Isotake Guro

Monday was Tondo Matsuri in my village, but it was cold and rainy so we gave it a miss. Photos from last years Tondo can be seen here.

Instead we went up the coast a little to the fishing village of Isotake where they have a version of Tondo Matsuri that is unique in all of Japan. For their Tondo they erect a 10m wide bamboo structure called a "Guro".

You may think it looks very Mongolian, and you would be right as it is acknowledged that its roots are from the mainland. This area has a strong connection to the mainland through the korean kingdom of Sila. A few kilometres away is the spot where Susano and his son Isotake arrived here from Korea. The shrine behind the Guro recounts how many local "kami" travelled back and forth with Susano to the mainland to learn skills.

The structure is built almost completely out of bamboo, covered with mats. Inside fire burn and the villagers gather for the next 4 days.

The tall central bamboo, similar to other tondo matsuris, is for the kami Toshitokujin, the kami of the new year, to descend into the guro. Toshitokujin, like much that is called shinto now, has its roots in Daoism.

Over the fires mochi is toasted. It was freezing outside but very warm inside.

On friday the guro, along with all the new years ornaments, will be ceremonially burned as with other Tondo matsuri's.

Omiki by the One Cup.

Omiki is the name given to sake that is left on altars as offerings to the Kami.

At major shrines it will be donated by the barrel. At most shrines it will be donated by the bottle.

At small wayside shrines (Hokora) or secondary shrines (Sessha) in the grounds of main shrines, the Omiki is left by the "One Cup".

Put on the market in 1964, to coincide with the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, the Ozeki Sake Company's "One Cup Sake" came in a small jar holding 180ml. Other companies soon followed suit.

The size was based on a traditional measure of rice or sake, the "go", which was a small wooden box with an interior volume of roughly 180ml.

Obviously, some kami prefer other beverages, like cafe au lait....

.. or shochu cocktails.

Winter in the village

It's early days yet, but the stinkbugs prediction of heavy snow this winter has not materialized yet. We are getting a lot of snow, but its melting pretty soon after falling. Hotei, sitting outside our front door doesn't seem to mind the snow.

My neighbours tea doesn't seem to mind the snow either.

The village rice paddies with my garden in the foreground. Won't be working in the garden today. I don't mind.

My favorite viewpoint over the Gonokawa, about 1k upstream from my house.

New Shimenawa

The new year so far has been cold and windy with snow flurries and sleet. I've stayed in my nest close to woodstove. Yesterday there was a break in the weather, so I decided to venture out and visit the local shrine for Hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year). The tori were still decked out in their new years decorations.

My main reason to visit was to see the new shimenawa, the "sacred rope" that is used to demarcate sacred space. In my village the shimenawa is replaced every 10 years, and this one was made in the weeks after the harvest matsuri last November.

Shimenawa come in all shapes and sizes, and are traditionally made of rice-straw, though in some places plastic is now being used. Here in Iwami the shimenawa tend to be large, though not as large as those in Izumo. I remember when I first came here a villager apologized that because the village was poor they couldn't afford to make on as big as the one at Izumo Taisha, the biggest in Japan.

I had hoped to see this one being constructed, but in the end i was too busy in November..

After that brief spell of sunshine and stillness the weather has reverted to freezing wind and flurries.

I have quite an extensive collection of photos of different types of shimenawa, so eventually will get round to posting a more explanatory blog about them.

Ichibata Yakushi revisited

I paid another visit to Ichibata Yakushi, the mountaintop temple to the buddha of healing Yakushi Nyorai, located between Lake Shinji and the Japan Sea up in Izumo.

There are more than 8,000 of these little statues left by pilgrims who come here from all over Japan, mostly to pray for relief from eye problems.

The bronze statues are 24 cms high and depict a Kenzoku, a guardian of Yakushi Nyorai.

Each one costs 30,000 yen ( approx $300). Inside each one is a small piece of paper upon which is written the prayer of the pilgrim.

Inside Riverwalk

Some shots from inside the Riverwalk complex in Kokura.

For details see yesterdays post.

I recently learned that the Jerde Partnership that designed this complex have designed a new city centre for my hometown of Coventry. Could be interesting.

Riverwalk at Kokura

Riverwalk, designed by the Jerde Partnership. is located in Kokura, Kitakyushu.

Opened in 2003, the complex houses shops, cinemas, auditoriums, museums, and TV studios.

The color scheme has the following meaning.
Brown for earth
Black for rooftiles
White for plaster
Red for lacquer
Yellow for ears of ripening rice.

The Jerve Partnership has designed several other multi-use complexes in Japan, including Namba Parks in Osaka, and Canal City in Hakata.

Meri Kurisumasu!

The Emperor didn't sleep here.

Today is a National Holiday in Japan in celebration of the Emperor's birthday. Actually his correct title is "Tenno" which translates as "heavenly Sovereign", but when the Japanese came to translate the word into English they chose "emperor" as China had an emperor and Japan wasn't going to be outdone by the Chinese.

The new government of Japan in 1868 had the task of molding a unified nation out of the many seperate domains that had existed up till then, and the chose the new emperor as the symbol of the new nation. Problem was that the vast majority of Japanese had no idea who or what the emperor was. Part of the solution they come up with was for the Meiji Emperor to travel the length and breadth of the country on a series of Grand Tours. Like much of the "Imperial traditions" that were invented around this time it was based on the traditions of European royalty.

So all over Japan local authorities scrambled to build suitable accomadation for the Emperor.

Above is located in the grounds of Matsue castle and was built in 1903. Now it houses a local history museum, the Kyodokan.

The Emperor never did stay there.

The Gobenden is now located underneath the castle hill in Hamada. It was constructed in 1907 in case the Meiji Emperor visited Hamada.
He didn't.
The Crown Prince Yoshihito, the future Emperor Taisho, did stay here for a couple of days however.

On a related note, this is the Goseimon at Gakuen-ji temple. It's a gate that is only used by members of the imperial family. The current Crown Prince, Naruhito, used it a couple of years ago.

Catholic Church in Tsuwano

Tsuwano

Must be in the Christmas spirit to be posting all these churches :) The Catholic Church in Tsuwano was built in 1931.

It's a replica of the Oura Tenshudo, the church built by the French in Nagasaki in 1865.

Inside, no pews or chairs, only tatami to sit on.

The church is open daily. On May 3rd there is a procession from the church up to the Chapel at Otome Pass followed by a Mass in front of the church.