Hello
everyone! My name is Noel (most left) and I’m currently in Japan as
an Language Learning student.
On
Friday August 11th,
2023 (also known as Mountain Day!) I was luckily able to take part in
a short tour around the liveliest part of Kofu! Thanks to the Kofu
City Hall, we were able to get a guided tour through Maizuru Castle
Park and the Jewelry Museum!
I’ve
been living in Kofu for over a year now and had no idea how much
history there was to the castle grounds! These stone walls have over
four hundred years of history to them!
Did
you know that there are two connected walls that have about a one
hundred year difference between when they were erected? The way that
you can tell is how the rocks are placed!
It’s
also not clear if the castle itself was ever completed. Researchers
have been investigating but it’s still unknown...
They
monitor the walls for any and all movement. Japan has many
earthquakes everyday and even though they may be small, they do have
an effect on buildings as old as these!
Moving
on to the Jewelry Museum, we were able to see all the different kinds
of rocks and gemstones from both Japan and all around the world!
Pictures are not allowed inside but it was definitely a sight to see.
On display is a step-by-step creation on how they create a decoration
and/or accessory from the rock itself. At the end of the route, they
also have a video of this process! Starting from what the creator
wants out of the gemstone to how it’s grinded down to the finished
product. As well as another video that shows a more in-depth process
making of how a stone is shaped, grinded, and smoothed.
We
also had the chance to create our own necklaces! We created necklaces
with our initals from scratch! They have the Latin alphabet molds so
no need to worry about thinking what it would be in Japanese. The
whole process itself didn’t take too long at all and it’s worth
all the time and effort seeing something that you made come out of a
mini-kiln!
They
do groups of four per session but our group was six so the instructor
had us all together. We tried to make it as easy as we could for her
but of course it was a bit confusing. But thanks to her wonderful
instructions, none of our letters broke! She said that it’s very
common to have a small end break off (which is easily fixed!!) but we
were all lucky enough to not break them and only need a small crack
or two repaired!
Lastly,
we disbanded and had our free-time! Kofu’s Summer Festival also
coincided with the tour and most of us headed back towards the Castle
Park to watch all the events on the main stage and eat at the stalls!
Unfortunately,
last year we were unable to have a summer festival due to the
remnants of COVID-19, but thankfully this year the whole town was
able to enjoy themselves!
There
were many events throughout the day and many, many food stalls to eat
at! To say that it was lively and exciting would be to put it
lightly!
And
what would be a Japanese Summer Festival if not for fireworks? Of
course to close out the night, there was a short fireworks show to
wrap it all up.
If
you have the chance to visit Kofu, I recommend adding these places to
your list! These Japanese summers are hot and humid so please make
sure to drink lots of water and enjoy your time!!
Click here for the report in Japanese!
日本語のレポートはこちらから！
