Our first full day in Japan.
Our hosts met us in the morning to take us to see the famed "Sakura" or cherry tree blossoms on Mount Akagi. Historically, the cherry trees bloom in early April and quickly fade, but we happened to be in for a treat. Due to a late snow, the blossoms were still in bloom for our visit.
You can't see the cherry blossoms in all their glory on an empty stomach. We stopped at a traditional Japanese restaurant. The first distinction between a Japanese traditional restaurant an an American one, is shoes. That is, you must take them off and place them inside a locker to be collected at the end of your stay. We were then taken to a room with sliding doors. The room had a long, low table with cushions for us to sit on. It seemed appropriate to either sit "Indian style"or on your knees, whatever is more comfortable. The came time to order. Our hosts did their best to translate the dishes, but we mainly went by what looked good in the pictures.
We then headed to Mount Akagi. In Japan there is a culture of "Hanami" or "flower viewing" which is practiced during the bloom of the cherry blossoms. Locals travel to their nearest parks, some travel across Japan to witness the excitement and wonder of the "Sakura".
The trees were beautiful. When the wind picked up there was a shower of petals, mother nature tolling the near end of the Sakura season.
After our visit to Mount Akagi we traveled back to Maebashi to prepare for our welcome dinner. The dinner was organized by the local city and would be just as much about honoring our visit as it is about paying respect to our hosts.
Before arriving to Japan we were told to bring gifts for our hosts to thank them for all the hard work that they had put into our visit and to strengthen the ties between our two cities, Birmingham and Maebashi. We brought items that would represent the city and the people of Birmingham.
Japanese culture centers around respect and honor. So there were alot of speeches, and sharing of stories from those members who had visited Birmingham in the past. We were presented to gifts. Everything from Japanese tea, to Sake to Durama dolls (a traditional good luck or well wishing doll). We were also shown a game called, "Tosenkyo", a fan tossing game that was popular among during the latest stage of the Edo period (1603-1868).
In the game, two people sit at opposite ends of a long table. A paper-made butterfly or "cho" is perched on a low wooden pillar called a "pillow" (makura) and each player tries to knock over the butterfly by tossing a half-opened fan (sensu).
After many failed attempts we declared a winner (someone who knocked over the butterfly the most in five tries).
We then sat for a photo with our hosts before heading home for the night.
