Raamen shirt

When it turns cold here in Japan, nothing warms you up quite like a bowl of raamen noodles. I fought off a few colds and got through last winter by making regular visits to the local Tan Tan Raamen shop, it's great stuff. Somehow, though, I always find myself wearing the same shirt when I get a raamen urge. That'd be fine if the shirt wasn't white or eating raamen wasn't such a potentially messy exercise, but all the slurping involved in enjoying a bowl of noodles makes raamen and white shirt a bad combination. I found this out initially when I was snowboarding in Gifu last season, and said shirt has caught me out again a couple of times already this autumn, not only with raamen but with other messy dishes. So now I have a "raamen shirt" - that is, the shirt to be avoided when I want raamen. :)

Knowing I might be eating more noodles, I wore something else when I headed back to Nishiiya for its annual festival of autumn colours just a couple of weekends ago. The leaves on the trees of Tokushima's tallest peak, Mount Tsurugi, had already turned and fallen by early November, but Iya is not quite that cold and the timing was just right - beautiful shades of gold, red and brown all the way in as we drove up the old road into the valley. Just as it was last year, the Momiji Matsuri was a perfect time to get back to my old home and catch up with things.

First stop, Kazurabashi. Masaki-sensei and her husband were there checking tickets as people filed onto the bridge, and they were kind enough to let me cross at no cost. At the other end, we turned right up the hill a bit towards the site of a huge new carpark that is due to be finished in February. Next year's festival and other big events are likely to be held in the facilities that will accompany the carpark, but as the village mayor was explaining as he opened the festival, this is the last time that the village called Nishiiyayama-son will host a Momiji Matsuri. From April, Nishiiya will merge with several other local government zones to become Miyoshi City. Hard to think of Iya as a city, but this is how things have gone all over Japan this past couple of years. I'm not sure how much change it will really mean for the people of Iya - I'm told, for example, that it is likely there will still be a foreign English teacher just for Nishiiya. In any case, the carpark is a sign of the times. And I guess it'll be easier to find somewhere to park at this time next year.

The festival's main stage was erected in a spare lot just near said carpark. Performances were already underway by the time we arrived, so I said hello to a few people, went backstage for a free bowl of soba noodles, and then left my friend there and headed back down the hill to drop in on Toda-san's little restaurant by the waterfall. Toda-san offered me a roasted 'amego' river fish for nicks, too - the perks of teaching in a small community! - and I was about to head back when I noticed a couple of familiar faces just finishing their own lunch. Not Iya natives, however, but a couple from Tensui-ren, all the way out here in the valley! Turns out that Morimoto-san and his wife spent a few years working in Ikeda, perhaps twenty years ago now, and they often headed into Iya and to this very restaurant to relax in their free time. Small world!

We enjoyed the rest of the day's performances together, including an obligatory spot of Awa Odori. I also got to see many of my former students - they all look much more mature than when I left them, kids grow so quickly! One of the boys I taught at junior high school, Daisuke, due to graduate from high school next March, is now apparently the second-ranked young wrestler in Shikoku. He's a big lad and he has the wrestling ears to prove it! A few of the others were performing in drumming groups or in Iya's traditional dances. They all looked well and, thankfully, I remembered everyone's name.

I caught up again with the Morimotos just this past Saturday at the Tensui-ren end-of-year party. It was just the first of many such parties coming up for me before I head home to Australia for Christmas. Most of the time I spend with people in Tensui-ren is for either practicing or performing, so I was really looking forward to a chance to be social. True to form, it was a fun night. Good food, lots of walking around to share drinks with people, and the night wouldn't have been complete without some silly performances. My personal favourite featured Bruce Lee versus the leather-clad guy from the Village People - enough said! :) I was especially glad to see a couple of good friends walk away with the big prizes in the night's raffle - a DVD player to Sawada-san and a nice bike to Yumi. I couldn't carry onto the after-party, thanks to a touch rugby tournament the next day, but I hope the next chance to hang out with the Tensui crew isn't too far away.

This next weekend will see me in Takamatsu for the long-awaited Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I'm not expecting stellar results, but here's hoping I don't do too badly! Then it's just a couple of weeks of classes, a few Christmas visits to local orphanages, a couple of end-of-year parties, and one last Awa Odori performance for the year before I can get on a plane and go home. You beauty! Seeing out the year with family and friends will be a great way to finish off 2005. Hope to see some of you very soon!

Lots of love,

Dave