Chicago Japanese Matsuri
2018-Sep-30, Sunday 19:41![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
I always feel like an asshole at events like this.
I get that anime is a huge connection to Japanese culture for a lot of Americans--hell, it was a huge connection for me before I actually lived in Japan--but while I still watch anime, when I think of Japan it’s not what I think of. So when I went to the first (annual?) Chicago Japanese Matsuri in time to make it to the calligraphy demonstration only to find that there was some kind of loud game-show-style game going on on the main stage, the line for food stretched all the way out to the border of the festival, and there was a line of itasha parked along the street I took into the festival, well. Like, respect if you want to itasha your car, and I understand the artistic aspect, but I never saw a single itasha during my time in Japan and I don’t care.
So I was a little like, “Was it worth it for me to come here? Is this not for me?”, but while I was sitting down on a curb and wondering whether or not to leave, I decided to check out the Kotobukiya booth. Prominently set on the front display was Kirby Art & Style Collection, put out in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Kirby series back in 2016, and two volumes of what I thought was the light novel of 君の名は / Your Name but turned out to be the manga. And once I bought those, there was an announcement that the calligraphy demonstration would begin at 4 p.m., an hour late but still on.
It was short, but sweet.
The kanji here is 司, meaning "leader" or "ruler."
While I was waiting by the stage, I asked the woman who was wearing kimono in front of me if I could take her picture. Since I had heard her speak Japanese earlier, I asked her in Japanese, and then it turned out that she was a reporter for the Chicago Shimpo, a Chicago Japanese and English newspaper, so she asked me about how I knew Japanese and where I had lived in Japan. I shouldn’t have played down my Japanese ability before the interview started--I could have conducted it in Japanese, I think.
She encouraged me to apply for JET, saying that she usually covers the reception for JETs when they’re leaving for Japan. That is my plan, so maybe I’ll see her again.
After the calligraphy demonstration was a taiko performance by Tsukasa Taiko, which I recorded a bit of and uploaded here if you’re curious.
At this point![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
lisekatevans showed up and there was basically nothing else at the festival to do since it was closing in ten minutes, so we left. I am a bit sad that I didn’t get any time to play the sole video game booth there, demonstrating a game that takes place in an onsen (whose name I don’t remember...), and while Anime Chicago had a booth that offered anime recommendations for people who took their short quiz, I didn’t stop in because I already have a backlog. And the samurai armor booth wouldn’t have anything that would fit me anyway.
I’m glad I was wrong! And I hope the festival was popular enough that there’s another one next year. I was worried that moving it from July to September would have killed the festival, especially since it was 11°C out, but see above about the lines for food. People seemed to be having a good time.
Until next year, if I’m still around.
I get that anime is a huge connection to Japanese culture for a lot of Americans--hell, it was a huge connection for me before I actually lived in Japan--but while I still watch anime, when I think of Japan it’s not what I think of. So when I went to the first (annual?) Chicago Japanese Matsuri in time to make it to the calligraphy demonstration only to find that there was some kind of loud game-show-style game going on on the main stage, the line for food stretched all the way out to the border of the festival, and there was a line of itasha parked along the street I took into the festival, well. Like, respect if you want to itasha your car, and I understand the artistic aspect, but I never saw a single itasha during my time in Japan and I don’t care.
So I was a little like, “Was it worth it for me to come here? Is this not for me?”, but while I was sitting down on a curb and wondering whether or not to leave, I decided to check out the Kotobukiya booth. Prominently set on the front display was Kirby Art & Style Collection, put out in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Kirby series back in 2016, and two volumes of what I thought was the light novel of 君の名は / Your Name but turned out to be the manga. And once I bought those, there was an announcement that the calligraphy demonstration would begin at 4 p.m., an hour late but still on.
It was short, but sweet.
The kanji here is 司, meaning "leader" or "ruler."
While I was waiting by the stage, I asked the woman who was wearing kimono in front of me if I could take her picture. Since I had heard her speak Japanese earlier, I asked her in Japanese, and then it turned out that she was a reporter for the Chicago Shimpo, a Chicago Japanese and English newspaper, so she asked me about how I knew Japanese and where I had lived in Japan. I shouldn’t have played down my Japanese ability before the interview started--I could have conducted it in Japanese, I think.
She encouraged me to apply for JET, saying that she usually covers the reception for JETs when they’re leaving for Japan. That is my plan, so maybe I’ll see her again.
After the calligraphy demonstration was a taiko performance by Tsukasa Taiko, which I recorded a bit of and uploaded here if you’re curious.
At this point
I’m glad I was wrong! And I hope the festival was popular enough that there’s another one next year. I was worried that moving it from July to September would have killed the festival, especially since it was 11°C out, but see above about the lines for food. People seemed to be having a good time.
Until next year, if I’m still around.
no subject
Date: 2018-Oct-04, Thursday 14:53 (UTC)