A Cultural Weekend

This weekend I had some awesome Japanese cultural experiences, found in both the modern and traditional forms.
On Saturday my host mom and her parents invited me to go to a classical music concert. It was really fun! It was located in a small theater setting and it was very casual. The performance featured a famous Japanese contrabass player and a pianist. The host was a well known Japanese news journalist. The program consisted of music and casual talk. The musicians talked about their life in the music world and how they got to where they are now. It was funny and very entertaining! The music was absolutely wonderful! I love the sound of string instruments :) It made me want to pick up a violin or cello and start practicing again ha.

On Sunday, it was 七五三 so my host family celebrated for their two children (my host brother and sister). Shichi-Go-San, translated as 7-5-3, is a traditional rite of passage festival day that is annually held on November 15th or the nearest weekend day since this day is not considered a holiday (day off). This festival day is for 3 and 7 year-old girls and 3 and 5 year-old boys. It is said (on the internet ha) that this tradition started in the Heian Period, which is a LONG time ago. This long running Japanese tradition has turned into the modern ritual of dressing up in traditional wear and visiting a shrine to ward the evil spirits and bestow blessings on the child in the years to come. おめでとう！

So on Sunday my host mom, brother and sister dressed up. It was a eventful day! Both host mom and dad's parents were there to participate in the celebration. It was so cool to get an inside look on a traditional practice. (If it wasn't for the kids and the home stay I would not have had a chance to see it. ) I went to the 神社 and experienced the day. By then it was 11ish and I was starving! (no breakfast). We came home all together and had a wonderful traditional bento lunch. It was a lot of food but delicious! (photo coming soon.) Then there was tea, soup, coffee and some sweets like green tea ice cream and manju my FAV!! Today I tried some new たべもの that is for sure. Then for dinner we went to kaiten sushi since the kids love that. The grandparents wanted to take us out. Really I could have done without dinner. The typical Japanese thing to do is to insist that one eats. (Now I can understand why my grandma does that ha). So of course I ended up eating some foods.

To conclude, an awesome cultured weekend, which involved a lot of food! :) Thank you host family, what an awesome weekend.