Oki Dogo

So this weekend, I finally returned the favor and visited Martin out on Dogo, the largest of the Oki Islands, and it was quite the experience. I arrived Friday evening, on the very last ferry of the day, and was met at the port by Martin and one of his JTE's (that's Japanese Teacher of English in JET jargon). She dropped us off at his apartment, and then later we met up with her, 2 other JTE's, and Ellie, the other Dogo ALT, and the six of us enjoyed dinner at a great izakaya. Dogo is much more developed that any of the Douzen islands, with 2 super markets and a conbini, and they're constantly working on the infrastructure of the island; there seemed to be road construction going on everywhere. After a late night of karaoke, we returned to Martin's place for some much needed rest. I must say that I'm envious of the Dogo JETs and the great network of friends they have there. It seems that they are always busy hanging out with their English teachers, who, for the most part aren't much older than Martin or me.

The next day, we attended a community barbeque outside of Martin's apartment with his landlord and some of the other residents. It was a fun time, and we had some great food. It's been a while since I've had anything from a grill, and it was a welcome change of pace for my taste buds, even if it was whole squid and thin strips of beef instead of dogs and burgers. Once that wrapped up, we walked a few blocks up the road to a car rental place so we could do some sight seeing. I think I've been driving my tiny little stick too much, because driving an automatic felt weird the entire time. We didn't have much time, but Martin wanted to show me the Shirashima Coast, Dogo's answer to Kuniga in Douzen. After ten to fifteen initial minutes of confusion with our GPS, we finally found our way and made it to the coast line on the northern point of the island around 4 pm. Although there were no wild horses roaming this island, the views were nonetheless breathtaking, and I took a good number of photos.


Afterward, we decided to try and make it to the Dangyou Shrine and Waterfall. As I drove deeper into the island, I became increasingly aware of the magnitude of its size; it really is a large piece of land. As we neared the falls we entered what, at first glance, appeared to be an ancient coniferous forest. However, the regularity of the giant trees gave it away as being man-made. Martin explained to me that the particular type of narrow, straight pine had been imported to the island long ago to build up a strong spear-making industry back during the Edo Period. The forest was not alone in its magnificence however, for further up the road it was interrupted by a river, flowing from the falls. It seemed to have dried up to my eyes, but the river bed was rather wide and littered with large stones; as if it had been created as a channel for the island to discard its pelagic remnants after rising from the depths of the sea.
We arrived at the falls as the sun was starting to set. As we walked up a long gravel path in the dark forest, Martin kept daring me to tell him that the scene was not reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings, and upon reaching the falls he proceeded to hum music from the movie. I never was able to answer him. The dark forest, with it's tall trees was a sight to behold in and of itself, and the falls only added to it. You can see what I mean in the video below:



Afterward, we stopped by the main shrine of the island. It was dark by this time, but there were two stone lanterns burning in front of the shrine, which gave off just enough light to illuminate a massive tree at the front of the property. The tree, named the Yaosugi, was enormous, over a hundred feet tall. Which shouldn't surprise you considering it's over a millennium old. The tree was so large that metal beams are propping it up to prevent it from collapsing under its own massive weight. It was hard to get good pictures at night, but it was still an amazing sight to behold.


The next day, we woke at 8am in order to go sightseeing with Yoshida-san, I wonderful older woman who has had strong ties with Dogo's JET community since her daughter married a former ALT. She took us to see one of the island's most famous landmarks, Tokage-Iwa, or "Lizard Rock." This large rock formation rests precariously on a high mountain ledge and, to some ancient resident perhaps, resembled the form of a lizard, though I'm sure you'll all agree with me that it looks more like a woodpecker. Afterward, we stopped by another ancient tree, this one over 600 years old. The Kaburagi, as it's called, sprouts a new truck every hundred years or so, and is really a sight to behold. It's one of three or four such trees on the island. We ended the afternoon at Yoshida-san's beautiful, and very traditional, house, where she served us tea and Japanese snacks. I had to leave early so that I could make my ferry at noon, but the morning impressed me as eventful. Indeed my sightseeing for the whole weekend was short and limited when one considers the size of Dogo and the great number of sights contained withing. It just means I'll have to return in the near future to see the rest.

As usual, all my photos will be available on Facebook. Next weekend is Halloween. I will be celebrating by attending an international Rugby match in Tokyo being played by the teams currently ranked first and third in the world. Should be a fun time.

Island Life

So it's been a few weeks now since I've been off the island. Last weekend was a festival in Ama, at the Oki Shrine a few blocks from my house. I didn't actually make it to the main part of the festival on Sunday afternoon, but I did attend a takigi-noh play on Saturday night. Nohis a very traditional Japanese performing art, using intricate masks that dates back to the 14th century Muromachi period. The kanji for takigi indicate that the play is performed outdoors, by firelight, which really added to the atmosphere of the play. The experience was far more enticing than something you'd see on stage. I couldn't really understand what was going on in this play, but I think it had something to do with Go-Toba, who, as I've mentioned before, is enshrined at the Oki-jinja. Despite the language barrier, I still had a fun time watching the performers, especially in the second act, which used very traditional Japanese drums and flute to accompany several dances on the stage. Plus, despite thunder in the distance, the weather held out, and the cold didn't set in too bad.

Other than that, life's been rather slow. We had a four day weekend last week, and this week 1/3 of my school is off doing outdoor education. Meanwhile my JTE has had to attend conferences in Matsue, as well as classes at the high school, so I haven't really taught at all this week, outside of my elementary schools. I've used the downtime though to read up on my Japanese history and brush up on my language skills.


Oh, and I shot this video of my house. Enjoy.

The Jewel of the Okis

This past weekend, Martin, my Irish friend on Dogo (the largest of the Oki Islands) came to visit me in Ama. He arrived in nearby Nishinoshima on Saturday afternoon, and I met him there, where we decided to rent a car and go check out the nearby Kuniga （literally "joyful country," if you want some foreshadow) coast line. It was a beautiful day, warm, with a slight breeze, and only a few white clouds against a Carolina blue sky. We were really fortunate in that regard, because it had been gray and rainy all week in Ama. We had a map of the island, and I had a rough idea of where we were headed, as I had been there a few weeks previously to see a small concert with the two other Douzen JETs and Paul, the high-school ALT in the Okis. The view of the ocean from the road was incredible, and it only became more so as the road winded up the red cliffs that make up the Kuniga coast. In fact, we stopped the car on several occasions to take pictures. We realized though, that we had merely wasted our time once we reached the top of the tallest cliff in Japan, Matengai, meaning "polished cliff of heaven." I honestly think that it might be the most beautiful place God ever made. To my front was the beautiful sea that surrounds the islands. I was surrounded on every other side by rolling green mountains, dotted here and there with Oki cattle and wild horses. As we neared the edge of the impressive cliff, the view only got better, and when we looked down, we realized that we could meander down the left hand side of the cliff (note, it was a hill, not the cliff face), and see the wild horses up close. With every step we took, the view got better and better, and eventually Martin chimed in that this was certainly "the crown jewel of the Oki Islands," and I must say I agree.

What's really great about it all, is that even though this is a national park, with thousands of year visitors both young and old, the scenery was not polluted by such man-made obscenities as fences, warning signs, or safety barriers. This only speaks to the awesomeness that is Japan, and the common-sense approach they take to society. Whereas American's would be concerned that children and/or the idiotic would have run off into the pasture and been trampled by a startled horse/gored by a startled bull/fallen off a cliff, the Japanese didn't really seem all that bothered by it, and if anyone were to be injured here, I doubt they'd win a lawsuit. Anyways, back to Martin and me, after walking a considerable distance, we looked back and decided it was going to take quite an effort on our part to make it back up the cliff, so we stopped walking and turned around for a very daunting trek back to the car.


Afterward, I looked at the map, and noted a shrine with the kanji for fire in its name, and decided to check it out before we had to return our rental car. We parked at the bottom of a wooded area, grabbed some bamboo walking sticks from a nearby shelter, and proceeded to hike up a wooded hill. The dark forest was a stark contrast to the rolling hills of Kuniga, and our legs already were tired from our climb there. The trip was worth it though. We first caught sight of the outskirts of the shrine after about five minutes of hiking, when we stumbled onto a large Tori in the forest. Just beyond it, there was a clearing and a stone wall, which dated back to the early 14th century. Atop the wall was a courtyard and large building. We poked our head in, but saw nobody, so we continued to walk. In the woods behind the building, we came across the shrine, which was set into a massive hole in a stone precipice. In front of the shrine, two backpackers were talking to the shrine's priest. One of them knew a little English, and tried to explain to us the history of the shrine, which had something to do with three fireballs exploding from the mountain or striking the mountain, or nearby area, or something along those lines. I had a hard time following. But according to Yagi-sensei, my Japanese professor at Furman, "at the beginning of the Meiji Era, it was a Shinto Shrine/Buddhist temple called Takuhizan Unjyûji. Legend says that the enshrined Kami, Takuhi Gongen, rescued Ex-emperor Gotoba from a ship wreck. They built a bronze statue of Takuhi Gongen in front of the Beppu Harbor Terminal Building in Nishinomachi designed by a very famous manga artist Mizuki Shigeru, who drew a number of Yôkai (goblins) including Ge Ge Ge no Kitarô."

As the three men started to head back to the entrance, they motioned for us to join them, and as we approached the wooden structure, we learned it was the abode of the Shrine's priest. The kind man invited us in and showed us around. Furthermore he made us tea, and gave us free copies of a woodblock print of the shrine. I've long wanted a woodblock print, which is a traditional Japanese method of artistry dating back to the 18th century Edo Period. This particular print was done in the Ukiyo-e style, or "pictures of the floating world." Furthermore, this print, "The Torch Shrine in Oki Province," was done by the most famous artist of the Edo period, Ando Hiroshige. I was so overwhelmed with this stranger's generosity that we were a few minutes late returning our rental car.





After we returned the car, we hopped a ferry back to Ama, and attempted to catch the sunset at the Ama Lighthouse. You may remember my failed attempt to reach the lighthouse from my 5 hour trek I took soon after my arrival in Ama. This time I actually made it, be we just missed the sunset. We still saw some great views though, and afterward, we returned to the port area to enjoy some delectable Oki beef at a local restaurant.

The next morning, we headed over to Ama's kindergarten, where I had been invited to their Sports Day, which are big events in Japanese schools. This one wasn't so centered around actual sports as it was silly games that let the kids expend a weekend's worth of energy. Martin and I got pulled in to participate in a couple of events, including a beanbag toss, and a race among adults to complete tasks written (in Japanese) on a piece of paper. It was a fun day, and I got to meet Ama's local German, Frank, who moved here with his Japanese wife only a year ago. He speaks fluent English and seemed like a cool guy, and his young daughter was adorable. Martin and I had a great time. Once the festivities were over, we returned to Nishinoshima, where we'd hoped to catch the tail end of a town festival as well as some Kagura dancing, but we arrived too late. Instead we went back to Kuniga, where we laid down in the grass for a wonderful siesta.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Be sure to check out Facebook, where I have about 80 photos up from our adventures! This weekend is an Ama-wide sports day, complete with two days of All-Oki volleyball and tennis tournaments. Next weekend though, I get to see a traditional Noh play at Oki-jinja!