Exstasia 2009 - Well Done! Everyone

Yesterday we had our 打ち上げ (uchi-age) party for the staff who worked at Exstasia 2009. What is "uchi-age" in English? Actually, I had a brief discussion about this last night with Asano-san's daughter (who is a fluent speaker of English). Neither of us could think of a good, natural-sounding translation. If you look up the word in a Japanese-English dictionary, you'll probably find it means "launch". But if you call it a launch party, it sounds like something you do before the event. An uchi-age party is usually held after a large event is finished. It's sort of a celebration of the successful event and a thanks to everyone for all their hard work. My daughter had one with her ballet school after their recital last fall as well. Is there an English word for this kind of party? An after-event party? post-event party? job-well-done party? How about you? any body know a good translation for "uchi-age"? Leave a comment if you do.

Anyhow, it was an enjoyable party with all the staff, plus Hikari and Hono Taiko. The large taiko autograph board was set up in the ballroom so that everyone could see it also. I posted a picture of it the day before the concert in the previous post. But by the end of the concert, there was hardly any space left to write. Here is how it looked last night:


Sorry for the low picture quality. All I had with me yesterday was my cell phone camera.

This year I didn't get to see much of Exstasia, not even the dress rehearsal. I could go in and out a few times during the performance, but I mostly ended up seeing the same groups I had seen in rehearsals. Therefore, I don't have much more to say about the performances, other than what I already said in the previous post.

Well, in a few weeks, we will be attending another large taiko festival: Kodo's Earth Celebration on Sado Island. We won't be working as staff there, so we can enjoy all the events as concert guests and workshop participants.

Before that, though, we have two performances to look forward to. The first is with Jigen on August 2, next Sunday, for the Matto Matsuri. I believe this may be for the Matto Hi-Matsuri (fire festival) that I wrote about a looong time ago. The following week, we'll perform for another summer festival in a nearby town with Matto Yume Mitai.

August is certainly festival month in Japan. Tonight we are planning to go and watch some taiko at a festival. The group is Da-zoku, a semi-pro group from Komatsu with a heavy Kaga Taiko influence.

They have a video up on YouTube. The Kaga Taiko influence is not so obvious in this one, but... enjoy: