Kagura @ Kenchoji Temple in Kamakura City: Oct 26-27, 2024

 

I visit Kamakura City to see Kagura, Japan’s traditional ritual dance performance, around this time every year. I made a visit on 26 and 27 this year.

The performance is played by Kagura teams is Iwate prefecture. The area was severely hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Traditional arts played important roles after the quake in uniting the local communities. The Kagura performance started in Kamakura as a part of support activities for Iwate.

 

The event is held in Kenchoji-Temple, one of most prestigious Zen-school temple in Kamakura, every year.

The performance in 2024 was played by Koshio Kagura in Hanamaki City. 

The temporal stage was set in a large temple building. About 200 audience gathered.

 

Five to seven dances were performed on Oct 26 and 27 respectively. (Seealso the top and 2nd photo)

 

A sword dance was performed outside the building. (See also the 3rd photo)

 

Koshio Kagura is unique as its team has many female members. Many Kagura teams in Japan have only male members.

 

Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, which locates in the Sea-of-Japan coast in central Japan, was seriously damaged by a quake in January this year. Some NGOs engaged in supporting activities in the area collected dishes, bowls, chopsticks and dining trays lacquered with Japan, brought them to Kamakura and sold them in Kenchoji-temple. 

The revenue will be used for the reconstruction of Noto area.

Many guests including foreign people stopped their feet and bought the products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

General election in Japan: Oct 21-27, 2024

 

Japan had a snap general election on October 27, 2024.

The election was held as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house on Oct. 9. Ishiba became Japan’s PM on Oct. 1^st.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been involved in a scandal (not a few members of the party had collected money without reporting the revenue to the tax office. The actions were seen as tac evasion).

The election campaign officially started on Oct. 15. Candidates made speeches in many places.

Posters of the candidates were put on the boards. The left photo was taken in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture. The 2nd photo was taken in a walking path in Setagaya City, Tokyo.

Former environment minister Shinichiro Koizumi is a popular politician. As LDP’s campaign chief, he visited the electoral districts of many candidates and made speeches. He was in Takadanobaba in Shinjuku City on Oct. 21. (See the top photo)

The left photo was taken in front of Kyodo Station in Setagaya City. Only a few people listened the candidate's speech in this case.

The central and local governments called people to vote. I saw a sign displayed in Fujisawa Station in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The ruling parties (LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito) made a big defeat in the election. It is not sure whether the LDP will keep the power or the opposition parties will take over the power.

 

 

 

 

Yumura Hot Spring in Kofu: Sept 16, 29024

I visited Yumura Hot Spring (Onsen) during my travel in Yamanashi Prefecture.

Yumura Onsen is not far from central Kofu (about 3km). It has a history of more than 1000 years. It is especially famous as Takeda Shingen's secret hot spring. Takeda Shingen lives in the 15^th century.

In was loved and used by many famous novelists, such as Dazai Osamu and Ibuse Masuji, in the early Showa era.

There are about ten hotels in the area.

Some hotels as well as restaurants and other related facilities in the area now old. Now, redevelopment works are on the way in some places.

There are some hospitals and nursing care facilities in the area. Such facilities and hotels stand side by side.

One of the most prestigious hotels in the area is Tokiwa Hotel. It has a beautiful garden.

Many historically important matches of Shogi (Japanese chess) and Igo games have been held in the hotel.

There are photos and autographs of famous Shogi and Igo Players displayed in the hotel.

 

 

 

Koshi Kaido Walk (16) Daigahara(41/45)-Tsutaki(43/45): Sept.15, 2024

The summer of 2024 was extremely hot. Now, it is the middle of September and the heat is slightly easing. I had my Koshu Kaido walk (part 16).

I started Digahara, the 41st shukuba station from Tokyo's Nihonbashi. Many traditional buildings are preserved here as I wrote in this blog in April. Shichiken Brewery is one of the most impressive spots in Daigahara.

Koshi Kaido goes along rice and vegetable fields.

This area is near from the Southern Alps mountains and produces good water. There is a factory of Suntory beverage manufacturer in Hokuto City. They produce drinking water, whisky and other beverage products. I found a sign board to the factory.

I arrived at Kyoraishi, the 42^nd shukuba station. It was a small shukuba station and few shukuba-related facilities have preserved.

There remains a big stone in a cemetery in a temple nearby. The stone is an origin of the shukuba statin's name.

It was rice harvesting season. I saw many farmers working hard.

The rice fields in this area lie in along Kanamanashi River. There are mountains over the river. The fields were brown when harvesting had been over and were green when it had not been. The scene was beautiful. (See also the top and 2nd photos)

Walking 3-4 km from Kyoraishi, I arrived at the border between Yamanashi and Nagano Prefectures. I finished walking about 110 km in Yamanashi Prefecture. There are 25 shukuba stations there.

Walking about 1km, I arrived at Tsutaki, the 43re shukuba from Nihonbashi and the first in Nsagano Prefecture.

 

 

 

Toro iseki (archaeological site):August 12, 2024

I visited Toro iseki, an archaeological site of the 1^st century (about 2000 years ago) in Shizuoka City.

People made a village here and lived mainly on rice cultivation. Total 12 traces of houses have been found so far. About 60 people were estimated to live here.

 It was called Yayoi era (10^th century BC – 3^rd century AD) when the village in Toro was built.

There are rebuilt pit houses in the site. The site is now surrounded by houses and buildings.

 

Raised floor warehouses have also been rebuilt.

 

Rice fields are also arranged. Old types of rice are cultivated there.

 

There is a museum of the history and findings of Toro in the site.

 

 

 

Ikebukuro: July 2, 2024

I visited Ikebukuro for the first time in several years. It is one of Tokyo's terminals, along with Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Tokyo Station area. Commercial and entertainment districts spread rather than business districts in Ikebukuro.

 

JR Yamanote Line, Tobu Line, Seibu Line, and subway lines run through Ikebukuro. Tobu Department Store is located on the west side of the station, and Seibu Department Store is on the east side, both of which are the icons of the area.

Seibu Department's Ikebukuro Store was sold by Seven & i Holdings to a US investment firm in September 2023. The store's composition is planned to change significantly, with a large electronics store moving into the core of the building. At the time of the store's sale, a strike by the department store's labor union occurred, which became big news.

Currently, a notice of renovation work is posted at the entrance.

At the west exit of the station, there is Ikebukuro West Gate Park, famous for a novel by a novelist Ishida Ira. There is a Global Link there. I found many people sitting on the benches and spending their times. Art theaters and high-rise buildings are around the park. (See also the top photo)

 

The west exit also has an entertainment district with restaurants, bars, and amusement facilities. In the evening, police officers patrol the area and used loudspeakers to warn of illegal touts.

A large-scale redevelopment project is scheduled to start 2027 in the west exit district. High-rise buildings will be built. The scenery around the area is expected to change drastically.

 

Ikebukuro is also famous for the Sunshine City, a commercial complex with a 60-floor skyscraper and other facilities. It takes about 10 minutes from the east exit of Ikebukuro station through the Sunshine Street to the Sunshine City.

Toshima City, which includes Ikebukuro, has a population of about 280,000 and is the most densely populated municipality in Japan. According to the city's website, it aims to be a "theater city" and a city that is advanced in the SDGs activities.

London： May 30-June 3, 2024

 

I stayed in London for a couple of days and walked around the city. It was my first stay in five years. I found that many things had changed.

 

One of the big changes is increased number of bicycles. There were many cyclists running in the Strand, Bloomsbury and some other areas five years ago. In addition, I found many bicycles in Westminster, Oxford Circus and other central parts of the city. (See the 2nd photo)

 

More lanes for bicycle have been arranged. Some “bus only” lanes have turned to “bus and bicycle” lanes. The photo was taken in Holborn area.

 

Increasing number of delivery service by bicycle was also a new development. The photo was taken on the Brick Lane, eastrn London.

 

Wars in Ukraine and Gaza are, of course, big topics for the country. I saw a gathering to support Ukraine in a square in front of the Parliament on Sunday, June 2nd. (see also the top photo)

 

A meeting of foreign Chinese was also held in the square. One of Chinese member joined the Ukraine meeting and delivered a speech to call for supports for Ukraine, Hong Kong, Taiwan and democracy.

 

I also met across small meeting of activities of both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine people.

 

The pandemic of Covid-19 was over, but it has brought various changes for the society. Expansion of delivery services of food and other goods is one example.

On the wall of St. Thomas Hospital in the South Bank (opposite side of the Parliament), I found many messages for the victims of the disease. The wall is about 500-meters long. Some people were writing their messages in the empty places.

Renovations of the towns have proceeded in many places. I found new tall buildings in the City area.

 

Tourists are back. I found many people gathering at famous tourist spots auch as the Buckingham Palace (See also the 4th photo of the Mall);

 

Piccadilly Circus;

 

And the British Museum. 

The metropolis was full of energy.