Nara excited on commemorative year of Heijo-kyo Capital

April 24, 2010

Nara excited on commemorative year of Heijo-kyo Capital

Nara is one of the few lively spots in Japan, at a time when the economy remains in the doldrums. Nara, a basin hemmed by mountains and hills around, hosted Heijo-kyo capital from 710 to 794, the period when Japan tried hard to establish itself as a state by importing various cultures and items from the Tang dynasty of China. (Readers may be advised to see the post released on Jan. 31.)

Located at the center of the northernmost part of the capital, with a population of 100,000, was Heijo Palace. But the palace was deserted when the capital was moved to the place now known as Kyoto toward the end of the eighth century. The site of the palace had been left as fields until a few decades ago, but the 130-hectare area will become a "theater" this time for a series of events marking the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of Heijo-kyo from late April to November. Organizers expect the events will attract about 2.5 million visitors during the period.

Time-honored cultural assets in Nara, including many temples and shrines, were listed as a world heritage by UNESCO in 1998. Among them is Todaiji Temple, one of the biggest Buddhist temples built on an emperor's personal wishes in the Nara period. A new face which may join these landmark assets is Daigokuden, a 27-meter-high structure newly restored at the Heijo-kyo Palace site. What used to be the most important building of Heijo Palace has been built at the original place in a nine-year, 18-billion-yen national project. The building attracted hundreds of visitors on the opening day of the events on Saturday.
Facilities built for the events were shown to media and tourist industry people before the official start of the festival. Among them were a real-size replica of a ship for an envoy to the Tang dynasty and a virtual reality theater designed for viewers to feel the atmosphere of the palace and streets in the capital on a dynamic multiple screen. A performance of dancers wearing ancient costumes and the changing of guards at the front gate to the palace were also demonstrated for the preview. Events planned late April through early May include performances and exhibitions featuring China and Korea.
The excavation of the palace site started around 1960, but the area is yet to be fully investigated. Organizers have had to be careful about keeping the remains underground unhurt in their work on the commemorative events.

The restored main building of the palace and part of the facilities will be preserved as a national park after the end of the events. How to maintain the current euphoric mood in Nara and spread it to other historic and tourist spots is expected to be an important task for Japan as it wants to increase the number of inbound tourists in an effort to be a “soft power” in the world.

American woman honored by Japanese fans in service at Yokohama cemetery

April 6, 2010

American woman honored by Japanese fans in service at Yokohama cemetery


The American journalist and travel writer rests in peace at a Yokohama graveyard along with her mother and her elder brother. A small memorial service was held in front of her grave last week by a group of her Japanese fans, who hope to disseminate her achievements for friendship between Japan and the United States.
Eliza R. Scidmore was born in Clinton, Iowa, in 1856 and died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1928. Her ashes were transferred to Yokohama the following year as her mother and brother had died in Yokohama earlier. Scidmore joined her kin in their grave at the Yokohama General Foreign Cemetery. A small monument set up beside her tombstone reads “A woman who loved Japanese cherry blossoms rests in peace here.”
Notable among Scidmore’s achievements was her key role played for a project to transport about 3,000 young Japanese flowering cherry trees to the United States and plant them in the Potomac River area in Washington D.C. in 1912. The cherry trees became widely known there as a token of friendly relations between the two countries. The trees are in full bloom early April every year. Timed to coincide with their blooming, the “sakura” cherry blossom festival takes place there annually. A few young plants were created by grafting from one of the cherry trees in Washington and donated back to Japan in 1991. One of them is in front of the tomb of Scidmore and her mother and brother.
Her fans annually gather before her grave in the cherry blossom season to remember her achievements. This year’s service, the 24th of its kind, brought together about 40 people, who offered flowers to her grave one by one and sang the sakura (cherry blossoms) song for her.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms
Cherry trees are in full bloom
across the hills out there under the March sky.
They look like mists or clouds,
and their fragrances are everywhere.
Now let’s go. Let’s go and see the cherry blossoms.
(A personal translation)

This old Japanese folk song is sung at various occasions in spring. The song, which is linked to an old etude for the “koto” Japanese harp, is so much loved by Japanese as to be called the “second national anthem.”
The young cherry tree which came from Washington “was just about a meter high when it was planted here, but it is now this high, “ extending its branches over the tombstone, Kaoru Onji, a founder of the fans' group, told participants.
Yokohama was the place where Scidmore set foot on her first visit to Japan in 1884. Her brother, George, was an American diplomat in Yokohama at that time. She visited Japan many times after that and stayed mainly in Yokohama. Scidmore published her first book about Japan in 1891, devoting the first four chapters of the 37-chapter book to discussing people’s life and exciting spots of Yokohama. The former small fishing village had been opened as a new port to foreign countries 25 years before her first visit. About 3,700 foreigners were in the port city in 1884, when she saw Japan for the first time. The cemetery where she rests in peace is in a scenic area on the Bluff which commands a nice view of Yokohama Port.
Scidmore joined the National Geographic Society of the United States in 1890 and wrote many books about Japan and other Asian countries. She was the first woman to have a seat on the Board of Managers of the society.
What Scidmore made in contribution to friendship between Japan and the United States had been little known among general people in Japan “when we started holding memorial services for her," Onji said. The Scidmore family had ceased because the brother and sister died unmarried, leaving nobody to take care of their tomb, said Onji, the widow of the first Japanese translator of Scidmore’s 1891 book “Jinrikisha Days in Japan.”
A young cherry tree was further grafted from the tree beside her grave and planted near a shopping street in Yokohama a few years ago through efforts by the group and others to let people know about her episode.
Scidmore showed keen interest, with a favorable feeling, in almost everything she saw in Japan. She was particularly curious about Japanese flowers and plants, including not only cherry blossoms but also "asagao" morning glories, and above all, the Japanese art of gardening. Her passion about Japanese flowers led her to write a long essay, titled “The Surprising Morning Glories of Japan.” The Japanese translation of the essay was contributed to a magazine published by a group of Japanese horticulturists in 1900, a researcher said at a party after the service. The essay contained many professional remarks, indicating Scidmore had tried hard to collect information about what she saw and studied hard about it. "It is just great," the researcher said.
Efforts for better relations between Japan and the United States were made by a variety of Americans, among them Scidmore, who were charmed by Japan and its culture in its early stage to get out of two and a half centuries of isolation under the Tokugawa shogun regime. This suggests relations between the two countries across the Pacific were rather closer than at present, at least in terms of culture and people’s feelings. What should have Scidmore said about the current shaky relations between Tokyo and Washington if she was alive? This is a question one should be tempted to ask.

Mt. Fuji continues to charm Japanese with many faces

March 31, 2010

Mt. Fuji continues to charm Japanese with many faces


Mt. Fuji has continued to charm Japanese over the centuries while showing them many faces as a god-like object and a beautiful but dangerous peak for climbers. Japan’s highest mountain stands on a border that separates Shizuoka Prefecture facing the Pacific to the south and the landlocked Yamanashi Prefecture. But the 3,776-meter-high dormant volcano can be seen from various places as remote as some 300 kilometers away on Japan’s main island of Honshu on clear days, because it has no other mountain or mountain range around.
Fuji used to be an active volcano in the ancient times. The mountain was depicted in many classical literary works as a volcano that constantly emits big columns of smoke to no purpose. In later periods, Fuji became to be seen as an awe-inspiring mountain.
Following is a love poem composed by Ki Tsurayuki, one of the greatest waka poets in the Heian period from the late eighth century to the 12th century:

My unrealized ardent love will remain to be met.
A fire in my heart may climb up to the sky like a cloud.
As Mt. Fuji constantly burns itself,
I will continue to burn the fire of my love forever.
(A personal translation)

Those who start their trail from the southern bottom point can see an old big shrine that stands to guard the mountain as a god. Most of the areas above the eighth station of Fuji are believed to be part of the precincts of the shrine, Sengen Shrine. One of the buildings that belong to the shrine is on the top of the mountain.
Today, paved roads take people up as high as the half way point of the mountain, but it sometimes shows its dangerous face, exposing climbers to the risks of developing altitude sickness and being hit by strong winds or fallen rocks. In the winter season, they must also be careful about the danger of slipping down the icy slopes and freezing to death.
Accidents on the mountain claimed at least nine lives in 2009. Among the dead were two Americans. A total of nearly 1,000 people are seen to have lost their lives on the mountain since modern mountaineering was introduced into Japan in the Meiji era.
Local people and authorities have been campaigning to get Mt. Fuji on the list of world heritages of UNESCO. They first tried to have it registered as a natural world heritage, but they switched to a registration as a cultural heritage because the contaminated natural environment around the mountain must be improved.
People in the local community still admire Fuji as a god-hosting mountain. Many people in other areas also watch the mountain while seeking something that heartens or encourages them to get through the current hard time. The mountain is expected to continue to give Japanese a lot of spiritual energies to support their life.