Oki-ke House, Garden, & Museum

 

The Oki-ke is a traditional, large residence next door to the Tamawakasu Shrine on Dogen, the largest of the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan.

It is built in a style unique to the Oki Islands.

It is the home of the Oki family, hereditary priests of the shrine since ancient times.

It was built in 1801 and is designated an Important Cultural Property.

The family still reside there, so it cannot be entered, though one can see inside from a couple of spots.

There is a quite nice garden surrounding the residence and the museum building next door.

I don't remember having seen this kind of bamboo before. It' called Kikko bamboo.

I thought it must have been manipulated in some way to force the strange zig-zag pattern, but its natural.

Inside the museum the pride of place goes to the ekirei, station bell. It seem this is the only remaining example in Japan.

This small copper bell was a mark of status since the ritsuryo-state period of ancient Japan. It gave the person carrying it the right to horses at stations along the old imperial routes.

There are other things on display that may be of interest to some....

The previous post was on the neighbouring Tamawakasu Shrine, also with Important Cultural Properties.

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Awa Puppet Museum

 

After visiting Myoo-in Temple on the Shikoku Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage I went into Tokushima to check in to my room. With some of the afternoon remaining, I headed to the riverside Awagin Hall

It is primarily an auditorium and concert venue, but on the second floor is a wonderful free museum on Bunraku puppet theatre.

Puppet theatre was very widespread in some parts of Japan, whereas in other areas  Kabuki dominated.

Bunraku originated in Osaka, but Awaji Island also developed its own major tradition.

Tokushima, formerly Awa, was close enough to Awaji Island that its tradition spread to here.

On the outskirts of Tokushima City is a Bunraku theatre that still puts on performances, but it is a little out of the way so not so well visited.

The exhibition in Awagin Hall consists of several parts. Above, and in the 4th photo,  you can see a  recreation of the backstage area of a rural puppet theatre.

Other exhibits focus on the puppets, which tended to be larger than the puppets of the Osaka tradition.

There are many examples of the puppet heads, some said to have been made by Umanose Komazura, the originator of the Awa puppet tradition.

The greatest author of puppet plays is without a doubt Chikamatsu Monzaemon, odten described as Japans' Shakespeare.

One of the greatest Japanese movies of all time, in my opinion, Chikamatsu Monogatari by Kenji Mizoguchi, was based on one of his stories, and Chushingura, the story of the 47 Ronin, was also based on his original.

The previous post in this series was on Myoo-in Temple.

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Mizunokuni (outside)

This is one of my favorite museums in all of Japan. The setting, landscaping and water-scaping, architecture, artworks, and even the lunches in the cafe are all excellent, and yet the place is empty most days.

It's only a few kilometers from where I live, and I drove by it hundreds of times and never went in, presuming it to be overpriced and boring like so many provincial museums.

When I finally made it in I was gobsmacked and have been back many times since.

The museums proper name is Museum 104 (104 degrees being the angle between the 2 hydrogen atoms in a water molecule.... but you knew that already!)

 but it is known as Mizunokuni,.... Waterland...., and as might be guessed, it focuses on the art, and science, of water.

The museum was designed by Takano Hiroyuki, and opened in 1997.

The main building is meant to represent Noah's Ark resting on Mount Ararat, but to me it looks more like a bridge.

Unfortunately, the museum closed to the public a few years ago.

The buildings still stand so much of what is in these photos can still be seen....