Doshisha EVE, my host university’s school festival, turned
out to be a life-changing event. Well, life-changing in terms of my life here
in Japan. It’s easier to understand if I start from the beginning.
I got to campus fairly early, around 9am. Booths were still
setting up, so I found a quiet place to study kanji for a bit. My good friend
Dani was part of a 軽音サークル (Light Music Club), and I was hoping to catch her
performance. After exchanging a couple mails, I figured out which building she
was in (I still don’t know the names of all the buildings on campus) and made
my way over. I got there in time to see the first band perform. And damn, they
were good! In fact, this was true of nearly all of the bands. There was only
one that I really disliked, and that was some experimental music group that
thought it was a good idea to throw their guitars on the ground to get them to
make abnormal sounds. Aside from that little stunt, the performers were
freaking amazing. There were a variety of styles: rock, pop, jazz, funk, and
more. Really, these kids have talent – lots of them play multiple instruments,
and play them well.
A little after noon, SMMA (the music club) went on break,
and so Dani, Nick, and I decided to wander around a bit. Our first stop was the
ramen booth some of our friends were running. For about 300 yen, we got a
decent bowl of ramen with Hokkaido-shaped nori.
Truth be told, it was pretty tasty! I chatted a bit with my friend Matsu, who
explained that the booth was being run by a group of friends from the same
summer camp, and that it was Hokkaido themed because they went there last
summer. Ah, the freedom of Japanese college students.
After strolling around a little longer, I decided I wanted
to take a look at the festival guide, so we found the information desk and got
some programs. Curious to see what sort of booths were open, I flipped through
until something caught my eye. Something which, once I took a better look got
my heart racing. It turned out that Doshisha has a VOCALOID Research Club,
something that is very relevant to my interests. Taking lead of the group, the
three of us found our way to the building where the club had set up, and I
headed in. There were three or four guys in the room, and they told me that if
I filled out a survey, I could get a free CD of the songs they had created. It
was pretty simple, just asking about my interests in VOCALOID. After I turned
it in and received their CD, I mentioned that I was interested in
participation. They seemed shocked that this foreigner not only spoke Japanese,
but also had an interest in VOCALOID, but they told me they’d be glad to have
me participate. The only catch is that they’re at the really far campus (the
one near where I live), and they meet during lunch blocks. Maybe next semester,
assuming my schedule permits, I can join in.
Leaving the VOCALOID room, I looked around for Nick and Dani.
They were at the other end of the hall, and I went over to join them. They had
just been invited to try…something. We actually had no idea what it was, but
they handed us a lantern, told us to start at the point labeled F, and sent us
into a darkly lit room. There were a couple people in ghoul masks, and at first
I thought it was some sort of haunted house. It turned out to be some sort of
trivia game. In Japanese. We were outclassed from the start. As we puzzled the
answers to the questions, many other groups came in and out. Finally, we asked
for some hints, and somehow discovered the answer. On a related note, we later
asked a friend WHY the correct answers were correct. It turns out to be some
crazy sort of wordplay in one case, and a matter of symmetrical kanji in the
other. Making our way outside, we received a handout from the club – they were
some sort of lantern club. I guess they appreciate lanterns? Anyway, it was a
really cool idea, just not meant for foreigners. Well, I guess we’ll never be tricked
by that sort of puzzle again!
Coming out of the building, Nick got a mail from one of his
infinity Japanese friends. Since she was at the festival too, we met up with
her and two of her friends. They seemed nice, just shy (what a surprise!). I
broke off for a moment to go to the piano club’s booth, but it seemed like they
were too busy to talk at that point. Somehow or other, we wound up going to
this maid café, run by what I assume was the anime club. It was kind of neat,
although half of the maids were actually dudes. Sadface L We shared some laughs as we
read through the book of messages left behind on the table. I scribbled
something silly in too, but there were some seriously amusing stuff in there.
We wound up splitting into two groups at this point. Dani
and I went to the SMMA performance on the big stage, while Nick went somewhere
else with his friend. A couple of my friends are in one of the SMMA bands, one
called LionPanda. They play a sort of lively, big band sounding jazz. I think
they were my favorite of the performers. Anywho, they were one of the three or
four bands who appeared on the stage, and was a joy to listen to.
It was getting a little late, but I texted Nick to see what
he was up to. We met up with him over by the computer building, where he was
checking out the manga club’s exhibition. Clubs here don’t simply consume
media; they create it. The room was filled with incredible drawings, as well as
manga drawn by various club members. Nick suggested we check out the art club
too, which was actually very similar. They had some amazing artists in there.
We actually wound up talking with one of the girls there, who was a first year
student. The four of us just chatted for a good 30 minutes or so.
And so it was time to go home for the day. But by no means
was this experience over! Be sure to check out Part 2!
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