#hinamatsuri

These shows managed to stay relevant even after their season ended, let it be through memes, show being memorable or fan arts.

I know there are many other shows as well but I had to make compromises.

And squeals were not even considered because they were already popular enough to get a “squeal”.

June 9th - Free Day 

Path on the Kumo Gawa 

     Today was our last free day in Japan. I woke up a little later than usual and made my (now usual) breakfast of udon noodles and instant soup. Most of my friends went to Osaka today, but I really just wanted to be by myself. We’ve been together every day for 3 weeks, and I miss having time to be alone. It sounds a little bad to say because they’re all really cool people, but it was so nice to not have to consider anyone else when I decided what I wanted to do today.

     I played stardew valley for about an hour in the mid-morning, then took a short nap because I could. I really wanted to walk down the main river in town, as there are always people walking down it and it has some really beautiful views. I started off at around 12:45 without a clear goal in mind, and just enjoyed the company of the ducks on the way. I’ll talk about it more in my media reflection, though. 

      When the river split in two, I checked the map and noticed I was halfway to the Kyoto botanical gardens. Since I was already out, I finished my walk over there. The gardens were really nice! The map included a calendar of when everything bloomed, and the big thing in the summer are the lily and rose gardens. The rose gardens were my favorite, with over 200 species of rose grown there. They filled the entire space with a really nice smell (made nicer by the fact that this is one of the first days I’ve been able to smell for a while), and I enjoyed walking around the different gardens. I had a really nice coffee at the cafe in the center and saw a couple taking wedding pictures as well. 

     After I got back, I went to a cat cafe with Valerie to try and satiate my need to pet my cat. The cafe was a lot better than I thought it would be - clean smelling with really friendly cats. They handed us a book with their names and personalities and made sure that everyone treated the cats properly. My favorite was a huge girl named Sumomo, who made meows that sounded like she was talking. The cats here liked to be pat really hard on the end of their backs, which I thought was strange, but it was the only way to get them to like me so you do what you need to, I suppose. 

Roses at Kyoto Botanical Gardens 

This flower looked like it was from the Lorax 

Japanese Lily garden at Kyoto Botanical Gardens 

Orchids at Kyoto Botanical Gardens 

Latte I got at Kyoto Botanical Gardens 

Cats being fed at the cafe 

This boy hung out under our table! 

Media Reflection - Kumo Gawa 

OP of K-On, featuring the Kumo Gawa 

     Rivers are commonly found in Japan, and therefore just as common in anime. Any anime set in Kyoto will probably have a shot of Kumo gawa in it, but in general, rivers serve as a meeting place, an easy place to do a dramatic running scene, and a beautiful area to pass over in between scenes. Even in anime that takes place in other cities, these are common tropes. In hinamatsuri, which doesn’t have a specified location, there is a battle on a river bank, While Iroduku features many breathtaking shots of rivers in Nagasaki. These are often my favorite scenes when I watch anime, so I was really excited to see what kind of environment drew both the characters to these places and the authors to include them so often

      In K-On, a Kyoto animation production, there is a famous shot in the opening where the girls cross the river. At several points during my walk, the river was crossable by way of large stones, sometimes in the shape of turtles. I saw many children playing across them, very much like the shot in the OP. It was cute to watch, and I also tried it myself on the way home - super fun to do by the split in the river because there are small beaches on either side and lots of kids around that made me smile.

     There is also a shot of them racing around on their bikes down by the bank, and that could not be a truer portrayal. When I made my first walk not many older kids were out, so it was mainly children riding bikes next to their parents, or groups of people biking to exercise. There was a couple riding on one bike, with the girl sitting sideways behind the guy, which I thought was cute. On my way back, though, it was a whole other world. I had to walk on the grass for a good portion of it because the path was taken up completely by teens biking in huge groups going who knows where. I can only imagine what it would look like on a school day.

     As I walked down the river, this was exactly what I saw. There were children running around with butterfly nets, young couples sitting on the river bank, groups running and biking, men taking their lunch break in the shade, an old man and his wife spreading birdseed under a river. It seemed as though the paths on either side of this river were a unifying force in a town that holds so many kinds of people. Every age group and walk of life could be found here enjoying the day. 

     One thing that didn't quite meet my expectation was the massive groups of people that accumulated in certain areas, and just the amount of people in general. In an anime, the focus needs to be on the action at hand, so people in the background tended to be limited in number. However, actually walking down the river was quite different. I swear I passed entire classrooms of schoolchildren eating lunch at one point. Also, there was so much more noise than I thought there would be, In addition to the large pockets of people I would pass and the general chatter of birds, I passed over 10 people practicing musical instruments. From a man playing his trumpet to a young boy and his teacher going through a violin lesson, very rarely was I not listening to some kind of music. It was really fun, but definitely not something I would have ever expected. I feel as though a lot of the life of the river is cut out to make the drama happening between characters more isolated and easier to understand. 

Comparison of the Kumo Gawa in anime and in real life 

Scene in Hina featuring a riverbank

Path on the Kuno Gawa

Path on the Kumo Gawa 

Stepping stone bridge on the Kumo Gawa

Someone did an amazing all-Goma hinamatsuri doll display.

March 2022 EVE shipgirls pack

Heron, Pontifex, Eos, Augoror

March 2022 EVE shipgirls pack: Heron, Pontifex, Eos and Augoror