Jungle

Our friend Kenji asked me a little while ago "So what do you think of Japan?". I have been thinking about this for quite sometime and I was able to answer with just one word. The other thing that has been most noticeable about Japanese life is their tolerance of temperature extremes inside their living areas. Both have been especially reinforced by our living here in Ibaraki-Ken during the summer.
Shops such as SoftBank are stifling hot in winter and grocery stores just as in Winnipeg ridiculously cold. Old houses had open beamed attics that probably allowed air flow to keep the building somewhat cool. Now homes have internal ceilings and are probably hot enough to boil water in the attic. This attic heat causes the ceiling to act as a radiant heater. Homes here tend to have no shade trees, no central air, no central heating and this combined with global warming in the summer and global cooling in the winter can make life very uncomfortable. Do people in Canada wear a down filled jacket when cooking in the winter?
We escaped to Hokkaido the last week of July and were gone three weeks which were probably all hot weeks. The two weeks that we have been back are both hot weeks. That means about 34°C during the day and about 28°C at night. Thousands have suffered heat stroke and over a hundred have died.
During the week I have been getting up before 5am and working in the field for one to two hours. Then I take a short break, walk the
dog (already too hot for Muku) and then we have breakfast about 8am. In the evening Muku gets walked just before sunset. During the day we relax as best we can and frequently have the wall air conditioner (Japanese style AC) on from about 3pm to 6pm. Akio Okano works from 6am to about 12:30pm and then has lunch and a siesta until 2:30 or 3pm. He then works on the farm until close to 7pm and it is quite dark at that time (no daylight saving time here). I would have heat stroke every day, if I tried to keep up to him.
What is Japan? Japan is a jungle. In the winter some of the vines become almost invisible, but in summer it is unbelievable. Wisteria vines crawl over the road and vines as thick as your wrist choke trees. The kudzu (legume) vine is alive and well here. It is not quite the pest it has become in countries such as the USA where some nitwit introduced the vine. Here there are enough competitors including farmers that some semblance of control is being maintained. But I suspect if you stood in one spot for an hour you might be entangled by these crazy vines. The photographs show green on green so the kudzu may not show up that well, but they are climbing over everything. Then there are the immense forests of "sugi" or cryptomeria trees which the government here has had planted everywhere. And what is the farmer's first enemy that must be removed before anything can be grown, the many varieties of bamboo.

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Komatsu Matsuri

During the period of Obon in Komatsu, two related but different styles of "matsuri" or festivals are taking place. Both involve the inclusion of one or more "shishi" or lion dancers. We saw the one form in which dancers, musicians and about three lion costumed actors performed in parking lot venues. These dances are essentially a Shinto ritual to invoke a good harvest for people in the community.
The second form of which we have a number of photographs has a large lion costume with a long 'train'. Once a year the lion leaves the "jinja" or Shinto shrine and makes the rounds of the town from morning to night. The lion is followed by what appears to be a 'lion tamer' that attempts to coax the lion back to the "jinja". The lion we observed came from the 'Shinzan Jinja'. This shrine, although only 100 meters away from eldest brother's house belongs to a different district than eldest brother's district. Shrines are usually located on an elevated area surrounded by tall "sugi" or cryptomeria trees. Eldest brother's neighbour used to live on the same hill and in a show of respect for the neighbour the lion and dancers pay a visit to the neighbour. Similarly the group makes the rounds of the town visiting various people and getting "sake" or rice wine to drink. You can hear the taiko drummers at various times during the day. Later after dark the lion is finally persuaded to return to the "jinja".

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Obon

In Komatsu Obon takes place from August 13 to August 15. This time is intended to convey respect to one's ancestors. During this time the ancestors come to visit. There are extra decorations in the room where the Buddhist altar is located and at some point a priest pays a visit.
On August 16 the ancestors return. The earlier the family gets to the "tera" or temple and to the family grave site, the better the position of the ancestors in heaven.

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Home Town Views

The home that we stayed in with Yayoi's parents 30 plus years ago in 1980 and 1983 no longer exists. We went to see the neighbour of the non- existent house who is Yayoi's relative. His father, many many years ago took me for a long walk in the nearby hills. I will never forget.
Big brother Hiroshi lives in the older part of town as can be seen by some of the photographed buildings.
Komatsu's claim to fame is Dahlia Park which used to be an easily accessible park, but now has an entrance gate and admission fees. Next door is a hot spring resort which is also quite new.
Walking from one end of the old town to the other end brings back many memories and we are almost able to get lost. I remember there used to be a department store (I called it the 'S' store) and when Yayoi's mom and we walked into the store and began browsing, I suddenly realized something was happening. All the people in the store realized there was a "gaijin" or foreign person in the store and they were all in shocked motionless silence. This is not likely to happen anymore, but the "gaikokojin" or foreigner is still noticed.

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Komatsu Family

Yayoi has two brothers and one sister. Yayoi is the youngest sibling. Hiroshi Konno is the eldest brother. Hiroshi and his wife Michiko have two children.
The son Takeshi and has wife Yukari also live in Komatsu, but on the 'new' side of the tracks, quite literally. They have three children.
The daughter Naomi is living with her parents and her two children have both left home. In this home, belonging to eldest brother, you can count on a beautiful flower arrangement in the front entrance and ocha served before you can catch your breathe.
When the neighbour's hear that we are coming food is delivered to the house. As a result of the sashimi Michiko served us and "mochi" or pounded rice provided by a neighbour we had a delicious first dinner. The mochi was served with three different toppings, "natto" or fermented soybeans, "anko" or cooked sweetened red azuki beans and "edamame" or green cooked soybeans which many North Americans are familiar with.
Hiroshi is in his eighties so it is good to be able to see him and Michiko again. On our last night together the five of us went out to a local restaurant and had 'basket meals'.

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Haircut

Yayoi and I had been telling each other that the next time we were in Komatsu, Yamagata, we would get haircuts in the shop belonging to the family of Hiroko, Yayoi's childhood friend in Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture. In Komatsu, Yayoi's eldest brother Hiroshi made a phone call and at 1pm we were walking on our way to the barber. Hiroko used to live in the same building as the barber shop when her mother was still doing the barbering. Yayoi and her family were living in a rented place next door.
It was my turn and I sat down. Did I forget to mention, I haven't had a haircut for about forty years? Okay, okay, no wise cracks, just because I cut my own hair.
Hiroko's brother's wife is now doing the barbering. Here I am, my hair has been cut with a scissors only and my hair shampooed. Did I want the area around my eyebrows shaved? No, thank you to this and a number of similar questions. I did allow a shave and I was very well behaved during this procedure. Even Yayoi did not dare to take a photograph at this time, just in case this would cause the straight razor to slip. Oops! After a facial massage and various other applications I was complete. Yayoi's turn. My job probably took three times as much time.
Anyway grapes, ocha and senbei (Japanese crackers) were set before us. Yayoi had a good visit with Hiroko's 96 year old mother. She is supposedly a little senile, but all Yayoi had to do is mention her first name and Hiroko's mother knew immediately that this was Yayoi of the Konno family.

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Niigata Ocean Views

On August 14, 2012 (Happy Birthday, Bryan) four of us drove the Niigata coastal highway and saw scenery of breathtaking beauty. Somehow a camera is a very disappointing tool. Scenery is more than a picture as it does not include the breezes, the sound of waves rolling in, the smell of the ocean. Two things we miss seeing in our current address in Ibaraki Prefecture, mountains and proximity to the ocean. Ibaraki is part of the Kanto plain region which is likely one of the largest flat areas in Japan, including the city of Tokyo. Ibaraki Prefecture does have ocean front property, but we are not close to it and it is most likely not nearly as picturesque as what we have seen on the Japan Sea side with its rocks, mountains nearby and that gorgeous water in varying shades of blue (guys only know a handful of colours).
After an interesting lunch Hiroshi and Hiroko drove us inland to the train station in Sakamachi that took us on a slow train ride all the way to Uzen Komatsu train station in Yayoi's home town.

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