Kyoto University Festival!

Hi everyone!

Last week, I was invited to go to the November Festival at Kyoto University, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce you all to some not-so-well-known aspects of Japanese university culture! So, let's get started!

Circles （サークル）

One of the circles in Doshisha University. This group is one of the tennis circles.

Before we get into the details of the festival, I thought it would be important to teach you about "circles" in Japan. A "circle" is similar to a club or a group, and will usually meet once or twice a week to hang out together. If a circle is a sports-oriented circle, however, these meetings will usually be to practice whatever sport the circle is for. There are many different types of sports circles, which range from the aforementioned tennis circles to archery circles to karate circles. However, other types of circles, such as debate circles, English conversation practice circles, and circles that just meet up together and watch Disney movies, are also common. Some are more serious than others (many tennis circles are less for tennis and more to meet people), but in general the people that you meet and spend time with in your circle will become your friends through college and beyond. The reason that I wanted to bring up circles and explain them to you is because every part of the festival in Kyoto University was run by the university's different circles, from the announcements to the games to the festival stands. Speaking of...

Stands （売店）

An example of one of the stands at the festival. This particular stand sold chocolate-
filled mushrooms and a sweet egg dish known as maki.

At the festival, there were dozens and dozens of stands all selling different things. Most stands, like the one in the picture, sold some sort of food, but what kind of food was served was different between every stand. Some sold ramen or dishes that could be a full meal, while others sold sweets or small helpings of chicken or beef over rice. There were also stands that sold souvenirs or small handmade jewelry, but those were a lot more rare. The reason that there were so many stands and such a wide variety was that every stand was run by one of Kyoto University's circles. The members of the circles would open stands to either fundraise and support circle activities, to show off what the people in the circle could do and hopefully gain new membership, or both. Many of the people running the stands would call out to me to get me to go to them or would have a person standing in front of the stand trying to snag customers. That was fun at first, but after I'd had lunch and didn't really have any reason to go to the stands anymore got a little annoying, so if someone talked to me I'd give them a big smile and wave at them while pretending I couldn't understand Japanese to make them go away.

Performances （パフォーマンス）

A group of some of the performers from this year's festival.
About half the people in the dresses and skirts are actually guys.

Another large attraction of the festival was the groups of performers that would take the stage and put on a show. There was a large concert-style stage that was brought in to facilitate this, as well as a more informal area towards the middle of the festival area. The people that performed on the stage were for the most part well-practiced and professional groups that would sing songs and dance for the spectators. Many of the people did so in the "idol" style of performance, where a group (usually consisting of women) will rehearse a dance routine and sing a song (think late 90s-early 2000s boy band style concerts, but with more skirts). The people at the more informal area did more of a variety show, where instead of singing and dancing people showed off their jump rope skills and did short comedy routines. One of the most interesting groups was one that put on a magic show. It was a new experience for me, because at every other magic show I've been to there has been someone heckling the magician from the audience, but this time I got to see a full performance without unwanted audience participation. Like with the food stands, all the different performances were put on by members of the various circles.

Festival Games（祭の試合）

The archery game from the festival. The cost was 300 yen,
and I won a pair of plastic sunglasses worth 100 yen, but
the feeling of victory made up for any loss.

Another of the attractions at the festival were the different contests that some of the circles had set up. Generally, these attractions were put on by some of the more serious sports circles, and the game tended to match what the circle was for. For instance, the archery circle had a shooting contest, shown in the picture above, the baseball team had a speed pitching contest where the fastest pitcher won a prize, and so on. There were also some games that resemble American festival games, like a game where you tried to scoop up the most superballs out of a pool of water, a target shooting game, and a game where you take big chunks of tofu and throw them at a guy with his face exposed in a cardboard cutout. Many of these were also fun to just watch, especially the tofu one.

Haunted House （お化け屋敷）

The circle in charge of the haunted house kept people from taking any pictures
of the inside, but they left a bulletin board where people who went through it
could leave comments on it like "Fun!" "Scary!" and "Quin left me behind!"

The place that I had the most fun at was the haunted house that the swimming circle had set up. In Japan, there are haunted houses that are similar to the ones that we have in America around Halloween, but most of the ones in Japan are open year-round. The one at the festival was a sort of maze-like course that was set up in an emptied-out lecture room, with cardboard lining the walls of the maze. Oh - and all the lights were turned out, making the room pitch-black. To help people get through the maze, the circle had some of their members guide visitors through the room, with only a tiny bit of light from a small glow-stick to follow. As you go through the maze, the guide narrated the stories of the various ghosts of the maze, who, would jump out of nowhere and join in on their story, trying to spook you. Many of the costumes weren't particularly scary, but the sudden appearance of the specters (circle members in costumes) would be enough to spook people going through the maze. There were many twists, turns, tunnels, and one section that reenacted the scene from the movie The Ring where the girl crawls out of the television screen and chases you, so I had a great time there. I recommend trying a Japanese haunted house if you ever have the chance; they're really fun.

A painting from the festival that says "Kyoto University is interesting."

That's all for this week, but I have a quick announcement to make. Next week's blog post will be an interview with a Japanese student that is about the same age as all of you! So, if you have any questions that you want to ask them about living in Japan, Japanese middle school, or just what their favorite color is, please comment to this post and I'll ask your question when I do my interview with them! I'll be asking some questions of my own, but I really want most of this interview to be from questions that you all have, so please be sure to give me a lot to ask!

Until next week,

またね！(See you soon!)