Sunday at Ueda Joint

I know I promised this post several days ago, but with earthquakes, typhoons, train delays, busy markets, and regional strategy meetings I was a bit more busy this week than I anticipated.  Sorry!  You may have noticed that Tokyo experienced three large earthquakes in just a few days.  The first one I didn’t feel at all because I was on a train.  The second quake ripped me out of a sound sleep at 5 am – I was not happy.  And the third one hit while I was at work.  My office is on the 9th floor of our building.  Making buildings that can withstand earthquakes means making buildings that sway when a quake hits – if the building is rigid, the shaking will cause structural damage, sometimes to the p0int of building collapse. So riding out a good-sized earthquake while on the 9th floor is definitely…interesting.  I have been in many earthquakes before, both in Japan and in the US, but that was one of the more unsettling experiences.  Anyway, on to the post I promised!

So on Sunday we realized that the festival wasn’t going well for us and that we should try to have some fun  instead of stressing out about things.  We packed up the shop and just enjoyed ourselves.  I mean, it was a festival at a castle.  Does it get much better than that?

Ueda castle was built in 1583 – when you think about what it means for something to be “old” in the US and then compare it to something like this you realize we have very little concept of what it means when a building is old.  There were some battles and some politics, which you can read about here, but the long and the short of it is that it was razed to the ground and rebuilt in 1622.  Most of the walls and towers of the castle visible today are from 1622.  Why is this significant, you ask?  Well, a lot of historical sites are reconstructions of castles and homes that were destroyed at one point or another and rebuilt in modern times.  Ueda Castle isn’t one of those sites.

Tepee stage with castle tower in the background.

The largest stage.

There were three stages at the festival – two of them inside the original walls behind the gate in the picture.  One of them was set up inside a tepee.  Seriously.  The other one was small and hosted mostly DJs for the weekend.  The third and largest was at the base of the castle wall.  You can’t see it in the picture of the entrance, but the castle is at the top of a hill.  To the left of the gate things drop off pretty steeply to a grassy field where the largest stage was set up.  People wandered freely from stage to stage as the performers changed, stopping at booths to shop and snack along the way.  Shop owners from all over the Nagano area and Tokyo set up booths offering handcrafted items made of organic materials.  A lot of the food was organic, most of it was locally grown.

Several artists were also creating new works during the weekend on enormous canvases set up along the major pathways around the castle.  It was actually really interesting to watch them as they worked.  I have never really been able to draw or do anything freehand like this, so watching someone fearlessly take a brush to canvas simply boggles the mind.  The second painting was definitely our favorite – a pagoda, a train, a Buddha, and a taiko drummer – fantastic.  Interesting fact for you – the hotel room we stayed in had a Bible by the bed.  It wasn’t placed by the Gideons, but it was there nonetheless.  It was right next to a book on Buddhist teachings.  Definitely made me smile.

I also saw some unbelievable crochet while I was there.  The first was a free-form wall hanging made of countless different yarns – forgive the poor photo, I took it in their booth which had a red awning.  The girls running this booth run a boutique in an area of Tokyo known for its bohemian style – it also happens to be an area of Tokyo very near the Kaizer Kasa.  One of the girls does all the crochet and she makes some of the most adorable hats, bags, and headbands I’ve ever seen.  I have always been really impressed by crochet, mostly because it is the only medium I have tried but have not really been able to get the hang of.  I think it’s because it’s a little too free-form for me.  I do better with a bit of structure, and having a large piece of crocheted cloth with only a tiny little hook in it just never seems to work out well.  Knitting, on the other hand, has the additional structure I need to really feel confident in myself.  Speaking of confidence, I would never have the guts to wear something as outrageous as the crocheted vest I saw on one of the festival-goers.  (When it comes to my clothing I am depressingly conservative and spend most of my time wishing I could be more daring.)  I spotted her in the crowd and immediately pulled out my camera, but I was only able to get one shot before she disappeared.  It was by far the best summer crochet/knit project I saw all weekend and perhaps the best one I have ever seen, period.

When it was all said and done, Ueda Joint would be a fun festival to attend again in the future, but I don’t think we’ll be having a booth again for a long while.

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Care Package

Remember when you went to summer sleepaway camp and Mom would send you care packages?  Well, I don’t because I never went to sleepaway camp.  But if I had, I’m sure my mom’s care packages would have been the awesome-est (yes, I am aware that “awesome-est” isn’t a word, but a new one had to be created to describe just how hard my mom’s care packages would rock).  A lot of places won’t ship internationally and a lot of others charge a small fortune for it.  So Mom collects all the stuff we order, packages it all up, and then mails it over here.  Both my mom and Mr. Kaizer’s mom do this for us.  Why?  Cuz moms, pretty universally, are amazing.  Our moms more so than others.

In addition to two books, a bunch of hair product that you can’t buy in Japan (and the only thing that stops my curly hair from looking like I stuck a fork in a light socket), a replacement ipod charger, and a stick blender, we received a few really awesome goodies.

Did you see all that ricrac?  Nine colors, five yards of each color.  What am I going to do with it?  Not a clue!  But it was on sale and I’m sure I’ll think of something.  I look at it this way: there are so many stash-busting projects out there that totally rock.  How can you do them if you don’t have a stash to bust?  I’m sure that one day I’ll figure out what to do with all of it.

Then there were a couple of surprise gifts.  For me, a cute bookmark with green glass decorating the end, cool black and white bobbie pins, and two mini totes.  I think the mini totes would make adorable gift bags, don’t you?  And for Mr. Kaizer, two hats.  Wild, crazy, funky hats.  Just his style.  He’s thrilled.  And while I think they’re pretty cool, I still cringe a little when I think about the amont of attention he receives when out in public while wearing them.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some goodies to play with!

May life continue to inspire you,

Miss Kaizer

Hello, Blogland!

Earlier this year I decided that I allowed fear to control too many aspects of my life.  So I started doing things that scare me – not a lot, mind you, but a little.  And let me tell you, starting a blog and learning a bunch of new things that go with such an endeavor definitely intimidated me a bit.  Ok, a bit more than “a bit”.  I blame it on spring and the rainy season.

My neighbor's blue hydrangeas.

With rain comes dreary, cloudy skies.  But you also get flowers and greenery.  Recently I’ve noticed I have a lot more appreciation for seasonal changes than I used to.  Yes, I’ve always noticed seasonal changes, but when I was living in the States, I didn’t really stop to appreciate them.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m older, determined to thoroughly enjoy my limited free time to the fullest, or because I’m living in a society that really appreciates the different seasons for the unique delights they have to offer.  Whatever the reason, I know that it was my neighbor’s beautiful hydrangeas that made me stop and say “I simply must take a picture of these flowers.”  And after that, “I simply must share these pictures with everyone!”

Another neighbor's purple hydrangeas.

After noticing the flowers, I noticed the lush grass growing in the field next to the apartment.  The field next to our building has been an empty field since we moved in two and a half years ago, and it feels like having a yard that we don’t have to take care of.  On the edges of the field are fruit trees and vegetable patches.  And our nearest neighbors.  It’s a very unique setup for Tokyo.  When people at work ask me in tones of shocked disbelief why I live an hour commute from the office, I just show them these pictures.

Aside from getting me to pull out the camera voluntarily, something which rarely happens, spring also inspired me to engage in other equally uncharacteristic behaviors.  I baked.  To you, that sentence may seem totally innocuous.  But to anyone who knows me they probably had to re-read it a dozen times before finally saying “no way would Miss Kaizer ever bake.”  Well, the truth is that I did bake.  And while my inner feminist wept bitter tears, I was secretly very pleased with myself.  I didn’t exactly make the dough from scratch, but I was still pretty darn proud.  I mean, I rolled out a pie crust.  Lil ‘ol me.  We don’t have a pie pan in the Kaizer Kasa, but we do have a Betty Crocker Cookbook (thanks, Mom) that provided me with the recipe I used for an apple pie on a cookie sheet.  The filling was four apples peeled, sliced, and mixed with brown sugar and a little butter.  What we got after 25 minutes in the world’s smallest oven was pure sugary heaven.  Awww, yeah!  I’m now a baking fiend!

Please forgive the darkness of the photo. It was late when I finished baking.

We each had a large piece while it was still warm.  Omnomnomnom!  It was an easy project and has given me confidence in my ability to actually bake.  I think I’m going to try Grandma’s banana bread recipe next Sunday.  I actually wanted to do that today, but we didn’t have any milk and neither of us felt like leaving the apartment.  I threw the bananas in the freezer so I can use them next week.  Don’t tell anyone I said this, but I’m actually looking forward to baking next week.  Ssshhhh!  It’s days  like this I realize how inspiring life can be.

Until next time, may life continue to inspire you.

Miss Kaizer