Tauebayashi (Rice-planting song & dance)

Yesterday was the Houranenya Matsuri in Gotsu Honmachi, the old town of Gotsu at the mouth of the Gonokawa.

Before the procession started a group from Kawahira, a village between Gotsu and my village, performed a folk dance, the Tauebayashi.

The gentleman with the cool hair-do was leading the dance. His mask appears to be a version of Hiotoko, but may be another character.

Both men and women performed the dance which accompanied rice-planting in earlier times. It's purpose was to strengthen the rice.

Trouble in the troop!

I was sitting at my desk a few hours ago when I heard a bang on the tin roof of my chickenshack. I turned and looked out the screen door to see a monkey go running along the concrete wall that "protects" my house from a landslide. About 2 meters behind the first one came another older, larger one, that I presumed to be male. There was a lot of screaming about 50 meters away, then the older male came wandering slowly back. (photo above)

2 years ago there was a full-fledged attempt for a younger male to become Alpha male in the troop. For 2 days there was a lot of screaming and tree shaking by the 2 males as the females sat on branches and appeared to scream their support for one or the other as in a pro-wrestling match.

I've been seeing the monkeys every day recently as they are raiding the village gardens. Immature pumpkins are their preferred choice right now.

Sunset over Takashima

Living as I do in a narrow, steep valley, I rarely get to see the sunrise or sunset, so it was particularly exciting yesterday evening to watch the spectacular sunset over Takashima.

We were in Miho Misumi, about half-way between Hamada and Masuda. Takashima lies a couple of kilometres offshore. It is now uninhabited, but was inhabited until fairly recently.

Takashima should not be confused with Takeshima! Takeshima is the Japanese name for a group of rocks that lie much closer to Korea than Japan, and are controlled by Korea who call them Dokdo. Currently there is a diplomatic spat between the 2 countries as the Japanese Education Ministry has decided to teach Japanese children that Dokdo belongs to Japan. Japan claimed ownership in 1905 a short while before they annexed Korea and while the Korean Foreign Ministry was already controlled by Japan and therefore in no position to argue. Historically the Korean claim to the rocks is much stronger. Japan has territorial disputes with Korea, China, Taiwan, and Russia..... all of its neighbors!

Wakamiya Hachimangu Shrine, Miyoshi.

Miyoshi is a large town in the mountains of northern Hiroshima that lies upstream of my village in Shimane on the Gonokawa River. Three rural rail lines meet at Miyoshi, and this has led to its growth. Wakamiya Hachimangu is not far from the railway station.

Hachiman is the God of War, and there are more than 30,00 shrines to him throughout Japan. Hachiman was adopted by the samurai as their tutelary deity, and as the samurai ruled Japan, everywhere they were they built a Hachiman Shrine.

We were there in the first week of January, and so the shrine was decorated for Hatsunode, the first visit to a shrine of the year, a popular activity. Many shrines stay open on New Years Eve for the many visitors who come after midnight. The symbol on the purple banner in the photo above is the Triple Tomoe, the symbol of Hachiman.

For Hatsunode many shrines will display their Mikoshi, sacred palanquins, or portable shrines. They are used to carry the kami around the community during Matsuri.

Many shrines will have statues of horses in their grounds. This comes from a tradition started by an Emperor in ancient Kyoto who donated a horse to Kibune Shrine in return for prayers for rain. A gift of a white horse was made for prayers for good weather, and a black horse when rain was wanted. Over the years paintings and sculptures replaced expensive horses, and this eventually led to the creation of "ema", the small painted boards left at shrines with prayers and requests written on them.

Shiso

This plant is a volunteer in my garden every summer. Known sometimes as Beefsteak Plant in English, but also by its Japanese name of Shiso, it is a member of the mint family. There are 2 species of shiso, green, and red. Anyone who has had sashimi will know green shiso as its leaves are the bed on which the sashimi lays. It is also used in salads, cooked as tempura etc. Red Shiso, pictured above, is used to give umeboshi and pickled ginger its distinctive purple color. It also makes a fragrant, tasty lemonade.
Boil the leaves for about 5 minutes, strain, add sugar to taste and then let cool. Add citric acid (lemon juice) and store in the fridge.

Shimane Art Museum (inside)

Shimane Art Museum is located on the banks of Lake Shinji in Matsue City, Shimane. The sweeping curved ceiling is quite impressive, but other than that the interior is not particularly impressive.

There is of course art to look at :)

The view out of the window looking out over the lake is more impressive.

There is an Italian Cafe in the museum, and reflecting pillars there offer distorted views over the lake. The museum is a popular spot for watching the sunset and the museum stays open until 30 minutes after sunset.

Outside Shimane Museum of Art

The biggest tree in Shimane

This is the biggest tree in Shimane Prefecture!
It is located in a small village just downstream of Nichihara Town on the Tsuwano River.
It is a Kusunoki , a Camphor tree, and last time it was measured it had a span of 12.3 metres, and a height of 29.5 metres.
I seriously doubt that every tree in the prefecture has been measured :).

Small Hanya mask

This is a standard hanya mask in the Iwami Kagura style. I didn't embelish it in any way. I think that some of her sadness shows through her horrific visage.
I believe the hanya is the most popular mask bought as protection for homes against evil spirits.
The story and meaning of the hanya is here
It and all my masks are for sale.
Kagura Mask Index

Flying fish and squid

This manhole cover is from the same village as the bullfighting one, Tsuma on Dogo, the largest of the Oki Islands. This one shows a marine connection, a fairly common theme in Japanese manhole designs. It shows flying fish and squid.

The flying fish is the Prefectural fish of Shimane. The first time I saw some I thought I was watching a flock of small birds flying close to the water..... then they disappeared!!
A good place to see them is on the ferry over to the Oki Islands. If you stand in the bow and look forwards you will see them flying out of the way of the path of the boat, often flying for 50 metres. The world record flight time or a Japanese flying fish is 45 seconds.

The Japanese catch and consume a HUGE amount of squid. It's eaten raw as sashimi ( a little chewy but OK), dried and shredded as a snack with alcohol, boiled, grilled, fried,.... in fact any way you can imagine and probably a few ways you can't imagine. In the Iwami area it is a matsuri speciality (photo above), grilled with a sauce of sake and soy sauce.

More from the Oki Islands

Ichiki Shrine, Ichiki

Ichiki Shrine is approached up a narrow road and flight of steps that run up the hillside from the Yato River. It's a fairly big shrine with a nice "3-legged" torii. The main kami enshrined here is Ichikishimahime, and its possible the village was named after the shrine. Ichikishimahime is a popular kami and the most famous shrine to her is probably Itsukushima Shrine on the World Heritage site of Miyajima, though her "home" shrine is in Munakata in Kyushu. According to the ancient myths she was created in a contest between Amaterasu and Susano. Susano took some of Amaterasu's jewels, chewed them up and spat out 5 male children. Amaterasu took Susano's sword, chewed it up and spat out Ichikishima and her 2 sisters. The girls were taken by Susano, and the boys by Amaterasu. One of the boys is the mythical ancestor of Japan's Imperial line.

There are numerous secondary shrines within the grounds, including Omoto, Konpira, and an interesting one to Kanayago, a shrine connected to iron production and blacksmithing that suggests this area was important for its iron.

From the shrine there are fine views across the valley to the ski slopes of Mizuho Highlands.

Interestingly, it is often said that Ichikishimahime is a child of Amaterasu, cutting out mention of Susano, and yet it is never said that the Imperial line is descended from Susano. One more example of the "hyping" of Amaterasu at the expense of Susano.