In the Pines

With the spring-like weather we've been having lately, it seems impossible, but about a week ago I received a call from Y-san, asking if I was free to go ice-fishing. I was in the middle of lunch, and had research I COULD work on, but ice-fishing sounded vastly more interesting, and research can wait--besides. . .it's all fieldwork! I walked to Y-san's place near the center of town. He looked over my clothing. . .I was lacking nagagutsu , long rubber boots ubiquitous in many rural Japanese communities. I had also come wearing jeans. . .ski pants would be preferable, I was told by Y-san. We dropped back by my place so I could change and then headed down to a section of the Otaki river where the flowing water begins to be held back by Makio Dam. I parked my car in an area above the river. Looking down I saw several small figures encircled by a dark patch of slowly melting ice. The chunk of ice the men sat at the center of was not much larger than a baseball diamond, wi...

For those living in Japan, you know it's that time of year--sports days abound. For those not familiar with this Japanese custom, allow me a brief explanation. Sports festivals are held by most schools at all levels in Japan. Some municipalities, Otaki included, also do general sports festivals that everyone can participate in. The festivals consist of a variety of events: races, tug-of-wars, relays, etc. that are all done in good fun--though you do get serious competitors at times. Prizes are also usually awarded. Oh, and there are almost always strings of international flags hanging above the ground (I've always thought it would be interesting to research the origins of and cultural beliefs surrounding this custom). From what residents have told me, Otaki used to have HUGE sports festivals that everyone participated actively in. The festival would take weeks to prepare and allowed residents the opportunity to get together, have some food, and drink. These days, however...

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...

On Friday Chizuko and I used our last day of sunshine before the rains of a typhoon expected in the Tokyo area came to go back to the Akazawa National Forest, our favorite spot we've discovered so far. This time we stopped at a place on the river called gomaishura . Shura 修羅 in Japanese means, "timber chute". This particular location was used up until the early part of the 20th century for drawing out logs that had been floated down the river from forests further upstream. The unique rock formations here apparently look similar to stacks of aligned logs that were counted using the character mai 枚; there are five ( go 五 in Japanese) rock layers, hence gomai 五枚. So, altogether the name becomes gomaishura 五枚修羅--five stack timber chute (or something like that). At gomaishura the river flows--tumbles really--down a channel at the bottom of a large outcropping of granite that comprises the river bed. On some of the rock faces, one can still see old drill marks from wher...

Last Sunday a festival was held in Kami-jo , the section of Otaki where I live. For those involved festivities began the day before with a drinking party after we had made preparations. Many events in Otaki are followed, inevitably, by drink and food. I met with the mayor of the village when I first moved here, and he asked, "do you like alcohol?" My answer came back in the affirmative, and he remarked, "ah, then you'll be OK here." On Sunday festivities began at 11:00. Various food both lined the street in front of the Kami-jo community center. There was barbecued fish on skewers, steak, stew, fried squid, doughy balls with bits of octopus in the center, fried noodles, a ring toss for the kids, and of course beer. It was a miniaturized version of festivals that occur all over Japan. The difference being that most food stalls at bigger festivals are run by yakuza --Japanese mobsters. I like the local community version better. The wife and I both volunte...

“Golden Week” has started here in Japan . It’s a series of holidays at the beginning of May that ends up giving people about a week off from work or school. Since I have no formal job I was a bit oblivious to it and was trying to go about my work as usual today, but found everywhere closed. So, errands will probably have to wait until after the holiday. People here in Otaki are still out working in their fields—no golden week for them. I will be returning to Kyoto for a bit on May 2 nd and will be back here by the 10 th be cause there is a festival on the 11 th that I have been asked to partic ipate in. Not totally sure what all the festival consists of. I know it takes place at a small shrine up on the hillside above the village-center, and I know we will be cooking takoyaki たこ焼き and yakisoba やきそば , which are customary festival treats these days. I’m sure there will also be plenty of drinking. In addition, I was delighted to find out that the “second party”...

Last weekend I had a chance to visit Mukugawa ( 椋川 ) , a village located about an hour north of Kyoto in Shiga prefecture. I found the area where Mukugawa is located on the internet, and was taken there by a professor from Shiga University whom I had contacted. This professor has been doing fieldwork in Mukugawa since 2005, much of which has focused on reviving past techniques of farming, forestry, and daily life. He began visiting Mukugawa because he had read that the villagers practiced burning of local hillsides up until the 1960’s. This initial interest grew into explorations of a variety of activities including charcoal-making, silviculture, and ox-drawn plowing. It also led him to develop a friendship with a young forester who lives in the village with his wife and three children, and who has also taken an interest in reviving various lifestyle techniques. On December 16 th , the Sunday I was in Mukugawa, several men of the village spent the morning making shi...