Kakegawa Castle

Oct. 29,
Kakegawa Castle

After several months of living in Kakegawa, I finally make it to the castle thanks to my visiting colleagues. I have waited to visit the castle on just the right occasion. I have seen busloads of tourists arriving to visit the castle. Kakegawa is presently enjoying popularity due to the NHK (Japan’s national television station) broadcast of a historical drama, Ko Myo Gatsuji, which was shot at the castle. Kakegawa castle was once the summer villa of the famous shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who battled over it Kakegawa was of strategic significance since it was a transport hub on the Tokaido way during the late 1500’s. The castle is also famous for being the first wooden castle built in Japan.












It was a lot smaller than I imagined and was a fraction of the size of Nagoya’s castle. The view around Kakegawa was interesting, so I took several pictures and tried to figure out where I was living. I notice a similar fish like statue resembling Nagoya’s dolphin and it appears they are also positioned atop the castle roof. It did not take us long to check out the castle, so it was off for some brews in town and lots of chit chat, sharing teaching tales of trauma.


















My favorite cycling route along the river.










I think I live out 1 kilometre in this direction.

Castle Gates

Halloween

Oct. 31
Halloween is superficially celebrated in Japan. One will find all kinds of commercial Halloween themes abounding, yet the ultimate spirit is lacking. Still, as an English school, we are required to highlight cross cultural themes and so I am in the midst of teaching Halloween curriculum every day for a month.
Every working day is Halloween and I dress up in a pseudo witches costume and try to convery the scary fun of Halloween. My colleague has the best costume for Japan. It is an inflatable sumo wresteler. He e-mailed me this picture after the first of Halloween curriculum, upon which he decided to go out drinking after work in his costume. He was drunk when he asked an elderly woman to take the picture.



It is a nice break from the different levels of curriculum I must usually deal with in my day to day work life. Now we are all playing the cemetary game, pin the face on the pumpkin, and my version of pumpkin 'go fish'. It's a pity we are not allowed to give the kids some candies. Against company policy, it is. So I do my best, but all the while missing Halloween done the real way back home.

Giant pumpkin at the local supermarket 'COOP'

Osaka

Osaka – Oct. 23, 06

I woke up early to catch the first shinkansen into Osaka, 7:00am so that I could make my 10:00 job interview. It was a beautiful day, just perfect for my explorations in Osaka. I slept most of the 2 hour trip and awoke by the time we made Kyoto. It was a pretty dense looking city at that point, like Tokyo. I had little problems making my way to my first appointment and found the people to be more ‘real’. Everyone seems so proper in Kakegawa. In Osaka, I noticed a lot more of a laidback businessmen style. I seemed to get a lot of looks for my business suit and briefcase demeanor. Then again, I didn’t seem to notice any other women that looked in a similar fashion.
Anyhow, the first job interview was distressing. Near the Nishi Tanabe subway station, the area had a bit of a gritty feel to it and had the wonderful big city feel to it with all the concentration of urban concrete. It was basically a daycare center for preschoolers. I was somewhat horrified to find 20 odd 3-5 year olds lined up against the wall reciting constellation flashcards. There were two English native teachers and two Japanese assistants who also spoke English to a certain degree. These kids were being exposed to an all-English setting from 9-5. There English was certainly good, but I felt so sorry for them. I have unpleasant memories of being in preschool daycare and I cringed at the idea of working there. Also, the office people seemed very shady. They didn’t seemed interested in interviewing me, but wanted me to do a trial teaching session in the afternoon after observing in the morning. Well that was not part of my agenda. As soon as I realized that this was probably the last job I would want to take under the “English teaching category’, I made my escape from the premises. The dude who appeared to be running the place struck me as something of a ‘gangster’. I was very happy to make my departure and I felt sorry for those kids who appeared to be in a prison. Learn English while in prison.
I decided to make my way to my next interview in Honmachi, a business area of Osaka. After finding the office and with an hour to spare, I made my way outdoors. I came across a huge temple and had to explore. Turns out, it is a well known Jodo Shinshu temple and I was given a brief tour and encouraged to sit through a Buddhist chant. It was very beautiful, and I was struck with awe by its beauty. After checking it out and taking photos, I went to find some food. Osaka is famous for it’s food, but I had little time to eat, so I grabbed some rice balls and oden from a convenience store and went back to the temple ground to eat. Lots of people were hanging out there on their lunch break enjoying the beautiful day. This is really a comfortable time, weather wise. It is like a beautiful summer day in Vancouver.

I made my way to my job interview with an agency that supplies English teachers around Osaka. It was a very long 2 hour interview and I learned a lot. They were happy to take me on, but I was far more reluctant. I would not get paid as much, as they were the middle men, no doubt skimming paychecks. Less perks, like no vacation pay. I felt like a temp secretary. They told me that had all the contracts for the high schools in Osaka. My heart sank at that news. They would not house me either. They said they could give me some hints. And when I expressed dismay at the pay cut, they said I could work 2 full time jobs and make double the money then. All day at the public schools and in the evenings, teach at the private schools. The possibility of working myself to death and making a hunk of money actually appealed to me. Perhaps I could do this for a short time. The housing feels like a huge obstacle, but they made it sound like a piece of cake. They said that if I had my own housing and was independent from a company, I would be free to make as much money as I like and have more control over my life. They had a way of framing it in a positive light. There was a fee (like a hundred bucks) for registering with them, which made me distrustful of them, but they said that fee would be paid when I signed a job contract. I learned a lot from them though, in terms of the different English teaching jobs available and what would be entailed.

Once I left their office, I decided I was going to make the most of my time by sightseeing. I wanted to check out some tourist sights, so I made my way back to Shin Osaka station to visit the tourist center from maps. I wanted to go to some old temples, but time was running out. Once I got to Tennoji station, I ended up somewhat lost and unable to locate the temple. Rush hour was approaching, so I scrapped the temple and made my way to Umeda to meet up with a friend.


When I got out of Umeda station, I found myself in the hub of a large city, just like I’ve been jonsing for. It was great. Huge streets lined with neon lights and masses of people – a wide assortment of people. I was digging it. People were diverse. Seedy looking men in crumpled clothing (never see that in Kakegawa) women with their midriff exposed (don’t see that either in Kakegawa) and lots of freaks to top it off (a definite void in Kakegawa). I felt at home. I had to meet T-san at the Yodobashi Camera and didn’t realize that I was already in there. It converges with the subway station at some point. I thought that perhaps I was there as there were signs saying Yodobashi-Umeda and I was surrounded by wall-to-wall electronics. When I stepped outside I realized I had been in a huge store. I mean HUGE. I asked the info girl if I was in the Yodobashi Camera store and she confirmed my location. I was where I needed to be. OK, now that I found the spot, I wanted to walk around the area and soak up the big city vibes. I found another ferris wheel, like the one in Nagoya, but I had a hard time trying to take a picture. I wanted to eat, but I was overwhelmed by selection. Somewhat pathetically, I ended up grabbing coffee and pizza at the French bakery near Yodobashi. It was a cop out, as Osaka is famous for food, but once again I did not have enough time to eat and I wanted to save my money to pay for beers later on.





We went to the entertainment section and did some bar hopping and beer drinking. It was great fun, but I had little time as I had to catch the bullet train back to Kakegawa around 9 ish, a pity as things start kickin' at around 11:00 pm in Japan. Ahh the sad fate of being a country bumpkin who must get back home before turning into a pumpkin. Umeda at twilight

Houji

Oct. 21

In Japan, there are what I call, funeral anniversaries - houji, that take place on significant years. I was invited to my cousins houji for their father, mother, and brother. It would take place at the family temple in Hamamatsu. I belong to an 'otera' family, a temple family with an ancestry of Buddhist priests extending back 500 years. My grandfather was a zen Buddhist priest, then my uncle, and now my cousin. My cousin would perform the ritual.
















Back area of the temple overlooking the graves. Muku, the temple dog, ever vigilante.

I looked forward to the sombre occasion, strangely enough, as it would be a traditional Japanese Buddhist experience and also an opportunity to visit the graves of my dead family members that included my grandmother and grandfather. It was a moving experience and I enjoyed the droning chants accompanied by the beating ritual instrument, which I failed to get the name of. Bad ethnomusicological moment. My cousin kept good time. Can one be a good buddhist priest if you have bad time? These and other more sobering thoughts run through my head as the ritual progressed.









Later we went out to the headstones and there was more chants and incense and prayers to the many dead. I spent a moment with my dead grandparents. After the ceremony, there is the feast. We went to a very shi shi restaurant and had the houji menu. There was polite conversation and beer. Thank goodness. I don't know if I broke protocol by having beer (the men were), but my Japanese family have probably accepted the fact that the Canadian cousin is a beer guzzler. I am Canadian.










Fine Japanese dining, overlooking a lake.

After the houji, I decide to wander around Hamamatsu since it is a beautiful day. I came across this small shrine in the downtown area. Now I have seen several small shires similar to this in large city areas. It is the sharp contrast of tradition juxtaposed again modernity. This is what makes Japan.

Post Omatsuri

October 15


Kakegawa has become quiet once again. The lonely main street is once again looking like a ghost town. I could never understand and still do not, why so many of the stores are always closed. This picture was taken on a weekday during the middle of the day and as usualy, it looks dead. Most of the shops are closed. Go and figure.






Since the festival, I have developed a new appreciation for Kakegawa. The castle is a proud beacon of this small city. I have made a point to try and take this pathway that follows along the river and is always in view of the castle. It is very pleasant and people are often walking their small dogs or strolling along.








I try to soak up as much country side as possible. I have found the most picturesque pathways to travel, so that I can be surrounded by as much beauty as possible.











I have been fascinated, ever since the day I arrived, by the huge nets that are cast around the trees. No one has been able to explain these nets on trees and obviously I just need to ask the right person. But I have also noted that other trees around neighbouring towns, are not netted. To net or not to net, and why the net.







I thought it might have something to do with all these birds that appear to have a feeding frenzy around the trees at 5:00pm. Like clockwork. It is really amazing. Like something out of Hitchcock's "Birds". Masses of birds. They are loudly twittering and flying all about the trees at the train station. I must video tape sometime, because I have never seen anything quite like it. I try to stay away from the frenzy, as I imagine there is a lot of flying turds being bombarded about.

I have decided to try and investigate and appreciate Kakegawa while I am here. There are still many areas that I have not visited. For instance, Shiseido, the large Japanese cosmetic industry is headquartered here and they have a museum. I probably will not visit, but I might surprise myself. Now that the weather is so beautiful and comfortable, I will try to cycle around and explore a bit more.

Day 3 of Omatsuri

Kakegawa Omatsuri Day 3

I gear myself for the last day of the Omatsuri. This time I try to catch all the different yatais and enjoy the day for what it is. I check on some of the festivities that are happening around the fringes of town, like in my neighbourhood where they are doing their own thing. And having a good time.

Kakegawa castle has been exceptionally busy with all the tourists coming to check out the now famous castle. Throngs of people make their way up the many stairs.

It is another beautiful days and the town is captivated in matsuri magick. I do notice that people are somewhat tired. I can hear people loading up the yatais with sake and someone saying that they need to have more sake on board!












In the center of Kakegawa, it is another day similar to day 2 with a media center and performances taking place in front. Many yatais are piled, awaiting their turn to perform. Once this performance processions is over, yatais make their way around town.













I am running around for most of the day. I try to take it all in and I persevere until the end and watch the full festivities. In the evening it is another chaotic, or seemlingly so, bustle of yatais meeting and facing off with spirited cheering sections. It is great to so many women out and bout being equally loud and rowdy. As 9:00 pm approaches, things start to get packed away; sadly the food stalls are first to shut down. I check on some of yatais on their return journey home. Many return to their community centers where ceremonious speeches take place, bringing closure to year’s Omatsuri.

Bringing a close to Kakegawa's Omatsuri