Culture

Spam From Japan: Chichibu, Saitama

Saitama is probably the most unfairly maligned of all the prefectures. Not even Shimane, who advertises itself as the least interesting prefecture, gets it this bad. However, if you go north, beyond the areas that are similar to Tokyo but not as cool, you’ll start to see valleys, mountains and houses with pet goats. Chichibu is one of these places. It’s probably most famous for the Iwadatami Rocks, a collection of layered rocks that lie on the banks of the Nagatoro River, and sometimes the middle of it.

Despite all the beautiful shrines and boat rides, the main thing that the local tourist board would like you to know is that it was the setting for “Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai” (Don’t worry, even Japanese fans abbreviate it to AnoHana). There are posters for this anime series everywhere and even a promotion where you can get a special card stamped at certain locations around town.

Our original plan was to stop at Seibu Chichibu station itself and follow the river to Nagatoro, stopping at the shrines and temples along the way. We soon found out there were too many of them to stop at every single one and make it to Iwadatami in time to take one of the famous boat rides. Sure, we could see them listed on the map, but couldn’t have predicted that they’d all have something unique about them that we’d want to see. We settled for stopping at a few interesting ones, and taking the train the rest of the way. Most locations were a little off the path, with few visitors. It turns out that our route wasn’t particularly close to the river either.

Eventually, we decided to skip a section of temples and head straight for Nagatoro River. This is a fast-flowing river that doesn’t require a boat to have a motor, paddles or sails to travel along it. All that is needed are two crew members with long sticks who know the river well enough to guide the boat around the rocks. The river does the rest.

Chichibu: Crew member on the Nagatoro River

You don’t need to book in advance for the boat ride (prices and an explanation of the three different routes in Japanese). You don’t even really need to bring a change of clothes. On the standard boat ride, every time you pass a rock that has even the slightest chance of generating a splash, the crew members raise a plastic sheet tucked into the side of the boat to protect you. And to think that I had been debating whether or not to take my camera on the boat at all.

Whitewater rafting is another matter entirely, since the climax of that expedition is being dumped into the river. As we set off on our boat, a group of rafters floated by, buoyed by their lifejackets. They immediately started shouting out to us and saying ‘hello’. It’d been a long time since I was in a place where foreigners were still a novelty. Rare, sure, but never a novelty. Of course, we waved back.

The boats only travel down-stream. You have to get the bus back to Nagatoro Station, which is provided free of charge. We had a quick look around Hodosan Shrine, which has a beautiful white torii gate, then settled down for a snack.

I’d already picked out the place in question. Asami Reizou is famous for its traditional shaved ice, also know as kakigoori. People queue up outside for it, despite having two branches in Chichibu. That’s how good it is. I chose kuromitsu, and my ice arrived piled high in a lacquer cup, with a jug of kuromitsu syrup and a jug of condensed milk. I couldn’t eat it all.

Chichibu: Ayu (sweetfish) from a street vendor

Chichibu is great choice for a day trip outside Tokyo, despite feeling much further away at times. However, many people turn it into a weekend break and spend more time at places such as onsen. Frankly, I don’t necessary recommend you do everything in the order we did.

Chichibu: Ema (wooden plaques used for prayers) at a shrine.

Chichibu: A rope used to mark the home of a kodama, or tree spirit.

SFJ: Brazilian Day in Yoyogi Park, Harajuku

Brazilian Day Japan (September 3rd, 4th 2011) has both a main stage with capoeira and samba dancers, while food stalls feature a mix of Brazilian-style barbecue, pastels and cocktails. There are also a few non-food stalls advertising Brazilian-run businesses and those with a more tenuous connection.

I sampled food from a variety of different vendors, although it was mostly too bland and greasy for my taste. It’s unfair to judge the cuisine of an entire nation based on a few fast food stands on the other side of the world in Japan, but I will say I preferred the food at the Thai and Indian festivals held in the same location.

Of all the food I tried, kibbeh was the best and reminded me of koftas, with its spicy, nutty texture. On the other end of the scale, a delicious-looking sausage had big chunks of juicy fat hidden inside. It was vile.

My friend who’d invited us in the first place is actually Brazilian, and told us the food was pretty authentic. As a vegetarian though, he dodged the worst of it.

The capoeira display on the main stage was impressive, but a little difficult to see as this martial art often uses the ground as a base to make attacks. There are also the famous handsprings and acrobatics, but the photos don’t turn out so well when half the performer’s body is hidden behind someone’s head. Luckily, the group later formed a capoeira circle (or Roda) just outside of the festival grounds, which was much easier to watch.

Soon after, a samba school called Gres Alegria performed in feathers, sequins and costume jewellery against a backdrop of bubbles. There are plenty of photos of their colourful costumes below… but only one of the food!

Click on any of the photographs below to see them at a larger size. The majority of them are available at 1024×768 size, perfect for desktop wallpaper.

All photos below are 1024×768 size.

Spam From Japan: Dancing Through Typhoon Talas

The notice on the website said the festival was on, but Typhoon Talas was passing over Shikoku and leaving even Tokyo drenched. The question was whether heavy rain would stop the last chance to see Awa Odori this summer at a festival known as “Odore, NishiHachi Natsu Matsuri” (Summer Festival in Nishi-Hachiouji).

Awa Odori is a Japanese dance originally from Tokushima in, yes, Shikoku. Its most distinctive feature, aside from the movements and the way the female dancers stand on the ‘tips’ of their wooden sandals, is the straw hats. Shaped like a half-moon and covering half the face, they are called amigasa.

As you can see by the photos, the matsuri took place more-or-less as planned. If you look closer (click on the landscape-oriented photos to view at 1024×768 resolution), you can see the dancers’ hair is slick and some of the yukata is becoming see-through around the sleeves. Yes, they really did dance through a typhoon! The only concessions to the weather was wrapping fans and paper lanterns in clear plastic and a shortening of the performance time.

It’s worth mentioning that there were about four or five children performing, some of whom hadn’t even reached elementary school age. Due to their age, I won’t upload them to the wilds of the internet, but the crowd adored them.

Click to see the photographs at a larger size. Landscape-oriented photographs are at the correct proportions for desktop wallpaper.

SpamFromJapan: Lanterns For Bon Odori

Summer is almost over, or so we hope, which means that so are events connected to Obon, the Japanese festival of the dead. The term ‘Obon’ covers private ceremonies in the home and community activities such as Lantern Boats and Bon Odori.

Bon Odori (or its English translation, Bon Dance) was held recently in my area. This year, the event was so crowded that I didn’t get a chance to dance. Nevertheless, the feeling of being surrounded by so many beautiful lanterns at night (and having shaved ice or a beer from one of the stalls!) is an amazing feeling.

Please click on any of the photographs to see them at 1024×768 resolution.

Volunteering Up North Part Three: Kawabiraki Matsuri in Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki Festival: The shrine made of tsunami debris.

Part 1: Introduction to Ishinomaki / Part 2: Floating Lanterns
Part 3: The Festival / Part 4: Oyster Farming / Part 5: Camp Life

After the devastatingly beautiful floating lanterns, our team was eager to hear what we would be doing to help out with the happier side of the festival the next day. Some teams would be carrying mikoshi (shrines that can be carried), some would be fund-raising.

It turned out we were to clean the portable toilets and the cars used for street clean-up and food delivery. That took us most of the day, and we arrived at the festival in late afternoon.

Nowhere in Japan has been as welcoming as the people of Miyagi, and even in post-tsunami Ishinomaki, this still holds true. We stopped at a number of street vendors, and bought fried buns with oyster stew inside (Kaki stew pan) and tortilla hotdogs, which came with free yakitori. We got samples of mikan juice, and the promoters were happy to pose with a carton for us.

We even found a place that sold the freshly-ground, freshly-roasted hot coffee we’d been craving. Taku of Kigokoro Cafe runs a travelling coffee shop and he’s now doing a tour of Tohoku. He offered us free coffee, but after we insisted on paying, allowed us to donate instead. Awesome guy, and if you can read Japanese, you should check out his resumé.

On the outskirts of the destroyed section of the city, a hospital was handing out kakigoori (ice shavings with syrup). I thought I was over kakigoori, but I’d never had it with condensed milk before. It was delicious, but they refused payment. Once again, everyone was so nice.

One of the highlights of the afternoon parade was a mikoshi made of tsunami debris. Let me repeat that: A tsunami took thousands of citizen’s lives and destroyed half a city, so the residents made a shrine out of the debris and paraded it through the streets. That is one hell of a ‘f*** you’ to any natural disaster that dares show its face here.

On a sour note, a ton of so-called “Christians” decided to show up and tell us that the tsunami was our punishment and we needed to repent. By the time I’d seen the fifth or sixth blank-eyed little git holding their obnoxious yellow signs with their stupid loudspeakers reciting their views in Japanese, I was begging my team leader to let me break protocol and Have Words with them. They never made eye contact, their lips formed into an immovable pout and there was not a shred of kindness — Christian or otherwise — in their eyes. How dare they.

Once the fireworks started, however, their Bible verse was drowned out with music, camera shutter sounds and commentary from a nearby loudspeaker. Thank God.

There were fireworks donated from all over Japan, which exploded in the shape of of cats, hearts and spirals. They reflected off the water and one side of the Mangattan manga museum. Very beautiful and inspiring. Unlike the previous night, there was no noticeable absence of light where buildings used to be and no visible wreckage, so it was very easy to think of this as being like any other summer firework festival in Japan.

As we left, from the crowd I delivered a swift and decidedly weak kick to one of the sign-holders and lost my moral high ground. He never even noticed.

Below the photographs is a long-ish video of the fireworks, plus very short videos of the tsunami mikoshi (no longer than ten seconds!). I hope you like them.

Volunteering Up North Part Two: Floating Lanterns Festival in Ishinomaki

Part 1: Introduction to Ishinomaki / Part 2: Floating Lanterns
Part 3: The Festival / Part 4: Oyster Farming / Part 5: Camp Life

Floating lanterns are usually in memory of the dead, but this year in Ishinomaki, the main aim was specifically to console the spirits of those who lost their lives in the tsunami and earthquake. According to the unofficial “fan” website, each lantern has the name of a tsunami victim written upon it.

When I first heard about the floating lantern festivals of Japan almost ten years ago, my aunt had recently passed away. I asked my Japanese teacher if I would be allowed to launch a lantern-boat for a relative at such a festival, even though I wasn’t Japanese, and she said it would be okay. Even though the idea was merely theoretical, her answer touched me at a difficult time. Since then, Bon dances and the floating lanterns have felt special to me.

The lanterns themselves (in the case of Ishinomaki) consisted of a round waterproof paper tray with a candle and coloured paper forming a rectangle around it. Of course, you can’t just buy 10,000 waterproof paper trays, which was where our team came in. On the morning of the festival, we systematically sprayed the lantern bases with waterproofing liquid, piled them in pyramids so they could dry and then stacked them again.

Before the lanterns were launched, there was a carnival-like atmosphere in the city centre. Food vendors, free mikan juice from POM and charity suika-wari. TV camera operators lined up on the bridge in front of the Mangattan Manga Museum (The white, egg-like building in the photographs). A group of us were even asked to help light the candles around the ceremonial site. The vendors and matsuri are for another post though, and the mood quickly shifted once the event got underway.

As the first lanterns were released, Buddhist chants played over the loudspeaker. Most people around me got out their cellphones and took pictures until the prayers started. I wouldn’t have dared to take pictures myself otherwise.

The sky got darker until we could really see the lanterns and the prayers and chants continued. The section on the other side of the river is comprised of gutted buildings and rubble beyond; in most cases the lighting comes from floodlights presumably set up to discourage criminal activity. In near darkness, the lanterns floated by in complete silence. It was lonely and heart-breaking.

The priests started chanting the names of everyone who had been killed in the recent disaster. I couldn’t pick out individual names, just the rhythmic murmur of voices. It would take them hours to go through them all. It’s the same number of paper lanterns we waterproofed.

The first part of this series was an introduction to Ishinomaki, which can be found here. You can also visit the Official Kawabiraki Website or read another volunteer’s account of the festival.

Were There Hanami Parties in Tokyo After The Earthquake?

It’s late April and bloggers showing off their photographs of cherry blossom are as inevitable as the blossoms themselves. For my part, I tried to do something a little bit different this year, by including interesting foregrounds and backgrounds, or just by adding people.

Up until recently, I would wait until just the right moment for the foot traffic to stop before I took a picture. I even have a full length picture somewhere of the Kamakura Daibutsu with no people in view. Have a look at my sakura photographs from last year where I specifically talk about waiting for that special (and rare) moment when no one is there.

This year, it was suggested (by Ishihara Shintarou) that we shouldn’t take part in hanami parties out of respect for the victims of the tsunami, even when said victims turned up and said, “Hey, we need you to have hanami parties so our area can recover financially!” Thankfully, the people of Tokyo listened to Tohoku rather than the politicians, and I wanted to show that. So, this year, instead of waiting for all the plastic swans to return to the boatyard, I took a picture more representative of what Inokashira Park is like during cherry blossom season.

Click through to see my photographs of sakura in Shibuya, in Inokashira Park and around its lake, near Tokyo Imperial Palace, and from Tama Graveyard. The photographs are fairly large this time, so they may take a while to load.

Click for photographs from parks and graveyards across Tokyo after the jump!

Spam From Japan: Koganei Park In The Snow

In Tokyo, it snowed for the first time on Foundation Day, a national holiday in Japan. We’d only just had Setsubun on February 3rd, which officially marked the start of spring. After holding back on us in Tokyo all winter, leaving the rest of the world and other parts of Japan buried under snow, it finally came through. Exactly the same as last year.

On seeing the snow, I immediately wanted to take my camera out in it, preferably with some traditional buildings. But where?

I chose to run all the way to the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum to photograph historical Japanese buildings in the snow. There were also plum trees (梅/ume) in bloom in the surrounding area. Enjoy the photos — there are a lot this time.

Click on the photographs below to see a bigger version. Hover your cursor for a description. Thanks for reading.

Spam From Japan: Temples and Wildlife in Kita-Kamakura

It’s said that one of the best ways to do Kamakura is to start in Kita-Kamakura. I arrived in Kita-Kamakura, took in just three temples, and reached the most famous Kamakura shine — Tsurugaoka Hachimaguu — just before dusk. It should be pointed out that these “temples” are not the small buildings you might find in a Tokyo neighbourhood, but sprawling estates filled with buildings. One even had a two hour hiking course.

My three temples were Engakuji (円覚寺), Meigetsuin (明月院) and Kenchoji (also Kenchouji – 建長寺). All cost 300 yen to enter and all are famous for flowers not completely in bloom right now, hence the low number of people in the photographs. Tourism in Japan is sensitive to seasonal changes, so when visiting you should consider whether you want to see a location at its best or if you’d prefer fewer people around.

The grounds of Engakuji are famous for a large bell, which is also a national treasure. It can be found at the top of a large flight of stone steps. It was here that I saw a wild squirrel. As a Brit, I grew up with squirrels; they’re in your garden, in the parks, everywhere. People have to buy squirrel-resistant bird feeders because — in Britain — it’s fairly probable you’ll see a squirrel.

I hadn’t seen a squirrel in Japan in the five years I’ve lived here. This was very exciting for me.

Meigetsuin was my second temple. It contains one of the Ten Wells of Kamakura and a cloudy white-green stream runs through it. You can walk across it on an amazing-looking bridge which I’m sure will look even more awesome when the trees aren’t bare. It’s famous for hydrangea too, which aren’t due to bloom for a while yet, either. I did see some fantastic wintersweet, which flowers at Chinese New Year.

Finally, the temple seems to have a rabbit motif going, which I initially assumed was because the temple’s name is linked to the moon. However, the brochure I was given upon entering makes no mention of it and instead touts the grave of Hojo Tokiyori as its main point of interest.

My final temple in Kita-Kamakura was Kenchouji, another Zen temple, this one so big that it even has room for a shrine from a different religion. This is the Hansoubou, a Shinto shrine which is surrounded by tengu. I’m a big fan of tengu, ever since I first saw them at Mt. Takao in Tokyo.

Around one of the smaller temples, something strange fluttered in front of me, like a ghost. When I looked closer, it turned out to be a small brown and yellow bird. After a short investigation, I believe it was a Yellow-Breasted Bunting, which is actually listed as a ‘vulnerable’ species. Lucky me.

I arrived in Kamakura just before twilight and headed for Tsurugaoka Hachimangu as I sensed I didn’t have much time before nightfall. The was a wedding going on and I also saw this beautiful grey heron atop a pine tree before heading home.

Click on the photographs below to see a bigger version. Hover your cursor for a description. Thanks for reading.

Spam From Japan: Photographs from Yokohama Port

Yokohama is a port town in Kanagawa Prefecture famous for its international history, Landmark Tower and Chinatown.

I started by walking from Yokohama Station toward Landmark Tower, which used to be home to a number of firsts – the tallest building on an island, the fastest elevator in the world and the highest observation deck in Japan. These days, it mostly ranks second, and is still worth a look. There’s also a great frozen yoghurt stand at the base, but others may prefer to try the nearby Krispy Kreme store. Like Coldstone Creamery, this brand is still a novelty in Japan for non-Americans (like me).

To my surprise, when I visited the Sky Garden observation deck in the evening, I could see the outline of Mount Fuji on the horizon. It looked bigger and higher up than I would expect, so the size could be a trick of the light. Either way, it looked amazing.

Alongside Landmark Tower is the Nippon Maru, a barque once used for sail training. It’s quite tough to get decent photographs because it sits in a special dock and is surrounded on all sides by grey skyscrapers, many of them fairly ugly.

Next was Yamashita Park and China Town (Chuukagai). To get there, I went past Sakuragicho Station and noticed a relatively new cafe called Bubby’s Pie and Coffee. Try it — the coffee is average, but the Whiskey Apple Pie is fantastic.

Yamashita Park and the nearby Marine Tower were next on my list. The park is known for its view of Yokohama Bay and is where I took the photograph to your right. Aside from seagulls, there was also a lone black kite circling overhead. It was an overcast day and everything had taken on a grey hue. Although you can go to the top of Marine Tower (the tallest lighthouse in the world according to its own PR material), I decided to skip it.

Next was Chinatown and I visited a food stall with a fairly hefty queue. This was because it had been featured on a TV show back in December 2010, which apparently starred AKB48, a large-scale girl idol group. Food from Chinatown tastes nothing like what you find in the local convenience store, and sometimes it’s completely different — I also saw shark fin stuffed buns, which I avoided. I like sharks.

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