Kyoto Special – goinggaijin.com

Mikane Jinja

Kyoto is said to be the city of 1000 temples and shrines. There are the famous temples dating back to the days when Buddhism first arrived in Japan. There are the tiny shrines enshrining only the gods know who, hidden on steep mountain paths. And there are numerous small shrines at the centre of local neighbourhoods. One of these is Mikane Jinja a few streets west of the Manga Museum.

This neighbourhood was once the quarter of Kyoto’s metalworkers. Kamanza dori, for example, was the street of tea kettle makers. In 1588, Hideyoshi started minting gold coins, and when Ieyasu became shogun, he established a Kinza and Ginza (gold and silver mint, respectively) where the Manga Museum stands today.

This led to an influx of skilled artisans who worked at the mints and settled in the area. The mint also attracted money changers (and lenders) as well as people who worked with precious stones and minerals. Over time, the area became very prosperous. People living here could afford expensive clothes and accessories, which gave rise to the term “Ryogaemachi style”, named after one of the local streets.

The main deity of Mikane Jinja is Kanayamahoko-no-Mikoto, the God of metals, minerals, and mining. When exactly the shrine was established is not certain, but it is known, that it started as a small shrine on a private property somewhere in the area. More and more people came to worship at the shrine, and providing access at all times became a burden to the owners of the property. Therefore, in 1883, new land was donated, and the deities were moved to the newly constructed shrine that still stands on the very same spot.

Today, Mikane Shrine attracts people who pray for wealth and prosperity, as well as good fortune in businesses related to metals – mining, steel industry, car manufacturing, electronics etc. – or finance – investments, accounting, banking, real estate etc.

The most striking feature of Mikane Shrine is its golden torii. The shiny paint was especially developed by a local company to withstand outdoor conditions for many years. Gold is also the colour of the bell rope used to ring the bell before prayer, and a goshuin slip with real gold leaf is available at the shrine.

At the back of the precincts is a large ginkgo tree, 22 metres tall and 200 years old. In folklore, ginkgo trees are a symbol of prosperity, growth, and longevity and its leaves especially are a symbol of infinite good fortune. This is why many of the shrines’ omamori and omikuji are shaped like or feature ginkgo leaves, and in autumn, visitors may even ask for real leaves from the sacred tree to take home.

Mikane Shrine is accessible to worshippers 24/7, but its main festival is the reitai-sai festival in autumn. Held every year on the last weekend in September, it features a children’s procession and mikoshi parade as its main attractions. Food stalls and games for kids as well as a lucky draw add to the festive atmosphere.

If you are in town at this time, it’s a great way to experience a real neighbourhood festival in Kyoto and to mingle with the locals.

Concert

I’m busy today getting ready for this year’s very first BATI-HOLIC solo concert (aka in Japanese: one-man show). The place is fairly small and they sold out last week, and since I’m planning to stand in the first row, thank you, I’ll better be there before the doors open. I’ll check in later!

Later: This was so much fun! It’s great when the people are all fans of the band and go with the music. I didn’t quite make it to the first row, but I could secure a seat on a platform with tatami and small tables, and it’s easy to get up and dance there. It was perfect!

One thing I find always very interesting at such concerts is how quickly people tend to leave when everything is over. Some 15 minutes after the last encore, the place was half empty already. I stuck around with some friends, and I enjoy this part of chatting and drinking and having fun with them and the band members just as much as the music itself.

Goodness, I’m not turning into an extrovert, am I?

Miyako Odori Press Conference

When I woke up this morning at eight, it only had 2 degrees in my bedroom. On such days, I tend to stay in bed until Pumpkin demands his breakfast. But today I had an early meeting: the press conference for this year’s Miyako Odori.

It was similar to last year’s press conference, just a bit smaller because it’s not a milestone anniversary.

After the talks and Q&A by the officials involved in the dance production (just like last year, the dance master and a university professor), the painter of the official portrait that is used for the flyer was introduced. I haven’t looked at my photos from last year, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same woman.

In contrast, the young lady to the left is brand new. Her name is Katsuwaka, she is from Niigata and merely 17 years old. Last year she had her “misedashi” – introduction as a maiko – and this year, she will make her stage debut at the Miyako Odori. She was even interviewed, it must be a big thing for her (and the kagai as a whole).

This year’s theme is “Colorful Seasons of Kyoto” and some of the eight scenes are set in famous places like Kiyomizudera, Heian Jingu, Umenomiya Taisha and Gion of course. While last year was all about the Tale of Genji, this year’s program will stray a little from the formality of the Heian court. At least, that’s what I’m led to believe from looking at some of the costumes. I’m really looking forward to seeing the performance this year!

Again, the look behind the scenes was quite illuminating. It’s fascinating how much work goes into all this; only arranging the promotional photo in front of the large silver doors took about half an hour, not to mention dozens of people behind the camera.

Autumn Ikebana

On Friday, I went to this year’s Autumn Tanabata Exhibition of the Ikenobo school for ikebana flower arranging. This is the oldest annual exhibition of ikebana; it dates back to the Edo period and has been ongoing ever since. I have written about the history of ikebana and the Ikenobo school when I went to the spring exhibition in 2022, so I will not go into details again here.

This year, I had as a guide a friend of mine who works at the Ikenobo to show me through the exhibition and explain more of the art behind ikebana and what to look for in an arrangement. Here are a few details of what she told me.

Rikka is the oldest, most traditional style of flower arrangement and the most heavily formalized. It originated in the Muromachi era and was meant for large-scale arrangements in temples and the homes of nobles and samurai – essentially to show off their wealth and influence.

In Rikka, the goal is to create a whole landscape with a wide variety of plants; the back and top of the arrangement signifies the landscape far off, the closer and lower parts the nature nearby. Rikka is easily recognized by the round bundle the stems of the plants form in the container.

Shoka was developed in the Edo period. These arrangements are often much smaller, since they were meant for the tokonoma in the rooms of the lower class people (albeit rich ones, think merchants etc.)

A Shoka arrangement uses at most three different types of plants, they form a single line segment in the container and are best viewed from the front of the row rather than the side. Shoka is considered the most dignified style, and ideally, the flowers used encompass the past, present, and future of the seasons.

Then there is Free Style, where essentially “anything goes”. These arrangements come in all sizes and often include non-natural materials as well. Looking through the photos I took, I find myself mostly drawn to these pieces, they are very individual and often outright whimsical. Yet, the flowers should still form the focal point of the arrangement.

The goal of any arrangement in any style is that it looks as natural as possible, even if artificial means are used. We’re talking about using wires to bend stiff materials, or hand creme to prevent the tips of leaves from drying out too quickly. Some arrangements are even planned out in advance, and tree branches are cut and put together to create specific angles to fit the design. All of this is fine – as long as the end result still looks natural.

When learning ikebana in the Ikenobo school, students start out with the Free Style before moving on to Shoka and finally, Rikka. My friend explained that soft materials are easiest to use, while a Rikka arrangement that only consists of pine branches, for example, marks the height of a student’s accomplishment.

With all this information, the exhibition was much more enjoyable than the previous time. I feel I know some details to look for, even though I cannot judge the actual artistic merit of an arrangement. So far, I’ve always thought that ikebana had very strict rules to create a piece, but when starting out in Free Style, this is not necessarily true. I’m thinking it might be nice to try ikebana, but it is a very expensive hobby indeed.

so-on-g

On my quest to follow BATI-HOLIC to all of their concerts (in Kyoto), I am exposed to a lot of other bands, both local and foreign. There are all sorts of music styles, all stages of proficiency, and different levels of “I like it”.

One of my recent discoveries is so-on-g (騒音寺). The kanji mean “Noise Temple”, but even though they could be considered as rock band, their music is very melodic and easy to dance along. And sing along, if you know the texts, of course. Here’s one of their music videos:

so-on-g “Long Line” music video

so-on-g are a band from Kyoto and they’ve been around for 30 years. They have plenty of fans, which makes their shows fun to watch. It was even more fun to watch BATI-HOLIC leader Nakajima move into the first row at their latest show and completely switch to fanboy mode. Musicians just love music – just like writers just love books…

Moon Viewing 2024

Even though full moon is today – and it’s even a supermoon, extra close to the Earth – Japan’s traditional moon viewing ceremonies were held yesterday. And once again, I went all the way over to Matsunoo Taisha for it.

Not much has changed compared to last year, the performers were largely the same. However, I thought that the selection of shakuhachi songs was more lively this year. And the koto-shinobue duo afterward performed a great version of Amazing Grace. Pity this was in Japan, I’m pretty sure that in America, people would’ve known the lyrics and would’ve sung along.

The taiko were great and uplifting as always, but I now find that something has to be added. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try: taiko drums are essentially just rhythm, and while you do get excited, the adrenaline doesn’t last forever. With a melody overlaid, no matter how simple, the interest can be kept up throughout the piece. This time again, the second piece was the best, it added flutes and cymbals to the drums.

This time I went alone, but I was having a nice chat with the person in the seat next to me. He didn’t drink sake or cared for the sweets that were offered, so he gave me his ticket for a second helping to both. It was very good sake; after all, Matsunoo Taisha enshrines the god of all things alcohol. Another addition this year were the food stalls outside the shrine, but even though they had some karaage (fried chicken) left when the ceremony was over, I resisted the temptation. Maybe next year.

Getting Ready…

I’m busy this week, so this is just a very short update. I’m getting ready for this year’s Gion Matsuri Ato parade where once again, I’m volunteering at the Ofunehoko. This huge float is always the final one of the second parade and it was always my favourite.

I’ll be working on Monday morning for four hours, and I’m preparing to wear yukata again. Since I have lost so much weight, I can wear a lovely shibori yukata I got from a friend some years back, and I even bought a nice yellow obi to complement the traditional blue.

In fact, I already wore it on Saturday for the Kimono Rock Party, but this time, my friend isn’t here to help me get dressed… I hope things will turn out just right.

For the second time this year, I have received an English version of the flyer that explains the history and trimmings of the float, so I’ll have to do some studying. Not that many people want these sort of details (not in English anyway), but I love this kind of information, so it’s not lost here.

I’m also planning to visit some of the other floats – a friend of mine volunteers at the Hashi Benkei Yama – and I hope it will be a good day with not too much heat and no rain either. We’ll see.

Perfect Weekend

A very short recap of a very perfect weekend:

Pumpkin and I had our very first overnight visitor! Because it’s Gion Matsuri and Kyoto is practically booked solid, my friend from Tokyo stayed in our guest room – aka upstairs living room. Pumpkin was not very happy about this; he oscillated between anxiety and curiosity. Both of which meant that he was up all night, keeping me the same…

She came down to finally get to the bottom of my BATI-HOLIC obsession and went to their 20th Anniversary concert with me. Well, let’s just say she isn’t into rock music. Which is fine; I’m happy that she at least tried. The photo of lead singer Nakajima is courtesy of my friend, just before she left to have dinner. I had an absolute blast for more than 2 hours, met some old friends and made some new ones… As I said: PERFECT!

Anyway, I am sure you’re pretty tired of my fangirling here already, so I’ll stop… In case you’re not, I wrote an article about 20 Years of BATI-HOLIC for my WUIK newsletter, which actually made it into a (rock) music magazine in Australia of all places. You can read my article in the Heavy Magazine.

After sleeping in and having a relaxed breakfast, my friend and I went to Shisendo, a nearby temple that is always pretty quiet. The gardens are nice, but not spectacular (outside the azalea season that is), but it is a nice place to sit for a while.

In the afternoon, we went to the Insho Domoto Museum, a favourite of mine; their current exhibition is about monochrome ink paintings, and my favourite painting is exhibited as well. I still can’t describe why it makes me feel the way I feel, but it still moves me to tears every time I see it. My friend was quite put out (and not as impressed about this particular painting I might add.)

Anyway, my friend is back in Tokyo, I’m back at home, Pumpkin is back at ease – and at least I had the perfect weekend! Tomorrow is a holiday to boot, so I can sleep in again. I’m very happy!

Simply…

Following up on my post about Kyoto’s IC cards, I decided to buy a prepaid ICOCA and take advantage of the new point system for commuters. Mostly, I’m still riding my bicycle, but there are some occasions where I need day tickets, which are not available on the bus anymore. Instead of purchasing some at a subway station, with an ICOCA, you can “buy” them online in advance. You still have to pay the full amount for all your trips on that day, but whatever is beyond the price of the day ticket is reimbursed in points (which can be used to reload the card) the next month. Anyway, I digress.

Buying the physical ICOCA was the easy part. The next step, registering the card under my name could be done online without much trouble, thanks to online translators.

One final step was necessary to be able to earn the commuter points, and the website said: “Simply insert your card into a ticket machine at a subway station to finalize your registration.” That’s what I did (or so I thought, when charging the card) all the way back in April. Points are awarded in the following month on the 15th, so I waited patiently.

And nothing happened for three months, even though I could login to the website and check how many of those one-day passes I had purchased so far. Still: No points arriving. The young assistant at my nearest subway station couldn’t help me beyond offering me a phone number (which is useless to somebody who still heavily relies on visual cues and handwaving when speaking). So, as I was in the area on Monday, I went to the bus & subway info center at Kyoto station to sort things out in person.

There, a lengthy back-and-forth eventually resulted in them making the call to the main office on my behalf. And I was informed that the final confirmation step at a ticket machine was still missing. I was a little surprised, but begging for help, somebody finally took pity and went with me to the nearest subway entrance to see what was going on.

There, it turned out that “simply insert your card into a ticket machine…” involves the following steps, all of which only in Japanese, of course:

Choose a ticket machine that has the “points” option available in the first place (50% chance)
Push the correct button (25% chance if you’re not fit with the kanji)
Enter your (online) password and confirm
Check the info displayed and, if correct, confirm again

Well. Everything’s simple in hindsight. And with help at hand….

(Re-) Visit

Last weekend, mostly to get new photos for the “deep dive” feature of my WUIK newsletter, I visited the Garden of Fine Arts again. And: it grows on me.

Part of this is certainly the fact that this time around, I went in the early morning when the sun illuminated the place much better (remember that it’s 2 floors underground) and gave it a more bright and uplifting atmosphere.

The other part is that now I know that the Last Supper and Last Judgement from the Sistine Chapel in Rome were reproduced almost on the original scale. The Last Judgement in particular takes up all three floors of the museum space, and somehow, I can appreciate both paintings much more because of this.

Afterwards, I went to the nearby Kyoto Institute Library and Archives, which I recently (re-) discovered. The entire second floor of the building is just the library with plenty of nooks and crannies to lose yourself in – and books too, of course.

On the first floor, there is a small museum, and this is where I discovered Yasuo Hayashi. He’s now 96, a ceramic artist from Kyoto, and somehow, his works look like MC Escher has discovered the third dimension:

I really enjoyed this exhibition (it’s on until June 9 if you’re in town) and will try to find out more about this artist. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take photographs, but I got a list of books showing his works that I can get from the library above.