Vacation 2010 Day 12: Penzance to Helston

After St Ives I headed back to Penzance on the south coast to find the weather brightened so I walked 5k along the beach to St Michaels Mount.

There may very well be beaches in Japan that are wide and flat with the sea receding a long ways during the tides, but I havent been to them.

Not as famous as the bigger Mont St Michel across the channel, The Mount, as it is known locally, has a lot of history and was once inland but became an island when Lyonesse sank.

It is the home of some Lord or other but is administered by the National Trust nowadays.

Back when I was a student in Cornwall one of my friends mother was the cook in "the big house".

I know Thatcher stayed here...............

I walked back to Marazion on the mainland along the granite causeway before jumping a bus to Helston where I would be staying for the night with friends.

Got off in Porthleven for a wander..... I briefly stayed here when I first moved to Cornwall.

A picturesque fishing village, the coast path from here down to the Lizard is one of my favorite parts.

In Helston, a medieval market town and home of the Furry Dance, one of the oldest living traditions in Britain.

The Blue Anchor, a pub over 600 years old, still make their own beer. The different varieties are sold by specific gravity and my favorite was called Old Bastard. Twice a year the pub sells a double-strength version and as students we would come and fill up containers to take away.

There is still a skittle alley in back.

Ganryu-ji Falls

Back in December, before winter arrived, there was still some color around so I made one last trip hunting the Fall colors.......

We headed to Ganryu-ji Falls, a place I had only been to once before many years ago.

There are 4 falls in all, descending a total of 120 meters.

The falls are named after a temple that stood near the base, Ganryu-ji.

The temple is gone, though it was still here 8 years ago. The falls will also soon be gone. The valley is going to be flooded behind a new dam. The stated purpose is flood prevention, but the real reason is to get central government funds to pump into the local construction and concrete industry.

As it was there was very little color still around.

This last picture is from 8 years ago when the temple was still here....

Yanai Shirakabe no Machi

Yanai Shirakabe no Machi

Yanai, a small town and port in Yamaguchi is most well known for its Kingyo Choochin Matsuri featuring goldfish lanterns. The main tourist area of the town is known as Shirakabe no Machi, the street of white walls which consists of white-walled buildings, shops, warehouses, etc, mostly from the Edo period when the town was a bustling port.

Most of the shops now sell crafts, especially the goldfish lanterns, but there is also a famous soy sauce brewery and several of the places are open as small museums.

Purchase a selection of Yanai lanterns from GoodsFromJapan

Tanzan Shrine

Probably the first thing you notice at Tanzan Shrine is the rather unusual 13-story pagoda. Pagodas are of course Buddhist, and this was a temple and monastery complex until the government made it a "shinto" shrine in early Meiji.

The pagoda was built on top of the bones of Kamatari Nakatomi by his son Joe Fujiwara and the temple was primarily a private family mausoleum until later when it came under the wing of the Tendai sect and expanded.

Nearby is where Kamatari met with Prince Nakano Oe (later Emperor Tenji) and plotted the assasination of Soga no Iruka.

The Soga were the most powerful clan and most probably ruled Japan at that time, the Imperial family being mere figureheads (like they were for most of history). After their fall the Fujiwara ( the new family name of the Nakatomi) in essence ruled Japan for the next 1,000 years or more.

The history of the ruling elites of Japan, like many other places, reads like a gangster novel, assasinations, plots, revenge, inter-gang warfare, etc. and in truth the distinction between gangster and ruler is a very fine one indeed.

Leading away from the main building a line of torii lead to 3 shrines to Inari. There are in fact and incredibly large number of Inaris, though there are collectively lumped together as one.

There are numerous other sub-shrines within the grounds, a Shinmei Shrine dedicated to Amaterasu, a Sugiyama Shrine dedicated to Isotakeru, the son of Susano that came with him from Korea, the local Mountain God, an Okami Shrine to Suijin the water god, and a branch of Hie Shrine enshrining Oyamazumi, probably dating from the time the Tendai sect took over the temple.

When I went to Tanzan many years ago it was hard to reach, even though it is close to Asuka, though now they have built a new road directly from Asuka that I believe is open.

Tanzan is very popular during the Fall when the leaves are changing.

Tondo food & drink

Upon arriving at Tondo matsuri the first thing to do is get a drink of Kappo Zake, sake poured into a piece of bamboo that is then heated in coals and drunk from a bamboo cup. It really is delicious with a hint of bamboo flavor.

While the men are busy warming their butts by the coals, drinking sake, the ladies of the village are busy preparing food.

On the altar in front of the bonfire is a bottle of sake. In this form it is called Omiki. More on that later.

Once the fire is underway time to tuck in. First course is Nanakusa no sekku, rice porridge with the 7 herbs of spring. I asked the ladies which 7 plants were used and they said the standard ones, though I suspect there was some local variation. There usually is, though local people will believe their version is the national version. The official list is Seri (japanese parsley) Nazuna (shepherds purse) Gogyo (Jersey cudweed) Hakobera (chickweed) Hotokenoza (henbit) Suzuna (turnip) Suzushiro (daikon) Being a barbarian I found the porridge almost tasteless........ some milk and sugar would have helped.....

Main course was a huge pot of Wild Boar stew.... from the hills around the village, with masses of vegetables and tofu. Really tasty. Ive spoken with lots of "town" Japanese who have never eaten wild boar. They tell me it smells. They also say that mutton and turkey smells.

Over the coals mochi are toasted. Big pass for me. Can't stand mochi, though there was also Zenzai, which is mochi cooked up in a sweet bean sauce. Thats OK.

Finally the Omiki, though not the usual omiki. This is Kinpakku Iri, sake with gold flakes added. The gold flakes have no meaning, there are simply to make the sake expensive. I like Tondo. Lots of free food and drink and everyone is in good spirits.

Tondo Matsuri

Yesterday was Tondo Matsuri over in Tanijyugo. A fire festival traditionally held on the first new moon of the year.

On the bonfire are placed everybodies new years decorations, which have accumulated "bad luck".

A short ritual is performed, though not by a priest. A lot of what is now called shinto was appropriated from folk customs. Many of the traditions that now occur in shrines were formerly done by villagers outside of the shrine in the community, like Tondo.

4 people who were born in previous rabbit years light the fire.

The purification takes place....... and then we eat and drink!!!

The obligatory annual snow pics

Its that time of the year again...... its been snowing off and on for a couple of weeks, though it tends to melt during the day....

For the new year most of the local graves have had fresh flowers...

My hamlet.

Snow on bamboo always makes for a good shot.

The neighboring valley of Tanijyugo where I was heading for Tondo matsuri...

Seahawk Hotel

The Seahawk Hotel in the Hawkstown area of Fukuoka was until recently owned by JAL, the national airline. As part of the companies bankruptcy restructuring they had to sell off all their hotels, so now it is owned by Hilton.

With more than 1,000 rooms it was the biggest hotel in Japan, but that is now one in Tokyo, though it comprises 3 separate towers.

There are 34 floors above ground, rising to a height of 143 meters.

It was built in 1995 and designed by Cesar Pelli.

The hotel is way out of my price range, but it does have a fantastic atrium that I went in, so will post on that on my next architecture post.

Shichifukujin The 7 lucky gods

All of these statues of the 7 lucky gods of Japan are at Taizo-Ji, a temple at the southern end of the Kunisaki peninsular. This first one is Daikoku, usually equated with Okuninushi, though originally a Hindu deity, Mahakala, a war god. In japan he is associated with agriculture, rice farming and the kitchen. He is usually depicted carrying a magic mallet, standing on a pair of rice bales and with a sack of treasure over his soldier.

The reason these statues are silver is that they are covered with little silver papers that visitors purchase from the temple and apply to the statues while making their prayers/requests. On the silver paper are bonji, a japanese version of an ancient sanskrit script.

This is Fukurokuju, god of wisdom and longevity and sometimes credited with the power to revive the dead. He is a manifestation of the southern Pole star and is linked to a myth of a Chinese Taoist sage. He is a later addition to the seven, replacing Kichijoten.

Benzaiten, a Hindu deity called saraswati, is usually depicted holding a Biwa, Japanese lute, and is associated with all that flows,... water, words, music etc. Often equated with the shinto kami Ichikishimahime

Ebisu is often considered to be the only Japanese god of the seven. The god of fishermen, workingmen, and good luck. He is immensely popular and is often depicted paired with Daikoku as a manifestation of the father-son pair Okuninushi and Kotoshironushi. He is usually depicted carrying a fish.

Bishamonten is a god of war and warriors, so obviously popular with samurai. Originally Hindu, he is the leader of the Shitenno, the 4 heavenly kings of Buddhism and protector of the north.

Jurojin, another Taoist god of wisdom and longevity, often confused with Fukurokuju and said to inhabit the same body.

Hotei, known as the Laughing Buddha in the West, is probably based on a real Chinese Zen monk. He is the god of happiness and the patron of bartenders!!