Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Dolls, dolls, and more dolls.

I lived right next door for three years, but had never actually managed to make it out to the Katsuura Big Hina Doll Festival. So this year, I was determined to go...and I did!

Hordes of people gathered to see the festival's highlight @ Tomisaki Shrine (遠見岬神社), Katsuura
This event celebrates Hinamatsuri (= Doll Festival) aka Girls' Day. Many families display hina dolls to pray for their daughters' health and happiness. Most common displays usually have 5 or 7 tiers of dolls, with the Emperor and Empress dolls on the top tier.

Can you guess how many dolls there are?
About 1,200 hina dolls line the 60 steps here at Tomisaki Shrine. Each morning of the festival, volunteers carefully set up this display, and in the evening they go back and put the dolls away again, just to set them up again the next morning. Do note that this display is not laid out in case of rain! We just missed the rain by a day, so we were really luck to be able to see this display. This event has become so famous that it is introduced in the national news around this time of the year.

Amazake!
It was pretty chilly, so we warmed up with a good serving of amazake (甘酒), which they were selling right next to the shrine stairs. The amazake here is special because it was made with Koshigoi sake - Koshigoi (腰古井) is a popular sake brewery located in Katsuura! Their amazake wasn't too sweet - like how many other amazake tend to be, but still had a full, deep flavor.

Katsuo fish mikuji for guys and tai fish mikuji for girls!
Now that we were nice and toasty thanks to the amazake, it was time to explore more of the festivities! But wait...they had a lot of fun mikuji, or fortunes, at the shrine. These were absolutely adorable!!!

Hina doll display outside one of the local businesses.
Just outside the shrine, you'll find the Katsuura Central Shopping Arcade. Many, many shops throughout the shopping arcade have set up their own doll displays inside and outside their stores, and it is fun to see what kinds of displays they have.

Street performances of matsuri flute and taiko drums. Erghhh I can't wait for matsuri season again!!!
At the Isumi Railway booth!
Ryokan Matsunoya.
Also in the middle of the shopping arcade. I didn't actually get to see what's inside because it was so crowded, but I wanted to get a picture of this ryokan (Japanese-style inn), Matsunoya. I had heard of this place before because it was built back in the Edo Period, and is a National Tangible Cultural Asset (国登録有形文化財). Next time I'd like to see what it's like on the inside...!

In front of the gates of Kakuoji Temple.
Another fantastic hina doll display. About 600 dolls stand here...it's pretty amazing!!

In celebration of the Year of the Dragon!
Just past Kakuoji Temple is the Municipal Library! If you step onto the second floor, you will be greeted by this lovely works, created by children from the local day care!


I really love this work too, which depicts Katsuura's new famous specialty, Katsuura Tantanmen (lovingly known as Katsutan)! The dolls swimming in the spoons at the bottom of the photo are really cute too.

I want to live in one of these fancy house things...
Located right next to the children's works are various displays of rare hina dolls! This may have been my favorite display from the event.

Dolls inside glass bottles!
Out the glass bottle doll displays, I loved this one the best.


This photo is really dark, but it is supposed to be of the Katsuura's morning market (朝市), another famous feature of Katsuura. The morning market dates to over 400 years ago! It is pretty much farmer's market where vendors sell their wares - usually vegetables or fish, but it can also feature goods like accessories or processed goods. The morning market is normally only held everyday from 7:00-11:00am everyday but Wednesdays, but it looks like the morning market is especially being held all day for everyday of the festival.

Another surprise display, this time right next to the Morning Market! I really love these bamboo displays...
One of the last, but best displays we stumbled upon!
The above display was hiding next to a row of vending machines. I love the cows! It is pure genius.



The Katsuura Big Hina Doll Festival will be going on until March 4, so if you can, please visit! There are still a number of other events/displays I wasn't able to stop by.

A bit of advice though:
Shuttle bus on stand-by at the Katsuura main event site.
If you do want to see all of the exhibits, you need to go by car. The Moriya (守谷)parking lot is about a 10 minute shuttle bus ride to the main event site. On the way there, you can't miss it as long as you can read "ビッグひな祭り," which is written in large letters on the many signs all along the way.


Parking costs 500 yen, and also includes a 200 yen coupon which can used towards goods/services at many of the businesses participating in the festival. Also, if you are planning on going to see the Namegawa event site, make sure you keep this ticket safe! Once you pay for parking at one of the official parking lots, you can show this ticket and park at the other lot for free.

Intense lines for the shuttle bus!
My last piece of advice...go early! The festival starts at 9am everyday. We arrived at that time and had no trouble parking. I took the photo above around noon, when we were leaving the parking lot. The lot, which is huge, was practically overflowing...as were these poor people! If you want to avoid crowds (as much as possible with an event like this), I really recommend going early. I wonder how long these people were waiting for the shuttle bus...

I have never really "celebrated" the Hinamatsuri, so it was nice getting into the celebrations! But perhaps, it was most interesting to see such a small town pour all of their energy into this event, which really has become a great success and huge inspiration!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Satisfying your sweet tooth.

Sweets & Bar Amour.
I had been eyeing this place every time I passed it on my way home from work, but never had the guts to actually stop by.

Finally, I got my chance when some of my coworkers and I went for lunch!

Oozing delicious cheese and tomato sauce.
This place has a pretty awesome lunch menu - even though it is mainly a cake shop! I chose the pizza pie lunch. Mmm cheese melting in your mouth! Lunch also comes with a drink and salad.

So many different kinds of delicious cake!
We went to celebrate one of my coworkers' birthday, so of course...birthday cake!
I got the pumpkin cheese at the front of the photo, and it was heavenly~. It even has an entire chunk of kabocha pumpkin and a whole pumpkin macaron on it! Next time I want to try the rare cheese cake pictured at the upper left of the photo.


I also went again on another day. This time, I got the quiche set! It doesn't look like much here, but it's pretty filling! The tomato thing in the black dish was fantastic too...I don't remember what it's called though.

We also added on the dessert set, which that day included cheese cake and pear jelly (I think?).
I will be stopping at Sweets & Bar Amour again sometime to satisfy my cravings for sweets!

Anyway, I've been slacking a bit in my adventuring lately, so it's time to go hunting for some more delicious eats in Chiba! : D

Monday, February 13, 2012

Eco Hotel Hanaya (エコホテル華屋)

I love Kamogawa. Even after spending three wonderful years there, I still go back an average 1-2 times per month. Often enough, it is because I am blessed to have wonderful friends who call me out for dinner (and some drinks!).

But, Kamogawa is a close but far 1 hour, 40 minute drive from Chiba City. Not to mention that Japan has really really strict laws against drunk driving (not that I would want to anyway!), I spend the night almost every time I go down to Kamogawa.

It's always fun to stay with friends, but I also like to take advantage of the fact that I am no longer a local resident, and explore the city from a more "tourist" point of view - including trying to stay at the different hotels, ryokan, etc. all over the place.

Awhile back, I had dinner scheduled two nights in a row in central Kamogawa. As much as I was tempted to stay at my beloved Hidamari Inn, I knew it would be a waste because I would be out about the entire day and night, and only return to the hotel late at night to sleep. So I decided to look for something simple and cheap!

Entrance to the hotel.
After a bit of research, I was pleased to find the Eco Hotel Hanaya!

It is located just 5 minutes by foot from JR Awa-Kamogawa Station, and in the heart of central Kamogawa. Many of Kamogawa's eateries and izakaya are also located in this area, so it was just what I was looking for - somewhere I could easily go in and out of by foot.

Single Western-style room.
The Hanaya was renovated in August 2011, so it's really clean! Before then, I think it was a ryokan or minshuku (Japanese B&B) with a pretty long history. It may not be the fanciest place, but I stayed in this single for just 4000 yen per night...a total steal when it comes to Kamogawa! The cheapest rates for single guests in Kamogawa are probably around 8000 yen on average - and you'll be hard pressed to find somewhere with a better location at this price.

The single room has a Western style bed, toilet, sink, fridge, and TV - perfect! There is no separate bath for this room, but the Hanaya has two large baths for the women alone - obviously, I don't know what the men's side was like, but I would assume it's the same. During my two night stay, I didn't run into any other guests (though there were definitely other women staying there at the same time). Some of the other rooms do have private baths though.

Recycling, laundry, and other amenities.
As an "eco hotel," the Hanaya is not only nice on your wallet, it's environmentally friendly too! Every floor had recycling bins, and bags to put used sheets/towels in. Electric pots, tea sets, etc. are also set here instead of inside of rooms, so guests can use them if needed.


I don't smoke, so it is a huge merit to be able to stay at a hotel and not come out smelling like smoke. More than often, I've stayed at business hotels that reek of smoke even when the room is supposedly "non-smoking." So this was a lovely surprise for me!


The entrance to the road the Eco Hotel Hanaya is on can be pretty difficult to find though, especially if you're going by car. In this photo, the road is going towards Awa-Kamogawa Station...but the two signs with the arrows are where the alleyway entrance is!


Coming from Awa-Kamogawa Station, if you pass this place, Curry House Satsuki, you've gone too far! The road is located between Satsuki and Yakult.



Anyway, if you are headed to Kamogawa and looking for a place to stay - but want to stay somewhere cheap, clean, and accessible, this is the place for you! The more people you have, I think you can get even better rates. I'm not sure what the details are, but the Hanaya was featured on a TV show because of its special 980 yen rate plan! It might definitely be worth looking into...

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

S1 Grand Prix = Strawberry Sweets in Sammu!

In line and desperate for strawberry sweets!
A couple weekends ago, I was up in Naruto, Sammu City, to attend the first ever S1 Grand Prix!

...and what is the S1 Grand Prix, you ask? Simple enough...a contest in Sammu City to see who can make the most delicious strawberry sweets!!

Since this is the first year they have ever done this event, my partner-in-crime and I agreed that we wouldn't really have to rush to get there. Boy were we wrong! We got there around 1pm, about 2 hours since the beginning of the event, and there was hardly anything left! Voting was completely over too.

Milk strawberry ice cream! It was seriously amazing.

Still, we managed to get strawberry daifuku, milk strawberry ice cream, and a couple other items that were probably not-so-strawberry related, but that stores had brought in to sell to people who had missed out on the sweets for the contest.

It was really cold, but the ice cream was so good it didn't matter!
Award winners, together with CHI-BA+KUN!
We weren't able to participate in the voting, but we did get to see the awards ceremony! I can't remember what everyone made, but I do know that the grand prize went to some place that had made a strawberry roll cake....which was totally gone by the time we had gotten there.

There were definitely a couple of foods I wished I had been able to try though! I remember there was a sign for strawberry ramen as well as for strawberry gnocchi...in any case, this is definitely an event to keep an eye out for! It was pretty popular despite only being the first year, so I'm looking forward to see how it will improve and expand next year.

Here's the event info in English though, just for your reference:
http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kokusai/english/information/residents/news/issues/january2012.html#event0103

Thursday, February 2, 2012

For your inner pyromaniac.

I introduced Setsubun in my last post, but there's one more annual February 3rd event that I need to introduce!

Giant bonfires galore! Even if it's freezing outside, standing near one of these will warm you up in no time whatsoever.
In the Futomi (太海) area of Kamogawa, each year there is a tradition called 越年 (おとし). Basically the locals build 5 giant bundles of bamboo a different points along the beach. These things are between 15-20 feet tall....and then at around 6pm, the locals light them on fire, along with New Year's decorations, etc. to burn away the bad luck.

Spot the little round things to the bottom right?
I was trying to get a better shot of the burning daruma dolls, which are the round things to the bottom right. But it was really HOT! It must have been below freezing that night, but we were sweating because well, it was a pretty awesome bonfire.

Fish straight from the fire!
Afterwards, the locals - many of them fishermen! - randomly passed out fried fish freshly cooked in the mini fires next to the giant bonfires. It was a really nice way to close out the night, chatting with the friendly locals over toasty (and really tasty!) fish.

A little bit more about Futomi's Otoshi Festival in Japanese:
http://www.kamonavi.jp/ja/mame/mame_000025.html

This year's Otoshi will be at Futomi Beach - fires are scheduled to be lit at 6pm! If you're in the Southern Chiba area, this is too awesome of an event to miss out on.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Hello February.

January has passed by with a flash, and here we are already in February! It's still pretty cold, but there are a lot of awesome spring events coming up here in Chiba!

The mamemaki ritual at Seichoji Temple in Kamogawa.

 Right off the bat, Setsubun (節分) is coming up on this Friday, February 3. This is a fairly popular tradition in Japan, most notable for the mamemaki ("bean throwing") ritual part. Some people do this at home, but this tradition is also celebrated at many temples all throughout the country. These celebrations draw massive crowds who come to get their hands on some of the fukumame (福豆, roasted "lucky" beans). Eating these beans is supposed to bring you good luck!


People are dead serious about getting their fukumame! There's even someone using a plastic bag to try to horde the beans.
Some packets of fukumame I got when I joined in the festivities last year. The top pack had a 5 yen coin in it for an extra dose of luck! I felt super special.

Now that I live closer, I really really want to go to the Setsubun Ceremony at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple!!! It's such a huge deal that they broadcast the ceremonies at Narita on NHK, and then they show clips of the ceremony on the morning news the next day too.

This is because many temples invite big name guests to help throw out the fukumame! Each year, these big name guests usually are actors/actresses from the current/recent NHK taiga (historical) drama as well as famous sumo wrestlers.

The guest list for Naritasan Shinshoji's Setsubun ceremonies include Kenichi Matsuyama, Hiroshi Tamaki, Naoto Fujiki, Kyoko Fukada, and Yasuko Matsuyuki! Hakuho, Baruto, and a couple other popular sumo wrestlers will be in the house too!

More details about the Setsubun Ceremony at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple:
http://www.naritasan.or.jp/setubun.html (Japanese)

More details about Naritasan Shinshoji Temple in English:

http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/kokusai/english/information/residents/news/issues/spot.html

This year, the mamemaki will be held three times (11:00am, 1:30pm, and 4:00pm) at Naritasan Shinshoji. Please note that the guest celebrities will only be participating in the 11:00am and 1:30pm sessions.

Happy bean catching!!!