Fall Color

 

Some Photos of Inari Shrines

 

A short video about a small Inari shrine in Niigata City: https://youtu.be/FIQWj7dVceI?si=CzzCx_R2X4edLFJV

Homage to Basho: David Lehman in The Atlantic; and, some Basho

 The butterfly dips

its wings in aroma of

violet wild orchid.

Red plums of summer,
first green figs, so many ears
of corn eaten raw.

Leaves that left the trees
are litter now on the ground
in orange and yellow.

No one on this road
but me: It must be autumn
in the dark country.

Comes the freeze, and rain
falls all through the night and soaks
the morning paper.

Winter blows its white
storms across the hills: Even
monkeys need raincoats.

The spring night vanished
while we talked among cherry
blossoms and petals.

-David Lehman

Red dragonflies, or akatonbo, are associated with the harvest season. Here's Basho:

Crimson pepper pod

add two pairs of wings, and look

darting dragonfly

crimson pepper pod, called "hawk's claw"

The Mice Who Wrestled Sumo

 One upon a time there lived an elderly couple somewhere in rural Niigata. (Needless to say, the old man and his wife were poor.) One day the old man headed for the hills to cut grass. Arriving at the spot where he intended to work, the man was surprised to hear grunting and heaving coming from the base of a tree nearby. Looking closely, he saw two mice wearing loincloths, engaged in a spirited sumo contest. One of the mice was much larger than the other and had no trouble vanquishing his foe, bout after bout.  The smaller of the two he recognized as one that he had befriended in the past, the larger, the favorite of the wealthiest man in the district. "Poor little mouse", he thought, as yet another contest ended in defeat. When he returned home he told his wife about the wrestling mice. "Of course, we must take our mouse friend some rice cakes to get his strength up." The man thought this was a wonderful idea, so that evening he and his wife left mochi where the mouse would be sure to find them. The next morning the man set out for another day of grass cutting, and when he arrived he heard the self-same grunting and heaving, only this time it was his mouse that was triumphant. "Hey, you, how'd you get so strong all of a sudden?", said the larger mouse to his opponent.  "It's because of the mochi the old couple gave me." "I wonder if they'd give me a few rice cakes?" the other mused.  "Don't count on it. Rice cakes are a rare treat when you're poor." "That rich old guy. All that money, and not once has he given me so much as a single mochi. I wonder..." After discussing this overheard conversation with his wife that evening, the two decided to divide their store of rice, half for themselves, the other for the two mice. Later, they placed mochi for two and new red loincloths, one much smaller than the other, beside the sumo ring. Shortly afterwards the larger mouse appeared, staggering under the weight of the gold coins in his paws. He set them down and proceeded to nibble away at one of the rice cakes. The next day the old man returned to the hills. This time he noticed the two wrestlers were evenly matched and in high spirits. "We have the man and his wife to thank for this," they squeaked happily. The supply of gold coins continued, and the old couple lived happily and prospered. As did the two mice, who were never in want of rice cakes. Or loincloths, either.     

Translation: B. Southwick, 2020

A Japanese Folktale: The Statues with Hats

 Long ago a kindly old couple lived in the mountains, poor but happy. One year, the morning of New Year's Eve it was, the old man gathered together the sedge hats he and his wife had made and prepared to set out for the village nearby. "If I can sell all five hats, I should be able to buy us some rice cakes for tomorrow", he said (rice cakes being a traditional New Year's food in Japan). "Yes, please. And do be careful- I think it will snow later today." Sure enough, not long after the old man left for the village, snow began to fall, just as his wife had said. Harder and harder it fell, and faster and faster walked the man. On the outskirts of the village stood six statues of Jizo all in a line, the snow starting to pile up atop their heads and shoulders.  The old man stopped and considered for a moment. Then, he placed one of his hats on the head of the Jizo nearest him- after first wiping the snow off the statue's head, of course. And so on until five of the Jizo were wearing the hats the man had hoped to sell. Standing before the last statue, the old man took off his own hat. When her husband returned home, hatless and with a dome of snow on his head, the old woman exclaimed in surprise. "My, you are back early. What happened to your hat?" "Well, it's quite a story," and he told her about the Jizo. "You did the right thing. And what does it matter if we have no rice cakes for tomorrow?"  That night, while the two were asleep, strange happenings were afoot. First, an unearthly singing: "Where oh where does the old man live? We've come in thanks for the hats. Where oh where does the old man live? We've come in thanks for the hats." The singing stopped in front of the house. There was a sound as of something being laid before the door. And then a hurried shuffling away. The old couple, being light sleepers, had been awakened by the singing. Opening the door, they found rice cakes and many things besides to make a New Year's feast. Looking off into the distance, they beheld six figures with hats trudging through the snowy night.    

Translation: B. Southwick

The story (and some nice illustrations) can be found here: http://hukumusume.com/douwa/pc/jap/12/31.htm

          

For more on Jizo, a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx1oE6F1ea0

The Sotoba, or Ihai

 The sotoba, or stupa, is a thin notched wooden lath on which the name of the deceased and a verse from Buddhist scripture are written.

Taiko Drum Workshop

 Marukei is one of just three taiko drum makers in Niigata Prefecture, which is home to the renowned taiko troupe Kodo, and therefore somewhat surprising to me. The current master- in his 60s, I'd guess- is seventh generation and does not appear to have a successor. He told me it can take up to 10 years to build one of the larger drums, with several years required to dry the handpicked keyaki - zelkova growing in Niigata do not grow straight enough, so he gets his wood from Tochigi. With summer festivals and other events at which taiko are played cancelled this year, the builder has seen business drop. Pictured is a repair job on a drum his grandfather built, lettering on the inside indicating the builder and date of completion. 

Masks

I recently had to travel to Tokyo. Everyone on the shinkansen that day was wearing a mask. The same was true of the people I saw at Tokyo Station. I observed many thousands of people that Saturday, over 99% of them masked. What Japanese understand, particularly in times of crisis such as this, is that we are called upon to consider the greater good, and act accordingly.  

Contrast this with the mask kerfuffle in the US. "I'm being repressed" bellow the boobs when asked to don a face covering. "Consider the safety of family and friends", remonstrate the responsible.  More than this, even: honor your end of the social contract. Listen to the professionals, follow their advice, do your part. For the sake of family, friends, everyone.          

Evening Ride in Kamo, Niigata

Evening Ride in Kamo: Scaredycats, Jizo and the Frogs

inflatable tiger scarecrows; tree frogs on a roadside shrine to jizo, protector of travelers

Misc. Photos from Kamo

stuffed cloth 鈴緒 suzuno bell pull

shrine (not inari)

narrow residential street

irises in bloom

Japan by Bike: Niigata Files: Tagami, Late Afternon

Old Structures and Satoyama Scapes

At top: 古民家 (kominka) private residence built in 1935, vacant for the last 20 years, now the home of a new NPO promoting community affairs

Middle: classic satoyama landscape, hillside abutting rice fields, bamboo grove, and a fallow field, evidence of Japan's shrinking population

Bottom: disused commercial structure most likely built in early 20th C  

The Japanese Macrobiotic Diet

The author of this book on macrobiotic lunch box recipes recommends a ratio of 6:4. That is, 60% brown rice and 40% side dishes of fresh vegetables and pulses. For lunch today: genmai (brown rice) with hijiki (a type of dried seaweed, also recommended by the author), and steamed potato, broccoli, carrot, and zucchini as the okazu side. The lower photo shows a recent dinner, with potato, bean, and hijiki croquettes (from a recipe in the book) in the frying pan. Canned mackerel in olive oil and asari short-necked clam soup are also pictured. 

Japan by Bike: Niigata Files: Tagami Town and Niitsu

Photos from a recent trip through the hills of Tagami and Niitsu. The rice was planted about a month ago and is coming along nicely. The rock wall was formed some 1400 years ago as magma from a volcanic eruption cooled.

Inari Shrine in Kamo

Inari is the god or rice and of success in commercial ventures, and his temples are readily identified by their numerous torii gates, which are presented to the shrine as offerings to the god. The fox is the god's familiar and relation, hence the carvings, statues, and fox figurines at these shrines. Why the mouse figures at these shrines? Well, foxes are known to consider the rodent a delicacy, and an offering of mouse, fried so as to slow putrefaction, was believed particularly pleasing to the fox. Fried tofu (aburage) was eventually adopted as a substitute for the harder-to-obtain mice. The small shrine at the bottom of the steps contains an iron lantern presented to some worthy individual (and later placed at the shrine) by the Imperial Regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi (latter half of the 16th C, if memory serves).