Japan, the journal: days 7-8

Day 7

We had a good long sleep and awoke to birdsongs we don’t hear at home.  We asked what bird made such a sound and were told they were nightingales.  We ate a simple breakfast of fruit, yogurt and bread, but discovered that Okaasan had made the yogurt and one of the varieties of bread she offered.  I also learned that she had saved a coffee cup from my previous visit, when I was unable to pack the one I had decorated at a nearby pottery workshop.  She gave it to me to drink from on my first morning back.

To begin our day, we took a walk through the neighborhood, taking pictures of flowers and scenery.

Some buildings showed traditional methods of construction.

Terraced rice fields had not yet been planted.

Kodomo no hi, boy’s day, was approaching, so there were some carp flags flying.

We visited the village shrine in peaceful dappled sunshine.

Back at home, Takeru watered the flowers before we left for Green Park.

I visited Green Park with my family the first weekend I was with them.  The old picture in my earlier post was taken there.  So, it was particularly nice to go back.  This is a quiet park, but one in which twisting paths gradually reveal new scenes of beauty.

When we left the park, my parents took Takeru home while we accompanied my sister to an uncle’s house for a nice visit.  Otoosan’s brother is a retired sake salesman whose big family was very welcoming when I visited as an exchange student.  I remember celebrating Tanabata, Star Festival, with their family and hanging paper wishes on branches under the summer sky.  Two of his daughters now live in America and one lives in Korea, so he is learning both English and Korean in order to talk with his grandchildren.  Our visit gave him an opportunity to practice his English.  We got lost in conversation and ended up having to rush off in order to keep our schedule.  Maki is a member of a Toastmasters club where members regularly polish their English speaking skills as well as their public speaking skills.  After a quick stop at home to eat an Okonomiyaki lunch, we went to the meeting.  Although we were guests, we were still required to give short impromptu speeches on various topics.

Day 8
Back home in America, people were celebrating Easter Sunday.  In Japan, we found that it was the day of the Kobo-San festival at our village temple.  This Buddhist holiday began with the idea of feeding hungry children in the community.  Today it is celebrated by visiting the temple, paying respects to the Buddha, and bringing rice and treats to donate.  Visiting children are given the donated treats.  We walked to the site, bringing the treats.

The temple attendants were happy to share their festival with visitors, and even took pictures, which is not usually done.

There was some discussion about parents bringing their children for the treats without teaching them to show respect for the temple, or educating them about the history.  I thought it was similar to the complaints you hear sometimes about holidays in the West- that people are forgetting the reasons.

Following our visit to the temple, we set out for Arimatsu.  Arimatsu is now considered a section of Nagoya, but was once a small town southeast of the city.  For more than 400 years, it has been known as the source of the traditional craft of shibori, Japanese tie-dying on cotton cloth.  There are many old buildings here.

We visited the Arimatsu Shibori museum.  Although we were unable to take photos, I encourage you to visit their website to see the photos they have there and learn about the process.  We learned the basics while creating a handkerchief with a skilled instructor.  Then, we watched a 92 year old master effortlessly wind several styles of knots.  The handkerchiefs would be dyed later and shipped to us.  They arrived still bound, and you can see from this photo how they look when the knots are removed.  The green cloth at the bottom of the photo still has the knots.

We had lunch in the town, then walked around some more.  One of the three floats (see the museum website) used in the annual festival  was being cleaned and readied for its big day in June.  We were able to watch the work, and learned about its history and about the crew who carry it, provide the music and manipulate the mannequins that perform on the float.  This one, the Hotei –sha float, is 340 years old, and features a doll that writes characters on a paper display, a performance that requires 5 puppeteers.
We said goodbye to Okaasan and Otoosan at the train station because we would spend the rest of our trip with my sister Maki.  Then, we navigated the trains and subways to arrive at the Tokugawa Museum, a site recommended by Otoosan.

 The grounds contained a museum with many artifacts and much information about the Tokugawa Shogunate.

It also included a wonderful garden that we had the pleasure of experiencing in a soft, mood enhancing rain.

As evening fell, we were settling into Maki’s apartment, playing with Takeru and looking forward to meeting her husband the following day.


Days 9 and 10 conclude our trip in the next post.