New Year Party! First Japanese Calligraphy writing
and fire festival!
Bodhgaya Nihongo(Japanese) Class had New year party on 12th January 2020!
At first, we had Japanese calligraphy class
and did "Kakizome" which is the first writing of the year.
It was the first time experience for most of the students.
I was surprised to see how the students
who had just started to learn Japanese
a few months ago had written so very nicely!
Some students remember very difficult Kanji like
「頑張ろう」
and wrote it.
I used to learn Japanese calligraphy when I was a child,
and qualified first dan.
But it was a few decades ago,
so if you found any mistake, please forgive me.
After writing Kakizome, we went outside of the class room,
and had Janken game(Rock Paper Scissors) together with everyone.
And the winner got Mochi rice cake.
I thought to put the mochi into Miso soup like Zouni soup,
but the winner said he tasted Miso soup and didn't like it.
So he ate the Mochi without any taste.
I served Miso soup to the students who can eat non-veg
because the soup has dashi (soup made up of fish).
Most of the students said they liked it.
After that, we had Dondo(Tondo) Yaki fire festival.
Actually, there is a festival called "Lohri" in India which is very similar to Dondo Yaki.
In Japan, Dondo yaki festival is usually held around 15th January.
Many places in Japan held it on 12th, perhaps because it was Sunday this year.
India's Lohri festival is held on 13th January every year.
Lohri festival is celebrated in the sate of Punjab, mainly by Hindus and Sikhs,
to mark and celebrate the end of winter.
The way of burning woods in Lohri festival is very similar to Japan's Dondo-Yaki festival.
We have started celebrating Dondo-Yaki festival in BNC since last year.
I had a great time celebrating together with my Indian students
and remembering the memory of "Tondosan"
when I was a child and participated in it in the nearby park back in Japan.
