I assume that it is really obvious that I love Japan and am a silly fangirl for the country. I'll admit that a large part of my interest stems from a love for manga. I'm a manga addict. However, I also find that as time progresses, I am coming to love more about the history of Japan. I have mentioned before that I am trying to read through Genji Monogatari (and I must admit, that I haven't been super successful, just because it's so long... maybe in the winter I'll curl up with my book), but I am currently learning more of other things too. I just thought that maybe I'd talk about some of why that is, which, sorry, is not terribly JET related, but is a little bit.
Firstly, I have to thank JET and the SCA for getting me to really look more into Japan's reality. A large part of why I want to do JET is because I want to see the real world that inspired and created the world's I have found in manga because clearly manga and real life are nothing alike. But, in applying for JET, I have found that I want to start learning more about Japan either way and have begun searching out more things on my own. The SCA has been a large part of this. It was an easy decision to have a Japanese persona because I find Japan the most interesting because it is so different from what I got stuck learning throughout my educational career. So, I picked a name, but I had no idea who "Oguri Tatsuko" would be. I lacked a career, a family, a history for my persona and this has encouraged me to learn more. Now, I sort of want to talk about the different subjects that this has opened for me ^_^
-I like bento a lot, so I started looking into historical bento and learned a lot about when bento really started and what its predecessor was like.
-I wanted to be able to make medieval Japanese garb, so I started looking up patterns to sew my own kosode. Now I want to improve my garb, so I have started looking into Japanese embroidery and medieval patterns and prints for clothes
-I'm really excited to try and learn Japanese embroidery, it is GORGEOUS. Before I start to try and search more about nuido, I am learning Western-style embroidery to build up the basics.
-I will be modeling my garb at the Fort Know Demo in Maine on September 8 (though I don't think I'm a decent model, I'm excited to share my garb attempts) because I decided to chase after Japan's history. This is something I never imagined I could share with people, try and teach a little bit about the construction of old Japanese clothing.
-I have been asked to teach a short Arts & Sciences class on Momiji-Gari at the Endewearde Hunt. And though I don't know a lot about it yet, I am learning more and looking forward to building up a base to continue finding out more about it ^_^
-I want to find out more about festivals of all sorts, so that we can set up our own festival event in Endewearde. Maybe set up a yearly Momiji-Gari event during the Hunt or possibly celebrate snow-viewing or so many other options.
Really, I have encountered so many new things as I try to find out more about who someone might have been in medieval Japan. But I am doing all this because of the SCA and JET. I am taking JET as a cultural exploration and getting to participate in the program would help add so much to my knowledge that I couldn't begin to explain how cool it would be. I am also working, slowly, on learning Japanese and I hope to keep working on that too.
Basically, it's wicked cool to get into more about something you love. And, please, take it a step further and build up your knowledge in things you want to know about. In fact, if you don't quite know exactly what you want, google some of the things I've talked about or google something you are generally in and follow all those tangents and ideas that you come upon so that you eventually find something to set your sights on. If I get into JET, I want to find a class in Japanese embroidery and one of my eventual goals will be to make a folding screen that I embroidered ^_^
Also, it's getting closer and closer to JET application time! I hope everyone is getting prepared okay ^_^
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