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Briano Eno Audio-light installation on Sydney Opera House sails part of Vivid light festival in Sydney.

Luminous

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Briano Eno Audio-light installation on Sydney Opera House sails part of Luminous light festival in Sydney. From 27 May - 14 June, the sails will be lit from 6pm.
A live video stream is available here: http://www.viostream.com/sydneyoperahouse/luminous/lightingthesails/

Sydney Opera House presents LUMINOUS – a festival of music, ideas, light and performance. Curated by Brian Eno, this inaugural year features a plethora of music acts, alongside public talks and spectacular light and art installations. LUMINOUS is presented in partnership with Sony as part of Vivid Sydney.

Almost everyone has encountered the work of Brian Eno: as inventor of 'ambient' music; as record producer for U2, Coldplay and Talking Heads; and as an acclaimed visual artist. He is an innovator, an architect of new ideas, a father to new ways of thinking.

“I feel very honoured to have been invited to curate this festival. The brief I was given by Sydney Opera House can loosely be read as ‘you suggest it, and we’ll organize it’, which is about as generous and as trusting as one could ever dream of.” Brian Eno

MINI AUnited 50th birthday Sydney

From Harold Park Raceway in Glebe, via ANZAC bridge, across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and off to see "The Italian Job" at the drive-in cinema in Western Sydney, Sydney-sider MINI enthusiasts & owners of new and vintage MINIs celebrated.

Different states ...

Lightning striking inner Western suburbs of Sydney. Blue's Point Tower in the foreground.


An impressionist foggy dawn in pale pastels, after the style of Monet.

New MINI Cooper

After what seemed an interminable wait, my little custom-assembled MINI Cooper arrived at Sydney Mini Garage, ready for collection on Thursday. Very quiet and sporty ;-)

Harbourside

Sydney Harbour outlooks. Here are some photos catching the different times of day, weather and conditions as I am fascinated by the collage of nautical life that passes by.

In order: 4 am still, glassy, calm, long refractions of city lights; fireworks at Sydney opera House; dawn; day; tanker out; cargo ship in; sunset; storm.

Happy New Year 2009!

Last night my friends Jenny, David and Judith came around for dinner, drinks and fireworks, needing their invitations to pass through the security baracades cordoning off our area on the North of the Harbour! we enjoyed a feast of cheeses and fruit until the 9pm (family) fireworks, then toshikoshi soba, moochi, prawns, teriyaki and vegetables with beetroot, honey and pine nut dressing followed by fruit dipped in chocolate sauce until the midnight NYE fireworks. 2009 is the year of Creation (creativity?) and 2008-9 NYE fireworks featured for the first time a continuously metamorphosing icon in the centre of the bridge that continued to spin and form different patterns between the firework shows. We were so close that the thunderous explosions should the earth.

Flickr NYE photoset

Photographic wanderings

On Boxing Day I took the M8 for a photographic wander along the cliff-tops of Killcare Beach on the track to Bullima in the Bouddi National Park on the Central Coast north of Sydney.













Tomorrow night is NYE 2008. I am preparing Toshikoshi soba, moochi, teriyaki beef and pork belly, vegetable salad and prawns. Long noodles slurped in their entirety without breaking symbolise long life, a traditional Japanese New Year's (Oshogatsu) feast and prawns, said to resemble old people in shape, are also supposed to bring longevity.

A few days earlier I tested the 75mm prime on Blues Point Reserve North Sydney on the inner harbour. I am experimenting with the different RAW treatments in Apple iPhoto (+Aperture), Adobe Lightroom and PhaseOne CaptureOne.

AeSon: Aesthetic sonification toolkit

My research assistant, Sam Ferguson, and I are working on an aesthetic sonification toolkit. It emerged while we are repeatedly building sonification projects with different interfaces and data-sets, that it is still useful to have a kind of real-time-capable toolkit for semi-automated calibration, scaling and chunking of data for sonification but customisable in the respect that the user and listener can both modify the listening experience. There are a few variations of a sonification toolkit out there, a patch or program usually developed with Max/MSP or Super-collider or C-sound, to treat various data in the same way, analysing and generating an auditory graph. Most dwell on frequency as a dimension of time-based data and magnitude on the y-axis. We are very interested to control dimensions like timbre and spatialisation and also to consider non-linear representation to clarify, even exaggerate, the interesting facets of the data peaks and trends.

If you are interested to try our toolkit, it is now available open source and we welcome feedback for improvements. You need Max/MSP and IRCAM FTM objects. http://www.kirstybeilharz.com.au/aeson.html or http://code.google.com/p/aesontoolkit/downloads/list

We (Kirsty Beilharz and Sam Ferguson) are investigating the aesthetics of sonification (representation of data through sound), as currently a lot of the toolkits out there are not necessarily designed with aesthetics or musical sound in mind. The eventual aim is to do have sonifications that are as engaging as information visualizations can be.

The aim is to produce a toolkit that maintains the massive flexibility that Max/MSP gives us, while simplifying the process of organising and mapping data to sound attributes. Currently, the toolkit consists of a large number of abstractions.

Included there are:
** a set of dataset management abstractions that load in a data file and split it up into various variables (passed as dict structures), abstractions for transforming these variables, and
**methods for stepping through this data.
** mapping abstractions that accept the dict structures in the rightmost inlet and out the rightmost outlet and then autoconfigure themselves.
** Synthesis and Sampling abstractions built to accept the outputs from above.
** 'Manipulation' objects that map data to a dsp process (eg lowpass filter) and 'manipulate' audio streams.

The idea is that by building a chain of the handful of objects used in transforming data to sound the design can be iterated quickly and better and more musical outcomes can result.

I haven't done a huge number of help patches yet but many of the crucial ones are currently there. There are also a few sample datasets, and some examples of the datasets being sonified. Currently I'm using small timeseries and multi-variate datasets, but I would like to scale it up to larger 3d datasets in the future. Generally, to use the system you connect all the various objects, and then load the data file which promulgates the data to each of the various objects. Then you press start on the Datatset.Control object, and you're sonifying.

I'm hoping that maybe if you download the toolkit and like it (or don't) you might provide some feedback on how to improve it. It's still 4.6 - but should work ok in 5 theoretically.

Interactive Sound Studio final exhibition

Friday 3 October 6-9pm
Hearth & Atrium, Wilkinson Building
Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning
Access level 2 - 148 City Road (Darlington)
University of Sydney
FREE ADMISSION

our blog: http://interactive-sound.blogspot.com/
studio teachers: Kirsty Beilharz & Sam Ferguson

Wii Taiko
Interactive Narrative
Sonic Hockey
Rubick's Studio
Virtual DJ
Haunted Bear
Druidic Rituals
Virtual Conductor
Awakening the Buddha
Domino Music

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Opening up Design talk at UTS

I will start as Professor of sound, music and interaction at UTS in November. Here are two of my colleagues, Professor Kees Dorst and Associate Professor Bert Bongers giving a public talk on the the opening up of design ... the changing expectations, responsibilities, challenges and technologies of designing, about re-thinking how design mediates our physical and pervasive daily experience.

Bert is showing his flex-sensitive cyber-glove musical instrument design.

WSF'08 photos online

Photos from the WSF 2008 in Sydney are now online (full set and larger size) http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstykomuso/sets/72157606395897188/

CALL OF BAMBOO Blue Mountains concert after WSF'08

CALL OF BAMBOO
Japanese Masters of Shakuhachi & Koto in concert

TERUO FURUYA shakuhachi
KAZUSHI MATAMA shakuhachi
KAORU KAKIZAKAI shakuhachi
BRONWYN KIRKPATRICK shakuhachi
SATSUKI ODAMURA koto
MIYAMA McQUEEN TOKITA koto

Shika no Tone 鹿の遠音 traditional anonymous
Shun Sui 春吹 composed by Katsuya Yokoyama
Haru no Umi 春の海 composed by Michio Miyagi
Jogen no Kyoku 上弦の曲 composed by Tadao Sawai
Kaze no Uta 風の歌 composed by Tadao Sawai
Sanya (Mountain Valley) 山谷 traditional anonymous
Kikyo Gensoukyoku 桔梗幻想曲 composed by Rando Fukuda
Dai Yon Fudo 第四風動 composed by Seiho Kineya
Nezumi Guruma ねずみ車 composed by Rando Fukuda

10 JULY 2008 7PM
CARRINGTON HOTEL BALLROOM KATOOMBA
BLUE MOUNTAINS AUSTRALIA
$25/20

www.thecarrington.com.au 47 Katoomba Street +61 2 4782 1111

more info + travel directions: www.kirstybeilharz.com.au/CallOfBamboo.html

Idan Raichel Project Sydney Opera House

The Idan Raichel Project is a world music ensemble directed by Idan from Israel. Perhaps the most remarkable feature about the eclectic band singing in Hebrew is that its membership comprises people from the rich array of ethnic backgrounds represented in Israel, such as African Ethiopians, a Somalian, a Persian singer, Israelis and a wonderful South American percussionist. The gamut of instruments is equally exciting including a Georgian plucked instrument, South American cabassa, African gourd drums, electric bass, keyboard, kit percussion and hand drums such as bongos and a vast assortment of other skinned and wooden drums, water immersion.

The Idan Raichel Project erupted onto the music scene in 2002 as a new face of Israeli pop music advocating tolerance and joy.
Idan Raichel, is a 29-year old keyboardist, producer and composer from Kfar Saba. Idan was born in 1977 to a family with Eastern European roots and honed his skills at improvisation and working with other musicians in Israeli military service in the Army rock band. While counselling in a school for Ethiopian Jews, he listened to recordings of songs from artists like Mahmoud Ahmed, Aster Aweke, Gigi and others. These and gypsy and Latin and reggae influences are all audible in the repertoire of the Idan Raichel Project.

"Idan had long been fascinated with the diversity of Israel and sought to celebrate his appreciation and respect for different cultures through his music. Because of its open door to immigrants from Jewish communities around the globe, Israel is home to a stew of cultures and traditions, including people of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Latin American and Eastern European roots. Yemenite Jews offer traditions that reflect thousands of years of living in the country of Yemen on the southern edges of the Arabian Peninsula. Israel's Sephardic community consists of people who had incorporated the traditions of Spain, North Africa and the Mediterranean region where they had lived for centuries. The largest immigrant population in Israel consists of Ashkenazi Jews, who had come mostly from Russia and Eastern Europe". The 3rd photograph is by Barzi Goldblat.

Farewell Party with the Kakizakai family

(1) Kakizakai Sensei's mother, Emi, Megumi, Sensei [wickedly holding up the last challenge in Japanese culinary delights - a deliberate test I am sure], Haruka, Takashi (2) Kirsty, Megumi, Emi, Takashi, Kakizakai Sensei's mother, Haruka, Kakizakai Sensei.

Naturally, it was tinged with some regret that I had to pack up, clean out the caravan and organise to return to Australia but the Kakizakai family helped me feel very appreciative of the nice time I have had in Japan in the beautiful 'city' of Chichibu where I have made some deep friendships and had plenty of time to think, compose, practice. Their family has helped me and always made me feel very welcome and integrated. Megumi and I perhaps share an adventurous, independent spirit and enjoyed very much our excursions together and Kakizakai Sensei is so much more than my shakuhachi teacher. Many times they welcomed me to their dinner table and shared knowledge and friendship. I am glad Sensei is coming soon to Australia and wonder how next I can escape to Japan. Haruka, Emi and Takashi - Kakizakai Sensei's three hyperkinetic children - are also really cool with the stream of International visitors permeating their household. I hope they will maintain their eagerness to speak English and travel.

On our final evening, Megumi prepared wonderful shabu shabu ingredients for us to collaboratively cook in a huge gas-fired urn at the table, accompanied by salads and other idiomatic dishes. Their hospitality extended to a final Shika no tone lesson on the morning of my departure, lunch and a book of photo memories summarising our time together.

Tokyo Shakuhachi students' New Year Party

One of the brilliant winter joys of crisp freezing air is the the wonderful visibility of unsullied, snow-covered Fuji-san on way to Saturday Higashiyamato lessons, across the tea plantations and incongruous buildings in the western suburbs of Tokyo.

Here is (Toyomi) Takahashi-san's photo of my shakuhachi elder brothers. We went to a delicious sushi and nabe restaurant in Tachikawa, organised by Mr. Nakamura-san, explored many dishes and many kinds of Japanese liquor to see in the New Year (some what belatedly)! It was very nice to hear a little more from my friends and learn about their lives outside the shakuhachi lessons. All of them have been playing shakuhachi more than ten years, some many more than that.



From left around table: Dr. Dr. Takahashi-san, Mr. Fujita-san, Mr. Nakamura-san, Kakizakai Sensei, Kirsty desu, Mr. Okamoto-san.

Sumo and Edo-Tokyo Museum

Kakizakai Sensei took me to see the Sumo in Tokyo at the Ryoguku Kokugikan across the Sumida River in Tokyo. First, we visited the Edo-Tokyo Museum of history and culture, adjacent to the Sumo stadium. The special exhibition was the Siebold and Hokusai and Their Tradition (also Hiroshige) of woodblock printing (Japanese ukiyo-e) and painting, including works such as Hokusai's 36 views of Mount Fuji (1826-1833) and many tremendously famous works and other panels of finely detailed ink prints, hand-coloured and paintings in the iconic style, carricature faces, curly waves, glowing mountains and elegant beauties and maidens, Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏) that is said to have inspired Debussy's La Mer and (along with Hiroshige) influenced directly paintings by Van Gogh. The Edo-Tokyo Museum is renowned for its strikingly outlandish architecture (reminded me of Paris with its Pompidou-style escalators and monolithic proportions), housing a large-scale reconstruction of Nihonbashi bridge, a Kabuki theatre and many archaeological and historical records and remnants of the historic city, particularly as it was close to this site, traditional wooden architecture, pedestrian streets, low-rise, articles of print, swordsmanship, handcrafts, ceramics, calligraphy.

In Sumo, several aspects of the theatrics and even spiritual Shinto origins of the ring, stoicism are quintessentially Japanese. The 'ma'-like anticipation of commencing a bout, timing/knowing is remarkably like in shakuhachi playing ... an unsignalled yet 'right feeling' for timing. The same Ryoguku site has been used for Sumo for 300 years, Ryoguku Kokugikan (Grand Sumo Stadium). Etiquette in the Kokugikan requires that spectators do not go too near the ring because it is considered sacred, even after the last bout is over and the inherent Shinto spirits and ceremonies transcend in the act of throwing purifying salt about in the ring, fastidious cleaning rituals and the respectful introduction of each wrestler, a session concluding with a bow-dance (yumitori-shiki) with taiko drumming encouraging fans to come again. Early in the day, morning preliminary bouts of new Sumo trainees start, leading on to Jonokuchi-Makushita (lowest rank) and Juryo (intermediate division, at which rank and above, wrestlers are considered fully-fledged salaried Sumo professionals) and on to the senior and champion divisions that we arrived in time to watch. An event sheet describes the Sumo Banzuke tournament contenders for the day representing the opposing East (Higashi) and West (Nishi) sides. A 'season' lasts 15 days and so Sensei was keen for us to reach the last days of the season before the closing weekend (already booked out). Each day escalates from mid-level (professional) wrestlers through to grand champions at the end of the day. The day preceeding, matches/clashes are decided by a committee, designating which contestants will battle whom, often fairly evenly matched though there were some surprising bouts of 'heavyweights' vs. significantly lighter wrestlers, with 40kg weight disparities, 'David and Goliath' style. While mass is an obvious advantage in this sport, the only wrestling kind to have no weight restriction, agility can also have its advantage, resulting in a few favourable outcomes. The wrestling itself was often extremely brief, longer contests drawing roars and cheers from the crowd, much of the time was devoted to ceremonious gathering of concentration, and mind-battling, like yachts jostling for a place on the starting line, the wrestlers seemingly took their position several times at the starting location before the 'ma' felt right to physically mesh. As the standard increased, so too the suspense and tension of the commencements escalated and lengthened as visual sparring and camaraderie prevailed.

The wrestlers for the Makuuchi (Senior division) session are introduced with a ceremonial entrance and parade around the ring in traditional (expensive) aprons (kesho-mawashi) before the afternoon matches commence, forming a circle that turns to face the crowd. This is followed by the appearance of the Yokozuna Grand Champions wearing a white rope and Shinto folded design waist-piece to much audience excitement. The ring is 4.55m in diameter, prepared by wetting down the clay and sweeping it smooth and tidying with the broom between every bout. The everyday hairstyle of the Sumo is the 'topknot' and above Juryo rank, special ginko-leaf-shaped topknots are prepared by appropriate hairdressers at the stable and firmed with oil that we smelled wafting from their hair as we followed a group of wrestlers from the train. When I asked Sensei about the status and salaries of these whale-proportioned men, he wisely replied that it was small compensation for their lack of longevity and health problems associated with strange eating and sleeping patterns practised in order to build up and maintain such mass, for a career that often ends in the 30s. Bouts between well known wrestlers attract specific bout sponsorships in which the winner also picks up the award from the sponsoring company on the banners, circulated around the ring just before the match. Signs over the central ring on the roof of the shrine-like roof, reminded us that were were fortunate to have seats in a booked-out event and we can be grateful for our chairs!



We took a quick but delicious meal of giant gyoza (dumplings) in Ikebukuro before catching the return express train. With still a little time to spare, we visited the food hall of the Seibu Depaato (Department store). At first glance, it resembles David Jones foodhall - all gourmet delicacies and fresh produce. On closer inspection, it comes to life. Intrigues included live crabs wandering in wood-shavings, spanner crabs, strange molluscs who had larger bodies than the shell they inhabit, unspeakable large ocean mammals, inconceivably diverse sea creatures and fish bits, not to mention the $157 190g Wagyu gift-set if you would like to buy 4 steaks for your friend (who you like very much). Not a red-meat-eater? Maybe just a whole squid!

Snowing: Nagatoro (Iwa-datami), Hodo-san Rou-bai En, Oku-No-In, Hodo-Jinja

Live from Chichibu! Today the snowflakes came drifting down, spiralling, and floating and at times thickly plummeting. About 15cm of snow built up in the best spots around the caravan and I enjoyed practising from inside my warm abode while looking out at the silent, peacefully gliding scenery of brilliant reflective luminosity until my lesson at 13:00. Chichibu streets were transformed as the cloud-pruned and rigourously trimmed bushes gathered caps of gleaming crystals on top and that invigorating crunching sound of snow squelched out from under my boots as I walked over to Sensei's. There was a little hint of excitement in the air as snowmen started to pop up here and there. Repeatedly fragments of movies darted through my mind, like Snow falling on Cedars (albeit set off Washington in USA) and the final scene of the first Kill Bill (in the snowy rock garden) in which the cedars and traditional Japanese trees are laden with snow to a continual flutter of falling snowflakes. The landscape is suddenly enchanted.



I was thrilled that Megumi and Kakizakai Sensei suggested that Megumi and I could go out for a drive to the Nagatoro (長瀞町 Nagatoro-machi) area. We passed Minoyama, famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and the Natural History Museum that purportedly houses a large shark-like prehistoric monster reconstructed from its teeth and a rare paleoparadoxia tabadai skeleton (an extinct marine mammal from 15 million years ago), and climbed over the slippery, snowy rocks onto the platform of Iwa-datami (長瀞の岩畳), meaning Rock Tatami or carpet of rock, indeed formed from a giant continuous rock formation from crystalline schist creating successive overlapping layers of greeny-silvery rock. This geological feature is believed to have been created in the ocean (when the area was covered by the sea) and shaped later by the river. The Nagatoro River is well known for its rapids and whitewater rafting and boating, and the entire town is designated as a prefectural nature park and preserve. Megumi and I marvelled at the perfect flower formations of the snowflakes.



Then we went to Hodo-san and Hodo-Jinja, one of the three most famous shrines of Chichibu along with Mitsumine and Chichibu Jinja. Hodo-san ropeway transports you 774ft up the mountain rise to the Rou-bai En, park of Rou-bai plants, that bear hanging golden flowers blooming in winter, here beautiful under the glistening crystals of snow against a backdrop of white haze and still falling snow, once more luscious crunching underfoot. Rou is the candle wax and Bai is Japanese plum, reflecting the lantern-like habit of the plant and glowing colour. There are also pink (or red) ones (Kou -bai). Treading in the virgin snow along the rows and rows of Rou-bai, the gentle perfume of the blossoms filled the air with a pleasantly delicate fragrance.



On the mountaintop amongst the cedars was Oku-No-In, a kind of secondary shrine to the main Hodo-Jinja downhill, this one stands on the summit in the woods, marked by a long ascending staircase and white torii, guarded by some cheerful-looking fox statues. The snow was powdery and quite deep in parts: pure. Finally, we descended the ropeway (suspended gondola) and went to the main Hodo-Jinja past some somewhat kinked and semi-frozen-looking carp and to the shrine that claims to be 1900 years old, we assumed the site not the wooden building itself. Various kami/god manifestations of Shinto spirits live here, included one in a waterhole and there is a shrine for studying, fox shrine and so on.

Exploring near Buko-san (Mt. Buko) and another temple

Today I cycled around the meandering foothills of Buko-san to enjoy its view and soak up the local scenery. This included yet another temple (not one of the 34 pilgrimage temples), bamboo groves, tea plantations, the park that is filled with blooming flowers in spring currently under construction and many quaint country houses and windy little paths. I have no specific knowledge about where I went, just my handful of photos: including an endearing dragon fountain, a number of Jizo statues and this modern yet rather elaborate temple and garden abounding with statues. It was 3 degrees and gnawing through the gloves.

Temple No.34 Suisen-ji, Higashiyamato + wanderings

On Friday, we took our first train trip (my bike and I) ... an experiment in folding him up and fortunately not having to share the train carriage with too many people off-peak. The three remaining temples are naturally increasingly remote and so I decided to take a local train a few stops up the line to Minano from where the cycle to Temple No.34 Suisen-ji and back was around 17kms (with a few minor grocery detours) and consistently cold, somewhat windy.



The final temple in the Shikoku Pilgrimage trail of Chichibu (assuming one approaches it sequentially), one might anticipate something more spectacular but this modest, quiet temple, attended by one monk, marks the end of the road and here pilgrims have ceremonially left their walking poles (tenugui), some straw hats, rosary bracelets and other indications of appreciation and completion. The Kannon Hall enshrines a Fifteenth Century wooden statue of the thousand-armed Kannon. The 1814 building contains paintings and sculptures with motifs of Daruma and flying angels. There is a cave with a narrow rock entrance through which pilgrims used to crawl after completing their 34-temple journey, to symbolise rebirth via Mother Earth (tainai-kuguri), changing into new clothes and leaving behind their walking sticks and old clothes, re-energised and renewed. A long line of statues of different Kannon poses guard the pathway up the hill to the Kannon Hall and when I was there, the washing pool and natural spring waterfall were rimmed with ice.



On Saturday, Kakizakai Sensei collected me for our usual 7am drive into Tokyo Higashiyamoto for lessons. On this occasion, Fuji-san was visible across the tea-fields and suburbia, snow-covered symmetrical and majestic, magically the only snow-covered peak amongst many mountains but towering seemingly twice as tall as the rim of other mountains encircling Tokyo.

Pursuing an address for Edwin jeans I had seen in a cycling magazine (pronounced 'Eduwin'), I located with unusual ease (with the Japanese address system) denim Goretex-lined windproof jeans on Jingumae in Harajuku. Perfect - only I wish I had discovered this ingenious product a few months ago but they should be handy on the bike in Sydney crossing the Harbour Bridge too. Next brief stop was a Mejiro Shakuhachi shop thence Ikebukuro and Miso ramen.

My mother asked a few days ago what kind of tractors Japanese farmers used to plough their immaculate weedless vegetable plots that are dotted amongst houses (as I was remarking and marvelling at the lack of weeds and richness of soil). An Australian-proportioned tractor could never manoeuvre in the tiny agricultural blocks here. Instead, machines like these Honda hand-guided motorised single-furrow ploughs are pushed or steered along by the farmer wearing rubber boots!

Mitsumine Jinja (Chichibu area)

Today Megumi-san drove me to Mitsumine Jinja in the mountains of Chichibu region. As the photos may reveal, it was one of the most strikingly beautiful shrines in a unique location. As I was earlier in the morning entertaining the thought of cycling there (and back) I am both relieved and very thankful that she rescued me from such a crazy plan! Purportedly Kakizakai Sensei used to cycle there in his youth, which I now know to be a seriously heroic act. One should know to take his advice, "it is almost all the way ascent" as no understatement.



Mitsumine Jinja is one of the three most famous shrines in Chichibu, along with Chichibu Jinja and Hodosan Jinja, according to Enbutsu. The old cable car access is defunct but cars can drive up close to the summit and then you can walk along a cedar-lined path and through the torii (gates) up to the main shrine, its decorative gate and a splendid view off the mountaintop. We were lucky it was both snowy and sunny! Big clumps of snow occasionally dropped off the roofs, from boughs of trees and a thin haze of flakes fell from the branches when the breeze blew. There was the pleasant crunch of snow underfoot and trickles of icicles peeling off the curved roof-line as the sun thawed. The cedars (hinoki - Japanese Cypress) surrounding the shrine itself must be hundreds of years old, reminiscent of the beautiful cedars at Ise-jingu. The gate and its surroundings were donated in 1845 by a religious fraternity in Fukagawa, Edo and rafted up the Arakawa River. In February, a special bean-throwing ceremony is held. On the 19th of every month, red bean rice is offered to the holy-dog (maybe a wolf, according to legend) who guards the shrine. The name of the area Mitsumine means 'three peaks' and refers to Mt. Myōhō, Mt. Shiraiwa and Mt. Kumotori: a connecting route between them was a travelling course for ascetic monks. The innermost sanctum of Mitsumine-jinja, called Okumiya, stands at the peak of Mt. Myōhō. The journey passes along a very curvy road deep in the mountains, tunnels and steep retaining walls with bear-, rocks-falling- and landslide-warning-signs, with snow and ice at the curb and past Chichibu Lake (a man-made dam of turquoise water). The sheer valleys and near-vertical mountains are resplendent, unlike anything we see in Australia: the trees just hang on (or occasionally fall off). Megumi and I ate soba sets with mountain vegetables for lunch and visited a Japanese Coffee shop on the way home for a herb cake + coffee set - oishii. Several times in past years, the Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan has held workshops in the adjoining lodge accommodation at Mitsumine - what a venue!

Shika no tōne 鹿の遠音

Apart from Daha, the other piece I am undertaking to study is Shika no tōne 鹿の遠音, a Koten piece from the Kinko Ryu. This factor differentiates it stylistically from the majority of Watazumido/Yokoyama Honkyoku, likening it to Hifumi Hachigaeshi, ornate with finger slides-off that produce a characteristically sliding pitch upwards portamento. Another of its distinctive features is its inclusion (the only traditional honkyoku piece) in the Japanese ministry of Education's music textbooks. It is the only piece in the Kinko Ryu Honkyoku that is usually played as a duet, although it can also be played solo. It is a call and response dialogue between a deer buck and doe, ostensibly a mating song in a very literal or programmatic representation, in which, at times, guttural deep-throated raspy calls give way to eloquent high register yearning pitch bends. This kind of descriptive scene in deep autumn and picturesque narrative depiction has been used in poetry since the time of Kokin Washu (an ancient poetry anthology) (John Singer's notes). In the duet version, the end of one phrase overlaps with the beginning of the ensuing antiphonal Coro-pregón (call and resonse), in 5 dan (sections). Apparently the original Japanese title was Yobikaesi shika no tone (where yobikaeshi means 'call and response'). The piece integrates the afore-mentioned raspy/breathy muraiki technique and many idiomatic intricacies not notated in the transcription, such as the articulations of individual notes and the typical phrase onsets. The piece was transmitted into the Kinko repertoire by Ikkei-Shi in Nagasaki. Many CD notes acknowledge that, along with the equally programmatic Nesting of the Cranes, it is a very flexible and expressive piece, allowing for considerable freedom of ornamentation and personalisation. Needless to say, its intricate beauty and pitch nuances are very exacting. Yokoyama Sensei's notes cite the famous Tanka poem that encapsulates the lonesomeness and liveliness both embodied in the music:

Far up the mountain side,
While tramping over the scarlet maple leaves,
I hear the mournful cry of the wild deer:
This sad, sad autumn tide.

Although most often translated as Distant Cry of Deer, another amusing translation is Deer's Throat Heard from Afar or The Throating of Distant Deers.

Temple No.30 Hōun-ji (24kms)

I now have only 3 temples remaining in the Shikoku pilgrimage route of Chichibu (No.s 31, 33, and 34). These are naturally the most far afield but today I cycled the 24km round trip to the fourth-last awkwardly peripheral (on the map) temple, No.30 Hōun-ji. Today was very cold but also unusually blustery, at times the icy wind cutting through small gaps in my scarf or socks (not allowed)! The forecast snow never came but the maximum temperature was 5 degrees. I was alerted to the hazardous nature of the road as a motorscooter a little way in front of me slid over on a tight bend combined with a painted patch of road. I ran to help him lift up his scooter and gather himself together, offered my phone and tried to check if he was alright. He assured me was, though there was no way his knee survived unscathed from being fallen on and he sat down to ring home and did not remount however he declined any further assistance. I was horrified that the car drivers immediately behind did not even stop (maybe he tweaked my motorcyclist sympathies) and ironic given my (un)profound grasp of Japanese language for moments of crisis. Anyway, thereafter I continuously noticed patches of almost invisible black ice, inconveniently often in the shady gutter and edge of the road where cyclists must be much of the time. At times, therefore, I took a very cautious pace down hills and low gears over rough corners where the muddy and sharp debris gathers and freezes in the constantly wet conditions.

Despite a number of long hills, extended parts of this journey were pleasantly flat and on the return journey (when dusk and colder-ness were encroaching), I was able to keep up a steady 27km/hr in a high gear, just a little over my comfort zone. Some of the most striking photo opportunities were from the bridges that spanned deep gorges and vivacious rivers. Once again, Temple No.30 Hōun-ji finds itself at the top of a very tall hill, as temples are prone to be. As one ascends into the shade-shrouded hillside, the cold seeps in and everything adopts a cool blue hue. I really notice when I download my photos, the vast colour spectrum differences with Australian light. The water, too, bubbling and raging in the icy rivers is blue-grey or occasionally luminous turquoise unlike any colour we see in murky green or brown Australian creeks and rivers, reminiscent rather of the glacial springs in Austria and France feeding directly from the melting snow. I have to say, despite the incumbent freezingness and gloomy, dim, shady photos, the gardens of Hōun-ji were very elegant and far more cultured than some. I like the Jizo statues who, instead of wearing crochetted red berets or knitted orange ones, here had carefully developed caps of live green moss! Quirky. The pool and receptacle for the downpipe (?) (rather down-'chain' of bronze bells actually) were frozen. The shrine itself was behind closed doors, presumably also to exclude cold and damp but one could slide back the shutters for a little glimpse inside. Apparently the principal deity of the Kannon Hall is the sensuous Nyoirin Kannon, allegedly carved by the Eight Century Chinese Emperor, Hsuan-tsung in the image of his beloved concubine, Yang Kuei-fei and the statue is said to have been brought to Japan in the Fourteenth Century by a priest from Kenchō-ji. There are other treasures in the temple such as rare Sixteenth Century nameplates of pilgrims. The chief monk's house (?) adjacent was also magnificent, adjoining the ornamental garden and bearing a majestic curved copper roof-line. Maybe life as a hilltop monk wouldn't be too bad. A huge stone lantern marks the steps to the shrine and the Kannon building nestles into a thickly wooded cyprus forest. Like in Yokoze, the neighbouring village of this Kannon, Shiroku, is renowned for its preservation of a (distinct) puppetry tradition and sometimes performances are given in village festivals, invoking older people to reminisce about the traditional arts practised in the communities before the Sino-Japan War and Pacific War that gravely changed villagers lives (according to Enbutsu).

Daha 打波 + Neiro antique and shakuhachi shop

I have just started learning Daha. This is a Koten piece from the Dokyoku school.

The history (from Tajima Tadashi) on komuso.com explains that it is known as Pounding Drum Piece: the title conveys the incessant strivings involved in spiritual practice. The fast tempo and forceful breathing is said to indicate manifestations of the mind under strict discipline. (Pictured right is Sekino Hideo from an internet source unkown).

According to Kakizakai Sensei, the second Kanji used by Watazumi-do is waves breaking but also it is similar to the kanji character for destruction. Hence the pounding is perhaps smashing apart/shattering delusions, problems - "very Zen".

The origin of this piece is unclear, but it is usually interpreted as meaning da-to strike, and ha-to tear or break. According to this interpretation the objective of this piece is that all of the desires or worries of the common people will be overcome, and nothingness and all-ness will be transcended to reach a natural state of resignation. Yet another title used on some CD translations is 'Breaking of Waves'.

According to the Yokoyama recording notes, "just as that of Koku, this term has a spiritual resonance: the breaking of waves signifies the will to break all desires of terrestrial life in order to attain the state of Sunyata. This force of will is manifested by the rapidity of the movement and by the forceful attack together with the sound of the breathing."

Well, that is quite a tall order but the technique of komibuki (a kind of breath/diaphragm pulsating) used here helps one to stay focused and in the moment. It is the persistence of will power that is needed to get beyond unnecessary boundaries according to Taniguchi Yoshinobu's notes. "The techniques used in this work which make it diverse are an intricate smoothness in the sound and delicate movement." I very much like these piece, its diversity yet concision and broad spectrum of intensities. There is much to absorb about its rendering and I am enjoying burrowing more deeply into the piece. I sandpapered a minute amount of the sharpness off the edge of my utaguchi (mouthpiece) today (upon Kakizakai Sensei's recommendation, and to my consternation at first) and it has greatly improved the comfort of practising! He is very wise.

Boulez's Sur Incises score (3 pianos, 3 harps and 3 percussionists) (1996/1998) Universal Edition arrived today along with a video of Monsieur Boulez explaining his architectural conception of the form of the piece.

Today after my Tokyo lesson at Higashiyamato I took the Tokyu train line from Shibuya (where I devoured Midori Souhonten sushi at the counter - oishii) to Hakuraku (on the way to Yokohama City) to visit Neiro antique and shakuhachi shop. I say it that way because the owner, a keen shakuhachi player for 35 years, has many shakuhachi, some old and many quite new. This is the source from which several students have located second-hand Miura instruments. Probably luckily, he had no Miuras in 1.6 or any size I could play or endear myself to: only a giant 3.0 (a bit sharp and completely unreachable for my hands, despite his endless attempts to persuade me that I would stretch!) and a 1.3 that was squeakily high (a fourth above a regular shakuhachi) and too shrill for my neighbours (and me). Attempting to demonstrate that hand-stretching and agony is discipline, the owner is pictured playing a scary-looking bamboo tree, just a little longer than conventional 3.0-sun but much fatter: a log indeed. And he did play it remarkably!

Temple No.9 Akechi-ji

Temple No.9 Akechi-ji in Yokoze valley is a small temple maintained by the local community who have replaced the run-down Kannon Hall with the current unusual hexagonal one. The Kannon has a reputation for being kind to mothers and children and on 16 January a festival for the safe childbirth attracts many female worshippers, according to my guide book. It originated from the story of a healed blind mother using a sutra delivered from a monk to her son. Despite being billed as 'small', I found the modest garden elegant and the outside statue refined and tranquil, albeit the temple stands right next to a concrete quarry chopping away at Bukō-san. It is also within view of Temple No.6 and close to No.10. On my return journey, I visited the organic food market where I picked up fresh citrus-tinged soba, some yellow mōchi flavoured with a spice (I think), and more shisō juice - a great source of vitamins in winter and a striking puce colour contrary to the brilliant green appearance of shisō leaves on the plant. It was a peculiar weather, with an even matte of overcast mistiness obliquely veiling the sun in mid-afternoon.

Temple No.22 Eifuku-ji and No.14 Imamiya-Bō

Temple No.22 Eifuku-ji is a simple temple but set in one of the most rural locations, close to the river amongst plots of farming land and crops. Like most places in the world, in Japan it is also becoming increasingly difficult to make a living from farming and many people move to the cities for office jobs (according to Enbutsu), however, unlike in Australia, but as in Europe, agriculture and small family-run businesses are somewhat subsidised, I have heard. Popular farming nowadays includes fruit, mushrooms, evidently shallots, cabbages, cut flowers - relatively saleable commodities. Coming from Australia, the fertility of the soil, the plentiful water supply, compliant climate and versatility of farmers turning many different crops out of their small fields year-round and multi-tasking in other lines of trade or service, rather than running monocultures, all seems comparatively successful and I am frequently heartened by the longevity of small businesses surviving against large supermarket chains and the liveliness of local growers markets and local produce in grocery shops. We have seen the almost complete obliteration of this in Australian cities, while growers' markets or organic food shops are exorbitantly priced and goods still travel large distances, add to the CO2, etc. rather than submit to seasonal and local trends. Such is a cost of globalisation and limitless consumer expectations. Anyway, back to Temple No.22 Eifuku-ji, itself situated beside the cabbage beds, a luscious bamboo grove with its interesting reflective hue, located by the trail of red vertical banners flailing in the breeze down a long driveway off the main road and grey stone pillar inscribed with calligraphy, welcoming visitors through a large thatched country gate. It is more popularly known as Dōji-dō (or Warabe-dō). In either side of the gate (behind slatted wooden bars, two guardians, rather than the usual muscle-bound and menacing monster-like creatures, these are two goggle-eyed rustic boys, watching over the fields, appropriate because the popular name of the temple means literally, 'childrens' hall'.



According to legend, (from Enbutsu's Chichibu: Japan's Hidden Treasure) the temple was founded in the Ninth Century, deep in the mountains as a place to retreat and pray for the soul of a deceased young prince. In the Tenth Century, Small pox raged in the area and afflicted many children. The temple was then moved so that the Kannon could combat the epidemic. Miraculously, the outbreak ceased and victims recovered unusually well. It was moved twice more before settling in the current position and the existing building was constructed in 1701, a gift from an Edo man to his wife, the front doors are carved with panels of the gods of thunder and wind (a motif shared with the Kannon in Asakusa, popular in Edo). Old men and women of the neighbourhood take turns minding the temple and offering tea to visitors with country hospitality. Next to the bamboo grove stands an intriguing arrangement of stones and a giant wisteria tree supports a lattice that must be enveloped by blossoms in spring. Momentarily, the quietude of the country was interrupted by the buzz of powered paracraft flying overhead (I'm not sure what they are properly called) - something like Little Nellie from James Bond. Crossing the suspension bridge on my return I noticed a curious statue/memorial with the mountains of Chichibu atop.




The following day, for the sake of completeness, I visited Temple No.14 Imamiya-Bō in the centre of Chichibu suburbia, only to discover that I have actually visited it before with Kundan, not realising it was one of the Shikoku temples. It is a very modest, unattended temple tucked behind houses. It is the dividend of the Meiji governments attempt to form a schism between Shinto an Buddhism in which Imamiya-Bō and Imamiya-Jinja (Shinto shrine) were plied apart and the temple was deprived of its former status and large estate. Perhaps more interesting is the associated Jinja that bears witness to a powerful tree, a giant keyaki (zelkova), supposedly five hundred years old and it looks like it recently stepped out of Tolkien! the shimenawa sacred rope tied around its trunk signified that the tree itself is considered sacred and revered. Worship of prominent natural objects, such as this tree, an enormous rock, a mountain or a waterfall were important parts of Japan's ancient animistic religious traditions still inherent in contemporary Shinto. As I returned through the dusky backstreets, I chanced on another shrine with fascinating statues and carvings, including the first elephant I have encountered in Japan, and past a cool twilight Temple No.13.

Temple No.17 Jōrin-ji + my pet icicle

I am quite chaffed about my little pet icicle that grew up in the night. Formed from the dripping condensation on the outside of my caravan in the morning, it is approximately 20cm tall with personality.

Simple and faded, the Kannon Hall of Temple No.17 Jōrin-ji dates from the Fifteenth or Sixteenth Century, tucked away in a small lane behind houses, unlikely to be encountered unless you are looking. The current bell (1758) is a copy of the original that was destroyed by fire (difficult?). It is a beautiful bell rendered with 100 images of the Kannon in relief, representing the three pilgrimage courses of Chichibu, Saigoku and Bando. Unlike some bells, it has a resonant voice when pounded with the log suspended by chains. On the way, I stopped for lunch at a Japanese restaurant, bearing the traditional New Year's door decorations below, and devoured two giant ebi (prawns) tempura on rice. Even the ebullient waiter seemed impressed by their monstrous proportions and crustacean feeler protrusions from the box.




The bell is so hung that I could toll it and then stand up inside it feeling the vibrations permeate my skeleton for a long time.

"On occasion the voice of peace resounds like thunder, jolting human beings out of their stupor." - Morihei Ueshiba

Temples No.5 Chōkōji, 1 Shimabu-ji + 2 Shimpuku-ji (20.2 kms)

Cycling has its share of small pleasures (not common to driving) like catching the scenery, feeling the sun in winter, smelling the pasture and incense of temples, watching out for patches of still-frozen puddle in the afternoon and noticing little intrigues. In Japan, the manhole covers are usually decorated in some topical or locally appropriate manner. In the valley of the Yokozegawa River, where Temple No.2 is situated, this was the humming bird. The man standing on the roof is pruning the pine tree. The small shrine was on the street corner while I stopped to wait for traffic lights. Spirituality, ancient buildings and gardens completely integrated in suburbia. On the right is my modified version of the white pilgrimage regalia (adjusted for winter cycling conditions, that require down, fleece, gloves and beanie). E-store for the full set of pilgrimage regalia for the lazy pilgrim and any wallet: eitikai (in Japanese, all the things you need on a pilgrimage, from the stamp book to the white clothes, little amulets, bag for your belongings, staff and hat, slips of prayer paper). The image on the left shows the proper white pilgrimage dress in spring.

Temple No.5 Chōkōji seems to be out in the middle of fields and farms. Somewhat unusually, the gate and Kannon Hall (encapsulating the deity statue) stands some distance away from the temple proper. To the left of the parking sign and my bike, the temple can be seen at the bottom of the hill. With 8 more temples to complete the Shikoku circuit and just 24 days left in Japan, I am branching out to some of the more remote or far-afield temples. I have read that chronology is not important (fortunately). Apparently this neighbourhood (according to Enbutsu's book) is famed for its puppetry, Yokoze ningyō, a style of ballad older than kabuki and bunraku. The temple itself was clearly the domain of someone garden-conscious who placed rows of flowering plants at the feet of the Jizo statues and an elegant single pine bough sweeps across the entry-way.



Temple No.1 Shimabu-ji is nestled into a tree and jizo statue-covered hillside with a gate to the roadway and large bell. Being the first of the pilgrimage temples, it has the kits, stamp books and necessary accessories for the journey. Its name means 'forty-thousand volumes' and refers to the story of a mediaeval monk who allegedly read that number of sutras here at the behest of a legendary Chichibu pilgrimage pioneer. The old buildings are covered in senja-fuda (pilgrims' votive stickers) and a large population of statues adorn the grounds, hillside and courtyard. Like the Coca Cola garbage bin, drink vending machine, the kid's shirt, all the bibs on the Jizo statues and the temple banners were bright crimson! It was a funny scene of coincidence. The Kannon Hall dates from the late Seventeenth Century, modified in the following by an Edo craftsman, bearing ornate decorations and carved wooden girders. In August, it is the scene of an important mass called segaki.




Temple No.2 Shimpuku-ji. To follow the authentic pilgrimage route, according to Enbutsu, assuming you do it sequentially, the ascent to Temple No.2 will be an initiation into the discipline of pilgrimage! From my perspective, non-sequential and cycling, it was another Chichibu killer hill of unfathomable proportions. Still-frozen pools of ice lay on the road in the afternoon under the dense canopy of exceedingly tall, straight cyprus trees lining the skinny, sometimes rough road to the top. Every turn around a U-bend when you imagine it might be the last before the summit: another! Basically (deduced from Google Earth) it's a 33-45% gradient for continuous 2kms upwards from the farms at the bottom of the valley: that gets your heart beating. The descending pilgrims I passed on my way bid me 'Gambatte!' (something like 'persevere!/press on!'). On the hilltop, Temple No.2 Shimpuku-ji is surrounded by farmland, forests of bamboo and cyprus overlooking the surrounding mountains from its unique plateau. The view is superb, if chilly in the afternoon glow and long winter shadows cast in high contrast. I park my bike under the single light pink winter-flowering cherry to a backdrop of vertical woods with gleaming lime bamboo leaves in the sun shining through. An artist with zero-degree fingers was sitting at the temple sketching. The Kannon is in Sixteenth Century style but is hidden inside an inner shrine. Even by 15:00 shady areas maintained frost.

"Study the teachings of the pine tree, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. The pine is evergreen, firmly rooted, and venerable. The bamboo is strong, resilient, unbreakable. The plum blossom is hardy, fragrant, and elegant." - Morihei Ueshiba

New Year celebrations

The three-day New Year holiday (shogatsu or oshogatsu) is a very special time in Japan, a time of solemn prayers and joyous greetings. While New Year's Day is a holiday in many parts of the world, the occastion has a unique significance to the Japanese, who take the opportunity to begin anew many aspects of their lives. New Year is regarded in Japan as an auspicious occasion, when people clean their houses especially, resolve debts and finish business from the old year, make special foods (long soba noodles symbolising longevity, omoochi rice cakes, seasonal bento boxes), give special gifts (envelopes of money), visit a local shrine and renew wishes/vows for the coming year, engage in particular entertainments (such as kite-flying) and at the transition from 2007-2008 temple bells toll 108 times to purge the 108 (Buddhist) earthly desires ready to start afresh. Homes and entrance gates are decorated with ornaments made of pine, bamboo and plum trees.

On New Year's Eve, I went to the Kakizakai's where we had Sensei's hand-made soba, crumbed skewers an sake while watching the NHK famous red and white song contest battle between the sexes in which women and men annually compete to prove the most outrageous in a range of enka and J-pop and every music genre in between. Interspersed with weather reports of widespread snowfalls, such as 60cm in the west of Japan and Kyuushu and comic slapstick skits and game shows requiring that special sense of humour, while we nestled under the heated table kutatsu which appears at floor level but your legs drop into a sunken area underneath, traditionally heated by coals and nowadays by electricity. At midnight, we listened to the tolling of the bell from the temple downtown, No.13(?). On New Year's Day, after an unusual and pleasant sleep in to one of the coldest mornings yet (-6 degrees predictions of snow but only frost received), I meandered down to Chichibu Shrine. Most people attend their local shrine in the first three days of the new year for the afore-mentioned wishes/prayers and general festive activties. These included queuing to make a wish at the shrine, made easier by stalls selling takoyaki, yakisoba, karaage chicken, chocolate coated bananas on sticks and diversions such as weight lifting stones. I was a little bewildered by the apparent anomalous collision of traditional and modern, pagan and spiritual at the shrine and the efficiency of accepting donations. Further, the little wooden talismans conveniently only last a year and the expired ones are ceremonially burned at the shrine so that everybody needs to buy new talismans for all the members of the family for 2008, year of the mouse/rat (from the Chinese calendar).

On Wednesday 2nd, in the spirit of the new year, I followed up my bike ride, rather icy, with soba at the log cabin restaurant and was comforted by sitting at the large charcoal pit emanating delicious warmth, accompanied by tasty genmaicha with roasted rice in it and tempura soba with dipping sauce under the watchful eye of the stuffed deer head on the wall.










On the 30th, my short excursion (I am consumed composing hermetically during the holiday season) was to Temple No.19 Ryuseki-ji. On my way, winding through the back streets of this off-the-track district, I came across and interesting frog shrine. Ryuseki-ji itself is remarkable, principally for its location on a large platform of rock in an otherwise urban site. Its name means Dragon Stone temple.

Temple No.32 Hōshō-ji + Christmas Party

I was looking for something adventurous and interesting to do on a potentially isolated Christmas Day in Chichibu so I had planned to take the time out to cycle to Temple No.32 Hōshō-ji, inspired by the fine views and nice photos on Ben's blog for 23/11/05 and 15/10/06. Ben stated that it was 15km. I wasn't sure if he meant total or both directions. This would, in normal conditions, take less than an hour but I had already scouted the magnitude of some of the hilly part (totalling approximately 6km serious steep climbing), I estimated it could take 90 minutes each way, which turned out to be accurate for the forward journey. It was only 60 minutes return, despite the more strenuous hill, because I enjoyed its reciprocal downhill a bit more quickly, no need to watch out for an intersection and it was so freezing on the hands (even with thermal gloves) that I was already dreaming about the hot shower. I still don't know by which route Ben went but my calibrated computer (matches GPS) gave me 21km total, almost exactly equidistant in both directions; kms 7-9 and 12-15 were continuous uphill. It was worth every gram of sweat, part of my shakuhachi shugyo ("ascetic discipline" or "determined training that fosters enlightenment") because the views on the summit were deep and splendid, but first let me run through methodically some of the other charms.



I set out as early as reasonable, given that the day's maximum was 7 degrees at that would peak somewhere around 2pm. Passing a local temple, I noticed fascinating bamboo decorations freshly erected in the garden. They looked like organ pipes to me and one contained a mandarin or orange and the colourful white and purple variegated ornamental cabbages were planted at the base of this intriguing construction. I crossed the familiar red bridge and its ensuing climb to the first traffic lights. This was my turn off to discovery of new territory and the commencement of the unabated pedal up the mountain pass to Ogano-machi in the next valley. I was amused by the bear-warning sign. Previous versions I have seen in Fuji area show a regular-looking kind of bear and by comparison the Chichibu bear had big shoulders and a stern appearance. Kakizakai Sensei told me later that they are not actually so gigantic like North American or Canadian bears but still respond unfavourably when people threaten a mother with cub. Regrettably, they are hibernating right now so I probably won't get to see one. Set back in another fold in the hills, one follows the country road amongst wood mills and farms out to the grand wooden two-storey gate that marks the entry to Temple No.32 Hōshō-ji. The temple is located in an area called Hannya. In popular terminology it refers to the demonic mask of a woman with horns and grinning ear to ear but in Buddhist parlance, it refers to the esoteric wisdom accompanying enlightenment. Hmmmmm ... which will it be? The gate and a stairway of mossy stones, dotted with statues, lanterns and coiffeured trees, leads to the main hall, that was silent and unattended except for the hyperactive racket of birdsongs. Theoretically, pilgrims can receive inscriptions at these points, but often they are still. Deep at the top of valley in the distance, one can see a boat-shaped monolithic rock from which Hōshō-ji receives its popular name of Iwafune Kannon, or Rock Boat Kannon. The bow of the rock can be glimpsed through the woods as you make your way up a muddy, mossy, leafy, at times obscure, pathway to caves used by ascetic monks meditating and practising rigorous discipline from mediaeval times and the bronze statue in a cave on the mountain-top. the top of the rock commands a panoramic view of the surrounding woods, countryside and villages and the Buddha statue seems to have prime position for surveying it. The principal Kannon of the temple is enshrined in the Kannon Hall built a small way up the path set into the cliff-face and backing on to a naturally formed (obviously formerly underwater some eons ago) cave into which many Jizo statues are lodged and the inner hall. The wooden building teetering on the hillside is surrounded by verandas with a deep green view through the straight trees and moss-verdant forest, with just the chattering of birds and small insects in an otherwise tranquil, light environment. Various images around the Kannon Hall refer to the idea of 'sailing in the boat of wisdom' as mentioned in a pilgrims' song associated with the temple. On my bushwalk up the mountain, at times clinging on to a chain thoughtfully suspended next to the footholds chopped out of the rock face to help you claw your way up to Buddha's privileged viewpoint, I met not a single sole, more than once reminded of, and cultivating my respect for, the inimitable Japanese character-trait of determination and perseverance. I sat in a cave with a row of Jizo statues eating my lunch of mandarins and a soy-marinated boiled egg, thinking about the huge atmosphere, isolation from people and intimacy with nature that Ben alludes to as the essential San'ya (Mountain Valley) experience. This is a reference to the traditional Japanese honkyoku piece for solo shakuhachi, whose spaciousness and contemplation encapsulates the feeling of a place "deep in the mountains" (as Kakizakai Sensei says) that must be like this. It's an enlightenment/inspiration connection for shakuhachi players, you might say. I could have stayed longer were the day warmer and might again return to practice in a hermit's cave: that rather appeals! This is a special place.



In the evening, I was very fortunate to be invited to Christmas dinner with the Kakizakais. Again, they made delicious morsels that we 'barbecued' at the table on a sizzling hot-plate, including giant ebi (prawns), shitake mushrooms, negi (shallots), ham and sake warmed the cheerful evening conversation. I sensed a twinge of disappointment from Megumi that we could not discover Temple No.32 together but we will go another day by car and she can show me many things I missed. Takahashi and Emi, son and daughter, both like practising their English so we had plenty of fun.



I pieced together this panorama shot showing the 360 degree view from standing next to Buddha in the cave on the mountain-top. Please look at my fickr photo to scroll around the full-sized compilation or click on this image to see a medium-sized view.

Temple No.21 Iwano-ue-dō + No.20 Kannon-ji

After my shakuhachi lesson in Tokyo yesterday I found very tasty miso ramen in Ikebukuro. Cozy foods like noodles in hot soup are starting to peak in attractiveness with winter. It reached a maximum temperature of 5 degrees in Tokyo yesterday.


Today I set out to appreciate the views of the snow-fall on Mount Buko and anything lingering from the night's first snow of the season, maybe ushering in a white Christmas. Today was the Emperor's Birthday in Japan, that will be marked by a public holiday tomorrow (though this fact was imperceptible around town).






Temple No.21 Iwano-ue-dō belongs to the Shingon sect of Buddhism and houses the tomb of a local Kabuki star.



Hidden away in bushes below the road on the hillside dropping to the river, No.20 Kannon-ji of the Rinzai sect is well-preserved, the oldest hall built on a large rock. Its ceiling is covered by numerous senja-fuda, pilgrim's evidence of visitation. The hall stands on the cliff by the river Arakawa and dates from the early Seventeenth Century, considered to be the oldest on this Chichibu Pilgrimage route, still maintained by the Uchida family living in the house next door: descendants of its founder, a Samurai warrior of influence.

In search of Temple No.18

On Friday, Temple No.18 looked fairly straight forward according to the map, off the main highway towards Yokoze. Being mid-afternoon already with practice, composition and dinner plans still on the agenda, I was looking for a simple ride. Enjoying the relatively flat road, I zoomed along and before I knew it spotted a giant roof of ceramic tiles and curvaceous roof idiomatic of many temples. Temples on the Pilgrimage Trail typically have little signs that indicate you have made it and since this one had none such I knew it was not No.18 but I was delighted to find it in the dying rays of afternoon sun, the courtyard glowing. I was glad to serendipitously discover a very majestic temple with two-storey wooden gate and many elegant sculptures. While you're thinking derogatory thoughts about my geographical abilities, it must be said that the Pilgrimage map has proved itself several times rather symbolic, rather than hugely accurate and a bit light on the details like side-roads and, of course, devoid completely of any English reference points. Next time, I should bring the GPS and refer to Google Maps. Interestingly, when you use Google Maps and fly-in to regions of country Japan, the map language is Japanese and it, too, is scarcely detailed in this region.



Outside this temple, I experienced my first encounter with a racoon (Nyctereutes procyonoides) (tanuki in Japanese), a member of the canid family related to dogs, wolves and foxes. Tanuki are the animals portrayed by the generous-bellied often bipedal upright ceramic characters found welcoming you to shrines, shops, homes, originally with large male organs. The real animal's impressive row of many canine teeth testified that the portrayal of the smiling creature is fairly accurate though it might be rather inhospitable. Unfortunately, I only saw this timid racoon-dog because it had been hit by a car and a group of school-girls gathered around to lament, though the racoon's spirit had long since left the scene and he seemed to be resting appropriately beside the temple cemetary. On my return journey, I happened on another temple and then another: the last one a small and humble, somewhat neglected shrine building being the likely No.18 Gōdo-ji candidate.




In the evening, it was Kundan's farewell dinner and it turned out to be even more festive than that. Kakizakai Sensei demonstrated his culinary virtuosity by making soba (buckwheat noodles). Soba is a Chichibu speciality and we were especially spoilt because he only makes them about once a year and typically that is for New Year celebration when the long noodles are an auspicious symbolisation of long life. In addition, Kakizakai Sensei's mother prepared luxurious servings of tempura, including yam, pumpkin, onion, squid with herbs, shrimp and Megumi-san made agedashi tofu (my favourite nutritious tofu delight) and many other delicious courses. The treat extended yet further. In response to our request (that we frankly thought might be too ambitious after sake flavoured by its barrel and so much culinary fun), Megumi-san (koto) and Kakizakai Sensei (1.6 shaku) played for us Michio Miyagi's Haru no ume (Spring Sea) (1929). Kundan and I were rapt and we felt very privileged. It was the perfect conclusion to his stay in Japan.

Temples No.6 Buku'un-ji + No.7 Hōchō-ji

A little 11km round trip took me to Yokoze this afternoon in the lovely sun. Although the temperature was less than 10 degrees the radiance was enticing and many people were out for a walk with their hounds. As my photos might reveal (garden, bamboo, forest), Temple No.6 Buku'un-ji itself proved elusive even after I climbed up a steep hill in the overgrown pine forest. Because dusk was closing in I chose not to search further for the building of temple no.6 and really I shouldn't yet cross it off my list (that would be cheating!). But the surrounding fruit gardens, decorative fountain, decking traversing the hillside were picturesque enough and the summit provided a different angle on the mountain and the small neighbouring town of Yokoze, dominated by the steaming limestone mill making cement and fruit/vegetable gardens. The many rows of fruit houses were cased in plastic for winter. Temple no.7 Hōchō-ji was more forthcoming and it is the elegant large copper roof you can see as you drive down the main road towards Tokyo from Chichibu, as we do on Saturday mornings for shakuhachi lessons. The contours of the temple roof and juxtaposition against the factory profile formed a bizarre contrast of pragmatism and traditional aesthetics.

Project Gobō (burdock root)

With Megumi's instructions I cut, fried and simmered the gobō with sake, chilli, sugar, dashi, oil, soy until soft and delicious when it had absorbed the sauce.



Healthful and weird side effects here: www.naturalherbsguide.com/burdock.html
It is both potent and tasty, healthful and yet not to be over-eaten!

Shakuhachi happenings

Having lessons roughly every Saturday, Monday and Wednesday does not leave much time to ease up. Today, I finally rendered Yamagoe in its entirety by memory to Kakizakai Sensei, I hestitate to say to his 'satisfaction' (that is probably not achieveable) but adequately to move on. That is the traditional Japanese way. You indicate to your teacher that you have memorised the piece by leaving the music face-down or in your bag. When you have been able to play it end-to-end memorised in as reasonable a fashion as you are currently capable of, he might suggest a different piece. Well, I have not yet achieved the same for San'ya (Mountain Valley version) so it was back to that but Yamagoe to the backburner and more time with 2.1 again (was playing Yamagoe on 1.8).

Today was also Richard Chenhall's last lesson as he heads back to Australia on the weekend after 15 months in Japan, recently specialising in 2.7. Kundan will also leave on Saturday back to Byron, leaving xmas likely very peaceful and very Japanese-sounding.

Temple No.25 Kyūshōji + Dairy + Temple No.23 Ongaku-ji

Click on panorama to see larger view

It was a beautiful winter yet sunny day for cycling so I continued my 'cycle pilgrimage' to the temples of Chichibu with a round trip of approximately 18kms, quite hilly at times. I stopped a few times to take photos and appreciated the magnificence of the Chichibu mountains looking majestic and undulating around the 360-degree horizon. Looking down on Chichibu Valley from the hill to (Arakawa) Temple No.25 - Panorama (below, click for larger view), one can see the red bridge on the far left, meandering river, persimmons in foreground, Mount Buko and others in background.


Click on panorama to see larger view

The ride to Arakawa passes through rural plots of farmland, i.e. fields of shallots, cabbages, daikon, dry rice plantations (not the season) and cottages. It is quite typical to come across roadside stalls selling local produce, especially in the countryside - some cobs of corn, a few yams, cabbages, shallots, etc. such as the temple-side vegie store: honesty system in practice. The hillside traverses provide excellent photo opportunitites for an overview of chichibu and adjacent valleys.


Click on panorama to see larger view

Temple No.25 Kyusho-ji. With a red gate, the Kannon Hall set back behind the lake is late Nineteenth Century. Behind it is a fishing pond filled with water lilies that undoubtedly looks remarkable during summer. The foreground pond was iced over with blue and yellow wrens/wagtail birds hopping on the surface of the ice crust. The buildings were a mixture of recent or recently restored and rustic-looking faded old carved wooden buildings. Due to the Temple's talisman, a large rock with a swirl on it, said to have been originally given to Emma (who is Emma?) by the King of Hell, it is believed that souls blessed at this temple can forego Hell.


Riding from Temple 25 to 23, one follows the low-lands beside the riverflat. Here I encountered a dairy (see cow-shed) and stopped for lunch in the associated restaurant in appropriately Swiss decor, cuckoo clock, pheasant stuffed inside, icecream made from real cows, etc. The waitress/housewife genuinely didn't seem to speak English nor was she prepared to recommend which dish I should have for lunch so I made a random choice and ended up with vegetarian tomato spaghetti and a good strong coffee. (Though the Parmesan cheese was Kraft!). The real attraction was the local dairy produce but it was too cold for icu-creamu on this occasion.


Do Japanese cows say "pinch"? Kakizakai Sensei assures me they say "maw maw" like "moo" so I'm not sure what this brochure is trying to communicate.




Click on panorama to see larger view



On a cherry-covered hillside up a steep climb from the riverside, stands Ongaku-ji that I reached right on dusk (16:27). Allegedly one should pass a soba and sushi restaurant on the way: I didn't see them but then again I was consumed by the hairpin-bend hill. The wind in the pine trees makes music, welcoming the Amitabha Buddha. Appreciation of this sound is a Classical theme in Japanese poetry. The bell in front of the hall is the same one that sounded in the Nineteenth Century Rebellion. It has 108 nipples and images of the Kannon inscribed. It has a deep undulating tone. I came upon the temple just as the half moon was glowing between the cherry branches: it reminded me of Katagiri's book, 'Each Moment is the Universe' and of the shakuhachi Honkyoku piece, 'Shingetsu' that contemplates the moon across a lake or some similar image of emptiness and serenity.







Click on panorama to see larger view

The return home took me across the imposing suspension bridge whose bold and efficient structure is monumentally huge and mechanically elegant. Also a pleasant downhill run into Chichibu City.

Temple No.3 Josen-ji

Yesterday I made the (approximately 12km) round trip to Temple No.3 Josen-ji. When I stopped for directions from the guy at Bike shop (in hindsight decidedly sadistic), he recommended the curly 'traditional' hiker- and bicycle-only route straight (up and) over the mountain that involved a very steep climb past the Italian Pinokio restaurant and meander along the summit's rural sun-glowing plateau, whereupon I diverted into a graveyard (Seichi Koen) to confirm directions once more, feeling like my route was clearly not the one on my map (verified) and took the a hair-raisingly steep and curvy plunging descent into the valley on the other side of Mount Buko, returning via Yokoze-machi. Due to my circuitous route, it was dark by the time I returned to Chichibu City. The Kannon itself is elaborately decorated in ancient-looking wood carving of birds and a dragon with a large copper roof and set into the steep hillside of cyprus. According to Enbutsu's Chichibu: Japan's Hidden Treasure book, the Kannon Hall was originally built inside Chichibu Jin-ja from handsome donations of silk merchants and following the feudal age when there was a schism between Shinto and Buddhism, the Buddhist Kannon Hall on the Shinto premises was forced out and thus moved to the current site in 1870. Although it is winter and hence the attractions cannot be observed, there is a pond flanked by irises, azaleas and hydrangeas that bloom in summer. Briefly, on the previous afternoon, I revisited Temple No.26 En'yu-ji and encountered the delightful purple berries pictured.

Kakizakai Sensei's November Steps Takemitsu concert

On Friday night at Hibiya City Hall, Tokyo with Toho School of Music orchestra, Kakizakai Sensei performed Takemitsu's November Steps. It is a double concerto for biwa, 2.4 shakuhachi and duo-orchestra, i.e. on the stage the orchestra is divided into two halves, seated as far apart as possible to emphasise the duality and sterophony. There are 2 oboes, 3 clarinets, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 4 percussion (including Chinese cymbals, tubular bells, gongs, tam tams), 2 harps and strings.

conductor: Tetsuji Honna
biwa: Kakujyo Nakamura
shakuhachi (2.4): Kaoru Kakizakai

(Not just because he's my teacher) Kakizakai Sensei was wonderful! The players are required to play a fairly extended cadenza passage in which the notation by the composer comprises only symbolic indications of intensity, attack, style and the performers choose the pitch and rendition with regard to sequence and exact timing. This approach is intended to motivate individual interpretation and creative flexibility. This was played very passionately and expressively, with an intensity in contemporary music I really appreciate as a composer. Sometimes, players are more reserved when performing modern music but this performance had complete commitment and immersion.

Composer, Takemitsu, at first had little interest in traditional Japanese music, but later incorporated Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) into the orchestra. November Steps (1967), for shakuhachi and biwa (a kind of Japanese lute) solo and orchestra was the first piece to combine instruments from East and West. To this day, it represents an important compositional and cultural challenge to bridge the forces of an orchestra and the subtlety, sometimes softness, and idiomatic playing styles of the Japanese and Western instruments. Takemitsu's In an Autumn Garden (1973-79) is written for the kind of orchestra that would have played gagaku (traditional Japanese court music). Works such as Eclipse, (1966) for shakuhachi and biwa, Voyage (1973), for three biwas are also works derived from traditional genres.

Further reading
• Peter Burt, The Music of Toru Takemitsu (Cambridge University Press, 2001)
• Noriko Ohtake, Creative sources for the Music of Toru Takemitsu (Ashgate, 1993)
• Toru Takemitsu, Confronting Silence (Fallen Leaf Press, 1995)

The orchestra also played another Takemitsu orchestral suite conglomerating snippets of his film music in a much more Western cocktail and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony No.6.

The 9th Eco Products 2007 (Tokyo Big Sight)

On 14th December, Kundan and I attended the Eco fair all day out at Odaiba on the Tokyo Bay before going to Kakizakai Sensei's concert with Richard and Mark. The skyborne monorail curves out through a megatropolis of futuristic glass facade buildings and idiosyncratic suspended walkways, spheres bulging out the sides of rectilinear edifices and spacious expanse unlike urban downtown Tokyo, in a scene dwarfing humanoids somewhat extra-terrestial, inspired by Bladerunner (or was it the other way 'round?). Captioning a small sample of the products displayed (below) is probably the best way to show some of the representations. I was looking for more on environmental measuring and audio or visual display systems (i.e. related to research) and I am eco-passionate about planetary preservation, and geekily allured to new designs and inventions while Kundan has a big environmental consciousness and curiosity. The venue itself was an interesting challenge of scale, expecting to see 140,000 people through the exhibition in a few days.

[From the web site promotion ...] "With the emergence of the global warming issue, interest in the Earth's environment is suddenly rising. The environmental issue is now widely accepted as a real and compelling problem both by businesses and ordinary citizens, thanks in part to the wide reporting of abnormal weather and increasing temperatures by the media and hit movies based on environmental themes, among other things. This has had an effect on people's lifestyles, and now Eco Products are gradually moving from the age of the consumer who will "buy Eco Products when they are available nearby" to those who will "seek out and buy Eco Products proactively". Next year, in 2008, marks the start of the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. And it is certain that the problems surrounding development of alternate energy, chemical substance regulations spreading in Europe, etc., will be drawing the attention of the world more than ever. It is becoming increasingly important to have a corporate image that they are developing and selling Eco Products as well as making aggressive efforts to protect the environment and focusing on CSR for establishing a company's corporate brand. This fair was started in 1999 which makes this year as the 9th year of this fair. In 2006, the number of exhibitor companies and organizations was over 572, and more than 150,000 people attended, including 13,000 children who were there to learn about the environment. It is becoming more and more known as Japan's biggest environmental fair."

Recycling + Innovative applications of natural products

Bag from re-used plastics; boat from bamboo fibres, which can also be used for prefabricated materials, insulation and fibre reinforcing; recycled zippers.


Big name companies fabricate clothing and fashion from natural fibres (hemp) and recycled materials - rubber, cork, wood; recycling phone parts and preserving the many minerals used in the manufacture of mobile phones and reducing landfill; blocks of 'not' plastic made from recycled amalgamated non-biodegradable materials; Italian designed chairs made from reinforced cardboard.


Re-usable portable chopsticks; straw-reinforced bricks for house insulation and construction.

Energy

Windmill with spiral blades resists strong wind-forces and consequent damage, also very quiet almost 'noiseless' for the environment; thermal house-temperature control; one-person car; velo taxi human pedal-powered; pedal music amplification; Honda motorbike with new fuel combustion system than regulates firing during acceleration and deceleration increasing efficiency multi-fold; fuel cell for cars; kinetic friction-generated luminance.

Environmentally Aware

Mineral reconditioning and marine water purification for environmental stabilisation; Nissan car with omni-directional wheels - parking saving(?) (unsure of the true benefits of this attention-receiving vehicle because it's 'footprint' is too big to be truly space-saving, also reminiscent of MIT car); environmental photo exhibition.

Temples No.4 Kinshō-ji and No.8 Saizen-ji + Pilgrimage

Today we were especially fortunate that Megumi-san could take us by car to two of the more remote, outlying temples. Temple No.4 Kinshō-ji features a large Eighteenth Century two-storey gate bearing two enormous straw sandals and several pillars inscribed by calligrapher Matsuda Kaiken, one of the finest calligraphers in Chichibu. The temple is filled with more than a thousand stone statues, exhibiting various expressions, carved from soft sandstone. As you follow the stone pathway up the hillside, rows of statues line each side and populate the gardens as well. Megumi told us of the bizarre story in which some gamblers thought it would be auspicious or lucky to cut off the statues' heads and indeed, a row of statues is all but headless and devastated by this act (that we might call vandalism). Kundan wondered whether new statues might be added to the collection or replace those injured but it appears that they remain un-restored, sad-looking, headless. On the veranda of the temple sits a famous statue of a mother and child. Many people expecting babies visit this statue to ask for a 'painless'/problem-free childbirth. She is said to have been donated by a man from Edo in 1792. It very much resembles Christian Baroque sculptures, perhaps heralding from the then-forbidden practice of Christianity (outlawed by the shogunate) whereby Japanese Christians of the period veiled their saints in the appearance of the Traditional Kannon. Some other statues are Jizo Bodhisattva statues wearing bibs and crocheted beanies.



Faith in the bodhisattva Kannon has deep roots in Japan, and one of its expressions is making a pilgrimage on foot to a series of Kannon temples. Making that "journey for two ... walking with Kannon" is still a popular act of devotion that draws many pilgrims to Chichibu's 34 Kannon temples. The Kannon Pilgrimage to 33 Sites in Saikoku (Western Japan, Kansai) dates from the Heian Period (794-1185 AD), but was reportedly founded earlier, in 718 AD, by the monk Tokudo Shonin 徳道上人. But the circuit did not become widely known. It was rediscovered by Emperor Kazan in 988 AD. By the Tokugawa period, the pouplarity of the Saikoku route led to its replication. According to the Sugimoto-dera Engi of 1560 AD, the Bando Pilgrimage was designated in 988 AD by Emperor Kazan (aka Emperor Hanayama, 968-1008 AD). According to this text, Kannon Bosatsu appeared to Emperor Kazan in a dream, saying "I have divided into 33 bodies throughout the eight provinces of the Bando area, and a pilgrimage to these 33 sites will bring release from suffering." Emperor Kazan, it is said, visited Sugimoto-dera in Kamakura and designated it as the first temple on the Bando Pilgrimage. In later years, Sugimoto-dera also became the first temple in the Kamakura Pilgrimage to 33 Kannon Sites. But the Bando pilgrimage remained little used and mostly unknown to commoners until after the Genroku Period (1688-1703 AD), when it became popular among lay people. By this time, both the Saikoku and Bando pilgrimages were formally linked to a third circuit, the Chichibu Pilgrimage (Saitama area) to 34 Sites Sacred to Kannon, making a complete circuit of 100 sites (Hyakuban Kannon Fudasho). On the Saikoku and Bando circuits, many temples belong to sects of Esoteric Buddhism. But on the Chichibu circuit, many sites are associated with Zen Buddhism, which in particular revers the Sho Kannon, the 'pure' form of the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. ... more from Mark W. MacWilliams (1997) The Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 23/3-4.

Chichibu Pilgrimage
Chichibu 1 Shimabuji, Saitama
Chichibu 2 Shimpukuji, Saitama
Chichibu 3 Josenji, Saitama
Chichibu 4 Kinshoji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 5 Chokoji, Saitama
Chichibu 6 Bokuunji, Saitama
Chichibu 7 Hochoji, Saitama
Chichibu 8 Saizenji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 9 Akechiji, Saitama
Chichibu 10 Daijiji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 11 Jorakuji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 12 Nosakaji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 13 Jigenji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 14 Imamiyabo, Saitama
Chichibu 15 Shorinji, Saitama
Chichibu 16 Saikoji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 17 Jorinji, Saitama
Chichibu 18 Godoji, Saitama
Chichibu 19 Ryusekiji, Saitama
Chichibu 20 Iwanouedo, Saitama
Chichibu 21 Kannonji, Saitama
Chichibu 22 Dojido, Saitama
Chichibu 23 Ongakuji, Saitama
Chichibu 24 Hosenji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 25 Kyujoji, Saitama
Chichibu 26 Enyuji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 27 Daienji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 28 Hashidateji, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 29 Chosenin, Saitama ✔
Chichibu 30 Hounji, Saitama
Chichibu 31 Kannonin, Saitama
Chichibu 32 Hoshoji, Saitama
Chichibu 33 Kikusuiji, Saitama
Chichibu 34 Suisenji, Saitama

Temple No.8 Saizen-ji is in a district of fruit growers (strawberries, grapes) and crops with an allegedly spectacular outlook on Mount Bukō (though today he was hiding behind mist) near Yokoze village. Twice annually the temple holds ceremonies of Sixteenth Century kagura shrine dances with flute and drums (like we saw at Chichibu Jin-ja during the Yomatsuri). Most stunning, however, was the magnificent spreading Maple tree in the forecourt, that is said to be between 500-600 years old and it has clearly been pruned, tempered, trained, tortured, assisted throughout that time to develop the most elegant shape and unfurling branches. Its splay is profoundly broad. It is easier to be swept away by the magnificence of nature (albeit with human intervention) than by ancient buildings and monuments so the splendid trees, rock formations and natural attractions, thousands-of-years-old Cedars at Ise Jingu (for instance) really are among the features that have most impressed me reminding us of the importance of protecting and nurturing our precious environment. The lantern in the garden was moved from Tokyo (Shiba) in 1964, bearing the 3-leaf crest of the Tokugawas. The autumn leaves had fallen into a sea of rustling brown on the ground revealing the mantle of thick green moss on the trunk of the beautiful old tree.

Temple No.24 Hōsen-ji + cows

Today I took a maiden bicycle pilgrimage with the Birdy (BD-1 bike) to Temple No.24 Hōsen-ji. This is a modest little temple nestled in the woods up a steep climb of 116 uneven, worn steps on the far side of the river from my house. According to an imaginative legend, a monk from seaside Japan came to this place and rested (in the 18th century). A goddess appeared to him and made him a gift by cutting 3 branches from a tree with a sword. One she fashioned into the Kannon and from the remaining two the monk made chopsticks for sick people who immediately recovered after using them. The gods in the clouds above vowed to always bless this site. This fable is a typical fusion of Buddhist and Shinto lore.

The remainder of my reconnoitre took me past several bridges, reaching the dominating suspension bridge, that I actually rode underneath on the old stone bridge and to my first encounter with Japanese cattle, first heralded by their distinctive smell. I could have otherwise easily missed them because they were indoors in an open-sided shed: a Jersey milk cow and a small number of black horned Wagyu beef cattle.

Temple No.11 Joraku-ji

Climbing up the slope past the limestone quarry, we reach the entry to well-kept Temple No.11 Joraku-ji. The Kannon Temple was rebuilt in 1880 after the Edo period original edifice was consumed by fire, watched over by an elegant row of Jizo statues. The pathway wanders up the hillside turning back on itself through a tunnel of spaced-apart termite-chewed old torii gates under cyprus. At the summit, the somewhat forlorn-looking shrine is guarded by fox statues but evidently not often visited by pilgrims in winter. The foot of the hill marks the entry to Chichibu City, with a cheerful Yebisu (itinerant fisherman) statue, a plump tanuki and waving cat. We ate lunch at the soba restaurant in a huge log building with toasty warm heating and fire-heated kettles. A brief visit to the tourist information centre indicated that you can rent the pilgrimage outfit (white loose cotton, white bag, straw hat, purple sash, and hiking pole for 800yen($8)/day.

Temple No.16 Saikō-ji and Sunday walk around town

In Shinto, when the spirit Kami enters a rock or a tree, as a manifestation of the energy/nature spirit in everything, it can become enshrined, like this giant old tree. The torii gate behind and Kundan standing there in the foreground give an idea of scale. The crutches holding up this tree are not the usual wooden ones, rather they are great steel supports.





Remarkable features of Temple No.16 Saikō-ji included the decorated ceiling leading to the shrine itself, an enshrined Daikoku in a yurt with straw thatch formed from an old sake brewing barrel and a corridor of 88 deities of the Buddhist pantheon, representing in miniature the course of the 88 temple Shikoku pilgrimage. statues, each in a different pose and many of different appearances and Asian origins. The building is plastered with paper Senja-fuda, votive tablet left as proof of pilgrim's visits (in former times wooden tablets nailed on, a practice banned due to its damaging affect on the buildings).

BD-1 展開方法 + 折り畳み方法

Such is the nature of Japanese delivery service that, following a phone call the night before to check it was convenient, my new BD-1 (Birdy) riese und müller folding bike with mountain gears and dual suspension was delivered at 11.30 on Sunday morning. Such is the nature of Japanese customer service that the slick tyres, light removable pedals and bike stand that I had ordered in addition to the bike itself were carefully installed on the bike when I unpacked it from countless protective wrappers. I am pretty stoked with the German-designed, design award-winning zippiness, stiffness, and springiness (yet taut performance) of the suspension and general agility of my new toy (let's call it an early xmas present). With its particularly wide gear range, I hope to explore the more mountainous and farther afield temple and natural attractions in the area. I have fitted a headlight and rear safety light, bell for startling stray pedestrians (legally required here) and odometer (computer).

Folding and unfolding the riese und müller Birdy (BD-1) bicycle 展開方法 + 折り畳み方法。With some practice, this should only take half the time according to the brochure!



From the delightful 'BD-wonderful' blog, gear ratios (increased in scope by the 45 tooth to 47 tooth upgrade on the front chainwheel between 2006 and 2008 models) are on the 9 Capreo sprockets as follows (最大の違いはフロントが45T→47Tに成長してます。ギア比は次のとおり。):

26t 2458mm 1.81
23t 2779mm 2.04
20t 3196mm 2.35
17t 3760mm 2.76
15t 4261mm 3.13
13t 4917mm 3.62
11t 5811mm 4.27
10t 6392mm 4.70
9t 7102mm 5.22




Theoretically, this provides a very healthy range to deal with even the most torturous Chichibu hill.

Temple No.12 Nosaka-ji and Yamato Art Museum

On Friday, Kundan and I took advantage of the bright sun to take a walk to Temple No.12 Nosaka-ji and the Yamato Art Museum up on the hill. The latter features Munakata Shiko, a woodblock artist who rapidly carves away print blocks in a style reminding me of Margaret Preston, constantly echoing a theme of round-faced women and dense calligraphic backgrounds. Nosaka-ji has a garden known for good spring water filtered through the rocks of the mountain behind it, people come to draw its water and the water is a blessing of the Kannon. Abbot Arai of this Temple hails originally from Kyoto and is said to be very fastidious and strict. His temple has a unique O-bon celebration on 16 August. notable were the many carved wooden figures including a life-size bull in the main two-storey gate.




Click on image to see larger view

Part 3: Chichibu Yomatsuri (Monday 3 Dec morning and evening)

Monday was the 'real' day of the night festival. In the morning I went early to see the Kami-machi yatai jolt out of the garage and head on down the street, followed by a preliminary reconnoitre of the street stalls, interesting foods and unsurpassable odour of cooking octopus and bonito filling the nostrils. I met up with Megumi and she showed me round the many streets filled with stalls of traditional cuisine, goods, handcrafted wares, entertainment for children and every conceivable culinary method of murdering octopus from okonomiyaki to takoyaki, fried, scorched or squid (ikkai) coated in rich bulldog sauce on skewers, sweet fish, turtle (to catch as pets not to eat), spice-stalls, roasted chestnuts or smoked shitake mushrooms, grilled chicken karaage, scary candied fruit and dipped banana desserts and the artful candy sculptor.

I was invited for lunch of traditional foods by my neighbour, Sakura-moto-san, such as yam, udon she cooked 'on the BBQ' in the yard, burdock root and carrot, sesame spinach and soup. We then proceeded downtown with her two kids and their cousin to look at the stalls and games alley for children. We walked with the floats for some time and at the Chichibu-Jinja, met the horse belonging to Mount Buko. This is difficult to conceive for the limitations of the rational Western mind ... Explanation goes something like this: the spirit of Mt.Buko is linked closely (wedded?) to Chichibu Jinja. The mountain and his girlfriend each have a horse. After walking quite a distance around town and to the City Hall where the floats would later assemble that night (with limited access to ticket-holders, hence nice to see by day before the crowds), it was time to rest.



In the evening Kundan and I joined the Kakizakai family for a feast of Japanese festive foods and sake to warm up ready for the procession with floats into the centre of town. Kaoru and Megumi Kakizakai knew all the hotspots for photography an catching glimpses of exciting events. We made our way to a corner that each float must turn to reach the shrine and watched the glowing yatai illuminated only by lanterns jostle through the crowded street to shouts and cheers. The evening procession was marked specially by fireworks whenever a yatai reached the City Hall compound. Eventually we made it up to the main street near Seibu-Chichibu station to watch the exploding fireworks unfold over an extended period. Not until 2:30am did the sigh of the shallot-lubricated cart wheels and thundering taiko subside. It had been two full days of festivity.

Part 2: Chichibu Yomatsuri (Sunday afternoon + evening)

Sunday 2 December is still all 'warm up' for the main day, 3 December (this year falling on Monday). All 6 yatai (floats) make their way towards the Chichibu Shrine down the main street. They are spaced apart to allow for the hundreds of feet of tow-rope in front and for the signalling and turning manoeuvres at corners in the road. This also separates (somewhat) their independent taiko music. The woodblocks (3 pairs) give 3 claps to indicate the pullers should be on the move again.

One stage-float has a small kabuki set on its front. At the main shrine, they performed a short kabuki play for the crowd/priest. The shamisen players and singer are seated behind the actors and the lady in dark kimono is helping the actors change costume during the performance. The priest of Chichibu Jinja blesses each float and offers prayers with the men participating on the yatai when it reaches the shrine steps.



Originally, the main agricultural produce of Chichibu was silk and still bundles of silk-worm cocoons are offered in thanks at the shrine. Very many people are also visiting the Chichibu Jinja (shrine), making prayers and donations and acknowledging the reason for thanksgiving. All 6 floats 'park' at the main shrine for the official ceremony. Running concurrently, a group of Shinto priests perform ritual dances with a small 'band' consisting of several flutes and a drum to the priests dancing with fans and a jester figure with mask, a comic.

At night each float is illuminated by elegant lanterns in rows along the side and hanging from the rafters. Hanabi (fireworks) light up the evening sky. celebrating in the evening. Sunday is a mini-show in anticipation of the several-hour show on Monday night in explosive punctuations when a float reaches the city hall. Finally, at the end of the evening, the Kami-machi yatai is reversed into its garage for the night until festivities resume the following morning.

Part 1: Chichibu Yomatsuri (Sunday morning)

The main nocturnal part of the festival is Monday but Sunday during the day the floats move from their garages to the main Shrine for a ceremony, blessing and celebration of the harvest/thanksgiving. By daylight is a good opportunity to see the beautiful detail of the floats and hear the music before the crowds descend on Chichibu too much. Once again, I set out from Kami-machi, the neighbourhood to which I belong. Lurching out of the float-house at 9am in kami-machi, first stop was at the taiko rehearsal venue further down the main street towards the centre, then into the Chichibu-Jinja (Shrine) where all 6 floats participate in a ceremony of thanksgiving, blessed by the priests. By afternoon when the float reached the shrine, a throng had gathered, children were performing, there was kabuki on one of the floats, the silk worm cocoons were offered at the shrine and sellers with stalls of food and souvenirs were out. Many cacophonies of taiko, dancing, kabuki music with shamisen, priests dancing and playing in an ensemble of fue/flute (nokan?) and drums coincided with the shouts of the float-pullers, woodblocks signalling navigation and cues for starting/stopping and the lively crowd.



The miniature fire engine was on the ready for I-don't-know-what. Police stopped traffic and the traffic lights were put out by a man hanging off the power pole who rotated the arm holding the lights so that it did not obstruct the passage of the tall yatai (float). The four positions on the front of the float are considered highly honourable. Each year different men are selected for this privilege. In kami-machi, the 'elders' wear yellow coats and each role - rope pullers, float people, taiko players and so forth - have different outfits. Each locality has its own costumes. For the heavy floats with ornate roofs, such as kami-machi's, turning around is a significant event. A large central 'foot' descends out the base on which the entire cart is rotated. The four fan-bearers make waving gestures, ushering in the sea-borne spirits and call out 'heave-ho' equivalent along the way. According to Megumi, many of the men atop the float are carpenters by trade. They are comfortable climbing around at heights! Most floats have sea-related themes. Everybody, young and old, is out to watch. My favourite technology: the wooden wheels have no bearings so a combination of oil and shallots(!) are used to lubricate them, squashed shallots keep the wooden wheels turning and not creaking too much to interfere with the taiko. The guy in the maroon jacket has the job of feeding the shallots into the wheel. Kundan and I were wondering if the guys on the roof served any useful purpose other than having a great time up there frolicking on the rafters and drinking whisky but their essential purpose indeed became evident as the float barely fitted under power-lines and they suddenly leapt up and lifted the (insulated) wires over the parapets of the roof as the float perilously passed beneath.

Temple No.28 again and cave crawl

I re-visited beautiful Temple 28 with Kundan. We wanted to catch the spectacular cliff before the autumn leaves fall and this time, Kundan convinced me it was important to don the white hard hat and crawl through the limestone cave with 2000 year old traces of human life. We ate very traditional soba with wasabi and dipping sauce at the delightful little inn that also sold ceramics, tanukis of all sizes, and wood-carving.

Chichibu afternoon bike ride to shrines no.s 28 + 29

Passing the cyprus lumber-yards, limestone quarries, and stopping in briefly at a cultural museum, I proceeded south to Temple no.28 Hashidate-ji. This temple has a very unusual setting. The Kannon Hall is overshadowed by a huge cliff-face that inclines overhanging the buildings and luminous autumn trees. It was truly breath-taking when I first stopped to look up and see the magnitude of the imposing rock above looming immense and powerful and natural above the tiny man-made shrine. This Kannon Hall is also unusual because it is dedicated to the Horse-headed Kannon, a manifestation of the goddess of mercy that is rare among the one hundred Kannon temples of the three pilgrimage courses. The horse-headed Kannon was the mediaeval guardian of travellers. Here at the shrine I burned some temple incense to remember Kakizakai's father whose funeral was today.




The overhanging cliff is the site of rare prehistoric human evidence. Excavations in 1949 brought to light remains from the early Yayoi period (c.400BC to AD300?) including pottery, stone tools, human and animal bones. A stalactite cave at the base of the giant rock can be inspected wearing a white hard-had: a unique pilgrimage experience!

Temple no.29 Chosen-in under the giant weeping cherry tree. Beside the shrine hall is a beautiful grove of thick bamboo and a garden that was showing the last signs of autumn and falling leaves. This was a fairly hilly encounter on the bike but the scenery, mountains, gorges, bridges, rivers were spectacular.