Kajiki Spider Fighting

I meant to post this a couple of weeks back while this story was still fresh in my mind, but due to being busy, I didn't get around to it...and I also became slightly addicted to a few youtube channels a couple days ago.  Nevertheless, here comes another blog entry, this time about an annual tournament that takes place in my neighbouring city:  the Kajiki spider fighting festival!

Some of you may be aware that Japan has beetle fighting competitions in some places, or that children here are fond of bug catching.  In Kajiki, a town that's part of a city in Kagoshima Prefecture called Aira, residents take these two things to the next level by bringing pet spiders to an annual fighting tournament.  Before hearing of this, I had heard that boys in the Philippines regularly have spider fights with friends just for fun, but here was was an actual tournament, broadcast on local TV and journaled about in newspaper articles, happening right next door to Kirishima.

I went with a few other ALTs, one of which who lives in the area and has been looking forward to this all year.  As soon as I walked into the large room where the tournament was being held, I was overwhelmed at how many spiders there were.  And these weren't just ordinary small spiders or the odd daddy long legs that you crushed with a shampoo bottle the other day while you were having a shower.  These are big-bodied, colourful, home-bred creepy-crawlies, the kind arachnophobic individuals such as myself have nightmares about for days on end.  (Just as a side note, I surprisingly didn't have any nightmares that night.)  There were three different tournaments going on at the same time:  an elementary division and two adult divisions.  The rules for the competition were as follows:  if your spider's opponent gets bitten or its web is cut, causing it to fall, you win.  The most wins advanced you to the quarter- and semi-finals and ultimately to the finals.  There was a judge at each station, decked out in traditional Japanese garb resembling a casual samurai.  He was in charge of making the spiders fight by brushing his hands against them to turn them in the right direction or dashing sand on them to get them irritated.  At the end of the tournament were several very generous prizes and the quickest raffle I had ever taken part in.

This particular festival has been taking place for the past hundred years or so, but the practice of spider fighting dates back to samurai times.  Before battle, samurai would watch spider fights to boost their morale.  Nowadays, it's just a fun tournament bringing the community together.  Elementary schools in the area take part by catching and raising their own spiders.  Adults, who have probably been at this for years, go out and catch them in fields, bring them home, and raise them in their houses for about a year before the competition.  That's probably why they get so big.  In the excitement of cheering children, the local ALT joked about raising her own spiders and letting them crawl around in her apartment.  Well, I guess that rules out staying at her place after a night out on the town (not like I ever go out anyway).

The competitors at the tournament were walking about or sitting, their pet spiders close at hand.  Most carried their brood in mesh bags, exposed on sticks, or on their hands and arms.  Some would brush past me with an "sumimasen" (excuse me) while carrying their spiders on sticks, and I couldn't help but freeze in my tracks and stare at their creepy pets.  It was hard enough to keep myself from jumping and fretting about in fear.  After about ten to fifteen minutes, the initial shock had passed and I found myself becoming rather comfortable with the spiders being all around me.  However, unlike my ALT friends, I couldn't gather enough courage to actually hold one and let it crawl up my arm.  One kid let a spider crawl on his face.  Another very small girl cried when her father took a spider away that had been crawling on her, the very opposite of what is characteristic of most children.  Despite not holding one (I'll be sure to work up enough courage to hold one next year!), the whole experience of being there helped me get over my fear of spiders a little...just as long as I don't find a huge one infiltrating my apartment this summer...

One of the spiders.  The girl holding it explained that she had been raising it for about a year and a half.

Mesh bag full of spiders.

Judge for the elementary school division.

Into the Rainy Season

The beginning of this week marked the start of the notorious rainy season. Having experienced this last year, I can safely say that this is probably the worst time of year. So far, it hasn't been that bad. Monday and Tuesday were wrought with rain, but the weather cleared up with overcast and even some sunshine. It was enough to make me wonder where the rainy season went off to. I know better than to forget about it, though.

Last year, the worst of the rain lasted for two weeks straight. It was a memorable time, and not so much in a good way. I come from a pretty dry place in Canada. Sure, the weather can change on a whim with 15 minute storms passing through. In Kirishima, torrential rain can come in waves for an entire day. During those two weeks of rain last year, I had elementary school every day and had to be "genki" for the whole 7 hours of interacting with children. My mood those days was the very opposite of energetic (the rough definition of genki).

When the season starts, it actually isn't that bad. It's still cool enough to go for a pleasant jog. But when the end of June comes around, it's hot, humid, and excruciatingly uncomfortable. Every morning begins and ends with a shower to wash off the sweat that's accumulated on I body. That's right, two showers a day, sometimes even three if I feel disgusting in the afternoon. Right now, though, it hasn't gotten that bad.

Kirishima's rainy season lasts for about a month and a half on average. Following that is the nearly unbearable humid heat of August, but I'll save that for another time. For now, I have the loud frogs to fail falling asleep to and bad hair every day. The one good side to the rainy season are the flowers that only bloom this time of year. I have no idea what they're called, but they sure are beautiful, possibly one of my favourite kinds of flowers. They make this season slightly more bearable than just the two showers every day.