In the Pines

Last Monday Chizuko and I were invited by a friend, S-san, to try making buckwheat noodles ( soba そば , in Japanese) at her home. Soba making is one of several hands-on activities that a group in Otaki is beginning to develop for tourists. So, this time was a kind of trial run, I suppose. Although soba is eaten throughout Japan , it is particularly popular in Nagano . In Chizuko's hometown of Kyoto , the noodle of choice is udon , which is a white noodle made with regular flour. So, Chizuko isn't a huge fan of soba, and I can't say that I (even though I previously lived in Nagano for two years) ever have been either. Also, since we moved to Otaki, we hadn't really been impressed with any of the soba we tried. Anyway, the soba we were going to make had a long way to go to get any high marks with the two of us (not that we know squat about giving marks to soba). We arrived at S-san's house at four in the afternoon, as we had previously arranged. As soon as we had p...

I came across an article today in the Mainichi Shinbun with the headline, "Restaurant manager died from overwork, rules labor office" ( original Mainichi Shinbun article ). This poor guy was the manager of a Skylark restaurant, which is the Japanese equivalent of say, Denney's. In my opinion, the very existence of a term meaning "death from overwork"-- karoushi 過労死 in Japanese--calls into question the dominant enterprises of "modernization" and capitalism. Not that work itself is bad--I like work; it's a basic aspect of human life. The selling of one's labor however, to the profiteers of a restaurant for example, has the tendency to divorce humans from the non-commercial aspects of their work. Marxists, of course, have discussed this alienation for over a century now. Recently, here in Otaki I've been thinking about it more and more. It's a mixed bag, many villagers work jobs to earn money, but most families also maintain fields ...

"In the canyons of the great divide, familiar places that we can run and hide" -Neil Young Last week, on the recommendation of a friend, Chizuko and I visited Atera Cany o n (阿寺渓谷), which extends west into the mountains from Okuwa village, the town over from Otaki. The canyon is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, and just adds to my admiration of the Kiso Region. Chizuko w as all smiles. Definitely a good place to while away an afternoon- - watching clouds billow and listening to the river as it tumbles down the mountain. At the first spot we stopped the remains of an old bridge--part of the extensive forest railroad system that once lined the canyons of the Kiso valley--straddled the river. Further up the canyon we came to a location called tanuki-ga-buchi 狸ヶ淵. The water here was. . .I'll just add a picture. F inally, Chizuko and I stopped at a place called ushi-ga-buchi 牛ヶ淵. The canyon was narrow here and rock cliffs stood up above the azure of the r...

On Thursday, July 10th, mountain opening ceremonies were held both at Ontake's true summit, or ken-ga-mine 剣ケ峰 (3,067 m), and at Otaki's summit ( outaki-choujyou 王滝頂上 2937 m). I had planned on staying in the Otaki mountian hut the night before, but ended up not being able to. So, I set out from Ta-no-hara at about 6 on Thursday morning. It had been overcast and a bit drizzly in the village, but soon after I began my ascent up Ontake's south-eastern slope I left the clouds and rain below me. My body was light and moved easily up the rocky ridge leading to the Otaki summit. I made good time and was at the first summit by about 7:30. A gave a quick hello to a friend who works in the Otaki mountain hut and hurried on along; I made the true summit by about 7:45. Visibility was poor, but I was able to see the first two of Ontake's five ponds resting just below the summit. The first pond, ichi-no-ike 一ノ池, no longer holds any water, but the second, ni-no-ike 二ノ池, show...

Been up in the hills, and down in the canyons a lot this week, so I haven't had much time to write. I did have a chance to read a couple of brief articles outlining the utter uselessness of this week's G8 Summit in Hokkaido, and the inactivity of the likes of these two. Also had a chance to read through the Indigenous People's Declaration on the G8 Summit that was the product of a gathering, also in Hokkaido, of indigenous groups from around the world. I'll write about the mountains and canyons soon. . .but tomorrow, back to the hills! DOWN WITH EMPIRE AND UP WITH SPRING!

In a story entitled "Cars and toilets go green at eco-friendly G8 summit" Reuters reported on some of the steps being taken by the Japanese government to insure the G8 summit currently being held on the northern island of Hokkaido is environmentally friendly. My favorite quote from the article was this one about how security forces at the summit are using "eco-friendly" Segway scooters: "Usually, we have to walk, so we get tired, but we don't get tired with this," said Kubo, an employee of Rising Sun Security Service. Though I do have to give credit to the reporters for pointing out the obvious: "how a scooter could be better for the environment than two feet was not so clear." Here in Otaki I've been watching thunderclouds coming from the Sea of Jap an billowing up into the hazy summer sky as they smack into the Kiso Mountains. I've been listening with delight to the dry cracks of thunder as they roll up and down the canyons. We ...

Last month I participated in a learning activity that consisted of a walking tour of several points of interest on Ontake-san. These learning activities are put on by the village office as a way of promoting greater knowledge among residents of Otaki and its surrounding environment. There was a lot of information during the day, so I'll try to convey what I can here. The day began at the Otaki community center where we board ed a bus and headed up the mountain to Ta-no-hara 田の原. Sitting at 2108 meters, Ta-no-hara is the highest point accessible by car. Sitting just below the summit of Ontake is the Ta-no-hara Natural Park 田の原天然公園. The park consists of a series of wooden walkways that lead through a marshy forest of tall erman's birch ( dakekanba 岳樺 in Japanese), Japanese Rowan (an rose variety, nanakamado 七竈), and several varieties of stunted pines, such as shirabiso 白檜曽( Alvies veitchii Lindley), kometsuga 米栂 ( Tsuga diversifolia , a hemlock variety native to Japan), ...