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皆さんこんにちは！ 私達は皆さんにいい秋の学期がといいですね。今週の土曜日で日本語ハウスは「ラーメン・ナイ
ト」と言う行事があります。午後七時から午後九時までです。日本語ハウスでラーメンが食べられますとラ
メンの歴史に教えてさし上げます。そして、もし箸があったら、持って来て下さい。よろしくお願いしま
す〜 ーバルゴンとブラドッリーとムーさんより Dear Staff and Students, We, the members from the Japanese (Larson) Honor House, want to wish everyone a happy fall semester as the new school year unfolds and to also inform everyone that this upcoming Saturday night (September 27th) from 7pm­9pm the Japanese House will be hosting a “Ramen Night” event! Please come to the house and enjoy some ramen while learning some fun and interesting facts about ramen as well! Also, if you do have your own chopsticks, please bring them to use! We hope to see you there! Sincerely, Garrett, Anna, and Guanlun Other events that occur in Japan during the month of September include: the Owara Kaze­no­Bon Festival（おわら風の盆祭） and the Reitaisai Festival（例大祭） The Owara Kaze­no­Bon Festival is held every year from September 1st through September 3rd in Yatsuo, Toyama, Japan. The festival’s translation means the “Bon Dance of the Wind” and is a traditional event completed to appease the wind and typhoons and to pray for a bountiful crop in the coming year. The festival is unique because it is conducted at night and during this time paper lanterns decorate the streets. Often, men and women in Japan stop working during the three days and dance to melancholic music within an area of roughly three kilometers from north to south and eleven Owara subunits perform on designated stages as well. The melancholic music is unique to the region as the kokyu and shamisen instrument are strung together in accompaniment. Another unique fact about this festival is that all the participating dancers are unmarried, and whether this is to show off and meet new people or merely for superstitious reasons of appeasing the gods, no one will ever know. The festival has been described as “eerie” and though it generally has been a local festival, over the years it has gained much popularity. Check it out the link below for a video on the festival! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbUlt0bMZEg The Reitaisai Festival is also a traditional festival held during the month of September from the 14th through the 16th in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan. The festival consists of numerous events such as tea ceremonies and classical Japanese dances but the main attraction that the festival is known for is Yabusame (horseback archery). The Yabusame is a contest that tests archery skills and was popular among samurai during the Heian Period and continuing through the Kamakura Period. The contest involves a riding ground that extends over 250 meters and includes targets one, two, and three, which archers will try and hit back to back as they ride by on horseback. A direct hit results in much honor and a round of applause from thousands of spectators. The difficulty of this task is that archers are dressed in samurai attire called “shizoku” of the Kamakura Period and use turnip head arrows which make a whistling sound as they fly through the air. Citation: “Owara Kaze­no­Bon Festival.” Japan: The Official Guide. Japan National Tourism Organization. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. “Reitaisai.” Japan National Tourism Organization. Japan National Tourism Organization. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.