Echizen Washi

The other day my students had a small party at my house with Viviane from Switzerland ( I teach English to six junior high school students who live in the village in private ).  This year I have five female students and one male student.

I asked the girls if they could show us how they had danced at the festivals inside of the shrine when they were 12 years old. Only girls who are in that age dance it. It was very nice of them to accept my sudden offer to demonstrate the dance using incomplete bamboo fans.

Foreigners often say they can see sexism everywhere in Japan, especially in our traditional festivals. But I personally don't feel it is sexism at all. It's a kind of roles for men and women; men take physically hard labor work and women do less. If you talk about gender, it is always difficult to see various kinds of  opinions. BUT we ARE just different as men and women.  I wouldn't enjoy watching women carrying mikoshi, portable shrines, becase it wouldn't be so exciting.

In Western countries, I rather feel sorry for men, because men have to be a man when it's necessary even though they have to behave equal most of the time respecting women. And I also feel Western women can rely on men a lot even though they often critisize men not to be equal. I often heard ` My boy friend did this and did that  ` pointing their handmade furniture or some carpenter work.  

I always wonder what the honest opinions of men in Wetern countries are like. Maybe they just feel Japanese society is still sexism.......