Do You Know There Is A Ghibuli Studio Movie Based On Modern History Of West Tokyo?

Studio Ghibuli is a famous Japanese animation company which is now well-known internationally. Many of their movies are showing beautiful nature which the directors referred to views in Japan. What's more, West Tokyo area was used as the settings for some of them. To be specific, the movie “Pom Poko (1994, directed by Isao Takahata)” was created based on the modern history of Tama area of West Tokyo. 

During Japanese high-rate economic growth time in 1960s, There was a big project of housing development came up on a part of Tama area which spreading over Hachioji City, Tama City and Machida City partially. It was to cope with the population growth in the center of Tokyo at that time. The land was originally a typical semi-natural area called “Satoyama” that has a good mix of farm fields and nature.

The movie "Pom Poko" is about animals living in the forest, specifically Japanese raccoon dogs (Tanuki), and how they tried to fight against the human being's large-scale development. The idea of using the animal came from the fact that people in old times believed Japanese raccoon dogs and foxes had some magical power to change themselves into other shapes. It's a really good movie to see the situations at that time and think back to city developments include mass constructions. Worth to watch!

The housing area developed with the project was named "Tama New-town". The name got faded in these years, but the area is still one of the major residential areas in Tokyo. 

Inside of the "Tama New-town" area, there is a local park called Nagaike Park located between Horinouchi Station and Minami Osawa Station in Hachioji City. The park includes a couple of ponds and thickets that are reminiscent of the area before the mass housing development in 1960s.

Actually, the Nature Center at the park has some original paintings of the movie and a stuffed Japanese raccoon dog (Tanuki) as you can see in the photos above. The paintings are displayed whenever there are no special exhibits. You can enjoy the beautiful works drawing views of “Satoyama”, old-fashioned semi-nature area, there!

The Sun Sometimes Enjoys Mt.Fuji's Slope At Sunset!

From Hachioji City, Tokyo, this phenomenon can be seen few days after "Diamond Fuji" which I introduced on January 9th!

'Diamond Fuji' Requires Perfect Weather

"Diamond Fuji" is a well-known phenomenon in Japan. It is caused by the sun goes down right top of Mt.Fuji at sunset. When it reaches on the top, the sun sparkles like a diamond. Of course it depends on the weather and it can be seen only with very clear sky.

In Hachioji City, Tokyo, "Diamond Fuji" is available in many places between December and January. One of the most popular spots to see it would be the top of Mt.Takao, but you can try to watch it from the downtown, too.

Since this phenomenon requires a perfect weather condition, it is not easy to get a good chance to take photos. This year I tried to record a video of it, but there were thin clouds around Fuji although it looked like a good enough weather, then the sun light was breaking up when it goes down onto the top of Fuji.

If I succeeded it, the view should have been like the photo below. I luckily got a good chance to take the photo several years ago. I hope I can have a perfect condition and succeed to record it next year!

A Special Exhibition About Princess Matsu Was Held During The New Year Celebration

During the first week after New Year, a special exhibition about "Samurai Princess Matsu" was held at Shinshoin Temple in Hachioji City, Tokyo. I kept introducing about Princess Matsu on my website since last April. As I wrote in my previous post on April 10th and April 28th in 2016, she is a daughter of a very powerful Samurai Lord during Japanese Warring States Period in 16th Century.

Since last year, 2016, was the 400th Anniversary of her death, a special festival was held in the April and an old image of her, which was carved in about 1715 and was treasured at Shinsoin Temple, was carried out from the temple building and made a round trip as a parade to Shingenin Temple where Princess Matsu became the Buddhist nun after her family was destroyed.

The image had not been open to the public until last year, so a lot of people came to the 400th Anniversary Festival to see her image. Then, the Shinshoin Temple decided to exhibit the image again during the New Year's celebration this year.

The image was created after about 100 years after her death, but it is said that the image tells her appearance well. When I visited there, there were still New Year's decoration at the temple gate and a small Shinto shrine on the temple ground had Traditional New Year's offering rice cake inside. In the front room many photos of the 400th Anniversary Festival were displayed, then in the inner room the image of Princess Matsu was sitting quietly as you can see in the photos on the lower row above.

The size of the image was almost actual size of human being and the eyes were made of glass which gives her eyes a real sparkle. Her face had a peaceful look mixed with grace and dignity. Many local people were visiting there and putting the palm of their hands together in prayer. In the room there were many historical materials related to her such as her father's portraits, letters addressed to her, and her portrait painted in modern times. It seemed as if Princess Matsu has been sitting there surrounded by her belongings and watching over Hachioji all the time for these four hundred years.

Apparently the temple people are now thinking about having the same kind of exhibition next year during New Year's celebration. Let's hope we can have a chance to meet her again!

How About Asking A Robot To Tell Your Luck For 2017?

The left-hand side photo and the movie above are showing a "Omikuji vending machine" that can be found in Japanese temples and shrines. I wrote about  "Hatsu-moude (The First Visit for Prayer)" yesterday on this blog. When people visit a shrine or a temple for "Hatsu-moude", many of them like to try "Omikuji". "Omikuji" is lottery-style traditional fortune-telling papers. When you pick up a piece of folded paper from a box or a tray at a temple/shrine, there is a message from Japanese gods regarding your luck.  

It is a very common and fun activity that costs only a few hundred-yen (1 or 2 dollars), so many people try it when they visit a shrine or a temple especially for "Hatsu-moude". Usually you can buy "Omikuji" at booths of shrines and temples as same as their lucky charms, but in these days some shrines and temples have installed "Omikuji vending machines" as you can see in the left hand side photo and movie.

In the "Omikuji vending machines", actually a small robot will pick up a fortune-telling paper for you after you insert coins to the machine.  The robot is representing traditional "Shishi-mai (Shishi-dance)" style. "Shishi-mai" is a traditional Japanese custom, which you can see in the right hand side photo, to give a blessing to people. A person wears a imaginary creature, Shishi's mask, and play the role at festivals and new year celebrations. Shishi dances and sometimes bite people. It is said that if you are bitten on your head by Shishi, you would stay healthy for the year. Shishi can bring good health to people.

For the "Omikuji vending machines", Shishi-robots bite an Omikuji paper and bring it to you. However it can be a bad luck because "Omikuji" papers usually contain "big luck, luck, small luck and bad luck. When you try Omikuji vending machines, hope the Shishi-robot brings a good luck to you!

The photos and movies were taken at Ueno Kanei-ji temple Kiyomizu-kannon-do in Taito-ku Tokyo, and Koyasu Shrine in Hachioji city Tokyo.

Happy New Year! Did You Already Make A Wish For This Year?

A Happy New Year!!
Traditionally, in the beginning of a year Japanese people visit a Shinto shrine or a Buddhism temple to make a wish for the New Year as a resolution for the year. It is called "Hatsu-moude" and it means "The First Visit for Prayer". 

It might sounds funny, but for this "Hatsu-moude (The First Visit for Prayer) ", most Japanese don't care if they go to a Shinto shrine or a Buddhism temple. I guess it is an act of traditional customs rather than religious visit. People just pick up one place where they want to visit.

There are many major shrines and temples which are popular as tourist spots. These places are packed with people for "Hatsu-moude (The First Visit for Prayer) " every year. It would be fun to visit one of these famous places as an New Year's event, but also visiting a local small shrine or temple is nice for a quiet peaceful New Year's celebration. 

For this year I visited a small local shrine located in Takao-town, Hachioji-city, Tokyo. On January 2nd, shrine maiden's dance performances and a special kind of traditional flute performance took place at the shrine and people in the neighborhood enjoyed them as they visited for "Hatsu-moude (The First Visit for Prayer) ". The photos above are showing the performances and one of the Shinto priests there. 

Hope you will enjoy reading my blogs and seeing many places and things in Japan in this year!