また差し込み記事です。
なにしろ会員には１００歳超えの二世おばあちゃん達がいるから、彼女たちがコロナったら御浄土送り。（ぉぃ…）
中央では和太鼓のパフォーマンスとかやっていましたが、今川焼を造るのに明け暮れて写真撮れなかった。
で、儂が労作奉仕するのはいつもここ、今川焼のブースです。
焼き方に立って今川焼を焼いた経験がある人が少なすぎで焦ったけど、なんとかなった。
さすがパンデミック後と思ったのは… 今まで以上にマスクと手袋の着用が厳しくなった。
今川焼き器の前でマスクしてると、大汗かいて疲労が貯まります。
でも今年は最高気温２０℃、湿度２０％くらいなので助かりました。
バザー会場は、こんな雰囲気になっています。
教会メンバーのお父さん達ががんばって寒冷紗を張ってくれるから、軽く日陰になった場所で飲み食いできます。
・・・と初日・土曜日の時点で書いたけど、翌日・日曜日は休憩もらえて撮れますた♪
太鼓のパフォーマーが… 男子が一人だけだった。昔から女子が優勢でしたが、ちょっと驚いた。
あと… 初日は焼きそば食いまくっておなかいっぱい。でも日曜日にラーメンを食せました。
製麺所の山下さんは新規開店のためにカナダへ出張中だそうです。口ヒゲ＋デヴのお姿を拝見できず、残念。
ラーメンの容器がボール紙製ですが、今回のバザーで提供される全ての容器は Compostable、つまり生ゴミと一緒に堆肥にできる仕様です。なんかこういうのって… ちょっち「意識高い系」で、個人的には好きくない。
さて、タイトルに使った「念仏５００」とは、このゲームです！
どうやら、野球ボール（さすがアメリカ、硬式だ！）を転がして先っぽの穴に入れるみたい。
さらに見つけた、阿弥陀プリンコ！！ 凄いネーミング… もし儂が阿弥陀様だったらバチ被せてると思う。
盤面がこんな。真ん中の悪い奴がバイキンマンにしか見えない…。
以上の浄土真宗っぽい名前が付いたゲームよりも、断然人気があるのは、ニッケルピッチ。
お寺の中も、阿弥陀様がいらっしゃる本堂を「ツアー」で見学できます。でも… 見学時間になってもあんまり人が集まらなくて、案内役の開教師の先生を遠目に見ていても辛かった。
もう１０年くらい見てるけど、遊んだことが無いから未だにルールが判らない。
そうすっと、お父さん達が必死に組み立てた紐と滑車の細工で、オモチャのクルマがガーッと走る。そして、クルマの達した位置によって景品が変わるようです。
で… 今まで気がつかなかったけど、念仏以外にも佛教っぽいアトラクションがありました。
それにしても看板の手作り感がハンパない。今時は高校の学園祭でも、ここまで凄くない。
Wheel of Dharma! 長寿ＴＶ番組で Wheel of Fortune というのがあるから、そこから取った？
ダルマは達磨さんじゃなくて、仏法 とか 徳 を意味する英語の佛教用語です。
なので、これをグルグル廻していたら功徳を積めるかも。
…でもそれじゃ、ほとんどチベット佛教。(爆)
プリンコとは、ピンポン球を転がしてゴールさせるゲームです。
盤面をゆらす原始的な手動ピンボールというか、iPhone 版スーパーモンキーボール™というか… そんな感じ。
障害物を抜け、バイキンマンやパックマンの悪者にしか見えない奴をよけて、穴に到達すれば、無事成仏♪ ｗ
名前のとおり、５セントコインをトスして、うまいこと景品の当たる升目に入れます。
抹香臭いタイトルは付いてないし、判り易すぎるから一番人気。特に白人に。
儂… 一等の景品と思しき、あのおおきなペンギンのぬいぐるみが欲しかった…。
翌日には同じくらい大きなシロクマに変わっていたので、誰かが獲った。悔しい。
その阿弥陀様のいらっしゃる本堂の隣にある大広間は、こうなります。
パンデミックの終わりが近づいてきて、いちばんヤバかったおばあちゃん達も安心してバザーやってます。
おばあちゃん達が造ったキルトとか菓子とか、いろいろ販売中。
さすが日系アメリカ人！と思わされるのは、キモノっぽい生地のキルトとか。あとは「おばあちゃんのチョコレートブラウニー」って… 白人のおばあちゃんだけが造ると思っていました。レイシストですいません。
I'm sure I've probably seen an article about the San Mateo Buddhist Church bazaar even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when I read it again earnestly, I realized that it was quite a charming event.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, there are second-generation grandmothers over 100 years old among the members? Certainly, if they were to contract COVID-19...
Hmm, I'm starting to remember now. You were volunteering and working at the Imagawa-yaki booth. Your senior colleague is also doing something similar in some local events, right? It seems like a natural progression for T Academy graduates to immerse themselves in such side jobs (lol).
Oh, it's unlikely that many amateurs have experience in making Imagawa-yaki. Special cooking utensils for okonomiyaki or takoyaki are readily available in ordinary households, but it seems that the utensils for Imagawa-yaki are not easily found.
Moreover, you were wearing a mask and gloves while cooking Imagawa-yaki, and considering that you tend to feel hot easily (lol), it's no wonder you were sweating profusely and accumulating fatigue. But still, California is a comfortable place to live, with a maximum temperature of around 20℃ and humidity of 20% at that time of the year. It's better than Japanese summer festivals where they sweat a lot while grilling yakisoba at food stalls. Even though it's business, just watching it makes me feel the heat.
So they even have taiko drum performances. It seems there's only one male performer among the drummers, while the rest are females. In the case of the Saidaiji Naked Festival, the "Saidaiji Eyo Taiko" group was formed by women only, as a way to pray for the safety of the festival and to encourage the naked men who participate in it. Well, in the case of Eyo, it's because only men are naked, so there's also a contrast in that sense, I suppose.
It's a shame we don't have the image of the yakisoba you ate on the first day, but this ramen on the second day, Sunday, looks delicious. What? The noodle factory that makes these noodles is opening a new store in Canada?? I can tell that it's quite authentic in taste, even though it's a stall at a bazaar, because the noodles are made by a popular noodle factory.
ReplyDeleteThe organic matter included in this ramen container can be decomposed and fermented, and turned into organic fertilizer. I've seen these kinds of straws, knives, and forks at McDonald's in Japan too, but personally, I don't really like being pushed into the consciousness of 'We're doing business using materials that, unlike plastic, eventually return to the earth = environmentally friendly'.
The handmade feel of this sign, isn't it quite good? It reminded me of a high school festival and made me feel warm.
I apologize for the local reference, but when I hear 'Dharma', I think of a grilled meat chain restaurant in Okayama city. Originally, my children are fans, so we often take the meat home and eat it there, even though we don't eat in the restaurant. We ate it again last weekend. It's a bit pricey, but it's delicious. At this bazaar, 'Dharma' seems to mean Buddhism or virtue, but the Dharma in Okayama seems to mean 'a taste so good that you can't help yourself.あまりに美味しすぎて手も足も出ない'.
Ah, the Amida Plinko that you found is certainly an impressive name. I can see why they're drawn to such a primitive manual game of rolling ping-pong balls into the goal.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I see. If they successfully avoid obstacles like villains such as Baikin-Man or Pac-Man and reach the hole, children simply receive prizes, while we elderly individuals attain peace in the afterlife.
Nickel Pitch, which is said to be overwhelmingly popular, is a game where they toss a 5-cent coin and try to land it in a square that guarantees a prize. It's a game that is easy to understand and seems to be the most popular, especially among Caucasians. I suppose it's popular among them because it's likely something they've been familiar with since their childhood.
Indeed, regardless of its popularity, it's impressive that San Mateo Buddhist Church diligently stores such a large game board specifically for the bazaar that takes place only once a year. The San Mateo Buddhist Church is truly admirable.
Oh? You wanted a large penguin stuffed animal... In that case, how about an Icoyan, a popular character based on a Japanese giant salamander? If you develop a liking for Icoyan, it might be a good idea to stay overnight at a hotel in Osaka during your next visit to Japan (even though you have no specific plans in Osaka). I heard that Hotel Granvia Osaka has a character room called "Icoyan the Giant Salamander" available, limited to one room per day. I'm seriously considering staying there myself.
I stayed at the Cinderella Room at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel with my daughter in the past, but it felt so out of place that I couldn't sleep well. The Icoyan room seems much more suitable for an old man like me.
https://www.granvia-osaka.jp/stay/packages/000021
Midori-san is a regular visitor to a temple called Sogenji in Okayama City, and the temple still accepts trainee monks. The current trainee monks, excluding the head priest, are all individuals who have come to Japan from overseas. Occasionally, we see monks dressed in traditional robes begging for alms in the urban area of Okayama, and they are the trainee monks of Sogenji. To support the lives of these trainee monks from overseas, people who regularly attend the head priest's lectures also sell various items like quilts and sweets as are sold in The San Mateo Buddhist Church. That just crossed my mind.