Although Tokyo is a big city with uncountable modern buildings as known internationally, it is actually large enough to include good nature spots. It wouldn't fit the typical image of Tokyo, but there is a village filled by nature inside of Tokyo. Hinohara Village is only village inside of Tokyo except small islands on the Pacific Ocean which belongs to Tokyo. The village is famous for beautiful forests, creeks and waterfalls, so it is a popular camping spot. Since water there is really good quality, the source of beautiful creeks is still used for life water by local people. Moreover people can buy bottled natural water made in the village though it is very rare situation nowadays.
Near the water source, there is a beautiful waterfall named "Hossawa-no-taki" as shown in the photo slide-show. The falling water go down 4 steps of rock beds and the total drop of it is 60 meters (197 feet). It is quite a big waterfall therefore was chosen as the hundred best waterfalls in Japan. Hinohara Village also has a fantastic gorge called "Kanoto-iwa". It is hidden by sheer precipices. When visitors look down from the bridge in the photo slideshow there is a ladder leaning against rocks far below beside a creek, and over the ladder a spectacular view is spreading. People can go through the path pulling a chain on the rock wall. If you have a chance to look around this village, you must wonder about the area is really inside of Tokyo!
In my previous post on August 22nd, I wrote about a long established shrine located on the foot of Mt. Togakushi in Nagano Prefecture. It seems the mountain and the old shrine has nothing to do with Tokyo area, but actually there is a certain relation between the area and Yakuou-in Temple on Mt.Takao in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Yakuou-in Temple is a Buddhist Temple belonging to one of the major Japanese Buddhist sects, but actually the temple is taking over a special style of practices called "Shugendo", which is a mixture of Buddhism and Japanese old nature worship "Shinto". Mixing two different religions might sound like a heretical style, yet it actually had been a very common style in Japan until the first Japanese modern government defined Buddhism and Shinto are completely different religions. Originally, traditional Japanese Shinto is a nature worship, so basically the concept tells everything in the world can be gods therefore people thought other religions were not exceptions. In fact still old Buddhist temples often keep shrines on the ground and most Japanese people don't feel strange at all when the saw temples and shrines on the same ground even now. Going back to the topic of Yakuou-in Temple on Mt.Takao, they practice such a special style Buddhism mixing with nature worship. Their style is particularly called "Sugendo" and the monks are required to train themselves in nature and wear a special outfit for "Shugendo" that is different from usual Buddhist monks as shown in the upper photo. What's more, their main building worships a special god related to Buddhism called "Iizuna-Gongen" which has a mysterious figure as shown in the lower center photo. It is said that the Buddhist god, "Iizuna-Gongen", was originally a local mountain god for Mt. Iizuna and Mt. Iizuna is located on next to Mt. Togakushi which I introduced in my previous post. Actually the area including Mt. Togakushi and Mt. Iizuna had been famous for mountains worship and "Shugendo" since ancient times. Togakushi shrine also had worshiped some Buddhism gods and Buddha statue until the first Japanese modern government made shrines and temples separate Shinto and Buddhism as different religions. Thus, Togakushi Shrine on Mt.Togakushi and Yakuo-in Temple on Mt. Takao have an aspect of relative each other although they are a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple now. If you have a chance to visit Yakuo-in Temple on Mt. Takao in Tokyo, you see Torii gates which are a particular gate style for Japanese Shinto and many small shrines on the temple ground. One of the shrines there even worships a historical person who established "Shugendo" at Mt. Togakushi and Mt. Iizuna as shown in the lower right hand side photo.
It's still during summer vacation season in Japan, so visiting some other region far from Tokyo area would be nice. Let's take a look at a mountainous area! Togakushi
Shrine in Nagano prefecture is one of the popular Japanese Shinto shrines among tourist. Since the shrine is located in a mountain, visiting there includes a hiking then people can enjoy great nature in addition to the historical buildings. Nobody knows the exact established year of Togakushi Shrine but it has a long history. For sure this shrine was
already well known after the 10th century moreover many people think the history can be
gone back more because it seems like there is a connection between this shrine
and Japanese oldest mythology. In fact some record says it was established in B.C.
The shrine is on the foot of Mt. Togakushi (1904 m which means 6247 feet), and the name “Togakushi” means
“Hiding The Door”. What door? Actually there is an episode in Japanese
mythology, and it says there was a big incident happened long time ago. Once, the Goddess of Sun hid herself in a
cave and shut the entrance of the cave by a huge rock. The world was covered by darkness and everybody had troubles but
she didn't want to come out. All gods and goddesses had a meeting and thought out
a plan to solve it. Then one of the Goddesses who is good at dance started to show a funny dance and gods and goddesses got together as if there was a special party going on. No sooner had the Goddess of Sun
peeked outside than one of the gods who had Herculean strength grabbed the huge
rock-door and threw it into the sky. Thus the world took the sunlight back.
Japanese mythology doesn't mention about afterward in detail but it has been said that
the thrown door landed in the place which is now called Nagano prefecture and became a
mountain named Mt. Togakushi. To fit the legend, the inner shrine building shown in the photo slide-show actually worships the god with Herculean strength. Of course it is just a legendary episode without any proof, but on the way to visit the inner shrine building there is a long approach with enormous Japanese
cedar trees and they look very dignified and mysterious. Some of the trees even have a sacred rope of Japanese Shinto around them, which means old-days people were also struck with awe and worshiped them as sacred trees. It seems that the place would fit very well for a scene of Japanese myth. Hope you can enjoy the mythical atmosphere from my photos!
I introduced an unique exhibition being held in Ueno, Tokyo in my previous post on August 16th. Actually Ueno area has many museums, historical buildings and facilities for activities. It is one of popular recreation spot in Tokyo. What's more, many of the facilities are located in Ueno Park which is next to Ueno Station, so it's very convenient for visitors. Ueno Park was originally a property of a big Buddhism temple, Ueno Kaneiji Temple, which I have introduced one of their buildings in my previous post. Kaneiji Temple had been one of the most powerful temple since it became a family temple of Shogun during Tokugawa Shogunate era. After the shogunate government collapsed in 1867, Japan's first modern government owned some parts of Ueno Park. That's why the oldest zoo in Japan located in the Ueno Park. It was established in 1882 by Japanese government and is now managed by a public corporation. The official name of it is Ueno Zoological Gardens, but people usually call it just "Ueno Zoo". Of course Ueno Zoo is a nice place to enjoy animals, but because of its historical background, people can also enjoy historical structures there. There is a remain of a tea ceremony house established by a historical Samurai lord named Takatora Todo as you can see in lower left hand side photo. Also a historical five-storied pagoda built in 1639 is inside of the Zoo. These structures were already there when Japanese government tried to establish the Ueno Zoo and people concluded that it would be easier to secure/manage them if they are kept inside of the zoo because they were cultural important assets. Thus these historical structures were remained on their original places. People thought it would be a better settlement, however they found a big problem later. That was about the separation of religion and politics. Since the zoo was a national zoo, people at that time thought a Buddhism pagoda was not proper to be there. Therefore people held a ceremony to separate the pagoda from Buddhism and removed all Buddha statues from it. Since then the pagoda is peacefully standing there, in the zoo. It might sound Ueno Zoo was too strict with rules back then? Perhaps they got more flexibility nowadays. Recently they are extending the business hours for people on summer vacation. So people can enjoy seeing pandas' dinner time and hippopotamuses' gargling in evening as shown in the upper photos. Also, the view of the pagoda would have different beauty at night!
I have been introducing Japanese summer seasonal stuff recently, such as traditional summer festivals, fireworks festivals, and so on. There is another typical summer activity people have been enjoying since old days. It is "listening ghost stories". Yes, scary ghost stories are often considered as summer seasonal stuff in Japan. Why? When people listen ghost stories, the more scary the stories are the more people would feel cold shivers. It has been an ancestral wisdom against summer heat known among common peoplefrom the time without air-conditioning machines. People can listen these scary stories narrated by professional performers since Japan has a traditional entertainment performance of story telling called "Rakugo". Although it is often introduced as traditional arts of comedy talk, it actually includes hart-warming stories, scary stories, and love stories in addition to funny stories. Between the Samurai era and early modern era listening scary type of "Rakugo" was very popular during summer, and at that time "Rakugo" performers used drawings of ghosts or scary masks for their staging effects. Listening scary stories surrounded by ghost drawings or monster masks under candle lights sounds enough frightening to feel a cold shiver even today! Actually there is an annual exhibition held at a temple in Ueno, Tokyo, which you can experience the atmosphere of these old times scary "Rakugo" show. A famous past "Rakugo" performer named Sanyutei Encho had a private collection of ghost drawings. He was famous for a master of scary type of "Rakugo" and that's why he collected these drawings. The exhibition is called "Yanaka Encho Festival" and showing his collections every summer. Last summer, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music collaborated with the festival and held another special exhibition of ghost drawings as you can see in the upper photo. Unfortunately they don't have it this year, but "Yanaka Encho Festival" is being held as usual at Ueno Zenshoan Temple (5-4-7, Yanaka, Taito-ku, Tokyo) until August 31st as shown in the lower left hand side photo. In addition, another ghost drawings exhibition is being held at Edo-Tokyo Museum until September 25th. By the way, there is a typical image of ghosts in Japan. It looks like the drawing in the lower right hand side photo. A woman with a long tousled hair wearing white kimono and doesn't have legs. Apparently the typical image was created during the Samurai era. Some says a famous painter at that time drew this style first, then it was loved so much and spread quickly as the most common style for ghosts. What's more, the typical ghosts even have a routine action, such as holding their hands like shown in the drawing above and saying "Urameshiya-(I'm having a grudge...)". Well, if you hear the word when you are passing a graveyard there might be a Japanese ghost!
Every year during annual Hachioji Festival many people make a line to dance through on National Rd.20. They dance "Bon Odori (Bon Dance)" which is one of Japanese cultural dances for summer. As I have introduced "Bon Odori (Bon Dance)" previously on my another blog, it is the dance for a special term called "Obon" to pray for their deceased family and ancestor. There are many kinds of songs for the "Bon Odori (Bon Dance)", because most areas have their local folk songs and people dance "Bon Odori (Bon Dance)" with them. Each songs have its own sequence of movement although it is usually not so complicated. Then this year, Hachioji Festival organization decided to break the record of the world largest "Bon Odori (Bon Dance)" to be registered by The Guinness Book. Actually next year (2017) is the memorial year of 100th anniversary for Hachioji municipal system, so people wanted to add a special record for it. On the August 6th, local people for the total of 2130 made a long oblong circle extended to 2 km (1.25 miles) on the Rd.20 and danced "Bon Odori (Bon Dance)" with a local folk song to challenge a new record. Actually it's not only about the number of people, since it is a record of 'dance', dancers had to know all the sequence for the dance and couldn't make a mistake. Apparently only one person was cut out from the record because of making mistake for the movements. However, they succeeded to achieve the largest Bon Dance world record recognized by the Guinness Book! Congratulations to Hachioji people!
I have been introducing annual Hachioji Festibal recently and wrote about traditional festival carts (Dashi) which belong to neighborhood communities called Chonai-kai. As I wrote in my previous post, they compete each other in music play and performances at the festival. Today I'm showing photos of another typical Japanese festival item, Mikoshi (portable shrines). They also belong to Chonai-kai. Same as festival carts (Dashi) each of them has different design and get together during the festival, but they don't compete each other. At the end of Hachioji Festival, all Mikoshi come to one spot of the festival area. Actually, one of the biggest local shrine sets up a temporary office there as the yellow arrow is pointing in the photo. A couple of the Shinto priests are stationing there during the festival. So, all Mikoshi gather around the office and they greet to the priests inside of the office one by one before they go back to their neighborhood. How they greet? Each Mikoshi come to right front of the offiece as you can see in the photos of the lower row. Then, those who are carrying Mikoshi put up their Mikoshi as high as they can with louder signal words which is for synchronizing their steps. It might sound easy, but in fact Mikoshi are usually very heavy. The three Mikoshi shown in the upper photos weigh between 170 kg (374 lb) and 3750 kg (8260 lb). Thus each Mikoshi takes time to greet. It is the finale of the festival. Compared to festival carts, Mikoshi's action seems more polite. It may be because they are carrying gods.
I introduced various traditional festival carts (Dashi) of annual Hachioji Festibal in my previous post and wrote these festival carts are rivals each other. So their designs are all different and people on these carts compete each other in music play and performances, too, at Hachioji Festival. Then how will they vie in music? At Hachioji Festival, each Dashi cart has music instruments and the players on it, such as drums in various sizes, traditional flutes, and other traditional percussion instruments. Japanese traditional festival musics are called "Ohayashi", and actually people on each Dashi cart play "Ohayashi" with their own rhythm. When two or more than two Dashi carts meet on a intersection of National Rd. 20, which is the main street for Hachioji Festival as shown in the photos on the upper row, they start competing in playing musics. It is called "Buttsuke (hitting)" and one of the must-see-points of Hachioji Festival. Since each of them has own Ohayashi music, the "Buttsuke (hitting)" becomes like an ensemble of different rhythms. Thus, keeping own rhythm is the decisive in the competition. When one cart's musicians lost their rhythm influenced by other carts' musicians, it means they lost in the match. Of course it is not so serious competition. It is to make the festival more exciting. So after the music competition, people on carts praise each other and throw very thin paper tapes called "Spider net throwing tapes", or confetti called "Kamifubuki (paper blizzard)" from top of these Dashi carts as you can see in photos on the lower row. The ending of "Buttsuke" looks cool, too!! The video below shows a sample of Ohayashi music and wolf and fox performers at Hachioji Festival.
Annual Hachioji Festival is being held now between August 5th and 7th! It is one of the major traditional festivals in Tokyo area which people can enjoy seeing Mikoshi (portable shrines) and Dashi (decorated festival carts), typical traditional Japanese festival items as I introduced in my previous post yesterday. In Hachioji Festival, usually about 20 Dashi carts show up along National Road 20. As I wrote yesterday, Dashi carts joining this Hachioji Festival are maintained by small neighborhood communities called "Chonai-kai". Then the communities are competing each other in the festival. Please look at the photo above, I'm showing some of the Dashi carts with the neighborhood community's names. Non of them look same. They also vie in their festival music play and performances on their Dashi carts. Seeing competition of Dashi carts is definitely one of the biggest features of the festival! Which design do you like most?
Now many places are going to have summer festivals same as fireworks festivals which I have introduced in my previous posts! The annual Hachioji Festival will take place from this Friday to Sunday. There will be many traditional festival items and stalls along Rd.20 near Hachioji Station. What are traditional festival items? I'd like to introduce most common two items here. One is "Mikoshi" which is shown on the upper row of the photos and the other is "Dashi" which is shown on the lower row of the photos. Mikoshi are portable shrines. Each Mikoshi belongs to a Japanese Shinto shrine and it is used for carrying the god/gods of the shrine during festivals and ceremonies. (It is also called Omikoshi since the prefix "o" adds politeness/respect to a noun in Japanese language.) Mukoshi bears a structure of a shrine with a special shape of Shinto shrine gate called "Torii" as you can see in the photo in the middle of upper row. During non-festival times, offerings are placed in front of Mikoshi as shown in the upper left end photo. On the other hand, Dashi are decorated festival carts although the name can be different depending on the area. They also belong to shrines, but they are designed for festival's performances, so they always carry people. As you can see in the photos, there are drums on the cart for musicians and masked performers positioned in the front row. People can also stand on the roof to give directions to the people pulling the cart. The role of standing on the roof of Dashi would be a star position at festivals. Both Mikoshi and Dashi are usually maintained by a neighborhood community around the shrine they belong to. For example, in Hachioji downtown, there are small neighborhood communities called "Chonai-kai (town association)" in every few blocks and each community has at least one local shrine. The community people take care of the shrine and they carry Mikoshi and pull Dashi at Festivals. It is a traditional form of Japanese town and the city of Hachioji, which has a long history as an old post town, still maintain it. Although not all of the shrines have both Mikoshi and Dashi, for Hachioji Festival, all Mikoshi and Dashi in the downtown area will be on the National Rd.20 (Koshu-kaido). There will be a total of 21 Mikoshi and 19 Dashi this year! Even if you are just a visitor, you can join in to pull Dashi at Hachioji Festival. Some of the neighborhood communities are inviting people to pull Dashi together. It will be a fun experience!
I introduced the origin of Japanese fireworks festivals in my previous post. Japanese fireworks had improved a lot during Tokugawa family's Shogunate time (1603-1867). Because Japan was closed for international trade for most of the Shogunate time and was isolated from international community, the circumstance allowed Japanese fireworks to be developed into a unique style. The biggest feature would be the shape of the casing. Traditional Japanese fireworks casings look like cannon balls in various sizes. Contrary to Western fireworks casings which originally had a cylinder shape. Please look at the box on upper left hand side photo, the cut section of a fireworks casing shows layered spheres of small balls. The small balls are called "Hoshi (star)" and they are made of gunpowder. They spread to all directions equally in the air, and the fireworks look like a huge layered sphere as shown in the photo. If you are at a fireworks festival ground, you can really see a 3-D sphere. To descrive the size of fireworks casings people still use a traditional length unit, as in "It was Shaku-dama (1 shaku ball)" though we don't use the unit anymore. 1 shaku is 33 cm (1.08 foot), and so far the biggest fireworks casing would be 4 shaku size. 1 Shaku size fireworks casing would reach 330 m (1082 feet) high in the sky and blow up into 320 m (1050 feet) in diameter. It is really an exciting view but only big festivals can have such a big size fireworks. So, if you hear that a fireworks festival has a lot of Shaku-dama or even one 3 Shaku-dama, the festival must be a major one. Of course recent fireworks have more various shapes beside sphere types. As you can see in the photos, there are a dandelion shape, a ribbon shape, a palm tree shape and a heart shape. They were all taken at a fireworks festival, so you can find more different kinds in other festivals. In addition, a style named "Star Mine" is also a popular fireworks although it's not a different type of shape, "Star Mine" means a type of sequence. All other fireworks I introduced in this post, casings were set off individually, but for "Star Mine", several casings are set of in a quick succession as if drawing a design in the sky. It is shown on the lower right hand side photo. Every year something new types come out such as new colors and new shapes. It's also a fun part of watching fireworks festivals. I even saw an octopus shape and a squid shape fireworks this year!
