April 2018 No. 36 The Red Brick Bulletin Feature: Kuriyama Shinise Festival (Kita no Nishiki Sake) JET Spotlight: Higashikawa Sports Exchange Advisors (SEAs) Kuriyama Sake Festival A couple of weeks after moving here to Japan, I was lucky enough to be introduced to Japanese sake, or rice wine. I d never had a chance to drink it before in America, and all it took was one sip for me to fall in love! Knowing this, it s truly surprising that it has taken four and a half years for me to finally make an appearance at the annual Kuriyama Shinise Festival, at which the local sake brewery is open to the public! First, a little background about the brewery. The Kobayashi Sake Brewery was originally based in Sapporo, but relocated to Kuriyama in 1901 for the fresh water from the nearby Yubari River. Although known officially as the Kobayashi Sake Brewery, they are more well-known by their Hokkaido brand name, Kita no Nishiki. They were one of the first breweries to pioneer the use of Hokkaido-grown rice to make their sake the owner s aim was to create a sake made with Hokkaido water, Hokkaido rice, and brewed by people of Hokkaido. When we pulled into the town, there were already tens of people walking the streets with balloons and sake glasses, and police were out directing traffic in force. This festival has got it going on! In fact, although in previous years the brewery used to give out free tastings of sake, the crowds grew too large to serve everyone without taking a loss, and from this year they started a ticket system. Even with the tickets, people seemed to be having a great time - the ticket service was fairly priced, and came with a Kita no Nishiki brand sake glass to take home! After getting our glasses and tickets, we had 9 different sake to choose from, ranging in flavor notes and price. We decided to choose the most expensive brands, since we figured that it would be rare for us to be able to buy a whole
bottle for ourselves in the future. I chose an amakuchi sake, or sake with a mild, sweet flavor, called Yukigokkoro, that usually retails for 5000 yen a bottle. I m not a sake expert, but I found it to be fruity, not too sweet, and easy to drink in other words, delicious! In addition to the free-flowing alcohol, there were also a number of booths, ranging from food and drink, to local produce and craft goods like ceramics, as well as entertainment throughout the day. On Sunday, it was quite drizzly and cold, but we decided to brave the cold to cheer on our friends who perform in the Kuriyama Yosakoi team, as well as Horomui Daiko, the taiko team from the neighboring city, Iwamizawa. We were so engrossed in the performances, I actually forgot about the rain! The Yosakoi team was surprisingly energetic, despite it being their second performance of the day, both in the cold and drizzly rain. They dragged their friends and family onto the stage, passed out butterfly shaped naruto (wooden clackers they use to accentuate the beats), and kept smiles on their faces throughout the whole set. I especially loved their costumes that are inspired by the Great purple emperor butterfly, which is native to the area. I m already a huge fan of taiko drums. There s nothing I love more than the overwhelming drum beats and cries of the taiko drummers. The performance at the sake festival was one of the best I ve ever seen while in Japan. Despite having members of all ages (even an elementary school aged kid!) they were all in sync and gave their 100 percent focus to the performance. It was also my first time to see the use of tetto, an instrument made of steel tubes which has three distinct tones, similar to the taiko drums, and is played with drumsticks in the same way. Truly an incredible performance, and something I hope I will get to see again! Overall, this festival was a blast! Despite rather dull weather, we were able to warm ourselves up with sake, food, and entertainment. If you are a sake fan (or even if you re just getting your toes wet and would like to try sake) you should definitely check out this festival. The warm amazake was perfect for such a rainy day. If you liked any of the sake you tried, you could buy a whole bottle! The Kuriyama Yosakoi Team channeling their inner Great Purple Emperor Butterflies. It was truly amazing to see this taiko team perform so well in such rainy conditions!
HOKKAIDO JET SPOTLIGHT T here are over 200 participants of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme who call Hokkaido home. We come from all over the world and we all have a very unique experience with the island. In each edition of the Red Brick Bulletin, I will introduce a current JET living in Hokkaido. Each has their own story to tell let s get to know them! BASEBALL I'm from America. Portland, Oregon to be specific. I graduated from Oregon State University in 2016. My father's name is Kiyoshi, and he's from Japan. He's a big reason why I chose to get a job in Japan. My mother's name is Kathy, and she's from New York, and I also have a younger brother, Brian. I like to play sports, exercise, watch TV and movies, read books, spend time with friends, and get to know people. VOLLEYBALL Ciao! My name is Viola and I m Higashikawa s volleyball SEA, originally from Italy. When I m not teaching or practicing volleyball, I m usually cooking, eating, or talking about food. My favourite place in Japan so far is Kamikochi and I can t wait to go to USJ for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Big fan here! SKIING Name: Henrik Enke Age: 28 Nationality: Finland Languages: Finnish, German, English, Swedish, and a little Japanese Education: Bachelor of Sports Hobbies: Gym and all kinds of sports, videogames If you ever want really good pizza, we ve got the best pizzeria in whole Japan in our town! SO, WHAT S AN SEA? SEAs, or Sports Exchange Advisors, work for local governments, coaching and promoting internationalism through the universal language of sports. (CLAIR)
Why did you decide to apply to become an SEA in Japan? The main reason I wanted to become an SEA was to live in Japan and improve my Japanese. I had applied to a couple of TEFL jobs in Japan, and even applied as an ALT for JET. Unfortunately, I found out about JET around two weeks before applications were due. Needless to say, my application was rushed and I didn t even get an interview. A year later, I discovered JET was accepting applications for baseball coaches. I d played baseball all my life, and even coached kids in college. So instead of applying for ALT that year, I applied for SEA. Now I m in Hokkaido, coaching baseball! Since high school, volleyball and Japanese culture have been two of my favourite things. When I saw the opportunity online I thought I might never get a chance like that, to actually have a job that allows me to do what I love in a country that fascinates me so much. So I decided to drop my permanent job in Italy and give it a try! It was a once in a lifetime chance, so I thought, Why not go and get some international work experience!? What do you do as an SEA for your town? I attend baseball practices for both the elementary school and middle school. At the practices, I help out where I can. Sometimes that means assisting the coach in running a drill, or running a drill myself. Sometimes it means sitting back and observing, so I can give advice during or afterwards. Occasionally, I help out with town events that our amazing ALTs and CIRs put on (Halloween parties, festivals, etc.) I teach at the shounendan (youth) club in one of our town s elementary schools from 4pm to 7pm and help with the middle schoolers training, usually from 4pm to 6pm. I am also present at competitions and friendly matches, as a coach or a referee. From time to time I ve also been asked to teach PE classes. I mainly watch over the local elementary and junior high school ski club training, plan and extract training menus, and sometimes I work with federal associations and other schools or towns. How do you like living in Hokkaido? I ve really enjoyed it so far! Unfortunately, I didn t get to explore Hokkaido in the fall. SEAs are always group C orientation, meaning we come a bit later. I was so busy getting used to my job and stocking my apartment, by the time I had gotten truly accustomed, it was already winter... However, I have been enjoying winter. I love the cold, snow, and snowboarding. So Hokkaido has been awesome! Being in Hokkaido has been actually better than I expected. I was terrified by the cold and the weather but with good preparation (and ownership of a car!) it s not that bad, and there s so much to do! Also we have a lot of JETs in town and that helps in feeling less lonely when those times happen. Hokkaido is beautiful and is somewhat similar to Finland. The mountains are my favorite place to go, and they are excellent for training!
What s been your most memorable moment? My most memorable moment was from the 6 th grade elementary school baseball graduation day. After the season, the team sends off their 6 th graders with a whole day of baseball. The day included two games, the first and second graders vs. the moms, and the third to sixth graders vs. the dads. Afterwards, there was yakiniku, present giving, speeches, and drinking. They made me give a speech in Japanese, which I thought was cruel (keep in mind I had arrived in Higashikawa about two months ago). Other than that, it was a really fun day. Although I hadn t been with them for very long, that day made me feel like I was part of the Higashikawa baseball family! When I managed to avoid falling ruinously on my butt this winter? Just kidding. The SEA s mid-year conference was really cool, I got to meet amazing athletes and teachers and explore the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences that was mind blowing! I think that s an experience that only the JET Programme could offer me and I m really grateful for that. My most memorable moment must have been our recent trip to Finland together with 7 Higashikawa XC ski-club members. We participated at the Finnish Championships with a great team effort. Higashikawa Town Small but International! In addition to the 3 SEAs, there are 4 ALTs and 8 CIRs working and living in Higashikawa, making for a total of 15 JET participants from 13 different countries! All issues of The Red Brick Bulletin can be accessed at http://pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/ss/tsk/akar enga_eng.htm Published by the International Affairs Division, Department of Policy Planning and Coordination, Hokkaido Government (Edited by Emily Schuster) ADDRESS: N3W6 Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan 060-8688 PHONE: +81(0)11-231-4111 FAX: +81 (0)11-231-4303