Shimane by numbers. Part 3

Continuing my look at some interesting statistics concerning the prefecture I live in,... Shimane.

This time just one statistic.

Shimane has the oldest population in Japan.

What that means is that 27% of Shimane's people are over 65 years old. And that figure seems set to continue to grow. I know up in the mountains near here is a village where the youngest person is 73!

Like Mrs. M, the lady we bought our house from.

Or Ebiya-san who lives over the river in Kawado, who at 83 years old is a damn site more spritely than many much younger than him. He designed and makes Hero Flutes, kagura flutes that can be played more easily than traditional kagura flutes.

Of course the one place you will see these old people is in the gardens and fields. I read that the average age of farmers in japan is 70!

The young people continue to leave the countryside for the cities, and I find it hard to imagine what it will be like in another 20 years as many of these elders pass on.

For now I enjoy learning from the grandparent generation. They are often sharper and smarter than those who grew up in the 1960's and 1970's, and still know how to make things and live in the environment they are in.

Bamboo forest

There is something quite magical in bamboo groves. I've been trying to capture some of it for years in the camera.

You can't catch the swaying in the wind,....

... and you can't catch the clacking as they bang into each other,....

.. but I am fairly pleased with some of the color and light that I did manage to catch on a trip up in to the mountains around Yasaka last year.

Myriad Yakushi

Yakushi Nyorai is the Japanese name for the Buddha of Medicine & Healing.

These statues, about 25cms tall, are at the Ichibata Yakushi Temple between lake Shinji and the Japan Sea coast up in Izumo.

Ichibata Yakushi is primarily known as a temple to pray at for eye problems.

Originally of the Tendai sect, it is known as a Rinzai temple, but actually it is the head of its own "religious corporation", with 31 temples nationwide.

Not sure exactly how many little statues there are, but it runs into the many thousands.

March Harvest

Red cabbage, or in Japanese, Murasikikabestu, which means purple cabbage, never seems to grow as big as regular green cabbage, but I always grow a couple just so I can make pickled red cabbage.

Mizuna, commonly known as Japanese Mustard in English, has been grown in Japan since ancient times, but probably came from China originally. Good in salads or as greens.

Brussel Sprouts, Mekabetsu in Japanese, are not common. Like most people it seems, I hated brussel sprouts as a kid, but now have come to love them. I just steam a bunch, lightly salt them, then munch on them all day as a snack!

Regular cabbage, daikon, green onions, and carrots are still in abundance.

As usual I am behind schedule in the gardens. I haven't even finished planted potatoes yet and need to do some weeding and mulching before planting....

The London Gherkin

A bit of non-Japanese architecture as I work my way through my photo backlog :)

The building known as the Gherkin in London was finished in 2003, and so a trip back to England I made a point of going to see it.

In the middle of "The City", Londons financial district, the building real name is 30 St. Mary Axe, which is its address.

The 40 story glass tower was designed by Norman Foster and Ken Shuttleworth.

I visited on a Sunday when all the offices were closed so the streets were deserted allowing me to wander into the roads to get good views.

Temples & Snacks

I love wandering around the old neighborhoods of Japanese towns and villages. All these photos are from one of the old parts of the castle area in Hamada.

There are usually a mishmash of architectural styles and periods. The photo above is probably Meiji era, and was probably a school originally.

The area south of the castle had an awful lot of "Snacks", or Sunaku, little drinking establishments that don't serve meals, just alcohol and "bar snacks" and in some instances female companionship.

I counted at least 30 within a few hundred metres of walking back streets. Most of them kind of funky.

There were also a lot of temples, many of them quite picturesque, with statues, and gardens etc

I'm not sure if there is a direct relationship between a neighborhood having a lot of temples and a lot of bars :)

There is a lot of history in these neighborhoods, and not the contrived museum kind of history one finds in tourist areas, and perhaps more interesting because of that.

Hamada Hachiman Shrine

There are steps leading up to Hamada Hachiman Shrine.

More than 100 of them.

There are steps leading up to most shrines and temples.

I did a rough calculation, and figure I must have climbed more than a million by now.

The steps and road to the steps lead back in a straight line to where Hamada castle stood on its hill overlooking Hamada, as this shrine was the tutelary shrine for the lords of Hamada.

Hachiman, kami of war, tutelary deity of all samurai.

It's a fairly standard Hachiman shrine, though I noticed on my last visit that it had a whole new set of front doors.

Behind the main shrine is a small secondary shrine, a Densha, some type of rice paddy kami, and a small old Inari shrine.

Being hamada, of course there is a kagura den.

To the side of the main shrine is a second, much larger Inari shrine. This was moved here from a few hundred metres away about 30 years ago. The original shrine was established by a son of the lord about 400 years ago.

Though its locally known simply as Hamada Hachimangu, its real name is Hisamitsuyama Hachimangu.

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.