Gokoku Shrine, Hamada

Gokoku shrines are considered branches of the infamous Yasukuni Shrine. "Nation Protecting Shrines" enshrine those who died for the country, though originally that meant for the Emperor. The Hamada shrine enshrines almost 29,000 individuals.

The original Gokoku shrine was built in Kyoto in 1869. When the Emperor moved to the new capital of Tokyo a second one was built. This became the Yasukuni Shrine.

I find shrines built in the Meiji period to be quite sterile. They are usually built for Emperors and those that served emperors, and are very much the essence of the nationalistic cult known as State Shinto. Meiji era shrines are usually lacking in any natural connection to place. The Hamada shrine is built on the hill where Hamada castle once stood, I suspect to give it an association of authority. The Gokoku shrine in Matsue is also built on the castle hill there.

From the shrine one can climb up the hill past the stone foundations of the old castle. Built in 1620, the Lord of Hamada burnt it down in 1866 to stop it falling into the hands of the advancing Choshu forces.

There are fine views from the top of the hill, and is a popular place to view cherry blossoms in the spring.

Fall colors: Hikimi Gorge

Hikimi Gorge is located in the mountains of the SW corner of Shimane, near the border with Hiroshima.

There are actually 2 gorges, the Upper Gorge located on the Hikimi river, and the Lower Gorge located on the Hiromi River. Both gorges run into Hikimi Town, and both are fine places for viewing the Fall colors.

The Chugoku Nature Trail, a route which combines footpath and road sections passes through the area. In the Lower Gorge there are cabins for rent.

For most people Fall colors means the scarlet of the maple leaves.

Kamimukae: welcoming the gods.

Last week was the childrens kagura festival over the river in Kawado. The video shows a part of the second dance performed at kagura events, the Kamimukae. The first dance, Shiohare purifies the stage area in preparation for the kami, and the kamimukae invites and welcomes the kami to the performance.

Kamimukae is usually danced by 4 dancers, but if the kagura group is small then 2 or even 1 dancer can perform it. Like Shiohare, the dance revolves around the 5 directions (north, south, east, west, and centre) and so indicates the Taoism that is at the heart of much of shinto.

What was nice about this performance was that one of the dancers was a girl, something that is becoming more common, but is still not usual.

Women were forbidden from performing on stage in Japan at around the same time as in England, and Iwami Kagura being a folk tradition in a remote area has been slow to change.

Of course, the mythical originator of kagura was a woman, Uzume, and kagura by miko is also normal.

November Harvest 3

Chinese cabbage, or Pak Choi, is known as hakusai in Japanese, and is common in most gardens. It has been grown in it's native China for thousands of years but did not come to Japan until the early part of the 20th Century when it was brought by soldiers returning from the Russo-Japanese war.

Had a really good crop of kiwi fruits this year. About 20 years ago kiwis became very popular in Japan, and everyone started planting them. This past year I cut back the vines twice, once in winter and a second time in the summer after flowering, and I think that is why we got so much fruit.

Started picking the fall crop of beets. I like the greens, but mostly I grow them to make pickled beetroot, a food that is impossible to buy in Japan.

November is a busy time in the garden,... lots to harvest, and time to bed the garden down for winter. December , January, and February is time to hunker down next to the woodstove and hibernate!
Picked the Fall potatoes.... first time I tried a second crop, and to be able to eat new potatoes is a delight indeed. Picked the last of the tomatoes and peppers.... great to be able to have fresh salad at the end of November!

Minoji Yashiki

One of the pleasures of exploring the backcountry of Japan is discovering the unexpected, and so it was with our trip up into the mountains near Hikimi Gorge. The Minoji were a wealthy farming family in the area, and a yashiki could best be described as a manor house. A few years ago the family donated their old home to the town, and it has been restored and opened to the public.

There are hundreds if not thousands of similar "folk museums" scattered across Japan, but this one has many nice touches that elevates it above most, and best of all it is free.

One nice touch was that the fire in the kitchen area was lit. The daikon drying under the eaves, and the arrangements of flowers were also good.

The bathroom was impressive even by modern standards.

The house had the biggest and grandest kamidana I've ever seen.

The largest outbuilding was devoted to a display of agricultural and woodworking tools and equipment, with explanatory maps, diagrams, and some photos.



The 2 floors of the storehouse were given over to displays of domestic items, clothes, tableware, dolls etc. The displays in both buildings were of a high quality.

In the gatehouse is a small cafe.



Tourist attractions in Japan tend to fall into 2 categories, expensive and boring, or cheap and interesting. Minoji Yashiki is definetely in the latter category.

Unfortunately access by public transport is extremely limited.

It is located within the boundaries of Hikimi Town, at the junction of Route 191 and the road that heads down through Hikimi Gorge to Hikimi Town.

It's open from 9 to 4 Tue. through Sun.

Fall colors: Gingko trees

2 weeks ago we took a drive up into the mountains near where Shimane and Hiroshima Prefectures meet. We were heading for Hikimi Gorge to see the Fall colors as down where we lived the leaves had only just started to turn.

On the way we stopped at several shrines that I had not visited before and I was please to find Gingko trees in their full golden brilliance.

I prefer the gold of the gingko to the scarlet of the maples, especially the carpets of leaves that cover the steps and ground.

Originally from China, the gingko is often planted at shrines and temples.

Typical Japanese Landscape 11

It doesn't get any more typical than my own village,... flat area for rice paddies, with houses up against the base of steep hills. This was taken 2 weeks ago.

Kawamoto "civic centre" (inside)

The first part of this post can be found here

The musical instrument museum in Kawamoto is only a few metres wide, little more than a corridor running alongside the swimming pool, but is very tall and gives the impression of being a cathedral.

The complex of buildings were designed by Arai Chiaki, a local architect. The little museum is free, and worth a visit if you are in the area, but probably not worth a special trip unless you are really interested in musical instruments from around the world.

The benches are designed as piano keyboards and are a nice touch.

The foyer also uses height to increase the sense of space.

The auditorium has no particular features, though it was filling up with people for a concert so I wasn't able to wander around and find any interesting viewpoints.

Itsukushima Shrine, Matsubara, Hamada.

This branch of Itsukushima Shrine is located in the fishing village of Matsubara in Hamada at the base of the hill upon which stood Hamada Castle.

The head shrine is the famous Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima, a World Heritage site. The kami enshrined in Itsukushima shrines is Ichikishimahime, a daughter of Susano "born" when Amaterasu chewed up Susanos' sword and spat out three girls. Ichikishimahime's head shrine is not in fact Itsukushima, but in Munakata in what is now Fukuoka Prefecture. Ichikishimahime and her 2 sisters were kami who offered protection on the sea journey between north Kyushu and the Korean Peninsular in ancient times.

There is a small secondary shrine to Inari in the grounds.

Also a small shrine to Ebisu, another kami with an Izumo lineage. His head shrine is at Mihonoseki.

Uzume mask

This is the smallest of all the Iwami Kagura masks and is the goddess Uzume. In the most well-known of the ancient Japanese myths, Iwato, it is she who was responsible for getting Amaterasu out of the cave and so bringing light back to the world. She performed a type of shamanic dance, and at the end she pulled down her skirt and exposed her genitals. The cheers of the gathered kami piqued Amaterasu's curiosity so she peeked out of the cave and was pulled out by Tajikarao. This dance is considered to be the mythological origin of kagura.

The kagura dance of Iwato doesn't include the striptease, and is usually a fairly sedate and stylized dance, but I did see one performance wherein Uzume danced frenetically around the stage with sacred sakaki branches and hinted at the shamanic nature of original kagura.

Kagura Mask Index