Yabusame ~ Uma Samurai

Erika told us that Towada would be having Yabusame today and tomorrow. I visited the website, I watched the You Tube clip at the site, we wanted to go. We couldn't find clear cut directions to Chuo Park. Google failed me, there are about 6,000 Chuo Cohens in Japan. ::snort::  I finally hit on calling Melissa for directions. SHE KNEW HOW TO GET THERE - Thanks, Melissa. They were perfect, right down to running the red light on the bridge over the river. When I pulled up they were honking at a lady parked on the bridge. ::snort::

We felt a bit ripped off. This is SUPPOSED to be Cherry Blossom time. All the festivals are going on - but there are no Cherry Blossoms. In the You Tube you see the archers riding between rows of Cherry Trees.....and the park would be gorgeous if all the trees were blooming.  The good news is that it's only 26 min from our door to this park.We'll go back as soon as we see blossoms in town. LOL

Yabusame is the name we were given. I can't tell you what it means, as it isn't in our Japanese/English Dictionary. Google tells me how to pronounce it but not what it means. Strike 2 for google today. ::snort::

This was the first time I took the kids and ventured to a new spot in Japan. I discovered that outside of Misawa folks really are more interested in Americans. ::snort:: I also discovered that they are VERY friendly to a mom alone with children.

We were BLESSED by a gentleman who took a liking to our family. He chatted up a storm. We found out that writing English is very hard. That George Bush  was an honest man. That Katakana is very hard to learn to write (yes, we knew that) and that these were "Uma Samarai." THAT I can translate - horse knight. The twist to this event is that all the competitors are female. There was an instructor who was male.

They ride FAST down the lane and pull arrows, shoot, ride a few more yards and do that three times in one run. When the umbrellas go UP it means they hit the target. Who knew Samurais wore Levis?

Here are a couple of many of the video clips we took.

This was a fun spot to walk around and observe.

One Mom and Grandmom were excited when they saw Stacia and I walking....they called me over to say they had bagels...but it didn't sound quite like bagels. They proudly showed me and I said, BAGELS - oishi.....so they took me to a little boy who was walking around the grounds selling bagels. He made our day and we made his. LOL Speaking of food....Stacia was the hit of the "food court". I had to buy SIXTEEN yakitori and we also had bagels, potatoes and drinks......all for about $20. Festival food is cheaper than eating in town.

This is the way to picnic...tatami mats and low tables...we only had to remove our shoes.

Jared was a trooper. He came with us. When he was ready to come home we did. This was fun to see on the way home.

What can this mean?

We dropped Jared at the house and the rest of us went to the beach.  I'd been a bit melancholy seeing something new in Japan without Michael. This is OUR beach, so it seemed a good way to regain equilibrium.....and searching for sea glass always calms me.  The trench is back again, Mike.

When we walked up, Stacia said, "It's not snowing!" ::snort::

Back at home we rode bikes, played 4 sqaure and basketball. Zander was surprised that I could make baskets.

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...