A Memorable Summer Night

nagashi somen from kitsune-kun on Vimeo.

For about a week I travelled out to the island of Ehime (about a 12 hour trip), to film and interview a really cool guy who makes pottery for a living.... and he hand-makes just about everything else in his home too. It's pretty amazing. I went on my own, and had an incredible week spending time with his family, filming, watching the potter, learning to cook some dishes, eating delicious home cooked meals, and taking in the gorgeous remote countryside scenery all around me.

One of the coolest things I got to experience was having nagashi somen one summer evening, and helping to prepare food and their yard for guests to come and enjoy the party. Nagashi Somen means flowing noodles, and it's a summer tradition one usually encounters at festivals. It was extra cool to watch Aoba-Sama actually build the pipe from bamboo that grows right outside his house. Water is sent flowing down the pipe, followed by clusters of somen, a light thin summer noodle. You grab the noodles with your chopsticks and dip them in a cup of broth.

It was the perfect summer evening- we ate somen, ice cream out of a watermelon, saw one straggling firefly, and the kids played with sparklers after dark. Since I was by myself and there to film, I felt silly asking anyone to film or take pictures of me- especially since it was just the little kids playing with sparklers, but I was really really longing to jump in there. The light and coloured smoke looked positively magical.



























A doodle I drew inspired by the somen.