Over A 'Red Gate', You Can See Happy Hachikou Dog!

I have been writing about red color recently in my posts (on the September 21st and 27th). In the connection, actually there is a famous landmark called "Red Gate" in Tokyo. The gate was originally built for a premises of a Samurai lord, Maeda family, during Tokugawa shogunate era. However, after modern times it became a property of Tokyo University. Then it became so famous as a gate of Tokyo University, now the word itself is used as a common name of the University.

Last year, a new "sight to see" was added on the main campus (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo). It is a new statue of the "Hachikou dog", which is a historical royal dog that has became a model of the Hollywood movie "Hachi". 

There is already a statue of Hachikou in front of Shibuya Station that has been the most famous landmark of Shibuya for a long time(I have introduced it in my post previously on the October 11th in 2015). 

Although the Hachikou statue in front of Shibuya Station has been a very popular landmark and tourist spot, some people were saying that "Poor Hachikou, he is still waiting for his owner alone" because the statue dog is sitting alone there as actual Hachikou was waiting for his dead owner. Thus Tokyo University decided to build a new statue of Hachikou with his owne on campus and the statue was just finished last year.

Why Tokyo University built it? Actually his owner was a professor of Tokyo University's department of agriculture, and the professor Ueno died during his tenure of office. Then, now we can see happy figures of Hachikou and professor Ueno together on the Hongo campus of Tokyo University as you can see in the lower photos above. The statue was designed to represent the scene that Hachikou used to be welcoming his owner at Shibuya Station every evening.

Look at the Hachikou's smile! Finally he could meet his owner after 90 years. 

Sumo Wrestling Has Some Aspects Of Japanese Shinto Rituals?

In my previous post about babies' Sumo on the September 24th, I mentioned that Sumo Wrestling was originally started as a Japanese Shinto ritual for gods. The history of Sumo is really long and apparently some ancient earthenware having drawing of Sumo have found as excavations from the Kofun period (3rd-7th century) and it is said that the basic rules which we can see today were formed in the 8th century.

Since it was started as a ritual, wrestlers' manner and courtesy have been really important in Sumo, thus when a wrestler's attitude lost respects to gods and the opponent he will be accused of very severely. This kind of dignity is also required for all Sumo wrestlers to get higher ranks. In a sense Sumo wrestlers are not just athletes. 

Let's see outward appearances of Sumo which keep aspects of Japanese Shinto. As you can see in the upper left hand side photo above, the Sumo ring has a roof structure that looks alike Japanese Shinto shrines. Moreover, Yokozuna (the highest rank) wrestlers wear Shinto's sacred rope when they show their ring-entering performance(the thick white rope with papers hanging down in the lower right end photo), and they clap their hands with a big gesture just like worshiping at Shinto shrines. Also all wrestlers scatter salt before they have a match because salt is an item for purification in Japanese Shinto.

In addition, each Sumo wrestler stomp their legs up and down straddling the legs after they entered the ring for their match, in fact it is not only for a warming up because in ancient time it was believed that these big stomping can push over evil spirits. It has been one of the important functions for ritual Sumo. 

So, clearly it still keeps elements of offering performances for gods. When you have an opportunity to check Sumo competitions, you would be able to recognize these ritual actions and items there!

Babies Had Sumo Matches On The Autumnal Equinox Day In Hachioji City, Tokyo

In these days, Sumo wrestling is usually featured as "The National Sports of Japan", but originally it was started as a ritual for gods in ancient times. The matches were offering performances for gods in the early days. Thus, professional Sumo wrestling still has many aspects as a ritual in the manners and rules. 

Also, as the original style of Sumo, Sumo-related rituals has been kept at many local shrines all over Japan. Today, I'd like to introduce an annual local event called "Cry Sumo" which is held in Koyasu Shrine located near Hachioji Station. This event has been well-known locally, so, on last Wednesday, autumnal equinox day, many families visited this shrine and applied to the Sumo even in rain.

A you can see in the photos, the contestants of this "Cry Sumo" are babies. Actually it is a Shinto ritual to pray babies' healthy growth, therefore many parents who have babies come to join this Sumo to get a blessing to their child. 

What is the rules of "Cry Sumo"? At each match, about 5-6 adult Sumo wrestlers line up side by side and each wrestler holds a baby on the wooden stage on the shrine ground. Then two  Gyoji (Sumo wrestling referee) try to make the babies cry, by yelling at the babies like "You cry!" as shown in the photo (1). However, please don't think "Oh, poor babies!".

For these Cry Sumo matches, babies who cry quicker and louder would be the winner. It is said that gods would hear babies' crying voices and give them a blessing. So cry louder would be better. After winners were decided, a Shinto priest pray for each baby's health with a traditional golden hummer and a shrine stuff put a red stamp for good luck on each baby's forehead as you can see in the photos (2)-(4). 

Apparently more than 700 babies joined this Cry Sumo event this year. Wish the cute Sumo wrestlers healthy growth and happy life! 

Let's Enjoy Amazing Traditional Japanese Craftworks And Share The Photos!

While traveling Japan, one of the disappointing things might be most museums are prohibiting taking photos of their exhibits. 

So I'd like to introduce an interesting special exhibition of traditional Japanese craft-works. "Amazing Japanese Traditional Art During Meiji Period" is being held at the Art Museum of Tokyo University Of Art. Taking photos of the exhibits is allowed in this exhibition although there are few exceptions. The museum is even encouraging people to share the photos through social networking systems.

This exhibition shows various traditional Japanese crafts during Meiji period (1868-1912). Meiji period is considered as the earliest modern times of Japan. It started right after Tokugawa shogunate government collapsed and Samurai time ended. In the exhibition, We can see many kinds of unique and original craft-works in those days.

One of the interesting crafts are "Jizai-okimono" which means "decorative objects with freely movable joints". I'm showing an example of it on the middle row in the photos above. The snake was made of metal but many of small metal rings like shard are assembled to make the shape, then the snake can wriggle as if it is a real snake. Craftsmen of this art pursued realism and they made various animal objects such as crows, eagles, dragons, and even shrimps with movable joints just like real creatures.

There is a Youtube movie introducing how smooth it can move (It is a frame by frame recording movie).


Actually there is a reason why this kind of art were made a lot at that time. The skill were originally for making Samurai armor. During Samurai era, the skill to make metal joint that can move smoothly like a living creature was very important to make good armor. After Shogunate government was ended and Japan got the first modern government, metal craftsmen still had kept the great skill, then they started to create these objects as decorations. Nowadays I'm not sure if there is any craftsmen who are still making this craft.

You can see more different types of crafts in the exhibition as shown in the photos on the bottom row. It seems like these craftsmen were trying to see how much their work can be elaborate. Each pieces were made by amazing skills. It would be worth to see and very interesting. 

The exhibition continues until October 31st. The museum is located in right outside of Ueno Park, Tokyo. 

Japanese Traditional Rouge Made From A Flower Called 'Benibana (Red-Flower)

In the connection I introduced one kind of beautiful red flower we can enjoy in fall in my previous post on the September 14th, I'd like to introduce a flower called "Benibana (Red-flower)" today. The flower is shown in the lower middle photo above. 

It doesn't look very red against the name. The reason why it got the name "Red-flower" would come from a fact that this flower has been one of the major ingredients for red color material since ancient times in Japan. Especially for cosmetic usage, the red color made from this flower had been the most expensive rouge that a lot of women had had a longing for putting on.

Actually there is one company that is still producing this traditional Japanese rouge even now although traditional rouges became almost extinct. They are now replaced with lipsticks made from chemical ingredients. The amount of the traditional rouge would be too small to find in shops nowadays. However you can see and try it at the manufacturing company's headquarter office in Minato-ku, Tokyo, because they have a small museum inside of their headquarter building.

You might think the traditional rouge doesn't have much color variation since it is made from only Benibana (Red-flower). In fact the line-up of it has a variety of different sizes and containers only. The color material itself is just one kind, but still you can enjoy all the colors in the color-sample shown on the left hand side photo. actually the color on lips can be changed depending on the layers of the rouge. In other word, people can make stronger colors by putting it on many times. 

Then, how strong color can be made on lips with the rouge? The deep pink color on the bottom of the color-sample is not the final state. It can go much further. Interestingly, when the color was put so many times, it will get a metallic green color as you can see in the lower right hand side photo. To tell the truth, the metallic color is the original color of the rouge when you open the container. The rouge is water-soluble, so people need to wet their lip-brush with water and make a solution of the color when they put it on their lips. After the color was put many times and got dry, it becomes the metallic green color again even on lips.

Have people ever used the metallic green color (which is called "Buprestid Beetle Color" in Japan) on their lips actually? Yes. Apparently during Samurai era some people who were edgy of fashion trend enjoyed using the color. However, it costed a lot, because to make the color the rouge needs to be put on so many times. It is like one small container can be finished at one time. 

Now you would understand why it was the most expensive rouge. What's more, it requires so many steps for the manufacturing process. As you can see the ingredient flowers in the photos above, they are almost yellow. The red constituent in the coloring matters is only 1% and 99% of the coloring matters is yellow. Therefore unbelievably huge amount of the flower petals are needed to make the rouge. That also makes it very expensive. The museum inside of the company building shows how the red color has been made out of the flower petals with their traditional way.

You can buy this rouge at the headquarter office. The smallest size costs 9000 Yen (about $89 with today's rate), but be careful if you try the green metallic color on your lips the price will be just for one time use!

Fall Flowers' Season Started! How About Going To See Japanese Spider Lilies?

Japanese spider lily, “Higan-Bana” is one of the typical fall flowers in Japan. It has been growing all over Japan for long time, but it probably came from overseas because the genetics of this flowers all over Japan are identical. It is thought that one bulb was imported initially and was propagated by dividing the bulbs.

It seems that the climate in Japan well suited for this flower, so today people can enjoy seeing this flower growing abundantly in many places. Kinchakuda in Hidaka City, Saitama prefecture is one of the famous places shown in the photos above and about five million Higan-Bana flowers bloom every fall. Between September 17th to October 2nd will be the festival of Higan-bana, there.

Actually the name “Higan-Bana” means “Flower of The Other Shore”, in other word it is “Flower of Afterlife World”. Moreover it has many other names such as “Heaven’s flower”, “Dead people’s flower”, “Hell’s flower” and “Ghost’s flower”, so some people may not enjoy this flower just because of the ominous name.

Why do the names have unpleasant meaning? Probably one of the reasons came from a well-known fact that this flower is actually a dangerous plant. It is a poisonous plant with an alkaloid so that it can be deadly.

However, for just Hanami (seasonal flower viewing), it is harmless and provides us a fantastic view of fall. 

An Autumn Evening, Amazing Color Change At The Sunset in West Tokyo

Now the sky is becoming clearer as the summer is ending becauses humidity is getting lower. It seems as if the sky becomes higher in fall. There is an old adage talking about fall season, "Autumn with the sky clear and blue, and horses growing stout".  

These Two Photos were taken at the same day while the sun was going down. The setting sun dyed the sky into different colors chronologically and even within 10 minutes the color completely changed as you can compare the photos above. Can you tell which photo was taken earlier?

Actually, the photo on the left hand side is the later photo. After that, the sky was getting darker blue color with a hint of royal purple color. Then the night fell. Probably Mt. Fuji also enjoyed the beautiful backgrounds!

What Is The Traditional Performance Art Of Puppet Play, "Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo"?

I introduced a various designs of manhole covers in Japan in my previous post on the 9th and in the post I showed manhole covers in Hachioji City, Tokyo, which have a design of a traditional performance art called "Hachioji Kuruma-Ningyo (means puppet with wheels)". Then what is it?

It is a kind of puppet show although it's not for kids as most puppet shows in other countries are generally for kids. It is the theater using elaborate puppets as shown in the photos above. It is similar to "Bunraku" which is more widely-known another puppet play designated as Japanese traditional art by the government. Since old times these kind of puppet plays have been popular amusements for adults same as other dramas played by human actors.

As compared to the condition that a "Bunraku"'s doll needs three people to control, Hachioji Kuruma-Ningyo's doll can be controlled by one person, that would be one of the big differences between them. As the name shows, with Hachioji Kuruma-Ningyo each puppeteer sit on a box with three wheels (shown in upper left end photo) , and attach his/her both legs to the puppet's legs, so the puppeteer can move puppet's legs alone. Then the puppeteer can make his/her both hands free even when the puppet is walking or jumping, and he/she can control the puppet's head and arms with his/her hands.

Apparently Kuruma-Ningyo style puppets was invented in Saitama prefecture and spread quickly during late Samurai era. It has been handed down in only Hachioji City until today and now the troupe is showing their performance even in overseas countries. Perhaps, you may be able to find their performances in your country!

In addition, the website of Hachioji Kuruma-Ningyo troupe is here.

Japanese Manhole Covers Have A Great Variety Of Designs!

I introduced the manhole covers' design in Hinohara Village which has a message of Emvironental Protection in the previous post on my another blog, but actually it is common for manhole covers having designs in Japan. Each local government put some designs on manhole covers within their jurisdiction, and usually they use the design representing the area.

For example, in Numazu City the design (shown in the upper left end photo) shows Mt. Fuji over the see because the city is located on a peninsula in Sizuoka Prefecture where Mt. Fuji is located, so the city has a great view of Mt.Fuji over the see. The design on the manhole cover is what they are proud of. 

In the same way, manhole covers in Yokohama City (on second to the left end of upper row) show Yokohama Bay area and Yokohama Bay Bridge. Also the covers in Oume City (on the upper right end) show Japanese plum (Ume) flowers and a bush warbler, because the area is a famous product place for Japanese plum (Ume) fruits. Although some local governments are using many different designs but usually a city or a village use one same design for their manhole covers. 

Sometimes we can find color painted manhole covers as shown on the lower low. It's prettier and we can see the design more clearly. The set of non-painted and painted manhole cover on the lower left hand side is Hachioji City's. It is showing a local traditional art of puppet show called "Hachioji Kuruma-Ningyou (it means puppet with wheels)" handed down in Hachioji.

When you are traveling Japan, please check the manhole covers in the places you visited. It would be additional fun for your travel and you can see something that is famous in the area from the cover designs!

A Nice Local Activity Held At A Small Shrine In Takao Area, West Tokyo

In the connection I wrote about a historical site in Takao area (Hachioji City) in my previous post, I'd like to introduce a nice local community event in the same area. A small mountain near Takao Station on JR-Chuo-Line/Keio-line is designated as a green conservation zone by Hachioji-City. On the top of the mountain there is a tiny shrine called “Asakawa Konpira Shrine”. It is one kind of Japanese Shinto-Shrine.

Since the late 1980s, a monthly community activity named “Kompira-Picnic” has been held there on the first Sunday of every month (except August) although "picnic" is not a traditional Japanese activity. It would be very rare as an activity at an old Shinto-shrine. Moreover, it is an open event for everybody, to join it people need neither registration to the group nor reservation.

However there is only one requirement for the Kompira-Picnic which is "Bring your own food and drinks and share with others". Despite that, you are always welcome if you go there in the afternoon around lunch time. This picnic activity has been getting international people's attention and almost every time there are some foreign people as you can see in the photos. So People use both English and Japanese at the picnic.

At one time the picnic became quite popular and the shrine was full of people on every first Sunday, but unfortunately the number of participants has decreased in recent years. However, there are still many regulars and people enjoy talking and having a nice time with lots of good food and drinks. Of course tourists can also join this picnic. It's a fun activity! 

Introducing Hachioji Castle Ruins From The 16th Century in Hachioji City, Tokyo

Hachioji Castle was a kind of fort castle built on Mt. Fukasawa (near current Takao town, Hachioji city) in the 1580s, which was during Japanese Warring State Period.  A Samurai lord Ujiteru Hojo built it. 

Hojo family had been a powerful Samurai lord family until the 16th century. Their main castle was Odawara Castle, which was located in current Odawara City, Kanagawa prefecture (The castle was rebuilt and it is a popular tourist spot now). Ujiteru's oldest brother took over the main castle and Ujiteru was protecting the north part of their territory. 

As you can see the photo of a diorama around Hachioji Castle on the left hand side photo, the whole mountain was used for the castle, therefore the location was naturally impregnable. Ujiteru believed his castle was safe against enemies. However, just few years later it fell in only one day during Ujiteru's absence. Most of Ujiteru's people died at the defeat and the castle buildings were completely destroyed.

Perhaps because of the tragic fact, the place is also known as a ghosts' spot now. However, it is said that the rumors of ghosts started to spread after modern times, especially while a collage was located near the castle. Generally speaking, young kids tend to like such a scary story and they probably took a part to spread the rumors of ghosts.

Actual surroundings of Hachioji Castle is beautiful nature and there is no ghostly atmosphere. There is even a nice guidance center built several years ago as shown in the upper right hand side photo. What's more, there is a very old shrine called "Hachioji Shirne" near the main Bailey of the castle on top of Mt. Fukasawa and apparently this shrine's name was the origin of the place name "Hachioji". So Hachioji Castle Ruins is really an important historical spot for Hachioji.

Special One Day Event on Sep 25th in Hachioji City Tokyo!

I'd like to introduce a special one day event. It will take place at Hachioji Castle Ruins on coming September 25th (Sun)! 
You can wear Samurai armor replicas (adult and kids sizes available) and actually walk into the castle ruins. It's a great chance to enjoy the feeling of a Samurai!

Website of the host organization (Hachioji Castle Mitsu Uroko Club) is here (mostly in Japanese)
Would you like to apply now? Click here for sending a mail!