Despite the raid earlier raid by the mountain whales, we still managed to get a crop of sweet potatoes. Called satsumaimo in Japanese, they were introduced from China and were very popular as they are very hardy and will produce even if floods or drought or poor soil produced famine. In my walks around the countryside I often see stone memorials to whichever individual introduced them into the local area.
Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami
Ed. John Breen & Mark Teeuwen
Univ. of Hawaii Press
ISBN 0-8248-2363-x
368pp
The word shinto is very problematical. I use it a lot in my blog, but am uncomfortable with it. Problem is there is no easy alternative word.
Shinto is often used to refer to an organized religion completely separate from Buddhism, and as such Shinto is a new religion created in the late 19th century which became the State Shinto of emperor worship. It's when shinto is referred to as "the indigenous religion of Japan" that the problems arise.
The first record of the word shinto in Japanese is referring to state rituals of the 8th Century which were of predominantly Taoist origin. Many researchers question if there is anything at all left if one strips away the influence of Buddhism, Taoism, Yin Yang theory and Confucionism from early Japanese religious practises..
All the chapters in this book look at different strands of Japanese religious history, and the book is organized chronologically. The contributors are a who's who of researchers and historians specializing in Japanese religion, and all the contributions are of a high quality.
A book for those who wish to get beyond the simplistic ideas that dominate so much and cause the rich diversity and complexity of Japanese history to be overlooked.
This weekend was the local "Lively" Festival (Iki Iki Matsuri). The highlight on the second day was the parade. The ladies dance the town dance. Each village that makes up the town have their own "happi" coats with different designs and colors.
2 streets are closed off and stalls and a stage are erected. The festival is a "civic" matsuri, created to instill a sense of identity when the town was created out of widely scattered villages. It's similar to a County Fair in the states.
On the stage there are of course performances of kagura. Also the local Taiko troupe perform, as well as various folk dances. This year instead of a karaoke contest there was an eating contest.
There are exhibitions and displays by all the local arts and crafts societies. I'm always interested to see what the other maskmakers are up to.
There are lots and lots of food stalls, as well as local produce, cheap Chinese toys, tools, a few games, and of course beverages.
Being a rural town there are displays of the latest agricultural machines.
I recently had my computer crash, and while I was able to retrieve most of my data, one thing I lost were my web bookmarks. In trying to refind them I've come across these useful websites that I have added to the links on the right of this page.
Contemporary Japanese Architects is a photographic database of modern architecture in Japan. Search is by an index of each architects name. The photos are excellent quality, though there is no other information other than location and date. The collection is mostly focussed on Tokyo. I found this site while researching for my own humble architecture posts.
JAANUS stands for Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System, and calls itself a dictionary, but is more like an encyclopedia. The database is searched by keyword, and I often come to this site when researching obscure aspects of shrine architecture.
Japanese Old Photographs is a huge collection of photos of Japan from the library collection of Nagasaki University. You can search for photos by location, subject, or photographer.
Old Photos of Japan is a blog I found thanks to Quirky Japan Blog. There is a daily post of an old photos with extensive details and information about the subject of each photo
Been picking what's left of the persimmons. The monkeys took most of them. I don't begrudge them their food,... so much of the Japanese forests have been replaced with sterile tree farms that have no food for any species.
The rounder shaped species of persimmon is called amagaki in Japanese, and these can be eaten straight from the tree. I'll peel them and slice them then dehydrate them for later use.
The more oval-shaped persimmons are called shibugaki, and they are too astringent to eat without first hanging and drying. Then they become similar to dried figs. Strings of them hanging are a common sight in the countryside now.
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