A martial artist should take proper care of their body, spirit, and trousers.

Ah, summer practices in the steaming hot dojo… well, it’s either that or the frozen dojo in winter. A warrior endures both stinky sweat and numb toes.

In case anyone is wondering, here is where I found the instructions. Thank you, Southern California Naginata Federation! I can now do it without looking at instructions.

Another idea I finally came up with to keep my pleats as neat as I can while they are hanging up to dry is to pin them in place at the bottom with clothespins. Hasn’t really helped the wrinkles, though… anybody have any hakama laundry tips to share?

 

Competitive Kimono Dressing: Ready… fight!

It’s that time of year again. Time to start training for the regional competition. Right about now, I know a handful of other CIRs around the country getting recruited for this, along with language teachers and international students. It’s more of a beauty pageant than a free-for-all, but it still requires the skill to dress oneself in traditional Japanese clothing within 8 minutes (or so). Men can do it in 3, though…

I’ll be donning a furisode (swinging-sleeves) again. Wish me luck! And to the rest of you residing in Japan who have ever had an interest in learning, now is the time for intensive training! There is probably a teacher near you ready to recruit new pupils to shine on the stage (and depending on the material of the kimono, I do mean shine!).

 

Oki Islands Geopark: Now part of the UNESCO network!

Congratulations, Oki Islands Geopark! It was announced on September 9, 2013, that they are to be a new member of the Global Geoparks Network.

Click for photo source and English article on Kyodo News.

The islands can now be accessed by ferry ports in Matsue and Sakaiminato, as well as by flights from Osaka and Izumo. Although archeological evidence suggests the islands have been inhabited since at least the Jomon era (1000~300 b.c.), they had been regarded as a far removed place suitable for sending a couple of banished emperors in the Heian era (794-1185 a.d.). I’ve heard that because of this, the local dialect somewhat resembles the Kyoto dialect. I wonder how many people would agree with that? I frequently hear about the culture in Matsue being compared to Kyoto, but the Izumo dialect is more often compared to the zuzu-ben way of speaking in the Tohoku region!

Despite the distance in the past, they were frequently ruled by the same clans that ruled the Izumo region, but when the prefectural system replaced the provincial system, Oki Prefrecture existed for about five months in 1869. After that, it was a part of Tottori Prefecture for about seven years before becoming a part of Shimane Prefecture, as it still is today.

I haven’t been there yet, but they’re on my list of priorities for next summer. I want to be able to enjoy both the land and the ocean! Thankfully, JAPANiCAN has recently opened a very helpful, informative English guide to the islands, including pretty photos.

To learn a bit more about what a Geopark is, please visit this National Geographic article: UNESCO’s Geoparks “Clarify” Geotourism

 

The En in Everything

Looking for love all the way out here?

I cannot stress enough what a catchphrase En-musubi is around here. Because the notion of it permeates so much of the culture around here I have written a handful of entries referencing it in the past, but in a nutshell, the 縁 (En) in 縁結び is a tie of fate, or a spiritual bond. 結び (musubi) is a conjugation of the verb 結ぶ (musubu), which refers to tying things together or making bonds. (As a side note, the character 結 is fittingly part of the word for marriage: 結婚).

Why is this region so big on En-musubi? Because all 8 million gods in Japan gather at Izumo Taisha to discuss whose En their going to bind with whose and how. This means people come to Izumo Taisha and many other shrines in the region (such as Yaegaki Jinja) to pray for new En. This can be anything, such as binds of fate with a new child, having good friends and teachers come into your life, or even one’s ties with nature.

Most simply and popularly, however, it is understood at divine matchmaking. En-musubi is very closely associated with romantic love and finding one’s soulmate.

References to En-musubi show up in many ways throughout daily life, including in the culinary world. En-musubi is often symbolized by red and white cords tied together, as the 紅白 (kouhaku; red and white) color combination is considered quite felicitous. Hence, red and white mochi (rice cakes) are En-musubi rice cakes (remember En-musubi Zenzai?). Today I had a speciality Izumo Taisha souvenir, “fate-binding mochi.”

These are a very soft kind of mochi called “gyuuhi” (求肥). If there were a sound effect for how it stretches so smoothly, it would probably be “gyuuuuu.” The walnuts included in these add a nice defining point to the texture!

There are also a handful of examples throughout Japan of romantic En in nature, such as the married camellia trees at Yaegaki Jinja, but more commonly it’s a pair of large boulders near each other that look like they could be a married couple. Hence, these “husband-and-wife” rocks are bound by shimenawa ropes to signify that it is a place of divine union.

Mihonoseki, a part of Matsue that makes up the eastern stretch of the Shimane Peninsula, is home to one such pair of happily-ever-after wedded crags.

Read about Sakaiminato City and Daikonshima (Radish Island–or should we say Peony Island?) on other posts.

Along the seaside highway from Matsue or Sakaiminato towards the famous head Ebisu shrine Miho Jinja at the harbor or to the lighthouse, you’ll spot two rocks just off shore that are tied together both spiritually and literally.

Apparently it’s a good fishing spot, if you’re willing to get your feet a little wet heading out to the female rock. Speaking of male and female, the name of this spot is pronounced like most of the other husband-and-wife rocks as Meoto-iwa (typically written 夫婦岩), but it is literally written with the characters man-woman-rocks（男女岩). When I approached with a Japanese friend, she said, “Huh? Aren’t those kanji the other way around?”

I guess I hadn’t even thought about it, but yes, 女 should say me and 男 should say oto if you want to go by strict kanji rules. Then again, the rules don’t really apply very well to proper nouns.

 

The Kojiki a.t.b.b. – The Hairless Hare of Inaba – Part 2

Continued from Part 1








Continued in Part 3

 

Matcha in Izumo: Keeping guests caffeinated since the Edo period

Matcha is a big deal here in the San’in region, especially in what used to be the Izumo province, and especially in the city of Matsue. It’s too cold here to grown tea, but they certainly get their fill of it.

As many people know, tea practically flows like water in this country, and being offered tea when you visit someone is a pretty standard form of hospitality all throughout Japan. However, in daily life in most places, this means something more along the lines of sencha, or a steeped tea. That said, there are many very fine grades of steeped tea, many of which I am quite a fan of. However, in this region, you frequently find people offering you matcha–it’s as if you just haven’t been offered tea until you’ve been offered matcha (unliked steeped tea, very high grade tea leaves raised specifically for matcha use are ground into a powder and consumed along with the water–as you would expect, it is generally more expensive than steeped tea).

This is not only my observation; Japanese people visiting from other regions have been just as surprised to see matcha where they expected to be served sencha.

It’s very easy to attribute the regional fondness for tea to Lord Matsudaira Fumai-ko, but I have heard a couple of suggestions for why it has remained so popular: the people here had extra money from the iron industry and ginseng industry, and because this region is so isolated from the rest of the country by the Chuugoku mountain range they’re a lot slower to change their ways, and old habits tend to develop more without so much outside influence. That’s not to say there aren’t serious coffee lovers here and the typical selection of vending machines, just that matcha remains a standard part of life (even the toddlers are frequent drinkers).

That said, the Izumo-based culture doesn’t always spread through the entire region. When I was talking about etiquite with a Kansai-area man who works all throughout Shimane, he stressed that the people in Izumo resemble people in Kyoto when it comes to being the most thickly mannered of the already rather indirect Japanese populous. He illustrated as follows:

A person from the Iwami region (western Shimane) goes to visit a friend in the Izumo region (eastern Shimane). The Izumo friend asks, “Do you want another cup of tea?” and the Iwami friend replies, “no thank you, I’ve had enough.” The Izumo friend then prepares another cup of tea, and the Iwami friend is surprised and then forces himself to drink it so as to be polite.

A person from the Izumo region goes to visit a friend in the Iwami region. The Iwami friend asks, “Do you want another cup of tea?” and the Izumo friend replies, “no thank you, I’ve had enough.” The Iwami friend pours no more tea, and the Izumo friend sadly wonders why he isn’t getting another cup of tea but says nothing so as to be polite.

In my personal experience, there have been many, many more cups of matcha than I ever blatantly intended.

 

Liebster Awards, Questions, and Answers

First of all, a huge thank-you to the three bloggers who nominated me, and an apology for being so delayed on my answers! I really appreciate it and wanted to make sure to pay the favor forward. For those who are not familiar, this is the idea:

The Liebster award is intended to give some exposure to small blogs with less than 200 followers. The rules are as follows:

1] Link back to the blogger who nominated you
2] Answer the 11 questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you
3] Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers
4] Go to the blogs you nominated and notify them of your nomination
5] Give your nominees 11 questions to answer.

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MY 33 ANSWERS

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Questions from 可愛い国, a trilingual blog about food and other cultural topics with a special focus on the Netherlands and Japan.

1. What would you recommend to people visiting your area?
A 45-minute tour around Matsue on the Horikawa Sightseeing Boat, followed by matcha and wagashi at any of the establishments nearby.

2. Why do you blog?
Because more people should know about this part of Japan!

3. What do you like to read about most on other people’s blogs?
I love reading experts’ blogs on things I find interesting but am not an expert on.

4. What’s your favourite blog?
This is going to sound terribly narcissistic, but my own! Someday this will be my digital scrapbook of memories.

5. Which book, movie and music would you want to recommend to everyone?
Book: “Bushido: The Soul of Japan” by Inazo Nitobe, 1900.
Movie: “Okuribito” (“Departures”)
Music: Kalafina is my favorite band lately!

6. What’s your favourite recipe?
I don’t follow recipes very well… ^^; That might be why I don’t like having people eat what I cook. But as for things to throw together, lately I love soups full of vegetables! Matcha truffles have also been a lot of fun to make in the past, but they make a big mess (at least when I attempt them).

7. What are you most proud of?
Deciding to write manga instead of just fantasize about writing manga. I’ve always been afraid of being judged for my love of manga, but that doesn’t change how much I enjoy it. Furthermore, actually doing it is showing me that I don’t actually want a life of this after all, instead of leaving me to wonder what could have been if I actually went for it.

8. What’s your dream in life?
To be useful while still indulging in my hobbies.

9. How would you save the world?
I would become a benevolent dictator and take away everyone’s free will so that they don’t make stupid decisions. If you mean this realistically, I’m still working that out myself. There are a lot of methods to choose from there’s the lingering pressure to try to do them all myself.

10. If money, time and other obligations wouldn’t be an issue, what would you most like to do at this moment?
Gather up all my friends from back home and around the world and go to karaoke. Some of them would hate it, though.

11. What do you like most about the country you’re living in now?
I get to practice the culture instead of just admiring it from afar.

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Questions from Cutenippon, a collection of tidbits and explanations about Japanese cultural practices, presented in clear fashion.

1) What is your favorite holiday?
For some reason, I really love China’s Autumn Moon Festival and all the customs that go with it, so I make sure to celebrate it at least in little ways even if I’m by myself! At least in Japan there’s some moon viewing activities, too.

2) If you could choose a wardrobe from any given decade and century what would it be?
Hard choice! Really, really hard choice! Lately I’d lean toward Taisho era Japan since I’d have a mix of girlish hakama, progressive kimono, and snazzy Western clothes.

3) If you could travel anywhere in the world what would your top 3 places be?
Karni Mata Temple in India, the Palace of Versailles in France, and… home?

4) Tea or coffee?
TEA!!

5) What is your zodiac sign?
I’m a Dragon at heart and a Capricorn in the head.

6) If you had a past life what country and time period would you be from?
Everyone says I must have been Asian in a past life, but something tells me I would have been Italian. Maybe sometime in the 12th-14th centuries…?

7) Which is your favorite cats, dogs or fish?
Cats and dogs are both nice, fish are boring.

8) What was the last book you read?
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry.

9) Name the first 5 items you see right now if you open your fridge.
Peanut butter, yogurt, kaya jam, strawberry jam, eggs.

10) What is your favorite flower?
Hard question again! Um… um… I’m partial to camellia lately, but I love irises and peonies and cyclamen and osmanthus and plum blossoms, too.

11) What does blogging mean to you?
As stated in the previous set of questions, this is both my scrapbook and my way of telling the world how cool this part of Japan is.

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Questions from I’ll Make It Myself!, essays about food’s gendered interaction with culture and handy guides for cooking in Japan.

1. If you could pick any decade to dine in in your region of choice, where would you go?
As long as money is no object, then modern day New York City would be fine because I would never be limited in my options. That, and a lot of cuisine of the past is quite unappealing, even for the upperclass!

2. Favorite food-related TV show/film/book/comic?
I do have a soft spot for Food Network’s “Chopped.” It’s interesting enough to keep me curious, and short enough that I don’t get bored following a season of drama.

3. What prompted you to start your blog? What keeps you writing now?
As stated in a previous set of questions, many people are not even aware of the existence of this relatively unpopulated region of Japan, however much people may be on the lookout for less commercial faces of Japan. I found it, and it keeps me writing!

4. What food did you hate as a child but love now?
Almost everything I eat now. I was so picky! Then again, I still am, but now I love tomatoes and tea and tofu and the like.

5. Favorite underrated song?
“Someone in a Tree” from Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures,” an underrated musical.

6. Tell me about your favorite coffee mug or tea cup.
I don’t actually have many of my own at this point in time–they’re mostly ones I got in a hurry from the 100yen shop when I first moved in. I’m hoping to collect a cup or mug from each of the three famous pottery styles in Matsue (Rakuzan, Sodeshi, and Fujina) while I live here.

7. Are you in any fandoms? If so, what was your first, and what are you into now?
I am in too many fandoms across multiple media to start listing or prioritizing, but suffice to say Digimon is the reason I am in Japan today! Never doubt where your child’s love of cartoons will take them.

8. Tell me about a film, piece of literature, song, etc. that changed your life.
Does the above count? ^_^; There have been many pieces of literature or songs or plays that have stuck with me in different ways, but rather than changing my life I think they help me make sense of it.

9. The spice you would take with you when moving abroad. (Example: chipotle powder to Japan)
Fresh salsas and a selection of cheeses and thick pesto sauce don’t count, do they?

10. Do you collect anything? (Figurines, wine corks, stamps, retro kitsch)
Lapel pins (not buttons) are my little weakness.

11. The cookbook or site you use most often if you cook, or the restaurant/yatai/cafe you eat at the most if you don’t?

Kitchen Okada is the local panya (bread shop) near my workplace, and I typically go there at least once a week to eat a light dinner on my way to naginata practice. The bread (and otherwise!) is tasty and they have artsy books to flip through at the counter. I’ve memorized the songs they play at that hour of the day, though.

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MY 11 NOMINATIONS
Let’s push them past 200 watchers!

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幽窓茶道: Translations of tea ceremony related passages, including tools, terms, and philosophy. One of my favorite blogs!

Primates: Anthropology explained in understandable and insightful ways.

OTAKU LOUNGE: Breakdowns and reviews of anime written by a blogger with a PhD in this topic, and a place to discuss anime culture.

茶有の者 – A Man with Tea: Musings on the world and Japanese culture, both in detail and at large, with a special eye for the arts.

天地間に: Writings on history and cultural practices (including Shinto) with a special focus on Japan–and Hawaii!

Japan Kaleidoskop: A multifaceted look at works of Japanese art and literature and introductions to famous or lesser-known works. My favorite feature is Art on Tuesday.

Legends and Fairytales: Analysis of legends and fairytales based on detailed readings and cultural context, as well as explanations of their importance to children.

Soijasiili: I originally followed this blog for the posts about making wagashi (Japanese confections), but it touches on unique art in a wide variety of forms.

Folliculostella: Stunning photography of travels in and perspectives of life in Japan. I really enjoy her writing style, too. Make sure to see her Tottori entries (1, 2, 3)!

Takeshita Demons: A blog about the writing process and culture surrounding a series of books about Japanese mythology aimed at 8 to 12-year-olds.

Where Are All The Filipino Restaurants?: A good food blog in all respects, dedicated to Filipino cuisine.

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MY 11 QUESTIONS

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1. What inspires you to blog?
2. What do you hope readers take away from your blog?
3. In a world without the internet, how would you try to accomplish the above?
4. Would you rather live in the mountains or by the beach?
5. What food are you proud you tried, but would never eat again?
6. Do you have any interesting stories behind any scars?
7. How would you pitch your favorite travel destination to someone who has never heard of it?
8. Your camera breaks while you’re on an exciting vacation. What do you do?
9. However big or small, what’s something you have always wanted to try doing?
10. A favorite childhood memory?
11. What person, in any place or time period, would you trade places with for a day?

 

Dan-Dan! One Year of San’in Monogatari

August 30th, 2013, marks one year since my first post.

Thank you all very much for reading, following, commenting, and sharing! Or as we’d say in the Izumo dialect, だんだん (dan-dan)!

It’s been an exciting year so far living in the shadows of old Japan, especially between Matsue Castle and Izumo Taisha. Besides my general training and indulgence in Japanese culture, there have been experiences unique to this region, such as the Dojo sukui dance, and I’ve just started posting a third Kojiki retelling in English language manga form. The plan is to update that every two weeks, as had been the pattern with the previous two.

That said, sorry for the lack of anything special for the thank-you picture. Artistically, I’ve been tied up with a couple of lanterns for the Suitoro Lantern Festival around Matsue Castle (all through the month of October), There are very cool international exchanges happening I’m quite pleased to be a part of, but there may be more Buri-koma (comics about my daily life) than usual for the next month or so while I’m tied up with that!

Still, I would like to try to keep a good mix of content on here. Over the past year I’ve gained a wealth of interesting (and sometimes trivial) knowledge about the San’in region, which is apparent whenever someone comes to visit and I start talking their ears off. As far as how the blog is doing, thanks to all of you, it’s exceeded both 12,000 hits and 100 watchers in the first year.

I caught my own kiriban (not that there was one)! I wonder if anyone still offers prizes for catching those?

Thank you! Dan-dan!!

 

Yukata: Creative, as long as it’s functional

Yukata season is starting to wind down now, but there are still summer festivals at which to wear them and play games to take home real goldfish (not that I would want to make the poor things suffer in the heat of my apartment while I’m away!). Despite this feeling like the hottest time of the year, we’re technically already in autumn according to the 24 periods of the old lunisolar calendar!

While wearing kimono comes with a certain amount of financial investment and necessary items to achieve the ideal shape on which to base an array of tasteful aesthetics, yukata do not require so much fuss. Unlike kimono, they are usually made of a breathable fabric like cotton and do not require much–if anything?–underneath them, so they are ideal for the hot and humid summers of Japan. Even in my kimono class and other culture classes for which classic dress is standard, they make special allowances for people to wear yukata instead of traditional kimono for practice.

If you have ever stayed at any hotel in Japan, you might have been provided yukata to lounge and sleep in, but there are yukata more proper for wearing in public. They’re cheap enough that most visitors to Japan can afford one, and some fancy hotels in resort areas, like Tamatsukuri Onsen on the south side of Matsue, provide them to the guests to wear around the area anyway. Of course, if you’re just passing through for the day, you can rent them from Himekoromo at the Hakobune Tamatsukuri Art Box. While we’re on that topic, you could always get a brief kimono experience at Karakoro Art Studio closer to Matsue Castle, too.

Just because yukata don’t inheritantly require as much fuss as normal kimono doesn’t mean that you can toss out all the rules of kimono (left side over right!!!), and it doesn’t mean people don’t fuss over them anyway. You see people wearing them all over the place at festivals, and since you can get away with any kind of pattern on a yukata (seeing as the material automatically makes it appropriate for summer, even if its covered in a snowflake pattern), people get very creative with them. It’s gotten very common to see girls with thick make-up, bleach-blonde hair with giant crepe flowers, and sparkly gauze sashes tied over the regular obi (belt). What with the freedom they offer, crafty people are getting craftier and craftier.

For the people just going for a traditional yukata look–the very mental image of which conjures nostalgic memories of summmer, and all the shaved ice, festivals, and refreshing (if infrequent) gusts of wind–there are obi that are tied with strings and have a seperate pre-tied bow that you just stick in the back.

As I call them, “Cheater Obi”–though I’ve happily been cheating for the past six years since attaining my first yukata.

Seeing as I am supposed to be able to wear kimono now, I did take the time to learn how to tie a basic bunko bow. As soon as you master the basics, however, the little creative adjustments you can make–a fold here, a stretch there, flipping inside-out around there–are only limited by your imagination and the length of fabric you have to work with. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of perfectly good, perfectly orthodox ways of arranging it already, though.

I just don’t have enough talent and practice yet to be very orthodox.

 

“Treasure Geta”

This is a story from the Oki Islands, a unique ecosystem where they are still discovering new species of weevils and other critters like mentioned in this story. Perhaps there are Tengu, too.

This is a story that happened a long, long time ago. There once was a filial but poor young man, and his greedy relative, Uncle Gonzou.

One day, the young man’s aged mother fell ill. He wanted to have a doctor see her, but had no money and was worried about what to do. With no alternatives, he went to his uncle for help. “I want to take my mother to see a doctor, so could you lend me some money? I’ll work to earn the money to pay you back,” he pleaded.

“A poor chump like you wouldn’t be able to pay back anything you borrow. I’m not lending you anything!” Gonzou refused.

The youth was at a loss and trudged home. On the way, he took a break to sit among the roots of a giant pine and think about what else he might be able to do. At some point, he nodded off to sleep.

Then an old man with a long, pure white beard approached him and gave him a pair of single-post geta sandals.

The bearded old man said, “When you put on these geta and fall down in them, a small gold coin will come out of them. Only do it once a day, you hear? If you fall around too much, you’ll hurt your back and start to shrink.”

When the young man awoke, he found the pair of geta set right beside him. He happily hurried home to try them out. Putting them on and then sending himself tumbling, he found that the geta did indeed dispense a small gold coin. He then rushed to take his mother to see a doctor, and she soon recovered.

Uncle Gonzou noticed and found it strange. Something is fishy here. They couldn’t have had any money, so what happened? he thought, and then spied on the youth from the window. At that moment, he was putting on the geta, and then he threw himself down, and a gold coin came out of the sandles. So seeing, the selfish man began to covet the pair of geta.

The next day, he went to the young man’s home and asked, “I heard you’ve got a pretty special pair of geta in this house. Would you mind lending them to me for just a little while?”

“Sure, why not? But make sure you only use them once a day. If you fall down too much, you’ll hurt your back and start to shrink.”

Uncle Gonzou was beside himself with glee to take them home with him. As soon as he arrived, he closed the door behind him, spread out a large cloth on the floor, and then stood on top of it wearing the geta. He then proceeded to throw himself down over and over, tumbling and tumbling. He took a break to admire the mountain of gold coins he had amassed, but he then noticed the mountain was growing bigger and bigger because he was shrinking smaller and smaller. Soon, he body has shrunk so small that he was the size and shape of a beetle.

The young man soon began to wonder what his uncle was up to, and went to his house to check on him. Having received no answer when he knocked, he entered, and only saw a large pile of coins and the geta, but no sign of his uncle. He looked everywhere, but could only conclude that his uncle was gone. He gathered the gold coins and the geta to take them home, but only after flicking a bug off of them.

That’s why weevils (zoumushi) are called Gonzou Bugs, after the selfish old uncle, so they say.