Omizutori

Omizutori is a famous event at Nara's Nigatsudo. My visit to this event has its roots in the first time I visited Nara, on Christmas 2010; our guide Osaki-san pointed out the blackening around the wooden rafters of Nigatsu-do.

お水取り, Omizutori, quite literally is the drawing forth (tori) of water (mizu), but the most famous and pictorally represented aspect of this yearly festival is the part where stuff is on fire (which is actually called Otaimatsu). Priests walk huge flaming torches back and forth along the porch of Nigatsu-do and shake them in certain places. If you have sparks fall on you, it's supposed to be good luck.

Different combinations of the spectacular event happen on different days, but the 12th presents 11 torches instead of 10, and visitors are circulated through by the crowd control machine that is the Japanese Way. Other nights, you just have to get there early and camp out if you want to see anything. The 12th is also the night of the "mysterious" water-drawing ritual, or actual Omizutori. Which happens at about 2am, making it a lot less accessible (trains don't run after about midnight, so you are walking or taking cabs from that time on.. and you better be staying the night in Nara, for this). I decided that I wanted to see it this year, because I was never going to travel all the way to Nara on a school night and stay up til 2, and this year, the 12th of March fell on a Saturday.

Nigatsu-do is part of Nara's iconic Todai-ji, home of the huge Buddha. 二月堂, Nigatsu-do is literally the hall (do) of the second month (nigatsu). And before you say, well then why do they have all their special events in March (三月), allow me to introduce myself: Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm obsessed with calendars.

HI!

I discovered this preoccupation most solidly when I chose the fasti as my topic for study and presentation in the ICCS Rome program (I just went looking for that photo and saw some rad photos which make me amazed again that I got to go to that program!), but here in Japan, it just means that the New Year's gift of a horoscope calendar book (given by one of my adult students) was very well placed. To make a short story long, the old Japanese calendar had 1/1 this year on our Gregorian February 3rd, so the old calendar's "second month" would actually be happening in the modernly conceived "third month," and so on. (If you care about this as much as I do, check out the wiki page on it too.)

So Nigatsu-do is pretty much named after its biggest event, the March drawing of mystical water. The water actually comes out of an unassuming-looking building at the bottom of the steps leading up to the hall.

You can see the well house at the bottom of the steps, to the right.

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And of course I was going to see that. Flash and fire and accessibility may seem awesome, but quiet mystical water is more my bag. Who needs trains? I'll walk across the city, my 10am wakeup be damned.

Now as you may already be mentally protesting to your silly blogging author, the 12th of March this year also happened to fall on the day after the 11th of March, which would be the day that a massive earthquake and tsunami completely tore apart the north-eastern part of the country. And I went to Omizutori anyway. I don't have much to say for that, other than there didn't seem to be much reason to cancel the plans. My traveling companion and I saw the last few torches, I took some grainy video, and then we put on every last layer we could find, and settled in to wait.

Spent some of that time exploring the area around Nigatsu-do, got a calligraphy page (as mentioned in the pilgrimage post), managed to get in to one of the small rooms around the outer wall of the hall, where we could hear the priests chanting and clattering around in their wooden clogs inside, and could see only the glow of maybe candles through the slats. The chanting was hypnotic. We meditated, we sat. It was cold. We had some sweet bean mochi and tea at a little shop that was staying open all night. Then we went down and camped in a spot right next to the door of the well house.

View from our sweet standing space, before the lights were turned out.

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Part of the reason Otaimatsu is more photographed is that the actual Omizutori prohibits flash, and is very very dimly lit. They extinguish all the electric lights and proceed by torch up and down the steps, drawing the water and carrying it up to the hall, in all three times. 

I took some video, partly because the lighting prevented any but the blurriest photos, and partly because I wanted to get the unearthly droning of the musical accompaniment. If you click through here, it'll only take you to the album associated with the post-midnight stuff. For pre-midnight, click the photo up above.

By the time they were finished drawing the water, it was way too cold and I was not Buddhist enough to attend the Dattan part of it, especially because I thought it would be a lot like the earlier meditation time, and we would need special badges to get in, which we did not have (and which we had not needed previously only because one of the door guys took pity on our idiocy). So we grabbed a cab back to the hotel and hostel area.

I assumed the following day would be a too-tired-to-enjoy wash, but it was actually really nice. We walked around Nara, checked out some lovely park areas, skipped a museum, and enjoyed the sunshine until it was time for dinner (Vietnamese!).

Winter Vacation: Winter Wonderland and A Real Japanese New Year's

You can view the full album here, although I'll attach a slideshow at the end of this post. There are 250 photos in this album, so feel free to not be constrained by the slideshow, and just browse at will! (note: this album is for both Kyoto and Tokyo, though this post is for Kyoto only)

Winter Vacation Part I

Our journey began with the bus to Kyoto at 9:30 in the morning on Friday the 31st. At the bus stop, we picked up some little origami charms made by the toll gate people, for travelers. We were about to roam far and wide, so it seemed an auspicious start.

It was snowing in Kyoto as we picked out some gifts for our Malaysian friends. After wandering all over the station in search of one open establishment without a line out front, we gave up and hit the streets and were finally blessed with a deserted Italian cafe of lovely atmosphere.

From Winter Vacation Part I

We next set out to see Ryoan-ji in the snow.

Have water, will travel.

Which was gorgeous, especially the garden area out front.



The rock garden was interesting in the snow, but I think I liked the rocks better in summertime.

From Winter Vacation Part I

The area up near the pagoda was breathtaking, though.

You aren't supposed to touch these trees. I didn't know that, but Miriam read me a sign just as I was eating snow off the branches.

Huh?

We intended to see Ginkaku-ji in the snow, too, but by the time we were done with Ryoan-ji, it was 4:30, nearly dark, and closing time. So we went back to meet up with Nami and Hiroshi!

They took us home to treat us to New Year's, Japanese style, kinda. Which meant we hung out and talked for hours, munching on homemade cookies (courtesy of Miriam), chips and salsa, and other snacks. We taugh Hiroshi-san some English not necessarily found in his study program while Nami-san laughed at us from the kitchen, and watched NHK's New Year presentation (hosted by, who else but Arashi!).

At midnight, you eat soba as you cross into the new year, and we had a look at some osechi-ryori without actually eating any, because by then we were too full from having spent the previous three hours eating.

Not long after midnight, we just bathed and went to sleep. I'd gotten up at like 6am that morning, and was quite ready to call it a day!

It was really nice, though, to spend New Year's together with a family. The family of Nami-and-Hiroshi is a small one, but I've known Nami-san for such a long time, that she feels to me like my Japan family, like my big sister. She and Hiroshi are always so nice to me and whoever I happen to have come to Kyoto with at any given occasion.

From Winter Vacation Part I

Happy New Year!

On the 1st, we got to accompany the two of them to give the traditional New Year greeting to Hiroshi-san's parents. (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!) Though they didn't eat with us, they did give us a lot of the special foods for the holiday (osechi ryori), and we sipped sake and tea and sat in the formal room. Most of the foods in the osechi boxes had symbolic meanings, and sitting around eating them generally made me feel really calm and happy. I felt then, as so far, that this is going to be a very good year.

From Winter Vacation Part I

Pre-meal.. we're standing because once we sit, we're gonna be in seiza for a long time.

On our walk back, I saw a biking post-person delivering the New Year cards (nengajou)! When we got to the apartment, Nami-san put Miriam's nengajou next to my Christmas card (I sent a nengajou too, but Miriam's was home-made). Next we went into Kyoto city to make the New Year's shrine visit (hatsumode).

First up was Hiroshi-san's natal shrine, Yasaka jinja. It was absolutely packed. In fact, the entire district was packed. We couldn't even walk on the sidewalks, or not very well, anyway. Too many slow old people and stuff. Once we reached the gate, we elbowed our way up to the shrine where we tossed coins and said prayers. The first time I visited Yasaka, I said a little prayer to end the swine flu issues that were then effing up the lives of students everywhere (school closings, tubs of sanitizer, etc.) because Yasaka shrine was connected to an epidemic long ago (the stopping thereof, I mean).

From Winter Vacation Part I

Calm and peaceful, yes?

But I didn't have any swineflu to stop this time, so I made a little wish, and even in that roaring crowd, felt pretty peaceful. Everyone was buying fortunes (omikuji) but I didn't want to.. I don't really like to buy those very much, because I worry that if I read one, it'll come true, not because it was destiny, but because the stuff will get into my head, and then I'll make it all self-fulfilling prophecy. Off to another side, there was a booth for people to retire their old 2010 charms, things they'd bought last New Year's Day. I was surprised to see all these being basically thrown away, but as I was told, the charms have served their purpose, done their work, and now they can go. I guess if everyone kept every charm, they'd have craploads of the little (sometimes big) things hanging around. I personally will only be in Japan a few years, so of course I tend to keep them all.

Nami-san was reading to me the different aims of different charms. I almost bought "transportation," but then she translated another one as "opening up your future" or something like that. Pretty generic, but it was how I was feeling.

We got out of there and headed for Nami-san's home shrine, Shimogamo, but her father reported that it had taken him like an hour and a half to get in and back, so we skipped it in favor of going to her parents' house to eat and be merry.

From Winter Vacation Part I

Yay~!

Now, Nami-san is weird. Not in a negative way, but in Japanese way. Most Japanese people are vaguely interested in foreign cultures as long as they stay just like that, foreign. Fewer people want to actually get involved in foreign stuff.. but Nami lived in the US for many years, and even considered making it permanent. Having been to her family home, now, I know she comes by it honestly. It struck me as basically indicative of her family's way when I got their addresses from her to send thank-you notes after the trip. In the email she asked us to write to Hiroshi-san's parents in Japanese, and it was okay if we made mistakes. To her own parents she said English, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, whatever we wanted to write was fine, and they loved getting postcards from anywhere. (We sent Hiroshi-san's parents a classy Thank You note.. actually left over from my graduation! And we sent Nami-san's parents a postcard we got in Kuala Lumpur)

So we got a great traditional cultural lesson with one meal, and just hung out at the other. Hiroshi-san made okonomiyaki in a style I loved better than either Osaka-style or Hiroshima-style. Nami's sister and I made takoyaki (yes, octopus balls) like pros. All too soon we had to leave to catch our train to Tokyo!

Though the day wasn't even over, and we were pretty tired, I have to admit that it was one of the best New Year's I've had, partly because it was very different from any New Year's I've had. It wasn't loaded down with expectations, but it was relaxed, educational, and warm of heart. I loved that.

From Winter Vacation Part I

The day isn't even over yet? (Stay tuned for Tokyo)

Christmas in Nara

Nara is like the poor man's Kyoto. ~somebody

Nara was the capital before Kyoto was the capital (which was before Tokyo was the capital) of Japan. So what's left there is mostly very old stuff, some temples and other cultural property from when Nara was the most prestigious place to be. It's a lot smaller than Kyoto, and the feel of it is a bit less pretentious. You can take it all in within about one day, whereas Kyoto requires a lot more time (and cash).

I had never been before this Christmas, which was the reason Osaki-san offered to take me. M joined up as well and the three of us used train tickets that function kind of as all-day passes. It was snowing very lightly as we left, and I worked on New Year cards on the train.

Our first stop was Horyu-ji, a very spacious temple area with a cool onsite museum full of historical art stuff. Horyu-ji is home to the oldest surviving wooden building in the world! Wiki-travel says to expect to wait in line to get in, but we wandered about at will in the chilly December wind. The grounds were very lightly populated with tourists, and a light snow continued to fall at intervals.

It was pretty magical.

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From there, we had lunch, tried to unfreeze our hands, and hopped a train the rest of the way into Nara.

There were deer everywhere, a thing for which Nara is known. I was told they would bow to passersby, hoping for a handout, like a dog that gets so excited when it sees you holding a treat it spontaneously beings doing all the tricks it knows, hoping one of them is the one you're about to say.

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They didn't bow much, but I figured that would change once I bought some treats. Later.

First, Todaiji.

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We went into the temple and wished Daibutsu (literally, Big Buddha) a merry Christmas.

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Inside the temple, Osaki-san showed me the pillar hole which Miriam said was the size of Daibutsu's nostril, and which was supposed to bring good luck for a year if you went through it.

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Osaki-san said she'd never seen it without a line before. So I thought, what the hey, when am I going to have a shot at doing this without an audience of strangers ever again? And I told her I believed that I could fit. This was a lie. I did not believe I would fit. I was going to try anyway.

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Incredulous.

To my surprise:

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If you turn your shoulders diagonally, you can totally do it. Osaki-san never lies.

Then it was back outside into the freezing, beautiful day.

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The deer, they look so peaceful...

Who would even believe what people say about them?

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Yeah, except:

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Even more upsetting was that just a little further down the path, I encountered a deer which was perfectly civil and did bow to me, and I no longer had any treats to give to it!

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Next we went to Kasuga shrine, famous for its lanterns (of both stone and hanging varieties).

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As it got later into the evening, we made our way over to Nigatsu-do, famous for the Omizutori festival in March, culminating in a big event involving fire which Osaki-san pointed out had blackened the wooden beams.

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After this, we walked back toward the station, enjoying the brisk (BRISK!) air and occasional snowflakes. We stopped for warm drinks in a place called Benten, where the very nice owners warmly invited us to visit them again.

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And that concluded our stay in Nara!

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(that deer guy is Sentokun, Nara's kinda weird mascot, who made an appearance [along with Santa Claus and our own town mascot] at my elementary school recently!)

Of course, we still had to ride back to Himeji (all covered under the seishun kippu) and drive home. We stopped in Himeji and by some stroke of awesome, found a Christmas special with half price yaki-niku. There was no better way to end the evening.

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The end!

Hana me

Hanami is a special season in Japan. This is my retrospective.

First of all, I like the term. 花見 just means flower-viewing. But it sounds to me like HANA-me. (hana = flower) … like “Beer me,” only FLOWER ME.

Right.

Anyway, tis’ the season in March/April when the cherries are all a-blossom, and when we returned from Okinawa we landed right in the middle of full-explosion cherry storm.

The term mostly refers to the practice of getting a blanket, some snacks and drinks of your choice, and finding a nice place to sit and chill in a park for a while. From what I understand, it’s mostly meant to be a nighttime drinkfest, but I saw students doing it by afternoon, too.

I have to say I like the idea of a customary tribute to spring. In my life, spring has always induced a lot of regret, chiefly because that’s when school is ending, and that means two things. One, you’re beginning to run out of time. Two, you’re beginning to run into final papers and projects. I have acute memories of the physical pain I felt knowing it was So. Beautiful. outside, and I was trapped at my desk because I decided to write a thesis.

That it’s basically socially unacceptable to not spend a little time outside during hanami season is kind of nice. Especially for me, because it allows me to write off one thing in favor of OH LOOK I HAVE TO GO DO THIS CULTURAL EXPERIENCE (itISwhatI’mHereForAfterAll,Right?!)…!

One of the most popular places to be for this year’s hanami was Himeji Castle, since immediately thereafter, the castle was going under restorative wraps. It’s not yet covered, but I believe parts of it are closed. The Okinawa trip precluded us from hanging out with 80,000 of our closest flower-viewing friends (that is not a slip of the decimal.. there were that many), but I still got some tastes of hanami in my own little ways.

This season was (have I mentioned this before?) COLDER THAN NORMAL years, so hanami wasn’t exactly a sunny stroll in the park. I did not spend my afternoons post-work lolling in the shade of cherry trees drinking sake. Hah. You wish.

On April 6th, this was my river-path walk to work from the bus stop:

And on the 7th, we trundled down to Himeji Castle for night views from the Princess side of the park around the castle itself. Normally you have to pay to get in, but I guess we-about-to-close-this-shit-for-7-years-or-so makes it a special occasion. It was really freakin’ cold that night. I wore two pairs of pants and was glad to have done so.

Classic view. Which is really, really hard to shoot if you don't have a tripod and can't hold your hands still. This was the best I could do in like six thousand takes.

Himeji and her reflection.

Chiefly the reflection.

On the 8th, my school had lunch outside. It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

Yessss...

The post-lunch scurry.

My big kids hold baby bunnies at big elementary.

I also went on a random walk that afternoon.

A hana-tastic view of my town.

Find something new every day.

Then we had the scheduled Salamander hanami party at night. It was chilly, so we went inside fairly quickly.

Salamanders.

On the 13th I thought Jermaine was healed, so I tried to go for a jog. I ended up just going for a walk and taking lots of pictures.

Nature "gomi" (trash) litters the bank.

More nature gomi

High in the side of a hill, there is this shrine.. It's awesome. The wind was really going that day, too.

It is definitely one of my favorite shrines.

The end of the short, chilly, wet hanami season was marked by our Himeji Ride, as we biked through gusts of drifting petals. A pale pink blizzard, if you will.