Today I attended my first wake in Japan. One of my co-worker's father passed away over the weekend. Today everyone from the school that I work at went to pay their respects. Some of the school staff even helped run the wake. I followed one of my co-workers to the venue. At first it looked like the wake was in a house, but perhaps it's actually a community building, since there was no furniture in either of the rooms I entered. Either way, outside the building there was a tent set up. There were workers under the tent who collected Japanese money envelopes from everyone that attended. They also welcomed everyone and gave then a small folded card that contains some information, I think it was about the life of the deceased man.

Past the tent, there is an entry way and a shelf to leave your shoes. Everyone must take off their shoes. The sliding doors were wide open and I could see the close family of the deceased, including my co-worker) sitting in seiza on the tatami just inside the room that the entrance leads into. My co-worker sat closest to the entry door. He wore a full black suit. Next to him was a woman in a grey kimono, I'm pretty sure that"s his wife, behind them were some other familuy members all in black and to the left of them were their children. The children all wore their school uniforms- they did not wear black outfits. I thought that was interesting.

So, after taking off my shoes, I followed my school secratery into the first room. We knelt down on the tatami, walked up to the family on our knees and then bowed deeply until our heads and hands touched the floor. The family of the deceased also bowed the same way. We exchanged condolences and then bowed again. After that we get up, to cross into the next room. I followed the secratery and those ahead of me as they all walked over to the entry of the other room in a hunched over fashion. AS soon as we were at the edge of the two rooms, we knelt down and then entered the room by walking on our knees. This next room was the main room.

In the main room- there were tiers of flowers along the back wall. At the top center of all the flowers was a big black and white portrait of the man that had passed away. At middle level of the wall, or the middle tier the coffin lay between lots of flower. The coffin was closed and covered with a colorful material- so all you can see is the very top of it. At the bottom of all the tiers a monk sits in seiza and chant Buddhist prayers. A few feet back from this all is a long coffee table. It is covered with a white cloth and there are three small insence burning pots and next to them, three small containers with insence dust.
When we enter the room all of this is to our left. To our right are many people sitting in seiza and praying. I believe they are friends and other family members of the deceased man. When we enter the room, we first bow deeply to the people that are praying. Some of them bow back while others continue to pray. We then wait for our turn to walk up t the coffe table area. There is enough space for three people at a time. When it's our turn-- the secretary and I walk up to the table on our knees, return to seiza position, bowed deeply, and prayed. First we both took a sprinkle of the incense dust and scatered it on the pot that was lit to burn the incense. Next, my school secratery prays first, by putting her hands together in prayer with the buddhist prayer beads handing down on her hands. I noticed that everone that attended the wake brought their own prayer beads-- well, everyone except me. So when the secratery finished praying,she gave me her prayer beads and showed me how to hold them. Then I said a small orayer quietly for a minute. That was it. We then bowed again, walked back to the edge of the room on our knees, bowed deeply to the people that were sitting and praying, and then we got up and crossed back to the previous room. One more time we knelt down, bowed deeply in front of the close family, and then we got up and exited, picking up our shoes on the way out.

I was very supried by how fast it all was. We were only in there for a few minutes, probably no more than 5. There is alot of bowing but very little that you have to say. I was worried before I got there because I didn't know what I should say. I got by fine just by saying, "I'm sorry for your lose." I commented to the secreatery and another teacher that I was suprised at how quick it all was. They told me that in the pat everyone would sit and pray along as the monk chants, but that now and days only the close family and friends stay and pray for a long time. Everyone else just makes a quick appearance to pay their respects.

Although I hate attending wakes and funerals, the one today was interesting. I felt good for going and paying my respects to my co-workers father, and he truely looked pleased that I took the time out to go there. I like that it was all very simple, and yet very heartfelt. I never anticipated attending such an event in Japan, so it really was a unique experience.

Nagano Soccer and the Fukui Fist

Fall has quit possibly become my favorite season, since I came to Japan. The summer humidity and heat passes, but the says stay sunny. I'm happy greeted with the return of my favorite conbini food-- pizzaman and kurryman. Halloween is close at hand, so I get to weird out my Japanese neighbors by putting up pictures and figures of ghosts, spider, bats, and witches all over my windows and doors, and ... the NAGANO SOCCER TOURNAMENT!

Every October, Nagano hosts a two day soccer tournament. Teams from all over Japan (but mostly the east side) come and compete. From my first year in Fukui, I have always gone to the Nagano tournament and this year was no exception.

Well, ok there was an exception. This was the only year we had actual practices that the teammembers attended, the first year we got actual uniforms-- well the tops, and the first year we kicked ass on the first day of the tournament and qualified to play in the "Cup" the following day.

The tournament is always a ton of fun, but this year was truely amazing. We had a great team, played hard, and did great. Our first day we played three games. The first game was verse Chiba. The game went into penalty kicks to decided the winners- after the score was 0-0 after 2 halves. The other team started first and then we'd alternate sides for who kicked. On our last kick it was still 0-0, Chiba had failed to get any shots, and so far we missed our first two. It was all on Naomi. We cheered from the side. She took a breath and shot. GOAL!!!!!! We won our first game.

From there the day continued to be great. We won one more game, but lost one, too. Everyone played hard and had fun-- and we really bonded as a team and as friends.

After a day of soccer, we went enjoyed a hot bath in the onsen, followed by dinner with the Fukui boys-- who were also kicken some ass on the men's pitch, and then it was time for the party.

Fukui did it up right, not only on the pitch but on the dancefloor too. Fukui was out on the dance floor till the end of the night, as is tradition. We laughed, we danced, we drank, and then we partied some more.

The second day the 16 teams were split into two tournaments. The top 8 teams played for the "Cup" and the weaker 8 teams played for the "Plate." This was the first time the Fukui girls made it into the Cup tournament and we were determined to give it our all. Unfortunantly so was the Onnabelieveables team. They won it 3-1. They had some amazing talent (like the girl who shot the corner kick right into the goal) on their team, and we put up a good fight, so no one was too crushed. When we found out that Onna took the Cup and that we were the only team they didn't shut out (we got the only goal in against Onna the whole weekend)-- it confirmed what we already knew-- we have one kick ass team. Big thanks to all my soccer girls--- Laura, Bronwen, Steph, Amiena, Mari, Naomi, Sarah, Melanie, Kate, Katie, Mirta, and Maya. I love you all-- thanks for an awesome weekend.

Watch out Japan, the Fukui Fist will be back in the Spring and next time we're leaving Nagano with both the men's and women's Cup!!!!

Friday the 13th!

So today is Friday the 13th! Unlike most people, I'm not worried about misfortune or bad things happening. It's actaully one of my favorite days because rarely does the 13th land on a Friday.

At the JHS I work at here in Japan, the teachers sometimes explain things to the kids in Japanese, for the sack of convience and to speed things up. I recently had a class with one of my JTEs (Japanese teacher of Engligh), and although sometimes I tune out when he speaks in Japanese- that particular day I listened. We were discussing days of the week. Since he noticed Friday the 13th, he brought it up. I mentioned I thought it was a great day, while he commented on how it's associated with bad luck. Then he proceeded to explain in Japanese the origin of Friday the 13th and it being considered unlucky. His explaination was that Jesus Christ died on a Friday and that Friday fell on the 13th- and so that's why people in western cultures believe it's unlucky. I understood his Japanese explanation, and said-- No I really don't think that's why Friday the 13th is unlucky. To that he asked me, "Why then?" I had no reply.

So I decided to do some research and find out. This way I can stop him in class when he tells this redicoulus story of how Christ died on Friday the 13th marking it as an unlucky day. So , here's what I found:

Why is Friday the 13th considered Unlucky?

There are myths about both Fridays and the number 13, and why both are considered unlucky.

Fridays, for example, are hailed as a particularly significant day in the Christian tradition. Obviously, there is Good Friday, the day Jesus Christ was crucified. Ok, so Christ was crucified on a Friday , but no mention of it being the 13th! But according to Christian lore, Adam and Eve also supposedly ate the forbidden fruit on a Friday, the Great Flood started on a Friday, the builders of the Tower of Babel were tongue-tied on a Friday and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday.

Of course, the Bible doesn't specifically note many these events occurring on Fridays, and Emery explains some of the tradition may have stemmed from the fact that pre-Christian pagan cultures hailed Friday as holy days. The word "Friday" is, in fact, derived from a Norse deity who was worshipped on the sixth day of the week and who represented marriage and fertility. Fridays in the early Norse culture were associated with love and considered a good day for weddings.

Over time, however, mythology transformed the Norse fertility goddess into a witch, and Fridays became an unholy Sabbath. Incidentally, the goddess' sacred animal was a cat, which may explain the legendary connection between witches and cats, as well as the superstition about black cats heralding bad luck.

In addition to the legendary significance of Fridays, the sixth day of the week also was execution day in ancient Rome and later Hangman's Day in Britain.

The number 13 also has mythological and religious symbolism.

Both the Hindus and Vikings reportedly had a myth in which 12 gods were invited to a gathering and Loki, the god of mischief, crashed the party and incited a riot. Tradition in both cultures holds that 13 people at a dinner party is bad luck and will end in the death of the party-goers.

Following in that vein, the Last Supper in Christian tradition hosted 13 people and one betrayed Christ, resulting in the crucifixion.

The number 13 also has been associated with death in other cultures. The ancient Egyptians, for example, believed life unfolded in 12 stages, and the 13th stage was death. The Egyptians considered death a part of their ultimate journey and looked forward to the spiritual transformation ‹ thus 13 was not an unlucky number in their culture ‹ but like so many others, the tradition warped through time and cultures, eventually associating the number 13 with a more negative and fearful interpretation of death.

Finally, the number 13 may have an unlucky connotation because of its association with the lunar calendar (there are 13 lunar cycles in a year) and with femininity (women have 13 menstrual cycles in a year).

Then, there's the event that ties the two superstitions together.

Though it's clear that superstitions associating Fridays and the number 13 with misfortune date back to the ancient times, some sources assign the precise origin of the black spot on the day itself, Friday the 13th, to a specific historical event;.

It was on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307, that France's King Philip IV had the Knights Templar rounded up for torture and execution. The Knights Templar were an order of warriors within the Roman Catholic Church who banded together to protect Christian travellers visiting Jerusalem in the centuries after the Crusades. The Knights eventually became a rich, powerful ‹ and allegedly corrupt order within the church and were executed for heresy.

So there you have it. There are a series of historic events and myths, may of which were tainted by the Chatholic institution into having negative connotations. True Christ was crucified on a Friday (he didn't die till Saturday by some sources) but no proof of it being on the 13th.

Sorry Mr. XXX (JTE), Friday the 13th is not unlucky because Christ died on Friday the 13th.