Vacation 2010 Day 12: St. Ives

I got off the sleeper in Penzance to black skies and a howling wind, but a quick bus trip to St Ives on the north coast brought clearing skies and a bit of sunshine.

Not a tetrapod in sight!

The inner harbour was much calmer.

I spent a winter living not too far from St Ives, but it had been many years since I had been back.

Not much had changed, the same narrow streets and alleys with stone buildings that will in all probability still be here in another hundred years.

The one addition, and the only really modern building in the town was the Tate West, a gallery of contemporary art that I had never been to. The art and the architecture were OK.

On the hillside above the gallery a huge cemetery provided its residents with a great view.

Next was a revisit to Barbara Hepworths old house and studio, now a museum and sculpture garden to the world famous sculptress who lived and died here.

A little bit of wabi sabi that you are unlikely to find in Japan.......

Hatsumode, January 2nd, Kyoto, Part 2

We wanted to visit Okazaki Shrine, but even on the afternoon of the 2nd the line waiting to get in was several hundred meters long. The reason is that the shrine has a famous statue of a rabbit. It is connected with fertility, so maybe we will see a spike in births in Kyoto in about 9 months.

Next up was Kumano Wakaoji Shrine, located at the southern end of the Philosophers Walk.

Here we were given some Amazake, a delicious warm sake drink with masses of ginger added.

Just behind the shrine were several small shrines and a nice little waterfall. The offerings here were less ostentatious.

You cannot go far in Kyoto without coming across Japanese umbrellas used in front of shops and restaurants.

Then on to Awata Shrine, a nice neighborhood shrine in the hills above Gion that seemed to be only visited by locals, and not tourists.

I lived in Kyoto when I first moved to Japan, but I didnt really explore it much. It is nice to come back and play the tourist and see it with different eyes.

The giant torii of Heian Jingu with snow falling on the mountains to the north.

Last stop was Yasaka Shrine, and even as evening approached on the second day of the new year it was still very crowded.

Hatsumode, January 2nd, Kyoto

Though technically Hatsumode refers to the first shrine visit of the year, and of course there can only be one first, many people, myself included, take the opportunity to visit more than one.

The first place we went in Kyoto was Yoshida Shrine where there were no lines of people.

There are quite a few sub-shrines scattered around the hillside, all with offerings laid out in front of the honden.

Omota Sha is a shrine I have been wanting to visit for a long time, but is usually closed, it only opens a few days a year. It features a unique octagonal building.

Omoto Sha also features shrines for all of the provinces of Japan.

The sunny day caused the snow on the roofs to constantly melt and drip.

Nearby is Munetada Shrine, again not so many visitors.

Here we were given Omiki.

Hatsumode, January 1st, Nagaokakyo

Hatsumode is the Japanese custom of the first visit of the new year to a shrine or temple.

We were up in Kyoto visiting Yoko's family, and our first visit was to Nagaoka Tenmangu, a big, and therefore popular shrine.

It was late afternoon, and still the line waiting to get to the shrine was over 400 meters long.

Most of the bigger shrines will hire many temporary miko to help out over the new year period. For these shrines Hatsumode supplies the biggest chunk of their annual income.

Next we headed to Hashirita Shrine, the local shrine for my sister-in-law's family, nestled on the hillside above Nagaoka. It was a far more intimate and friendly affair.

Every small altar within the grounds had their own offerings.

Around the other side of the hill a small, unmanned Inari Shrine.

We walked further along the edge of the bamboo forest and as dusk settled visited Komorikate Shrine where I was able to chat with 2 older gentlemen from the shrines ujiko (parish group) about the history of the shrine that was moved here from Nara when Nagaoka was the capital of Japan.

Each year a local man makes a sculpture out of bamboo of the new years animal. Behind this years rabbit you can see last years tiger and 2009's boar.

Year of the Rabbit

Takachiho Gorge

This manhole cover is one from the town of Takachiho in Miyazaki Prefdecture, Kyushu.

Takachiho is famous as being the place where the myths of Japan have the ancestors of the Imperial family descending from "The High Plain of Heaven" and beginning their invasion and subjugation of Japan.

The design of this draincover shows the Takachiho Gorge, cut by the Gokase River through the volcanic basalt rock.

In the middle of the gorge is the Minainotaki waterfall that drops 17 meters into the river.

It is possible to rent little rowboats, 1,000 yen for 10 minutes, and paddle around in a tiny roped-off section of the river, but it does allow the best views of the falls.

The place is very, very popular with a constant stream of tour buses arriving and disgorging thousands of tourists. When I got back I learned from friends that Takachiho is considered a "Powaa Spotto".

One may think that this equates to what we might call a Power Spot, but with a little research I found something curious about Japanese Powaa Spottos. I would think of a power spot as say Sedona, Lourdes, the Pyramids,... places connected to the earths energy that transcend the country they are found in. But is seems for the Japanese it is a little different. Many of the Japanese powaa spottos; Takachiho, Izumo Taisha, Meiji Shrine, etc, are all places intimately connected with the State and Emperor System. Places that do no transcend the country they are in. They are political. As if Abraham Lincolns grave was a power spot, or the beach Columbus first landed on.

Anyway, Takachiho Gorge is really quite pretty. especially when the sunlight penetrates the gorge and illuminates the spray from the falls.

There is a path that runs along the gorge for about 600 meters.

Ketsuwake Shrine

Ketsuwake ( or Kitsuwake) Shrine is located at the head of a valley running east out of Asuka in a village called Kamura.

The area is known for an old legend concerning Kamatari Nakatomi, who, after having his rival Iruka Soga assassinated was chased by Soga's disembodied head. For some reason he believed that he would be safe here. In the mountains above the village is Tanzan Shrine, the site of where the plot against the Soga was hatched.

There are 2 hondens at the shrine. The larger one belongs to Ketsuwake no mikoto, who would be the local village god. The second honden was built in the Meiji era and is a branch of Kasuga Shrine, enshrining Ame no Koyane, the mythical ancestor of the Nakatomi clan who since Kamatari were given the family name Fujiwara.

Fukuoka Dome

The Dome in Fukuoka was renamed after a prominent internet company, but I don't see why I should give them free advertising so I use its original name of Fukuoka Dome.

Built in 1993 as the first of a planned pair of domes it was the first dome in Japan to feature a retractable roof, and with a diameter of 222 meters it was also the biggest indoor stadium in Japan.

The dome is home to the local pro baseball team "The Hawks" as well as hosting large scale concerts.

The twelve thousand ton retractable roof only opens after a win by the home baseball team and takes a full 20 minutes to completely open.

The Dome is located on the seafront in the Hawks Town area and is situated next to the Seahawk Hotel, which will be the next architecture post.....

Hanya Masks of Kunisaki

I did manage to find a few example of Hanya masks at the shrines on the Kunisaki Peninsular in Kyushu. Male demons were far more common though.

I have written earlier about hanya masks and what little is known about their meaning.
That, and some earlier posts with my hanya masks are here

I was fortunate to quite by chance meet up with a mask maker while there. He carved his masks in the traditional way and the standard hanya was one of his mainstays.

Giant Japanese Toad

I nearly trod on this when I went out to check some seedlings a few weeks ago.
It made no attempt to flee so I went inside to get my camera....

It was huge, half a kilo I would guess. I am almost certain it is a female Western Japanese Common Toad, Nihon Hiki Gaeru, Bufo Japonicus Japonicus.

Yoko reckoned it was an Ushi Gaeru, a Cow Frog, but that is the name of the American Bullfrog that was introduced into Japan in the early Twentieth Century as a source of protein.

A photo of one of those can be seen here