In the Pines

Evening walk in Kuzo hamlet. One of my favorite places in Otaki. The road we walked on, my wife and I, was covered in many spots in a good 5 centimeters of ice. From the forest above us we heard the "chi chi chi" of macaques calling to their comrades that there are bigger primates about. Only a few minutes up the road from our house a narrow valley opens enough to allow glimpses of Mt. Ontake. On this evening, clouds clung loosely about the mighty mountain, like down on a gosling. The air was dry and brought a sharpness to the winter landscape, imbuing it with a liveliness that betrayed its skeletal trees and empty fields, which might otherwise signify a scene of lifelessness. The songs of wintering birds struck out from the forest and cut through the frozen silence. A bit further on and we caught sight of a Japanese serow and his (her?) mate. They stood silent and unmoving on patches of grass occupying the center of concrete squares arrayed to form a larger lattice-...

I got back to Otaki yesterday evening after about 10 days in Kyoto. It feels great to be back in the mountains where the heat and humidity of the cities are things only talked about in expressions of pity for those sweating it out below. Otaki has transformed itself once again. The brilliant greens of early summer have settled into deeper, richer shades anticipating (despite the heat) the coming fall. I've heard from villagers that from the end of August the temperatures in Otaki begin to tumble and don't stop until spring comes again. My time in Kyoto was wonderful. A trip to the ocean with the in-laws. We drove to the Japan Sea, fighting a horrendous downpour that killed 4 in Kobe--the road was a muddy river in parts. The sea was muddy with runoff, but we ventured in anyway. The final two days brought sunshine and clearer waters. I was impressed by the beauty of the ocean. Most of Japan's coastal waters are shady as far as swimming goes, but the coast in Tango (t...

“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”...

Rain today. . .thin strings of mist rise up and out of the valleys, clinging to the tree tops before flowing into the gray swirl of clouds overhead. I spent the day yesterday introducing myself and talking with villagers. Most people were out working in their fields, so it was a bit difficult to interrupt. Also, it's hard to describe the look that comes over people's faces when a white guy suddenly walks up and begins speaking Japanese. So, I'm thinking I need to revise my tactics a bit. At the same time, in a town of 1,000 I'm sure that most people now know who I am, and have a semblance of what it is I'm up to. Because Ota ki used to be a forestry town, I haven't seen many rice paddies in production--though these may begin being planted towards the end of next month. Most people grow vegetables in fairly small field plots. Red turnips 赤かぶ are a major crop here, but planting must come later because I haven't seen any yet. Most people seem to be planti...