Pink, green, blue bridge.

When giving directions to people driving to our place, the one landmark we can easily give is the pastel pink bridge across the Gonokawa connecting Tanijyugo with kawado. It was recently repainted, so the pastel shades are bright again.

I guess the bridge is about 40 years old as there was a major flood back in the 60's, so the embankments have been raised since then. I have seen some old photos from the 1920's or 30's that showed a low wooden bridge crossing the river at this point.

Before the Meiji period there would not have been a bridge here as either side of the river belonged to different Hans, or Domains. Our side of the river belonged to Iwami Ginzan, so was controlled directly by the Bafuku in Edo. The Kawado side of the river belonged to Hamada Han.

Tengai Dance, Omoto Kagura

This short video is from my favorite of all the Omoto Kagura dances. The tengai is the canopy above a kagura performance space. The kami descend through the colored paper streamers and into the dancers.

The tengai dance is unusual in that it is not humans who dance, but the tengai itself. I have not come across anything like this anywhere else in japan, and I have a lot more research to do to understand it.

For Omoto kagura there is a somewhat different tengai, among the paper streamers are lantern/box like structures.

The boxes are connected by ropes to the priests who sit at the side of the area.

Before the dance begins long streamers inside the boxes are unfurled and hang down. I suspect the writing on them has daoist or esoteric buddhist meaning, as Omoto Kagura was brought to this area by Yamabushi of Shugendo.

The dance begins slowly with the boxes being lowered and raised slowly, gradually the tempo increases and then lateral movement, swinging, and twisting all begin. As with normal kagura, at times audience members or musicians will shout when a particularly fine sequence of movements are executed.

I've seen the Tengai dance performed by 3 priests, and once by only 2 priests, and was stunned by the intricacy and complexity of the movements created.

Typical Japanese Landscape 16

A view over the rooftops in Hakata, Fukuoka; though it could be any Japanese city.

Takashima Sunset

This is one of the draincovers from town of Misumi which lies near the Japan Sea coast about halfway between Hamada and Masuda. It depicts a sunset over takashima, a small island just off the coast that has been uninhabited for about 30 years.

The flowers in the design are Azaleas, and Misumi will be having an Azalea Festival soon when the 50,000 Azaleas in the town come into bloom.

I was fortunate to watch a sunset there last year.

Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival)

Today is Hina Matsuri, when displays of dolls in Heian Period costume are put up in homes. The dolls at the top are of the Emperor and Empress. This display is at Yoko's family home in Kyoto.
The festival comes from the ancient practise of using straw dolls thrown in the river to carry away sin and pollution, a practise which continues today in such matsuri as MushiokuriOdori.

Though May 5th is the National holiday called Childrens Day, in actuality it is celebrated as Boys Day, and Hina Matsuri is celebrated as Girls day.

Shakechi Hachiman Shrine, Hamada

Shakechi Hachiman Shrine is tucked away in a quiet neighborhood just off Route 186, the main road south out of Hamada towards Hiroshima.

Like most shrine it is unmanned, but I was surprised to see a display case with ofuda and Omamori for sale, until I learnt that amulets from this shrine are known specificly for traffic safety, so when you get a new car this is the place to come for protection while driving.

There are quite a few secondary shrines within the grounds including this Inari Shrine.

There is an Ebisu shrine, and Omoto Shrine, and a Jyunisha, which I believe is a shrine to the 12. animals of the Chinese zodiac.

Invented traditions: Emperor Jimmu & Saint Valentine

Invented traditions are not unique to Japan, they are the mainstay of all nation-states, but Japan does seem to have an inordinate amount of them.

This month we have had two of them.

On Wednesday, February 11th, it was National Foundation Day in Japan. National Foundation day was created in the Meiji era to celebrate the founding of Japan by the first Emperor Jimmu on February 11th 660 BC! This date comes from the early chronicles of Japan written in the late 7th Century by the Yamato rulers to justify their rule over Japan. Historians believe Jimmu, and the nine emperors after him, are pure fabrication. Certainly the date of 660BC is hundreds of years before the first of the people who would later be known as the Japanese started arriving in the islands. Its also 1,000 or more years before the Yamato rose to regional prominence in the Kinai area.

From the Meiji era until the end of the Second World War these ancient fairy tales were taught as history, and while this is no longer strictly true there is certainly an encouragement to believe them as history even nowadays. There is a school history textbook that includes a map of Jimmus invasion from Kyushu to the Kinai, and nowhere does it state that this is myth not history. Also even today in front of Heian Shrine in Kyoto is a sign in English about "2,600 years of Imperial rtule in Japan".

There is. I believe , a general tendency in Japan to believe that Japans culture and history go back much further in time than historical fact. (an excellent book looking at Japanese historians and the ancient myths is here)

Then, on the 14th of February we had Valentines day. I know valentine traditions are quite varied around the world, but for me there are two aspects that define it. One, it is a day for romance and romantic love, and secondly, there is the element of anonymity and secrecy. Japanese Valentines day has neither of these elements.

Valentines Day in Japan is for women to give chocolates to men. This should include your boyfriend, if you have one, but mostly its for giving chocolate to your boss and your male co-workers. There is no anonymity, as the chocolate is "giri choco", obligation chocolate, and one month later on March 14th, White Day, the men are supposed to return the favor to the women who gave them giri choco. In actual fact White Day is much more low-key, and I believe there is far less return-gift giving.

The chocolate companies in japan make half their annual sales in the few weeks leading up to Valentines Day. There lies the clue as to who invented this unique Japanese tradition.

The Englishman has some funny post on Japanese valentines chocolate...

The floating Torii of Miyajima

I'm going against the grain of the title of my blog this time as this is MOST familiar japan.
It is of course the floating torii in front of Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima, probably the second-most photographed scene in Japan after Mt. Fuji.

One of the 3 " best views of Japan", and part of a World Heritage Site, the torii is visited annually by millions.

It, and the shrine, were damaged slightly in a typhoon a few years ago and so has been repaired and is sporting a new paint job. This actual torii was constructed in 1875, and at 16 metres in height is the largest wooden torii in Japan.

Constructed of Camphor, it is a classic example of what is known as Ryoubu Shinto design, I've heard it referred to as 3-legged, and 4- legged, but to me it seems like 6-legged!

Floating torii are not unique to Miyajima. There is another famous one at the head Shirahige Shrine on Lake Biwa near Kyoto, I've seen one on the Oki Islands, and Hinomisaki Shrine near Izumo used to have one when Lafcadio Hearn visited there.

Hamada is kagura crazy!

When I first moved to the Iwami area I had never heard of kagura, let alone Iwami Kagura, but it didn't take long to notice that people in Iwami take their kagura very seriously. Kagura images are everywhere, nowhere more so than Hamada.

The above demon is on a huge window at the Yuhi Park roadstation.

Susano battling Yamata no Orochi has recently appeared on some small draincovers.

Shoki quells a demon on the side of a "honey wagon" (trucks for emptying the cesspits)

The inside of this little bar is also decorated with masks and paraphenalia from kagura.

And of course there are sites to see kagura performances, not just the shrines and their matsuris, but shopping malls, visitor centres, road stations etc.

Spring has sprung!

Though the official start of spring, Setsubun, was a few weeks ago, for me the sign that spring is here is the arrival of the plum blossoms.

Like the Chinese, I find the plum blossom more enchanting and exciting than the cherry blossom.

We have quite a few plum trees in the area...and at least they grow fruit, which is more than can be said for the cherry blossom.