Last week was Golden Week, a series of three holidays in a row when virtually the entire country takes a vacation (except for those unlucky enough to work in hotels or other tourist industries). We went to visit our friends the Fujis in Kanazawa which is on the Japan Sea side of the islands. About eight years ago, the husband was transferred from Tokyo to Kanazawa, but the wife continued her job in Tokyo, and she flies out to visit him every weekend. This is a fairly common situation in Japan, except for the part about getting together every weekend which most of the Fujis’ co-workers feel is rather excessive.
The Fujis took us to spend the weekend on the Noto Peninsula. It’s a relatively undeveloped and less traveled area by Japanese standards and there were lots of picturesque farm houses and rice paddies tucked away in the mountains and scenic drives along the coast. The azaleas were in bloom and wisteria was growing wild in the mountains. This was particularly special because “Fuji” is the Japanese word for wisteria. Mrs. Fuji, who loves to wear kimono, wore a kimono with a wisteria design on it to fit the season.
We stayed at two different minshuku. A minshuku is sort of the equivalent of a Bed-and-Breakfast except that they generally serve dinner as well. Many of them are well known for their cuisine and it’s a good chance to sample regional dishes. It’s a very fun way to get a feel for traditional Japanese lifestyles, but you have to be prepared to eat and sleep on the floor, share your bath with strangers of the same sex, and eat fish, rice, and tofu for breakfast (both of the places we stayed at were very proud of their local, homemade tofu). My main problem as I get older is that my body just can’t take all of the sitting on cushions with no chairs.
We also got to see several small local festivals. The first minshuku we stayed at was in a tiny little village and the owner mentioned that they were having their local festival that night and would we like to attend? For a 250 yen donation (about $2.50) we could also buy a strip of paper to write a prayer to the god. So after dinner, we went down to a small, oddly shaped rock by the side of the road where they were doing the ritual. There were about thirty people there of whom probably about half were villagers and the rest were guests staying at various B&B’s nearby. The minshuku owner was there handing out red paper lanterns with candles inside and there was a priest standing in front of the altar and chanting something. After awhile, they lit a small bonfire, and then one of the priests stepped forward and started reading the prayers aloud from the strips of paper and then handing them to another man to place them on the fire to release the prayers to the gods. Most Japanese festivals have become tourist attractions and there was something special about this small group of people doing this unpretentious festival just for themselves (even if they did allow outsiders to attend).
The other two festivals we went to were bigger but still intimate enough to have a local feel to them. One was in Nanao City and consisted of three model ships being pulled through the streets with ropes. A number of the local businesses also displayed small models of the Tenjin god (see photo above). Tenjin was an eighth century scholar who was deified after his death and became the god of learning and scholarship. Every year thousands of Japanese visit his shrines to pray for success in getting into college. We asked about the history of this local Tenjin festival and were told that it had just started the year before! Apparently the tradition was to display the Tenjin god as part of the New Year’s celebrations, but then someone got the idea that since they had all these tourists coming into town for the boat festival, why not display the Tenjin gods as well (and maybe make some extra sales off of the tourists coming in to your store to see the Tenjin statues).
One of the shops sold Buddhist altars. Many Japanese homes have a Buddhist altar where they pray to the spirits of their deceased relatives (whom many Japanese believe become buddhas or gods after their death). The altars are like tall cupboards or wardrobes and they are truly works of art--covered with lacquer ware and carving and gold leaf. So we stepped inside just to admire the artwork, and the owner came over and started chatting with us. She said that she had heard that Americans don’t have the custom of having household altars to the dead and there was something she had always wondered about. “What do Americans do when they want to pray? How do they remember their dead?” I told her that Americans go to church to pray or sometimes visit the graves of their deceased relatives (which is something Japanese also do on an annual basis), but it was a question I’d never thought about before. Of course, many Americans do pray at home too, but we don’t usually have a dedicated religious space within the home the way Japanese do. It was one of those interesting cross-cultural moments.
So it was a lot of good food and fun festivals and we also got to sample some locally brewed sake and bought a small bottle to bring home.
The Fujis took us to spend the weekend on the Noto Peninsula. It’s a relatively undeveloped and less traveled area by Japanese standards and there were lots of picturesque farm houses and rice paddies tucked away in the mountains and scenic drives along the coast. The azaleas were in bloom and wisteria was growing wild in the mountains. This was particularly special because “Fuji” is the Japanese word for wisteria. Mrs. Fuji, who loves to wear kimono, wore a kimono with a wisteria design on it to fit the season.
We stayed at two different minshuku. A minshuku is sort of the equivalent of a Bed-and-Breakfast except that they generally serve dinner as well. Many of them are well known for their cuisine and it’s a good chance to sample regional dishes. It’s a very fun way to get a feel for traditional Japanese lifestyles, but you have to be prepared to eat and sleep on the floor, share your bath with strangers of the same sex, and eat fish, rice, and tofu for breakfast (both of the places we stayed at were very proud of their local, homemade tofu). My main problem as I get older is that my body just can’t take all of the sitting on cushions with no chairs.
We also got to see several small local festivals. The first minshuku we stayed at was in a tiny little village and the owner mentioned that they were having their local festival that night and would we like to attend? For a 250 yen donation (about $2.50) we could also buy a strip of paper to write a prayer to the god. So after dinner, we went down to a small, oddly shaped rock by the side of the road where they were doing the ritual. There were about thirty people there of whom probably about half were villagers and the rest were guests staying at various B&B’s nearby. The minshuku owner was there handing out red paper lanterns with candles inside and there was a priest standing in front of the altar and chanting something. After awhile, they lit a small bonfire, and then one of the priests stepped forward and started reading the prayers aloud from the strips of paper and then handing them to another man to place them on the fire to release the prayers to the gods. Most Japanese festivals have become tourist attractions and there was something special about this small group of people doing this unpretentious festival just for themselves (even if they did allow outsiders to attend).
The other two festivals we went to were bigger but still intimate enough to have a local feel to them. One was in Nanao City and consisted of three model ships being pulled through the streets with ropes. A number of the local businesses also displayed small models of the Tenjin god (see photo above). Tenjin was an eighth century scholar who was deified after his death and became the god of learning and scholarship. Every year thousands of Japanese visit his shrines to pray for success in getting into college. We asked about the history of this local Tenjin festival and were told that it had just started the year before! Apparently the tradition was to display the Tenjin god as part of the New Year’s celebrations, but then someone got the idea that since they had all these tourists coming into town for the boat festival, why not display the Tenjin gods as well (and maybe make some extra sales off of the tourists coming in to your store to see the Tenjin statues).
One of the shops sold Buddhist altars. Many Japanese homes have a Buddhist altar where they pray to the spirits of their deceased relatives (whom many Japanese believe become buddhas or gods after their death). The altars are like tall cupboards or wardrobes and they are truly works of art--covered with lacquer ware and carving and gold leaf. So we stepped inside just to admire the artwork, and the owner came over and started chatting with us. She said that she had heard that Americans don’t have the custom of having household altars to the dead and there was something she had always wondered about. “What do Americans do when they want to pray? How do they remember their dead?” I told her that Americans go to church to pray or sometimes visit the graves of their deceased relatives (which is something Japanese also do on an annual basis), but it was a question I’d never thought about before. Of course, many Americans do pray at home too, but we don’t usually have a dedicated religious space within the home the way Japanese do. It was one of those interesting cross-cultural moments.
So it was a lot of good food and fun festivals and we also got to sample some locally brewed sake and bought a small bottle to bring home.
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