Colette English
Contents Editor’s Note
4
Prez Talk
6
I Wonder if I’ll Miss Pregaming Alone
8
Golden Words
10
Higuma
14
Events
16
Poem
22
AJ Kay
AJ Kay
Editor’s Note Get out there and watch some fireworks, you guys.
The submission deadline for the next issue is August 7.
Also, we extend our sincere apologies for an error in the previous issue. The photograph on page 22 was originally accidentally attributed to Karisa Whelan rather than Kelsey Woodford. The corrected edition is now on issuu.com and in the Google Drive.
Edwin Arce II
Betrice Yambrach
G
rowing up in Southern California, I spent most of my life in sunny, warm weather experiencing little seasonal change. I like to blame this as the reason why you can usually find me under about 10 layers of clothes in the winter. Regardless, compared to last year this summer feels unusually cold, even for Hokkaido. In May of last year I remember packing up my kotatsu and having to open all of my windows to even attempt to cool down. As I’m writing this at the end of June, I’m still using fuzzy sheets and sleeping with multiple blankets on my bed. But recently, the air has been warming up and that hot summer weather is right around the corner. Despite my habitual grumbling, I love living in a place that’s so funny about the weather. In my opinion, living somewhere constantly sunny and warm is not as exciting as living somewhere that provides you with a sense of relief and appreciation every time the temperature changes. Lucky enough, the weather was on our side this year at Summer Meeting. As some of you may remember, Summer Meeting last year at Lake Toya was a weekend to be reckoned with. We had to endure typhoon-like winds and immense rain. I even remember seeing insects flattened against the side of my car just from the sheer force of the wind. But this year, Lake Kussharo spared us long enough that we were able to enjoy some daytime hiking and nighttime extravaganzas. At this summer’s General Meeting, the PC introduced two big projects we have been working on over the last few months. The first is a new policy for our International Event Funding. The new policy lays out some updated rules and procedures on how to apply for HAJET to fund an International Event you’re coordinating or have coordinated. The PC realized that our previous event funding policy wasn’t clear and created a few problems. So, we wanted to write-up a new policy that caters to our members’ needs and makes the rules and application procedure more transparent. We hope that the new policy will reassure our members of HAJET’s support and encourage them to organize more international events in their schools and communities. The second project, an Activities Database, is one our Vice President Andrew Kaz has been eagerly
working on for some time. Available only to HAJET members, it is essentially a database that allows you to search for English activities as well as submit your own based on grade level, English level, class type (i.e. special needs or adult eikaiwa), textbook, grammar point, etc. In HAJET, we want to support our members in all aspects of life here in Hokkaido, including your professional life. We believe that this new database will do just that. The database is still new and may take some getting used to. After all, it can’t truly take off without your help, creativity, and submissions. However, it’s something we hope will be helpful to all HAJET members, both new and old. With all of that said and done, being the end of July, I want to take this time to address everyone who is leaving this year. For many of you, I know you’re busy packing or you may have even left already. As this may be your last Polestar article, before you check-out, I just want to say thank you. Thank you all for your work here on JET, thank you for all of your participation in HAJET, and lastly, on a more personal note, thank you for just being here and being you. So many of you have helped shape my life here in Hokkaido and made me truly fall in love with this place. You have been some of the best, coolest, most interesting friends I could have ever asked to meet. I don’t know if I can truly express in this short paragraph just how grateful I am and how much I, and everyone else, will you miss. But, I can guarantee that it’s quite a lot. From here on out, I know you’re off to do some amazing things. So, best of luck. The institutional memory of Hokkaido is quite short, but for those of us here now, you’ll be remembered. Stay strong, don’t forget about Wani-chan, and continue to kick ass wherever you go. Until next time – またね〜
I
t’s a Friday night in Takikawa. It’s June, and it’s stopped raining for an hour. I sit under my kotatsu, decommissioned since April, with a movie on and a can of Sapporo next to my laptop. In two hours, I will have dinner with two teachers, one of whom moved during the April turnover. They’re both Japanese. I failed N3 in December and am preparing to fail again in July. In July before I return home in August. The first time we went out, I had a drink first. Alcohol helps you speak foreign languages and so on with the clichés. That night at a yakitori restaurant, I saw how I could manage in Japanese, often by making a caricature of myself, but as we hung out more, I realized I didn’t need it. And now, months since our last hangout, I can’t help but wonder if this is something I will miss. Our time on JET is constantly marked by our contracts. We wear our number of years on the program as badges, evidence of how deeply we’ve connected and how invested we are in our communities, in our students, in Japan. At Tokyo Orientation, people talked about their placements in terms of their predecessors’ stays. If their predecessor had been in town at least two years, that was good. If only one, they wondered what had gone wrong and what they’d be getting themselves into. And then once we’re here, we talk about recontracting. And once we don’t recontract, we talk about going home. By and large, our role in our communities is a temporary one, and we make it more temporary
through how we rationalize our time here. Thinking about The Return from January through August means there are a lot of ways it will sit with you. You go for a walk during your lunch break. You just submitted your paperwork to your supervisor. You say sabishii a lot, and you learn you’ll be saying it a lot more. It’s cold outside, so there’s not as much room for drama as you’d like because your hands go numb. You avoid talking to your family and friends back home. They made you do this, you think. You ask the prefectural advisor about changing your decision. You don’t. You make plans with friends. You make plans to travel. You make a bucket list. You make a list of all that you will accomplish before leaving. Food to cook, JLPT to pass, books to read, grad schools and jobs to apply to. Winter thaws and gives way to spring. People in town know you’re leaving. They ask you what’s wrong and why you won’t stay longer. Your answers are trite and short. “Family.” “I love it here.” “It’s far.” “I don’t want to leave.”
I Wonder if I’ll Miss Pregaming Alone. Michael Colbert
You know these answers well and start to wonder which are true.
dying babies, and students bike past you on their way home from their club activities.
You realize people start to assume things about you because you’re leaving. You don’t like your students, you hate it here, you’re squandering the opportunity they’ve given you. At first you assure people that you love it and don’t want to leave, but soon you stop fighting it because you don’t feel like you need to defend all that this time has meant to you.
You start thinking about the letters you will write. Who will get one and what you will say. And you start to wonder if you’ll be seen off or get on a train alone to the airport with your luggage, just like a lavender-peeping tourist or the Couchsurfer you hosted a month ago. Just like someone who has hardly been here, which you start to think is you.
Teachers leave, and you lose some friends. You’re reminded of your own departure. You feel removed from your school because you leave in the summer, and you remember how you’re different and don’t quite fit.
T
Some teachers let it slip to students that you won’t be here for the next English camp or next international exchange event and that you’ll go home. You figure it’s an open secret, like everything is. After Golden Week, you have some months. Three becomes two becomes one. You find a job or you don’t. You get into school or you don’t. You’re nervous. Your time left is too short. But then you put on rose-colored glasses. Inaka life and home both look good. It’s the sweet spot, and you wonder how you’ll feel once you pass it. You get in touch with your successor. You answer questions. You reflect. You reflect a lot. You remember how it was when you came. So you go for mindful walks at night alone. Foxes scream like
onight, there are fireworks at Homac, and police cars travel around town in packs of fours, bad luck. My plans fall through and I spend the night under the kotatsu. It doesn’t have a blanket, so it’s a low-table by now. But it doesn’t make a difference because it’ll soon belong to the next ALT. Far is Tokyo Orientation and far is the day I turned in my papers saying I wouldn’t renew my contract. With friends back home, I talk about time. How the one year since our college graduation went so fast, but I lie through my teeth as I know how long, raw, and wonderful this year has been. Lacking discussion about recontracting and by now knowing how my last weekends here will be spent, I move to the future. To the next city, apartment, job, and group of people. At night before I go to bed, I wonder about goodbyes and wonder who will be the people I will never see again. I wonder if I’ll miss living life as an ALT in a small town where I will always stick out. I wonder if I’ll miss the mindfulness of each day abroad. I wonder if I’ll miss pregaming alone.
Edwin Arce II
Golden Words A
T.J. Wissick
t some point in our linguistic careers, we’ve all been hit with some branding of “the golden words.” If you’re unsure what I’m talking about, then fear not. Your meeting with fate fast approaches. My encounter was particularly striking. Maybe it will inspire yours. “To learn Japanese,” my sensei had said with a stroke of his six-foot beard, “you must first know it as though it is not the language you know now.” I’d nodded in return, shifting in my seat to adjust the flow of my chakras. “Hai, sensei.” I bowed. “Wakarimashita.” As I stood and donned my katana (pure, glorious Nippon steel), the spirit guru of my linguistic journey turned toward the blackboard and manifested a stick of chalk out of thin air. A skill of those who possessed N2 fluency. I would learn in time. So, my journey began.
“Learning a language will change who you are!” And my favorite: “Please learn this language. If you drop out of this course then I won’t have enough students enrolled and it’ll get cancelled and I really really need to re-side my house this summer.” To put it another way, learning a language is the fastest way to get to the heart of the oldest and most tired phrases in the education industry. There’s meaning in each, of course, but there’s precious little significance. Words that once might have inspired us to learn, and to create, have wilted. They now belong to that glib category of things uttered by the now-extinct encyclopedia salesman, a specimen both abhorred and venerated for his ability to effortlessly pitch Collier’s twenty-three volume, full-color, hardcover series to your unsuspecting grandmother. Poor Nan-Nan. So. Are you going to have to relearn some things to study another language? Naturally.
Now, there’s a small chance that my memory is a bit skewed by the enigma that was my teacher’s words. That part at least actually happened, although maybe with a little less fanfare. But hopefully I’ve helped to jog your memory on that moment in your own past.
Is learning a language “cool?” I’d say so, although thus far all pick-up lines in Japanese have been of limited (read: no) benefit.
You might have noticed that my line actually comes from a long series of similar ones.
That’s a bit of a quantum leap. And yet, it’s not a totally absurd thought, is it?
“Be prepared to forget what you know.” “You’re going to learn more than you can even fathom.”
But the most important question: will it change who you are?
We can all remember the time before second language acquisition, a peaceful era when we could stare at that one sign down the road and not constantly
wonder what that kanji was and how we were supposed to read it. It was a life before we began wondering just what the hell otsukaresama really means (hint: no one actually knows, we just all pretend really well. See also: adulthood). Learning another language has changed that. I don’t have to put on my tinfoil hat to argue that language acquisition changes our perspective and opens us up to a bigger world. You’ve all experienced it firsthand. That moment of “Oh!” when that phrase you’ve been hearing on and off for a few weeks starts to make sense, or that swell of pride when you finally manage to get the accursed konbini exchange right. What about you as a person, though? Does learning a second language make changes to that big blob of neurons and meat that you call “the self?” You bet it does. As a matter of fact, there’s little debate on the benefits of learning a second language. Psychologists have proven empirically, over a broad range of languages, that there are a number of positive changes in cognitive function as a result of foreign language study (Foster and Reeves 1989). Children in particular have been shown to reap the benefits of learning this sort of skillset. For young people, there are direct, linear correlations between duration of second language study and scores on popular cognitive tests (1989). Statistically, they get the most from this process out of any age group. Lucky little buggers. There’s good news for you though, too. No need to sneak onto that government base and use the experimental reverse-aging ray that I’m legally not allowed to discuss with anyone outside of the small group of upper level dignitaries I’ve been emailing back and forth with…
I digress. The good news, plain and simple, is that there are measurable benefits to studying a second language, and they’ll stay with you for a very long time. Older bilingual people often enjoy “improved memory and executive control relative to older monolingual people” (Marian and Shook 2012). They’ve been rewired through this acquisition, and it shows as they age. In fact, the brains of bilingual adults statistically possess a higher volume of white matter than their boring, monolingual counterparts (2012). That means that overall, they stay healthier and sharper for longer. We all know that more of anything is a good thing. Except snow. While you might not be thrilled with the concept of using WaniKani for the next five decades of your life, you can’t argue with the science of studying a foreign language. You’re guaranteed plenty of benefits along the way. For one, you’ll finally be able to read that sign (it said “yakitori,” by the way). For another, you’ll be able to communicate yourself in another language. I could spend another entire article on that concept, but for the sake of my sanity and yours, we’ll move on to the big point: Language actually will change who you are as a person. It’ll change you physically, mentally, and as we’ll touch on in a second, emotionally. The echoes of that change will continue to benefit you throughout the rest of your adult life. Congratulations. You’ve taken your first steps toward ascending into your planar form. Your body, or at least you brain, is physically changing (I mean, only slightly, but it sounds cool) as you continue absorbing language. But, young grasshopper, you must unify both body and mind before continuing down the path.
Colette English
For the less spiritually inclined, what I mean is: let’s take a look at what learning a language might do to your more “sensitive” side. Does learning a language make you feel things differently?
commonly chosen option, of course, it to look like a lackwit when your students ask you for a translation and you stare blankly back at them. Seriously sensei, do you actually speak English?
First, let’s clear the air. Japanese culture is different than your own. Whoa.
Linguistic perplexities aside, something else is at work here. It’s the tip of a figurative iceberg that we circle every day.
Where does that disparity stem from? At face value, we all smile, we all laugh, we all cry, we all get angry. Same emotions, same perspective, right? There are even words for these feelings in both English and Japanese. These feelings seem to map exactly one to one. But what about genki? “Well of course,” you’re probably saying. “Genki is easy. It’s liveliness, or like energetic, or…y’know…” Fair enough. Functionally, that’s true. But what does it signify? Let’s think about the traditional greeting, “Ogenki desu ka?” which we commonly translate as “how are you?” or “are you well?” when we teach our students. That’s probably also how we learned it when we first studied it. But what’s the answer to that question? English provides the addressee with a broad assortment of responses. “I’m fine.” “I’m tired.” “The walls are moving and I’m freaking out, man.” And so on. In Japanese? “Ogenki desu ka?” only really has one answer: “Hai, genki desu.” “Yes, I’m genki.” You can add frills, of course, but the core meaning doesn’t change. You are genki. Genki is you. So, if you ever have the chance, ask a Japanese speaker of English just what on earth “How are you?” would translate to in their native language. Be sure to look very closely for the half second of “good lord, why have you done this?” that’ll flash across their face before they spit out the ponderous, “Gokigen wa ikaga desu ka?” and try to pretend like you didn’t just ask that. That’s a direct translation to end them all. I’ll personally pay you twenty units of any currency if you can prove to me you’ve heard it organically used in a standard, everyday conversation. What we’ve encountered here is one of the great joys of translation: figuring out how the hell to say something that doesn’t really “get said” in the target language. The solution is simple in theory: find words and phrases that serve the same function. The more
It’s a different definition of emotion. What that ultimately boils down to is that even at a linguistic level, Japanese people define emotions in a different way than we, “the Foreigner” might. The blow has been softened a bit by globalization, but it’s impossible to ignore the fact that there are words in Japanese for things you might never have felt in English. Or at the very least, for things you’ve never been able to express. Until now. And this is where that increase in cognitive function comes from. When you think in Japanese, you’re literally thinking differently, be it lamenting “atsui na” as the summer heat slowly melts you or, “waa, natsukashii” when you see a picture of that Super Nintendo that used to eat hours upon hours of your life at a time. Learning Japanese has given you the tools to better express yourself as a person. Some of those things that you once might have felt but not said, are now within your reach. And how cool is that? Not only has the practice of studying been proven to benefit you, the actual results offer you new and unexpected ways to portray the world around you. In short, learning Japanese is cool. The longer way of saying that is, Japanese is cool because it changes the way you think, reorients your cultural perspective, and makes you more critical of the world around you. The name of the game is to never stop learning. And if that’s a goal you’d like to pursue for a very long time, then WaniKani, test prep books, and fumbling conversations with strangers on the train are a surefire way to keep stumbling stubbornly down the path of self-improvement. Works Cited Foster, K. M., and Reeves, C. K. (1989). “Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) improves cognitive skills.” FLES News, 2(3), 4. Marian, Viorica, Ph.D, and Anthony Shook. (2012). “The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual.” Cerebrum, 2012(13).
Colette English
HIGU Samantha Delia Peterson
I
f you’re reading this you’ve likely already have the fear of higuma instilled in you. You’ve heard it all from your coworkers already, from the various Hokkaido natives that you’ve met. “I saw one once. It was as big as my car.” “Don’t go hiking without a bell.” “They closed school because there was one wandering around.” Can you blame people for saying things like this? I don’t think so. Not when the deadliest bear attack ever in Japan occurred in Hokkaido in 1915, killing seven people in the span of five days. From the heyday of the Ainu to today, the impact bears have had on the residents of Hokkaido is clear. It comes up in our daily lives. We’re all acquainted with the image of Yubari City’s mascot, Melon Bear. I went to a restaurant last week called Higuma. In any souvenir shop around the island you can buy shirts, posters, and other things of varying usefulness branded with images of bears ranging from downright cuddly to snarling and ferocious. It’s not a mystery why higuma are so iconic in these parts. When you have to live your life around the biggest land animal in Japan it’s going to affect your day-to-day affairs. These bears can often become up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) tall and weigh up to 500 kilograms (1102 pounds). While running, their pace can exceed the speed limits on many major Hokkaido roads. I wouldn’t want to happen upon one of the approximately 3,000 of those that live in Hokkaido while strolling around the woods. Yet their unavoidable presence is an important constant in the local culture. This was true even back in the days of the Ainu. Bear cubs were often captured and kept by the Ainu as part of an important ritual. This was called
UMA
Alex Blajan
Iomante, and the bear cubs were considered so important that women in the village would nurse the bears themselves, feeding them their own breast milk. These bears were later sacrificed as a way of sending them to be with the gods. The village ate their meat and drank their blood and used their skin as an object of worship. Once the Japanese arrived, the bears didn’t just disappear. But instead of them eating the bears, the bears were eating them. The aforementioned bear attack in December 1915 was particularly brutal. In the little settlement of Sankebetsu, up near present-day Rumoi, a hungry higuma burst into residents’ houses, mauling children and dragging women into the forest. After a few tense days, hunters managed to kill the bear, but not before it took the lives of seven people. That wasn’t the last bear attack, either. There were 33 casualties from bear attacks between 1962 and 2001. You’re not told to be careful while hiking for no reason. These bears don’t particularly want to eat people though. Their diet actually mostly consists of plants, nuts, and insects. If they’re hungry they might go after small animals and fish. It’s only when humans encroach on their space with farmland, and then get between hungry bears and the great stashes of corn and other crops we tend to keep, that there’s an issue. Still, be careful out there, everyone. I’m sure you know the drill already if you’re heading out into their territory: make noise, don’t leave food around, stay calm. But let’s hope that this important Hokkaido symbol remains a picture on your favorite t-shirt or a magnificent creature seen at a distance rather than a real threat to lives.
Events July Hotaru Firefly Festival July 29-30 Numata Town, Horoshin Onsen Hotaru-kan Enjoy the lovely fireflies (which you can only see for a short time!) along with the beer garden, stage events, and food stalls. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/1040 Higashikawa International Photography Festival July 25-30 Higashikawa Town From amateurs to professionals, from students to seniors, this festival celebrates photography in all shapes and sizes. There are tons of photos on display (make sure to check out the top prize winners!) as well as photo workshops, exchange events, and more. photo-town.jp/en/photo-festival/index.html Firefly Forest Festival July 26-27 Otaru City, Asari Classe Hotel Watch the fireflies as you enjoy an outdoor beer garden and stage performances. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2593 Doshin & UHB Fireworks Show July 28 Sapporo City, Toyohira South Large Bridge to Horohira Bridge Another fireworks show! This one has double the amount of fireworks as Chitose – over 4,000! https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0101e00762/ Rumoi Donto Festival July 28-29 Rumoi City, Funeba Park A festival with a long history, it’s said to have its beginning from a fisherman’s phrase “Be it stormy weather or tempests, come at me. I’ll drink everything up!” (The Japanese sounds way cooler…) There will be Andon floats and Nebuta dancers, as well as a fireworks show. It’s the biggest summer event of the year for Rumoi, and sure to be a good time! https://hanabi. walkerplus.com/detail/ar0101e00760/
49th Annual Furano “Hokkaido Heso” Bellybutton Festival July 28-29 Furano City, Furano Shopping Street A well-loved festival, the Hokkaido Heso Bellybutton Festival features a huge parade of dancers with colorful faces painted on their stomachs. Inspired by Furano’s location in Hokkaido, the bellybutton dance is something you have to see before you leave! www.furanotourism.com/en/spot/spot_D.php?id=450 2017 Fukagawa Summer Festival July 28-30 Fukagawa City, Fukagawa Central Street & Along Ishikari River The main attraction of the festival is the Shanshan Umbrella Dance parade, but there will also be fireworks, festival food, and raffles. https://www.city.fukagawa.lg.jp/cms/section/ shokoro/ik75k4000000c8sb.html 63rd Annual Monbetsu Port Festival July 28-30 Monbetsu City, Central Shopping Area Stage shows, yosakoi parades, Monbetsu Drift Ice Taiko, and of course fireworks over the ocean on the Saturday night. mombetsu.net/port-fes 71st Annual Muroran Port Festival July 28-30 Muroran City, City Center Fireworks, stage shows, a shrine parade and dancing, yosakoi performances, and of course festival food. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/1035 Otaru Tide Festival July 28-30 Otaru City A large dancing parade that brings to mind the ebb and flow of the ocean tide, mikoshi processions, stage shows, and a large fireworks show to finish it off. otaru.ushiomatsuri.net/ Otaru Glass Market July 28-30 Otaru City, Temiya Train Line Memorial Otaru’s beautiful glass products are brought out in a market style – you can even try your hand at making glass yourself! https://www.city.otaru.lg.jp/kankou/event/glass_market/summer/glassmarket/glass_market_summer9. html
Colette English
33rd Annual Kushiro Fog Festival July 28-30 Kushiro City, Iroi no Hiroba One of the most popular festivals in Kushiro – the fog is lit up with a laser light show. There are also live performances, food stalls, etc. en.kushiro-lakeakan.com/things_to_do/7014/ Seiryu Fresh Stream Festival July 29 Shimuzu Town, Tokachi Shimizu Station Event Plaza A local festival with performances from students in the band, yosakoi dancing, baton twirlers, and more. There will also be Shimizu local food products available. tokachibare.jp/events/event/event-7767/ 40th Annual Eniwa Fireworks Show July 29 Eniwa City, Sakuracho Multi-Use Plaza Another huge fireworks festival in the area – this one boasts around 3,400 fireworks. Be cautioned that there is no parking, so you’ll have to use public or paid lots. https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0101e00717/
Star Festival July 29 Nayoro City, Nayoro City Observatory Starting from the evening there will be live music and chances to observe the stars. There will also be a presentation from an physicist if anyone is feeling like testing their Japanese abilities! www.nayoro-star.jp/ kitasubaru/ 46th Annual Lake Kanayama Festival & Local Gourmet Grand Prix Hokkaido 2017 July 29-30 Minami Furano Town, Kanayama Lakeside Campground After last year’s typhoons, Minami Furano has come a long way in the recovery process. Come show your support for the region by eating delicious local food and watching fireworks over the lake. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/755 Haboro Fireworks Show July 29 Haboro Town, Sunset Beach Enjoy this large fireworks show in Haboro along the beach – the reflections of the fireworks in the sea is said to be quite beautiful! https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0101e00142/
Colette English
2017 Genki Machi Shiraoi Port Festival July 29-30 Shiraoi Town, Shiraoi Port This festival is all about the food, featuring Shiraoi’s specialty products, charcoal grilled Shiraoi beef and seafood. There will also be stage performances and fireworks. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2253
Urakawa Horse Festa 2017 July 29-30 Urakawa Town, JRA Hidaka Ranch A horse themed collaborative event between the organizers of the Shinzan Festival (held in honor of the racehorse that won the Japanese Triple Crown) and the Urakawa Horse Festival. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2247
Culture Park Art Festival 2017 July 29-30 Tomakomai City, Idemitsu Culture Park The cultural centers that surround the green Idemitsu Culture Park collaborate for this event, showcasing artwork, holding workshops, and giving a platform for performances by city groups. www.city.tomakomai. hokkaido.jp/kyoiku/shogaigakushu/bunka/eventannai/ art_festival/2017.html
Memanbetsu Summer Festival July 29-30 Ozora Town, Abashiri Memanbetsu Lakeside The biggest summer event in the Memanbetsu area! Fireworks over the lake, a women only rowboat race, Dragon boat races, and more! https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0101e00736/
34th Annual Tsukigata Summer Festival July 29-30 Tsukigata Town, Tsukigata Kairaku Park The usual summer festival, with fireworks, food, and beer. There will also be a FuwaFuwa Dome! www.town. tsukigata.hokkaido.jp/3759.htm
Ainu Cultural Exchange Event July 29-30 Obihiro City, Tokachi Plaza 1F Atrium A chance to learn more about the Ainu culture. There will be lectures as well as hands on activities. dd.hokkaido-np.co.jp/event/053290.html
60th Annual Mashike Port Festival July 29-30 Mashike Town, Mashike Port Enjoy Mashike’s delicious seafood and Japanese sake, along with the usual stage shows, beer party, and fireworks! https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/ ar0101e00398/
Lily Festival July 30 Koshimizu Town, Koshimizu Lily Park Over 100 different kinds of lilies bloom at this Lily Park in Koshimizu. There will be live music and stage performances starting from 12:30, and lily bulbs will be on sale www.lilypark.info/
Beef Heaven Marutto Kuromatsunai July 29-30 Kuromatsunai Town, Public Baseball Field The Kuromatsunai Baseball Field is taken over by barbeques in this festival that’s all about the meat. As you enjoy your wagyu (Japanese beef) or pork, you can watch the many live stage events they have prepared. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2242
Saruru Beach Festival July 30 Okoppe Town, Saruru Beach Scallop eating contests, music performances, and a beer party. If the weather is warm enough, you can even go for a dip in the ocean! www.okoppekankou. com/cat3/page02.html
55th Annual Sounkyo Onsen Canyon Fire Festival July 29-August 15 Kamikawa Town, Sounkyo Onsen Ainu performances and fireworks are the main stars of the show, and with the fireworks echoing in the canyon, it’s an experience not just for the eyes, but also the ears! www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/1008
24th Annual Shintoku Soba Festival July 30 Shintoku Town, Shintoku Soba no Sato Park Well known for its soba production, Shintoku hosts this soba festival every year just as the soba fields bloom white with little flowers. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2232
Toyotomi Surf Clam Festival July 30 Toyotomi Town, Toyotomi Nature Park On top of the delicious surf clams, there will be stage performances, games, and the festival favorite, the raffle! Tesshi Festival July 30 Nayoro City, Teshio River Nayoro’s biggest summer event, this festival features outdoor live music during the day and into the night, and finishes with a fireworks show over the river. https://hanabi.walkerplus.com/detail/ar0101e00149/ 34th Annual Atsuma Beachside Festival July 30 Atsuma Town Watermelon splitting games, hula dance, taiko drumming, as well as food and other performances – great way to spend a summer weekend! www.facebook.com/events/1303072219811201/ Summer Sky Festa 2017 July 30 Takikawa City, Takikawa Sky Park Sweet making in the sky, glider flying, sky sport demo flights, and more. There will also be local foods, beer, and other performances. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2656 Yuni Summer Festival July 30 Yuni Town, Yuni Community Center A centipede race (where a team of 6 people are tied together in a line and have to race to the end of a course) is the star of the show, but there will also be a free market, food stalls, and a fuwafuwa dome. 31st Annual Shintotsukawa Furusato Festival July 30 Shintotsukawa Town, Furusato Park With performances from the HAM Fighters Cheer Girls, taiko drummers, and a shrine procession, this festival is a mix of the modern and traditional. www.gutabi.jp/spot/detail/2617
Seseragi Babbling Stream Festival July 30 Rankoshi Town, Shiribetsu River A cute local festival along the Shiribetsu River. There will be quiz games, barbequing, and a free market, among other attractions. www.facebook.com/ events/1878554395746507/ Ainu Traditional Dance Special Performance July 30, 14:30-15:00 Esashi Town, Esashi Cultural Center A special performance of traditional Ainu dance organized by the Esashi Oiwake and Ainu Cultural Exchange Projects. There will be an entrance fee. esashi-oiwake.com/ Otaki Kuwagata (Stag Beetle) Event Late July to early August Date City, Otaki Ward Kitayuzawa Onsen-cho Ever been interested in the oh so popular kuwagata? Now’s your chance to learn more! You can hang out with some of the stag beetles and learn about how to care for them.
August Hakodate Port Festival August 1-5 Hakodate The largest summer event in Hakodate. Enjoy fireworks on the first night and other wonderful activities! World Music and Dance Festival August 5-11 Hakodate Enjoy song and dance from around the world in Motomachi Park. Yunokawa Hot Springs Festival August 19 Hakodate The festival that marks the end of summer in Hakodate. There are fireworks!
Edwin Arce II
暑すぎる ここ扇...ない 死にたいよ -Edwin Arce II Edwin Arce II