and then foams up when it is ready to drink.

Clearly, the girls weren't a big fan of the matcha tea!

Another thing I learned is that a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony only consists of THREE sips of tea. You are supposed to take the first sip, set down your matcha and eat the mochi treat, and then finish your tea in two sips. (No more, no less!)

What are you discussing with your host during this ceremony? I would have thought this would be a time for conversation with your host- but no- this entire ceremony is done in silence. Only the sounds of disgust could be heard from the girls!

Following the ceremony, we watched as the host cleaned up the matcha tea and we ended the ceremony with many "arigato gozaimasu" (thank you very much) before heading back to the bus for the ride home!

This weekend may have flown by, but I can't complain since Bryan's ship returned Monday afternoon! At least I can start the week off on the right foot with him back under the same roof! Time sure does fly when surrounded by great friends and new adventures!

'til the next adventure!

--Katie