Swimming in the sky.

Let me back up a bit...
Earlier last week, my car was taken to get its Shakken. Shakken is the Japanese equivalent of inspection, but it is more expensive, and lasts for two years. While your car is getting repairs and Shakken, you are given a Daisha, a replacement car. The car they gave me (I still don't really know who "they" are, two of my teachers told me to clear my car of anything valuable and give the key to some guy. This guy gave me the key to my Daisha) smells really strongly of cigarettes and when I turn the heat on, it smells like burning. I had a cold when they gave it to me, so having to have the windows open every time I turned on the heat was not helpful.
Like I said, I had a cold. In the beginning, I thought I could go to work high on DayQuil and not miss school. On Thursday I lost my voice and my eye began to decay (I won't go into details, WebMD said I had viral conjunctivitis...Dad hates that I am self-diagnosing online...), so I missed school Thursday and couldn't go to Gotsu Seiwa on Friday because those students can't afford to get sick.

I have been witness to some amazing generosity since I came to Japan. For example, Friday one of my teachers brought me dinner and another teacher bought me a jacket- he thought I was sick because I wasn't keeping warm. On Saturday, the Gotsu Seiwa teacher, who I teach english to twice a month, brought me cough drops, tea, and multi-vitamin gel things.
Saturday I did my best and ate lots of oranges, drank tea and broth and watched more Battlestar Gallactica than I'd care to admit.

I was feeling better by Saturday evening, so I decided to do something to feel that I didn't waste our three day weekend [Monday, today, is the reserved holiday for National Foundation Day (which was Sunday), a National Holiday that originally celebrated the first Emperor's ascension to the throne, but after WWII celebrates Japan as a unified Nation]. So I went to Tsuwano.
Many other ALT friends have been to Tsuwano and it looked like a nice place for a sick girl to sight-see and get well at the same time.
That it was. Though I might have over done it.
I drove there in my Daisha, the smelly, crappy ashtray on wheels. Other than the car, the drive was beautiful. Rte 9 travels west on the coast to Masuda, there are plenty scenic vistas to pull over and sigh at.



Tsuwano is a tiny place, a well-preserved historical town at the feet of Aono-yama mountain. I saw Aono-yama on my way to Tsuwano, and it is a bit intimidating. It isn't intimidating in its size, but its shape. It looks like a volcanoe, and I think it is a retired volcanoe, but by its looks one would think it might burst any minute.



Tsuwano is famous for the carp that live in the pools, gutters and fountains of the town. The koi (Japanese carp) were first bred to make sure that the town had a stable supply if there was a food crisis. There is no longer a threat of famine, but in the literature I got at the info center it said that the koi population has reached well over 100,000. They are lovely ghosts of orange, white and HUGE dark violet, softly gliding through any and every watery hole in Tsuwano. I found one pool on my way to Taikodani Inari shrine where the sky was perfectly reflected and it looked like the fish were dodging clouds.

Like many small historical towns that attract tourists, there are only a few things I read about and was told I should do while I was there. One of which was to visit the Taikodani Inari Shrine.

Inari is a shinto deity of rice and rice wine. Inari is primarily depicted as a woman accompanied by two white foxes. In trying to find out who Inari is, I came up on many confusing contradictions. It seems to be this way with Shinto dieties and symbols, when I try to find out what certain things mean and the stories behind them, sources (granted, they are all online sources, and I can't name them as any legitimate authority) tend to be vague or contradict another source entirely. What I've learned is that there are no concrete explanations or translations of many symbols, so keep that in mind when I sound like I know what I'm talking about. I have read that Inari shrines are always entered through a large number of torii gates, and uhh...yeah, this one had a few. A Torii Gate looks like the bottom half of an "H" and stands as an entrance to a sacred place. You've seen them before, and they are all over Tsuwano. Big ones, small ones, wooden ones, stone ones, go car go! (if you got that reference, you are a champion)

This large one was at the bottom most entrance to the Taikodani Inari Shrine, then from there the path zig-zagged up a steep hill through over 1000 smaller torii gates. It was almost dizzying being inside these things. The walk up was a bit of a struggle with a head cold, and no means of excercise for (do I dare guess an actual span of time?) a while now. The shrine itself was beautiful, and very big. My favorite sight was the statues of Inari's foxes, and watching people pray. I wanted to get a good look inside the sanctuary but I just couldn't bring myself to interrupt other people's prayers. They stepped up to the top step, threw some coins in a wooden box, rang very tinny bells, clapped and bowed. I still have yet to get that down, and I don't intend on cheapening another person's visit just to get a glimpse of the inside of a building. All around there were fortunes (slips of paper you can buy that tells you your fortune, or something about yourself), trees and [this thing in the photo] were covered in the fortunes that nobody wanted. Apparently, if you get a "bad" fortune, you have to tie it to a tree or fortune-tying-thingy to get rid of it. Only keep the good ones. I've always wanted to buy one, but I don't want to accidentally keep a bad one and turn into a monkey the next morning.

On my visits to shrines I have seen many things sold around them like fortunes, talismans, charms and beautiful oragami on sticks adorned with bright, sometimes glittery paper and feathers. I don't know what any of it is for. I was really hungry when I got to the top of the hill. On my way up I saw vendors selling packages of fried tofu, and other yummy looking things. However, they were being sold with talismans, fortunes, candles and incense, so I thought maybe they weren't snacks. Later I found out that the fried tofu roll is called Inari-zushi, and it is an offering to the kitsune (foxes, messengers) that accompany Inari. Good thing I didn't buy one and walk around nibbling on it in front of throngs of people praying. Eat an offering to a diety...nice one.

While I was wandering, I met a junior high school student from a city in Hiroshima prefecture. First she approached me and asked me where I was from. When I said, "America" she asked to take a photo with me. I'll never get used to that.
Then, as I began my descent through the torii gates, she asked if she could walk with me and speak english. An ALT's work is never done! Her name is Aki, she doesn't like English because she finds it hard to write. I gave her my cellphone email address so she can practice writing in English. So far, she has sent me two messages in Japanese.

I wandered a bit more, saw statues of the heron dance that they perform during a summer festival in Tsuwano to ward off bad summer spirits and purify Tsuwano river water. It's a cool sculpture, I was very impressed that this tiny place could attain such a prosperous tourist trade. Living in the countryside has proven that, no matter how small the town, Japanese people love to visit their own country, especially when there are Shinto shrines, or even the most insignificant historical landmark. The Agency of Travel and Tourism (whatever it is called) must really know what it's doing. Though I may be missing a lot when I visit these places, there may be more there than I know about, because I don't do the proper research beforehand and don't speak or read the language.

I wandered around the town for a bit, taking deep breaths and ordering strange fried things from a vendor (one of which I just couldn't stomach to finish). I walked into a few pottery stores and argued with myself whether or not I gave a hoot about the 'Antique Doll Museum'. I didn't.

The other activity I was told to do was ride a tiny chair lift to the Tsuwano castle ruins. I went looking for the chair lift and instead found a trail into the woods. Looking at my map, the trail wasn't marked, but it seemed to be in the right place to be a trail to the ruins, and it was going up, so I took a brief, steep, and calming hike. This is the third time in Japan that I have hiked with a cold. Why do I do that to myself? The hike was worth the mucus and wheezing though. The sun kept sparkling through the trees and peeking around moss covered corners on the trail. At one point I met up with the chair lift, and was reassured that I was just taking the longer route to the same place. Along the way there were lots of little statues of Buddha. This is yet another thing I don't get about Shintoism and Buddhism. Where do they cross? Why are they so often mushed together like two different colors of clay in the same bowl? When I see evidence of one, I am sure to see something of the other. When I find out why, I'll let you know.

I reached the top and found myself at the old walls of Tsuwano castle, with a beautiful view of Tsuwano and Mt. Aono-yama. It couldn't have been a clearer, crisper day if I had asked for it.

Then I took the short way down, on the slippery little chair-lift. Now, I've been on chair lifts before, ones that travel much higher off the ground, and in much colder, windier weather. And I am not afraid of heights, in fact, I'm hoping to find a sky-diving company out here that's affordable. But sitting in that tiny, slick chair with no safety pole, woozy with cold meds, cluttered with my bag full of tissues, fleeces, and snacks, I felt a bit...uneasy. Perhaps you can tell (excuse my stuffed-up dorkiness):



After that heroic (and may I say, not worth 350 yen) ride, I looked again at my map and itinerary, and decided to strike out for home. It would be a two-hour drive back, and my nose needed a rest. On my way back to my car I was met by two very friendly people with another copy of The WatchTower...yes, even in little Tsuwano. They're EVERYWHERE.

Along with the Japanese Jehovah Witnesses I had many sweet, brief conversations while in Tsuwano, the only one in English was with Aki and her parents. I'm hoping to do more of that in the days to come. Solo day trips have proven to be very relaxing, so I'll do more of that too. Though, I wish you could've been there with me. If you want to see more photos of Tsuwano, or other things since November, I am planning on updating my flikr page really soon (maybe this week desu ka), so keep an eye out.
Love to all.