Daily Life in Japan

Daily Life in Japan at the time of the Samurai, 1185 - 1603 Louis Frederic Translated by Eileen M. Lowe Tuttle Books ISBN 0-804813496-1 256pp A problem I have with a lot of history books, especially Japanese history books, is that they are about the history of the rulers, concerned with war, power, and the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"!, and often have little to do with the actual lives of most people. For instance, I tire of reading something like ..."the Japanese ate little meat because of the Buddhist proscription against meat-eating".....the buddhist proscription was adhered to only by a small percentage of the Japanese people, and even then they found ways to circumvent it. Most Japanese ate any meat they could get their hands on! So, if you interested in the Lives of the Poor and Unknown, Frederic's book can't be beat. A full range of topics are included, life-stages from birth to death, city and country, occupations and crafts, the family system, the position of women in society, religion, and the way of the warrior. In each section he contrasts the lives of the upper classes with those of the lower, and what emerges is a very clear picture that their lives were very different. For instance, in the case of women's position, the women of the upper classes were little more than "borrowed wombs", but as one moves down through the classes women had more and more power and rights. The source for a lot of the information about common people of the period comes from illuminated scrolls which were used by monks to teach, and therefore often illustrated daily life of the common people. The book is also an excellent overview of a turbulent period of Japanese history. An excellent book for peeking behind the modern veneer of homogenity in Japan.

How Iwami got it's name

Shimane Prefecture was formed by joining together 3 of the old provinces, Oki Islands, Izumo, and Iwami. The old provincial identities remain strong today, with an Iwami identity being stronger than a Shimane identity. I live in Iwami, and most of this blog is about Iwami.

The name Iwami is written with 2 kanji, "iwa" meaning rock/stone, and "mi" meaning look/see, so the name means something like "see rock".



The most common theory of the names origin says that it refers to the rocky cliffs around Hamada, which was the original provincial capital, but on one of my shrine-visiting walks I came across another story which is not well known, but far more interesting

The story begins a long, long time ago, before the introduction of Buddhism, when the area was ruled by female shamans.

The people of the area were under attack from a giant eight-colored serpent( not to be confused with the eight-headed serpent of Izumo).

The local kami, a shamaness names Amenotoyotarashikarahime fought against the evil serpent, and like all such battles it was long and hard, but the evil power of the serpent was too strong and eventually Ameno weakened.

Just as it looked as if Ameno would be defeated, "ofuda" rained down from the sky. Ofuda are small paper strips from shrines that are in essence charms to ward off evil or encourage good spirits. These ofuda were from a kami from neighboring Izumo, Yatsukamizuomitsununomikoto. (if Susano can be said to be the creator of the Izumo nation, and Okuninushi presided over it's demise, then Yatsukami ruled at the height of Izumo's power)

The ofuda did the trick, the serpent was weakened, and Ameno revived enough to finish off the serpent and hack its body to pieces. (North of here is a mountaintop shrine in the village of Yairoishi (eight-colored stone), and behind the shrine is the head of the eight-colored snake, now turned to stone)

The next part of the story is a little unclear, either for some reason Ameno turned herself to stone, or she turned the serpent, now in pieces, into stone. As the stone head exists, it seems likely that the latter is the story.

Anyway, Yatsukami felt the event was important enough that he instructed the people to remember the event by "LOOK AT THE STONE!"

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?

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.

Typical Japanese Landscape 8

Abu River (Abugawa) valley, NE Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Early morning, November.

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.