Please come to FURIKAERU:
Another Look at Tokushima
Tuesday, July 25th- Saturday, July 30th
10am-6pm
WAZA NO YAKATA, Kamiita
088-637-6555

This art show features four foriegn artists, both living in and inspired by Tokushima. Michael Liska: Photography. Endrene Shepherd: Watercolours and Pen & Ink. Amy Sturgeon: Oils. Tommy Yu: Watercolours. From Ishii town, take route 34 north to Kamiita. Go straight and pass Itano's fire station, and temple #5. Turn left at the next stoplight and continue for about 2 km. Waza no Yakata is on the left.

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OK, so if you're not in Japan, I'll forgive you for not attending. I have yet to make it out to see the show myself, but the gallery is just stunning (Mike showed me some photos from last year's show) and I am amazed by my unbelievable good fortune in being included. I was expecting a semi-abandoned warehouse, but this is a gallery, folks. Huge expanses of pristine white walls and hardwood floors. Wow! Also, major kudos go out to my framers, GINCHO. For about $600 CDN, 18 pieces of artwork were matted and framed professionally and delivered to Kamiita. Beat that!

Another busy week has passed. I'm thinking about taking on a private student; a five-year-old who spent the last two years in the USA. I can't imagine a better situation for my first private; someone I can play with! Play to learn, and learn to play, that's my motto... I'm meeting his dad tomorrow for lunch and an interview.

This past week EARTHQUAKES have been brought up eerily often. I had been thinking about how someone had said that the next 'big one' was meant to have it's epicenter in Shikoku when Ume phoned and said that her dad was worried about me, and wanted to be sure I knew where to go in case of an emergency. Chad emailed me and asked about earthquakes. And then: Yoshino's latest 'adventure' was to take me to the Tokushima Prefectural Fire Training Academy and the free disaster prepardness center, ostensibly, 'for fun'. I sat through three scary and unintelligible short films about tsunamis, earthquakes, fires and typhoons. Then I got to go into the earthquake simulator and have the living daylights scared out of me. We also tried putting out a fake fire caused by a paper airplane getting stuck in an electric heater, ran through smoky corridors to escape from another fake fire, and went in a wind room to feel the potential force of a typhoon. I also got photos of Yoshino getting frisky with a CPR dummy. But it was the earthquake room that had the greatest effect on me... I have since put together my emergency kit, and am trying to register with the Canadian embassy, just-in-case. I've also taken my stereo off of its wobbly pedstal and put it on the floor. Now let's hope that my precautions won't come in handy.

After work last night I biked to Bubu's house after he sent me a message reading "sashimi sashimi! shochu shochu! come come! right now! ASAP!". I arrived to find Bubu, Haruko, Eri, Miho and Mr. Yakuza (don't know his real name, but Bubu always teases him about looking like a gangster). Lots of fresh tai (snapper), jaga nikku, various salads, special edamame that smelled like green tea, and peaches with maple syrup (thanks mom) for dessert! Bubu showed me the letter he had written to thank my mom and dad for the gifts they'd sent, and said that he hadn't sent it yet because he was dissatisfied with it. (I thought it was quite nice). Then, being quite drunk, he ran upstairs to get an expensive obi to show me his family emblem (Stylized butterfly). When I gushed about it, he and Haruko took me upstairs and started pulling out boxes of carefully wrapped kimono and obi to show me... two, having belonged to his mother (and perhaps her mother before her) were mindblowingly detailed, stitched in gold with images of ancient Japanese daily life. One obi was worth in excess of 200,000 yen. Haruko had never worn them, claiming they were new to her, and only to be worn on happy occaisions. I assured her that she could wear one of them to my wedding (whenever that may be)! Back down at the dinner table, everyone began asking me if I had eaten unagi (eel) on sunday. Of course! It was National Eat Eel Day, so I would be missing out on some cultural experience if I didn't eat eel! This day is always planned to fall on what has been historically, the hottest day of the year in Japan. Barbequed eel is quite oily, and is meant to give one energy during the heady days of summer. Outside the supermarket at Fugi Grand, there was even a kiddie pool filled with terrified eels swimming for their lives as little children tried to grab them. Of course, I had to try too... I'm sure I presented quite a spectacle to the surrounding adults. Six children on their knees splashing in the eel pool; 5 little Japanese ones, and one great big blonde one!