The Aizu region is renowned for the various crafts taking place, such as the production of lacquer ware. Many properties in this area (Kitakata) have specialized buildings called kura that are used to protect and store valuable items.
Monday, 17 September 2012
Mishima Community Centre
September 15, 2012 our second stop was the local community centre selling crafts of grass weaving and paulownia wood carving. The paulownia tree has quite beautiful purple flowers in spring and is extremely fast growing producing a light weight wood. The tree can be cut down and it will replace itself. Upstairs above the craft store there were numerous people learning the art of grass weaving. It is incredibly painstaking work and I suspect, given the prices, that their labour was worth less than 100¥ an hour.
The Aizu region is renowned for the various crafts taking place, such as the production of lacquer ware. Many properties in this area (Kitakata) have specialized buildings called kura that are used to protect and store valuable items.
The Aizu region is renowned for the various crafts taking place, such as the production of lacquer ware. Many properties in this area (Kitakata) have specialized buildings called kura that are used to protect and store valuable items.
Kiyoshi Saito Art Gallery
On September 15, 2012 we were up at 5am and on the road to meet up with Kenji-San and Etsuko-San. The three girls got in Shigeko-san's car and the boys piled into Kenji-san's car and the gossip began as we drove through the mountains to Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima-ken (prefecture). Our first stop was at Yanaizu, Okuaizu. We parked overlooking the Tadami River and across from the Enzo-ji Tera or temple. Kenji-San is determined to keep two of us in Japan and told us we have to come to the same site for January 7, which is when the Hadaka "matsuri" or festival takes place.
We went into the Kiyosho Saito art gallery across the parking lot. The artist is famous for his woodblock prints which are unique in their use of the specific wood grains to produce varied effects in his prints.
Click on Yanaizu Okuaizu to see photographs on Picasa.
We went into the Kiyosho Saito art gallery across the parking lot. The artist is famous for his woodblock prints which are unique in their use of the specific wood grains to produce varied effects in his prints.
Click on Yanaizu Okuaizu to see photographs on Picasa.
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Renkon Dinner
We have met many nice people in this country, but my favourite person is still the one who cooked a delicious "renkon" or lotus rhizome (root) dinner on the evening of September 10, 2012. In the Kasumi grocery store on the way home on the 9th Shigeko-San pointed out to Yayoi that the "renkon" was a little cheaper than previously so Yayoi immediately rushed over to get some.
The "natto" is fermented soy beans, the "gohan" is the white rice, the "ocha" is the green tea. In the plate the round vegetable with holes is "renkon", the other vegetable is "nasu" or eggplant and the meat is salted "sake" or salmon.
Click on Renkon Dinner to see photographs on Picasa.
The "natto" is fermented soy beans, the "gohan" is the white rice, the "ocha" is the green tea. In the plate the round vegetable with holes is "renkon", the other vegetable is "nasu" or eggplant and the meat is salted "sake" or salmon.
Click on Renkon Dinner to see photographs on Picasa.
Inekari or Harvesting Rice
On September 8, 2012 Yayoi and I got out our cameras, hopped in the K-truck and drove out to the "tanbo" or rice field. Okano-san had already taken his larger truck with a special rice collection box on the back. At the field a man was driving a harvester around the field which was still quite muddy. His wife was walking ahead of him cutting clumps of rice plants that the machine would miss. Later she fed these errant clumps to the harvester. We managed to fill the truck box twice on one and a half fields. This raw rice or "kome" almost filled a tall dryer in the machine shed, so the rest of the harvest was left for later. The rice dryer was turned on and left running overnight.
On September 10, 2012 I joined Okano-san in the machine shed and he got the rice husking and bagging machine working. The husked rice was fed into the bagging machine. When this reached a certain level I pulled a lever and rice would empty into paper bags until the electronic balance measured 30kg. At this point the flow of rice was automatically stopped. Okano-san checked the quality of the rice, tied the bag shut and I placed them on a stack. I am still a little sore today.
Thirty years ago the rice would have been cut by hand over a period of a few months, dried in bundles on special frames and then threshed to extract the grains.
Click on tanbo to see earlier BLOG of spring planting.
Click on Rice Harvest to see photographs on Picasa.
On September 10, 2012 I joined Okano-san in the machine shed and he got the rice husking and bagging machine working. The husked rice was fed into the bagging machine. When this reached a certain level I pulled a lever and rice would empty into paper bags until the electronic balance measured 30kg. At this point the flow of rice was automatically stopped. Okano-san checked the quality of the rice, tied the bag shut and I placed them on a stack. I am still a little sore today.
Thirty years ago the rice would have been cut by hand over a period of a few months, dried in bundles on special frames and then threshed to extract the grains.
Click on tanbo to see earlier BLOG of spring planting.
Click on Rice Harvest to see photographs on Picasa.
Jomon Okadaira Shell Mound
On September 9, 2012 we hopped in the car with Shigeko-San and drove to see a Jomon pottery museum near Kasumigaura (lake). We were met at the museum by Shigeko-san's mother who is unusually "genki" or healthy for someone in excess of eighty years. She enlisted the aid of another person in the museum to guide as through the exhibits. The Jomon people are noted for their distinctive pottery much of which as impressions of rope on the surface. The pottery was fired possibly in open fires, but was quite advanced compared to the rest of the world at the time. The pieces being exhibited are in fact reproductions, an art that Shigeko-san's mother is quite adept at. The originals had gone to the University of Tokyo for a special exhibition.
The Jomon people existed as the dominant people in Japan for thousands of years until about two thousand years ago when another group of people migrated here from Asia. These new immigrants brought iron tools and rice culture with them and began the Yayoi era. At some time prior to the Yayoi era a large part of Ibaraki-ken where we live was actually part of the Pacific Ocean. The elevated plateaus such as the one we are living on were dry land and inhabited by the Jomon people.
My understanding is that one of the staple foods of the Jomon was "kuri" or chestnuts. The Okadaira shell mounds demonstrate that the Jomon people in this area ate a lot of shell fish of varying sizes and species as well. The shells were discarded over the edge of the cliffs. Over time these mounds were covered by soil and today are being excavated in an effort to understand more about these people.
Shigeko-san's mother led us on a tour around the grounds to see the dig site and a recreation of a Jomon home. The home was constructed of large timbers and roofed as well as walled with a thick layer of straw. The interior is excavated earth which is mounded around the home to aid in keeping it dry. I suspect that this home is built more intelligently than the Japanese homes of today in the sense that it is probably cooler (and probably just as warm) thanks to large duplicate vents at the peak.
After the tour we drove to a nearby C.C. (country club or golf course) and had curry udon lunch after visiting a Buddhist "tera" or temple nearby. After lunch we went to see Shigeko-san's mother's home where Shigeko-san grew up. From here three of us walked in the hot sunny afternoon to Kasumigaura where children used to swim when Shigeko-san was young. After ice cream sticks to cool off we drove back home, stopping for a few groceries on the way.
Click on Jomon Okadaira Shell Mound to see photographs on Picasa.
The Jomon people existed as the dominant people in Japan for thousands of years until about two thousand years ago when another group of people migrated here from Asia. These new immigrants brought iron tools and rice culture with them and began the Yayoi era. At some time prior to the Yayoi era a large part of Ibaraki-ken where we live was actually part of the Pacific Ocean. The elevated plateaus such as the one we are living on were dry land and inhabited by the Jomon people.
My understanding is that one of the staple foods of the Jomon was "kuri" or chestnuts. The Okadaira shell mounds demonstrate that the Jomon people in this area ate a lot of shell fish of varying sizes and species as well. The shells were discarded over the edge of the cliffs. Over time these mounds were covered by soil and today are being excavated in an effort to understand more about these people.
Shigeko-san's mother led us on a tour around the grounds to see the dig site and a recreation of a Jomon home. The home was constructed of large timbers and roofed as well as walled with a thick layer of straw. The interior is excavated earth which is mounded around the home to aid in keeping it dry. I suspect that this home is built more intelligently than the Japanese homes of today in the sense that it is probably cooler (and probably just as warm) thanks to large duplicate vents at the peak.
After the tour we drove to a nearby C.C. (country club or golf course) and had curry udon lunch after visiting a Buddhist "tera" or temple nearby. After lunch we went to see Shigeko-san's mother's home where Shigeko-san grew up. From here three of us walked in the hot sunny afternoon to Kasumigaura where children used to swim when Shigeko-san was young. After ice cream sticks to cool off we drove back home, stopping for a few groceries on the way.
Click on Jomon Okadaira Shell Mound to see photographs on Picasa.
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Matsuri Tsukuba
I am using this August 26, 2012 festival as an excuse to describe the graciousness and hospitality of the people we live near and some who show up to visit once a week. No one here owes us anything. No one is obligated to us in any way. Yet Kenji-san in Tsukuba contacts our Okano's and suggests they drive the two of us to his place picking up his sister Etsuko-san on the way. So Shigeko-san quietly backs out the car, Akio-san hops in the passenger seat and we get in the back and away we go. Did I mention Shigeko-san getting a new car? A sweet Toyota Aqua hybrid car that is substantially smaller and wiser than a Prius. Five of us get to Tsukuba, have a brief introductory view of the Matsuri from just outside Kenji-san's mansion (condo) building and then go up to his fifth floor mansion for a royal dinner. Kenji-san has also invited his long time American friend John Delp.
John has been in Japan for fifty years, has run a travel agency and is now teaching English Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. He survived the Kobe earthquake of 1995 and the March 2011 earthquake. In 1995 he was not in Kobe at the time, but had to use any means possible to get back with some emergency supplies walking the last stretch of thirty kilometers to get home to his family. John provided some graphic descriptions of the real life problems people face after such an earthquake. What do you do when you live on the fortieth floor of a building and the water is not running anymore?
Anyway John has been here for fifty years and still has not learned to appreciate Japanese food. Our dinner included a variety of dishes including a delicious potato salad made by our chef Kenji-san.
After dinner we went back outside to enjoy the matsuri which would be wrapping up at 9pm. The neputa floats circled the area directly in front of the mansion building so we had an excellent view. These floats were nowhere near the four story neputa we saw housed in a museum near Hirosaki, Aomori-ken. They cannot be any taller here as they have to maneuver beneath overhead walkways and even now they had to be tilted to get under. John had seen one that was not tilted and the whole top was torn off causing electric bulbs beneath to literally explode. Later a few people used a fireman's ladder to perform acrobatic tricks atop the ladder commemorating the days when bamboo ladder were used in fights against real fires.
It was a good evening and a pleasant drive home thanks to our Komatsuka hosts, the Okano's, Kenji-san and his sister Etsuko-san and Kenji's long time friend John.
Click on Matsuri Tsukuba to see photographs on Picasa.
John has been in Japan for fifty years, has run a travel agency and is now teaching English Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. He survived the Kobe earthquake of 1995 and the March 2011 earthquake. In 1995 he was not in Kobe at the time, but had to use any means possible to get back with some emergency supplies walking the last stretch of thirty kilometers to get home to his family. John provided some graphic descriptions of the real life problems people face after such an earthquake. What do you do when you live on the fortieth floor of a building and the water is not running anymore?
Anyway John has been here for fifty years and still has not learned to appreciate Japanese food. Our dinner included a variety of dishes including a delicious potato salad made by our chef Kenji-san.
After dinner we went back outside to enjoy the matsuri which would be wrapping up at 9pm. The neputa floats circled the area directly in front of the mansion building so we had an excellent view. These floats were nowhere near the four story neputa we saw housed in a museum near Hirosaki, Aomori-ken. They cannot be any taller here as they have to maneuver beneath overhead walkways and even now they had to be tilted to get under. John had seen one that was not tilted and the whole top was torn off causing electric bulbs beneath to literally explode. Later a few people used a fireman's ladder to perform acrobatic tricks atop the ladder commemorating the days when bamboo ladder were used in fights against real fires.
It was a good evening and a pleasant drive home thanks to our Komatsuka hosts, the Okano's, Kenji-san and his sister Etsuko-san and Kenji's long time friend John.
Click on Matsuri Tsukuba to see photographs on Picasa.
Naritasan Shinshoji Temple
On August 23, 2012 at about 1130am some lady came running across the yard to our door. It was Noriko Fukuda with Toshiji waiting on the street with the car. When they were sure that they had the correct Okano's (every other family in Komatsuka has the surname of Okano), Toshiji drove their car onto the yard. We were very surprised.
We had been doing a bit of translation work for them and now they had come to say thank you. They took us to Narita to have lunch and then we went to the "tera" or temple complex named above. We had always thought that Narita's only 'claim to fame' was the international airport. We would land go through immigration and off we would go to Tokyo. The Naritasan temple is quite a beautiful set of buildings with a "Koen" or park next to the temple complex. A retired person could live close to this and spend many a pleasant hour relaxing here. The temple is very well maintained as a result of the hundreds if not thousands of sponsors listed on stone plaques on retaining walls around the complex.
After spending some time here the Fukuda's drove us to Edosaki where we did a bit of grocery shopping and then they drove us back home with our groceries.
Click on Naritasan Shinshoji Tera to see photographs on Picasa.
We had been doing a bit of translation work for them and now they had come to say thank you. They took us to Narita to have lunch and then we went to the "tera" or temple complex named above. We had always thought that Narita's only 'claim to fame' was the international airport. We would land go through immigration and off we would go to Tokyo. The Naritasan temple is quite a beautiful set of buildings with a "Koen" or park next to the temple complex. A retired person could live close to this and spend many a pleasant hour relaxing here. The temple is very well maintained as a result of the hundreds if not thousands of sponsors listed on stone plaques on retaining walls around the complex.
After spending some time here the Fukuda's drove us to Edosaki where we did a bit of grocery shopping and then they drove us back home with our groceries.
Click on Naritasan Shinshoji Tera to see photographs on Picasa.
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