A short Tuesday

Hello my fellow viewers!

   One more day that ended here in Japan. This time, the day was filled with classes and it didn't seem to promise the excitment that the others days offered.....but Im glad I was wrong about it.

   Once more, we are back to the Kogakkan University. Again, it was not raining, nor snowing, just a bright sunny day with a little bit of clouds, but nothing special, fortunately.

   From 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. we had 2 classes where we talked about the history of the Grand Shrine of Ise (Ise-Jingu). 

   On the above picture you guys can see what our classroom looks like. Actually, it's not a normal classroom, but some sort of office for the teachers. This is my guess. After all, you can see that the room isn't just the wall and the desks.

   At 11:30 a.m. we went to the cafeteria, the same one we went yesterday, for lunch. 

   As you can imagine, it's pretty big! The food method is the same as in any other cafeteria in the world. You see the menu, you grab a plate and you go and choose what you prefer to eat. The most curious detail, on the other hand, is the way the room is divided. In the picture, you can see the students on the right side, and on the left side the Priests's apprentices. There is no physical barrier that divides them, or any sort of ''reservation''. Don't really know how this division was first established, but it seems to have been carried for a long time. 

   For a more detailed view: we dont get napkins. If you know Japan food, you know they are a lot of sauces and sometimes it can get a little messy, without a napkin. Curiously enough, though, I never saw a Japanese asking for one. But I already did. 

   After lunch we went for our 3rd class of the day, where we learned a little about Ise Matsuri (Festivals of Ise) and we ended the day with a very special experience! 

   If you remember this building, it's where the Priests apprentices are trained. Today, though, we had our final class there, about Shinto Matsuri (Shinto Festivals), where we watched a video in a big screen.

   As you can see in the picture above, there are no chairs, so we had to sit on the ground, in a wide dôjô-like room. 

   Here's a funny detail: If you watch the ceiling you see a projector and, in front of it, you see a big foldable screen. If you also look very closely (because it's hard to see) to the right top-corner of the room, near one of the windows, you can see a laptop. And do you know what goes well with the mini-microphone that the sensei had in his robes ? Speakers.  

   Indeed a very traditional building on the outside and on the inside, but those pieces of technology really make up for an interesting contrast. After watching the video, we had some lessons with the sensei and, in the end, things turned out like this:

   The sensei was kindly enough to let us wear the clothes that a Shinto Priest wears (Attention: they are not kimonos). 

Colleagues

Me

Colleagues (man and woman robes)

   For those who are wondering, these robes are very expensive and, for the man (because i was wearing one), there're actually 3 pieces of clothe. You might think that 3 pieces are okay, but you don't IMAGINE the twists and turns that they make, to wear them correctly! It took an apprentice 3-4 minutes to dress me. 

   In the end we were allowed to kept the shoes! It was truly a great honor to be able to dress these very expensive and honorable robes. I do thank the sensei! 

   Afterwards, we ended up going back home, with one hour to spare, before our dinner.

   I couldn't ignore this beautifull landscape. Geographically speaking, Ise is sorrounded by a lot of mountains, as you can see on the horizon. Again, I will use my Video-feature, from my camera, and put it to a good use!

   Compared to the last 2 nights, the dinner was very simple and short, unfortunately. 

   I came back to my room early and I decided to show you guys what I got today.

   So, starting from the top-left corner: you can see my Priest sandals, a food menu, a fan, a small guide to the Jinja (Shrine) world, a book about Shinto, a 2nd book written by one of our sensei, a smaller book about japan's festivals, and 2 guides of Ise. Some of them are in english so Im really glad for it. 

   In the end, today we had some surprises and some interesting events, although there were no tours.

   Tomorrow, however, it's a promising day! There will be a tour to a very very special place! You know I cannot reveal it, so I hope you guys can hold your curiosity for a little bit. Hint: I'm going to take one of those guides. 

Diogo here, stay tuned for more!