Friday, April 30, 2010

Kofun: Ancient Tombs of Japan

Just close to our Seminar House 4, there lies a tomb enshrouded by trees and paths just by the park. The tomb is very old, probably dating from before Nara period, and is a kofun.

Kofun are mounded tombs, similar to the round earth tombs that were made by Native Americans after 500BC. The ones in Japan are usually keyhole shaped and were probably built after 500 AD. The most famous of which is in Tokyo, and is called the Daisen Kofun. This kofun is keyhole-shaped! If you look at it on Google Earth, they imagery that makes it easy to see.



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The kofun near Seminar has a plaque, but it appears quite old and very hard to read. My Japanese is also limited, which makes deciphering the kanji ever more difficult. I shot the tablet at an angle to avoid glare on its marble surface, and then did some perspective correction to make it easier to read. I leave it to my readers, if they can, to decipher its meaning.



Walking up to the mound is like taking a step back into an older time in Japan. The kofun is surrounded by ancient-looking cobblestone paths and steps leading ever higher to the tomb.


There were children running up and down the steps, playing. I wonder how they feel about this location and if it is sacred or not? They looked like they were having fun, so I just let them be and continued up the steps. Here is the kofun as seen from the very top.

Please note that you can move around the panorama on your own by clicking and dragging with the mouse!



This location is a wonderful respite from the surrounding urban sprawl. Even the nearby park has an artifical quality to it; but this place feels much more in tune with nature, untouched since many hundreds of years ago. I wish more of this ancient, wooded Japan existed near me in Japan.


Tyler

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Nara: Tōdai-ji Temple

On Saturday, I went with my Japanese speaking partner to Nara, Japan. Nara is a city located about an 90 minutes away from Hirakata Station. You can get there by going from Hirakata to Kyoto, and then on to Nara. For more details on how to get around by train, I recommend this website.

Nara has a wonderful downtown, replete with lovely buildings and shops. There were many foreigners there, but the shops didn't look geared for tourists specifically - they were shops for Japanese and foreigner alike. While waiting for her friends to arrive, we walked around and I shot this panorama at an intersection.




It's not my best one, for sure, but it was shot quickly and handheld, and it seems to be viewable! Do you see the powerlines overhead? They do not often bury cables in Japan; if an earthquake occurs and snaps a line underground, it's a lot harder to find and repair.

Our next stop was at Tōdai-ji Temple (東大寺), in the park. This world's tallest wooden structure houses a large golden-colored Buddha inside. This statue is referred to simply as daibutsu (大仏) and is the world's largest Buddha Vairocana statue. The structure used to be much taller, but it's on its third iteration; the temple has burned down twice before, and it was last rebuilt sometime in the 1700s. The temple is wonderfully and deceptively big. You don't realize its immensity until you've walked inside.


Also worthy of note are the large wooden columns that support the structure. One has a hole carved out at its base, and it's just big enough for a man to fit through. There was a line of about 6-10 people waiting to go through, and each one had their one-minute of fame as they made there way to the other side. Supposedly, you are reborn once you pass through, or so I was told.



So there you have it. This was my trip to Nara! I had a wonderful time.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Seeing Japan without the Rose-Colored Glasses...

I love Japan. There are so many wonderful things about its people, culture, and landscape that I just adore. However, even after just two months' of living here, I've noticed many things that I didn't expect out of Japan or Japanese people, and some of it's downright appalling to the uninitiated. Today I'm going to take a closer look at several things the typical foreigner wouldn't expect out of Japan, as well as some things that I've personally observed Japanese people doing that I thought I would never see in this country, of all places.

I've been clubbing a few times in Nanba, in what's commonly referred to as "Amerika-mura" or "America Village." It's a small district that caters to foreign tourists, particularly (yup, you guessed it) Americans. I always have a wonderful time while at the club, dancing and having fun with friends in the basement-level dance club called Pure.

When I come up to the surface, however, I'm greeted by the sight of flashy-looking Japanese men with wild hair and business suits. These men, known as "Hosts," are hired by host clubs to come and attract women to their club and be paid attention to by men. The attention can range from just talking, to flirting and sex, but that's less common. When I first saw these men, I was appalled. And the more you look at them, the worse you feel for them. These poor, 20-something guys are just going around, hoping to be noticed and get some commission for bringing a girl in. They don't have a real future, it seems to me. What's more, most of them are rather unattractive. That must make their job even harder.

  (imaged borrowed under CC from user JanneM)    

 
(image borrowed under CC from user Jim O'Connell/Magnesium)

Walking further down the street, you'll find trash. Everywhere. On the ground, and not in trashcans. This is very bizarre, because you can go for miles on a street in Japan without finding a piece of garbage, usually. As I continued to walk down the street, I was accosted by a man begging me for money. Then I saw another man with his friend, urinating on a closed shop's metal door. It was just so very different from everything else I'd seen in Japan. It seems that when the lights go down, Japan shows itself to not be the cutesy paradise some people believe it to be.



It's not all bad in that way, though. Some things are just an unfortunate result from bad economic times. I've seen a few homeless men in Osaka and Hirakata. They have blankets and bags to keep warm (I hope), and they have long beards. It's a downward spiral once you're homeless: your skills atrophy, your health worsens, and any hopes of recovery become further and further impossible to achieve. I haven't had a chance to speak with one. I'm not sure what I would say or ask them - I'd be more than a little nervous to ask them, too.


My eyes have certainly been opened . Each new time out at night reveals a more of the dark side of Japan. It's not all bad, mind you, but it's not an immaculate, pikachu-filled paradise either.