105 years ago today.

On May 28th 1905 the Russian ship Irtysh ran aground on the Shimane coast just off the fishing village of Waki (now part of Gotsu).

The villagers took to their boats and helped to successfully save and bring to shore the more than 200 crew and officers.

The Russians were given food and shelter and helped in every way by the mostly poor fishermens families.

Every year, this year on June 13th, Waki celebrates a Russian festival and dignitaries come from Russia to thank the village once again for their kindness.

In the small Waki Community Center is a small museum with photos, documents, items salvaged from the Irtysh, and gifts from Russia.

The story of how the Irtysh came to its end is pretty interesting.

In 1904, without a declaration of war, the Japanese attacked the Russian Far East Fleet in Port Arthur (Manchuria). Comparisons with Pearl Harbor are obvious. So began the Russo-Japanese war.

In a bold move the Czar ordered his Baltic Fleet to sail 18,000 miles, half way round the world, to hook up with the remnants of his Far East Fleet at Vladivostock. The Irtysh was a supply ship attached to the Baltic Fleet.

In the straits between Japan and Korea the Japanese navy engaged the Russians in a great naval battle that has been equated with Trafalgar. Known now as the Battle of Tsushima, the Russians were soundly defeated, and the damaged Irtysh was seen limping away from the battle and the next day ran aground off Waki.

Round Windows: looking in (modern)

The last post, for a while at least, on circular windows in Japan. These are in Milky Way Hall in Gotsu.

This one is at the local aquarium, Aquas.

These are the doors to the Treasure House/ Storeroom of a shrine in Yamaguchi City. Gandalf or Dumbledore or Santa is being watched by a komainu

This one is at the Contemporary Art Museum in Hiroshima City.

And another one from Aquas

Princess Yakami

Yakami Hime was a beautiful princess ( as all such princesses must be) in the land of Inaba, now western Tottori. She appears in the old myth The White Rabbit of Inaba.

In Izumo, Okuninushi's 80 brothers, known as the Yasogami, head off to Inaba to try and win the princess's hand. Okuninushi was relegated to baggage carrier for his brothers.

On a beach they discover a sick rabbit, and the yasogami are cruel to it. When Okuninushi arrives he helps the rabbit, and seeing his kindness, Yakami hime falls in love with him.

Eventually Okuninushi marries her, but later dumps her so he can marry one of Susano's daughters.

The photos are from the kagura dance Yasogami, performed here by the Tsuchi Kagura Group at last years Gotsu kagura Festival.

Down the river to the sea

A few weeks ago, before the onset of the rainy season and its attendant humidity, I took a little bike ride 20kms down the river to Gotsu.

The Gonokawa (Go River) is the longest river in West Japan, and is only 194 kms long. Now tamed by a single dam upstream at Hamahara, it is still a very pleasant river.

For most of its length there is a narrow ride running alongside the railway line, and a larger 2 lane road running along the opposite bank. The 10k from my village downstream to Kawahira is the only stretch that doesn't have the small road, so I cycled down the main road to the bridge at Kawahira.

There is not a lot of traffic, maybe one or two cars an hour, and just a few small settlements. Its not unusual to see troops of monkeys exploring the edge of the rail tracks.

Every few K there are Jizo altars, often looking the worst for wear, but still maintained by some of the locals.

Geologically speaking, the Go River is very young, and has yet to form an estuary or delta, but it does get a little wider and deeper as it turns the last horsheshoe bend before reaching Gotsu and the sea.

It was at this point that I discovered something quite remarkable, something I've driven past hundreds of times and not noticed. That's tomorrows blog.

Meteor, Mountain, Manyoshu.

Bristling with towers and antennae, the 470m high Shimanohoshitakayama, hereafter known as Star Mountain, is visible from up and down the coast and from Rte 9 or the train as one passes through Gotsu.

The star on the mountainside, most visible after a snow or when lit up in August, symbolizes a meteor that slammed into the mountain in the year 874. At the site of the impact a temple was built. Reisyo-ji, and the meteor itself enshrined as Inseki Daimyojin, which could be translated as Meteor Great Shining Deity.

The space in the door of the little shrine is so you can reach in and touch the meteor. It is a decent size... I haven't been able to find out its weight, but it's close to a metre in length.
The crater made by its impact is now a small pond just in front of the temple.

The small temple itself is fairly nondescript, but outside there are several large statues of Kannon.

Like most temples or shrines that have a strong "folk" tradition, there are an interesting, eclectic, collection of little statues of assorted kami, buddhas, and saints.

Right next to the temple is a park with over 500 Camellia trees. Also nearby is a miniature golf course, and the local "Clean Center" which is where the trash gets recycled and incinerated. Only in Japan could a place that produces toxic dioxin be called a clean center!

There are several spots with scenic overviews of the coast and beautiful downtown Gotsu below.

There is a small settlement up here too, though I was surprised to learn that people didn't move on to the mountain until the 1940's.

The local shrine is named after Kakinomoto Hitomaro, probably the most well known of the ancient poets whose work is in the Manyoshu, the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry.

It is believed that the mountain is described in one of his famous poems, On Leaving Iwami, and the evidence is strong. The Sanindo, the ancient road linking the region to the capital in kyoto, passes in front of the mountain, and kakinomotos wife is from Tsunozu at the base of the mountain to the west. Actually he had quite a few wives, but Yosami no Otome is the most well known as she was a poet in her own right and her works are also in the Manyoshu. The love story of Kakinomoto and Yosami was made into a childrens picture book and images of the couple appear all over the Gotsu area, looking suitably cute.

This is a follow-up post to an earlier post.

The good guys versus the bad guys

Yesterday was the annual Gotsu Kagura festival. 7 hours of exciting entertainment for less than the price of a movie ticket!

Kagura is sacred dance, and its home is in the local shrine, but here in Iwami, kagura has become so popular that various opportunities exist to see it outside of the shrine matsuri. Many towns now have an annual festival held in school gyms or auditoriums. Rather than seeing one group perform all night, up to 10 groups each perform just one dance. It's a kind of showcase where groups can see each other.

Being performed on a large stage rather than the usual small kagura space in a shrine means that dances with larger numbers of participants can be staged.

One of the common features of most kagura dances is combat. Bows and arrows, halberds, and swords are used. The theme of many dances is the triumph of good over evil, and in many cases this means the the Yamato defeating their enemies.


With the faster 8-beat kagura of Iwami some of these sword battles can be quite exciting, as can be seen in the short video.

Milky Way Hall (inside)

Going inside Milky Way Hall I was surprised to find an open central area filled with a shallow pool. Luckily a shaft of light was coming in through the buildings superstructure.

Designed by local architect Shin Takamatsu, Milky Way Hall is a 700-seat uaditorium and conference centre in Gotsu.

See outside Milky Way Hall

Milky Way Hall (outside)

With its rectilinear, minimal design and windowless walls clad in blue tile, Gotsu's Milky Way Hall looks like a warehouse or factory, but is in fact a 700 seat auditoriun and conference centre that hosts concerts and other cultural events.

Opened in 1995, and designed by Shin Takamatsu, it is called Milky Way Hall because there are small lights set in the wall and at night the building displays constellations on its exterior.

Takamatsu is a professor at Kyoto University and was born locally at nearby Niima. He has designed many buildings in his home prefecture including Hamada Childrens Museum, and Nima Sand Museum.

See inside Milky Way Hall

Gotsu Sunset

The skyline of Gotsu is dominated by the smokestacks and industrial structures of the cellulose factory. Snapped this a few hours ago from the car as we crossed the bridge on the way home.