Monday 5 January 2015

Inspired by A Cartoon.

Today is the last day of the holidays, even though Twelfth Night isn't till tomorrow.  We've had a  good time seeing family and friends, and I've been preparing a talk I'll be giving n a few days time. (I'm not a great public speaker so it's a bit nerve rackimg.) And T. has been bravely struggling with our service provider, Gradwell, who took my other website offline before Christmas and have been barely responsive ever since.


I've also watched a couple of Christmas presents - Japanese anime cartoon DVDs.  I loved "The Girl Who Leaped Through Time" and Ghibli Studios' "Pom Poko," about Japanese raccoon-dog spirit-gods fighting the growth of the modern world.    Like most of the anime movies I've seen, they were really watchable, and  Pom Poko gave me the inspiration for this blog post.  Because I was watching a scene when an old farmhouse with a huge thatched roof is being demolished (above), and I thought, 


Hey! I've seen old houses like that! 


We saw very similar buildings in Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, where our friend Yoshi took us when we stayed with him and his family in Toyama.  They're villages on the Shogawa River, dating back to the 11th century. They are apparently the only place in Japan where groups of these large ancient farmhouses survive more or less unscathed, although once they could be found all over Japan. 


 Until the 1970s, the villages were very remote and inaccessible, particularly in winter, when they have heavy snowfall, and the inhabitants survived by rearing silkworms. Now, they're UNESCO sites and, although the houses are still family homes, the villagers live mostly by tourism. So the village atmosphere is less  "authentic" than it was in those remoter days, but at least visitors like me have a chance to appreciate them. They're such a contrast with sparkling modern Japan, and there is something rather reassuring about their still slightly ramshackle and traditional air.     

You'll see old fashioned sights like beans laid out to dry in the sun outside the houses


Giant radishes from the garden hung in the porch


and strings of physalis or "Japanese Lanterns" hang on home made frames outside the wooden walls, overhung by thick thatch.


Trucks trundle down the little roads, loaded with straw for repairing thatch.


Rice sprouts from small fields,  the pink and white blooms of untidy cosmos plants wave in the wind,


and there were lots of butterflies when we visited in October.


.And life goes on, with people going about their daily business and hanging their washing out to dry 


One of the houses is an inn, and we went inside and had tea. The owner was very friendly although she didn't speak English, and she was happy to let us wander round the large, dark rooms.


and she was happy for us to look around



It was really dark up in the attic, and we gaped at the silkworm rearing trays and equipment.  How I wished the silkworms were still there, munching away on mulberry leaves beneath the tall rafters. Hanging off a beam were some of the  woven straw boots that local people used to wear in the very heavy, snowy winters


There is a little restaurant-cum-giftshop in one of the farmhouses which, despite seeming rather slow and touristy, sold one of the nicest lunches we had in all our time in Japan


The houses are at great risk of fire, with their open, wooden construction and thatched roofs, but one advantage of being a UNESCO site is that the villagers no longer have to rely on an antiquated fire engine - here it is, stashed away alongside someone's house. Loads of money has been invested to keep the village in good shape.


Now there's a modern and very high tech system explained on the poster below, which operates from an underground water supply and sends huge jets of water arching over each house in the main street.  Apparently the system is occasionally turned on even when there is no fire, to create artificial rain in dry periods. It must be a most spectacular sight to see. 

See the strange red dancing figures in the sign above?  You get a clearer view on the poster below. It is a bit of poetic license to have these dancers operating the firefighting equipment, but traditional to Gokayama is a performance called Mugiya-bushi,  The dancer is holding a percussion instrument which can be waved around to make a rattling sound.  


Songs in this tradition are still performed.


Gokayama opened a small window into a very, very different world, and it is set in an entrancing landscape, with calm rivers and steep wooded mountains of enormous beauty.  I hope I'll be able to go back one day to this area, do some hiking and see what else there is to see.




Happy New Year!

47 comments:

  1. What a glorious place, and how beautifully you have described it. I almost felt as if I was walking down the valley with you myself.
    For some reason it made me think of Rivendell, I could imagine a hobbit skipping along behind that straw laden truck.

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  2. What a lovely post! This was a courtesy visit after you had popped in at my blog. Japan is a country that I have never had a great urge to visit but your verbal and photographic take on Gokayama might change that view. Nice one Jenny.

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  3. This is wonderful, Jenny. I have never heard of these ancient farmhouses, and they look amazing. It is like a time capsule, and it is fantastic they have been isolated and therefore kept intact to be seen today. Thank you for sharing it all, and Happy New Year!

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  4. How wonderful! Thank you for sharing such a special experience.

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  5. Most people who visit Japan only get to see the modern cities and not the countryside. To see houses with thatched roofs that are still habitable after a thousand years is awesome. I doubt my home will still be here in a hundred. They don't make houses like they used to.

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  6. Amazing village. Thank you for showing a part of Japan that I'd not heard of. I enjoyed your photos and descriptions very much.

    Darla

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  7. Now that is a part of Japan that I would truly love to see for myself.

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  8. It's beautiful and really like something from a fairytale book! I didn't know there are/were thatched houses at all in Japan, but then again, why shouldn't they - of course the idea of thatching a roof was not born in just one place, but whereever people had access to plants suitable for thatching.
    From what I've seen in your pictures, people have really done a good job in combining the old with the new without sacrificing too much of the old.

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  9. How wonderful, I'll have to share this with my daughter and see if she has been there. The photos were great, what a fascinating trip you had.

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  10. It all seems rather magical in it's beauty and simplicity. Certainly a place to return to.

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  11. It makes me glad there is preservation of such things. We lose a lot, the whole world does, when a language or culture dies out.

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  12. A fascinating post, Jenny. The farmhouses were new to me, too. While I've been privileged to stay in Japanese homes, none were quite like this! The photos are magnificent -- what an amazing experience; I'm so glad the area is preserved.

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  13. What wonderful pictures - and a glorious insight into the loves of people in Japan. Thanks for these.

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  14. Oh, how I love traveling with you! Such a wondrous place. A step back in time...in a foreign land. Just fascinating. Those curved rattles have a really nice sound. I'm glad they preserved those farmhouses and are trying to keep them in good shape for years to come. I can see why you'd love to go back and hike around those green hills. :)

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  15. Well, now I really, really, want to go to Japan again!

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  16. Oh wow - those houses look amazing! Really like something out of a Ghibli film. I quite like 'My Neighbour Totoro' for the depictions of countryside life.

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  17. Happy New Year! Thank you for another fascinating post about Japan!
    I love the sand bottom fire pit in the house. The thatched houses are charming. I don't recall seeing them before or those boots. Wowness for sure

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  18. Firstly, a very Happy New Year to you and yours, Jenny.

    That elaborate watering system wouldn't go astray in the bush fire areas of South Australia and Victoria right now. Terrible fires are raging down that way at the moment and I feel so sorry for all of those concerned, the poor animals as well.

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  19. Love those houses! It is easy to imagine times past when they were filed with large families.
    Probably somewhat less tidy than at present! Some great pictures and a real change from the city life.

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  20. Oh my word Jenny, you never fail to delight when I visit your site. Thank you for this enchanting post. What an incredible place to visit, I so enjoyed all your photos and a glimpse into another world it seemed.
    I love it when such care is taken to preserve the past because we lose so much when things are discarded.
    The fire safety system is incredible and makes such good sense.
    That would've been such a highlight of your travelling life I'm sure and, again, thank you for taking us with you :D)

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  21. Happy New year...and thank you for these wonderful photographs.

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  22. What an incredible side trip for us. Japan is Tokyo and fishing villages; I've never thought mountains. Silkworms were such an industry for so long, and still are in China.

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  23. You certainly bring out the magic of a place with your words. Great photos as well, it's a place I'd enjoy seeing too!

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  24. This old village seems like out of a magical fairy tale! And how different from what most people expect to see of Japan, which is modern and busy cities with crowded skyscrapers and subway stations swarming with people.

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  25. I think it is rather sad that so few building were made out of stone in the Orient down through the ages. For so very little from their ancient past remains in comparison to Europe and even more western parts of Asia.

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  26. As always, such wonderful pictures - taken with a real photographers' eye. And I just love the thought of "Japanese raccoon-dog spirit-gods fighting the growth of the modern world". The modern world has little chance against such odds.

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  27. Shirakawa-go and Gokayama are two of the places I’d like to visit but haven’t been to so far. They are the places dear to the Japanese people's heart. There is a beautiful village of thatched roof houses in northern Kyoto Prefecture about which I posted in December, 2011. By the way, it must be T who are using chopsticks skillfully. My 49-month-old granddaughter got able to pick up a bean with chopsticks. She showed it to us at the New Year feast. Looking forward to seeing other scenes of Japan through your lens from time to time.

    Yoko

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  28. Incredibly entertaining, informative and interesting post, Jenny. Great pictures, too - they really make me want to go there and see everything for myself. Happy new Year to you and yours.

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  29. Wish you and your family the best for 2015!

    That was so good to know you visited Shirakawa-go. How lovely to see that nostalgic life style of Japan. I admire your careful observation and eyes in a different country,Japan. My husband and I I traveled Shirakawa-go 9 years ago. Our good memory of the trip hasn't faded away.

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  30. Happy 2015!!!!
    Wow what a wonderful trip and thank you for sharing. It must have been so interesting and you have a gift for explaining things and making them come to life. I enjoyed my little "trip."

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  31. What a great trip that must have been. I enjoyed each and every picture - they are beautiful. When my husband was in the service, he got to spend a week of R & R in Japan, but I've never had the pleasure of being there. Thanks so much for sharing all this with us. I love it.

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  32. What a fascinating post ... I never knew until now that there were any thatched farmhouses in Japan. And what a very beautiful valley.

    Those straw boots would come in handy right now where I live! :)

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  33. I am enjoying all your photogrpahs of Japan. It’s good to be reminded that it isn’t all modern cities and that life still goes on in these picturesque villages.

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  34. The thatched cottages are wonderful. I'm glad they've been preserved and not just torn down to make way for a factory or some such monstrosity. I'm always delighted when I discover a thatched cottage in Britain. They're so rare nowadays, I suppose mainly because the thatch costs a great deal to maintain.

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  35. This just makes me want to go to Japan even more now!

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  36. I'm wondering how well those straw boots worked. I suppose that if a straw roof can keep heat in and water out of a home, they should be able to do the same for one's feet. How odd!

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  37. What a wonderful place. It well deserves it's UNESCO WHS status.
    P.S. Thanks very much for the postcard!

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  38. What a beautiful country Japan is. These photos are breathtaking. I just wish it wasn't quite so far as I don't like flying at the best of times, so my return trips to South Africa are about my limit.

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  39. Happy New Year to you and your family, too! :-) It looks as if you had a ball in Japan. Thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  40. Hi Jenny,

    Such awesome, ambient beauty captured in your photos of Japan. You save me fortune in travel :) Thanks for sharing your experiences and your photographic magic.

    A peaceful, hopeful New Year to you and your loved ones.

    Gary

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  41. Very cool - I especially like the thatched roofs.

    I know someone who is raising silk worms to make her own silk.

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  42. Wow what a beautiful place! So green. I wonder how often they have an issue with fires? A bad one would destroy the whole village.

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  43. I have just re-read this post Jenny because I enjoyed it so much the first time a couple of days ago but thought I might have missed something. Because you have comment moderation I'm not sure whether I commented the first time (even 10 minutes is a long time for my memory for such matters!). I thought that it was not just informative but delightful (which might seem an odd word these days; but it was).

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  44. You have to watch Ruroni kenshin - Kyoto Inferno. Same like your pictures. Canadian Animal Lovers

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  45. Sorry for my belated visit, Jenny. I have never been there but especially the picture of the village in winter time with snow covering the thached roofs , the grounds carpeted with white blanket, with dim lights inside the houses escaping from.. looks so serene and tranquil and charming. Living there might be not all it's cracked up to be , however, it's so good it is well preserved and offers an opportunity to feel and see how it used to be.

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  46. I really enjoyed this post - the pictures were fascinating! I've seen The Girl Who Leaped through Time, but not Pom Poko. I love anime - have you ever noticed how the Ghibli films nearly always have what I call an 'epic cleaning session'? For example, when they are cleaning the bath house in Spirited Away, or the castle in Howl's Moving Castle. Whenever I have a big lot of cleaning to do, I imagine I am a character in a Ghibli film and it makes the whole process much more enjoyable!

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