Christmas & New Year's Eve Parties: End of 2014

I enjoyed a nice, generally laid-back holiday season this year, celebrating Christmas and New Year’s at parties with friends new and old.

Christmas Eve

Since all my usual friends had plans with their families or significant others, I turned to the Internet to find people with whom I could celebrate Christmas Eve. I used the website meetup.com, an awesome place to find people and groups with similar interests to you and to join various events to hangout with together. With a bit of luck I found a Christmas Eve home party and decided to join.

The party was hosted by an organizer of the Tokyo Spontaneous Hangout group, and was a fun little event with a variety of both Japanese and foreigners living in Tokyo. Food included home baked turkey with cranberry sauce, rotisserie chicken, pizza, beef cake, mashed potatoes, and salads. There were desserts such as Christmas cake (a staple in Japan), and various other sweets. And we also had some drinks including glühwein and cinnamon & apple hot wine. It was a good little event and I was happy to join. Below are some pictures:

Christmas Day

Whereas the Christmas Eve party was small but filled with lots of chatting and socializing with new friends, Christmas Day was very quiet but still quite enjoyable. I met up with a friend of mine and we simply walked around Tokyo Station a bit and then had a light dinner.

New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve, my friend hosted a small party at her home (but totally unrelated to the meetup website). The plan was to chill out for awhile, cook and eat some food, have some drinks together, and then head out to Tokyo Tower for the countdown. Friends popped in and out throughout the very casual, fun party. I'm so lucky to have South American friends because (not only their awesome personalities but also) their food is super delicious :-)

When the clock started getting closer to midnight, we started gathering everyone to leave for the countdown but by departed a bit later than expected, missed our train, and thus changed our original plans. Instead of Tokyo Tower, we ended up near Shinjuku Station for the countdown but it was still a good time.

After the quick celebration we headed over to Roppongi for our first salsa dancing of 2015, and ended the night there before we all returned to our homes. There's no pictures of the salsa club (I didn't have my camera and way too dark for and smart phone photos), but it was packed as usual!

Tokyo Winter Illumination - Highlights 2014

My first winter living in Tokyo was fantastic. I couldn't afford to really travel anywhere during the holidays, but there was so much to see in Tokyo so I really enjoyed it! Although very few Japanese people actually celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, they absolutely love the themes, decorations, and illuminations associated with it.

Beautiful Illuminations at Roppongi Hills, Tokyo Tower in the distance

Most everywhere in Tokyo you can see some pretty impressive lighting displays and decorations, often referred to as "light-up" (ライトアップ) and "illumination" (イルミネーション) events. Many stores and shopping areas play full into the Christmas spirit as well, with jolly seasonal tunes and cute santa banners advertising their special holiday deals to entice shoppers to their shops. And where you find shopping and illumination displays, you often find food, beer, and hot wine as well.

At one of several German markets in Tokyo

It’s not common for Japanese family members, couples, and friends to buy loads of presents for each other, but shopping during the holidays is still a major part of the experience.

While doing some Christmas shopping near Shinjuku Station

Tokyo Station winter illumination

October Highlights (Part 3): Halloween 2015

This year's Halloween was great fun; I had work during the day at one of my high schools and afterwards went out around the city with some friends. At this particular school, students were allowed to dress up and given the chance most of them loved to do so. The students also got a kick out of the fact that I kind of dressed up too; I was a cowboy/western sheriff, which has essentially been my go-to costume for the past couple years. This kind of freedom is highly unusual in Japanese schools, so I really enjoyed it!

Scary mask but he was working diligently!

I let them enjoy their costumes as long as they were doing their work

They insisted we do a group photo after class :-)

Later after my work finished, I met up with some friends downtown to celebrate. We went out for some drinks and also go to see a lot of the sights and sounds of Halloween in Tokyo. In Roppongi, it was absolutely crazy; I don't even know how to describe it! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but here are a few pictures from my phone of the evening there:

Halloween in Roppongi is pretty wild

Doesn't look like much here, but very creepy in person 

Cosplay is very popular here, Halloween is just another excuse to do it!

Snow Festivals in Northern Japan

In my last post, I described the impressively snowy winters up here in Aomori. I detailed some of the challenges the city faces as well as some of the opportunities presented by such conditions. One of the "coolest" benefits of having so much snow is that cities can put on some nice snow festivals (雪祭り, yuki matsuri). So for my last winter-related post for the season, I'm going to highlight some of the snow festivals I've been to in northern Japan.

I'll focus on four snow festivals here. The first one I'll cover is generally considered biggest and most famous in Japan, which takes place in the city of Sapporo (札幌), located in Hokkaido Prefecture. I'll also touch on Otaru, a small city near Sapporo. The following three festivals I'll write about are smaller, more regional ones found in Aomori City (青森市), Hirosaki (弘前), and Yasumiya/Lake Towada (十和田湖). It's a good mix but certainly not all in the region. Other notable events I never had a chance to see are the Iwate Snow Festival (Iwate Prefecture), Namahage Sedo Festival (Akita Prefecture), and Yokote Snow Festival (Akita).

Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり)

The Sapporo Snow Festival is an awesome spectacle that draws millions of Japanese and foreign visitors every year. According to the official website, the first festival was held in 1950 and featured just a few modest snow statues built by high school students. For the next couple decades, the festival grew in scale and popularity. It became internationally known in 1972 when the city hosted the Winter Olympic Games; two years later it began the International Snow Sculpture Contest which various countries still participate in today.

Currently, three sites are used including Odori Park, Tsudome, and Susukino. Odori Park is the main festival area which stretches from east to west through the center of downtown Sapporo. The site features the biggest snow and ice sculptures, as well as a variety of fun events. Tsudome is the second largest site and consists two areas; you can take a rest inside the community dome, or play in the outside area that has huge snow slides and snowrafting. Lastly, Susukino is the area specifically dedicated to ice sculptures and features a few additional events like the Ice Sculpture Contest. At night, many areas are beautifully illuminated.

During my visit there in 2013, I became friends with a university student there named Shodai and stayed in his apartment for a few nights. He was an great host and showed me around which was really nice. I also meet a lot of other friendly people as well during the trip, both new and old friends. I have many lasting memories from this trip.

Sapporo Side Trip - Otaru

Otaru is a small city about 30 minutes northwest of Sapporo that also has it's own winter festival. It's significantly more modest than the Sapporo festival but is quite charming. The city itself is known for its historical buildings and arts and crafts industries. I won't go into detail but just wanted to mention that I volunteered here and it was a lot of fun! I helped prepare the grounds for visitors and built small snow lanterns, which we later lit with candles. One of the prettiest things to see here is the canal, which is filled with floating candles and looks very beautiful at night.

Aomori City (青森雪祭り)

Although it's the capital city of the prefecture, the snow festival here is relatively small and not exactly a "festival" in the traditional sense. Unlike the other events I'll discuss below, I've never seen any food vendors nor live entertainment featured (this could be have been different in the past or may be different in future years, I'm not sure). Either way, I think it's safe to say it's the smallest and least famous snow festival out of the ones I'm discussing, but still worth including because I live here.

The main displays and sculptures are built in the Aomori Station Park (青森駅前公園), which is basically an open space near the station. Other decorations are also located on the other side of the station, next to a culture and tourism facility called Wa Rasse (ワ・ラッセ), "the House of Nebuta" (Nebuta Festival). The layout and sculptures are new every year, keeping it pretty interesting for local residents. In addition to the designs specifically created for the snow festival, related winter-themed decorations and structures are displayed near Wa Rasse.

Hirosaki Snow Festival / Snow Lantern Festival (弘前雪灯篭祭り)

Hirosaki is famous for it's cherry blossom viewing in the spring, but also offers some nice views during it's snow festival in the winter. It's takes place at the Hirosaki Park (castle grounds) and features snow lanterns, mini kamakura (igloo-like snow huts), large and small snow sculptures, various food vendors, and more. During select nights, illumination events are held and is highly recommended.

Earlier, I briefly mentioned Nebuta Festival in Aomori City. This is just one of several such events in the region; Hirosaki has it's own version called Neputa, and another nearby town has yet another called Tachi-Nebuta. Each are unique in presentation but all depict similar themes and styles characteristic of Aomori Prefecture. In the Hirosaki Snow Festival, much of this imagery can be seen, such as in frames of snow lanterns (above) or walls of displayed artwork (below).

Hirosaki is also known for some historic buildings and Renaissance-style architecture. During my visit to the snow festival, there was a large model of the old Hirosaki City Library. The library (real one, not snow one) was built in 1907 to commemorate the victory in the Japanese-Russo War. Today, it's a museum near the castle you can check out, or see the snow version at the snow festival.

Snow sculpture of the former Hirosaki City Library

Lake Towada Snow Festival / Winter Story (十和田湖冬物語)

The Towada Winter Story is a snow festival held in the town Yasumiya, but the event is usually described by it's geographical location near Lake Towada (hence it's name). This is not to be confused with Towada City (45 km away).

The festival here is said to be one of the bigger ones in the Tohoku region, but I thought it felt a bit compact on my visit (in 2014). Yet there's a lot of interesting things to explore there. It features some neat illuminations, a few big snow sculptures, and a fireworks show. There are also live performances by Tsugaru shamisen players, as well as performances with namahage (生剥). Namahage are demon-like creatures from Japanese folklore (portrayed by men in costumes), who's purpose is to scold lazy or disobedient children. I don't have any pictures of this but I found it to be really interesting so check out the link if you want to learn more about it.

One of the coolest things (if I may use that pun again) to do is stop inside the Kamakura Bar. I mentioned before that kamakura are igloo-like structures. At the Towada festival there are two bars (at least in 2014) which you can enter, sit down, and get a few cocktails in glasses made of ice.

Kamakura Bar at Towada Winter Story

Lastly, the area has some great onsen (hot springs) and hotels nearby, even within walking distance to the festival. Spending the night at one is definitely worth considering if you plan on going to the festival.

Winter Trip: Part 3 (Tokyo)

New Year’s Eve

I spent the last few days of my winter vacation in Tokyo, the perfect place to celebrate New Years Eve with a good group of people. I met up with my friend, Nozomi, in the early evening on the 31st and together we headed over to Yokohama to join everyone else for the night. For those unfamiliar with Japanese geography, Yokohama and Tokyo are separate, but neighboring cities (the two most populated in Japan). Together they compose the densest part of the Greater Tokyo Area.

Once we arrived, we walked to a lively British-style pub called, “HUB”, where we met up with my friend Ken and a big gathering of other friends.

My good friend Ken and I

Nozomi and I quickly became friends with everyone there, a cool, diverse mix of people, including Japanese, Chilean, Peruvian, German, Swiss, and American, for example—many whom share multiple ethnicities (especially Japanese and Latin).

A few shots from the great night

I always find that being with a group like this is so much fun. For instance, one of the fond memories of the night was humorously trying to learn a bunch of Spanish songs. There’s not really too much I can write about the party that would be interesting to read, but it was a definitely a good time. We did what anyone would expect at a fun party; chatting, laughing, drinking, eating, and even a little dancing. For the New Year’s Eve countdown, we all walked a short distance to an area called Minato Mirai 21. Once there, we found a spot with a great view of a dazzling ferris wheel called Cosmo Clock 21, one of the largest in the world. It’s a fitting place to countdown the seconds till the new year because some consider the ferris wheel to also be the world’s largest clock.

View of Minato Mirai with Cosmo Clock 21 on the right

The claim as largest clock is based on a measurement of the entire diameter of the wheel, which indeed has 60 seats (like 60 seconds) and a large digital clock display in the center. It's worth noting, however, that the claim is not widely acknowledged. For example, it lacks physical hour/minute hands. Nonetheless, it was a great place to celebrate. The crowd was energetic and a nice fireworks show rang in the new year. Afterwards, we went back to the pub for a few more drinks. What a memorable night!

After New Years...

Highlights from next couple days included a visit to the planetarium in Ikebukuro, checking out the Christmas light-up displays at Tokyo Sky Tree, and some leisurely sightseeing around Odaiba. 

Konica Minolta Planetarium "Manten"

I had wanted to check out one of Tokyo's planetariums for a very long time, and finally got the chance during this trip! Nozomi and I chose to visit one located in Ikebukuro Sunshine City, a large commercial complex featuring shopping, restaurants, aquarium, observatory, office space, and more. There, we went to the Konica Minolta Planetarium "Manten". It features some really cool technology, consisting of a special full-dome high resolution projector (used for CG motion imaging and video), and a special star projector (capable of projecting over 360,000 stars). The show we saw was called, "Norman the Snowman" (ノーマン・ザ・スノーマン), a stop-motion/CG-animated film about the a boy and his friend snowman's snowy outdoor adventure under a starry sky. It was fun, I enjoyed it!

Planetarium "Manten"; photo by Konica Minolta

It's worth noting that Konica Minolta also operates a second planetarium, "Tenku," located at Tokyo Sky Tree. It seems to be extremely popular based on my experience though; tickets have been sold out every time I try to go. The Ikebukuro location was much less busy.

Tokyo Sky Tee Christmas Light-up

Walkway around Tokyo Sky Tree Town

We weren't specifically planning to go to Tokyo Sky Tree (it feels like I've been there a thousand times already), but we had to change our original plan slightly and Sky Tree was nearby. Still, we did get to see something new; the popular landmark was filled with Christmas lightening and some nice decorations. Although relatively modest in scale, it was pretty to see and gave us something interesting to do that night.

The Tokyo Sky Tree Town illumination runs until January 31 this year

Odaiba

On our last day in Tokyo, the weather was fantastic so we decided to take a ferry from Asakusa to Odaiba along the Sumida River. Odaiba, which is also accessable via car, bus, and train, is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay. It was originally built for military purposes, later developed as a showcase for futuristic living, and now has become a popular commercial, residential, and leisure area.

One of the landmarks to see upon arriving is the Rainbow Bridge, which connects the island to central Tokyo. The bridge is particularly worth seeing at night when its beautifully in various colors that change throughout the seasons.

Looking out towards Rainbow Bridge

Near the ferry landing is a stretch of sandy seashore and short walking path, where we enjoyed the sun for a little while. We then proceeded to Palette Town, an area consisting of all sorts of entertainment, shopping, and restaurants. One of the main attractions here is Daikanransha, another large ferris wheel in Tokyo. When it opened in 1999, it was the world's largest (currently the 12th largest ever constructed). 

Diakanransha, the giant ferris wheel in Odaiba

Apparently Japanese people love huge ferris wheels! Anyway, we enjoyed a ride on it too; the views from the top were great. We spent the rest of our time meandering around the shops and buildings. The evening came quickly and before long we had to head back to the city then return home to Aomori.

My winter vacation had finished. It was another excellent trip I've taken in the past few years. Even though it was relatively close to home, I saw plenty of new things and gained more experiences. I wonder where I'll go to explore next time?