Pull the Stone

This was taken on 14. October, at Nagoya Festival. It is a game of 'pulling a stone from Hazu, which weighs approximately 2ts', celebrating the use of Hazu-stones to build Nagoya castle.

Why are the kids pulling the rope? I do not know. Will it sell the rocks? Probably not.

But my god it was fun to watch.

Japan - the world's kinkiest country

So Takahama city in Aichi is known for it's Japanese dolls. Their fine sets of 'Hina-ningyo' made from the finest materials are very very pretty and very very expensive.

And
They have a museum of dolls.

aka

Kinky fantasy land of dolls

These freaky dolls represent the famous festivals of Japan. And the girl yelling in the background is me, absolutely terrified of them.

But where is the kinkiness??
Oh yes it is yet to come.

Well, this one represents a 'shishi' (wild lion) from the Kabuki character. But where's the kinkiness?
Herrreeee we go.

It says (IN ENGLISH) .....

'Public bath in EDO period'

'Those who serve the customers are called "SANSUKE". "SANSUKE" were all male even though all customers were female.'

Wow. so very educational.

And these lovely ladies are supposedly resting in a small hut by Mikawa-bay area. There were nudist beaches everywhere during Edo period in Japan, apparently, how interesting.

Why am I not surprised?

We are in Japan, where sexual oppression is portrayed through visual kinkiness of

of

of

of

...

dolls. erm.

Me tooooooo

And I carve the finished product. Yay yay.

Pot pot pottttery

No don't worry. I didn't make this. It is a style called 'Bizen-yaki', one of the oldest pottery style in Japan. I am too lazy to explain what this is, so i am just going to steal it from wikipedia. Voila:

Bizen ware (備前焼, Bizen-yaki?) is a type of Japanese pottery most identifiable by its ironlike hardness, reddish brown color, absence of glaze, and markings resulting from wood-burning kiln firing.
Bizen is named after the village of Imbe in Okayama prefecture, formerly known as Bizen province. This artwork is Japan's oldest pottery making technique, introduced in the Heian period. Bizen is one of the six remaining kilns of medieval Japan.
Bizen clay bodies have a high iron content, and traditionally, much organic matter that is unreceptive to glazing. The clay can take many forms.
The surface treatments of Bizen wares are entirely dependent on yohen, or "kiln accidents." Pine ash produces goma, or 'sesame seed' glaze spotting. Rice straw wrapped around pieces creates red and brown scorch marks. The placement of pieces in a kiln causes them to be fired under different conditions, with a variety of different results. Considering that one clay body and type of firing is used, the variety of results is remarkable.
Because of the clay composition, Bizen wares are fired slowly over a long period of time. Firings take place only one or two times a year.

Right so why am I talking about this bizen-yaki? Because................ there is a pottery artist living in Hazu. Mr. Fukaya his name and he has a small gallery in the middle of the rice fields, at the end of a small path.

The gallery is called Genro-gama. The building itself was once a silk-worm factory ran by Mr Fukaya's grandfather, hence the staircase is as wide as a castle and the ceilings are high.

Now........... There is a huge, huge difference between seeing the finished cups and plates etc, and actually making one. Without even slightely thinking about 'Ghost' (I promise!!!), I watched my family get carried away in the world of clay and mud and goo.

It's amazing how just a blob of clay suddenly turns into something very familiar like, voila, a saucer.

And my sister, (yes that's my sister) makes a plate, struggles with the hard mud.

It is a weird concept to believe that this mud, although simply 'mud', is something very very expensive.

ANd finally the work of the master, Mr Fukaya.

Another good reason to come to Hazu, right???

A festival without a name

Last weekend was the first weekend that I organised an official event, which was an open-air cinema night outside a lonely trainstation. A lonely trainstation that has suddenly become not so lonely, comme ça:


It was a great evening, although hot as hell, with many people enjoying the breeze(thank God) in the evening. Except of course, I was in a state:

What happened was that we had no budget whatsoever for lighting the stage, so I ended up having to hold the emergency lantern up for the duration of the evening. Ahaaaaaaa.


Annyway, the interesting happened the day after the success of this event;
When you walk up the hill up the road from this train station, you reach a path that leads you up to a shrine. The path is very steep and winding
and on top of the small mountain, there is a tiny, tiny shrine. Every year, on the first weekend of September, the locals go up this mountain, offer rice balls and sake to the gods of the mountain and thank for the protection. Everyone goes up, children from the age of 3, to grannies. It was such an amazing sight. It isn't even a festival. It is a tradition carried out from generation to generatin.



And I feel happy; because I don't need to protect this. They will take care of themselves and there is no worry.


At the end of it, everyone gets the 'leftovers' from the Gods; the offerings made to the Shrine are given to the people who visited to pray. OK I must say I didnt pray; but hey, I was there and I saw it happening in front of my eyes, and I sure was impressed.

La ville des Chats

For some reason there are so many cats in Hazu. Some of them are, I presume, stray cats, but most of them are pets, just wondering about the streets and return back to their homes when they feel like it. Almost everyone has a cat chez eux.

Almost.

Except me, grrrr just because my flat is too new for the bastard landlord to let me keep one. Grrr indeed.

But hey there's a semi-stray-semi-pet cat with a warped tail in the garden of a temple that I always go to. He is the most tame stray cat I have ever seen. I play with him and he keeps following me, heee hee. I named him Michaelangelo just to compete against the cat whose name is Da Vinci, living in the neighbourhood.

A Typhoon is on its way. I think it started raining outside. The sea is nice just before the storm.

A Grocery Store

A store that you don't even notice unless someone points it out at you. A store that everyone knows, except for the people who don't know. A store that is always there. A store that sells everything from batteries to ricecakes.

A store whose owner gives you free drinks or free snacks to take with you when you just pop in to say hi.

I thought it didn't exist anymore.

Mr. and Mrs. Toyota (!! Whoa it gives the name a totally different meaning when I type it alphabetically..... when actually it is one of the most common sirname in Japan), you are the best.

Le festival des lanternes géantes à Isshiki (一色大提灯まつり）

26.August. 2007
On peut admirer d’énormes lanternes en papier de 5,6 mètres de diamètre et 10 de hauteur..... Ils sont vraiment vraiment énormes.......

This festival features enormous chochin (paper lanterns), also known as "amazingly gigantic lanterns," which measure over 5 meters in diameter and 10 meters in length. The 12 sets of paper lanterns appearing at the festival are depicted with pictures and Chinese characters which embody all kinds of meanings and stories. The scene of the Dai-Chochin Tsuriage when the huge brightly-colored paper lanterns are hoisted up very slowly is just breathtaking.


The festival originates in a legend dating back about 450 years. At that time, a fire usually ignited to illuminate the surroundings for patrolling was lit at Suwa Shrine in order to drive away sea demons which emerged from the sea, ravaging the fields and bringing serious harm upon the inhabitants. Ever since then, it became the custom to ignite kagari-bi as a Shinto ritual at the festival. These kagari-bi were later replaced by chochin lanterns and competition to produce the biggest and most gorgeous lanterns has resulted in their present form.


The most exciting scene of the festival is when gigantic 1-meter tall candles are lit inside the enormous chochin lanterns. As soon as the candles are lit, the colorful motifs of famous Japanese myths, etc. depicted on the chochin lanterns appear, creating a world of fantasy. This is truly a moment of Japanese myths and old folktales being passed down through the generations. Spectators also experience a pleasant sense of excitement as if witnessing a historic scene.

It was a bit of a shame that the strong lights of the food stands below the lanterns weakened the subtle lights of the lantern....... However, there was one stand which caught my attention...... My attention...... My attention...... i.e. Masks!!!! It is one of the bizzarre traditions in Japan, there are always, always masks of Anime characters at summer festivals. I must admit I was tempted. Very tempted. Weeeeey!!!

What to do on your only day off in Hazu

Not much.

1. Wear Geta and sit by the porch and think of what to do.

2. Look up and see the blue sky beneath the roof of the temple and think some more.


3. Feed the straycats.

4. Go to the shrine on top of the mountain and draw a fortune..... and get 'great fortune' yay. It says..........Stocks:Sell it or lose it.

5. Jump on the bike and head to the beach.

6.Dip your feet in the water on the shore and get totally wasted.

7. Get your big bum soaked.

Tejikara no Himatsuri part 2

Also, I didn't know there were crepes by Louis Vuitton!?!?!?!?

手力の火祭り(Tejikara no Himatsuri) in Gifu City

I have never, ever seen anything like this before. I was taught to watch fireworks from a far distance, preferably at home, or preferebly not at all. Never have I dreamed of getting close to it, or jump into the fire.

Perhaps I didn't know anything about life before.




It's a shame I can't put the smell of the smoke and the sound of the firecrackers up on this blog. Mindblowing. Semi-naked men jumping into the fireworks and sparkles and firecrackers. Whatever they were, looked pretty painful.

On the NIC(Nagoya International Center) website, it says.....: An exciting fire festival will be held on August 12th at Nagara-gawa Park in Gifu. From around 6:45 to 9:00pm, men carrying a mikoshi portable shrine run through torrents of fire sparks, and the mikoshi itself will also begin to spew flames from planted fireworks inside. Also some special fireworks called “jiware hanabi” and “taki hanabi” will be set off. To get there take the JR Tokaido line or Meitetsu line to “Gifu”, then get on a bus bound for Nagarabashi and get off at “Ukaiya”, however chances are the buses will be packed if this is the case it is possible to follow the crowds and walk from the station to the festival site. If it rains the festival might be postponed until the following day from 7:30p.m.

The original festival takes place in April:

http://kikuko.web.infoseek.co.jp/english/tejikara-no-himatsuri.html

Whoa.