Welcome to Totoro Mountain

Just north of where I teach (the former village of Shimoyama, now part of Toyota City) lies the former town of Asuke (now, also, a part of Toyota City). More deep countryside, more beautiful sights to be had. For example:

The first sight to hit our eyes when we reached the center of town was this lovely little mountain. I mean, LOOK at this thing! It’s covered with flowering trees, it’s a perfect gumdrop shape, and it has several shades of green to boot. It looks almost fake, or at least fantastical… the kind of place you’d expect Totoro to live. If you don’t know who (or what) Totoro is, go to your nearest video store (or Netflix, or whatever newfangled way you whippersnappers are using these days to get your films) and rent a film called “My Neighbor Totoro”. It’ll be in the kid’s section, but don’t let that worry you- it’s by Studio Ghibli and its resident genius, Hayao Miyazaki, and it rocks. It’s distributed in the U.S. by Disney, but not aggressively, because if Miyazaki’s work ever caught on in the States like it has in Japan, Disney might actually have to start writing and animating real movies instead of the ten thousandth recycled dancing singing vanilla animal cutesy crap that they… aaaaah!!!!! Sorry, gotten off topic here. Anyway, Masako and I immediately dubbed this place “Totoro Mountain” and went in for a closer look.

There was a river…

…and paths to walk on…

…and religious architecture…

…and more paths, that went up and up and up. Look carefully at this photo- it’s a bit hard to get a sense of perspective, but this was STEEP… one wrong step and I was going all the way to the bottom. It’s also a bit deceptive because the washed-out white area is mountainside in sunlight… not the bottom. This was quite a healthy hike.

Flora! Specifically, a wild pitcher plant. There were thousands of these growing all over the mountainside.

The path…

The top… not much of a view around, but I’d rather have trees, anyway…

Back at the bottom… The little Buddhist protective figures known as “Jizo”s. Folks put the bibs on them to show respect and caring.

More to come. Stay tuned!

Questions and Answers (Golden Week 2)

Hi gang,

Just a brief little update this time… we conclude our look back at Golden Week with some questions and answers, brought to you by the little Childrens’ Day festival at the Shimoyama Community Center…

Q:  What sort of fire truck do you need for a tiny station in a remote area of town that can negotiate the smallest roads, operate cheaply, and still get the job done?

A: Micro Fire Truck!  Includes a gas-powered pump in the bed. 

Q:  How do you do more before 9 am than most people do all day while in Japan?

A: Join the Self-Defense Force… not a true military, per se, but not above trying to recruit the young and impressionable at family events (grumble, gripe).

Q:  How do you educate folks about the dangers of earthquakes?

A: The mobile earthquake simulator truck!  Duck under the table and feel the world shake!

Q: What the heck?

A: Not a visual ode to the fish tie… but carp banners!  Carp are all sorts of lucky in Japan, and around Childrens’ Day these can be found hanging everywhere.

Q: How do you get really messy and have a lot of fun?

A: Handprint-paint some scales on a giant carp banner!  That’s me and Masako in the green…

Q: What’s the result of said mess?

A: CARP-ZILLA!!! 

Q: Can Jeff possibly be more artsy-fartsy with his photographs?

A: Oh, yes.  Right down the gut of Carp-zilla!

More to come soon…

Golden Week in Tarui-cho

For Golden Week, Masako and I went back to her hometown of Tarui in western Gifu prefecture.

Golden Week is a mini holiday period made up of a couple of holidays (Green Day, Children’s Day) plus a weekend. It takes place the first week of May each year. Readers will thus note that this post is a month late, but oh well…

Pictures, please!

Tarui holds a festival during Golden Week, as many municipalities do. This is the main drag of downtown, the sort of place with small mom & pop stores that continues to survive in the face of increasing centralization.

Fish the toys out of the little stream… a classic festival concession.

A mom n’ pop grocery, unchanged the last fifty years. They hang on, though no doubt sorely pressed by larger national retailers on all sides. Note the young men at center in festival costume. They are part of the crews that man the floats, coming up soon…

Here they are… Tarui has three of these wonderous contraptions. Three stories tall, wheeled, fabulously decorated. They are also miniature theaters, and here we see a young actor performing a (slightly truncated) classic kabuki play. The actors are all boys in elementary school, and in the classic kabuki tradition, all female roles are played by the boys as well. Contrary to what might be believed, the female roles are considered the most desirable… The fellow sitting to the far right is part of the float crew.

Detail shot of a float wheel, a solid wood disc a couple of feet thick. The floats are pulled and pushed through the streets by teams of forty or so men (unfortunately, no photos this time…) and steered by a pair of guys with long timbers that are jammed under the wheels and rocked in order to lever the thing slowly around. Also note the carved depression to the left, holding a pile of salt. In Japanese tradition, as in Western mythologies, salt is a purifying substance.

This float was situated in an elementary school parking lot, allowing me to give you this shot from the side, showing the whole float and its attending train filled with equipment. Note the long planks jammed under the wheels- these are the previously mentioned steering apparatuses, which also double as chocks for parking.

And here’s the play. I don’t know whether true love was gained, or if everyone died. Sorry.

I know that at this point, the question on your lips is: Where do you park something like a festival float? Answer: in a really big garage, like this one.

Another shot of the streets of old Tarui, with a great big concrete Torii gate.

And this one, just ‘cuz these girls were so cheerful and cute.

More to come soon… stay tuned!