The end of the year in Ikata in many ways is similar to the end of the year in all other parts of Japan. Here too you will find nearly every citizen using the precious free-time they have sitting down to write Christmas cards and New Year’s letters to family and friends. Here too you will find the end of the year parties known as the Bonenkai 忘年会　(lit. Forget the Year Meeting) where coworkers gather to share a few laughs and a few drinks together. And here too you will find the cool air of winter wrapping the people in a chill deep enough to leave any one searching for a sweater and scarf.

Yet counteracting that chill are the many warm faces of the school children you see passing on the street (now free for a couple weeks of vacation) and the many many varieties of Nabe 鍋 that friends and neighbors share. For someone who has never traveled to Japan, one may find the nabe to have a unique charm and taste that sets its value above that of a mere meal. It is a kind of ritual for the people of Ikata and the people of Japan as a whole to enjoy the bounty by placing the massive pot in the center of the table, filled with vegetables, meats, and (especially here in Ikata) all variations of seafood, from which everyone freely draws their servings, mindful of the others.

The homes in Ikata are very different from the homes of her sister city of Red Wing where rough winters have brought about a keen knowledge of insulation. No, here the homes are made of paper-thin walls and single-pane windows the likes of which leave your room as cold as the outdoors within an hour after you have turned off the heat. So, while there may be no snow yet, a weather-worn, Minnesota-raised, northern Indiana-experienced man like myself can tell you it is no picnic. However the Japanese have plenty of ways to beat the heat. Food, like nabe, hot sake, and ramen, warm a soul up from the inside out. Heaters, like the Kotatsu, and the recommended daily bath お風呂(O-furo) warm you from the outside in.　Finally, and especially unique in this area, the annual illumination of the town with thousands of holiday lights–many of which span the steam that winds through the town–warm a heart in ways that it never expected. Celebrate the season with a friend you have made and behold、you are as toasty and jolly as a summer day.

All-in-all the cool season is a time for seasonal food (the mikan sorting plant is in FULL operation nearly twenty-four hours a day), staying warm, and letting others know that you are thinking of them and thankful for all they have done for you this year. From all of us here in Ikata, we wish you the merriest of New Years and remind you once again that you are always welcome any time you like!

January Calendar:
New Year Calligraphy Meeting January 6th 9:30am Misaki Branch Office, 2nd Floor Multipurpose Room
(please bring your own brush and calligraphy mat)
Misaki Health Marathon and Walking Meet January 3rd Noon Misaki Town Hall
(1.5, 3, 5,and 10km marathons as well as a 5km walk-a-thon)
Ikata and Seto Health and Long-Distance Marathons January 8th 9:30 Shihama Sports Center (Seto), 9:00 Machimi Sports Center (Ikata)
Coming of Age Day (National Holiday) January 9th
44th Annual Misaki Long-Distance Marathon January 15th 9:30am Sadamisaki Elementary School (Start)
Ikata Women’s Meeting January 15th 1pm ~ 4:10 Ikata Town Hall Lifelong Learning Center, 5th Floor Multipurpose Hall
(Topics include disaster prevention and relaxation techniques)
The Natural Beauty of the Sadamisaki Peninsula (Slideshow presentation) January 25th 7pm, Machimi Budoukan
Machimi Town Hall Festival January 29th 8:30am

Computer Training Courses
Courses will be offered for those looking for training in Word, Excel, and/or Powerpoint. If you are interested please contact Drago Flores at ikata.cir@gmail.com. Courses will be offered beginning the end of January and run 2 hours each.

In the face of all this, the people of Ikata show their full colors as outdoor activities come to a crescendo (it’s not too hot and not too cold) taking a moment out to enjoy the season before the cool air of winter sets in. Tennis is popular as ever on the courts of Red Wing Park and casual cyclists can be found rolling about the town. It is common to see people out strolling at dusk, often walking their dogs or just out with their children, and on the weekend…that’s when things get a bit more active.

Capping of the summer and heralding an end to the season is the annual Ikata Fall Festival (伊方秋祭り) held mid-October and generally taking up the entire Sunday. In fact, the festival unofficially begins the night before around 5 pm as the local Guruma (車） makes its rounds through the streets, pulled by over a dozen elementary school students, their parents, and a dozen or so grown men. Glowing in the twilight hours, the Guruma brings good luck to the houses that it stops in front of. How do you get it to stop in front of your house? Leave your lights on and have a pretty little envelope of cash ready to give.

Like all the fall festivals on Sadamisaki Peninsula, the Ushi-oni is the centerpiece. To get an idea of the magnitude of this hellish heifer, imagine a bamboo-based structure so large that no less than 30 grown men are needed to lift it into the air, and lift it they do. For over ten hours beginning before the sun rises the committed crew of hoisters march the same streets of Ikata as the Guruma the night before, dancing and rocking the Oni (鬼) with all their strength as a symbol of the now fading belief that it literally pounds the bad spirits out from the ground beneath. It is interesting that the word Oni (devil) is used in this case as to an English speaker a devil does no good. However, in Japan a devil can do as much good as it can do evil; Teaching as well as taking away. From the streets of Ikata up tho the temple on the hill, the Ushi-oni makes its rounds until the final culmination of events takes place on the grounds of Ikata Elementary school.

There, at the school grounds, gathers the menagerie of masks and spirits of the festival unlike any seen elsewhere, the centerpiece of course being the Ushi-oni (牛鬼) and its counterpart the shrine of offerings (filled with sake, flowers, and cash) as symbols of sacrifice in hopes of another happy year. For the next three hours performances are held in front of the shrine by various groups from within the peninsula as the three Gurumas look on (one Guruma from each of the central parts of town: Minatoura, Nakaura, Konakaura). One especially notable dance was the Dance of the Five Deer (五つ鹿踊り), performed by roughly middle-school aged children from five of the main sections of town, dressed in full head-to-toe costumes outfitted with drums and crowned with a deer’s head and horns (made of plastic these days).

It is a full day of festival, fun, drinking (the freshest sake is provided by one of the local breweries in town–にごし酒 is a must), festival food (this year’s fare were giant sautéed sausages and some of the best french fries you will taste all year). The next festival doesn’t come along until next year…so if you come to Ikata, shoot for mid-October.

As for events in November,

-National Reading Week starts today and runs until November 2nd
-The Annual Sadamisaki Quarter Marathon is the 6th
-Two National Holiday are also celebrated during the month of November: Culture Day (3rd) and Labor Day (23rd)

The entire event is documented on the town’s exchange-program-specific blog, The Flying Mikan. Please feel free to visit to get an idea of the kinds of events that children from two very different areas of the world get to participate in. Now in it’s 15th year, the Ikata/Red Wing exchange program is a testament to the positivity and personal growth that can blossom out of a sister city relationship.

In other news,
1) The English version of this website will be undergoing an update in the next few months with several more pages of information.
2) October 10th is Physical Education Day, a national holiday.
3) October 19th come on down to Seto Junior High School for the Regional Elementary School Taiko Meet
4) Several events are planned for the final week of October (26th through the 30th) including a slideshow presentation at the Futami Folk Museum showcasing “Sadamisaki’s Natural Beauty”, the start of the 65th annual book reading week “Believe in the Power of Books!”, as well as the Cultural Festivals of both the Misaki and Seto area (on the 29th and 30th, respectfully)

If you have any questions concerning these events, please contact us.

The earthquake that shook northeastern Honshu on Friday, the largest in recorded history at a magnitude of 9.0, brought untold devastation to Japan’s northeast region. It was felt in Tokyo and in Yamanashi Prefecture (where Mount Fuji is located), and much lighter tremors were felt as far south as the Kansai region (where Osaka and Kyoto are located). We felt no tremors here in Ikata.

Around 4pm on Friday, emergency sirens went off, and a public service announcement asked everyone on the coast to evacuate to their local designated evacuation spots. In Ikata, some 3,500 coastal households were affected.

The tsunami that had wreaked such devastation in the northeast was considerably weaker by the time it reached Ikata. At 5:10 pm it came, measuring about 80cm or 2.6 feet. Later that night, most of the evacuees returned home.

Coverage of the events in the northeast continued throughout the weekend and is still ongoing.
We are touched by the concern shown by so many of our friends in Red Wing.
If you feel moved to donate, there are a number of aid organizations mobilized to help the victims of the disaster.

あけましておめでとうございます

or, akemashite omedetou gozaimasu.

Come to Seto Agritopia and dye your own Easter eggs, make a may basket, try your hand at a piñata, dance around a maypole, and get prizes in an egg hunt!

When: Saturday, May 22  1pm-4pm

Where: Seto Agritopia

Who: Elementary school students, limit 30  (Parents are welcome, too!)

Cost: 400 yen per participant

Please call us at 38-2659 or email ikata (dot) cir @gmail.com by May 18th to sign up!

When: Friday, May 21  7pm-9pm

Where: Ikata Community Center, 3rd floor kitchen

Who: Adults (junior high school and up), limit 20

Cost: 400 yen per person

Please call us at 38-2659 or email ikata (dot) cir @gmail.com to sign up!  Sign-up deadline is May 19th.

When: Saturday, February 13, 1pm-3pm

Cost: 300 yen per participant

Call: 0894-38-2659 to sign up! Limit 15.

Congratulations to all the young men and women turning 20 this year in Ikata!

The Ikata International Exchange Association will be at the festival and its activities include:

–a photograph-based “Name that Country” game

–an opportunity to try Western calligraphy and make a personalized bookmark

–Piñatas!!!