“Japanese ghosts and eerie creatures” in Osaka

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Mar 242013
 
Japanese ghosts and deamons exhibition poster

Recently I spotted a poster for the “Japanese ghosts and eerie creatures” exhibition (幽霊・妖怪画大全集). It is going to be on display in from April 20th to June 9th.

I had a chance to see this exhibition in Fukuoka last year and I highly recommend it.

For visitors from foreign cultures the exhibition does not only have an artistic meaning, but also gives background to things he or she might encounter in real life in Japan. Starting with why Japanese are checking your feet when you surprise them with a sudden appearance (Japanese ghosts do not have feet) or how Japanese perceive different animals.

The first part – ghosts – started with a series of explicit drawings showing stages of human body decomposition. It was a gloomy but meaningful introduction to how fear of death brought fascination with the world of ghosts. Exhibits included a number of ink paintings of ghosts in habitual situations, allowing visitors to grasp the basic concepts of what are the typical features of ghosts in Japanese culture. Some of themes like: a ghost in four seasons, a ghost with cherry blossom twig were very Japanese-like. It finished with colorful woodblock prints of ghosts that became “celebrities” through popularization in kabuki plays.

Second part – demons and monsters – started with an introduction to the concept of demons living in musical instruments and other tools which required periodic replacement. The main part constituted large scrolls from Edo period – sort of “monster encyclopedia” – depicting and describing all “living” monsters. Then the exhibition introduced all other eerie creatures from folklore (tengu), religion (a demon converted to a Buddhist from the City of Otsu) and history (people who became icons of evil).

It even showed some political caricatures from late Edo period portraying bakufu government with faces of monsters.

Last part – animals – showed how cats, foxes, rats, snakes, monkeys, etc. were attributed malicious features. And how they manipulated people and led them to destruction.

Full of historical and artistic references, this exhibition is a real treat for anyone with a slight interest in Japanese culture or just anyone who likes that eerie feeling.

“Sold out” – the sake that Toyotomi Hideyoshi loved

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Mar 012013
 
Amanosake ''Soboshu'' sake brewed formerly by monks

From 7th to 9th century Japan sent nineteen missions to China with an objective to acquire knowledge in the fields of religion, economy, medicine, and technology. Many of the students were young priests and while the missions were state-sponsored not all students revealed all their knowledge to the government. Instead kept most important secrets inside their temples.

One of them were the techniques to produce a good alcohol:


General concepts for brewing “rice wine” were more or less a common knowledge in the old Japan, but they usually produced a muddy liquid often with unpleasant smell. At those times alcohol was brewed either by government-controlled breweries or temples. The latter was called soboshu (僧坊酒) and thanks to the secret recipes, these liquors were superior to others.

Kongo-ji temple in Kawachi what is now southern Osaka Prefecture had refined its brewing techniques so that their sake called “Amanosake” became known as the best in whole Japan. It produced a clear, gold liquid with distinctive taste, especially cherished by high-ranked nobles and warriors.


When warlord Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi set on his conquest to subjugate all Japan, the abbot of Kongo-ji was clever enough to donate the sake to the powerful generals.

Thanks to that Kongo-ji not only survived the times when all other temples around were burnt to the ground, but also thrived economically. The temple to this day keeps a personally stamped letter from Toyotomi Hideyshi asking them to be prepared for orders from him.

Indeed the big order came in 1598 for a big hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party held in Daigo-ji temple in Kyoto by Hideyoshi. And it was really big – 1300 people attended this event organized by unquestionable ruler at that time.


Later technology and government orders caused a shift in sake brewing to the merchant class. Kongo-ji lost its importance as a brewery and “Amanosake” produced by the temple became only a legendary sake.

About 20 years ago, local sake brewery in Kawachi Nagano reproduced the old recipes preserved in Kongo-ji to reproduce the taste so much cherished by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

This contemporary sake is also called “Amanosake Soboshu” (天野酒 僧坊酒) and has a tagline “reproducing the taste of sake beloved by Toyotomi Hireyoshi”. It has a beautiful gold color and is rather sweet with nutty aftertaste definitely worth a try, if you ever have chance to…


One of marketing terms used to drive the interest in this alcohol was maboroshi no sake (幻の酒). Roughly translated as legendary or phantom sake that no longer exists.

In February this year this “legendary” sake lived up to its name. ABC TV broadcasted an evening show with the–above story. In an hour after the program was shown, the–brewery servers went down under the load of orders. Within a day all stock was sold out and legendary sake is now a true legendary sake for those who were late.

Good news is that the next jar of the sake is now being brewed, but will it last for long?

How one tweet increased my understanding of Osaka Castle tenfold

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Nov 232011
 
Oteguchi entrance and Turret No. 6

I have been living in Osaka for 18th months, but what I knew about Osaka Castle one month ago was merely that “it” had been rebuilt in concrete some time ago and that there was a plum orchard. That was all. And it might be so until today if not one tweet.

I have visited the main keep twice before I moved to Osaka, but since I did so, the castle became too close. With “I can visit it whenever I want” attitude it was never on my schedule.

When my interest in Japanese history grew, I embarked on a 日本100名城 quest (100 famous Japanese castles). I have learned a great deal about the castles, their political and military significance. Every visit to a Japanese castle or its remains gave me opportunity to learn something new.

And I mean even places where a fortress once stood, but not much exists now like the Yamazaki Castle or the Kannnonji Castle.

But Osaka Castle was still too close for me.

In autumn 2011 Osaka celebrated 80th anniversary of the reconstruction of the main keep of the Osaka Castle. It was rebuilt in concrete funded by voluntary offerings from citizens. Though posters promoting the event sprung all over the city, I wasn’t really interested in the history of reconstruction itself. I might have lost a great opportunity as I turned my eye blind to the details of related events.

Then one evening I read a tweet from @glyzinie about two turrets of Osaka Castle being open to the public (which was only for a few days on the occasion of the anniversary).

Thanks to a rainy weather forecast I had no plans to travel on that weekend so I went to the castle. It immediately opened a new world to me. Actually, I went there three times over the last three weekends to explore different areas.

But first things first: Tamon Yagura, Watari Yagura and Sengan Yagura—turrets–were open to the public three weeks ago. They constitute part of a defense system for Oteguchi entrance and Dobashi earthen bridge.

While one can recognize the main functions of the turrets from outside (a potential attacker’s perspective), seeing it from inside the turret (a defender’s perspective) was a really precious experience. The thick walls with openings for guns limit the visibility, but also focus attention on particular spots.

The name Sengan Yagura is said to come from the times when Ishiyama Honganji temple stood there Oda Nobunaga troops attacked the temple. The position of the turret was so perfect for defense against attackers that it would require tremendous costs to conquer it. Sengan (千貫) comes from a name of an old currency and supposedly was used to indicate the value of the turret (roughly speaking it was almost 4 tonnes of gold).

Another original building open to the public was Kinzou—a treasure house—which is the only historic building in the main enclosure, right next to the reconstruction of the main keep. Now hosting a small exhibition with old coins, reminds that not only military or political power was in the center, but also economy.


Last weekend another three original objects were open to the public. Inui Yagura in the Western Enclosure, a storehouse for gun powder and a …hole in the ground that uncovered “mysterious stone wall” a few meters below the current level.

Inui Turret was facing castle town to the West and the river to the North (hence its name which is used to indicate this direction according to Chinese system). During the Edo period the river was main water transport artery to and from Kyoto.

Ensho-gura—the storehouse for explosives—was probably the most impressive. While the space inside was empty, its 2-meter thick granite walls were nothing I have seen so far. It was built in 1685 and no wonder that from a few dozens storehouses on the premises this one stands to this day.


In the last three weeks I have managed to make up for ignoring the Osaka Castle for so long. By walking around and discovering things I have learnt a great deal about its layout, defensive structures and operations.

Breakdancing in Osaka

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Oct 082011
 

Some of the best Japanese bboys, streetdancers, breakdancers gather in front of the OCAT building of JR Namba station in Osaka.

In October, an international competition called B1 Saikyo Tag (B1最強タッグ) was held there. It gathered contestants from all around the world as well as the best Japanese dancers.

Here is a little long, but worth watching video of a battle held on the evening before the main contest. Recorded on Oct. 8th, 2011. Enjoy!

Osaka Crime Map for iPad and iPhone

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Jul 082011
 

Police headquarters in Osaka has published a free iOS app (in addition to their ) with which you can check recent criminal incidents in the prefecture.

Blue pins mark places of hittakuri (ひったくり) – grab-and-run type of robbery against pedestrians or cyclists.

Red pins mark places of crime or abuse against children (子供被害). Their severity differs and sometimes even “stranger speaking to a child” gets qualified as a crime en par with public obscenity (公然わいせつ) or physical abuse (チカン).

Green pins stand for robbery (強盗).

Apparently it seems that my close neighborhood which is supposedly one of the most dangerous places in Japan observes rather low incident rate. Or they get unnoticed.




According to the software producer, the service is planned to be extended to other prefectures in Japan. At this moment, different cities have their own websites, like for example Tokyo crime map (update: no longer available).

Snow in Osaka

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Feb 112011
 

Does it snow in Osaka?

Yes it does. But the temperatures rarely remain below zero during daytime, so it melts quickly.