Kuro Oni. Black Ogre/Demon

It's been a very long time since I finished a new mask.

Garden, firewood, and home maintenance seem to have taken more of my time than usual, but I am hoping to get working on my masks again soon as all this winters firewood is already ready.

I have about 20 masks in various stages of construction, but I just finished this one.

Like all my masks they are in the Iwami kagura style, but being a barbarian I tend to experiment a little.

It is of course for sale.

My other finished masks can be found here

Vacation 2010 Day 6: Mercedes Benz Museum

As I was in Stuttgart I couldnt not visit the Merecedes Benz Museum, not because I am into cars, but because I am into interesting architecture.

The museum opened in 2006 and was designed by the Dutch architectural firm UNStudio.

I found it a very good museum, well laid out and with excellent displays.

The museum starts at the top with the oldest examples of Daimler vehicles. and visitors then descend and pass through time up to the present day.

There were also examples of what the future holds.

The entrance price was reasonable, audio guides in various languages are available, and photography is permitted..... I am tending to avoid paying to enter somewhere I cant take pics.

Between the museum and the neighboring showroom was this fine sculpture.

I married a bag lady!

And she has been busy making more bags using Ainu designs and embroidery.

These first two are made of wool and much bigger than the ones she usually makes.

These next four Yoko says are cases for sunglasses, but I reckon they could be used for regular glasses, cigarettes and lighter, cell phone, etc etc

These last two are made using material from old Obi's, the sash used with kimonos.

If anyone is interested in owning one of these and wants to know sizes and prices., email me and I will pass it on to Yoko

Some other Ainu-design bags of hers can be seen here, but they have all been sold already.

A detailed view of Korakuen

Korakuen in Okayama City is one of the three top ranked gardens in Japan.

Before posting some shots of the garden, I thought I would show some of the details that attracted my eye. If you like koi, more posts here.

I also posted some shots of lotus blossoms from Korakuen earlier.

I posted a sequence of red umbrellas at Matsuo shrine earlier.

More hankies

Went back to the Hamada Childrens Art Museum to see the second part of the art project involving 53,00 handkerchiefs.

The hankies have been taken down off the building and drsped over the circular garden space in front of the museum.

The 6 artists collaborating on the project are Kazuya Ohbayashi, Makoto Sugawara, Hiroko Sekino, Keitoku Koizumi, Tetsuaki Baba, and Youjiro Fujiwara.

Most of the area under the canopy of hankies was out of bounds, which was a shame, but it was possible to see under.

Bentenjima Shrine

The small shrine on Bentenjima (Benten Island) enshrines the female kami/goddess Benten, sometimes known as Benzaiten. Associated with water, and sometimes equated with Ichikishimahime, Benzaiten is the only female among the seven lucky gods of Japan.

Originally the Hindu Goddess Saraswati, introduced into Japan through Buddhist sutras, so one can find both shinto shrines and buddhist temples dedicated to her.

Benten Island itself is actually just a big rock on Inasa beach, and in the Kuniyuzuri myth the rock was thrown here by Takemikazuchi while engaged in a competition of strength with one of Okuninushi's sons.

Hamada Childrens Museum of Art (outside)

The Hamada Childrens Museum of Art (without 53,00 hankies) opened 1n 1998.

Its located right next to Shimane University on the hillside overlooking Hamada.

Like many public buildings in Shimane it was designed by Shimane-born architect Shin Takamatsu.

The space is divided up into 3 zones, an exhibition space, a practical/workshop space, and a non-functional space.

Various exhibitions, workshops, and events take place throughout the year.

Nanafushi: Stick Insect

Displaying one of the best examples of the art of camouflage, the Stick Insect, known as nanafushi in Japanese, are usually difficult to spot.

However, when they are crawling up your door they are much easier to see.

There are 18 species of Stick Insect in Japan, and I have no idea which one this is.

Kawamoto Summer Matsuri

On saturday evening we went upriver for the annual summer festival in Kawamoto. One street is blocked off to traffic and a stage erected. Along the street stalls selling food and drink.

The opening event was a rather poor performance of Yosakoi.

Next up was a performance by the local school brass band. Not exactly my cup of tea, but the performance was technically flawless. As it should be considering the amount of practising the poor kids have to do on weekends and during so-called school vacations.

And then some kagura. I noticed that Iwami kagura music now has the same effect upon me as Celtic music or Reggae..... my feet start tapping involuntarily.

Not sure how to describe the next performance. Yoko called it a play.

Next up the local taiko group. I always enjoy Taiko. This group was formed 40 years ago to cheer up the locals who had just suffered a devastating flood.

Thousands of floating candle lanterns were then set off to drift down the river. I would have liked to get closer to get some better shots but the river was fenced off and patrolled by dozens of security guards..... aahh!... safety Japan.

The finale was the obligatory firework display.

Kawamoto is a small town, but it services a large rural area, and the matsuri was well attended.

The Bridge over the River Go

I've already posted on our very own candy colored bridge that crosses the Gonokawa. Between it and the sea 20k downstream there are 4 more bridges over the river. This first one is about halfway down the river and crosses over to Kawahira.

The next 3 all cross the river at Gotsu. The first is the most recent, a doubledecker built 17 years ago. The upper level carries the Gotsu bypass, and the lower level is for local traffic between Watazu and Gotsu Honmachi. It is used on the local manhole cover design.

The next one is the bridge that carries the single railway track of the Sanin JR line. It was built in 1920.

The last bridge before the sea is the one that carries Route 9 through Gotsu.



From there its just a few hundred meters to the mouth of the river and the open sea beyond. The east bank is very sandy.

The west bank has the huge factory and of course tetrapods.