Traveling Kyushu with the woman of my dreams. A life-changing journey for countless reasons, to be divulged through a medley of photos, poetry, and prose.
Sadō is a cultural icon for Japan, which encapsulates many aspects of the nation's aesthetics, cultural ideals, and practices. In its most basic form it is a way for a host to greet guests, and simply enjoy peace over a cup of tea. In its most intricate it is a precise and intentional ceremony with slow, intentional gestures and the ability to move its viewers' hearts.
I was lucky enough to witness both of these extremes at the same time.
Staying at the Yoshimatsu house has been a balance of ceremony and fun, as we step through rituals and formalities then lope across casual conversations and comedy. The details of the former I won't share here, but what it comes down to is that it is a warm and welcoming atmosphere, in which ceremony and ritual feels more like a dance:
Practiced steps for the purpose of authentic expression and bonding.
After dinner Thursday night, when we had returned from Kumamoto Castle, we sat in one of the two Yoshimatsu washitsu, where a small assembly of wares lay, intentionally situated.
Alongside them were a couple pillows, to help comfort us as we sat seiza. Mrs. Yoshimatsu urged us to sit as she carried hot water maka and set it next to the tana, on which a small cup waited.
We ate sweets as instructed, with simple yet precise movement. I watched enraptured, as Ayumi's mother went through her practiced ritual of preparing the tea.
She has been practicing tea ceremony for twenty five years.
The apron-looking blue cloth she's wearing simulates kimono folds, so she can practice full tea ceremony without actually putting on a kimono.
When she used the chasen to whisk the tea, her form was devoid of the larger bubbles. Flawless.
As the tea ceremony went on I felt a tingling on my neck as the hairs stood up, quivering with amazement.
Then Ayumi's dad joined in and said, "Make one for me!"
Which broke the tension of ceremony and put us all in a relaxed state. Turns out Mr. Yoshimatsu also practiced tea ceremony for a few years.
Kumamoto-jo is a relatively authentic modern reconstruction of a fortification dating back as early as the mid fifteenth century and, for those with an appetite for castles, is the most impressive one I've seen yet.
Selfie time? Uh-huh, yeah.
Breathtaking on many occasions, as I considered the many battles witnessed by the ground I walked on.
Fortifications from the West entrance. There is a guard tower whose entrance hallway you can see on the left wall
The guard tower. Parts of the interior were under renovation but the wood used inside felt old; we had to remove our shoes to climb it.
View from the top, overlooking the grounds and surrounding Kumamoto city.
Its construction and fortifications were an elegant balance of old and new, with boulder base and old wood flooring juxtaposing an LED TV playing a documentary of the authentic methods used during reconstruction.
The castle itself is a reconstruction of the original, which has been periodically destroyed be one thing or another.
Through the appropriately-named "Dark Hall" on our way to the front entrance. That guy was hurrying us on: "Don't stop the flow of people!" There was nobody behind or anywhere within fifty feet of us.
More original decorations of the castle. Note the recovered pieces around it.
View from the top of the castle! Note the guard tower.
The courtyard below, with costumed actors walking around.
We also got a chance to see the 'throne' room, where the leader would reside. Based on prestige and trust, visitors were allowed to approach in one of the successive adjacent visitors' rooms.
The many rooms separating visitors from the throne room. Each had a different name and, depending on whether you were trusted, you could visit with the ruler from a closer room.
The throne room itself. Note all the gold.
A nearby tea ceremony room.
Just before the castle we had ramen at Nagomiya, a highly-rated, delicious (and cheap) underground shop just a couple minutes from the castle grounds. No picture, sorry. So here's another picture of me to make up for it.
A family said "It really matches his face, doesn't it!" as they walked past.
Finally, satisfied with our touring endeavors, we got onto the expressway to get back to Ayumi's home by around 7:30 PM. Traffic was a little backed up for the Kurume Fireworks Festival, which had been delayed since Tuesday due to inclement typhoons.
More of that fantastic view. The nearby outskirts of Takachiho.
After days of only rain, which failed to dampen our spirits, we departed the town of Yoshii for Takachiho, Miyazaki, a town deep in the mountains of central Kyushu, and just southeast of Mount Aso. Our route.
Mount Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan, and a 120-kilometer caldera that we drove around. We didn't get a shot of Aso-san itself, but it provided for us some beautiful sights of mountainous farming villages, as we passed through and around several en route by car to our hotel. We checked in and left our bags behind, leaving immediately to visit the many shrines of the area. The rain had let up but clouds still covered the sky, spilling diffuse light everywhere.
Our hotel, Kamigakure, is just six minutes by foot from Takachiho Shrine, the nearest of many shrines in the area. We started our pilgrimage there.
Cell-phone selfie.
Here, guests wash their hands as a symbol of cleansing, before entering the shrine.
The kanji here mean "heart" and "wash," literally.
I washed my hands and, of course, my heart with it.
Climbing the stairs to Takachiho-jinja
"Take one of me in front of the big tree!"
"I'll get you too!"
The lovely construction of the shrine. When you approach the shrine itself, as the people photographed are,
you give a small donation, bow twice, clap twice, pray, and bow once more.
From there we ate udon at a place called Marathon-tei, because the owner has been running marathons his whole life. Neglected to get a picture of that, but if you find yourself in Takachiho and like soft-noodle udon, try it out.
We then drove to the nearby Takachiho Gorge, where the demon Kihachi caused trouble by lifting a 200-ton stone to show off his strength. He was killed and his body was cut into three pieces to prevent him from coming back to life. Those pieces were buried in three different places near Takachiho.
And the view of the gorge itself is, how would you say... gorgeous!
Cell-phone selfie!
You can see the bridge in the background, there.
Taking my own version of Ayumi's shot of Takachiho-kyou
The two-hundred ton rock that a demon lifted to show off his strength.
Back on the bridge, over the gorge.
The nearby shops.
Takachiho is also home to Ama-no-Iwato Shrine, the cave in which the sun goddess Amaterasu hid until Ame-no-Uzume lured her out. The place is riddled with old history. We're talking stuff from the Kojiki old. We visited Ama-no-Iwato Shrine...
An image of Tajikarao, as he moves the seal to Amaterasu's cave.
And my best impression.
Ama-no-Iwato shrine.
These shrines are some of the most gorgeous things I've seen.
...And the nearby Ama-no-Yasugawara cave. There I could feel the power of the written word, of folklore and mythology, of the belief of the millions of pilgrims and tourists alike traveling to this place, taking in its gravity and adding to it in their awe. My fingers wanted to touch every part of every building, and I could barely resist the urge to touch the stacked rocks.
Cell-phone selfie.
My trigger finger's itch I could not resist.
The cave in which Amaterasu hid.
If you're able to stack three or more stones here, you will have good luck. So of course the shrine is full of them.
Ten thousand jagged black stones, whetted with holy water from some ancient matter, reach up in prayer to the dripping cave ceiling and call down what will gradually wear them round.
Silent.
But then the sound of drops and water rushing past stops my breath, and some thirty cicadas cry nearby, with smooth black bodies succinctly, concealed.
The nearby river.
The bridge on the way to Ama-no-Yasugawara.
Tired from our pilgrimage, we returned to our hotel and looked at our room (which had not been ready for us when we arrived). Then we were treated to a twelve-course meal with deliciously small portions and wonderful samples of the nearby seasonal food.
Shion was the theme of our room.
Our shion-themed room.
...Was totally lovely.
And the bath tub used priest-blessed purified water. Ayumi comically
calls it "god water," since it's called ご神水.
"Delicious" was the theme of our food.
And then, we made our way to the kagura dance, back at Takachiho Shrine. There, we watched a shortened version of four of the 33 kagura dances, including those where Tajikarao listens for Amaterasu, Uzume does an entertaining dance to trick Amaterasu into peeking out from her cave, and the final dance where Tajikarao opens the cave door.
Tajikarao as he checks for sounds to make sure Amaterasu is in the cave.
Uzume, performing a fun dance to entice Amaterasu to come out.
Tajikarao preparing to move the stones.
Still preparing!
These bows are put over your back, to keep your sleeves rolled up
while you do hard physical labor. Such as moving giant cave stones.
Tajikarao really liked his hairdo.
...It seemed to give him strength.
The fourth dance was a special treat involving the old gods Izanagi and Izanami, who gave birth to the islands of Japan. In the dance, the two spouses brewed sake together and drank it, and later went into the audience to flirt with them.
Izanagi, left, and Izanami, right, brew sake together. Then they got drunk,
and tried to make each other jealous by flirting with the audience.
And guess who got chosen...
He actually shoved me out of the way. Blurry action shot.
Probably my favorite mask out of the bunch.
Finally, we retired back to our hotel room after a long day.
The next morning, after an eight-course breakfast, we departed our hotel to see one more shrine: Aratate.
The prayers tied up at Aratate-jinja, which anyone can put up.
In front of Aratate-jinja.
From there, we made our way home. Of course, we couldn't do that without making several stops for pictures (thanks for being patient, Ayumi), and then making one more important stop in Kumamoto to see the
