The balloon was pierced, not popped!

At Fukiya (blowgun) practice, last week, our teacher put five balloons on the target for us to enjoy by popping them with our arrows. All balloons popped when struck except Mr. Fukuzono's. From 9 meters, his arrow went into the balloon and came out the other side of it without popping it--I had never seen that, so his wife took a picture. By the time we got the camera ready, some of the balloon's air had seeped out, but you can have a look. There is a target in the background of the photo.

Shakuhachi (bamboo flute) + Koto (harp-like sound)

A brief video of traditional Japanese music performed by a Koto sensei and her students. Four Christmas songs were included in the concert...["Silent Night" was beautiful, but the memory card was full at that time.] The two young men later did a duet (koto and shakuhachi) of Stan Getz' "Take Five." They regularly perform in Tokyo and improvise professionally. This was their teacher's recital in Ota.

Soba

I went to the Ashikaga Soba Festival on Saturday with Shinji. Soba are noodles made from buckwheat and very popular in this area. Soba is traditionally made by hand and you can see the process in the photos. First the dough is prepared in a large special wood bowl. Then it is hand rolled by wood cylinders to about 1mm thick. This is then folded over several times and then cut by hand into the individual noodles. They are cooked in boiling water and served either cold or in a warm soup. The cold soba are dipped in sauce that is based on soy but is unique to each soba shop (their secret). After, you are served the water that the soba is boiled in. It is supposed to be very good for your health to drink it. (click on photo to enlarge)