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I enjoy watching the NHK Historical Drama "SEGODON" every week.
I feel the drama is close to me because the lord of Fukui domain, Shungaku Matsudaira and its feudal retainer, Sanai Hashimoto appeared in it. And another thing I like is its opening.
The images are very beautiful, and the music is excellent, too.
Miss Harumi Fuuki is in charge of the music, who is thirty three years old.
She is well known for the music of the NHK TV Drama "Massan".
I like the music featuring Scotland's bagpipe and tin whistle.
When I listen to the music, I recall the deep love of Massan and Ellie even now.
Anna Sato (From her Facebook page)
Anna Sato, who is from Amami-Ohima Island, sings the theme song of the "SEGODON".
I think that her way of singing is Amami's traditional one, which is different from
the way of Okinawan folk songs. It is an unforgettable singing voice.
I would like to
hear her singing live sometime. (H.S)
Anna Sato sings "SEGODON" live and Harumi Fuuki plays the piano.
Fukui Prefectural Government
*The poster of 2018 Fukui Happy and Healthy National Sports Festival is available only in Japanese page.
As I introduced in our previous blog, the National Sports Festival of Japan 2018 will begin from September 29th, 2018. It will be the second time in 50 years for it to be held in Fukui Prefecture.
On September 29th, the opening ceremony and table tennis tournaments will be held. And then after that, from September 30th, all other tournaments will be held at many venues in Fukui Prefecture.
This year’s National Sports Festival of Japan will be the special one. It’s because we will have the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, many people are interested in sports more and more these days. Also, the Emperor who will abdicate on April 30th next year and the Empress will be attending the opening ceremony. It will be the last one for him to attend the National Sports Festival of Japan as the Emperor.
You may check the schedule of the National Sports Festival of Japan 2018 from here. Venues and schedules
*Only available in Japanese
The National Sports Festival of Japan is the largest sports event in Japan and it is held every year, in which athletes representing each prefecture participate and compete with those from other prefectures.
This is a promotion video of the 2018 National Sports Festival, Fukui Prefecture. Enjoy!
A big tree was fallen on Tsunuga-jinja Shrine, one of the auxiliary shrines of Kehi-jingu Shrine.
On September 7th, soon after typhoon 21, which caused great damage in various places, has gone, I visited Kehi-jingu Shrine in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture. Though in Fukui Prefecture we had relatively little damage by this typhoon, there were a lot of scars caused by the windstorms in the precincts.
One of the supporting pillars of the torii gate in front of the hall of worships were broken, and the trees were fallen down here and there. None of the staff who worked for a long time have ever seen such damages.
Beginning with heavy snow, we had a series of big disasters such as heavy rains, unbearable heat, earthquakes and typhoons in Japan this year. I thought once again that nature is the biggest threat to humans.
T.S
Torii gate with the broken pillar.
A natural treasure, the eucalyptus tree also appears to be miserable.
“Yuino Matsuri” festival will be held at “Kura-no-tsuji” in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture from 11:00 to 21:00 on October 21st, 2018. The festival is conducted by young people from Fukui Prefecture for connecting people with foods, life and things in our lives.
At the festival, there will be several kinds of food stands such as soba (buckwheat noodles), tacos and foods using local products. There will also be various workshops that anyone from adults to children can take, such as playing Japanese drums, playing musical instruments, dancing, making small chairs, doing yoga, skateboarding, etc. Moreover, DJ Yasa, who had been the champion for five consecutive years (2007-2011) at the world’s largest DJ competition, the “DMC(Disco Mix Club) World Championship” will be giving lessons as well.
The photograph above is from last year's.
When I visited the “Yuino Matsuri” festival last year, I felt that the atmosphere of the festival was relaxing and enjoyable.
The venue was not that big, so I was able to see professional singers and dancers performing closely and it was exciting.
Other than the performance, mochi-tsuki (pounding boiled rice into mochi) was conducted and the mochi (rice cake) was served to everyone there. Also, there were some people selling bags, clothing, accessories, and artist’s work.
At night, the venue was lighted up with many handmade candles, lanterns and an open fire, and it was making the mood for the festival more exciting.
If you have a chance, how about visiting Yuino Matsuri (The festival of connecting with people, food, life and things in our lives) in Echizen City, Fukui?
I’d like to share a video of one of the artists of the festival, a reggae singer from Fukui City, “Sing J Roy”, who mainly performs in Fukui Prefecture. The song of the video I’m sharing is “Danne-za”, which means that's ok and/or don't worry in Fukui dialect. Please enjoy!
T.F
What is “Kurano-no-tsuji”…
According to the "information for visitors of Echizen City" in the official site of Echizen City
“Kura-no-tsuji” has old warehouses with white painted walls (1603-1868) which are opposite the Soja Shrine. This area flourished in the Edo Era as a stopping point for transporting supplies between the Kansai area and the Hokuriku area. During that area the row of warehouses belonged to merchants. Now, the warehouses are maintained in the district activation program, and are a must-see-spot in the downtown area.
The festival was held from September 9th
to 16th and it was the 29th to be held.
During the festival, not just daily
concerts but also workshops and classes by world-class musicians were held.
I went to its opening concert held at
Echizen Cultural Center on September 9th, 2018. The concert is sort of introducing musicians
who play in the festival,
so each of them played the piano, the violin, the cello,
the saxophone, the flute, and sings one or two songs each. It was a luxurious program
like cherry-picking.
The opening number was "Love's
Greeting" by Elgar. Some of the other songs played were Brahms' "Hungarian Dances"and "Lullaby" and "Liebesleid" by Kreisler. The musicians played not only familiar songs but less familiar, more contemporary ones too, so it was really a varied concert.
Kansai Airport had
been closed due to Typhoon No.21,
so a few of musicians from abroad changed their
flights and managed to arrive at the center just in time. They did not reveal a trace of such troubles, I was able to sense their serious attitudes and concentration from
the stage. (H.S)
Dayflowers, its Japanese name means "Grass of morning dew"
Yesterday, I went to Karigahara ski site in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture to practice drone. And to my surprise, I found various flowers among weeds there even in this season. I thought how beautiful they were. White and yellow small butterflies were flying around the yellow and blue purple flowers.
As it is said that "There is no plant named weed.", I changed the way I look the landscape only by knowing the names of plants. It's embarrassing that I don't know names of wild plants even though I often go mountain climbing.
Now I want to learn them even little by little.
TS
*This is a promotion video of the 2018 National Sports Festival, Fukui Prefecture.
Finally, the national sports festival of Japan in Fukui will begin in a few weeks! It will be the second time for it to be held in Fukui Prefecture, 50 years from the last one.
On September 29th, 2018, the opening ceremony will be held at 9・98 stadium in Fukui City, and the sports festival will be held until October 9th. After that, the National Para-Sports Festival of Japan will be held from October 13th to the 15th, 2018.
It is exciting to see that many of the great athletes in Japan will be in Fukui. They will be competing fiercely during the sports festival.
Photograph: FUKUI SHIMBUN ONLINE
For the opening ceremony on September 29th, 2018, the Emperor who will abdicate on April 30th next year and the Empress will be in Fukui to attend the ceremony. It will be the last time for him to attend the National Sports Festival of Japan.
It’s his first-time visiting Fukui in 9 years. I’ve never seen him in person. If I have a chance, I would like to see him before he abdicates.
An actor, Hiroshi Tsuda and an entertainer, Madoka Nishimura, they both are from Fukui Prefecture and will be hosting the opening ceremony. The ceremony will begin with the welcoming event performed by residents of Fukui Prefecture. Some of them are in traditional arts groups, and they will show the great traditional performances. The others conduct cultural, art and sports performances.
After that, a few events such as an event for cheering the athletes and speeches will be conducted.
At the end of the ceremony, a great and well known singer in Japan from Mihama Town, Fukui Prefecture, Hiroshi Itsuki will be singing.
In Japan, we say that autumn is the sports season as it is said as about foods, reading books, etc. How about cheering Japanese great athletes this autumn?
Another lovely Japanese film was brought
into the world.
It is the "One Cut of the Dead" finally
released in Fukui as well.
At the beginning, I thought that it was the
first time for me to see a Japanese film
whose casts are all unknown actors and I
was a little nervous about that.
So I wondered that I was fixed on film's stereotype, but
it was only momentary,
and I felt drawn into the film more and more.
By the way, Koji Ichihashi, a producer of
the film, was from Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture. And, Shinichiro Ueda, the
director, was from Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture, where is next to Fukui. So
I feel a closer connection with the film.
When Ueda came to Fukui for the premiere,
he said "The production cost was only three million yen, so our own making way made the
film worthwhile. Also, the casts were all unknown, so the film became
non-predictable." in an interview.
You can enjoy the film by various elements,
and you could be happy after you
saw the film. Seeing is believing. No prior
knowledge is necessary.
Please drop in a movie theater and just
enjoy the world of the film. (H.S)
I decided to use a simulator for practice drone manipulating.
I also use some mini-size quad copters so-called "Toy Drone", but frequent replacing batteries is bothersome.
I got a racing drone simulator software ($ 4.99 / about 555 yen), "FPV Freerider" . Transmitter is Futaba's T10J. I connected this to my MacBook with a simulator cable I bought from Amazon.
But how hard it is to control the aircraft with the simulator!
It is quite different from the drones I usually use for aerial photography and I cannot even hover normally. It took 2 days to get through the first gate.
I have gotten used to it little by little, but I don't know when it will be possible to turn the whole course.
I actually felt that what is called a drone is actually flying with a very delicate control.
I visited an annual summer event, Eiheiji Toro-nagashi (Lantern Festival), which was held along Kuzuryu River in Eiheiji Town, Yoshida-gun, Fukui Prefecture on August 25th, 2018. Toro-nagashi is a Japanese ceremony in which participants release candle-lit lanterns into a river as a way to help guide spirits to the other world.
This year was the 31st time for the festival to be held and it has been a seasonal tradition that tells summer will be ended soon. Many people in and out of the prefecture visit the festival every year.
There are several events held throughout the day, which are divided into daytime programs and night ones. I visited the night ones.
According to some acquaintances of mine who were there from the beginning of the festival, the daytime program was begun with a Japanese drum show at 2 p.m., visitors enjoyed live shows by a local reggae singer and comedians. Also, the visitors enjoyed a show of a TV superhero, the “Masked Rider” (Kamen Rider).
I arrived at around 6 p.m., and there were many visitors, and food stands which served Japanese festival common foods such as takoyaki (octopus dumpling) and okonomiyaki (savory Japanese-style of pancake). Some local dishes were served at the stands as well.
At 7 p.m., the Toro-nagashi ceremony began. Monks from Eiheiji Temple first read the sutra, and then participants released approximately 10,000 lanterns into the waters of the Kuzuryu River. Finally, at the end of the ceremony, a display of fireworks exploding in the night sky, was one of the highlights of the event.
If you have a chance to visit Fukui in the end of August, how about enjoying the lantern ceremony in Eiheiji Town, Yoshida-gun, Fukui Prefecture?
It's already been almost two months since the final match of 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Time really flies. By the way, when I watch soccer games, I think that English words are often used. However, in fact, some of them do not make sense in English.
[Japanese-English] [English]
*uniform → kit
*sta-men → starting lineup
*group league → group phase
*heading → header
*middle shoot → let fly from ***yards
*PK (sen) → penalty shootout
First of all, you might wonder whether soccer or football is right in English.
In conclusion, they are both right. In England, the country where soccer originated, it is called football, and in the United States, it is called soccer in order to differentiate from American football.
For reference, Japanese National Team's coach's English title is 'coach'.
In England, it is 'manager', in Germany it is 'trainer' and in France it is called 'sélectionneur'(selector) in French.
It's interesting because it shows each expected role depending on the country. (H.S)
FIFA selected the five players who burst on the scene at the World Cup.
Inui of Japanese National Team was also chosen!
（Photo is from FIFA's official Twitter）
The photo above is an elevator of Daimyo-machi underpass at the center of Fukui City. It has foot switches that you can press the buttons with your foot. Though the elevator is not so new, what is so-called barrier-free is considered.
If you have no handicap, pushing a switch with your foot is also useful when your hands are occupied by luggage etc. An environment that is easy for people with physical disabilities to live should also be appreciated by non-disabled people as well.
TS
