Japan Tent (Part 1)

Okay.. Okay.. It's time to sit down and tell a tale about my Japan Tent experience. ^^

First of all, 'What is Japan Tent?' -- I was told to imagine a big tent with 350 students from 80 countries around the globe mingle with other few hundreds Japanese host families and staff in the land of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. I guess that is probably the best description of where the name comes from.

Day 1 (July 29th)

I left Kyoto early morning of the 29th by the provided bus. It took us roughly 4 hours to reach Kanazawa City of Ishikawa Prefecture. When we reached there (around 11.30 a.m.), we were given 2 Japan Tent T-Shirt for the first thing. Then got changed and simply waited, waited and waited until 2 p.m. for the orientation to start. I had a chance to get to know a few new friends during the mean time.
my first 3 new friends: Lyu (Korean), Khin Mar (Myanmar) and Noemi (Hungary)

Then we were moved to another hall for the opening ceremony. Judging from all the media there, I guess it must be a very big event for the prefecture. (I realized afterward that this press company is the main sponsor of the event!)

Welcome Chorus by elementary students

Yosakoi Soran, the Japanese traditional dance

At the Welcome Ceremony, we had to listen to a lecture as well. Unfortunately, most of us fell asleep because of our tiredness from a really long transportation. Those coming from Tokyo area spent 9 hours on an overnight bus. Those from Kyuushuu also spent equivalent time. Even for the Kansai people, we had to wake up by 5 a.m. to catch the ride. I was not surprised to see our tiresome faces, but felt really bad for the speaker as well.

After that, we went for the Welcome Reception. My stomach was growling super duper bad. My lunch was served on the bus before we reached Kanazawa. That was like before 11 a.m. Then we had cocktail dinner at the party. It didn't stuff even 1/4 of my stomach. A lot of us had to go to convenient store afterward to grab something to eat. I was put in a really nice hotel nearby. Lucky me, it was a super huge single bedroom with a sofa all to myself. (I learned afterward that some had to share a bedroom with 2-3 other students. Some had a single room, but in a much smaller size. So I guess I was really lucky!)

Day 2 (July 30)

Forgot to mention that the theme for Japan Tent this year (the 18th) is 「ふるさと、たくもの心」(Our Home Ishikawa, The Hearts of Artisans), so pretty much all group activities are related to the artisans. Ishiwaka is the only prefecture in Japan that was not affected by the war. This is why all the really tradition stuff of Japan pourishes here. Everything you see here is exactly what was like in the past. I think this is a main reason why they want us to come learn the real Japanese here.


First thing this morning, we listened to a lecture by Hasegawa Takanori sensei who specialized in the history of Ishikawa Prefecture. His theme of speech was 'Craft Skills of Ishikawa’. We got the idea of what sort of craft skills are there here - the pottery (陶芸), Yuzen dyeing (for Kimono)(加賀友禅), Gold leaf (金箔) making and so on. He said when you think of たくみ (craft skills), think of 素直 (frankness) and やる気 (willingness).

Later on the morning session, we were splitted in 6 groups to explore the skills of artisans. I was with the 和菓子 (Japanese sweets making).


my group: 1 cambodian, 1 korean, 1 hungary, 1 thai and 3 myanmars
nearby group: Ryu (China) and Noi+ and Lin+ (Thailand)
my finished products

can you believe all these is made of sweets!!
In the afternoon, we joined the Tea Ceremony. My group went to Kenrokuen (one of the three most famous Gardens in Japan). Too bad we didn't get to walk around enjoying the park today. We went directly to the tea house and experience the tea ceremony. Alaine from Australia got the highest ranking seat (the first seat of the row), so she got the special treatment.


The Ceremony goes that first, you are given super sweet sweets to eat. Then very bitter tea will be served to counter the sweet effect. (or actually I should say the opposite!) The process of Tea Ceremony goes very slowly in every steps. You are supposed to appreciate the reception of the host and touch upon the heart of the tea maker.

Upon finishing up the ceremony, we all splitted in smaller groups and seperated to our town destinations. From what I understand, there are 19 cities of Ishikawa Prefecture that were involved in this project. Each town would receive a number of student and provide host family and activities for students to get to know the prefecture better.

I went to Wajima, a small town to the Northern tip of Ishikawa Prefecture facing Japan Sea, along with other 29 students. It took another 2 1/2 hours by bus to reach there. We went directly to the welcome ceremony where there were welcome speeches by the mayor and some key people, as well as chorus and Taiko performance.



I met my first host family, Yamashita-san, there at the ceremony. Pictures of them will come later on. I shared the time with other Myanmar student, Khaing. Yamashita-san owns a small guesthouse, so our first meal was exactly like the meal we would have if we stayed at a Japanese hotel! yummy!

... more to come