Aizubange Hatsuchi (New Year's market) Festival

We're in the middle of our first major snowfall of the season here in the Aizu region. It has been snowing almost nonstop since Thursday, and I think we're up past eight inches already. This weekend, the University was closed off due to an important high school-level. I figured that today would be slow and boring because of the inclement weather. However, when I went to the kitchen to get some breakfast, I saw a TV morning program promoting a festival in the next town over called 初市 (hatsuchi) which is essentially a new year's market. Essentially, the festival was a 400+ year tradition in the town with a special event called 大俵引き (oodawarahiki, or straw bale pulling) where two opposing teams play tug of war with a giant straw bale. With nothing better to do, I got cleaned up and dressed and went out to see this for myself.

Year-round sign for the event

The festival was held in the town center, right in front of town hall. Outside the hall was a pair of bales, one large and one small. The smaller bale was for a children's version, where a local sports association assembled two teams of elementary school students (around 2nd or 3rd grade) to compete in a similar manner to the adults. The larger bale was huge and required multiple participants to move; it was about 4 m long by 2 m tall, and weighed five tons. (That's about my height, and five times the weight of Tackawanna.)

Kids scrambling to get on top to take a commemorative photo

For both versions of the event, the participants were overwhelmingly male. The dress code for the kids were shirtless and gym shorts (exceptions were made for the girls), which made me feel cold just looking at them. The adults took it a step further; they could wear a bandana, a fundoshi (tranditional Japanese-style undergarment), and tractionless footwear. That's it. (Again, exceptions were made for the few women that participated.)

Ramps were needed to get the bale over the curb and onto the street

There's no way that I could have participated in something like that, especially given how I was trying to stay warm given the clothing I was wearing (sweater, jacket, and thermal gloves). I got to the event site relatively early and hung around outside in the snow, so my socks ended up getting a bit damp. Luckily, there was a heater near the police stand that I was allowed to stand next to, and the town hall's lobby was also open to those seeking refuge from the cold and snow. Unfortunately, after the main competition, I missed the part where the townspeople could join in with the participants for a match, as I had gone back into the town hall to get warm.

Who ordered the bottle keg service?

Finally, there was a small shrine setup just in front of the town hall. I purchased a ema and pulled out my fortune (omikuji) from a box in the front. Japanese fortunes are a bit different from Western ones given that they also list various aspects of your life that will be affected. While I couldn't read the details, I was able to get the meaning of the fortune in general: 小吉 (shoukichi, or small blessing). Truly, today felt like one, cold feet and all.

I'll take it.

-wp

アメリカンカーズ

明けましておめでとうございます。自動車について話しましょう。

「muh hweels」と呼ばれます。

これは私の車です。早い学部の卒業プレセットでした。2014年のマツダ・3（アクセラ）セダンです。アメリカのアクセラと日本のアクセラはちょっと違うです。このアクセラは2.5LエンジンとFWDがあります。スポーツモードもあります。落ちるドングリのために多くの窪みがあります。良い自動車ですよ！

これもよい自動車！（ランダム？）

これは私の母の車です。2011年の現代・エラントラセダンです。（現代は日本にもはや自動車を売りません。）インテリアはとても安いと匂いです。私はこの自動車が別に好きですが、私の母はこの車を頼ます。

これは私の祖父（故人）の自動車です。2004年のクライスラー・タウン・アンド・カントリーです。家族のお友達は私の母から買いました。 私の祖父はこのバンが大好きでした。彼も車が大好きでした。時には彼が色々なディーラーへ行きました。色々な車が欲しかったです。でも、彼は「この車はいつも俺をよく扱っている」と言いました。

金曜日はクライスラーを借りました。ハンドリングは湿潤スポンジと同じです。でも、バックシートなしでこの車のインテリアがとても広いです。インテリアはDVDプレイヤーとGPSナビと（偽）木材トリムがあります。懐かしいかったです。

というわけで、今年もよろｓｈ-

ん？

ええええええええええええ？？？？？

-wp