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On April 29, the first official day of the Japanese famous vacation week, Golden Week, I went clamming with the Osaki family. We trekked out of Kochi to a country village called USA, which I have to admit is a great name for a town. There we hopped a boat to the middle of a lagoon, where we dug for clams.
Hikari, my 7-year-old host sister, poses in front of the clamming lagoon.
The Golden Week is a collection of four national holidays within seven days. Trains, airports and sightseeing spots get very crowded during Golden Week, and accommodation in tourist areas can get booked out well in advance.
The national holidays making up the Golden Week are:
April 29 - Showa Day (Showa no hi): April 29 is the birthday of former Emperor Showa, who died in the year 1989.
May 3 - Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi):
On this day in 1947, the new post war constitution was put into effect.
May 4 - Greenery Day (Midori no hi):
The day is dedicated to the environment and nature, because the emperor loved plants and nature.
May 5 - Children's Day (Kodomo no hi):
The Boy's Festival is celebrated on this day. Families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both symbolizing strength, power and success in life.
This is my first time clamming, ever.
Huge Crowds in the middle of nowhwere SHikoku- can you imagine Golden Week in Tokyo?
My host parents
A Kochi castle tour guide takes us around the grounds and explains to us the significance of certain things. Needless to say, Bron and I couldn't understand a thing.
Matsuyama's exchange student from Perth, Australia, Bron, came down to Kochi to visit me during Golden Week. I showed her what a great city Kochi happens to be, and confirmed the statement that exchange students are AWESOME no matter what.
Katsuruhama (beach) and Hirome, Kochi's famous food market place, were our stops for the day. But we couldn't resist a Purikura...
In Tokushima, we stopped at the new attraction called Zorb. Basically you enter this giant rubber ball, strap yourself into a harness and buckle. Then get pushed down a huge hill, rolling and flipping and screaming. Everyone in the Osaki's did it, and it was AWESOME! While many screamed, I laughed and cheered the whole way down.
During the summer, Tokushima has this famous dance, called Awa-Odori with traditional dances and renowned performances. At a rest stop in the prefecture, we stopped and watched one team performing their routine early. I was told just how lucky I am to be able to see something like that.
The Golden Week crowds prohibited us from going out onto the ferry to see the Naruto Whirlpools, the strongest in the world right off the coast of Tokushima. But I got to take these pictures from the side of a bridge.
