Tag Archive | Japan

Taking the Turtle for a Walk!

May23

Happy International Turtle Day!Koupa1

What? You didn’t know that May 23rd is “Be Kind to Turtles Day?”

Look it up. It’s true! Turtle Day has been celebrated since the year 2000. It was started by the American Tortoise Rescue and is now celebrated worldwide.

 

Koupa3

So in honor of this special day, our resident turtle, Koupa, was taken to the nearest river for his first ever river walk. He was delighted! See for yourself. I have posted a video of the big event. Koupa didn’t hoot and holler, of course, but he started to explore, even dug up a worm at the bottom of the creek and took a few bites out of leaves floating by.

It was lovely to see how instinctively he took to exploring the river. He walked along the bottom, swam in the current and even started to burrow into the side of the bank. I’m glad I didn’t let him get too far because he has very strong legs and it took a bit of pulling to get him out of his hole. He looked very smug and dashing as he emerged with his beret of mud perched jauntily on his little turtle head.

I kept the leash slack and let him explore at will. He took his time and swam slowly, but when I pulled on the leash a bit to lead him back to shore, he suddenly had an urgent desire to go the other way. I was as if he knew it was time to go and he didn’t want to leave. I don’t blame him. I wish I could have let him go, but I’m afraid he would not have survived long. This stream is daily combed through by little collectors who scoop tadpoles, fish and insects into their keeping cages. He would have been collected before the day was through. Maybe someday I can release him in southern Japan where a river runs wild. For now, he has been promised more frequent excursions to the river… not just on International Turtle Day.

Koupa is a Japanese Southern turtle, raised from egg by a family friend who owns a pig farm and a turtle sanctuary in Japan. This type of turtle is indigenous to parts of Japan south of Kyoto. He lives in a tank in our house, but we wish we could build him a large pool in the backyard. We are renting here, however, and the homeowner might not appreciate the tiny back garden being turned into a turtle pond.IMG_0095

 

Beloved Kamishibai in Japan

Mar31

Kamishibai1

Kamishibai is a Japanese  traditional form of  storytelling that employs the use of large illustrated panels held in a frame that are, one by one, pulled aside by the storyteller to reveal the scenes in a story. Kamishibai literally means “paper drama” and the storytellers are adept at gestures, character voices and timing as they draw their audience into their tale. The kamishibai storytellers used to arrive at a town with their box theater mounted on the back, ready to set up shop and entertain with several stories. Children who bought candy and concessions from the storyteller would get the front row seats for story time.

 

kamishibai man

This form of storytelling originated in Buddhist temples as priests told stories with a message, much like the morality plays of Europe in the medieval times. In those days, the audience was often illiterate and theater was a compelling way to present stories. The ancient art of kamishibai became popular during the 1920s and is recently enjoying a revival in Japan as families flock to libraries and community centers where they can enjoy free storytelling and other fun activities that stimulate their children’s interest in reading.

 

CIMG6831         Kamishibai4
Recently, I was asked to give a kamishibai presentation at a beautiful children’s cultural center located on the grounds of Mitaka City’s Observatory or “Tenmondai.” For this event, some Japanese friends helped to print out large, full-color renderings of the illustrations, without the text, of “Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts.” The printouts were then laminated so that the would easily slide in and out of the kamishibai wooden frame.

An amiable young man named Rin came along to help with the translation of the story. He did a fine job of interpreting the story and interacting with the children in the audience. “Truthful the Lion” was “on hand” to add comments and talk to the kids. After the story, several children were brave enough to approach the lion and talk directly to him. They understood that the lion’s Japanese was not fluent, but they didn’t seem to mind at all.

Kamishibai3

Our kamishibai was donated to the Mitaka Tenmondai Center with the text of the book in English on the back of each panel. These will be updated with a Japanese translation so that parents can share the story once more with their children in English and in Japanese.