I love spring in Japan. The cherry trees bloom, the weather is mostly warm and sunny, and then there’s Golden Week. Golden Week isn’t actually a week. It is five almost uninterrupted holidays from April 29th to May 6th. It’s probably the longest vacation period for most Japanese workers. Likewise, my school is closed for a period of ten days for Golden Week.
The first official day of Golden Week is April 29th. From 1925 to 1988 it was a national holiday because it was the emperor’s birthday (the former Showa emperor known in the west as Hirohito). Upon the emperor’s death in 1988, the day was renamed Green Day. It became a day for people to take time and appreciate Mother Nature; something like a mini-Earth day. In 2007, April 29th was renamed again Showa Day to commemorate the life of the former emperor. Green Day was moved to May 4th.
My Golden Week vacation started on April 27th this year. Before it started my family and I had the especially inspired plan of doing very little and sleeping in a lot. I would have liked to do some traveling, but it would be crazy to hit the road during Golden Week. It is the heaviest travel period of the year, akin to Thanksgiving in the U.S. Not having any serious plans left us free to just take it easy. The first couple of days, we did just that. We slept in, watched some DVD’s and only ventured out as far as the supermarket. By the time Showa Day rolled around, we were in need of some good sunlight or risk a vitamin D deficiency. So, we rose a little earlier, had a good breakfast, and decided to make a day of it at the local parks. Of course, we knew too many others would have the same idea, but such are the holidays. First, we went to the closest park which also tends to be quiet. It is a relatively small park and there aren’t too many young children in the neighborhood, so it promised to be less crowded.
We threw the Frisbee around, kicked the soccer ball a bit, and played hide and go seek. Then my kids got into the sand pit and dug around until my wife and I saved them from digging to Australia. They hit the slides and swings and finally ended up searching the park for fallen acorns. Alas, there were no squirrels to feed. After lunch we went over to the larger central park. It was a madhouse. The older kids seemed intent on testing the weight capacity of all the playground equipment. The younger ones were running to and fro, evading scolding parents and seeing how many scrapes, bruises, and knocks their little bodies could take. It was time to call it a day.
From April 30 through May 2nd, there is no official holiday. It was back to sleeping late and giving our backsides a good sitting at home. On Saturday, May 3rd my wife took the kids out to their grandmother’s house. I had the place to myself. It took very little time for me to get bored. I called one of my buddies to see if he was having as full a day as me. He was. Well, we felt our boredom could be cured with two pizzas, a six pack, and hours of Billy Connelly’s world tour on DVD. It worked. We had a great time. My wife decided to stay at her mother’s, so my friend and I talked and drank the night away. Before bed, I caught the evening news and the weather report for the following Monday. It was going to rain. Now, normally this wouldn’t matter all that much except that my family and friends had planned a BBQ for that day. This called for a quick change in plans. After a round of calls to everyone, the BBQ was moved to Sunday afternoon. That was tomorrow. It was time for bed.
My wife came home to collect the meat for the BBQ, along with her bleary eyed husband and his equally bleary friend. We got out there without a hitch. The weather was splendid. We had a ton of meat, veggies, and kabobs prepped. It was going to be perfect barbecue. Before most of the guests arrived, I wanted to get the coals going. My sister in-law had invested in a brand new barbecue grill. I grabbed all the coals (not those silly things we have in the states, but proper, real, natural charcoal chunks). You know, it’s funny. It seems to take at least three guys to get charcoal burning. We can reduce most things to ash with a simple match, but BBQ coals take some good head scratching, rumination, and a liberal supply of newspaper. Still, we got it going before everyone arrived. It was time for a congratulatory cold one.
As with any good party, guest trickled in, music played, food was passed and people fell into easy conversation like old friends. Everything was great, and not a singed eyebrow anywhere.
Once we had stuffed ourselves with enough barbecue to induce a coma, we had a choice; sit and wallow or try to burn off a bit with a walk. I offered to escort everyone up to the local shrine. It’s a nice walk up the hill and the view is fantastic. When I lived in the area, I visited the shrine almost everyday. It was less than fifteen minutes from my house, quiet, cool, and as I mentioned the view is more than worth it. It’s quiet mainly because it’s practically unknown except by the people in the immediate area. It’s not large (it’s tiny), it’s not beautiful (it’s very humble), but it is very old. Over 800 years ago, the emperor passed through the area. He came upon a quiet grove of bamboo and goodly number of wild berries and tall trees. He decreed that a shrine should be built, and it was. It became the main shrine for dozens of families of farmers and the focal point for festivals in the community. The farms are now gone, but many of the families have lived beneath the shrine for hundreds of years (my wife’s family included). I convinced my son to come along with the promise of ice cream afterward.
The timing was perfect. The sun was low and the air was cool. We made it up the hill quickly, despite our hanging bellies. Just before we entered the shrine proper, I pointed out something to the group. Above, to the left as you enter the shrine are three or four little caves. Only they’re not caves. They’re bomb shelters. They’re left over from World War II. Whenever the bombers made their runs over Kagoshima city, the local people huddled in these suffocatingly small holes in the side of the hill. They are bricked up now, but they serve as a reminder of the insanity that is war. With sober thoughts, we entered the shrine grounds. Everyone took their turn at the fountain which is set aside to cleanse oneself (hands and mouth) before approaching the main building. We took turns making our offerings of a few coins and prayer at the main building before turning to enjoy the view. I think everyone enjoyed it, because they didn’t speak for quite a while. They just stood and stared at one of the best views of the bay and the volcano one can find. It surprised us that this view isn’t famous. Then again, I think as I enjoyed it one more time I could understand. You’ll notice I haven’t said the name of the shrine. I think I’ll keep it that way. We would have liked to stay longer and soak in the quiet, only there was a promise of ice cream to be fulfilled. Down we went. We grabbed plenty of ice cream for everyone in the group and back home. Again, everyone sat and enjoyed sharing ice cream and friendly conversation. And then one by one, people headed home. Nice day. Really nice day.
I wish I could say that we made the most of the next couple of days. Perhaps we did. It rained on Monday, May 5th (Children’s Day). We stayed home and played rainy day games. My son and I made all sorts of things with Lego blocks. He drew lots of pictures. We read some books and my wife and I played a game of chess. It was lazy and yet complete. You get the idea.
The next day was the end of Golden Week and my last day off. May 6ththis year was “Furikaekyuujitsu” (roughly: “Make-up holiday”). This is not a holiday concerning cosmetics. The idea is to give back, or give a real holiday (i.e. during the work week) when an actual holiday (this year: Green Day) fell on a weekend. It’s a way of not cheating your average worker out of a national holiday by throwing it on a weekend. Do ya’ follow? I’m not sure I do entirely, but it’s a damn nice idea. Frankly, I spent the day preparing for classes and getting myself back in work mode. I’m glad I did. I got to clean the class, prep lessons, and try to remember how it is I do what I do.I seemed to remember just enough to have the class open the next day. “Welcome back”, I said. “How was your Golden Week?” Mine was, well, golden.
