YANAGIDA VILLAGE
karaokecontest
 Every year, Yanagida has the Gozare Matsuri at Shokubutsu Koen, the local botanical garden/park.  This is a picture of me about to compete in a karaoke contest.  I received third place for singing a Beatles' tune.  My prize--two bottles of sake  and a certificate.

This is another picture from the Gozare Matsuri.  These are Taiko drummers.  The drummers use two very thick drum sticks to pound out a quick, throbbing rhythm on various sized drums.  They beat on both the tops and the sides of the drums in order to create an awesome blend of sound.
 taikodrummers
karuta
 Here is a picture of me teaching elementary students.  The children are playing a game called karuta that involves picture cards.  Since they are learning English, the cards being used are colored with different kinds of animals and actions.  I call out the name of the animal in English and the children rush around the gym trying to be the first to capture the correct card.  The child who has the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.
This is the room where I lived during my first year in Japan.  Notice the tatami mat flooring and the wooden archway.  The tatami mats are made of straw and have a cool, semi-spongy feeling that make them comfortable to sit or walk upon.  I have taken the two sets of shouji (sliding doors that serve as room dividers) out of the wooden archway in order to make the two smaller rooms into one larger room.
 myroom
kabuki

This is a scene from a kabuki play that was acted out at the Yanagida town hall.

Here is a picture looking westward down main street in Yanagida.  The white building is a small grocery store.  There is another small grocery store across the side street from it, but it is not visible from this angle.  If you were to turn left down the side street, you could walk about 50 yards to the Orange Pecoe (see picture below) and have a cup of hot tea or a refreshing Sapporo draft beer with lunch or dinner.
 street
orangepecoe




This is the Orange Pecoe, a tea lounge that serves tea, beer, and small meals.  It is one of the main restaurants and watering holes in Yanagida.  The majority of the restaurant meals I ate and the beer I drank was consumed here with my good friend, Takagi-san.

Mr. and Mrs. Kitagata are the owners of the Orange Pecoe.  Mr. Kitagata was extremely kind and helpful during my three years in Japan.  He helped me to acquire necessary household items and make useful connections with other important people in the village who could help me.  Basically, he was the ambassador of Yanagida.  His assistance made life in the village enjoyable.
 kitagatas
takagi
 This is my good friend, Takagi-san.  Takagi-san is a very down-to-earth mechanic who was my best friend and drinking buddy during my three years in Yanagida.  We often ate, drank, chatted, and sang karaoke together. 

Here are several rice fields blowing to and fro in the gentle coastal breeze that flows over the peninsula.  Then hills and homes in the background create a contrasting framework to the beautiful sea of green.
 waving rice
village1

Here is a picture of the village gymnasium and baseball field as seen from the junior high hilltop.  The building on the hill in the background is the Yanagida Agricultural High School, which was unfortunately closed down in the spring of 2004.  The high school has been a main fixture in the town for most of its existence.  Now, only a large new elementary school and a junior high school remain.  The smaller neighborhood elementary schools and the high school no longer operate.

 townfromair
Click on picture to enlarge.
Here is an overhead view of the village taken from the air by an Ishikawa newspaper helicopter.  You can see the community gymnasium to the left of the bridge.  The large buildings next to the wooded hillside in the right half of the picture are the town hall and the agricultural building.  I used to take morning walks along the roads on both sides of the stream.
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