kyonoki

Portrait: Rhod

2008-11-20T12:06:00-08:00

Sake's sake

2008-11-19T02:58:00-08:00


While Rhod was at the Tokyo Game Show, Erina drove me to Okinatsuru Oishi Sake Brewery to try the local varieties of rice wine. The old buildings are part-museum and part-working factory. We walked around the shop and watched from a first floor window as down below bottles were labelled ready for filling. A kindly old gent let me try three or four varieties, all of which made me more than a little drunk. While I am not a great fan of sake, the tastes are remarkably different. My favourite was a 5 year old variety stored in aged wooden caskets, that leant their flavour to the drink. Okinatsuru is building up somewhat of a worldwide reputation, showing their products in a recent London wine festival. Erina and Gil posed in front of the tanuki statue outside the main shop.

While Rhod was at the Tokyo Game Show, Erina drove me to Okinatsuru Oishi Sake Brewery to try the local varieties of rice wine. The old buildings are part-museum and part-working factory. We walked around the shop and watched from a first floor window as down below bottles were labelled ready for filling.

A kindly old gent let me try three or four varieties, all of which made me more than a little drunk. While I am not a great fan of sake, the tastes are remarkably different. My favourite was a 5 year old variety stored in aged wooden caskets, that leant their flavour to the drink. Okinatsuru is building up somewhat of a worldwide reputation, showing their products in a recent London wine festival.

Erina and Gil posed in front of the tanuki statue outside the main shop.

Headless

2008-11-17T06:01:00-08:00


Sitting on a wall close to the Oomoto sect's bath-house we spotted this headless statue of buddha. There was something about the battered old thing that made me wonder what had befallen the poor fellow and what he might have seen in his time. Was it the storming and destruction of the castle that spelled the end, or was it some malicious soldier that kicked the head off?

Kameyama Castle

2008-11-14T04:43:00-08:00


For nearly 300 years Kameyama Castle guarded the northwest passage into Kyoto. Following the death of its master, Akechi Mitsuhide, the castle slowly fell into ruins and by the time of the Meiji Restoration no attempts were made to save what remained. Much has been made of Akechi's betrayal of Oda, though it was Akechi who found his promises broken and his family attacked.

Akechi Mitsuhide was a samurai and a general under daimyo Oda Nobunaga (during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan), although he later betrayed Nobunaga and caused him to commit seppuku.

Born in Mino province (Gifu prefecture) as a descendant of the shugo Toki clan, Mitsuhide began serving Nobunaga after the latter's conquest of Mino province in 1566 and received Sakamoto (in Omi, 100,000 koku) in 1571. Although Nobunaga rarely put too much trust in his retainers, he particularly trusted Katsuie Shibata, Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Akechi Mitsuhide. After Mitsuhide received Sakamoto he moved to pacify the Tamba region by defeating several clans such as the Isshiki of Tango.

In 1579 he captured Yakami Castle from Hatano Hideharu by promising Hideharu peace terms. This accomplished Mitsuhide's goal, although Nobunaga betrayed the peace agreement and had Hideharu executed. This displeased the Hatano family, and a short while later several of Hideharu's retainers murdered Akechi Mitsuhide's mother. The situation was fueled through several public insults Nobunaga had directed at Mitsuhide that even drew the attention of some Western observers. Mitsuhide blamed Nobunaga for his mother's death and at the Incident at Honno-ji on June 21, 1582 exacted his revenge.

He has been credited with killing Oda Nobunaga; while Mitsuhide did not execute Nobunaga personally, he did force him to commit seppuku for his betrayal and subsequent murder of Mitsuhide's mother. When they found out about the assassination, both Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu rushed to be the first to avenge Nobunaga and take his place. Hideyoshi got to Mitsuhide first, and Mitsuhide's allies such as Hosokawa Fujitaka, who was related to Mitsuhide through a marriage, betrayed him. Mitsuhide survived for 14 days until he was defeated by Hideyoshi at the Battle of Yamazaki. Mitsuhide is rumored to have been killed by a peasant warrior with a bamboo spear by the name of Nakamura; however, there were also rumors that he was not killed, but rather started a new life as a priest called Tenkai.

The Akechi family was able to trace their heritage to the Toki clan and from there to the Minamoto clan. It is noted that Minamoto Yoritomo brought the destruction of the Taira clan the same way Mitsuhide brought an end to Nobunaga, who traces his ancestry to the Taira.

In ruins

2008-11-10T08:40:00-08:00



Kameyama Castle is no more than crumbling walls, koi filled ponds and scarred statues. Slowly trees have grown to hide the hints of old buildings and weeds have throttled the less-used paths. The government might well have let the remains of this once powerful castle crumble to dust, had it not been for the Oomoto sect, whose founder remembered playing in the ruins as a child.

Ten'on-kyo ("Birthplace of Heavenly Benevolence"), spiritual home to the Oomoto Sect, purchased the remains of Kameyama Castle in 1919. Kameoka is the birthplace of Onisaburo Deguchi and became Oomoto's teaching centre.

Ten'on-kyo stands on the ruins of the ancient Kameyama castle. After the Meiji Restoration (1868) the castle with its walls and moats was left to disintegrate, and in his childhood Onisaburo often played in the ruins. Eventually, in 1919, Onisaburo bought the historical remains, rebuilt the walls, and established the surrounding area as a spiritual center

In 1935, in the Second Oomoto Incident, the police completely destroyed the facilities including the worship hall. In 1945 Oomoto was adjudged not guilty and the persecution came to an end. There then remained the job of rebuilding the entire facility from the ground up.

At Ten'on-kyo Oomoto followers celebrate the Summer Grand Festival, conduct monthly ceremonies on the first Sunday of each month, hold wedding ceremonies, and the like.

A kind old priest showed us the new main hall and explained that the Oomoto sect stands for all religions, promoting peace across the world. While rather a simplistic message, I do believe they might have the right idea.

The shrine of beauty

2008-11-07T11:37:00-08:00


There is a small shrine behind the main hall of Yasaka-jinja, crowned with dozens of pennants that proclaim it to be a shrine of beauty. Although I can find no information about the history of the tiny shrine, it is particularly popular with visitors. Water bubbles out from a tiny spring and it is said that to dab the water on your face guarantees clear and beautiful skin. Is there some truth in this or was it a marketing ploy to draw women into the shrine?

There is a small shrine behind the main hall of Yasaka-jinja, crowned with dozens of pennants that proclaim it to be a shrine of beauty. Although I can find no information about the history of the tiny shrine, it is particularly popular with visitors. Water bubbles out from a tiny spring and it is said that to dab the water on your face guarantees clear and beautiful skin.

Is there some truth in this or was it a marketing ploy to draw women into the shrine?

Higashi-Mitsuko

2008-11-05T11:33:00-08:00


Six months seems a long time to be away from friends, especially when you return to discover one of them six months pregnant. I was so happy to see Mitsuko again, married and with baby bump well developed. The nice thing about six months is that it is not long enough to make meetings a little awkward. We went for sushi and the on the advice of her doctor, hiked up into the Eastern Hills for a long walk. I do not pretend to understand the thinking, but apparently she needs a lot of exercise now she is in her final trimester. Chion-in is Mitsuko's favourite temple, so we struggled up the hundreds of steps to sprawl out on a bench to catch our breath. The day was reminiscent of the summer, bakingly hot though minus any of the uncomfortable humidity. We craned out necks and searched for the umbrella hidden in the rafters (one of the architects who helped rebuild the temple placed the umbrella in the rafters to help bring rain and thereby ward off fire), skittered across the nightingale floor (intentionally squeaky boards designed so that when the Tokugawa family stayed at the temple, they could detect unwanted intruders at night), and drifted off into a daze at the relentless humming of monks.

Six months seems a long time to be away from friends, especially when you return to discover one of them six months pregnant. I was so happy to see Mitsuko again, married and with baby bump well developed. The nice thing about six months is that it is not long enough to make meetings a little awkward. We went for sushi and the on the advice of her doctor, hiked up into the Eastern Hills for a long walk. I do not pretend to understand the thinking, but apparently she needs a lot of exercise now she is in her final trimester.

Chion-in is Mitsuko's favourite temple, so we struggled up the hundreds of steps to sprawl out on a bench to catch our breath. The day was reminiscent of the summer, bakingly hot though minus any of the uncomfortable humidity. We craned out necks and searched for the umbrella hidden in the rafters (one of the architects who helped rebuild the temple placed the umbrella in the rafters to help bring rain and thereby ward off fire), skittered across the nightingale floor (intentionally squeaky boards designed so that when the Tokugawa family stayed at the temple, they could detect unwanted intruders at night), and drifted off into a daze at the relentless humming of monks.

And the sun goes down

2008-11-03T11:59:00-08:00

Call of Duty 4 (360)

2008-01-03T21:40:00-08:00

Ooh, it's like a war trainer with an element of social conscience. But still focused on shooty shooty fun.