Traditional Good-Luck Item, Daruma Dolls Market in West Tokyo

Today, on January 28th, annual "Daruma Dolls Market (Daruma Ichi)" is held at Takahata-Fudo Temple in Hino City. "Daruma" is one of the traditional Japanese good-luck doll modeling a legendary Indian monk in 6th century.  Since January 28th is the first fete-day of a year for Fudo-Myouou which is a guardian god of Buddhism and the temple worships the Fudo-Myouou as the name "Takahata-Fudo" tells, the temple holds this traditional market every year.

As you can see the photos, Daruma dolls are painted round dolls, which can right itself when knocked over, and there is a traditional custom with this doll. The dolls' eyes are both painted white and don't have pupils at shops. When people buy a doll they draw a pupil in one of the white eyes, and make a wish. When the wish come true, people draw the other pupil and complete the doll's eyes. therefore this dolls are often practiced for some short-term wishes such as entering schools or wining a election. 

Traditional color of Daruma dolls are red. However recently they have more color variety as in the lower right hand side photo. It is said that different colors are for different kind of wishes, like blue Darumas are for business wishes, green Darumas are for good health, and pink Darumas are for good romance.

When people buy it, some of the Daruma shops people would return 5 Yen as an additional discount. Please don't feel disappointed though it is just 5 Yen (5 cents) discount! Actually it is also a traditional custom. Since they are selling good-luck items and 5 yen is a homonym for "Good Fate" in Japanese, it's a wish for customers. 

As you can see in the lower left hand side photo, it looks like a kind of lucky charm. Perhaps the 5 Yen coin will help you to make your dream come true!

Wolves' familiy Is Welcome at Musashi Mitake Shrine in West Tokyo

Regarding Musashi Mitake Shrine, which I introduced on the 24th, there is a unique characteristic of them. It is not about the shrine is guarded by wolves. Actually this shrine is not only shrine that worships wolves since wolves were generally considered as a beneficial creature in Japan. They hunt plant-eating animals which give damage to people's vegetable field and woods. So old-time Japanese people thought they were good animals.

Then what is the unique point of Musashi Mitake Shrine? It probably started recent years, but the shrine welcome pet animals especially dogs since dogs are a family of wolves. The cable cars going up to the mountain made "Pets Area" in the cars and people can take their dogs without putting them into a cage or a carry bag as shown in the upper center photo.

Also at the entrance of the shrine property, the shrine has a washbasin as same as all other shrines. It is to wash visitors' hands and mouth to cleanse before making wish. As the photo upper right hand side is showing, the shrine prepare a water bucket for visitors' pets, too.

Pets are not only being able to enter the shrine ground but also pet owners can ask the Shinto priests to pray for their pets' health. The lower right hand side photo is showing a traditional Shinto purification item called "Katashiro(Substitutional paper doll)". It usually has a human shape and people write their name on it when they ask Shinto priests to pray for them. Shinto priest will practice a ritual to burn the paper doll and the doll would carry away their health problems or bad lucks. The Musashi Mitake Shrine provides the service for dogs, too. So people write their dogs' name on the dog paper doll and ask a ritual to pray for their dogs' health there.

Moreover the votive wooden tablet, "Ema", in the lower center photo is a usual Shinto item to make a wish. People buy the tablet at shrines and write their wishes on the backside and hang it to present to gods. The tablet "Ema" there has a design of the guardian wolf and many people write some wishes about their pets. The shrine sells lucky charms for dogs , too.

Thus, this shrine is a dog friendly shrine and it would be a rare characteristic for Shinto shrines. In fact many people are visiting there with their dogs and it seems this place is now popular among dog owners.

A Shrine Guarded by Wolves, Musashi Mitake Shrine, in West Tokyo

I'd like to continue to introduce Mitake area more. As I wrote in my previous post on the 22nd, there is an old Shinto Shrine, Musashi Mitake Shrine, on Mt. Mitake. According to a Japanese myth the origin of the shrine history goes back to BC. Also at the shrine an episode during BC has been passed down. When a legendary hero, Yamatotakeru, got lost in Mt.Mitake a white wolf of the mountain came out and guided him. Since then wolves in this mountain became guardian Gods here called "Ooguchi-Magami" (literal translation of it is "God With Big Mouth") and this shrine has been known as a shrine guarded by wolves, although Japanese wolves became extinct since the early 20th century.

Mt.Mitake is 3050ft (929m) high and there is a cable car going up to the mountain as in the photo shown in lower right hand side. After getting off the cable car, it looks like there is a small village inside of the mountain as shown in the lower photos. The shrine has been very famous since old times, and many people climbed up the mountain and stayed near the shrine to pray when there was no modern transportation system. Thus there still are many pilgrims' lodgings around the shrine in addition to souvenir shops and restaurants.

After going through the lodgings and shops area, there is a long series of ascending steps. On the top of the steps is the Musashi Mitake Shrine. You can have a great view from the place and you will see two solemn statues of the guardian wolves are on the both side of the top of the steps unlike most other Shinto shrines as showing in the upper photos above.

Casual Early Spring Hiking Around Mt.Mitake, in West Tokyo

It had been unusually warm winter in greater Tokyo area until last week.  The high temperature was near 68F (20C) which is a usual spring temperature in Japan. Even some of the early spring flowers such as Japanese plum flowers in the upper left hand side photo, or Wintersweet flowers (Roubai in Japanese) in the upper right hand side photo started to bloom.

These photos were taken around Mt. Mitake in Oume City, Tokyo. Although it is within Tokyo, this area is full of nature, and the upper Tamagawa River, which is one of the major rivers in Tokyo, goes through this area, this place became popular for fishing and kayaking. Also there are nice trails along the river.

Usually people in Tokyo area would say that January is the coldest month and it wouldn't be the best season for hiking. However, until the snow last week, the hiking felt as if going on a nice early spring hike. 

The upper center photo is the station building for Mitake station. It has a nice traditional structure. Actually Mt. Mitake has been known as a sacred mountain since old times and there is a famous old Japanese Shinto shrine, Musashi Mitake Shrine, on top. The station was built originally in 1929 as the closest station to visit the shrine. The building was chosen as one of the 100 best station buildings in Kanto Region (includes 7 prefectures around Tokyo) in 1999.

Are There any unique local food around Mt.Fuji?

Trying special local food is one of the most enjoyable things when we travel. Since Japan consists of islands spreading vertically from north to south, the condition of climate and geography has lots of diversity throughout the country. Thus almost any area in Japan has some local special products, dishes, or cooking styles.

Then, are there any "local special" food around Mt. Fuji? Of course there are several very famous local dishes as in Fuji-no-miya fried noodle, Yoshida Udon-noodle, and Houtou (a kind of thick Udon-noodle hot pot). However, today I'd like to introduce a local style grill we can find in this area.

The lower photos above were taken at a local restaurant near Kawaguchiko-Lake in Mt. Fuji area. The grilling way may not look special or different from usual grill, but actually the hot plates in the photos were made from a big lava rock from Mt.Fuji. This style of grill is called "Yougan Yaki (Lava Grill)" and there are several restaurants which provide "Lava Grill" dishes in the area.

Apparently lava rocks generate infrared when they are heated therefore they are good for grilling. I'm not sure if it scientifically true or not, but surely it is an interesting local food especially in the area around a volcano!

Mt.Fuji Photo Tour For The First Dream in 2016

When you can't see the direct link window, please click this link below to jump to the album. The direct link may not work with cellphones and iPads, I'm sorry for the inconvenience!
https://picasaweb.google.com/106119070780363700711/MtFujiPhotoTour?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPz-9pWToIzIkwE&feat=directlink
 
Happy New Year!
How is your January 1st in 2016? Traditionally Japanese people say if you see a lucky symbol in your dream on the first night of a new year, the year will be a good year. The first night is usually the night on January 1st.

There are top 3 lucky symbols for the first dream of a new year in Japan. The best lucky symbol is Mt.Fuji, the second best is hawks, and the third best is eggplants. Therefore I'd like to introduce a photo album of Mt.Fuji to give you a strong impression of Mt.Fuji for your first dream in 2016.

Hope you can dream Mt.Fuji tonight!

Also please keep reading my blogs this year! Thank you!

Mt.Fuji Toll Road Has A Unique Function To Play Music

As I introduced yesterday, there is a big toll road to go up to Mt.Fuji 5th Station for climbing. The road is called "Fuji Subaru Line" and even after the climbing season ends people can still go through the road by cars or buses as long as snow doesn't block the road. 

Interestingly, the road has a section with a special road surface that can make a musical sound. The unevenness on the surface of the road together with frictions generated by moving car tires makes music. 

There is an information board on the road and it says when cars run at a speed limit of 50km/h (30 MPH), tires will make musical sound and people can enjoy it. The music is a part of a Japanese children's song about Mt.Fuji. I recorded it and posted here, so please click the Youtube link above to listen.

Actually, I found out the music is not so clear when I drove there at exact 50km/h (30 MPH ), but at a little bit faster speed, the sound became clearer. However if people want to listen to the music, they can't go over the speed limit too much. Therefore it is a nice and interesting way to prevent speeding. 

Where Would Be Better To Have A Good View Of Mt Fuji?

The image of Mt.Fuji for most people is probably the beautiful symmetrical shape with a flat top. Then where should we go to have a better view of Mt. Fuji? Should we go close to the mountain as much as we can?

Actually most Japanese would recommend a place little far away to have a great view of the mountain although a couple of big roads are laid out to the 5th station of Mt.Fuji which is the major starting point of the climbing routes. People can go there by cars and buses easily. The climbing routes of Mt.Fuji are closed between October and June, but even after the climbing season ends people can still drive to some of the stations connecting to the 5th station. The stations are directly below the top of Mt.Fuji but Mt.Fuji is too huge to see properly from there and trees block the view. 

The photo on upper left hand side is taken from the 4th station on one of the the big roads. With the photo it is difficult to tell if the mountain has a symmetrical shape and a flat top as the typical image of Mt.Fuji. 

From the 4th station, when you look out, you would be able to see the surroundings which is shown in the upper right hand side photo. In fact Mt.Fuji is surrounded by a flat land and isolated from other mountain ranges. It is one of the unique characteristics of Mt.Fuji. Though it is a high mountain with a height of 12,388 ft (3776 m) and radius of about 18 miles (30 km), the area is almost flat and includes 5 lakes. Therefore, if we go to the mountains or some higher spots on the other side of the flat area, we can have a great view of Mt.Fuji in its entire shape.

The lower photo is taken from the top of Mt.Tenjou which is located on the lakeside of Kawaguchiko-Lake, one of the 5 lakes around Fuji. Mt.Fuji is showing its whole beautiful symmetrical shape with a flat top as in famous pictures and drawings of Mt.Fuji.

In addition, there is an amusement park in the flat surroundings of Mt.Fuji and on the top of the roller coaster is also known as a great place to see Mt.Fuji. However, it would be only for those who love roller coasters and can relax at the top.

For reference, I added a map below of Mt.Fuji area and the spot I took the photo showing the entire image of Mt.Fuji.

A Mini Virtual Trip of Momiji-Gari (Autumn Foliage Hunting) in West Tokyo

Leaves of both Japanese maple trees and ginkgo trees have turned their color beautifully in Tokyo area. It would be the best time now to enjoy the gorgeous red and yellow color combination. 
Therefore I'd like to take you to a mini virtual trip of "Momiji-Gari (Autumn Foliage Hunting)" which is a traditional Japanese custom I introduced in a previous post last October.
Hope you will enjoy the photo and also the movie below!

A Movie Monster "GODZILLA" Appeared in Shinjuku, Tokyo

These photos are taken at Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Kabuki-cho is a very busy area filled by lots of restaurants, pubs, and amusement spots, and actually the area has been a notorious block for malicious pubs and shops which charge people exorbitant price.

However the administration is trying to clean up the area and many redevelopment projects has been on-going.  Especially this year, 2015, a new business complex with a movie theater and a hotel was built in Kabuki-cho and an actual-size GODZILLA's head on top of it. 
Apparently the GODZILLA's head can make GODZILLA sound, moreover the mouth can breath out smoke.  It is a kind of show provided by the hotel in the building complex. 

GODZILLA was originally a Japanese movie monster, but now he is well-known internationally since two GODZILLA movies were made in U.S.A. ( GODZILLA in 1998, and GODZILLA in 2014). Actually the history of GODZILLA movies is pretty long. It's been more than 60 years and over 30 GODZILLA movies were created including the two American movies. 

For the past 60 years, computer graphics technology has been improved a lot and the image of recent GODZILLA movies looks very real. Yet I would personally recommend the very first GODZILLA in 1954 as the best GODZILLA movie. It was made about 10 years after the end of World War Ⅱ, so the fear of weapons of mass destruction and radioactivity feels real in the movie though the image was not high quality.

In the first movie GODZILLA was a tragic monster mutated by radioactive pollution. Since the first movie he was loved by people and the movie company kept making GODZILLA movies. As a consequence, he became a monster whom Japanese feel very friendly and are familiar with. Now, he became a new landmark in Shinjuku. Perhaps, this can be considered as a happy ending for GODZILLA.