Kagura season is in full swing!

This is a scene from the Kakko-Kirime dance performed last night at the shrine in Kawado.

In the opening part of the dance an inept priest bumbles and fumbles his way around the stage in an attempt to find the correct spot to place a drum for a sacred ceremony. I saw this dance performed by 2 different dancers last night, and though both dances differed they both stressed the comedic element.

It's October, the rice has been harvested, and until the middle of November it is now Kagura season in the Iwami area. Every village will be holding it's annual matsuri, and here in Iwami that means all night kagura performances. Some places have a Kagura-den, a seperate building like an outdoor stage specifically for kagura, but most places round here perform it in the Haiden, the main hall of the shrine.

Last night we had the choice of 6 different shrines less than ten minutes drive away that were having all-night kagura. If we wanted to drive 20 minutes the number increases to 20 or so. I like to visit different shrines and see how the different groups interpret the dances, and there are still plenty of dances I haven't see yet.

The photo above is the Ichiyama shrine, where we went first. One of my friends is a kagura dancer there, so we've been often, but still I saw a dance that I hadn't seen before. For everyone attending there was also free food... piping hot bowls of oden, uden, and later onigiri.

The next shrine we stopped at was in Kawado. There will usually be a bonfire going all night at the matsuri,... something the kids like to play with and around. This is one of the few nights of the year when kids are allowed to stay up all night, though many crash out at some point only to wake up for the finale at dawn, the Yamata No Orochi dance.

If you've never seen Iwami kagura, then you've missed one of the most exciting of all Japan's traditional performing arts, and if you've never been to an all-night village matsuri, then you haven't experienced what I consider to be one of the defining experiences of life in Japan.

Piggyback Frogs!

I found these 2 in the shallow pool of Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo.

As I knelt down to take photos they swam over and literally poked their faces into the lens!.

I have no idea if it is an adult and child, 2 adults, ... are they mating? Maybe a naturalist among you can tell me?

UPDATE 2025..... I am now fairly certain that these are, as a commenter below suggested, a pair of frogs mating, with the larger being the female.

I am also fairly certain they are the quite common Japanese Tree Frog. I find a lot of them in my garden in the early summer when they are only about 1 cm long.

Izumo Taisha Shrine, Hamada

This branch shrine of Izumo Taisha is just off busy Route 9 in Hamada, sandwiched between modern concrete buildings. Like its parent shrine, the great Izumo Taisha, it has an unusually large shimenawa. Most people I know in Hamada come here for Hatsunode, the first shrine visit of the new year.

Most shrines in Japan are now branch shrines. The "spirit" of the kami at the head shrine is "divided" and brought to the new location. Sometimes this was done by the rulers, as is the case with Hachiman shrines which were spread by the samurai. Sometimes the kami is brought by travelling shugenja, as with Akiba and Atago shrines, and sometimes the kami is brought by a delegation of villagers who travelled to the main shrine, such as Konpira.

The identities of the kami have changed over time, and they also often have a buddhist identity. The kami of Izumo Taisha, Okuninushi, was more commonly known as Daikoku, one of the seven lucky gods. According to the ancient Yamato legends, Okuninushi "gave" Japan to the Yamato, although there are no stories of him in Izumo itself, he being based in what is now Tottori. Okuninushi is associated with marriage, and like its parent shrine in Izumo, this shrine also has a wedding hall attached to it.

Kansai International Airport (Departures)

The terminal building at Kansai International Airport is the longest in the world,... 1.7 kilometres.

The 4-story "canyon" is part of Renzo Piano's award-winning design. Built on an artificial island at huge cost, the island sank 3 metres more than predicted and so several billion more dollars were spent.

Incredibly light and airy, it's a very comfortable airport to spend time in, partly because its not very busy.

Piano's initial sketch was of a glider landed on the island, and the departure lounges are the wings stretching out on either side of the main terminal.

Kansai Airport (check-in)

October Harvest

Started to harvest some edamame this week. Edamame means "twig beans" as the pods grow in clusters from short twigs attached to the main stem. Edamame is the name used in English nowadays, but in fact edamame are just immature soy beans. They are boiled lightly in the pods and then eaten mostly as a type of "bar snack", though I read that in the West they are served at expensive Japanese restaurants. I prefer to let the beans grow full term when they become Kuramame, black beans. The crows took most of the beans I planted, so I tried starting some in pots and they succsessfully transplanted, so that's the way I'll do it next year.

Still picking tons of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. Eggplants grow so easily and are so prolific that people don't know how to use them all and many just rot in the gardens. The best way I have found to preserve them is with this Sri Lankan Eggplant Pickle recipe. It's a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

Small Hanya mask 2

This is another version of the small Hanya mask in Iwami Kagura style. The hanya masks are the most popular in terms of sales, and its the most popular search term bringing visitors to this blog! What little is known about Hanya masks I've written here

There are only about 3 or 4 different forms and shapes for Hanya masks around here, but the painting and shading makes for a much wider range of appearances. I love seeing new kagura groups with masks by different mask-makers and studying their different styles.

This one is an older mask carved in wood. It is too big to be used as a performance mask, and was made as a decoration to scare off evil spirits, the use made of most hanya masks sold.

Over time I will be posting lots more of my masks, and they are for sale, so please contact me if interested.

Kagura Mask Index

Saburoiwa, Ama.

This draincover from the island of Ama in the Oki Islands shows a rock formation known as Saburoiwa. The design around the circumference shows dancers performing at the island's Kinnyamonya Matsuri.

Iwa means rock, and Saburo is a name traditionally given to the third son (Ichiro means first son). All of the Oki Islands have spectacular coasts, with many rock formations and towering cliffs.

On neighboring Nishinoshima Island are the basalt cliffs and formations of the Kuniga coastline that are part of the Daisen-Oki National park.

Tour boats explore many parts of the coastline in the Oki's, and there are also glass-bottomed boats to see the abundant sea life that inhabits the area.

Japan, A View from the Bath

Japan, A view from the Bath

Scott Clarke

184pp

University of Hawaii Press

ISBN 0834816579

Anthropologists must sometimes endure hardships conducting their field research, often far from home, sometimes in primitive conditions, struggling with foreign languages; it can be a lonely time. So spare a thought for poor Scott Clark, who, while collecting information for this book had to endure thousands of hours steeped in hot water in baths and hot springs the length and breadth of Japan. The result was this fascinating little book that documents the bathing habits of the Japanese people.

Any book on a subject as broad as Japan must choose a viewpoint, and bathing customs and culture is a good one as the Japanese differ from many cultures who see bathing as simply a way to stay clean. For the Japanese, it is much, much more.

Combining solid historical research with the aforementioned fieldwork he traces the history of bathing in Japan from ancient times up to the present, and the surprising fact emerges that bathing has always been a communal, social activity in Japan. From the Sento (Public Baths) in towns to the rural farmers who would take it in turns visiting neighbors to take a bath, only the very rich would bathe privately, and until the recent introduction of western-style bathrooms in homes, most Japanese did not have their own private bathrooms.

Onsen (Hot Springs) are also extensively covered. Owing to its volcanic geology, Japan is endowed with thousands of hot springs, and they are among the most popular of destinations for short breaks. Even trips made for other purposes will probably include a visit to an Onsen in the itinerary.

Clark admits that he spends an inordinate amount of time discussing mixed bathing, as that was in fact the norm until the Meiji Period when the government segregated bathing so as to appear “civilized” to the West and its Victorian morals, and the sad fact is that nowadays the Japanese are as prudish and embarrassed by nudity as many other cultures. However, many Onsens remained mixed until the 1980's as the clientele until then was mostly old people. In the 80's the onsen boom began and young people began to visit and so segregation was gradually introduced.

In the latter part of the book he explores many of the factors that give meaning to Japanese bathing habits, foremost of which are the notions of “pollution” and “purity”. Washing doesn’t just clean the body, but also the spirit, and the mind. Ritual washing and bathing are very important, and most major events in life are accompanied by bathing, from the newborn babies’ first bath to the cleansing of the corpse.

The book would be very useful for anyone planning a trip to Japan and wishing to be forewarned about customs they will probably need to partake in.

Kagamiyama Tenmangu Shrine, Hamada.

Kagamiyama Tenmangu is hidden away on a large hillside right next to Route 9 as it passes through central Hamada. It is reached through a narrow alleyway and then a long flight of stairs. As is often the case, the shrine is located right next to a small temple, and in all probability they were one and the same place until the government executed shinbutsubunri, the seperation of buddhas and kami, in the mid 19th Century.

The main kami of the shrine is Tenjin, the kami of scholarship and poetry. There are 2 secondary shrines, one an Akiba shrine, a very popular kami spread throughout Japan by yamabushi, and an Ebisu shrine. The shrine does not appear to be used much, probably owing to the fact that 100 metres away is a branch shrine of Izumo taisha, which is very popular.

Route 9, the main road through Hamada starts in Kyoto and runs all the way to Yamaguchi. It follows the ancient Sanindo, one of 7 roads that radiated out from the fledgling capital in Asuka, near Nara, in the 6th Century when the Yamato were beginning to consolidate their control over Japan.

Spiritual Pest Control. (Mushiokuriodori)

Nowadays Japanese farmers rely heavily on chemical pesticides on their crops, but before such things were available they turned to the world of the spirits for help. Performed now as a folk dance, Mushiokuri Odori, sending away the insects dance, was a religious ritual performed in many parts of the country.

Ancient Japanese religion concerned itself a lot with pollution and purification. Infestations of insects were considered a form of pollution caused to a certain extent by the "sins" of the villagers.

Wearing summer yukata, and accompanied by flute, the drummer dancers make their way around the village stopping and performing the songs.

Accompanying the procession is a straw effigy, nowadays carried in a small pick-up. He represents Saito Sanemori, a samurai who was killed and unceremoniously dragged across a rice paddy by his horse. He represents another aspect of ancient Japanese religious tradition, that of the "angry ghost".

The straw doll is a form of scapegoat. The "sins" of the villagers are collected by it, and after the rituals it is burned or cast into a river, both forms of purification.