Looking at Saijo on a sunny afternoon, you’d never guess that such a sleepy little town was once the scene of a mass panic that spread throughout Hiroshima prefecture. Yet, in the early 1970s, local residents were terrified to step outside their doors and every news station in the area was covering the shocking events taking place in Saijo and the surrounding villages. So, what exactly was it that caused a typically quiet, laidback community to be so completely overwhelmed by fear? The answer is Japanese Bigfoot. Or, as they like to call it here in Japan, the Hibagon.

Following on from the great success of the Tyler Battles the Cactopus gig in July, Jimo Cafe and PEPY present a live performance from JindaLee Lehmann. The event will be 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, at Jimo Cafe in Hatchobori, Hiroshima city. The event was organized by Hiroshima city JET Laura Graham. JindaLee is musician from Montreal, Canada, and currently a JET in Fukuyama.

It’s been almost a year since I climbed to the summit of Mt. Fuji (富士山), an unforgettable journey I made alongside my fellow Hiroshima JETs in early September. To those JETs considering the climb this year, I’d like to offer a little background on the significance of the mountain, as well as some friendly advice about the climb, should you decide to take the challenge (and I hope you do!).

I discovered Hiroshima’s famous Toukasan Festival last year, when my students’ journals suddenly became peppered with desperate pleas for new yukata. Before long, Japanese teachers and students alike were asking to dress me up in yukata and eagerly telling me all about Hiroshima’s huge annual Toukasan Festival. Downtown, the stores on Hondori were bursting with colourful yukata, lightweight summer kimono. Instantly, I was hooked!

As a foreigner with little knowledge of Japan, but a love of all things theatre, I was sure to come across Takarazuka revue eventually. Takarazuka is definitely a part of Japan that I am glad to have experienced.

Teams from around Hiroshima-ken worked together to create an eclectic mix of films for this year’s 4th annual Fukuyama Let’s Film Festival on May 30. We received seven entries, including one from an ex-JET in Tokyo and the festival’s first entry from our neighbors in Okayama-ken.

Every year this festival attracts hundreds of people from around Japan who come to watch as brave young men risk being burned as they carry bundles of burning sticks up to the shrine. Each group chants and sings as onlookers douse them with protective water. It’s a very strange and very exciting event that you have to see to believe. Words cannot express the intensity of this ritual, so I’ve included a video below. If you’re looking for something very different, check it out.

Every year during the month of May the historic port city of Tomonoura hosts the Taiami Fishing Festival. During this celebration of traditional fishing methods, groups of Japanese men board old wooden boats and cast their nets into the Seto Inland Sea, scooping up many a fish. Come check out a festival where everyone walks away a winner with their own fish…

I stagger into the street, on a slight high from all the alcohol, back slaps and “nihongo jouzu desu ne’s” I’ve received from my co-workers at my school’s latest enkai. As I wander onto Hondori with my sempai, Majime, I am suddenly struck by an urge to strike an item off my list of “must do’s” in Japan. I relay my wishes to Majime, who shouts “OK!” and we stumble along together towards our goal. Our coworkers don’t join us, perhaps out of a sense of shame, fear or stinginess.

The other day, after a fellow ALT and I bought her Studio Ghibli tickets, we thought, “Why not, let’s get some dinner while we’re at it.” We opted for okonomiyaki, Hiroshima’s crowning glory, at a previously visited restaurant near the train station. As we vaguely knew that it was in an alleyway near Caspa, we ended up on a rather dark and deserted street. I was all for turning around, but my friend spotted a dimly lit okonomiyaki lantern banner. Next to it was a menu with seemingly overpriced items. The wall had remnants of graffiti. “How about this place?” Kelly asked.