A Samurai Parade, "Houjo Ujiteru Festival" in Hachioji

On October 18th, the Houjo Ujiteru Festival was held in Hachioji City, Tokyo. It featured a Samurai parade and demonstrations of Japanese Samurai sword and Samurai conch horns, which were used as a cue for Samurai war in the Middle Ages.

Houjo Ujiteru is one of the historical Samurai lords of the late 15th century. He was the third son of Houjo head-family in Sagami-area, which is now Kanagawa Prefecture, and Ujiteru was entrusted with the defence of the east side of their territory, which is now Hachioji City.

His oldest brother suffered an early death and the second oldest brother took over the family's main castle, Odawara Castle. His two younger brothers protected the north and the south part of their territory. Apparently the family was united strongly against their enemies until his castle, Hachioji Castle, was conquered in 1590 and the whole Houjo family was overthrown with the fall of their main castle, Odawara Castle, in the same year.

Thus for this festival, a group of people from each area that his brothers protected join the parade to unite with Hachioji people. There were people from Saitama Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Shizuoka Prefecture. It was nice to see that the strength of family bond in the Middle Ages helped to connect people from different prefectures hundreds of years later.

Photos of Another Taste Of Fall, Chestnuts(Kuri) and Chestnut Rice

Chestnut (Kuri) is also a popular seasonal food in the fall. Probably one of the most common and popular Japanese home cooking for chestnuts would be “Chestnut Rice (Kuri-Gohan)”. It is a very simple dish. People just cook rice with a pinch of salt and lots of chestnuts which are peeled and  the astringent coat removed as in the right hand side photo, and enjoy the natural taste and flavor of chestnuts.

The English word “Chestnuts” is not commonly used in Japan although Japanese use many English words as daily words and English classes are compulsory in Japanese schools. However, misunderstanding the French word for chestnut “Marron”, as an English word. “Marron” is used widely in Japan.

Japan has been importing so many words from various foreign countries, and people use them without recognizing the origin. Sometimes people simply assume it must be an English word but in fact it isn’t.
This may be do to the fact that the French sweets “Marron Glaces” became too famous in Japan.

A Photo of Mt.Fuji Under The Fall Sky At Sunset

In Japanese this kind of cirrus cloud which has a fibroid structure is called “Ken-Un”. It means “Silk-Cloud” and it is considered as a typical cloud in fall. During summer, gigantic column of clouds at lower altitude are often seen in Japan, so when people see this “Ken-Un” at higher altitude they would say “Oh, it’s fall now!”

The photo was taken in the west side of Tokyo.

A Photo Of A Beautiful Insect, Tamamushi (Buprestid Beetle)

Summer is the season that many of bugs become active. Until 20-30 years ago "bug hunting" had been a major kids' play in Japan, especially among boys. During summer vacations, kids were running around chasing bugs with insect nets and were proud of themselves if they catch big beetles or beautiful insects such as Japanese rhinoceros beetles (Kabuto-mushi), stag beetles (Kuwagata mushi), or big dragonflies (Yanma).

The bug in the photo above is called “Tamamushi” in Japanese and it means “Jewel Beetle”. Because of its beautiful metallic color. In fact it was used for decorations in anciant times it was used for decoration in ancient times. When I was little it still was one of the popular bugs and I would be showing it off to my friends if I could catch one.

Now the "bug hunting" is only a minor activity for kids, especially these popular insects are in decline in big cities, such as the center of Tokyo. So, city kids have to buy insects when they want to have them and nowadays the aforesaid popular insects are available at pet shops. However, in West Tokyo area, kids can still enjoy catching bugs since enough wildness is remaining there.

Being intimate with bugs may be a part of the Japanese culture, but how about trying it out?

A Photo of The Chronological Change Of Mt. Fuji's Appearance from April to July

Today, July 1st , finally the climbing season for Mt. Fuji started! It is called “Yama-biraki Day(Mountain-Opening Day) .

This year, the news told that safety goods were equipped at mountain huts there and the evacuation map is being made for the first time ever. It might sound strange since it is one of the most famous volcanoes in Japan, but the last eruption was in 1707. Mt. Fuji has been dormant for more than 300years, so Japanese people almost forgot the fact it is a non-dead volcano, and hadn’t really thought of the eruption. However people started to think about the possibility in these days since some volcanoes became active recently and a couple of them erupted all of sudden.

The photos are taken from the west side of Tokyo. Although it looks very beautiful, when you go close to climb the mountain you will see the upper place of it is covered by volcanic sand and rocks and has no plants. After all it is really a volcano and the outline is so sharply showing the beautiful symmetry shape with the flat top which is a huge crater from distance like in the photo below.

Various Japanese Sake Drinking Wares for Different Temperature Conditions

I’d like to continue the same topic “about Japanese Sake” a little more. I’m showing some typical Sake drinking wares in the photo below. As you can see various materials are used for the wares. The reason is not only for different occasions but also for drinking temperatures. Since old times Japanese have enjoyed Sake with varied temperatures.

Nowadays most restaurants and bars are ready to serve only two or three kinds of temperatures of Sake, such as “Atsu-kan(hot)”, “Reishu(cold)” and sometimes “Nuru-kan(warm)”. However, traditionally there had been much more variety for the temperatures to drink Sake. 

Apparently with different temperature the taste and the flavor of the same Sake would be slightly changed, thus people of old times named each temperature condition at almost every 5℃ and enjoyed those. 

According to the information from Sake breweries, each condition has some feature like below.

・Higher than 55℃( 131 ) : Tobikiri-Kan (Extra-Hot)  The flavor becomes stronger, the taste becomes dry.

・Around 50℃( 122F ) : Atsu-Kan(Hot)  The flavor becomes sharp.

・Around 45℃( 113F ) : Jou-Kan(Good Heat) The flavor and taste becomes crisp.

・Around 40℃( 104F ): Nuru-Kan(Warm) The flavor blooms.

・Around 35℃( 95F ) : Hitohada-Kan(Body Heat) Can enjoy good rice flavor, the taste becomes light.

・Around 30℃( 86F ) : Hinata-Kan(Sunshine Temp) The taste becomes smooth and the flavor becomes prominent.

・Around 20℃( 68F ) : Sitsuon(Room Temp) The flavor becomes mild and the taste becomes soft.

・Around 15℃( 59F ) : Suzu-Hie(Cool) The flavor becomes colorful and the taste becomes thick.

・Around 10℃( 50F ) : Hana-Bie(Flowery Cold) The flavor gets settlement and the taste becomes delicate.

・Around 5℃( 41F ): Yuki-Bie(Snowy Cold) The taste becomes dry and crisp, the flavor becomes light.

It is sad but there wouldn't be any restaurants or bars which can take those delicate orders even in Japan, so If you are interested in those please try at home!

Photos of Yatsugatake-Mountains and Mt.Fuji, Taken from Hokuto-City, Yamanashi Prefecture

There is a group of mountains called “Yatsugatake” in Yamanashi prefecture and I’m showing it on the left hand photo . The name “Yatsugatake” means “Eight Mountains” because in fact it consists of eight mountains within a small area.
Yamanashi prefecture is famous for the location of Mt.Fuji. Thus Mt.Fuji can be seen beautifully from the “Yatsugatake” area as in the photo on the right. Actually there is an old tale about Yatsugatake and Mt.Fuji, which is…
     Long long ago, the eight mountains, which are now called “Yatsugatake”, was originally one huge mountain. The mountain was so proud of his height then he started to tell other mountains that he must be taller than the famed mountain, Mt.Fuji. Eventually the rumor what he was telling to other mountains reached Mt.Fuji, and it made Mt.Fuji so angry. Mt Fuji said “What a swelled-headed mountain he is!” and smashed the mountain. The blow was extremely strong so that the mountain was split into eight lower mountains, then other mountains started to call the eight “Yatsugatake”...

It sounds like Mt.Fuji had an irritable character back then. You may think it is unlike its beautiful appearance in the photo below, but since Mt.Fuji is a volcano she can be a capricious beauty. She? Yes, Mt.Fuji is generally worshiped as a goddess. With its graceful appearance I think it would have been natural to call it a goddess.