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Foreign Languages > Chiba International Information Square > Chiba Nanohana News (September 2016)
Update:September 14, 2016
I.News II. Festivals and Events III.Exhibitions, Concerts, etc.
Now is the perfect time to get out and explore the wonders of Chiba prefecture! Experience the prefecture’s abundant nature, deep cultural heritage, and delicious fall cuisine as the ChiBUStory shuttle bus service connects you to all the attractions Chiba has to offer. The heavily discounted highway buses will run round-trip from Narita Airport along routes to Kamogawa and Choshi from September 17th to October 31st. Passengers traveling with Narita Airport can use the bus free of charge on their arrival and departure dates. Take advantage of this special offer and experience the charm of Chiba!
-Narita Airport–Kamogawa (via Ohara, Onjuku, Katsuura)
-Narita Airport– Choshi (via Sawara/via Asahi)
-Kamogawa route: 1000 yen for adults
-Choshi route: 700 yen for adults
*Half price for elementary school students. Free for preschoolers.
*Free for Passengers using Narita Airport on the day they arrive/depart
Advance booking is required on the following webpage: http://www.chibustory.jp/en/
“CHI BUS TORY” desk (Nippon Travel Agency Chiba branch)
Hours:Monday-Friday 9:00-17:00
Tel:043-388-0167 Email: kousoku_bus@nta.co.jp
Whether you travel by bus, train or bike, experience all the charm that Chiba has to offer during Chiba Prefecture’s “Thank You Chiba Free Pass” Fall Campaign. Passes are on sale now and will be until November 19th. The Thank You Chiba Free Pass grants riders two days of unlimited rides and transfers on participating railways and bus routes. The pass also includes discounts on accommodations, restaurant coupons, reduced entry for attractions, and renta-cycle services. Now is the perfect time to get out and explore the wonders of autumn in Chiba!
Thank You Chiba Free Pass (2 day all-you-can-ride pass)
Trains: Chiba JR Lines, Kominato Tetsudo, Isumi Tetsudo, Choshi Dentetsu
Buses: Kominato Tetsudo Bus, Kujukuri Tetsudo Bus, Chiba Transit Bus, JR Bus Kanto, Kamogawa Nitto Bus, Tateyama Nitto Bus, Amaha Nitto Bus
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During this annual ritual at Kamogawa City’s Kippo Hachiman Shrine, an archer rides horseback across the rice paddies as they aim for targets which will predict the harvest for the upcoming year. The Kamogawa Yabusame Ritual has been designated as a Chiba Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Asset.
The targets are one meter wide square boards that are fixed to the top of three bamboo poles. The poles measuring about five meters in height, are positioned in the paddies approximately 30 meters apart from each other. Each of the three targets represents different predictions for the following year. One target represents an early harvest of rice, another represents a midseason harvest, and the final a late harvest. The archer races across the field three times, each time shooting three arrows. A total of 9 arrows are shot, and the success of the harvest as well as the type of rice grains that should be grown for the next year are predicted by where the arrows land.
253 Naka, Kamogawa City
Beginning in the late nineties, this annual event first began in order to bring the town together with jazz music. The “Bayside Jazz Chiba” jazz festival has become a Chiba City tradition ever since, and will now be celebrating 19 years of music.
The main event, Jazz Street, will be on Saturday, October 1st at 24 different venues (16 paid admission, 8 free admission) located in the Chuo district (Chiba Station and Chuo Park, Chiba City Cultural Center area) and Chiba Minato district (near JR Chiba-Minato Station). This is a rare opportunity to enjoy performances at not only the hall venue, but also restaurants, bars, and other spaces where performances are not usually held. At the free admission venues, check out performances by both amateur and professional groups. Get a sneak peek of what is to come at the Sogo mall Demonstrations between September 18th and the 25th.
See below for a variety of other performances including an exquisite performance by Stardust Jazz on October 2nd. Musicians will perform in tandem with the starry sky at the planetarium in the Chiba City Museum of Science.
Demonstration
Festival Eve Concert
*Preschool age children are not permitted.
Fureai Music Concert
Jazz Street
*Free admission for preschool children. Same-day pair tickets are not available. Student discount tickets are not available in advance.
Stardust Jazz
*Tickets are sold same-day at the machine on site. Preschool-age children are not permitted. Entrance is not allowed once the performance has started.
Inquiries: Chiba City Cultural Promotion Foundation (043-221-2411)
URL: http://www.f-cp.jp/bsj/ (Japanese)
The Ohara Hadaka (naked) Festival is one of the most famous festivals in the prefecture. On Friday, September 23, after the 18 mikoshi (portable shrines) have prayed for good harvests and catches, the festivities will move onto the shiofumi ritual. The shiofumi ritual is one of the Ohara Hadaka Festival’s main attractions. Hoisting the mikoshi onto their shoulders, the mikoshi bearers charge the beach and plunge into the surf. Battling the heavy waves and occasionally other mikoshi teams, they continue to toss the heavy mikoshi up and down in the raging waters. This inspiring ritual dates back to the Edo Period.
After their dip in the ocean, the mikoshi return to the Ohara central shopping area, where they sing and parade all the way down to Ohara Elementary School, where the final attraction of day, the parting ritual, takes place. At the parting ritual, the mikoshi teams dash around the school grounds exhibiting great feats of strength, as if to challenge the other teams.
As the day’s festivities come to a close, mikoshi teams join together in groups of two or three to sing parting songs as the sun sets and the town glows with the gentle light of the streetlamps. In chorus they repeat the lyrics, “you young ones/ parting is hard/it would be better if we did not have to part,” which stir up a feelings of melancholy among the onlookers. As if to refuse parting for the evening, the mikoshi continue to parade throughout the shopping arcade deep into the night, even after the parting ritual has come to an end.
On the 24th, after the individual mikoshi have completed the festival rituals at their respective shrines, they once again gather in the shopping arcade to perform the parting ritual one final time. Afterwards, the younger mikoshi bearers continue to toss them about until the jinku and kiyari folk songs signal that it is time to return the mikoshi to their shrines where they will wait until they can meet again next year.
Shiofumi ritual: Ohara Beach, 20 minutes on foot
Mikoshi parade: Ohara central shopping area, 1 minute on foot
Parting ritual: Ohara Elementary School, 15 minutes on foot
Isumi City Tourism Association: http://www.isumi-kankou.com/ (Japanese)
On Saturday, September 24th, come out and cheer on the 2016 Kujukuri Triathletes as they swim 1.5 km in the Ichinomiya River, cycle 40km along the Kujukuri Toll Road, and run 10km through the town of Ichinomiya. After the competition ends, hit the beach for a late afternoon beachside party. Then on Sunday, September 25th, enjoy more of the beach with activities including yoga, surfing, and a BBQ lunch!
Kujukuri Triathlon
Beach side Party 14:00-17:00
Beach Day Activities
1) Yoga
Time: 9:00 – 9:30
Cost: FREE
*Please come directly to the beach and bring a yoga mat
2) Surfing Experience
Time: 10:30 – 12:30, lunch from 12:00
Cost: 3,500 yen (Includes: Lesson Fee, Board Rental, BBQ Lunch, and Insurance fee)
*Participants will join the BBQ Lunch from 12:30
3) BBQ Lunch
Time: 12:00-
Cost: 1,000 yen
This festival is the oldest seaside festival in all of Chiba and its history can be traced back to the year 807.
The origin of the festival begins with the meeting of two gods. A long, long time ago, the god of the mountains, Ugaya Fukiaezu-no-Mikoto, fell in love at first sight with the goddess of the sea, Tamayorihime-no-Mikoto, and the two of them were joined in marriage. Jinmu Tenno and the other gods who were born from this union traveled down a well said to be connected to the sea, and followed the waterway until they were washed up along the shores of Kujukuri. The young, energetic gods then ran amok on the beach until Tamayorihime and the other gods in the family came to the shores of Kujukuri to collect the children.
In accordance with this legend, each year on September 10th, Ugaya Fukiaezu-no-Mikoto rides on the Uba Shrine mikoshi to fulfill his promise and meet with Tamayorihime-no-Mikoto at the Tamasaki Shrine. Then, the ritual of washing the newly born gods down the well at Uba Shrine is held. Finally, on September 13, the gods gather on the shores of Tsurigasaki, just as it is described in legend. The climactic scene plays out with of over 2,500 young people hurtling down to the beach while carrying the mikoshi shrines that contain the gods of the Tamayorihime-no-Mikoto’s family as they go to collect their children.
This festival is a designated Chiba Prefecture Intangible Folk Cultural Asset.
The Onjuku Lobster Festival will be held from Thursday, September 1st to Monday, October 31st. Participating lodging facilities and restaurants will offer their own unique dishes of ise-ebi, or Japanese spiny lobster, and on weekends and holidays from September 17th to Sunday, October 30th, freshly-caught lobster will be sold at bargain prices in front of the Tsuki no Sabaku Monument starting at 9:30.
At the events held on Sunday, September 11 and Sunday, October 2, a limited number of “Lobster Sets” containing 2 spiny lobsters and 2 horned turban shells (sazae) will be for sale. There will also be free shrimp soup, and visitors can buy fresh lobsters directly from the fisheries.
Main Events
Other events
1.Delicious lobster recipes for a great price! Participating lodging facilities and restaurants will offer unique spiny lobster dishes.
2.Specialty goods corner featuring the flavors of autumn! Live spiny lobster caught fresh in Onjuku will be available for purchase at bargain prices on weekends and holidays from September 17 to Sunday, October 30 from 9:30-13:30 (cancelled in the event of rain).
The Tsurugaya Hachimangu Shrine’s autumn festival, called “Yawatanmachi,” is the largest festival in the Awa Region. Boasting of a tradition dating back 1,000 years ago, each year the festivities are enjoyed by over 100,000 guests.
This festival was named “Awa Kokushisai,” because the shrine was originally the main shrine for the Awa Province (Awa no Kuni) and the kokushi, or provincial governor, used to hold the festival himself. The festival now serves as a gathering for the whole city and has been chosen as a Chiba Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Asset.
This year, the festival will be held on Saturday, September 17th and Sunday, September 18th. On the 17th, ten mikoshi will be carried out of their respective shrines and be paraded all around the city until the evening when they are carried to the karimiya, or place of pilgrimage. On the 18th, after the four dashi floats and one ofune float have returned to their shrines, the festival will culminate with the celebratory Hachimangu ritual, called ohamade, and the mikoshi will then make their way back as well.
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The Chiba Museum of Science and Industry in Ichikawa City shows the history of modern technology (especially Chiba’s key industries of electric power, petroleum, iron, and steel), explains how advanced technology has changed society, and considers the relationship between science and people.
This autumn there are a variety of exciting events and hands-on experiences for the whole family, including making glow-in-the-dark slime and CHI-BA+KUN origami.
Ichikawa City Children’s Science Room
On display are scientific creations made by elementary and junior high school students in Ichikawa City during summer vacation.
Autumn Fair at the Science Museum 2016
Make Light-Up Slime
The Children’s Science Classroom holds various classes and workshops for children to learn about science in a fun and easy-to-understand way. Here children can make slime that absorbs light and glows in the dark.
Flying Glider Making
CHI-BA+KUN Origami
Make a Flying Seed
Make a Mysterious Magic Mirror
Exploration Quiz Rally
Place: Chiba Museum of Science and Industry, Onitaka 1-1-3, Ichikawa City
Museum Hours: 9:00-16:30; closed Mondays (or the next day if Monday is a holiday)
Admission: 300 yen; 150 for high school and college students; free for junior high students and younger, age 65 and older
Access: 15 min on foot from Motoyawata Station on the JR Sobu Line, 5 min from Ichikawa IC on the Keiyo Road
Inquiries: Chiba Museum of Science and Industry (047-379-2005)
URL: http://www.chiba-muse.or.jp/SCIENCE/
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