Chapter 10 Monday 23rd June 2008
Today was a special day as we planned to go on a pilgrimage to the Ikuta Shrine (see photo) which houses the god that protects the city of Kobe and has many devotees. It dates back as far as the 700s AD. Yep really really old!
It is very important to introduce yourself to the guardian of the land in which you are a visitor so they can let the other gods know that you are here. You wanna as much help as you can get.
We decided to walk along the line of the mountain (see terrace photo) just along our street. We live in such a pretty part of Kobe. The further down the street we went the prettier it got with lots of little shops and exclusive wedding boutiques. There are lots of little chapels around (see photo) to cater for the ‘western style’ weddings which is what Jack does (as mentioned in earlier blogs). It is a very popular place as it is so pretty.
We wandered down the hill away from the mountains toward the Shrine and passed a line of teenagers waiting to go into a night club of some sort even though it was the afternoon. They were dressed in all sorts of garb from platform shoes and shorts with those funny long socks to ‘Baby Doll’ (see photo). I will endeavour to get more ‘fashion’ photos but most of the time people are moving fast and are hard to catch. But I am on task you can count on me to capture the fashion ‘essence’ of Japan!!!
(See attached photo ‘Male Fashion’ – a MUST for Brian don’t you think?)
The Ikuta Shrine (see photo) is surrounded by tall buildings, shops and by crazy city life yet is a wonderful peaceful oasis . There are old old trees and there is the Ikuta Wood at the rear rich in greenery which is popular with the locals to ‘get away and get back to nature’. The energy of the place was very tangible and Brian and I both experienced a feeling of ‘coming home’ and were drawn very strongly to the oldest section of the grounds. We were very moved by the whole place and are grateful to Yusan for advising us to visit this Shrine to ground us here in Japan. We will visit the Nagata Shrine tomorrow (which has over 1800 years of history and is the home of the guardian of business and prosperity and good fortune.) There are also ‘The seven Gods of Good Fortune’ represented there who are a group of gods from India, China and Japan. So we will defiantly be visiting there to get all their blessings!! Bring on the blessings!!!
We were drawn to the harbour and walked through more shopping streets and wonderful buildings (the architecture here is so diverse and modern – only 10 years old due to the earthquake destroying so much of Kobe proper.)
The Kobe harbour area is wonderful lots of space-age buildings.(see photos) We visited the Memorial to the earthquake victims, very moving but also inspiring watching footage of the re-building. We wandered around getting the lay of the land and made our way back in the direction of home via Chinatown. Lanes full of wonderful food vendors and grocery shops, cafes and gift shops. (see photo) We had a good Chinese meal and met a cute little lady who was 90 years old (see photo) Yep, have been taking just a few photos! Chinatown is right next door to one of the ‘covered air-conditioned’ shopping streets. Only in Japan!!! We found a great T Shirt for Brian that says “I love Kobe” (like the I love NY) but in Japanese with the love heart!!! We also found some cotton kimonos (we like to wear them as robes) very authentic and we really look like locals now! But only at home cos it wouldn’t be right to wear our bath robes down the street, I don’t think.
We passed a small little shopfront with the most wonderful and amazing artwork. It was the workshop of 'Itousan'. He has the most fantastic imagination and attention to detail that we have ever seen. We were fascinated with his ‘miniature mechanical music boxes’ so intricate and magical very ‘other world like’. Hard to describe and I wondered at the odd little moon man serving a drink to the odd little sun lady and see him pour the drink and her drink it, wearing weird coloured clothing very angular but soft and etheric. He says it takes a month to make each miniature. In the photo he is standing next to a very large (by his standards) ‘village’ which took him even longer to make. He sells the miniatures for $1500 and we are determined to do well enough here in Japan to be able to buy one to take home with us. He doesn’t have a website which is a shame as we would encourage you all to go to it and support him by buying his work. He is also studying Anthropology as he wants to learn more about all cultures. He is a gentle spirit with a lovely heart and a talent to express it through painting and intricate models.
What a wonderful way to end a very long and eventful day.
Stay tuned for another fascinating episode of “Martins In Japan”
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