Haikyo

Haikyo is a Japanese word that means something along the lines of "ruin" and "abandoned building", and its a word that is becoming used in English now. There are lots of people who's hobby is exploring abandoned sites around Japan. Where I live close to half the buildings are abandoned, so it doesn't seem anything special.

This tiny haikyo was on the trail leading up to the small chapel at Otome Pass, in Tsuwano, the site of the torture and martydom of Japanese christians in the late 19th Century.

It was a small tea room/cafe, and was probably built in the late 1960's when Japan started to experience a domestic travel boom

One of the fascinations of haikyo seems to be that often things will be left untouched as they were.

Traditional japanese house

It's only been quite recently that I have begun to appreciate the aesthetics of traditional Japanese houses. This one seemed a little lighter than many.

I have also come to appreciate the gardens, though I can't quite get used to the fact that Japanese gardens are meant to be looked at, not walked in.

For many years I didn't even bother going into any of the many old houses open to the public.

This one is located in the small village of Chikauchi-cho, a few hundred meters from Takeuchi JR station in SW Nara Prefecture.

We stopped in on our way to walk the Katsuragi kaido. The place had obviously been recently renovated and had just opened to the public. Like many places off the beaten track, entrance was free.

Jellyfish invasion

Not sure what these species are. There was an interesting article in last week's Japan Times about the invasion of Nomura jellyfish, the worlds largest. The article is here

The one in the photo above was pretty small, and it was trapped in a tide pool.

Just off the rocks was this much larger one, about 50cms wide. While sailing off the Shimane coast I have seen some monsters more than 1 meter across, but apparently they can grow to 2 meters.

Concrete wabi sabi: Steps

Concrete is everywhere in japan. Japan pours, by far, more concrete than anywhere else on the planet. One of the few factoids I knew of Japan before I came was that japan was self-sufficient in limestone.

There is an aesthetic to concrete that I call Concrete Wabi sabi.

The first pic is a harbor wall in a tiny fishing village near Hamada.

Also in Hamada, steps down to the river.

Steps down to the river in Hiroshima City.

In Fukuoka City, steps up the ACROS building.

Also in Fukuoka, spiral staircase to a multi-storey car park.

Steps down to the beach at Kuromatsu, near Gotsu

Marine Hall, a wedding chapel.

Marine Hall is one of 2 wedding chapels at the Meriken Park Oriental Hotel in Kobe.

Rather than go for the "traditional" architecture of Japanese wedding chapels that look like sets from a Takarazuka performance, the design is based on the form of a seashell.

Built in 1995 and designed by the Takenaka Company, the roof is 14 metres above ground.

Nearby is the Kobe Maritime Museum and the Kobe Port Tower, and so makes for a nice cluster of interesting architecture

A morning walk through Senjokei

Senjokei

Ted of Notes From The Nog fame was visiting for a couple of days, so decided to take advantage of the fine weather and went for a hike down Senjokei, a local beauty spot.

It's a narrow gorge that has 12 waterfalls within the space of 3 kilometres.

We started at the top of the gorge in Hiwa, thinking, correctly as it turned out, that on top of the mountains the sun would have already burnt off the mist that was filling the valleys down below.

The trail through Senjokei is part of the Chugoku Nature Trail that passes through most of the interesting spots in Shimane. On all the sections of the trail that I've walked I have yet to see anyone else out walking.

There was a bit of color, though the wet and cloudy weather has made it a less than usually spectacular Fall display this year.

The mountainsides are too steep for the state to clearcut the forest and replace with tree farm

The trail has lots of walkways and stairs constructed to get through and around otherwise impassable sections of the gorge. There are also three pretty footbridges. There are also numerous toilets and picnic shelters along the trail.

The gorge opens out and the river hits the Yato River at Eno.

Kosan-Ji: the statues...

This pair of Phoenix's stand in the grounds of the Kongo Kan (New Treasure House) across the road from Kosan-Ji Temple.

The Museum houses a large collection of Buddhist art, mostly from Japan but some from Korea.
Entrance to the museum is included in the entrance fee to Kosan-Ji. Within the temple there is also a large collection of Tea Ceremony objects, and a collection of Modern Art.

Most of the statuary within the temple displays the same flamboyance and vividness as the temple buildings.

Shichi-Go-San

Stopped by an unusual Inari Shrine near Fukuyama on Saturday and there was a Shichi-Go-San ceremony going on. The song the priest is singing is not something I've heard before. There is a cadence and lilt to it that was quite foot-tapping, quite unlike the normal "shinto" chanting which sounds similar to the buddhist chanting it's influenced by.

The Miko performs the purification part of the ritual.



Shichi-Go-San is usually November 15th, so this was a little late. Before the creation of "state" shinto in the Meiji era the celebration took place in the home. Boys of 3 and 5 years old and girls of 3 and 7 years old visit the shrine for purification.

THis little boy, for whom the ceremony was held, is holding a bag that contains Chitose-ame, "thousand year candy" for healthy growth and longevity.

October means Matsuri. Matsuri means Kagura. Part 9

The ninth, and final, matsuri I went to in October was in Waki-cho, a seaside village that is part of Gotsu.

Earlier in the afternoon we stopped by a bunch of shrines in the area that were all having their matsuri that night. While we were at the shrine in Waki there was a ceremony going on for all the people of the village that had turned 60 years of age that year. The Chinese dating system that the Japanese adopted is based on 60 year cycles, the 12 animals times the 5 elements, so 60 is the end of one complete cycle and holds special significance.

That night at the matsuri I saw something I'd not seen at any other matsuri. Elevated "boxes", protected from the weather and with views over the crowds to the kagura stage. These were for all those elders who had become 60 that year. A nice touch I thought.

The matsuri was well attended, though Waki no longer has its own kagura group, one from Hamada was performing. All the streets of the village had the shimenawa running along them, and a lot of matsuri banners were flying from peoples houses.

This will probably be the last post on kagura for a while :)

A muted Fall at Gakuen-Ji

I had to go up to Izumo on Monday so I dropped by Gakuen-Ji on my way back.

The fall colors were only just starting, and it was cloudy, so it was a more muted display rather than vivid.

Gakuen-Ji is, I think, my favorite temple. Nestled in the mountains to the north of Izumo Taisha, the temple is actually older than Izumo Taisha.

Except for the last couple of weeks in November when the place gets inundated with busloads of visitors, Gakuen-ji is usually empty.