Birthday Party Time!

Enjoying a great birthday at Pent House in Aomori

Getting older scares me, but doing it surrounded by great people make it a little easier. My birthday was on February 13, and a lot of good friends were here to celebrate it with me. I'm not going to say to much in this post but I at least want to thank my friends for coming and making it such a good time. I have to especially thank my special friend, Nozomi, who organized the whole thing and prepared a bunch of fun games we could all enjoy. Lastly, I don't want to forget the various birthday messages and cards I received from other friends and family who didn't have the opportunity to celebrate with me; thank you too!

I've been trying to ask myself, "what does each passing birthday really mean?" I don't think I have a really good answer to this, but I tend to think about how I've changed and what I've learned since my last birthday. Either way, hopefully we all get a little wiser each time.

One thing I do know, is that this past birthday will most have been my last birthday in Aomori City since I'm leaving in late July. News of my final year as a JET participant is known to most of my friends and family already, but if anyone hasn't heard yet I've decided to finish my contract after three solid years working here. So where will I be on my next birthday? I'm really not sure yet, but I look forward to the new experiences I'll gain along the way.

Fukushima Weekend Trip

Fukushima is a region which many people would now be quick to first associate with the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake (東北地方太平洋沖地震)—or Great East Japan Earthquake (東日本大震災)—and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (福島第一原子力発電所事故). 

These events were devastating to the country. Countless lives were tragically lost and many communities were completely destroyed. Emotional and physical scars may forever be with the people affected by it and many will never be able to return home. However, it wouldn't be right to define Fukushima simply based on these recent incidents.

It's worth noting that a great deal of misinformation and misconceptions exist about the disasters. I've heard too often people making comments based simply on what they read on the internet somewhere or saw on the news. But even besides this point, the Japanese people have found ways to persevere and move forward in their lives. The majority of the prefecture is still completely habitable and life is going on as normal. Fukushima is still a beautiful place with rich culture, rather than the nuclear wasteland some sources have portrayed. Thus, my hope is for anyone reading this to do so without preconceptions.

---

A few weeks ago I took a short weekend road trip to Fukushima Prefecture with my friend, Nozomi. We split up our trip by going to Fukushima City (福島市) on the first day and Aizuwakamatsu (会津若松市) on the second day. Fukushima City, the capital of the prefecture, is located in the north central area, while Aizuwakamatsu is found on the western side.

Fukushima City

We arrived in Fukushima City just as the sun finished creeping over the horizon. In the hazy early hours that day, we made our first stop at a small shrine right in the middle of the city. It seemed particularly quiet there and felt peaceful. Coming from Aomori which had recently been pummeled by heavy snow, we were pleasantly surprised to see there was very little. Ironically, it started snowing just minutes later—and wouldn’t really stop all day. In fact, our trip happened to coincide with record-breaking snowfall in the region (including a rare snow storm in Tokyo). Nevertheless, we didn’t let the weather deter us from having fun!

Walking around the city streets, we were surprised to see so many temples near one another. By pure chance, we stumbled upon no less than five distinct and temples within 30 minutes of walking. They were so easily accessible that we stopped at most of them, including Shinjō-in Temple (真浄院), Seiganji Temple (誓願寺), Kozenji Temple (康善寺), and Toanji Temple (東安寺).

Shinjō-in Temple (真浄院)

Kozenji Temple (康善寺)

After strolling around downtown, we drove a short distance to Hanamiyama Park (花見山公園, lit. “cherry blossom mountain park”). This is one of the top destinations in Fukushima during the cherry blossom season; but we definitely were not there during that season. The snow had accumulated quite a bit by the time we got there, but we still wanted to check it out.

Hanamiyama Park (花見山公園), in the winter!

The park features a small pond and stone monuments at the base and has several small trails that you can walk along to ascend up the “mountain” (hill).

Despite the winter weather and snow, it was still an interesting experience to see the place covered in the white powder. We even spotted some tiny yellow flowers still hanging on to a few trees there. Not all was lost!

No cherry blossoms, but still found these tiny flowers

After our adventure there, we were freezing cold so we decided to check out the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art (福島県立美術館) for something to do indoors. We ate a simple lunch of sandwiches, yogurt, and fruit in the connected library, then walked down a few hallways to the impressively expansive museum foyer. 

We bought tickets (260-yen each) to enter the general exhibits and then casually made our way through. There were some nice works along the way but the final exhibit really caught my eye. It was a series of woodblock prints titled, “Winter in Aizu (会津の冬)”, by Japanese artist, Kiyoshi Saito (斎藤清). I thought his series was amazing because he was able to capture the essence of cold, wintery, rural Japan so well and with a beautifully simplistic yet bold artistic style.

At the Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art (福島県立美術館)

Later that evening, we went to a nice festival in the city called, "Valentine Candle Lighting and Fireworks, 2014" (バレンタインキャンドルナイト&花火), set up at the Village of Four Seasons Park (福島市四季の里). It was the perfect way to close out our first day in Fukushima!

Winter festival with a Valentine's Day theme

I loved the vibe there, as it wasn’t massive in scale but very well-done. The snowy, frigid night didn’t stop people from coming out either. It was nice to see couples walking together and families playing with their children in the snow. Colorful lights softly glowed beneath snow-covered trees, powerful spot lights beamed into the sky, and a nice little fireworks display capped off the event (unfortunately no good photos of the fireworks).

I loved how the used the spotlights at the festival

Aizuwakamatsu

We left Fukushima City early the next morning and discovered that some of the main roads to our next destination were closed due to heavy snow the night before. Luckily, we still found a way to get to Aizuwakamatsu.

Along the way were some great views of the surrounding mountains. One of the most famous ones in Fukushima is called Mt. Azumakofuji. Unfortunately it's completely unaccessible during the winter so the picture below shows as close as we could get. If it's possible I'd like to go back during the summer though.

Mt. Azumakofuji

Our first (and unplanned) stop was at Yasuragi no Sato Aizu-mura (やすらぎの郷会津村, "Peaceful Countryside of Aizu Village"). It's the site of a Buddhist temple with expansive gardens and a colossal statue called Aizu Jibokan-nonzō  (会津慈母観音像, "Aizu Affectionate Mother Statue"). More specifically, the statue depicts Guanyin, a bodhisattva ("enlightened being") of compassion. This figure is commonly used for statues in many asian countries.

Aizu Jibokan-nonzō  (会津慈母観音像)

It was cool to see this place covered in snow in the middle of winter, but like Hanamiyama, it's definitely a place to visit in the warmer months. It was totally deserted when we were there and the gardens and trails were more of less inaccessible. Aside from the statue and gardens, there is a temple, pagoda, and some other things like that to check out.

The next place Nozomi and I went to was Mount Iimori (飯盛山, Iimoriyama). The site has implications with the Boshin War (1868-69), a civil war that was being fought between the Tokugawa Shogunate (samurai clans) and new government forces seeking to return political power to the imperial court. At this time, the Aizu clam formed byakkotai, a group of about 300 young, teenage samurai intended to serve as reserve units. During one of the battles, 20 of the boys got separated and retreated to Iimori Hill, which overlooked the castle town below. When they spotted black smoke thought to be coming from the castle, they committed seppuku (ritual suicide); one boy survived the attempt. The boys were actually mistaken and the black smoke was not coming from the castle but rather other buildings nearby. Today, a memorial stands for the boys, whom are all buried there as well.

On of the most interesting things to see at Mount Iimori is an architecturally unique Buddhist temple called Sazaedo (栄螺堂, or さざえ堂); or officially named Entsu Sansodo (円通三匝堂).

Exterior of Sazaedo at Mount Iimori

The structure has sloping double-helix ramps that ascend clockwise up to the top, and then counter-clockwise to the bottom. Originally, it contained 33 statues of the Kansai Kannon which would be seen while ascending and descending the temple. This was meant to give common folk a way to make the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, rather than travel all the way to Kansai to complete.

The interior of Sazaedo is quite amazing

After Mount Iimori, we drove to Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle (会津若松城), also known as Tsuruga Castle (鶴ヶ城). Located right in the middle of the city, it's a concrete replica of the original, war-damanged castle that was demolished in 1874. The original castle was built in 1384 by Ashina Naomori, and was involved in numerous conflicts in the following centuries. At one point, Date Masamune, the greatest warlord of the Tōhoku area even captured the castle only to give it up soon after. One of the notable physical features of the castle is that it's the only one in Japan with a naturally-red roof. We explored the castle grounds as well as the inside, consisting of a multi-floor museum and viewing deck on the top.

Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle (会津若松城)

Finally, our last stop in Aizuwakamatsu was at Aizu Buke Yashiki (会津武家屋敷, "Aizu Old Samurai Residences"). These used to be the living quarters for some of the top ranked samurai in the area during the Edo Period. It's a pretty neat place, as you can see various rooms and explore the grounds there. 

The place is set up with mannequins and a variety of old samurai gear, tools, schools, etc., to make it easier to imagine what it may have been like at the time when samurai lived there.

We finished the walkthrough just as the residences were closing down for the day. We also had to drive all the way back to Aomori that night, so we didn't waste much time getting out of there.

Despite the wintery conditions, I think we were able to see a lot during the two days in Fukushima and I'd like to come back again some day (especially in spring or summer). My favorite places were the Four Seasons Park where we joined the Valentine Candle Lighting event, and Mt. Iimori where we checked out Sazaedo. It was a really fun trip! And in writing this post, I learned more about the historical background of many of these places. I hope others find it interesting and feel inspired to travel here as well.

Dinner with a U.S. Diplomat

Aomori JETs with U.S. diplomat, Richard Mei (fifth person from left)

A couple weeks ago in early February, a small group of JET participants and I had the pleasure of meeting and having dinner with U.S. diplomat, Richard Mei. He is currently working for the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo as the Cultural Affairs Officer there, and was in Aomori for a couple days sightseeing. 

He had contacted our supervisor in advance to set up the dinner with us; he enjoys meeting JET participants and makes an effort to do so whenever possible. As such, he has met many JET’s all throughout Japan, but this particular trip was quite special for him--Aomori was the only prefecture that he had not yet visited until this trip (and keep in mind that there are 47 prefectures in Japan!).

Mr. Mei is a friendly, laid-back guy with lots of experience working in international relations. His job focuses on making and improving relations between Japan and the U.S. through various avenues. During our conversation with him, he described how he does this by promoting exchange programs for students and teachers, organizing art and other cultural programs, etc. It sounds like a fun job with new things happening all the time.

During the dinner he let us ask questions about lots of topics and it was really interesting. He talked about his past and how he ended up at his job. He described how it could be a good career path for some of us, as well as the advantages and disadvantages that come with working in the embassy. People with excellent knowledge of world politics and news is one of the most essential skills for this career, so it probably not something I would thrive doing. Yet I really enjoyed the dinner and loved hearing about his experiences. He has some funny stories too and isn't afraid to be himself. I hope I'll run into him again sometime in the future!

Special Ceremony for the New Year

Every year, a special ceremony takes place at Uto Shrine (善知鳥神社, Utō Jinja) in Aomori City. It's called Shin-nen Haiga Shiyou No Gi (新年拝賀斯様の儀). In English, it translates to, “Ceremony to Celebrate the New Year”. This is not to be confused with Hatsumōde (初詣), the first shrine visit of the year which I described in a previous post. Whereas hatsumōde occurs at shrines throughout the entire country, this special New Year’s ceremony is unique to Uto Shrine and is the only place you can see it in Japan. This is according to Hayakawa Naohiko (family name, first name), a modern day samurai who helped create the ceremony eight years ago and to this day continues to lead it.

Just before the ceremony started (Uto Shrine is behind the camera)

Hayakawa Naohiko (早川尚彦) is one of very few people in Japan that are practicing samurai and experts using tachi (太刀), a specific type of samurai sword preceding the katana and used before the Edo Period. His swords are more than 500 years old but in excellent condition, a testament to the extreme efforts taken to care for them properly by Hayakawa-san and his ancestors. I've personally seen him clean and care for hi swords and it is truly impressive. His full ancestral name followed by samurai rank/class/position in Japanese is 早川久ェ門尉左京亮尚彦, 下総守藤原朝臣清龍. Hayakawa-san explained to me that very few Japanese people can properly read or understand this since it hasn't been used for hundreds of years. I'm planning to do a more in-depth interview with Hayakawa Naohiko-san in the near future and will be dedicating an entire post to him soon.

Naohiko Hayakawa, Samurai in Aomori

The main purpose of the ceremony is to "purify all directions" through a series of rituals. From my conversation with Hayakawa-san, my interpretation is that it's basically meant to be a purification of life's paths and promote peace and happiness in the new year.

The first ritual is called Ten Chi Jou-sha No Gi (天地浄謝の儀), translating to "Purification of Heaven and Earth Ceremony". It involves two shooters using bow and arrow while mounted on horses. One shooter fires an arrow downward into the ground to purify the earth (地, chi) ; a second shooter fires an arrow upward into the air to purify the heavens/sky (天, ten). Shooting at a wooden target, an arrow is also fired in a flat plane. The three arrow shots described above represent a greater overarching concept which I will explain later.

Firing a bow to purify the earth

The next ritual is called Shuku-hō Wo Ageru (祝砲を上げる), translating to "gun salute". This is essentially a celebratory gunshot, not unlike the gun salutes that sometimes take place during ceremonies in other countries. An authentic, ancient Japanese gun is used in the ceremony, but only blanks are fired for obvious safety reasons. Keep in mind that guns are extremely scarce in Japan, so this is an especially rare thing to see in my opinion.

Celebratory shot for the new year

Inside the temple, the third ritual takes place called Shi Ho Kiyome No Gi (四方清めの儀), translating to "Purification of All Directions Ceremony". During this part, Hayakawa-san purifies all cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) with his sword while reciting special phrases.

Purifying the four cardinal directions

In combination, the above rituals have purified all four directions (by sword) and three dimensions (by arrow) of our living world. In the final part of the ceremony, Hayakawa-san reads an original speech from a handwritten scroll in ancient Japanese--which apparently is language most Japanese people cannot even understand fully. The general message of the speech was to reaffirm that all directions of life have been purified now and to wish for peace (heiwa) in the new year.

Following the ceremony several friends and I took a few more photos and talked to Hayakawa-san for a few minutes. The ceremony is really interesting to see and I would recommend everyone to come see it. Hayakawa-san also loves to promote Japanese culture and is always happy to chat about it with anyone, especially foreigners who are interested in it. Try to meet him if you get a chance!