Kitaura Fireworks

Through the mountains to the north, is the small fishing village of Kitaura. The winding road rises up and down, through mountains via tunnels and often skirting alongside a gigantic precapice. In fact, often the road seems to be sandwiched between two equally unpleasant dangers - falling boulders and a drop into oblivion. Add to this the somewhat daring driving of the local people who are well accustomed to the road and you have a rather unique 40 minutes of driving experience.

We were invited to the village for the firework display that happens every summer. It is a tradition to go dressed in traditional attire for a summer evening - a yukata or jimbe; both are very comfortable in the dying heat of the evening.

The fireworks themselves were exceedingly good and were made all the more exciting due to the echoes that rattled around the mountains that enclose the village. Fireworks are often associated to the far east and it comes as little surprise that the Japanese are able to provide an excellent spectacle.

春日神社 Kasuga Shrine

footbridge and ToriiKasuga Shrine is not the most famous shrine in the centre of Nobeoka but it is a very good one to visit. Kasuga is made up of the Chinese characters 春 which is used for the Japanese word for Spring, 'haru' and 日, the character meaning day, 'hi'. Therefore the name of this shrine can be read as 'Spring Day'.

A small and ancient stone footbridge spans a dry bed of what was once a flowing stream. Beyond the bridge, the torii stands as usual, the gateway into the shrine. Hanging from the crossbeam, sacred rope and the white pendants, used in Shinto ritual. Once through the torii, a world of tranquility and peace exists, possibly becuase sedate trees envelop the shrine like a protective shield.

Kasuga Shrine

At Kasuga, as with all Shinto shrines, it is important to purify oneself before proceeding further into the shrine. This is called 'Temizu' - literally meaning 'hand-water'. Using a ladle one must pour water over your hands and wrists, sometimes your feet also. Sometimes visitors to a shrine may even rinse their mouth too. Once completing this rite, it is possible to walk around the shrine.

temizu - 手水

Shrines all across Japan become the focus point of New Year celebrations. People go to pray for fortune in the coming year. At Kasuga, the Shinto priest waves a small tree branch adorned with white pennants to bring worth good luck and health. Once the prayer is completed, a person claps his hand together twice and rattles a fairly large bell. Afterwards, it is common to collect your personal fortune, a Omikuji. There are various levels that one can recieve in this sacred lottery, ranging from a great blessing to a great curse.

GEOS Bankruptcy

The recession has still got a firm grasp around the Japan's neck. Empty shops and sales, symptoms of an unhealthy economy. I am told that the unemployment office is busy too. One of the casualties of the recent financial troubles is GEOS, the company I worked for. Sadly, for everyone in Nobeoka who was someway connected to the school, the company has accumulated huge debts. On the 21st April 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy, meaning my job had evaporated into thin air. Many students had paid huge amounts of money upfront. It doesn't look like they will be able to retrieve it.

Emotions are mixed in such situations; anger, disbelief, despair are only a few. Time will not replace what once was had, but time allows the dust to settle and life to continue.

Gyoza 餃子

Minced meat and chopped vegetables wrapped into a small 'skin' of dough. Gyoza are found across Japan and virtually every Ramen shop offer them as a side dish. Many other restaurants serve them too, and it is possible to buy them at any supermarket. Although the dumplings originate from China, the Japanese have evolved them to a discernable degree. The most obvious difference is that the amount of garlic added to the mixture.


Normally, the Japanese fry the gyoza in a covered pan for a few minutes. A cacophony is produced when water is added. Just prior to serving the moonshaped delicacies are flipped. The result is one side being brown and the other pale. When eating, soy sauce with chilli flakes are a must.


Ｔｓｕｇｅ 黄楊


In Nobeoka, the best place to get your 'fix' of gyoza is at a place called "Tsuge". This is a gyoza shop and I have been told that that is quite a rare thing. The shop itself is small and only 10 hungry people can eat there at one time; the menu consists of gyoza and rice only. As the gyoza are frying, yet more are being prepared by hand, one at a time with admirable efficiency. The ubiquitous television set in the corner, a bookcase full of comics and the cheery conversation between happy customers furnishes the place with its bright atmosphere. As you would expect from a specialist, the gyoza are supreme. The shop owner (or master, as you say in Japan) and his family are some of the kindest people I have met here.


Master Tokoro

日本語ポスト

私のつもは、このブォグで日本語を書きます。今、日本語がとても難です。たくさん間違いあります。でも、もし日本語を上手くなる、私はいつもれんしゅうします。たぶん、２間月で日本語の先生といっしょに勉強しました。漢字がちょっと不可能です、でもコンピュタではよりやさしです。ファイト！

今日夜私はｂｂｑに行きます。よかったですね。

Takachiho

The winding route 218

Taking a forty minute car ride into the volcanic heartland of Kyushu is rewarding enough by itself. The roadside scenery will transfix the unintiated. Mountains, steep and carpeted by trees rise one after the other as far as the eye can see; the valleys far below is where human civilization has been forged into the landscape. Where the land lies flat enough, rice paddies and terraces of green tea plantations with its lush and sumptuous shades of dark green ensnare my eyes. And yet, all this scenery is ubiquitous in Kyushu. One part of the road sits under the shadow of some enormous cliff, and green vegetation saddles its crest. This is the road to the legendary gorge Takachiho.



Hinokage town (日之影町）

Takachiho itself is archaeic in origin and with its the unique wonder it is not difficult to see why it has fuelled great fantasies. It is the stuff of real Japanese legend. Most famously, perhaps, is that the gorge is where the ancestors of Japan's first Emperor, Jimmu, descended from the heavens. Ninigi, Jimmu's great grandfather, was sent by Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. He was charged with the task of pacifying a wild Japan. As Ninigi himself was the grandson of the Goddess, the subsequent emperors have all been regarded as divine beings, a tradition that continued until the end of the 2nd World War.

It is a place that that rattles your senses. Everywhere you look something will catch your wandering eye; it is quiet except for the water and the cries of the insects, and the lively plants are smelling sweet of nature's scent. Tiny paths are found alongside the water. Some lead along the gorge, others to the Shinto shrines and some probably to nowhere and back again. I came to Takachiho with my co-worker, Motoko and her brother, Yuuzo. We took the steep path up to the Shinto shrine. The trail was at times difficult to climb, either due to the steepness or the occaisional vines that crept down from the green ceilings to block the way. The sun was completely blocked out as we walked up and down, alongside boulders the size of houses, with the sound of rushing water our trusted comapanion. It probably took us the best part of an hour to climb to the shrine. We paid our respects as is customary and made an offering, for which you are permitted to take a fortune, that will predict the coming days prosperity in various firlds, such as love, health, money, travel and lots more that I could not remember as I sit here. It seems, perhaps because of novelty and the grandeur of the setting, much more convincing than a horoscope. Inside this shrine, and in some other shrines I have visited, there were two trees that were joined at the base of the trunk to give the impression of 'tree twins'. All in all, the trek to Takachiho shrine rewarded us with great sights, sounds and smells and in reaching our destination a sense of unparalleled peace descended on us like a thin viel of silk floating calmly to the ground. We eventually made our leave, taking the main exit that avoids the gorge and leads into the town.

Welcome to Nobeoka

Nobeoka city is found in the north of Miyazaki prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Kyushu is the southern-most of the main islands of Japan and, with an area of roughly 35,000 square kilometres, it is the third biggest. It is about 3 and half times smaller than England. In the last census, the population of Nobeoka was estimated at over 130,000.

Nobeoka exists in a fairly remote part of Japan. The closest cities, Miyazaki and Oita, are about 90 kilometres to the south, and 120 kilometres to the north, respectively. The city fronts onto the Pacific ocean and is also surrounded by mountains.

The climate is hot and humid in the summer and mild in the winter. Temperatures recently have been hitting the mid thirties consistantly. Currently, there is a lot of rain, thunder and impressive lightning that suggests the typhoon season in approaching.


Imayama

But what is the city itself like? Despite 130,000 people living here, the city itself is small. The reality of Nobeoka betrays its city status; for example, you can walk down one of the main roads and not see a single person. Another might be that there is no Starbucks; surely every city in the industrialised world has a Starbucks these days. That there is not is something to pleased about. However, a lot of people, particularly the younger generations, complain that there is nothing to do here. Maybe if Starbucks did come here, there would be a renewed love for the city from the dissatisfied youth; I imagine its opening to be something of a red letter day. Still, enough of Starbucks. The city boasts so much natural wealth. The mountains are great for hiking; the rivers are clean and refreshing, and there is a very, very long beach too. Personally, I enjoy simply walking around aimlessly, through the numerous rice paddies, into the mountains or the neighbouring towns. The city is not really a city in my mind, just a gathering of people in a place happened to blessed with a superb environment.

Nobeoka, a city nestled in the Kyushu mountains and caressed by the lapping waves of the Pacific exists as it does primarily because of Asahi Kasei. This economic powerhouse, one of the world's biggest, has been resilient enough to withstand the economic depression that has reeked havoc all over Japan and the world. This company has so many fingers in so many pies, but I am informed that it is most renowned for chemical and fibre production. In Nobeoka, a great proportion of the people are employed by the factories and offices that are scattered around the city. The two main plants are perhaps the most helpful navigational tools for someone living in Nobeoka; with their two huge smoke chimleys, painted red and white and visible from virtually everywhere, you can easily find your way. Admittedly, the city's intrinsic beauty is a little spoiled by their presence, but eventually you begin to accept them as part of the charm of the city.