Miscancellous

American World (A5F)

In Kitakami, there is a place called "American World." At American World there is a ferris wheel, a CD/video store, a bookstore, a karaoke shop and many other places to eat and shop. We can go shopping or just hang out there. Since many stores are all located in the same place, it seems like an American mall to us. Especially on the weekend many people come here and at night the lights on the ferris wheel are really beautiful. American world is a very fun place, so if you ever come to Kitakami please go and see it.

Judo (B1M)

Judo has been one of the Japanese arts of fighting for hundreds of years, and developed from 'Jujutsu.' Its waza, or skills, consist of 'nage-waza,' (throwing skills), 'katame-waza,' (tightening skills), and 'atemi-waza,' striking skills.
a) Nage-waza are divided into two categories: 'tachi-waza,' to defeat the opponent from the posture of standing, and 'sutemi-waza,' a desperate attack to throw the opponent.
b) Katame-waza are categorized into three. 'Osae-waza,' a mat hold, 'shime-waza,' tightening the opponent's movement, and 'kansetsu-waza,' tightening the opponent's joints.
c) Atemi-waza is a skill to thrust, kick, or hit the opponent's vital points, using a fist, finger tip, knee, head, elbow, heel and so on.
Judo especially stresses 'beginning with a bow and finishing with a bow.' To bow the opponent is to respect the opponent's character, and express respect. Thus Judo is a sport which makes much of humanity.

Kendo (B5M)

Kendo is a martial art that has been practiced in Japan since the Edo period. In kendo a sword made of bamboo called a shinai is used to compete. The rules of kendo are as follow. First, there are two kinds of matches, individual bout and group bouts. The group bouts are made up of five matches, each person on the team fighting one at a time. The team with the most victories wins. To win you must score 2 points.
In Kendo, your dougu (protective equipment) and sinai are very important. The mask worn is called a men, the gloves are called kote and the chest protector is called a dou. Also there is a piece of equipment called a tare that is wrapped around the waist and protects the midsection.

Konjikido Temple (C3M)

Konjikido temple is in our prefecture, Iwate, and it was made by Fujiwara-no Kiyohira who governed the Tohoku area (northern part) of Japan in the 12th century. It is one of the buildings of Chusonji Temple, and everything including its floor, roofs, walls, pillars are covered with thin gold leaf.
There are 3 Buddhist altars inside of Konjikido, and 3 mummies are inside the altar. They are Kiyohira, the first leader of Fujiwara Family, Motohira, the second, and Hidehira, the third. The head of Yasuhira, the fourth generation, is also inside. Plenty of gold and silver is used for the altars, and there are 3 images of Buddha, 6 stone images of Jizo, and 2 images of God which are all made of gold. The pillars which contain mother-of-pearl made of luminous shells are said to shine in seven colors. All of the decoration in Konjikido is so beautiful that they are said to shine by themselves. By the way, Konjikido is surprisingly small, and its size is only 200 inches in square.
A temple with such decoration could never seen before in that age. So Konjikido is one of the National Treasure in Japan. That means we cannot go inside, nor touch it because it is protected by a hard case. You cannot take pictures, either. So you can only take a look at details in leaflets and guide books.

Japanese Houses (D2M)

We would like to tell you about Japanese houses. Old Japanese houses were very different from the ones that we live in today. First, they all had a sitting room called a zashiki were the family spent most of its time. The floors had thick mats made of woven straw called tatami over them. Also, there were no doors as we would call them today but instead fusuma and shoji. Fusuma are doors made of wood and opaque paper. Shoji are doors made of wood and thin paper that the light can partially filter through, almost like a curtain. Both of these kinds of doors open not inward or outward but instead slide sideways. The toilet was a whole dug in the ground outside.
Japanese houses today are mostly Western-style. The floors are made of hard wood although most homes still have one small room with a tatami floor. The toilet is, of course, indoors. Instead of shoji there are curtains although there are usually still fusuma in the tatami room.

Osaka (D4F)

We would like to tell you about Osaka, the second biggest city in Japan.
Perhaps the most well known symbol of Osaka is Osaka Castle. It is a very big castle, on its roof there are two huge gold covered sculptures of dolphins called 'Shachihoko.' There is another famous symbol of Osaka is 'Tsu-ten-kaku.' The main tower of it is over 103 meters high and it was made as an imitation of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Osaka is known for its many delicious foods. One of these is called takoyaki. It is made by making a batter of flour, egg and water which is then cooked into a small round shape with a piece of octopus in the middle. People in Osaka eat this as a snack. Another well-known food in Osaka is called Okonmiyaki. Okonomiyaki is made by mixing flour, egg, water, thinly cut cabbage along with whatever else you might like and cooking it on a flat grill. You then put sauce and mayonnaise on top eat.

Kawara Tiles (D4M)

Kawara tiles are used for the roof on some of the old houses in Japan. But even now, there are houses with roofs using Kawara tiles, and the number of houses using them differs in different areas. A Kawara is very sturdy as it is used for the practice and demonstration of karate as well. To make a Kawara tile soil is burned and strengthened. The shape is that of a wave and its size is about about 25 cm long and18cm wide. It doesn't rust, though it becomes dirty easily. There are many kinds of Kawara tiles: Sanshu-kawara, Ibushi-kawara, red kawara, Seyu-kawara, La-France-kawara, Italian-kawara and S-shaped-kawara.

Nara (D5F)

Nara was the city which prospered long ago. So there are a lot of precious historic spots in Nara.
First of all, one of the most thing is 'Nara-no Daibutsu,' Nara's great statue of Buddha. Emphasis was put by the Emperor by taking out an order that it might be completed in 743. Later 16meters-tall (53ft. tall) Nara-no Daibutsu was rebuilt with 5 billion yen ($50 million) and 2.6 million people in 7 years.
Secondly, 'Horyu-ji' temple is famous. It is big temple, and is the oldest wooden building in the world.
Thirdly, 'Sho-so-in' has some beautiful glass bowls which came over the Silk Road, 5-string 'biwa' with 'Rabin,' a lute which the only thing in the world, and so on.
The view of Nara is like the picture in the right. There are some areas which still remains the image of 'Heijokyo,' a capital through 710-794 AD. Houses with white wall outside and with lattice stand quietly there.