Marine Day

Fuzzy photo! Yuck!

So this past weekend we had a holiday, Marine (or Ocean) Day. Whatever you want to call it.....we had Monday off. Yippy! I didn't get the opportunity to travel anywhere, but I did go see one of my Japanese friends perform with his band. Yasuhide, pictured on the right blowing a saxaphone, is an Iwade native. He has a degree in English and speaks really well. However he has joined the family business and works in a barber shop. He cuts Rich's hair in exchange for Spanish lessons. Not a bad deal since a cut and shave cost 4,000 yen. Anyway, he invited us to come to a small jazz concert that his band was performing. His band is huge! There are 14 members. They have drums, keyboard, trumpets, saxaphones, guitars, etc. So Hannah, Jan (her man visiting from the UK), Sarah, Rich, and myself packed ourselves into the concert hall for the experience. Now let me tell you, this concert hall was really about a 5 meter by 25 meter room. It was packed with people. Now imagine a 14 member band in that space with an audience. It was loud. However it was really good. I was greatly impressed and proud of Yasuhide. For a measly 1,000 yen we were treated to a superb hour long jazz concert with beer and snacks. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday. Also we found out that his band will be playing at the Jazz Marathon held on my birthday in October. We plan on running the half marathon. How cool that his band will be there.

Side note: I asked Emiko (one of my JTEs) what the signifigance is behind Marine Day. She informed me that about 7 years ago the government created Marine (or Ocean) Day. There wasn't a national holiday in June or July, so the government felt that they needed one. As far as a meaning behind the day, she had no clue. Go figure! Create a holiday just b/c there hasn't been one on the calendar for awhile.