Asian Haiku Travelogue

Welcome and Enter !

2012-12-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

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Welcome to my Travelogue throught Asia,
... ... ... via Haiku !

CHINA

China : Dunhuang Travelogue Tonko 敦煌

China : Guilin Travelogue Keilin 桂林
........... Autumn Memories Keilin, Guilin 桂林

China : Peking Travelogue

China : Shanghai Travelogue

China : Anji Bridge

.........................Photo Albums

Dunhuang (Tonko), Mogao Grottoes　敦煌 Part 1 and 2

Keilin (Guilin)　桂林

Peking北京

Shanghai 上海

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INDIA 1979

Faces of the Himalayas -
Dharamsala Tibetan Opera 1979

Kashmir Travelogue

Kashmir PHOTO ALBUM

Himalayas PHOTO ALBUM Keylong, Manali

The burning ghats. Benares

Benares / Varanasi PHOTO ALBUM

NEPAL
PHOTO ALBUM

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JAPAN

INDEX of my Japan Travelogues
... ... ... ... Start exploring from HERE !

. Daruma Pilgrims
Introducing famous Places and People of Japan

. Introducing
Japanese Festivals and Ceremonies 　

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TAIWAN

Taiwan Travelogue

Taiwan
PHOTO ALBUM

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THAILAND

Thailand Travelogue

Thailand
PHOTO ALBUM

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External Travel LINKS

Travel Between The Pages
is a virtual community where travelers, writers, readers and creative artists can share ideas, advice, opinions and enthusiasm.
We hope to bring you inspiring, informative posts on travel, books, writers, art and events.
Brian D. Butler
http://travelbetweenthepages.com/about/

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SEARCH all my articles

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Japan Index

2012-12-29T17:46:00.000-08:00

Calligraphy Dragon

2011-12-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

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calligraphy of a dragon

龍　

Dragon Horse Temple　龍馬山
. Yoshitsune Temple Gikeiji at Minmaya
「義経寺」（ぎけいじ）三厩村 .

Touched up by Elaine Andre

Another memory from this trip :
. Furofushi Onsen 不老ふ死温泉 .

. My Dragon Art Museum .

INDEX for my trips in Japan

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. Calligraphy , shodoo 書道 .

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Benares Varanasi

2011-02-19T20:24:00.000-08:00

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visiting the ghats -
so many memories float
with the Ganges

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a cow prepares
for her final float -
funerals for all

holy cow ...
her dead body floats
in the river Ganges

Whilst we sit at the riverside in Benares,
watching the cow (and a few other things)
slowly pass by,
a boy from the nearby chai shop
scoops some water from the river,
prepares a cup of tea and offers it to us.

　

quote
Varanasi has the finest religious river frontage in India, with miles of ghats (steps) for bathing; shrines, temples, and palaces rise tier on tier from the bank. Over a million pilgrims visit each year; many hope to die there in old age.

The burning ghats.
The bigger of the two is Manikarnika,
the other is Harishchandra.

The former hosts up to 200 cremations each day. The process is efficient and businesslike. Above the ghats are huge stacks of wood; the family of the deceased, according to their means, buys one of many funeral packages on offer, including a certain quantity of wood, sandalwood sawdust, ghee, other ritualistic paraphernalia, and a priest's services.

Orderlies set up the pyre, the body is placed on it, the priest chants and performs the rituals, ghee is poured on, and the pyre is set alight, as the men of the family watch (women stay at home). If the fire doesn't catch on well, more ghee and sawdust are added. If a family can't afford enough wood, as is not uncommon, the body is burned in stages: middle part first, while the head and legs stick out, to be pushed in deftly by a pole after the middle part collapses.

A few hours later, the ashes and bits of bones are gathered by the eldest son or a senior male of the family and consigned to the waters, where "untouchables" stand with wire nettings to dredge up the ash and mud, hoping for a gold tooth or nose ring that may have survived the fire (pieces of jewelry may be left on the deceased by the family). Not all who die are cremated -- children under five, lepers, sadhus, pregnant women, and snake-bite victims are offered directly to the river.
source : www.shunya.net

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. PHOTO ALBULM - Benares

INDEX for my trips in Japan

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ghats Benares-
the Ganga washing away
devotees' sins

Sunil Uniyal
kigo hotline 2008

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. KIGO - Visiting graves in Japan 　

. The India Saijiki 　

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Kaido Roads in Japan

2011-01-19T23:06:00.000-08:00

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Kaido: The Ancient Roads of Japan
日本の街道

Japan developed a nationwide network of roads and highways already in the 7th century to carry things on foot, horseback, and wheeled traffic and to transport goods between towns and villages. The major roads, called kaido, started from the capital in Kyoto.

There were seven major roads. The most important ones ones were the westbound route from Kyoto, the Sanyodo, and the eastbound route to Edo, the Tokaido. These historical names have been preserved in the names of major railway lines and modern highways.

In due time lodgings for travelers along these highways grew into towns which served their local specialities and sold souveniers.
Some routes with easier access, avoiding steep passes through the mountains, came into being, as travelling and pilgrimages became more popular. But the construction of bridges and operation of ferries across some rivers were prohibited for reasons of military defense, and travelers were carried over on the shoulders of porters or in palanquins.
During heavy rainfall, crossing these rivers was too dangerous and travellers had to stay in lodgings, enjoying the "rice serving girls", or all kinds of gambling.

Kaido Walking ”街道ウオーキング”

Some roads were famous for transporting food or salt to Kyoto and other cities.

The old kaido roads enjoy a revival these days, with people walking them again, taking photos and exchanging information in many BLOGS.

Travelling with Matsuo Basho
. Oku no Hosomichi 2007 　

It will take some time
to introduce these roads in more detail.

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okan 往還 main road

kaidoo かいどう【海道】sea road

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みちのく路 Michinoku

日光道中 Nikkoo Doochuu
御成道 Onarimichi Onari Michi
日光例幣使街道 Nikko Reiheishi Kaido
会津街道 Aizu Kaido
奥州街道 Oshu Kaido
陸前浜街道 Rikuzen Hamakaido
石巻街道 Ishimaki Kaido
遠野・釜石街道 Tono Kaido Kamaishi Kaido
宮古街道 Miyako Kaido
小本街道 Omoto Kaido
野田・沼宮内街道 Noda Kaido - Numakunai Kaido
七ケ宿街道 Shichigashuku Kaido
羽州街道 Ushu Kaido
笹谷街道 Sasaya Kaido
六十里越街道 Rokujuurigoe Kaido
秋田街道 Akita Kaido
津軽街道 Tsugaru Kaido

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..常総・武甲 Joosoo . Fukoo

水戸街道 Mito Kaido
成田道 Naritado
川越街道 Kawagoe Kaido
青梅街道 Ome Kaido
五日市街道 Itsukaichi Kaido
甲州道中 Kooshuu Doochuu

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..東海・中部 Tokaido and Chubu

. Tokaido 53 Stations 東海道五十三次　

下田街道 Shimoda Kaido
身延道 Minobu michi
姫街道 Hime Kaido
伊那街道 Ina Kaido
伊勢路 Ise michi
美濃路 Mino michi
中山道 Nakasendo
秩父往還 Chichibu Okan
佐久甲州街道 Saku Koshu Kaido - Kooshuu Kaidoo

. 鎌倉街道 Kamakura Kaido 　

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..北国路 Kitakuni Northern Japan

会津通り Aizu doori
三国街道 Mikuni Kaido
北国街道 Kitakuni Kaido
北陸道 Hokurikudo
飛騨街道 Hida Kaido
野麦街道 Nomugi Kaido
郡上街道 Gujo Kaido . Gujoo Kaidoo
白川街道 Shirakawa Kaido
塩硝街道 Ensho Kaido
美濃街道 Mino Kaido
上保街道 Kamiho Kaido

. 千国街道 Chikuni Kaido 　
"salt road" 塩の道 shio no michi

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..近畿路 Kinki

西近江路 Nishi Omi ji
若狭路 Wakasaji
周山街道 Shusan Kaido - Shuuzan Kaidoo
丹波路 Tanbaji
奈良街道 Nara Kaido
柳生街道 Yagyu Kaido (Yagyuu)
伊賀街道 Iga Kaido
山の辺の道 Yamanobe no michi
竹内街道 Takenouchi Kaido
初瀬街道 Hase Kaido
大和街道 Yamato Kaido
紀州街道 Kishu Kaido

熊野街道・大辺路 Kumano Kaido Ohechi
熊野街道・中辺路 Kumano Kaido Nakahechi
高野街道 Koya Kaido (Kooya)

. Saba Kaido 鯖街道　Mackerel Road 　

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..中国路 Chuugoku

西国街道 Saikoku Kaido
(唐街道・山崎通り) Kara Kaido - Yamazaki doori
山陽道 Sanyodo
山陰道 Sanindo
篠山街道 Sasayama Kaido

. 智頭街道 Chizu Kaido 　

伯耆往来 Hooki Orai
東城往来 Tojo Orai
北浦街道 Kitaura Kaido
石見街道 Iwami Kaido

出雲往来石見・安芸 Izumo Orai Iwami Aki
出雲往来美作・播磨 Izumo Orai Misaku Harima

. Izumo Kaido 出雲街道
The Old Trade Road of Izumo 　

. Sakushu Kaido 作州街道　

. かぐら街道 Kagura Kaido 　

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..四国路 Shikoku

撫養街道 Muya Kaido
川北街道 Kawakita Kaido
伊予街道 Iyo Kaido
土佐(北)街道 Tosa Kaido North
土佐(東)海道 Tosa Kaido East
野根山越え None Yamagoe
丸亀街道 Marugame Kaido
高松街道 Takamatsu Kaido
高松（丸亀）街道 Takamatsu Marugame Kaido
多度津街道 Tadotsu Kaido
志度街道 Shido Kaido
長尾街道 Nagao Kaido
讃岐街道 Sanuki Kaido
小松街道 Komatsu Kaido
今治街道 Imabari Kaido
大洲街道 Ozu Kaido - Oozu Kaidoo
宇和島街道 Uwajima Kaido
宿毛街道 Sukumo Kaido
松山街道 Matsuyama Kaido
中村街道 Nakamura Kaido
梼原街道 Yusuhara Kaido

淡路街道 Awaji Kaido , one of the five Awa Kaido 阿波五街道

. Shimanami Kaido しまなみ街道　　
from Honshu to Shikoku

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..九州路 Kyushu

長崎街道 Nagasaki Kaido
唐津街道 Karatsu Kaido
薩摩街道 Satsuma Kaido
日向街道 Hyuga Kaido (Hyuuga)
島原街道 Shimabara Kaido
日田往還 Higa Okan (Funai)
豊後街道 Bungo Kaido
人吉街道 Hitoyoshi Kaido

Reference : 日本の街道

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. Choosenjin Kaidoo 朝鮮人街道　
Road of the Korean Ambassadors 　
The road led from Korea via Kyushu along the inland sea to Kyoto.

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藤棚を潜れば王子街道哉
fujidana o kugureba ooji kaido kana

passing through
wisteria trellises
to the Oji Road

Kobayashi Issa

. Wisteria and Haiku 　

From Akabane, Edo to the temple Zensho-Ji (Zenshooji 善性寺) in Negishi, Arakawa ward.

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Hakata Men Kaido 博多めん街道 Hakata Noodle Street
だるま（博多めん街道） Shop called DARUMA

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INDEX for my trips in Japan

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Ohaga Taketani Pond Autumn 2010

2010-10-12T22:37:00.000-07:00

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Takitani Pond　滝谷の池

peace by the lake -
the green, the blue and
the white

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dear flower -
please teach me to grow old
so gracefully

. MORE
Flowers by the roadside 　

. WALK around Takitani Pond
START from here ... ALBUM 　

INDEX for my trips in Japan

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Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Abason Village

2010-09-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

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Chiiwa shrine 千磐神社

famous for its huge trees and clear water

the "lying down dragon" wisteria tree
臥龍藤 garyuu fuji

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The Giant Cedar tree

Chiiwa Shrine is famous for its cedar with two stems.
The tree is more than 660 years old.
Its biggest diameter is 4.5 meters.

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water clears -
to quench the thirst
of all the demons

Abason, 阿波村, the village of Aba in Northern Okayama, north to Tomada district and bordering to Tottori, with a small pass leading over the mountains to Chizu town.

It is quite a rich community with beautiful forests around. In the middle of nowhere is also a very long building of a metal factory along the River Yoshii.

But

On February 28, 2005 Aba village, together with the town of Kamo　加茂, from Tomata District, the town of Shōboku　勝北, from Katsuta District, and the town of Kume　久米, from Kume District, was merged into the expanded city of Tsuyama　津山.
Now the villag does no longer exists as an independent political unit.

The village area is rather large, mostly forest, but the inhabitants are only about 650 (as of 2003).

The shrine Chiiwa Jinja 千磐神社 looked rather forelorn and not in use. The wooden stage for the lion dance was in a very bad shape, certainly not ready to be used for this year's autumn festival.

Now the village has a hot spring in the center, where the fresh water from the mountains is heated and the farmers can enjoy a hot bath rather cheaply.
Moegi no Sato Aba Onsen もえぎの里あば温泉

The remains of castle Yahazu Shiro 矢筈城
of the Kusakari clan can be seen by the roadside, close by is the shrine
Yahazu Jinja 矢筈神社, where the protector deity of the clan was revered.
(yahazu is the notch of an arrow.)
The local deity Oji Gongen 王時権元 (王子権現 Ooji Gongen) is revered in this shrine. Oji Gongen is related to the Kumano region and its deities.

The castle was also called "Takayama castle" 高山城.
Kusakari Hiratsugu 草刈衡継 founded the castle in 1532. He was a follower of the Mori clan and the castle was often threatened by Hideyoshi. You can walk the steep mountain path up to the top of the mountain to see the castle remains.

The paved road leads on, leaving the settlements behind, along the River Yoshiigawa and into the steep slopes of
Yahazu Mountain 矢筈岳 .

We follow the road through the deep pine for a while, stopping when it crossed at a large waterfall and turned into a dirt road.
We made our way back, since a rather strong rain turned the view into mist.

Today, we had some business in Tsuyama town, so we took the road to Abason, but the weather was not on our side. We hope to be back soon and explore more of the splendid forests and many waterfalls.

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. Abason ... my Photo Album 　

. MORE ABOUT
the thirsty Demons

. Chizu 智頭 (Tottori) 　

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Even the trees have spirits -
everything has a spirit.

Mary Hayes, CLAYOQUOT

The trees are great teachers.
The trees are great listeners.
That is why we should meditate in their presence.
The Great spirit is in every rock, every animal,
every human being, and in every tree.
The Great Spirit has been in some trees
for hundreds of years.
Therefore, the trees have witnessed and heard much.
The trees are the Elders of the Elders.
Their spirits are strong and very healing.

source : White Bison -Wellbriety

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. Water clears (mizu sumu) 　
kigo for all autumn

. INDEX for my haiku trips in Japan 　

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Tanada Matsuri 2010 Ohaga

2010-05-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

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Our local "Tanada Matsuri"
Rice Paddies Festival

Picnic under the cherry tree

Looking down at the Tanada Park

even goats entertaining visitors

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newly planted rice -
waiting for my turn
to grow

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water lilies in the pond

kiri paulownia

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Beautiful Green !

The SATOYAMA forest/paddies system
of Ohaga.

In Japanese
. 美咲町で「棚田きんちゃいまつり」2010　　

Start the full walk from here :
. TANADA FESTIVAL photo album, 46 photos 　

　　　　

a colorful arc
brightens the sky -
Tanada Matsuri

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. Ohaga Tanada in May 2010 　

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Ohaga Tanada in May

2010-05-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

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rice paddies
on a rainy may day . . .
gentle curves

天水

tensui -
water from heaven
on earth

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deep down in the valley

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mysteries
at the bottom of the paddy -
fertility in the making

. Photo Album : Ohaga Nishi Rice Paddies 　

Ohaga - Michi no Eki
大垪和 - 道の駅 - 山里の駅 - 山の駅

My Home in Japan, Ohaga Nishi Tanada

It has been quite cool this year 2010 in spring, and the fields are planted a bit later than usual. Many tanada have been abandoned, others have been straightened out to make it easier for mechanical tools to work in the fields (and for the elderly farmers who tend to them).

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Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Chizu

2010-05-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

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During the Edo period,
Chizu prospered as the largest lodging town
in Tottori prefecture.

　　　
　

Shop making sugitama 杉玉
balls from cedar branches

In Chizu, almost in front of very home there hangs one such a ball with a little wooden name plate.

another charming version of the balls ...

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Ishitani Family Residence
智頭石谷家住宅

Designated as an Important Cultural Asset of Japan.

The Ishitani Residence is known in the area for its "modern" Japanese-style in traditional architecture, using the famous pine trees of the area.
The resicence was built from 1919 to 1929,
almost 11 years until it was completed.

More zashiki sitting rooms and gardens were added until 1941.

Ishitani Denshiroo 石谷伝四郎 (1866 - 1923), who started the construction, was the head of the rich Ishitani Forestry Business, and a member of the House of Peers in Tokyo. The Ishitani family was called "The Kings of the Mountain Woodlands".
Denshiro would not spare any money or time for this buiding, which was not only for himself but for his descendants.

The ancestors of Ishiya were the Shioya 塩屋, now an almost broken estate in front of this residence, who moved to Chizu in the 17th century.

wood mandala

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a huge hall
for smoke and smell -
the kitchen

Sitting for a while in this huge kitchen tract,
I pondered about the psychology of its founder ... and the enormous skills of the carpenters who made his dream come true.

The designer supervisor, Tanaka Rikizoo 田中力蔵,
had studied in England.
The master carpenter, Noguchi Kamezoo 野口亀蔵 was from Tottori.
Kokumai Taiseki 国米泰石 was a carver of Buddhist statues and made most of the decorative parts and the ranma open panel carvings
between the rooms.

This huge space was made from the finest akamatsu red pines of the area. It is almost 14 meters high.

It is a miseru kuukan “見せる空間”,
a space made to be seen.

The residence includes living quaters of the family, various reception rooms, tea rooms with indivitual gardens, rooms for the yearly reception of the mountain watchmen (yamaban　山番).
Furthermore there were store houses and workshops.
The large construction of the family Shinto Shrine in the second floor is splendid.

Family Shinto Altar

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heart-shaped window

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The various gardens were designed by Yoshida Shooya 吉田璋也
(1898 - 1972), a scholar of mingei folk art and also a doctor in Tottori.

fish pond

This impressive residence is now run as a foundation and open to the public. One of the private rooms of the owner is now a tea house for visitors.

ALBUM : Chizu 智頭　

Chizu has a lot more to offer, but because of strong rain we had to give up our exploration.
I hope to be back soon !

one day sunshine,
one day pooring rain . . .
travelling in spring

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BACK TO
. Tottori - Nagata Shrine 　

RETURN
. . . Asian Haiku Travelogue : Japan Index 　

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. Ranma 欄間 transom .

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Tottori - Nagata Shrine

2010-05-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

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Nagata Jinja 長田神社

lanterns and curtain with family crest

the old keyaki tree

ALBUM Shrine Nagata Jinja

The local deity Nagata Daimyoojin 長田大明神 is enshrined here since olden times, at the foot of mounn Kyusho 久松山 in Tottori. During the Edo period, it was the protector shrine of the castle.

The Lord Kikkawa 豊国吉川経家 is also enshrined here.

Kikkawa Tsune-Ie
吉川経家 (1547 - 1581)

In 1581, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (who was then known as Hashiba Hideyoshi) attacked and besieged the castle of Tottori. To save his soldiers and the citizens from starvation the 35 year old lord Kikkawa Tsuneie offered to take his life. Thus, the people were spared and Tsune-Ie came to be called the “lifesaver of Tottori”.
His descendents later served for generations as retainers of the Iwakuni clan and since then, strong ties of friendship exist between the two cities.

The Kikkawa family (橘川氏) was a samurai clan of Japan's Sengoku period. The most famous member of the clan is likely Kikkawa Motoharu (1530-1586), one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's generals, who was adopted into the family. Along with the Kobayakawa clan, the Kikkawa played an important role in Hideyoshi's Kyūshū Campaign (1586-7), and later became daimyo in Izumo province and Iwakuni after that.

Yoshikawa

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. Jinpukaku 仁風閣 (Jinpuukaku) 　

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. . . Nagi and Chizu 　

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. Nagata Shrine in Kobe 長田神社　神戸 .

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Tottori - Jinpukaku

2010-05-12T00:32:00.001-07:00

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仁風閣（じんぷうかく）

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Tottori Castle Walls
鳥取城跡

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old castle walls ...
azaleas also show
some tears

It was raining when we walked around Tottori on our second day, and taking photos became difficult under the protection of an old umbrella.

Jinpukaku and Castle Park ... ALBUM

Jinpukaku Mansion
Jinpukaku Guest House
Tu-Su. This French renaissance-style mansion was home to the remnants of the Edo-era feudal clan, Ikeda.
It served as residence for the Showa Tenno when he visited in 1907.

Tottori Castle Ruins
Built in 1545, Tottori Castle was destroyed in a massive siege in the 19th century, and only the foundations remain. The site offers a nice view of the city below from the lower reaches of Mt. Kyusho. The surrounding park is the perfect place to go during cherry-blossom season. The azaleas in early summer are also very pleasant to view.

quote
Tottori Castle (鳥取城, Tottori-jō)
was the central castle of the Tottori han (fief) in feudal Japan. It was a yamashiro, or 'mountain-castle', built into the mountain itself, using natural obstacles and defenses to a greater extent than man-made walls. Currently, little remains of the castle aside from parts of the stone wall, and one gate, which is reinforced with iron, and features spikes on the outsides of the doors, to help against attackers.

In the late 12th century, following the Genpei War, the new Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo granted the Tottori han to Nasu no Yoichi, the hero of the battle of Yashima. He lost it soon afterwards to Kajiwara Kagetoki, a spy for Yoritomo, in a hunting competition.

Tottori is perhaps most well-known for its siege in 1581 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, which lasted 200 days. Those inside, led by Kikkawa Tsuneie, eventually were forced to surrender due to starvation, coming just short, according to some accounts, of giving in to cannibalism.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. Tottori - Food 　

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. . . Nagata Shrine 　

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My Daruma Museum Japan

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Tottori - Food

2010-05-12T00:27:00.000-07:00

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The White Rabbit of Inaba 因幡の白兎

Just offshore at Hakuto Beach 白兎 (White Rabbit Beach) is a small island that is part of a local folktale.

The story goes that a rabbit was trapped on the island, longing to return to his family on the mainland. He tricked a family of sharks into lining up so he could hop on their backs to the shore, but as he reached the last shark, he sneered that he had deceived them; enraged, the sharks tore off all the rabbit's fur.

To make matters worse, some cruel gods told the rabbit he would be cured if he bathed in the sea, which he did, only to find that the salt stung his wounds quite badly.

The youngest brother of the gods, Okuninushi no Mikoto (Daikoku in Buddhism), felt sorry for the crying rabbit, and told him to bathe in fresh water and dry off with cattails. The rabbit was cured and predicted that the god would become the ruler of the Inaba region, which came true. Reminders of this story abound in the Tottori area, and you will see the white rabbit on everything from bridges to sewer grates to flower arrangements, sometimes accompanied by a rather fat god carrying a big sack.

. Usagi Daikoku Folk Toys 兎大黒 .
Daikoku with the white rabbits

. wani : shark and crocodile .

Karo-ichi Seafood Market, Fish Market
鳥取港海鮮市場かろいち
at Karo Harbour 賀露みなと

hotaru ika squid pressed into a senbei

eight types of mountain vegetables

seven lucky grains and rice

. Ge Ge Ge, gegege no Kitaro (ゲゲゲの鬼太郎) . 　

The life story of this cartonist, Mizuki Shigeru 水木しげる, is on TV right now.
gegege no nyobo, the wife of gegege
Shigeru comes from Sakai Minato in Tottori, so many products with his name are offered.
武良茂 Mura Shigeru

gagege curry !

Azuki-Arai 小豆洗い Monster washing azuki beans

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Daruma watchesover food and drink . . .izakaya joys

The eighty-one brothers
and the white hare of Inaba

Japanese fairy tales
By Teresa Peirce Williston : googlebooks

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Chindonya Izakaya ちんどん屋
Happily cheap restaurant line, but much of the old Edo atmosphere.

We worked our way through three different izakaya, but all were almost empty and rather quiet ... quite eerie for a sunday night, Mother's Day.

my ALBUM ... start from here

. a crazy cat
on the restaurant wall ...
travelling in spring 　

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. WASHOKU
Izakaya, 居酒屋, public drinking house 　

Izakaya ... die japanische Kneipe

. WASHOKU
Regional Dishes from Tottori prefecture 　

Cake like the white rabbit of Inaba

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. Tottori Sand Art Museum 　

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. . . Tottori Jinpukaku Mansion 　

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. Folk Toys from Tottori .

Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Tottori Sand Art Museum

2010-05-12T00:23:00.000-07:00

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the safari starts ...
always on the look-out
for new things

sand art -
the zebras look
all black and white

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Look at all my photos HERE
ALBUM : Sand Museum Tottori

This exhibition changes its theme yearly. Now it was time for a tribute to the nature and history of Africa.

All sculptures are only made of the local sand and water ! There were 10 different exhibits, even mount Kilimanjaro (in nature it is 5,895 meters high) was present.
11 sand sculptors from 8 countries used about 1.400 tons of sand to create the works.

The sand is first stuffed into large boxes and then carefully scratched off, sprinkling water on the sand to keep it stable.

The display is open until January 2011.
If you are close, go visiting. Is is well worth walking up the hill past these monsters.

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. Tottori Sand Dunes 　

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. . . Tottori Food 　

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My Daruma Museum Japan

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Tottori - Sand Dunes

2010-05-12T00:20:00.000-07:00

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Tottori Sand Dunes
鳥取砂丘

camel ride

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her arms reach out . . .
a prayer left
in time

ALBUM : Tottori Sand Dunes

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The Tottori Sand Dunes (鳥取砂丘, Tottori sakyū)
are unique sand dunes located near Tottori City in Tottori Prefecture, Honshū, Japan.
They are the only large dune system (over 30 km²) in Japan.

The dunes were created by sediment deposits carried from the Chūgoku Mountains by the Sendai River into the Sea of Japan. Sea currents and wind help bring the sand from the bottom up onto the shore, where the wind constantly rearranges their shape.

The dunes have existed for over 100,000 years, but the area of the dunes has been steadily decreasing due to a government reforestation program following World War II. Additionally, concrete barriers erected to protect the coast (the part of San-in Kaigan National Park) from tsunamis have disrupted the currents responsible for bringing the sand to shore.

Each year, around two million visitors — mostly from within Japan and East Asia — visit the dunes.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. Nagi Yama no Eki 那岐山麓山の駅　

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. . . Tottori Sand Art Museum 　

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Read my Haiku Archives

My Daruma Museum Japan

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Nagi Yama no Eki

2010-05-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

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Nagi Hill Station

那岐山麓山の駅

Red bridge and stone dragon

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three monkeys - -
is my WAY right
or wrong ?

monkey teachers . . .
to see, to hear
to recite haiku

My ALBUM : Nagi

The Hill Station of Nagi, about 400 meters high, is famous for its great view and the clear water that runs down from Mount Nagi san.
They serve dishes with the famous local "black pigs" kurobuta 黒豚 and you can have a first-hand experience at making saussages.

There are lodges for families to stay on the cheap and enjoy the many hiking courses which start from here, or just go down to the gorge and play in the water among the stones.

There are also other farm-related experiences offered to the tourists, like making tofu, ice cream, butter or cheese and even handicraft with local natural materials.

The temple Bodaiji 菩提寺 with its famous huge old Gingko tree is close by.

The hill station is ealily reached by bus (40 min) from Tsuyama train station.

. . . CLICK here for online Photos !

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Nagi is also famous for its villate lay-kabuki,
Yokozen Kabuki 横仙歌舞伎.
I once watched a performance and was quite impressed with the high skills of the actors. The audience was laughing and weeping ... and all had a good time.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Mount Nagi (那岐山), is a mountain located on the border of Chizu, Tottori prefecture, and
Nagi, Okayama Prefecture.

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The trip in May 2010 starts from here in Nagi, on the way to Tottori, visiting a few places there and on the way back we ended in Chizu, because of heavy rain.
Just follow the NEXT LINKS on the bottom of each page to join us on the trip!

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. Nagisan 那岐山, Mount Nagi and the plum blossom park in Kume 　

NEXT
. . . Tottori Sand Dunes 　

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My Daruma Museum Japan

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Mount Nagisan and Kume

2010-03-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

　　　　

Mount Nagisan and Plum Blossoms

. . . . . . . . . .

fragrant plum blossoms . . .
almost the same show
as every year

plum blossom viewing ...
the little details
that catch my soul

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. START ...
Plum Blossom Walk ... ALBUM 　　

From the archives

. Plum Blossom Park, 2010

. Plum Blossom Park, 2008

. Plum Blossom Park, 2006

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Mount Nagi (那岐山), is a mountain located on the border of Chizu, Tottori Prefecture, and Nagi, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The other reading of this mountain's kanji is Nagisen.

This mountain is an important part of Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Quasi-National Park, with Mount Hyōno and Mount Ushiro.

Mount Nagi is a typical monadoc in Chūgoku Mountain Range. This mountain is the fourth highest mountain in Okayama Prefecture, and one of Chūgoku 100 mountains. It is estimated as a fault block of an old volcano.

About the origin of the name of Mount Nagi, there are two stories.
One is that this mountain is named so because Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, who are a couple of the most important gods in Japanese myth, had come down from the heaven to this mountain.
The other is because this mountain cried (naku in Japanese) when it was defeated by the height against Mount Ushiro (Ushiroyama).

With Mount Taki, west of Mount Nagi, the mountain are around Mount Nagi is said that it was a center of Shugendo.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. NAGI ... Yama no Eki Park 　

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Tanjo-Ji Okayama

2009-11-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Temple Tanjo-Ji
Tanjooji 誕生寺 Okayama

My Introduction

Temple Tanjo-Ji and Honen Shonin 法然上人

More of my PHOTOS from Temple Tanjo-Ji

. O-Shichi Kannon お七観音　

. Tanjo-Ji in Autumn 2007 　　
The Huge Gingko Tree

autumn deepens -
the beauty of prayer
in stone 　　

. SPRING FESTIVAL 2008 　
Tanjo-Ji Neirkuyo 誕生時　練り供養
　

. wispering words
of eternal love 　
December 2009

. Colors of Hope at Tanjo-Ji
New Year 2009 　

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. INVITATION
Take a Ginko Haiku Walk in Temple Tanjo-Ji

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The Big Buddha of temple Tanjo-Ji

Amida Nyorai no Daibutsu　阿弥陀如来

He has been standing in the dark at the foot of a hill, surrounded by trees and gravestones, in a gloomy part of the temple compound.

. The Big Buddha covered with Moss (2007)

Since December 2009 he is out in the open, freshly cleaned and on a huge podest.

backlit

above the pine needles

beside the bamboo grove

some people have work
some people have no work
New Year is coming

仕事ある人
仕事が無い人も
お正月

. Haiku and Happiness

The former companions of the Big Buddha Statue

muenbotoke, graves of the unknown

More of my PHOTOS from Temple Tanjo-Ji

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Honen and Temple Tanjo-Ji

2009-11-29T20:15:00.000-08:00

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Saint Hoonen, Hoonen Shoonin, Honen
法然上人

Founder of Pure Land Buddhism

For kigo about his memorial day see below.

I live very close to the temple where Honen was born, Tanjoo-Ji in Okayama prefecture.

Posthumously known as Enko Daishi　円光大師

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The Life of Honen Shonin

Honen Bo Genku (1133-1212), or simply Honen, is one of the most outstanding figures in the long history of Japanese Buddhism. Along with Dogen, Nichiren and Shinran, his disciple, he represents the core of the revolutionary Kamakura Buddhist movement which created the first popular and uniquely Japanese forms of Buddhism. Though not as noted in the West than these counterparts, Honen is perhaps the most pivotal of the four since he was the first to break with the established centers of Tendai (Ch. T'ien T'ai) and Shingon (tantric) patronized by the royal court and military authorities.

It was at age 43, with a deepening exposure to the Pure Land teachings of the great Chinese Master Shan-tao (Jp. Zendo), that Honen made this radical break to pursue his own spiritual vision. The rest of his life is an unfolding of his own particular and uniquely Japanese vision of Pure Land Buddhism. This second period of his life also marks the blooming of his teachings amongst the peasant classes of medieval Japan and his clashes with imperial and shogunal authority.

From his systematization of a unique Japanese Pure Land tradition, the nembutsu　(念仏nenbutsu), or calling on the grace of Amida Buddha, has become the most popular form of Buddhist practice and devotion in Japan. Two of Japan's largest denominations, Jodo-shu (浄土宗　joodoshu) centered around Honen and Jodoshin-shu centered around his disciple Shinran, are further marks of his legacy.

I. A Personal Portrait
Major Biographies of Honen
II. Early Life and Training in Tendai-shu
Social and Religious Turmoil in Late Heian Japan
Syncretic Development of the Tendai School in Japan
Tendai-shu Esoteric and Exoteric Lineages
The Influence of Genshin's Ojoyoshu on Honen
III. Religious Conversion
Textual Evidence in the Biographies
IV. Persecution and Final Days
Kofuku-ji Petition (Kofuku-ji sojo)

A CHRONOLOGY OF HONEN SHONIN
1133 Born on April 7 in Mimasaka in present day Okayama Prefecture
1145 Leaves home to become a monk at the Tendai center of Mt. Hiei
1150 Moves to the Kurodani Retreat area of Mt. Hiei and studies under Eiku
1175 Has conversion experience reading Shan-tao's Commentary on the Meditation Sutra and leaves Mt. Hiei.

1186 "Ohara Debate" with group of Buddhist scholar-monks from Nara and Mt. Hiei marks seminal moment in legitimation and spread of teachings
1191 Gives series of lectures on the Three Pure Land Sutras (jodosanbukyo) to a large group of scholar monks at Todai-ji in Nara
1195 Genchi becomes the first of his major disciples

1198 Honen's magnum opus, the Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu (Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow), is dictated and transcribed to his disciples Junsai, Kansai and Shoku.

1198-1206 Experiences sustained states of absorption and spontaneous visualization of the Pure Land which he chronicles in the Sanmai-hottokuki (Record of Attaining Samadhi)
1201 Shinran, the founder of Jodo Shinshu, becomes his disciple

1204 Writes the Shichikajo-kishomon (Seven Article Pledge) in response to the Genkyu Oppression by the monks of Mt. Hiei
1207 Sent into exile to Shikoku by Emperor Gotoba after two of his ladies in waiting are converted and become nuns under Honen's disciples Anraku and Juren who are subsequently beheaded.

1211 Finally is allowed to return to Kyoto four years after his pardon
1212 Writes Ichimai Kishomon (The One Sheet Document) and passes away on January 23 reciting the nembutsu
http://www.jsri.jp/English/Honen/life.html
http://www.jsri.jp/English/Main.html

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Honen: The Life and Art of the Founder of the Pure Land Buddhist Sect'
Kyoto National Museum, till May 8, 2011

quote
The portrait of Honen Shoin (13th century) is known in Japanese as "Kagami no Miei" (mirror portrait 鑑御影) and shows the famous Buddhist priest seated on a mat, slightly slumped and holding his nenju (rosary). For the title of another famous 13th-century depiction of a well-known Buddhist priest, Shinran, the same kanji characters are given a slightly different reading. This time the mirror portrait is titled "Kagami no Goei."

Though the popularity of their faiths rose during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), Honen and Shinran were not the originators of Pure Land Buddhism, which is believed to have arrived from India via China as early as the 7th century. In 1175, after decades of study, Honen read the "Meditation Sutra" by the Chinese Pure Land monk Shandao (613-681) and arrived at the understanding that the exclusive practice of nembutsu was needed to be reborn in the Western Pure Land paradise.

and

Shinran : The Founder of the Jodo-Shinshu Buddhism: His Life and Legacy
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, till May 29, 2011

source : Japan Times

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More details about Saint Honen .

The Memorial Statue of the Mother of Saint Honen in Mimasaka.

© Gabi Greve
http://happyhaiku.blogspot.com/2005/04/cherry-blossom-lake.html

Tanjoo-ji 誕生時

The Ceremony of the 25 Bosatsu 二十五菩薩練供養
Third Sunday in April

http://www.town.kumenan.okayama.jp/tanjoji/tanjoji.html

This temple is also famous for its huge Gingko biloba tree (another kigo).

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Memorial Ceremony for Honen, April 18 to April 25

This is a kigo for late spring, category Observance.　There are some variations for this kigo.

Gyoki 御忌
Hoonen-ki (Honenki) 法然忌
Enkoo-Ki 円光忌

taking part in the ceremony, gyoki moode 御忌詣で
Temple with a memorial ceremony, gyoki no tera　御忌の寺

loosening the strings of the sutras, kyoo no himotoki 経の紐解き
..... (on the first day of the seven day ceremonies)

special kimono for the gyoki ceremony, gyoki kosode 御忌小袖
..... (worn by the chique ladies of Kyoto for this ceremony)

Ceremony for Hoonen, gyoki-e　御忌会
..... (sometimes on the 25 of January)

First Lunchbox, bentoo hajime 弁当初め > Lunchbox (kigo)
..... (visitors bring their own lunchbox and enjoy it in the temple grounds)

The Gyoki Ceremony at Temple Chion-In, Kyoto

Chio-in is just north of the Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park.It is the head temple of the Jodo ("Pure Land") sect of Buddhism. It is one of the most important spritual places in Japan. The Jodo sect is the most popular Buddhist sect in Japan.
The 74-tons temple bell is also the largest in Japan. It takes as many as 17 monks to operate it at the New Year ceremony in which the bell is struck 108 times representing the 108 desires in the mind to be gotten rid of before the new year begins
http://www.op97.org/cyberteen/2004/winter/chionin/

Picture Scroll of his Life at the Chion-In
http://www.chion-in.or.jp/c_00/index.html
http://www.chion-in.or.jp/home.html

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The Gyoki Ceremony at Kita Kogane, with many pictures
http://www.h5.dion.ne.jp/~tadataka/matsuri/gyoki.html

Great photo of the pagoda by Frantisek Staud
http://phototravels.net/japan/pcd1663/pagoda-chion-47.html

Chion-In with many pictures of the compounds.

http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~hidesan/chion-in.htm

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分かれても　まだ会える　浄土あり

Joodo Paradise -
the place where we meet again
after we part

Gabi Greve, April 2007

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. Tanjo-Ji in Autumn 2007 　　
The Huge Gingko Tree

autumn deepens -
the beauty of prayer
in stone 　　

. . SPRING FESTIVAL 2008 　
Tanjo-Ji Neirkuyo 誕生時　練り供養　　

. The Big Buddha of Tanjo-Ji 2009

. O-Shichi Kannon お七観音　

. More of my PHOTOS from Temple Tanjo-Ji
Take the Slide Show !

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[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]

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Spring Festival 2008 Tanjoji

2009-11-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

　　　　

procession of the children

procession of the 25 Bodhisattvas starts

Bosatsu with a flute

spring ceremony -
he leads his Buddha
by the hand

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Tanjo-Ji Neirkuyo 誕生時　練り供養

Procession of the 25 Bodhisattvas in honour of the parents of Saint Honen Shonin, who was born here.

The masks do not provide much vision for the wearer, so eack Bosatsu is trusting its leader on the way. It is a special honour to be choosen as one of the 25 each year.

The Amida Prayer 　Namu Amida Butsu was chanted the whole day via loudspeakers in the temple compound.

. Check the PHOTO ALBUM from here to Nr. 34

. Temple Tanjo-Ji ant Saint Honen

25 Bosatsu

. . . Read my Haiku Archives 2008

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O-Shichi Kannon

2009-11-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

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BACKUP

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Fudo Myo-O Gallery

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O-Shichi Kannon お七観音

At the Temple Tanjo-Ji in Okayama

A bell to warn if there is a fire

As a special temple of the pilgrimage to the 33 Kannon Temples in Central Japan, Tanjo-Ji (Tanjooji) hosts a hall for the Kannon Statue carved by Jigaku Daishi and enshrined here in 1631 by the Lord of Tsuyama.

This statue is now called "O-Shichi Kannon" to remind us of the famous woman "O-Shichi" who started a great fire in the Edo period, where many lives were lost and many temples burnt down. This statue is also for the repose of the soul of O-Shichi herself.

現在、中国三十三観音特別霊場としてまつられている聖観世音菩薩は、慈覚大師の作で、本堂南側に位置する観音堂（寛永８年（1631年）津山城主初代・森忠政公寄進）に安置されている。この聖観音菩薩は、お七観音と称され、後世に次のような八百屋お七の物語を伝えている。

元禄１２年（1699年）のことであった。
当山第15世通誉上人が、江戸に上り、回向院で御本尊法然上人像を出開帳していた。このとき、八百屋お七の遺族がお七の位牌と振袖を持参し、亡きお七の供養を上人に懇願したという。上人はこれらの遺品を作州に持ち帰り、当山のこの観音菩薩ご宝前にて、お七の菩提をねんごろに弔った。
また、再びお七の様な哀れなことがない様にと、もし何か切実なる悩み、苦しみ、願望を持つものあらば、その願いを必ず成就させてやってほしいと、祈願されたのであった。
以後、大願成就の「お七観音」として人々の信仰をあつめている。
くだんの振袖は現在当山宝物館に展示されている。

聖観世音菩薩（お七観音）のその眼を静かに拝する時、衆生の心を見透かすの様な、霊験あらたかな不思議さを秘めている。

特別霊場誕生寺岡山県久米南町

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Yaoya no O-Shichi Greengrocer's Daughter Oshichi

Most people in Japan live in wooden houses. During the Edo era, those houses in Edo (Tokyo) stood much too close together. So if a fire broke out, it could spread rapidly. One of the big fires then was called 'the Big Fire in Tenna' or 'Oshichi-fire'.

Once there lived a greengrocer named Hachibei in Hongo, a town in Edo, with his wife and daughter Oshichi who was then 16 years old. She looked older than her age, though. It was 28th of December 1682, when a fire broke out in a nearby temple.
"Fire! Fire!" people shouted and ran this way and that way trying to make their escape.

Hachibei urged his wife and daughter Oshichi to get out of the house,
"It's getting windier. It must be a big fire. What is worse, our house is standing downwind of the fire. It's dangerous to stay here. Let's evacuate to the Kichijoji Temple."
(It was in Komagome, where their ancestor's grave was.)
"Run faster, or the fire will catch you! Don't stop!" Oshichi was said.
She followed her parents and ran as fast as her legs could move.
The fire started burning around noon and was put out at around five the next morning. It is said that over 3,500 people were killed in the fire.

Kichijoji Temple was already filled with a lot of refugees. The mother happened to see a young man sitting in the corner of the room trying to take a splinter out of his finger. She said to her daughter,
"Oshichi, that young man over there seems to have some troubles. Maybe he got a splinter in his finger. Go and help him take it out, while I greet the priest."
The daughter approached him to offer a help. She took his hand to examine. Soon she said,
"I got it! Are you feeling better?"
He smiled at her and said,
"Yeah, thank you. You helped me a lot."

The young man was working at the temple, as his parents asked the priest to look after him.
Hand in hand, the two young people gazed at each other for a while. Eventually they fell in love.
"Oshichi, Oshichi, I'm coming," the girl's mother called her daughter's name.
"Oh, your name is Oshichi, isn't it? I'm Kichisaburo," he said.
"Kichisaburo? Can I call you Kichi-sama?" the girl said.
"Sure. Uh...I want to know a bit more about you. Please write me a note and put it under that big stone there in the garden," he asked.
"Yeah, I will," she said and went away with her mother.

Oshichi and her parents were forced to stay in the temple until their house was rebuilt. During the days, the girl shared happy hours with the young man exchanging letters secretly. She found a letter written by him under the big rock in the garden and put her own letter there instead.

Continued HERE
http://www.geocities.co.jp/HeartLand-Gaien/7211/kudos12/oshichi1.html

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External LINK

O-Shichi Kannon at Tanjo-Ji
美作観音霊場 List of the Temples

Photos of Tanjo-Ji

「八百屋お七と吉三の悲恋の碑」Stone Memorial of O-Shichi in Meguro Tokyo

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fire and love -
quite a hot topic
for a cold night

More about FIRE and HAIKU

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My Introduction

Temple Tanjo-Ji and Honen Shonin 法然上人

More of my PHOTOS from Temple Tanjo-Ji 2007

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Tanjo-Ji in Autumn 2007

2009-11-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

　　　　

autumn deepens -
the unfettered beauty
of this Amida temple

autumn deepens -
the beauty of prayer
in stone

DRAGON BRANCHES

Amida Buddha

LOOK
Temple Tanjo-Ji, ALBUM November 2007

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Temple Tanjo-Ji in my neighbourhood
Temple Tanjo-Ji in Okayama
Saint Honen was born here !

Saint Honen, born at this temple ..
by Gabi Greve

Joodo Paradise where we meet again ..

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***** pickled radish, takuanzuke 沢庵漬
kigo for all winter

..... Takuan was a famous Zen Priest, who invented this dish. It is very popular. Zen monks are supposed to eat their slices of Takuan radish without making any noise. There are usually two slices on the plate, used to carefully clear out the bolws afer eating and then munching the Takuan in silence.
If you want to know the secret of eating Takuan in silence, contact me :o) !

The Unfettered Mind. by Takuan Soho

Read my Haiku Archives 2007

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Big Buddha in Autumn 2007

2009-11-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

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分かれても　まだ会える　浄土あり

Joodo Paradise -
the place where we meet again
after we part

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Temple Tanjo-Ji in Yuge Tanjoo-Ji, birth temple of Honen Shonin.
法然上人の誕生寺

. . The Big Buddha of temple Tanjo-Ji
On his new podest, December 2009

Read my Haiku Archives 2007

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Sacred Gingko Tree 2007

2009-11-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

　　　　

sacred gingko tree -
a prayer falls
with every leaf

the huge trunk with the sacred rope

sacred gingko tree -
how many tears
have you witnessed ?

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As I was standing below this old, huge tree, camera poised upward, there was all of a sudden a strong sweep of wind and all these leaves kept dancing around me, rustling down with a thousand strange voices, each one saying its own prayer ...

a sacred moment and so unexpected

sacred gingko tree-
each leaf rustles a prayer
as it falls

this is maybe a bit too long ?

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Read about my visit to

Temple Tanjo-Ji, Okayama
Tanjooji 誕生寺 Okayama

The Sacred Gingko Tree of Saint Honin !
It is more than 800 years old.

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銀杏散る遠くに風の音すれば
ichoo chiru tooku ni kaze no oto sureba

scattering gingko leaves
faint sound from the wind
far away

Tomiyasu Fusei (1885 - 1979)

Gingko biloba tree : KIGO Japan

TREES as topic for haiku !

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Aah, but a prayer always rises !
or
Leaves saying prayers?

Faith and prayer, expressed in haiku
.. Join the Discussion !

Read my Haiku Archives 2007

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Momen Kaido Cotton Road

2009-08-19T23:08:00.000-07:00

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Hirata-cho　出雲市平田の町
and the Cotton Road (momen kaidoo 木綿街道)

quote
Hirata-cho, Izumo City,
is located in the eastern part of Shimane-Prefecture.
Lake Shinji is nearby and many waterways cover the area, including the Funagawa (“Funa River”) which runs from the west to the east. With its convenient transportation by boat as a means of distribution, the area became known as a market town, with goods from traditional merchant houses being transported in and out of the area.

In the old days, especially from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji period, the quality of “Hirata Cotton” was highly valued in Osaka and Kyoto, thus creating trade with those and other distant towns.

After that, ships often visited the area around “Funagawa”, which served as a trading center, and the area prospered as a busy market town. The many merchant houses along the main road supported and increased the prosperity of the town.
Adjacent areas, including Shin-machi, Katahara-machi, and Miyano-machi, became known as the Momen Kaido, or “Cotton Road”, because the area was used as a channel for cotton distribution.

Unique appearances of buildings in Hirata include the two-storied “Tsuma-zukuri” town structures with rows of black-tiled roofs (Kuro-gawara), walls covered with square tiles jointed with raised plaster (Namako-kabe), and latticed windows (Kohshi-mado).

Momen Kaido, now a mix of old town buildings and modern-day life, has become a culturally valuable place where people enjoy the feeling of the quiet and graceful nature of days past. Momen Kaido is also much appreciated by the local inhabitants, who have organized and held various events in the area, including flea markets, arts and crafts exhibits, rice-cake making demonstrations (Mochi-tsuki), and concerts in an old wine cellar.

source : momen-kaidou.jp

うまいもん delicious food from the area

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おちらと木綿街道

Momen Kaido Matsuri 木綿街道祭り
Cotton Road Festival
Ocotber 25, 2009

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momen kaido shooyu 木綿街道醤油
soy sauce from the cotton road

. Cotton (wata　綿) . KIGO 　

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More detailed Izumo Entries to enjoy !

Izumo Kaido, The Old Road of Izumo 出雲街道

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Hot Spring Onsen

2009-01-03T17:01:00.000-08:00

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Hot springs are one of the great joys of life in Japan!

ONSEN 温泉 . おんせん

Here are some photos of our travels.

Osorezan, Shimokita hantoo

MORE
My Osorezan Photos

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Furo Fushi ... No Old Age, No Death

MORE
My Furo Fushi Onsen Photos

the best way
to a long life ...
my life in Japan

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A hot waterfall at Kawaharage

MORE
My Kawaharage Photos

hot waterfall
in the middle of nowhere ...
my life in Japan

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Magoroku Onsen
by the raging river

MORE
Photos of Magoroku Onsen

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MORE
My Onsen Hot Spring Photos

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温泉猿 Monkeys sitting in the Hot Springs !

Monkey Business in Hot Water

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Areas of Japan where hot water and steam are coming out of the ground are often called "hell" jigoku 地獄.
Some onsen villages even have a special deity to protect their area,
Jigoku Myoojin ”地獄明神”(Jigoku Myojin).

Myoojin no yu 明神の湯 Hot Spring of Myojin
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

Others have a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of healing, onsen Yakushi 温泉薬師.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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Hot Springs called DARUMA

WASHOKU
Onsen Tamago 温泉卵 eggs boiled in onsen water

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[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]

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Yasugi (Izumo Kaido)

2008-05-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

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Yasugi 　安来宿

MAP of the area

A big earthquake of magnitude 7.3, of which the center was in the western part of Tottori Prefecture broke out at around 13:30, October 6, 2001.
Yasugi City is located in the east end of Shimane Prefecture, close to the western end of Tottori Prefecture. In Yasugi City, though the scale of the earthquake was great, the damage was comparatively small and fortunately no inhabitant died, however, quite number of buildings and structures were damaged.
©　sciencelinks.jp

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　 ... Photo Album

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Yonago

NEXT TO
Matsue

More detailed Izumo Entries to enjoy !

Izumo Kaido, The Old Road of Izumo 出雲街道

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Yonago

2008-05-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

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Yonago　米子
Yonago was originally a fishing village called Kano.

MAP of Yonago area

Yonago (米子市, Yonago-shi) is a city located in the northwest of Tottori, Japan, facing the Sea of Japan, and adjacent to Shimane. It is the prefecture's second largest city after Tottori and therefore a commercial center of the western part of this prefecture.

The current city was administratively founded on April 1, 1927, and merged with Yodoe Town in 2005. It has an art gallery.

The name "Yonago" means "Rice Child", though since the city has begun to develop into a trade center of note, it has acquired the nickname Osaka in San-in.

The Amago family, the daimyo in the Sengoku period, constructed a castle in the area. In the Edo period, the castle was kept by a castellan who served the Ikeda of Tottori.

Yonago has always been an important crossing point of several routes in the area.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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coming from Mizuguchi, take route 181

Kugo Shrine, Kugo Jinja 久古神社
Japanese LINK

Maruyama Shrine, Maruyama Jinja 丸山神社

near Kishimoto

Temple Oodera haiji 大寺廃寺

Temple Sakanaka haiji 坂中は廃寺

Odaka Castle Remains

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Yonago Castle Remains 米子城（よなごじょう）

Situated on Mount Ii (飯山（いいのやま)

The Amako (尼子 ( あまこ）Amago) were descended from Takahisa, a grandson of Rokkaku Takauji. Takahisa is said to have taken the name 'Amako' since he had been raised by a nun (ama (nun), ko (son). He took Tomita Castle in Izumo Province for the Kyôgoku shugo and his descendants were powerful in Izumo from the 14th Century until the mid-16th Century. From their headquarters at Gassan-Toda Castle, the Amako challenged, with mixed results, the Ôuchi and, later, the Môri. They were destroyed as daimyô by Môri Motonari in 1566 and disappeared as a military force with the suicide of Amako Katsuhisa in 1578.

Amako Tsunehisa, Lord of Izumo
1458-1541
Iyo no kami, Mimbu-shôsuke

Tsunehisa was the eldest son of Amako Kiyosada 尼子清定 (d.1487).
©　www.samurai-archives.com

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From there, the Road to Daisen, Daisen Michi
大山道（だいせんみち）started.

MOUNT DAISEN in Tottori
An Overview of my visits

There have been five old roads leading toward Mt. Daisen and its famous temple from the Yonago area, the one from the city itself started from Odaka, now it is route 24.

Booryoo Michi 坊領（ぼうりょう）道」
Odaka Michi 「尾高（おだか）道」
Mizoguchi Michi 「溝口（みぞぐち）道」
Yokote Michi 「横手（よこて）道」
Kawatoko Michi 「川床（かわとこ）道」

The temple at Mt. Daisen was also famous as a protector deity for the cows and horses, important animals of their time.

Japanese Reference

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From Yonago to Sakai ... Sakai Orai
(Sakai oorai 境往来)

With beautiful storehouses and merchants' residences reflected on the river surface, and with Mt. Daisen on the background, the road extends to the sea...

The road connects the city of Yonago, called "Commercial Capital" of San-in, to Sakai-Minato. Yonago is a castle town of Hoki Province with 180,000-koku that was constructed in the early Edo Period with the construction of the Yonago Castle. It prospered in the mid Edo Period through Taisho Era by maritime transportation business.

In the downtown area around the former Kamogawa river that once prospered as a transportation passage, there are still storehouses of white plastered walls and residences of distinguished merchants remaining. And along Teramachi (temple town) street are nine temples that were gathered for the strongholds of the Yonago Castle, giving the clear atmosphere of a castle town.

Pleasure boats for Kamogawa river and Nakaumi lake cruise depart from the front of white-walled storehouses.
©　Yume-Kaido Renaissance Project Team

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My walk through
The Temple Town of Yonago, Teramachi 寺町

Okamoto Store in the Temple Town

. . . DRAGONS of Yonago Temple Town

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Yonago ...　 Photo Album

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Mizoguchi 溝口宿

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Yasugi 安来宿

More detailed Izumo Entries to enjoy !

Izumo Kaido, The Old Road of Izumo 出雲街道

My HAIKU TRIPS to .. YONAGO

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Yonago Temple Town

2008-05-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

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The Temple Town of Yonago, Teramachi 寺町

This is a small village in itself, with more then 10 temples, most of them aligned on the one main road. The temples hold the graves of the townspeople since the Edo period and older.

During the strong earthquake in 2001 a lot of damage was done to the buildings and compounds, so now they all look rather new and well cleaned up.

New Temple Gate

Many new stone lanterns of the same type are in the temple gardens.

Words to live by ...

Temple gate with carvings

Dragon Carving in the Gables

New orange roof tiles and stone lanterns

Graves of the unknown, Mu-en Botoke

Temple hall for Myoken Bosatsu

Striped walls of the Temple Gates
a closer look !

My Story about
Grandmother Okamoto
Toy Store in the Temple Town

peace for the world !
just some flowers
by the temple gate

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Namu Jizo Daibosatsu 南無地蔵大菩薩

In every temple was a group like this one or at least one or more stone steles with this inscription, an invocation of Jizo, who cares for the afterlife of children. Here they are in respect for the earthquake victims of 2001.

In front of a bell tower

They are all here :
Namu Jizo Daibosatsu

Here is more about this deity:
... ... ... Jizo Bosatsu　地蔵菩薩

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Start the PHOTO walk from HERE
. . . . . Yonago Temple Town ALBUM

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Yonago and the Road to Izumo

Read my Haiku Archives

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Jizo Daibosatsu

2008-05-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

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Namu Jizo Daibosatsu 南無地蔵大菩薩

in Yonago Temple Town

In every temple was a group like this one or at least one or more stone steles with this inscription, an invocation of Jizo, who cares for the afterlife of children.
Here they are in respect for the earthquake victims of 2001.

オンカカカビサンマエイソワカ
on kakaka bisanmaei sowaka

on - offering a prayer
ka - holy sylable for Jizo, repeated three times
bisanmaei - a very rare and special thing
sowaka - may all things be at peace !

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Lantern for Jizo Daibosatsu

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Yonago Temple Town

Jizoo Bosatsu (Kshitigarbha) 地蔵菩薩

Read my Haiku Archives

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Okamoto Toy Store

2008-05-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

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Okamoto Sweets and Toy Store

岡本一銭屋 "One Cent Store"

The present owner, a friendly old lady, lost her home in Kobe during the great earthquake of 1995, only to come here and experience the earthquake of 2001!

Her house is an old wooden structure in the stle of a Kyoto merchant home (Kyoto Machiya), with an open three-story part in the middle to give sunlight to the inner parts of the house.
The walls were all newly painted, since during the earthquake all the white stuck had fallen down and almost killed her daughter under the rubble.

She was sitting in her store-cum-living-room, talking to some students of the nearby Yonago University. The front store sells cheap sweets, dagashi (see LINK below), but it seems she only runs the store for the fun of having the students come in and talk to them. Others came in while we were there and she seemed to be like a good mother or rather grandmother to them all.

She is also often visited by the small children of the neighbourhood after school, where she is lovingly known as "Grandma", and tries to teach the little ones good manners, which is rather seldom these days.

She took a fancy to me and showed my the whole house.

Her husband was quite fond of antiques, so the walls are covered with this and that and we keep talking ...

Here is the shop sign of the store outside, quite remarkable in size

Click for enlargement

It reads

Ichi Zeni Ya 一銭屋

She talked more about the antiques collecting hobby of her husband.
More than 40 years ago, a shrine nearby burned down, because a huge tree was struck by lightning, split into many parts and started a fire ...

To pay for the rebuilding, the priest thought of selling parts of the "holy tree" for fundraising. So her husband bought a large chunk of it, which now sits there as a partition to the back part of the home. Her husband gave a small fortune to get this piece ... but she was really angry at that time, because she had to care for two small children and the purse of the family was rather tight in these days.

Now this special piece sits there as a fond rememberance of her husband, who passed away a few years ago, and she laughs when she tells the story of her anger!

This is a different one (tsuitate 衝立) but you get the impression of her treasure.

sourrounded by the past
she laughts with the children ...
Grandma Okamoto

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Start the PHOTO walk from HERE
. . . . . Yonago Temple Town

More about the cheap sweets, dagashi
AME, DAGASHI Sweets and Daruma

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. Town House Architecture .

BACK TO
Yonago and the Road to Izumo

Read my Haiku Archives

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Temple Walls

2008-05-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

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Temple Gates with striped walls

Yonago Temple Town, with 9 temples side by side.

Most walls had been destroyed during the earthquake in 2001.
Many walls have wooden boards now, some seem sujibei 筋塀.
I just line up the photos I got from my visit in May 2008.

Plain white wall

Discussion about 5-banded walls
PMJS: Premodern Japanese Studies

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Start the PHOTO walk from HERE
. . . . . Yonago Temple Town ALBUM

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YONAGO TEMPEL TOWN

Yonago and the Road to Izumo

. Mon 門　(kado) ... Gates and Haiku

. Fences and hedges as KIGO 　

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Mizokuchi

2008-05-21T10:54:00.000-07:00

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Mizoguchi (Mizokuchi) 　溝口

鳥取県伯耆町(西伯郡) 溝口

MAP of Mizoguchi area

Mt. Daisen seen from Mizoguchi

Mizoguchi lies west of Mt. Daisen and is one of its entrance stations.
Mizokuchi has a great station and bus terminal, but few trains stop here ... and many houses along the main street are empty now in 2008.

When you cross the river Hinogawa, there is the "Bridge guarded by a demon" Kimori bashi 鬼守橋.
Mizoguchi is a town with one of the oldest "oni" demon legends in Japan and many things in this village are decorated with a demon.
There is even a museum of demons, 鬼ミュージアム, Onikko rando 鬼っ子ランド, but it closed down due to not enough visitors to bring in money for the upkeep !

Demon at the station wall

manhole with Demon

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The main resthouse of the Matsue Clan is close to the station, it used to be called 御茶屋.
Its warden used to be the Shinohara Family 篠原以左衛門邸 .

Some of the old houses along the old kaido still show the former features of white walls.

Dragon Branches in the Garden

House of a merchant

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in the shade of old trees ...
Jizo waiting for
a travel companion

Jizo with a pilgrim's hat and staff

More PHOTOS of this small place in the village

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Mizokuchi Shrine 　溝口神社

Start the Shrine photos from HERE !

The Sacred Rope, Shimenawa

Main Shrine Building

Stone lantern with special roof structure

Gables with Dragon carving

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hold it right there ...
a demon watching over
an empty town

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Next on the road toward Izumo are the villages of
Kuzumo 車尾 and Tenman 天万

During the Edo period and earlier, the river Hino often was flooded and travellers could not cross it for about three days until the waters lowered for crossing.

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Mizoguchi　 ... Photo Album

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Ne-U Machi, Neumachi 根雨宿

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Mount Daisen

2008-04-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

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Spring 2008

the beauty of our Japan -
old mountains and modern
electricity lines

Yonago Flower Park 2007

Mount Daisen (大山, Daisen), is a volcanic mountain located in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. It has an elevation of 1,729 metres. This mountain is the highest in the Chūgoku region, and the most important volcano on the Daisen volcanic belt. The Daisen volcanic belt is a part of western Japan volcanic belt, where the Philippine Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate.

Mount Daisen is a Complex volcano, which was made by repeated volcanic activities in many thousands years. Eruptions in this area started 1.8 million years ago and made ‘Old Mount Daisen’ by 500 thousand years ago. Today’s Mount Daisen was a ‘New Mount Daisen’ made by second group of eruptions which started 50 thousand years ago on a part of Caldera of Old Mount Daisen till 10 thousands years ago. 50 thousands years ago, this mountain made plinian eruption, and volcanic ash can be found in the Tohoku Region of Japan. This mountain is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, and also one of the Chūgoku 100 mountains.

History
Mount Daisen, which stood directly from the Sea of Japan, was regarded as one of the most important mountain for Japanese Shugendo. According to ‘Izumo Kokudo Fudoki, which was completed the edition in 733, this mountain was called ‘Ookamitake’’, literally, ‘Mountain of the great god.’

In the middle of the mountain, there is a Buddhist temple, called ‘Daisen-ji', the temple of Mount Daisen. As a centre of worship on the mountain, this temple has developed since the Heian Period.

Climbing the mountain used to be severely prohibited without a selected monk of Daisen-ji and common people could not access the mountain until the Edo Period.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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More PHOTOS from here on ! 2008 Spring

Mt. Daisen, my visit in 2005

Izumo Kaido, The Old Road of Izumo 出雲街道

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Neu, Ne-U (Izumo Kaido)

2008-04-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

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Postal Town Ne-U (Neu 根雨（ねう）
Now Part of Hino Town 日野町根雨

Stone Buddhas at the village entrance

Many travellers of old, who made it over the steep pass between Shinjo and Itaibara down to here died of exhaustion and were laied to rest here as "Unknown Travellers". Villagers would tend to the graves and memorial stones.

Memorial Stone for Animals

Memorial Stone of the Nichiren Sect

This town was famous for its iron processing, the most famous of the old homes belongs to the Kondo Family 近藤家.

The first Kondo, a certain Denbei, to settle here in Ne-U during the Edo period came from Bingo (now Hiroshima prefecture) to deal in iron. The shop curtain in front of the store even now reads "Bingo 備後".
In the fourth generation, a certain Kichibei started the iron manufacturing business, which expanded rapidly and even now has many factories in Hino Town.

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Neu, Hino town　根雨、日野

Damaged roofs were covered with plastic sheets to prevent leaks in the case of rainfall. The traffic on the Japan Railway Hakubi line was suspended due to rock falls and slope failures.

©　THE 2000 TOTTORI-KEN SEIBU EARTHQUAKE

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Ne-U Photo Album

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on the road to Ebi　江尾, an unexpected view of
Mount Daisen

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Kamochi (Izumo Kaido)

2008-04-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

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Postal Town Kamochi　金持（かもち）

Town for the "Rich People"
KAMOCHI can also be read "Kanemochi" rich.

step by step
on the way to get rich ...
first spring sweat

You have to fold one coin with a hole into this straw hanger
to make sure it will double and triple in time ...

Money Offerings

Dragon Carving at the gables of the shrine

The Handpainted Dragon Deity
by Mrs. Hamada Juhoo 濱田壽峰

When you climb up a step at the back of the shrine, a light goes on inside and you can marvel at the great painting.

Hamada san is a famous painter of Shinto deities, painting only with her fingers. She uses all fingers very delicately, sometimes only the nail to paint a sharp line. She was born in this village of Kamochi and made an offering of this Dragon Deity (which would fetch quite sum on the art market, as the Shrine maidens whispered to me in a low voice).

. . . My EMA Votive Tablets from Kamochi Shrine

Further down at the small shrine shop, they sell handmade votive tablets (ema) painted by handicapped people of the area. Each paints just a bit according to his abilities and more than 10 people work together to finish one.

Kamochi Shrine Information PHOTO

Shrines worshipping the Deity Ame not Tokotachi are very few in Japan. Here you pray for the prosperity of the Japanese land.
Legend knows, that when a second son of the head priest of Izumo Shrine on his way to a vitit in Ise Shrine passed this area, a talisman stone is his pocket started feeling very heavy. He felt this as a sign of the gods to have him build another shrine here is a place rich with minerals, especially iron.

Maybe the modern word "kanemochi" comes from this place name, "kamochi", which was already famous in the chronicles of the Azuma Kagami during the Kamakura Period.

The nobleman Kamochi Kagefuji 金持景藤 reigned this area here around 1333.

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Kamochi Shrine is located in Kamochi, Hino-cho, Hino-gun, Tottori Prefecture.
The enshrined deities are Ameno-Tokotachi no Mikoto, Yatsuka Mizu Omizunu no Mikoto, and Omizunu no Mikoto. It is said that in 810, when the second son of a shrine priest in Izumo province passed by this place on his way to Ise Shrine, the precious stone that he wore as a talisman suddenly got heavy and he received a divine order to build a shrine at this place.

The village of Kamochi was the production center of Japanese steel, which was thought to be more precious than gold in the ancient times. Also iron was called “kane” in ancient Japan, so the village was called Kamochi, which meant the village with many valleys where “kane (iron sand)” could be obtained.

It is the only one shrine that bears such a lucky name as “Kamochi (金持),” the kanji writing of which can also be read as “Kanemochi (a rich man).” Hoping to be a rich person, people from all over the country visit this shrine to offer a prayer.

In the precinct are the two of 100 Fine Trees of Tottori Prefecture, sawara (a natural tree in a cypress group) and Chinese cedar tree, both of which are said to be over 600 years old.
©　nippon-kichi.jp

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Ame no tokotachi no kami
Ame no tokotachi no mikoto,
天之常立尊（あめのとこたちのみこと）

One of the primeval kami appearing in the myth of the unfolding of heaven and earth. This kami is described as only an abstract being, without shape or other attributes. Most commentators view this kami as an offspring of Kunitokotachi.

According to Kojiki, the kami forming the lineage from the three deities of creation to Umashiashikabihikoji and Amenotokotachi are called the "five separate heavenly deities" (kotoamatsukami), while Kunitokotachi and others are produced thereafter as part of the "seven generations of the age of the kami" (kamiyo).
©　Kokugakuin University / Encyclopedia of Shinto

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Read his legend HERE

Omizunu no Mikoto
淤美豆奴命（おみずぬのみおと）

Part of the Izumo Fudo-Ki records of old.

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Yatsuka Mizu Omizunu no Mikoto
八束水臣津努命（やつかみずおみずぬのみこと）
omi-tsunu is another spelling.

Another creator god of the Land of Japan. He travelled in many places, especially to Silla in Korea and along the Noto peninsula of Japan. When he found a nice piece of land that he liked, he carried it all the way to the Izumo area and added it to the coastline there.

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More Japanese PHOTO reference !

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Kamochi Photo Album

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Itaibara (Izumo Kaido)

2008-04-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

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Postal Town Itaibara　板井原
日野町板井原

Map from Shinjo via the 四十曲峠 Pass to Kamochi

Coming from the crowds of Shinjo this is another world.
An almost deserted villge with few inhabitants by the steep Itaibara river. We parked the car at the village entrance on an empty ground, the former village school.

Bridge at the village entrance

an old bridge
which nobody crosses ...
deserted village

The River Dragon ...

Horse-headed Kannon Stone 馬頭観音
by the river.
This is a deity revered by people who used horses as means of transportation. It is reather seldom in these parts of Western Japan.
More in the Daruma Museum:
Batoo Kannon, Horseheaded Kannon 馬頭観音

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Stone memorials before the Village Temple

Buddhist Deities in the Village Temple

There is also a big hand ball (temari) as an offering on the left. See more about these handballs along the Izumo Road in the postal town of Mikamo.

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wood carving decorations on doors and roof supporters

the carp still tries
to climb up the river -
deserted homes

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drying shiitake mushrooms
The nights are cold and there is enough moisture for a generous harvest this year.

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This is a different village, but the story is rather similar than here:

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000, Japan Times

Village whittled down to just four elderly souls
Itaibara seeks government funding to rejuvenate area, avoid fate of neighbor across valley
By BRENT KININMONT

ITAIBARA, Tottori Pref. --
The death of this village's sister looms large in the collective memory of its residents.

Local officials believe they can attract sightseers to the village of Itaibara, Tottori Prefecture, if the exteriors of its early-Showa Era buildings are restored. But despite a generous proposal that will pay most of the cost, Hisashi Fujiwara has no plans to fix his house up.

Shimo-Itaibara, just one valley over, became a ghost town after the last villager moved out in the mid-1980s. And now only a handful of shaky buildings are still standing.

"Every time we (Itaibara residents) got together, we often talked about how we must do something about our village, because we don't want to be like Shimo-Itaibara," said Iwao Harada, who was born here 69 years ago.

Depopulation has turned Itaibara, like so many rural communities across Japan, into a settlement for the aged.

The youngest of the four people who still live here year-round is 72 years old. An engraved stone staff marks the spot where the elementary school stood until the last pupil left nine years ago.

The population "swells" to around 15 during planting and harvesting of daikon and other vegetables, with homeowners such as Harada preferring to base themselves 5 km away in central Chizu (pop. 9,773), closer to facilities and their families.

The fate of this waning village, however, is not necessarily entwined with that of its sister.

Town officials in Chizu -- which administrates Itaibara -- believe that if they restore the village to the way it looked at the beginning of the Showa Era, when many of the current structures were built, then sightseers will come.

"You can see the traditional way of Japanese life (in Itaibara)," said Yoshimichi Otsubo of the Chizu Board of Education. "When you come here, you can sense the real heart of Japan, and it's our responsibility to look after it."

The town is proposing to fix up the exteriors of the 130 mostly wooden structures -- including homes, storehouses, bathhouses, outdoor toilets, a temple and shrine -- that are shoehorned by the scarcity of flat land into this narrow valley.

In the absence of full-time care, many structures have suffered with age and weathering. Patch-up efforts are often ramshackle.

Itaibara might have been a potential outdoor showroom for the Meiji Era (1868-1912), or even the last years of the Edo Period (1603-1867), had a fire not burned down nearly all its structures about 100 years ago.

The seven-room house -- plus bathroom, kitchen and storehouse -- that Harada inherited and lived in until 1975 was built by his great-grandparents soon after the fire.
Like most of the 23 houses in the village, it used to have a thatched roof. But Harada plans to use the funding to build eaves and replace with tiles the tin sheets that now cover the tidy two-story house.

Hisashi Fujiwara and his wife, Yoshie, are two of the four people who still live here throughout the year. Despite the seemingly generous offer, Hisashi doesn't plan to alter his house.

"I want to leave it alone and change nothing, because even if I fix it, my son's family doesn't want to live here," the 72-year-old said. "Of course, we would be very happy if everybody came back, but I don't think we can have the life we had before. It's impossible -- it's a really isolated place."

None of Harada's three sons wants to move back either. Still, the band-saw sitting in the kitchen points to Harada's daytime effort to do up -- without prompting from Chizu -- the interior of the home he and his children were born in.

At night, Harada is a security guard at an old people's home in Chizu. When asked if he would be willing to show sightseers in Itaibara how to make charcoal, which used to be his main source of income, the voice of the softly spoken man suddenly increased in pitch.

"I'd love to," he said. "Yes, definitely."
© Japan Times / BRENT KININMONT

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Itaibara Photo Album

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Shinjo (Izumo Kaido)

2008-04-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

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Postal Town Shinjo　新庄村

Main Street flanked by Cherry Trees in full bloom
Gaisen Sakura 凱旋桜（がいせんさくら）

Most of the trees are older than 100 years.

The Pine Marker for the Distance
Ichiri Zuka with Pine

tea for two
in the old postal town -
cherry blossom visitors

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Running Water in the Village

The old system still intact, villagers wash vegetables and keep a few carp in the private ponds.

fresh water
from the nearby mountains ...
all the colors of spring

these petals float
between spring flowers -
village peace

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IZUMO KAIDO SHINJO-SHUKU
[Designated in 2003]

Sounds of village echo in the colonnade of cherry trees as you walk down the old road...

Reminiscence of the town of the ancient posting station colored by the beautiful four seasons.
Izumo Road has been critical since old times connecting Izumo to Yamato ancient capital region. Shinjo was a town of posting station situated at the foot of Shijumagari Pass, the hardest point for the entire extension of the road to go through.

It once prospered as due to the Sankin-Kotai, or the passage of Daimyo feudal lord's processions for alternate-year residence in Edo. The Honjin (feudal lord's lodging) for Matsue Province, Ochaya (resting place), and inns are reminiscent of such prosperity.

Owing to the nostalgic environment of the town, including the "Cherry Trees of Triumphant Return" that were planted in commemoration of the victory in the Russo-Japanese War and the murmur of the brook that was selected as one of the Hundred Japanesque Sound Landscapes, the town was designated by Okayama Prefecture as a "Town Landscape Preservation Area" and was granted the "Okayama Landscape Award."
©　Yume-Kaido Renaissance Project Team

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From Shinjo, the road climbs up steadily and fast. A steep pass let the travellers of olden times to the other side of the mountain ridge, now Itaibara in Tottori prefecture. This "pass with 49 curves"shijuu magari tooge 四十曲峠 can now since 1968 be crossed by car in a long and dark tunnel of more than four kilometers. It goes down quite steep and has many sharp curves and is considered dangerous also becuase of stones falling down.
At its end in the very steep valley of the Itaibara River is a small barrack-like rest area, that does not look very frequented these days any more.

Shinjo Photo Album

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Shinjō
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Mikamo (Izumo Kaido)

2008-04-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

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Check this first !
On the ROAD TO MIKAMO

Postal Town Mikamo 美甘村
美甘宿場桜

a cheeful manhole cover
A little side tour:
Manholes and Daruma San !

Mikamo, just one stop before the famous Shinjo village, was rather deserted and we could enjoy the cherry blossomw without the crowds.
These cherry trees have been planted in honor of the birth of Showa Tenno.

these cherry blossoms
on the fast river ...
a floating world

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Mikamo Shrine 美甘神社

The present building dates back to 1575. It changed the Chinese characters of its name from "Mikamo Jinja" 御鴨神社(みかもじんじゃ)　to 美甘神社 in 1873. The deity honored here is the "Kamo no Kami", かもの神 (加茂神), a son of the Gread Deity of Izumo, Okuninushi no kami.
Legend has it that together with his brother Miwa no Kami 三輪君 they represent the origin of the Imperial Family of Japan.
The whole area took its name after this deity around 650 and started using the Chinese characters 美甘郷 around 715. Later the shrine burned down and two new ones where built, one here and one in the next village of Shinjo. The main shrine festival is in October.

In this shrine, the deity Ajisukitaka Hikone 味鋤高彦根命 ( あじすきたかひこね) is worshipped. (阿遅鉏高日子根神)

Chinese characters used for the KAMO deity 賀茂、加茂、鴨.

大国主命－味鋤高彦根命－天八現津彦命→都佐・長国造
大国主命－事代主－天日方奇日方命→賀茂・三輪君
鴨建角身命－玉依彦－生玉兄日子命→賀茂・鴨県主 (Kamo no Agatanushi)
©　moritaya

We also have this god of the KAMO lineage:
Kamo Taketsunumi no mikoto 賀茂建角身命
Taketsunomi

Mikamo Shrine -
where god and man meet
in spring splendor

In the eaves of the outer decoration, I found small crab carvings.

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Mikamo Temari Handballs
美甘　手まり (手毬)

Temari Balls, Priest Ryokan and Haiku

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Mikamo Photo Album

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Road to Mikamo (Izumo Kaido)

2008-04-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

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Coming from Katsuyama

On the road toward Mikamo

Abandoned estate by the roadside

Momiji in Spring: Red Dragon Branches

dragon branches
all in red ...
another spring

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private shrine and dragon tree

Next is MIKAMO

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ROAD TO MIKAMO :　 Photo Album

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Izumo Kaido, The Old Road of Izumo 出雲街道

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Fukiya Haiku

2008-04-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

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Haiku written by visitors

Click for enlargement.

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Fukiya Shrine

2008-04-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

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Fukiya Shrine 吹屋神社

Two huge cherry blossom trees

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Takahashi and Fukiya Hanami 2008

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Photo Album

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Hirokane Dragon Tree

2008-04-16T01:04:00.000-07:00

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遊龍の松

The long arm toward the gate house

One "Foot"

A different tree in the garden

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Fukiya Hirokane

2008-04-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

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Hirokane Shrine at the other side

The Hirokane Residence 広兼邸
岡山県高梁市成羽町中野

Hirokane Mansion

The owner of the copper and bengara mines lived here at the end of the Edo period. Since 1983, the prefecture runs this residence as a museum and important cultural property.
The detective story series and movie about "Yatsuhaka Mura" (Village with eight graves" used this home as a location twice. The movie "Inugamike no Ichizoku" (The Inugami Clan) also used this area as a location. Therefore it is well known to the Japanese.

Further down the road toward Fukiya is the Sasaune tunnel for digging copper.
笹畝坑道

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Detail:
The Playing Dragon Tree

Fukiya Homes

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Fukiya Shrine

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Takahashi and Fukiya Hanami 2008

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Fukiya Homes

2008-04-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

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Fukiya 吹屋
is one of seven villages in Okayama Prefecture designated as a "Hometown Village". Fukiya's most characteristic feature is the uniformity of its architecture. The streets are lined with old homes and storefronts with burnt-red and mustard-colored walls of bengara,black siding charred to protect against the elements and rooftops of distinctive calico brown and red tiles.

The ambience of an coppermining town still remains in the hometown village of Fukiya. The characteristics of this 19th century town are evident in the rust-colored walls of the buildings which line the narrow streets. An abundance of historic sites entice visitors all year long.

Bengara
Bengara is a type of red pigment. Its main ingredient is iron oxide, and it is known for its strong tinting power and durability. The name is a corruption of Bengal, in India, where it was originally made. Bengara was used for painting porcelain ware, for rustproofing ships, and as a coloring agent in architecture.

The bengara pigment produced in Fukiya was known as "the red among reds" and was traded throughout Japan. It was celebrated as far away as Scandinavia as the red used for renowned Kutani and Imari porcelain ware. Due to the high demand for bengara, traders and producers such as the Nishie family were able to amass enormous fortunes.

New technologies developed following the end of World War II, however, enabled high-quality bengara to be produced easily, leading to the decline of bengara production in Fukiya and the eventual closing of the copper mines there.

Today, bengara is synthetically produced in chemical plants, but it is said that the red color thus obtained cannot match that of Fukiya's famed bengara.

©　Fukiya International Village

　　　　

Children make a woodblock calendar every year
to re-enforce their eye for the rural beauty

The Daruma Store

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The Hirokane Residence in Fukiya

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Fukiya Shrine

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Haiku about Fukiya

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In May 2010, the village announced its special food of the area

bengara karee ベンガラカレー Bengara Curry

It comes in two versions Black or Red, trying to imitate the bengara colors of the village.
red is made with powder of red paprika.
black is made with ink from squid (ikasumi イカ墨).

bengara udon ベンガラうどん

. WASHOKU : Regional dishes from Okayama 　

備中高梁元気プロジェクト吹屋地区座談会

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Kagura Kaido Road

2008-04-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

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Bitchu Kagura Poster

The Bitchu Kagura Ritual Dance originated in the ancient belief, held by the local people of Nariwa, that natural disasters, disease and other such misfortunes were brought upon them by a wild god named Kojin.
This special dance was created in order to appease the angry god.

deep in the mountains
a dragon unfolds ...
Bitchu Kagura

Kagura Kaido Mountain Road　かぐら街道

At a rest area close to the Matsunaga Bridge
there is a special dramatical exhibition ...

The Dragon Slayer Susano

The Dragon with many heads

SUSANO AND THE GIANT SERPENT

Susano was punished for his bad behavior and sent to the far away land of Ne no Kuni. As he wanders the region, he comes upon an old couple
doing a dance of mournig.

When he asked them, they told him of a giant serpent, which was attacking and eating the young maidens of the village, and now they fear for the safety of their own daughter.

Susano wished to take their daughter as his wife, and so enlisted the help of the Deity "Matsu no Myojin" who prepared a concotion of poisonous rice wine.
Susano gave this sake to the serpent and could now slay it.
Thus he saved the village.

gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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Kagura Poster

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Kagura Mask

備中中部広域農道（かぐら街道）

From Route 180 north of Takahashi town turn west at Takakura 高倉, where the road makes a huge loop to gain hight, then drive leisurely through the rather steep mountains toward Matsubara 松原 village, pass through Uji 宇治 village and reach Fukiya 吹屋ふるさと村. The road is not well travelled (we met three cars on the 30 minute drive), but the road condition is extremely well, with rather gentle curves considering the high mountain area and parts with more than 10% steep up or down slopes.
From Fukiya, you can drive down the other side and reach Niimi Town with a highway connection.

Three breathtaking bridges across extremely steep valleys make for extra thrill on this beautiful mountain road.

Japanese MAP of the area !

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Fukiya Village

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Takahashi and Fukiya Village

Take your time for 140 photos !
Photo Album

Kagura Dance for the Gods My Information

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Bitchuu Kagura Ningyo 備中神楽人形 Kagura Dolls
from the village of Nariwa 成羽

The dolls are about 10 cm high, made of clay and with beautiful colors.
The small ones are only 4 cm high.
There are also 19 masks of the deities and some papermachee masks of this dance.

. Folk Toys from Okayama .

. . . . .

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Takahashi Hanami 2008

2008-04-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

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Temple Yakushi-In 薬師院

going in circles
the mind
the sand

Yama Warau -
the mountains smiling
in spring splendor

A bit further to the east

a world full of spring -
I climb the temple stairs
into the sky

This temple is located at the slope of a steep mountain, supported by a huge stone wall, almost like a castle. Its amazing sight has been used as location for some Japanese films, among them the famous series of "Tora san".

Details of this Temple Walk :

Statue of Kobo Daishi with a Child
Koyasu Daishi 子安大師

Stone Buddhas in Spring

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Part 2
Kagura Kaido Mountain Road toward Fukiya

Part 3
Fukiya Homes
The Hirokane Residence in Fukiya

Take your time for 140 photos !
Photo Album

My Visit to Takahashi in July 2005 :
Windows
Stone Garden
Buddhist Decoration Flowers

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Yakushi-In Stone Buddhas

2008-04-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

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石仏　Stone Buddhas

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stone Buddhas -
pink in the sky
pink on the ground

spring peace -
a prayer scented
in pink

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Temple Yakushi-In 薬師院

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Temple Tanjo-Ji

2007-12-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

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a sacred tree
in the temple park -
Namu Amida

the huge trunk

Temple Tanjo-Ji of Saint Honen

atumn deepens -
the unfettered beauty
of this Amida temple

MORE
about this temple Tanjooji 誕生寺 Okayama

Saint Honen, born at this temple
..by Gabi Greve

Take my SLIDE SHOW through the Album of 60 photos !

Read my Haiku Archives from 2007

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Asian Faces Children

2007-11-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

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learning to survive -
Grandmother
knows best

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. . . . . LOOK at the Men !

MORE is here
INDIA 1997 / Himalayas ALBUM

Read my Haiku Archives from 2007

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Asian Faces Woman

2007-11-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

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prayer wheels -
the gnarled fingers
still active

Tibetan Opera Star

. . . . . LOOK at the Men ! !

MORE is here
INDIA 1997 / HIMALAYA ALBUM

Read my Haiku Archives from 2007

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Asian Faces ... MEN

2007-11-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

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Himalaya High -
the inscrutable faces
of Asia

MORE is here
INDIA 1997 / Himalayas

Read my Haiku Archives from 2007

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Dharamsala Tibetan Opera

2007-11-27T23:04:00.000-08:00

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Dharamsala Tibetan Opera 1979

Two actors on the way

The audience in the sports ground of the school

The seat of honour for the Dalai Lama
(and me squatting just below it, with sunglasses)

Final preparations

The chorus

The hero on his horse

The Grand Tibetan Opera
in honour of the return of HH Dalai Lama

Final Prayer

Taking a pee after its over

A "public" toilet at the outside of the village.

discussing FAITH -
the seat of honour
is empty

FAITH in the world -
the Dalai Lama adjusts
his spectacles

. Faith and prayer, expressed in Haiku .

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MORE is here

India 1979 / HIMALAYA ALBUM

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Okutsu Japan

2007-11-09T23:47:00.000-08:00

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houses with eyes
to watch
as autumn deepens

ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo ooo

amazing autumn -
the red wall dances
with the waves

autumn brook -
the silence of sunshine
on stones

. LOOK ! . 　

My PHOTO ALBUM from Okutsu Autumn 2007

Read my Haiku Archives from 2007

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Beautiful Lake

奥津湖の
銀波に映える
紅葉かな

Okutsu lake
red leaves reflected
in silver waves

Sakuo Nakamura

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Your Smile

2007-08-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

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tired tourist -
your heavenly smile
pushes me on

my THAILAND

online smiles from Thailand

Read my Haiku Archives from 2007

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Zahnwehgott Dentist Haiku

2007-07-20T01:25:00.000-07:00

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the god of toothache -
I wish I was there
to add my coin

In the town of Kathmandu there is a God of Toothache at a road corner in Thamel, just a piece of wood shaped like a molar itself. If you have a toothache, you go there and hammer one coin wishing your illness might pass.

Since my tooth is rather active today, I remembered this God.

Thamel is a district of Kathmandu where even nowadays many dentists reside.

My NEPAL photo album

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More Gods of Japan to heal your toothache !
Yakushi Nyorai and Jizo for your Toothache

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More Dentist Haiku

aki tatsu hi uroba ni gin o uzume-keri

The day autumn began
I had a cavity in my tooth
filled with silver.

Ryuunosuke, tr. Makoto Ueda

the dentist--
all his ten fingers
and thumbs in my mouth

Laura Bell, from Higginson's "Haiku World"

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. . . . . Dentist Haiku
. compiled by Larry Bole

autumn rain;
another cavity to fill:
my fiftieth year

coldest day of the year
and coincidentally
a toothache

plants everwhere
in the dentist's waiting room:
my teeth feel mossy

(my new dentist)

"I won't hurt you,"
the first words out of his mouth
on a mild winter day

leaving the dentist
I bite off a big mouthful
of crisp winter air

eating fast food
after a teeth cleaning:
an epicurean feast!

--Larry Bole

Dental and dentistry haiku by others:

in the dentist's waiting room
tulips with their petals
tightly shut

--George Swede

professional conference--
in the restroom all the dentists
washing their hands

--Lee Gurga

at last no cavities;
every tooth
filled

--John Brandi

every zero
tidily filled in
the dentist's ledger

--Elizabeth St Jacques

record high--
this heat
even in my toothpaste

--Michael Dylan Welch

muzukashii saiku ha-isha mo kuchi o aki

A difficult piece of work,
The dentist
Opens his mouth too.

--Gorosuke, trans. R. H. Blyth

asa-samu ya hamigaki niou tsuma no kuchi

The morning cold:
smelling of tooth powder,
my wife's mouth.

Sojo, trans. Ueda

万緑の中や吾子の歯生え初むる
banryoku no naka ya ako no ha hae-somuru

Myriad green leaves--
in their midst my baby
begins to cut his teeth

--Kusatao
trans. Ueda

(Blyth's translation of the above haiku:

Among the myriad leaves of spring
My child has begun
To cut his teeth.)

. . . . .

kane ga nai
mono ga nai
ha ga nai
hitori

no money
no things
no teeth
just me

--Santoka, trans. Addiss

tsumetasa no ha ni shimiru ha o itawaro

babying it
the tooth so sensitive
to cold things

--Santoka, trans. Burton Watson

horori to nuketa ha de wa aru

This the tooth that came out just like that

--Santoka, trans. Sato

the inside of my mouth utterly foul, I eat sardines

--Tokihiko, trans. Sato

And finally, two haiku making an indirect reference to teeth growing old, and tooth loss,
both by Matsuo Basho:

otoroi ya ha ni kui ateshi nori no suna

ebbing strength--
my teeth detect a grain of sand
in the dried seaweed
trans. Ueda

(my version:

feeling decrepit:
biting on a bit of sand
in the dried seaweed)

魚の骨しはぶるまでの老を見て
uo no hone shiwaburu made no oi o mite

Old age
sucking on
fish bones.

trans. Lenore Mayhew, an interior verse in the 'kasen' "Summer Moon" ('Natsu no Tsuki').

all that he can do
is suck upon the bones of fish
and think of old age
trans. Miner

I have become so old -
I have to suckle
fish bones
Tr. Gabi Greve

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External LINK
God of Toothache

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Dentist Daruma だるまのマーく
A Picture Book for Children.
Daruma goes to the forest with his big toothbrush and fights with the bacteria monsters.

source : だるまのマーくん

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Yoga for Toothache ! . My GenkiJuku

My Toothache haiku from 2006

. tooth hardening ceremony 歯固 hagatame
observance kigo for the New Year

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. Agonashi Jizo あごなし地蔵尊
Jizo without a chin .
healing toothache

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