John Dougill Archives

Greeting the New Year in Kyoto

December 30, 2014 By Michael Lambe

Kurodani - New Year's Eve 2010 — Kurodani – New Year’s Eve 2010

For the last post of 2014, let us return to a piece first written by our good friend, John Dougill in 2010. That year I followed John’s advice by paying a visit to both Kurodani and Shimogamo Shrine on New Year’s Eve, and so I am reposting some photos from that night too. It had been snowing quite heavily on the 31st, so Kurodani in particular was really beautiful; all dressed up in white like a fairytale.

John Dougill writes…

The true soul of Japan is neither Shinto nor Buddhist. It’s Shinto-Buddhist. Until the artificial split of early Meiji times, the country had more than 1000 years of happy syncretism. Born Shinto, die Buddhist is the Japanese way.

Shinto is this-worldly, concerned with rites of passage and social well-being. Buddhism is other-worldly, concerned with individual salvation. At New Year the two religions come together like yin and yang, either side of midnight. Buddhism sees out the death of the old; Shinto celebrates the birth of the new. Joya-no-kane (tolling of the bell) gives way to Hatsumode (first visit of the year).

To get the full feel of a Kyoto New Year, you need to be syncretic too. In the dying minutes of the year, go hear the bell at a Buddhist temple. By tradition it is rung 108 times once for every attachment that plagues the human condition. Then head for a shrine to pick up arrow and amulets for protection through the coming year.

With over 3000 temples and shrines in Kyoto, you’re spoilt for choice. A popular but crowded combination is Chion-in and Yasaka Jinja. File up the hill to watch the young priests at the temple acrobatically swing on ropes to ring the bell. Then head down to the shrine to get twisted bamboo lit with the sacred Okera fire. It will purify your home.

Personally I prefer the open space of Kurodani, where the bell booms soulfully over the nearby hillside. Open fires give off a warm glow, which you can add to with heated sake before lining up to ring the bell. Afterwards a twenty-minute walk leads through dark and dozing streets to the wooded surrounds of Shimogamo Jinja.

Shimogamo Shrine in the early hours of January 1st 2011

Suddenly there are laughing voices, bright kimono, and gaudy lights. Aspiring yakuza sell candy floss and goldfish. Here all is jollity and smiles. ‘Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu’ rings out on every side. At the shrine people toss coins over the heads of those in front into the offertory boxes. With the blessing of the kami, this too will be a happy New Year. A happy Kyoto New Year!

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Text by John Dougill. Photographs by Michael Lambe

About John Dougill

John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks.
John also keeps a regular blog, Green Shinto (www.greenshinto.com). Born in the UK to a Czech mother and a Yorkshire Viking, he studied Russian and Slavic Studies at university. However, a lust for wandering took him to the Middle East, where he married a Yemeni, before travelling around the world for a year. He set up house in Oxford, but fate intervened to send him to Kanazawa where he was a lone gaijin on the backside of Japan, dreaming of one day teaching in Kyoto. Now he has to pinch himself every morning as he looks up from his bed at Daimonji. When not playing chess, writing haiku or walking along the Kamogawa, he works as professor of Cultural Studies at Ryukoku University.

World Heritage Kyoto by John Dougill

October 29, 2014 By Michael Lambe

Our good friend, John Dougill, recently published a wonderful (and beautifully illustrated) book on Japan’s World Heritage Sites. Today he has been good enough to write a guest post on the many World Heritage properties of Kyoto, with some excellent personal recommendations.

To research my book on Japan’s World Heritage Sites, I travelled the length of Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa to visit all the 17 sites. (With the recent addition of Tomioka Silk Mill there are now 18.) It’s a peculiarity of Unesco registration that a single one of Japan’s sites – namely Kyoto – boasts no fewer than 17 ‘properties’, each of which can claim to be a World Heritage site in its own right.

Kyoto was capital of Japan for over 1000 years, and in its river basin was fostered much of the country’s culture: courtly aesthetics, Zen, Noh, the tea ceremony, Kabuki, Ikebana, and geisha arts. Small wonder that the city is recognised worldwide as a glittering gem. ‘Kyoto embodies all the values that Unesco treasures,’ declared Director General, Irina Bokova. ‘It is blessed by glorious nature. It has many intangible assets, like the Gion Festival. And it has wonderful people.’

In 1994 the ‘Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)’ was officially registered as a World Heritage site. The cumbersome title allows for the inclusion of Enryaku-ji on Mt Hiei, which lies within the boundaries of Otsu City, as well as Byodo-in and Ujigami Shrine in the small town of Uji. Altogether there are 13 Buddhist temples, 3 Shinto shrines and 1 castle. Or put another way, there are over 200 buildings and gardens of the highest aesthetic and cultural significance. They include well-known places for which people fly across the world – the Golden and Silver Pavilions, Nijo Castle, Kiyomizu Temple, the Ryoanji rock garden, etc.

Yet there are also obscure properties, unfamiliar even to people who live in Kyoto. Take Ujigami Jinja, for instance, or Kozan-ji. Who would have thought these modest places would outrank such omissions as Daitoku-ji, Fushimi Inari, Katsura Villa or the Gion geisha district? The list of places left out could easily match those that have been included, which begs the question: how exactly did the 17 properties get selected? It’s a question I tried to enquire into, without ever getting a satisfactory answer.

So apart from the obvious, what are my tips for visitors? Two underrated places are Ninna-ji and Daigo-ji, which belong to the Shingon sect of Buddhism. ‘No, not another temple’ is a common complaint of visitors to Kyoto, but sites such as these are much more than places of worship. In fact, you could easily enjoy both of them without even stepping into a temple hall.

Ninna-ji contains the Omuro Palace that exemplifies the aristocratic lifestyle of former times. Covered corridors; fusuma paintings; ancient tea houses; gorgeous garden and exquisite view over pond and pagoda. Nearby is a grove of late flowering cherry blossom, named after the palace.

Daigo-ji too has an attractive villa named Sambon-in, though technically it’s a subtemple. The ruggedness of the garden reflects samurai values and is filled with rocks assembled by Hideyoshi from all over Japan. Nearby, within the precincts proper, is Kyoto’s most ancient pagoda and a picturesque Benten pond to which photographers throng in spring and autumn.

In addition to the man-made beauty both sites provide access to the wildness of the surrounds, where nature is augmented by a spiritual dimension. At Ninna-ji if you exit by the north-west gate, there is a miniature 88-temple pilgrimage which winds around a hill. And at Daigo-ji you can walk uphill for an hour from Lower Daigo to Upper Daigo, where a collection of ancient buildings has connections with Shugendo (mountain asceticism).

Those of us who live in Kyoto know that it would be well-nigh impossible to visit in their entirety all the gardens, temples, shrines, museums, villas, festivals and other items of interest with which the city is blessed. The historical associations and buildings which once housed the great figures of the past mean that Kyoto is far more than merely the proud possessor of 17 Unesco ‘properties’. It’s surely a World Heritage Site in itself!

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Text and pictures by John Dougill. John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks.

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Kyoto’s 17 World Heritage ‘properties’, in no particular order

ujigami 2 — Purification at Ujigami Shrine

– Kamigamo Shrine
– Shimogamo Shrine
– Toji Temple
– Kiyomizu Temple
– (Hieizan) Enryakuji Temple
– Daigoji Temple
– Ninnaji Temple
– Byodoin Temple
– Ujigami Shrine
– Kozanji Temple
– Kokedera/Moss Temple
– Tenryuji Temple
– Kinkakuji Temple/Golden Pavilion
– Ginkakuji Temple/Silver Pavilion
– Ryoanji Temple
– Nishi-Honganji Temple
– Nijo Castle

Kamogawa Musing – An Excerpt from Deep Kyoto Walks by John Dougill

July 2, 2014 By Michael Lambe

In this extract from Deep Kyoto: Walks, John Dougill walking by the Kamo River, the nature reserve that cuts through the heart of Kyoto, muses on history and literature…

Leisure activities on a cloudy day at the meeting of the Kamo and Takanogawa

“The flow of the river is ceaseless and its water is never the same. The bubbles that float in the pools, now vanishing, now forming, are not of long duration. So in the world are man and his dwellings.” – Kamo no Chomei in Hojoki (tr. Donald Keene)

Kyoto ranks among the world’s great cities. What other town can boast of 17 different World Heritage properties – and it could have been so many more! One only has to think of the places left out: Fushimi Inari, with its seductive tunnel of torii; Daitoku-ji, home to Zen and the making of tea; the Former Imperial Palace and detached villas, including the exquisite Katsura estate.

To live in such surrounds is to be blessed indeed. I’m reminded of this every single morning as I open my curtains to gaze onto the great Dai of Daimonji and the thirty-six peaks of the Eastern Hills. I live next to one World Heritage site (Shimogamo Shrine), and I work next to another (Nishi Hongan-ji). From my writing desk I look up towards holy Mt. Hiei, ‘mother of Japanese Buddhism’. Culturally, one could hardly ask for more; it’s like living in a treasure box.

Yet for me, Kyoto wouldn’t be the city I love unless it were for the life-sustaining river that runs through its heart, forming a sliver of greenery and wildlife within the concrete city. I walk the river almost every day, for I live next to the lower reaches of the Takano where it merges with the Kamo to flow southwards towards Osaka. Most days I walk down to the Starbucks at Sanjō (Third Avenue) to set up office in the basement, but today I’m heading all the way down to Shichijō (Seventh Avenue), before turning west along the thoroughfare to my university.

The walk offers ‘time out’ from the daily round of urban life, a place for solitary contemplation of the larger matters. Here the spirit swells and relaxes. Here the mind can think in centuries. Here immersed in the rus in urbe I lose myself in observation of the wild life and muse on the seasonal round. There are fish that flash silver in springtime, large funa that glide improbably in the shallow water, even the occasional carp let loose in the river water and looking lost.

But this is not so much a river of fish, as of birds. Birds that swoop, scavenge and shriek in sheer delight at the oasis of water and greenery. Kamogawa translates as Duck River, and along with the duck varieties are pigeons, sparrows, cormorants, herons, wagtails, egrets, hawks, Siberian seagulls, crows galore, even the occasional kingfisher. These are my companions on my solitary walks. And the wonder is that you get all this while passing through downtown Kyoto. It’s almost miraculous.

The things I’ve seen on these river banks. A trumpeter sounding the Last Post on one long blood-red sunset; the cherry blossom delight of merry picnickers stretching away into the northern hills; the sad, sorry sight of flooded cardboard boxes belonging to the homeless; hawks snatching rice balls out of the hands of the unsuspecting. Strangest of all, one January dusk I saw a group of people in the river immersed to their waists like frozen statues. A trick of the eyes? A joke? An art performance? No, it turned out to be a karate club performing winter austerity rites. Walking this river can be an education too.

For it’s not just wildlife that enjoys this strip of water and greenery – it’s a vital playground for humans too. This is where people take time out to stretch and play, eat their bento or strip off to sunbathe. Old folks do gateball, youngsters play American Football. This is where musicals are rehearsed, Noh verses recited, tunes learnt, haiku composed, and dogs walked by dogged owners. Foreigners practice tai chi here, prompting children to tug at their parents in wonder, while TV crews add Kyoto glamour to their documentaries and celebrities pose for fashion magazines.

For me personally, the pleasure of a city like Kyoto derives from the way physical space is enhanced by the patina of time. ‘No city or landscape is truly rich unless it has been given the quality of myth by writer, painter or by association with great events,’ wrote V.S. Naipaul. In this sense Kyoto is rich indeed, for every corner of every street is fraught with poetic or historic significance. Here passed a poet, here martyrs were sacrificed, and here stood the palace of a shogun.

This walk along the river is thus about much more than physical movement. It’s about the passage through time and how the past has shaped the present. And there’s a personal dimension too, for the surrounds give me pause to reflect on the curiosity of my own life. Kyoto was founded in 794, and as it happened I first came here to live in 1994. For the city, the 1200th anniversary was a cause for celebration; for me, it marked the beginning of a whole new era.

An egret rests on one-leg, determined not to stick its neck out.

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Text and photographs by John Dougill. To read the rest of John Dougill’s Kamogawa Musing, purchase your copy of Deep Kyoto: Walks.

About Deep Kyoto: Walks
Deep Kyoto: Walks is an independently produced anthology of meditative strolls, rambles, hikes and ambles around Japan’s ancient capital. All of the writers and artists involved in this project have lived and worked in Kyoto for many years and know it intimately. The book is in part a literary tribute to the city that they love and in part a tribute to the art of walking for its own sake. Deep Kyoto: Walks is available as a paperback or e-book from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.jp.

About John Dougill
John Dougill is the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, Japan’s World Heritage Sites and In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians. Born in the UK to a Czech mother and a Yorkshire Viking, he studied Russian and Slavic Studies at university. However, a lust for wandering took him to the Middle East, where he married a Yemeni, before travelling around the world for a year. He set up house in Oxford, but fate intervened to send him to Kanazawa where he was a lone gaijin on the backside of Japan, dreaming of one day teaching in Kyoto. Now he has to pinch himself every morning as he looks up from his bed at Daimonji. When not playing chess, writing haiku or walking along the Kamogawa, he works as professor of Cultural Studies at Ryukoku University.
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See also: Deep Kyoto Walks Movie: Kamogawa Musing with John Dougill

Furansisko no Ie

March 15, 2012 By Michael Lambe

十字架のある南蛮船 — Sword clasp at the Furansisko no Ie showing a Portuguese galleon bringing the European religion to Japan.

Here’s a new post from our good friend, John Dougill.

Near Shijo Omiya is a small museum called Furansisko no Ie. From the outside it’s unremarkable; inside is a small exhibition room with items from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They represent the time when Christianity first arrived in Japan, before falling into disfavour and being banned.

Hidden Christian lantern — One of several Hidden Christian stone lanterns found in Kyoto. This one at Furansisko no Ie has an image of Maria carved at the base which could be covered over with earth when not in use for worship.

What marks the museum out is its location, for the site is associated with one of the most dramatic events of the period: the crucifixion of the 26 Martyrs at Nagasaki in 1597.

Orasho — Prayers of the Hidden Christians, known as Orashio, which were kept secreted away.

The episode originated four years earlier, when the Spanish governor of the Philippines sent a delegation headed by a Franciscan friar. He petitioned Hideyoshi for permission to build a small monastery where the museum now stands. With three others he ran a hospital, and the charitable works soon resulted in converts. The surrounding area became known as ‘Dios machi’ for the number of Christians.

Maria Kannon, symbol of the Hidden Christians. On the surface a statue of Kannon, but to believers it represented Maria.

In 1596 a Spanish galleon named the San Felipe was shipwrecked off Shikoku and the cargo seized. The enraged pilot threatened the authorities by claiming missionaries in Japan were the advance guard of the Spanish king whose armies would colonize them, just as they had in S. America.

When news of this reached Hideyoshi, he ordered a round-up of Catholics and twenty-four Franciscans were seized in Kyoto and Osaka (Jesuits were spared for fear of disrupting the Portuguese trade). The ears of the captives were cut off and the prisoners publicly paraded, before being force-marched all the way to the Christian stronghold of Nagasaki. Two volunteers accompanying the men to give comfort were also arrested and added to the group.

Fumie — A 'stamping picture' (fumie) used by authorities to test for Christians. The idea was that believers would not deny Christ by treading on the icon. Hidden Christians, however, did.

At Nagasaki the 26 Martyrs were publicly crucified. Six were foreign priests (one was an unfortunate Mexican heading home from the Philippines aboard the San Felipe). The rest were Japanese laymen, the youngest of whom was just twelve years old.

Though Catholicism continued to be tolerated, it remained suspect and in 1614 came a nationwide ban. A period of persecution followed in which over 4000 are known to have died and many more subjected to horrendous torture. It drove the church underground, as described in Endo Shusaku’s novel, Silence.

During the age of isolation it was thought the religion had been eradicated. Only after 1865, with the return of foreign priests, was it realised that for seven generations pockets of Hidden Christians had handed down their beliefs in secret. It was an astonishing story, and one whose history is recorded in the artifacts of the Furansisko no Ie.

Hidden Christians at prayer in a secret attic room. (Exhibit at Rosario Museum in the Amakusa Islands)

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For details about Furansisko no Ie, see http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~christian/framet.html

Kasagake at Kamigamo on October 16th

October 13, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Deer-skinned horse riders deciding their turn by lottery

John Dougill writes,

There were traditionally three styles of horseback archery carried out for the entertainment of the kami. The most well-known is Yabusame, in which galloping riders shoot at a fixed target. Much rarer is Kasagake, to be performed this Sunday at Kamigamo Jinja. The other style involved firing at live dogs: thank goodness, it’s no longer practised.

There is mention of Kasagake being carried out at Kamigamo Shrine some eight hundred years ago. Previously it had simply been a martial art, designed to improve battle skills. Legend has it that it began with Emperor Jimmu who used his helmet as a target. It was adapted as a shrine entertainment, and then died out.

In 2004 Kamigamo revived the ritual, and it is carried out by the Takeda-ryu school of horseback archers. Among the riders are descendants of the Kamo clan, who settled the Kyoto basin in pre-Heian times. The event begins and ends with the banging of a drum, following which a procession of colourfully costumed officials gather for a purification ceremony. The head rider then performs a Heaven and Earth ritual, by circling his horse first to the left and then to the right to summon yin-yang forces, before aiming a symbolic arrow upwards and downwards to ward off evil spirits.

Opening ritual - shooting towards the ground

There are ten riders in all, separated into two groups. Unusually for such an event there are women riders and the order of the riders is decided by lottery. On the first run through the riders fire at three targets at shoulder height. On the return run they fire at two targets set near the ground. The number of hits is recorded and announced over the tannoy. Once the results are in, the best five are put through into a second round, when the targets get smaller. Amazingly, this means that at a fairly high speed they fire at something little bigger than a saucer.

As part of the shrine’s outreach to foreigners, it provides an English-language commentary along with the Japanese, performed by Inui Mitsutaka who worked for a while with the International Shinto Foundation in New York. There’s much here that tells of the values of Shinto. The celebration of tradition. The entertainment for ancestral deities. The treasuring of skill and precision. Confucian and Taoist influences are evident, while the white horse on display brings to mind the importance of the animal as an emissary of the kami. They say Buddhism in Japan is a religion of the living concerned with death. Shinto on the other hand focuses on dead spirits but is concerned with life. Here in the galloping horses is a case in point.

Sacred white horse at Kamigamo (only to be seen at festivals and holidays) — The sacred white horse at Kamigamo (only to be seen at festivals and holidays)

The festival begins at 13.00. Details about the shrine and how to reach it can be found here: http://www.kamigamojinja.jp/english/index.html

Tel 075-781-0011

Fax 075-702-6618

Nice short of video of it here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqoOEDyAvNM

Text and images by John Dougill.John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks. You can read his previous articles for Deep Kyoto here, and his blog Green Shinto at http://greenshinto.com/.

Karasu Sumo at Kamigamo Shrine on September 9

August 24, 2011 By Michael Lambe

John Dougill writes,

Priests hopping and cawing like crows. Seven year old kids doing sumo. What’s that all got to do with Shinto, you may wonder?

Kamigamo Jinja is Kyoto’s greenest shrine and probably the oldest. It was established by the Kamo clan long before Kammu founded the capital in 794. One of the clan, according to legend, helped guide Emperor Jimmu across Kii Hanto and was known as yatagarasu (the three-legged crow). Personally, I take this to mean he was a shaman of the Crow People, who settled in Kyoto after immigrating from Korea. Their descendants still live in the area around Kamigamo.

Preparing to Crow — Bowing to the sacred mounds

At the festival the priests sit in front of two mounds of earth, which represent the sacred hill onto which the shrine’s kami, Kamo Wake-ikazuchi, first descended. The hill, known as Koyama, lies north of the shrine and every year there is a secret ceremony there to reenact the shamanic rites of old.

But why are there two mounds? Interestingly, this recreates the two mounds that stand permanently inside the middle torii. Priests at the shrine say that they represent yin and yang, but they could well signify the theme of renewal in Shinto. At Ise, for instance, a new shrine is built adjacent to the old shrine for the kami to move into. Perhaps the two mounds here act in similar symbolic manner.

Parade of the sumo wrestlers — Parade of the (mini) sumo wrestlers

The day’s rituals start with the offering of chrysanthemum flowers at 10.00, following which participants proceed from the worship hall to the arena. A colourfully costumed young girl representing the historical saio (imperial princess) presides over events. The initial rites include the shooting of arrows to dispel evil spirits, after which two of the priests do their crow performance.

The climax is the children’s sumo, put on for the entertainment of the kami. There are two teams, and each boy gets to wrestle two times. The atmosphere can become quite heated, and the crowd usually gets behind the little toddler struggling against a bigger opponent. Cameras flash from all directions. By the end you may feel just as happy as the kami that this ancient tradition has been preserved so long.

Text and images by John Dougill. John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks. You can read his previous articles for Deep Kyoto here, and his blog Green Shinto at http://greenshinto.com/.

(For a video of the priests crowing, see http://chrenee.blogspot.com/2007/09/karasu-sumo-festival.html)

MITARASHI MATSURI

July 18, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Shimogamo Jinja July 21-24, from 5.30-22.30

John Dougill writes,

Hot, hot and humid! At this time of year you may feel all you want to do is wade through cold water. Well, that’s just what you get to do in the Mitarashi Festival at Shimogamo Shrine. Considering that it promises a disease-free year, particularly for your legs, then it’s easy to understand why the festival is so popular.

Purification is Shinto’s raison d’etre, and the festival can be seen as a mini-misogi (cold water austerity). The idea is that it removes impurities and restores you to full vitality. In Shinto terms it’s a cleansing of your soul-mirror so that it shines brightly once more.

The water comes out of an underground stream, which is why it’s icy cold and invigorating. Participants pay Y200 and get a candle with which to wade upstream and set before Inoue Shrine, dedicated to a purification kami. Thousands pass through the stream over the four days, with yukata and trousers hitched up for the knee-high water.

Afterwards you get to drink a cup of the purifying water. There are black stones available too from the bottom of the stream, which are said to have a special deterrent power for disease demons, particularly the one that causes temper tantrums in children. A suitable donation to the shrine is expected in exchange. On the way back, at the stalls in front of the shrine, you can get Mitarashi dango (dumplings said to resemble bubbles gushing up out of the water).

Shimogamo Jinja is a World Heritage Site and Kyoto’s premier ‘power spot’. This is a rare chance to see it lit up in spectacular fashion and in festive mode. Unlike the overcrowded Gion Festival, this is on a more manageable scale and reflects the community nature of Shinto. There’s little doubt about it: Mitarashi is the coolest festival in town!

John Dougill enjoys a seasonal stroll from Tambabashi to Fushimi

May 27, 2011 By Michael Lambe

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Kammu burial mound entrance with Hideyoshi's reconstructed castle in the background

A pleasant walk through woods and 1100 years of history? In Kyoto? Yes, it’s possible on the south-eastern edge if you walk between Tambabashi and Fushimi-Momoyama. It takes two hours and along the way are imperial tombs, Shinto shrines and an Edo-era escapade.

Kammu's mound — Paying respects at the Emperor Kammu's burial mound

Start from any of three Tambabashi stations (JR, Keihan or Kintetsu). Walk uphill for ten minutes and you’ll come to the tomb of Emperor Kammu (737-806), fiftieth in succession from the sun-goddess and the founder of Kyoto. The reconstructed tower of Hideyoshi’s Fushimi castle peers out from the trees behind. [Read more…]

A Kyoto New Year

December 24, 2010 By Michael Lambe

This will be the last post for the year as I am going home to the UK for Christmas and will be offline for an ENTIRE WEEK! Before I hand you over to John Dougill for the final word, let me wish you all a very merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. And for those who can’t bear to be without Deep Kyoto for a whole week, I have posted a list of categorised 2010 highlights here (click it! go on click it!) for your browsing pleasure. Now, over to John!

John Dougill writes…

Suddenly there are laughing voices, bright kimono, and gaudy lights. Aspiring yakuza sell candy floss and goldfish. Here all is jollity and smiles. ‘Akemashite gozaimasu’ rings out on every side. At the shrine people toss coins over the heads of those in front into the offertory boxes. With the blessing of the kami, this too will be a happy New Year. A happy Kyoto New Year!

John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks. You can read his previous articles for Deep Kyoto here. John will write again in a few days with some top tips for New Year’s Eve!

A Kyoto Christmas

December 20, 2010 By Michael Lambe

John Dougill writes…

Chion-in Pond — A garden pond at the back of Chion-in, Kyoto. *

Christmas in Japan comes with a difference. “Romantic Christmas Eve” means all the restaurants and love hotels are booked out: woe betide the man who doesn’t buy his loved one an expensive present. Yet the next morning everyone has to tramp off to work, for Christmas Day is no holiday. The birth of the emperor (December 23) takes precedence over the birth of Jesus. That means you get to do things at Christmas you could never do back home, such as go shopping, watch a film or even go to work.

Only about 1% of Japanese are Christian, yet with Christmas carols playing downtown, Christmas decorations on the houses, and Christmas cake in the coffee shops you could easily forget that Kyoto is the heartland of Japanese Buddhism. That’s why to get the real flavour of a Kyoto Christmas, it’s worth visiting Chion-in on December 25. There’s a ceremony that takes place in the enormous Founder’s Hall, which is quite an occasion. The full priestly hierarchy is on parade, with over a thousand people banging away on mokugyo (wooden drums).

The Foundation Hall stands on the very site where the Pure Land Sect founder, Honen {1133-1212), once preached. It houses a sacred image of him, which gets to be ceremonially cleaned on this special day. Like Jesus, Honen was the bearer of good news namely that a deity called Amida had vowed to save all who called on his name.

During the ceremony Honen’s statue gets treated with the kind of reverence normally reserved for mighty potentates and awesome deities. You’ve never seen a proper prostration until you witness just how the young priests approach the sacred statue. All the traits of the Japanese are on display: the attention to detail; the meticulousness; the studied formality; the love of ritual. It’s the religious equivalent of the Oscar-winning film Okuribito (Departures).

Afterwards take a wander round Chion-in. It’s got the largest main gate in Japan (as featured in The Last Samurai), and a massive seventy-ton bell that is rung in spectacular fashion at New Year. If you’re looking for a Christmas game, why not try hunting down the temple’s Seven Wonders? A corridor that squeaks like a nightingale; self-made coffins by the builders of the main gate; an umbrella in the rafters; sparrows that flew away from a painting; a cat that sees in three directions; a large rice paddle 2.5 meters long; a cucumber rock. And if all that’s not enough, you can visit the temple’s museum and the Hojo Garden, designated by Kyoto City as a famous scenic spot, no less. By the end of the day you’ll have had a Christmas with a difference. A Kyoto Christmas.

John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks. You can read his previous articles for Deep Kyoto here. John will write again in a few days with some top tips for New Year’s Eve!

For more about Chion-in, see http://www.chion-in.or.jp/e/index.html

For the Seven Wonders, see http://www.chion-in.or.jp/e/place_to_see/seven.html

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Image credits:

* This image from Wikipedia was released by its owner into the public domain.

** The second image is of Honen, founder of the Pure Land sect. This image from the Eikando website is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.

*** The third image is of the Sanmon gate at Chion-in. This image from Wikipedia is on a GFDL+creative commons2.5 license. Source: 663highland

KIRISHITAN KYOTO

September 29, 2010 By Michael Lambe

John Dougill writes…

In the heart of Kyoto there once stood a Southern Barbarian Temple (Nanban-ji). It was located not far from Rokkaku-do, the city’s belly button. The three-storey structure was built in 1576 and was an exotic addition to a city in the midst of revitalisation. For a while it was the height of fashion for the city’s leading figures to go visit the ‘temple’.

First Southern Barabarian Temple — The First Southern Barbarian Temple

How did it come about? The story begins in early 1551 with the first ever European to set foot in Kyoto the intrepid missionary Francis Xavier. To his dismay he found the city in ruins following a long period of civil strife and left after just ten days. But the Jesuits were determined to make a base in the capital, and eight years later came Father Vilela. Through dogged perseverance he built up a following.

In 1576, with the support of volunteers, the Jesuits were able to turn their humble altar into a proper church. Portuguese fashion was all the rage at the time, and some of the aristocracy had taken to wearing pantaloons and crosses. As a result the new church created a buzz of excitement and among the visitors was the country’s unifier, Nobunaga. Two of his sons took an interest in the religion, and one was later baptised.

It all came to a sorry end in 1587. In an angry outburst against the Jesuits’ military ties Hideyoshi issued an anti-Christian edict, and in the aftermath the church was demolished. Amazingly the Portuguese-made bell was somehow preserved and can still be seen at Shunko-in, a subtemple of the Zen monastery of Myoshin-ji. It bears the date 1577 and has an inscription in Latin.

Second Nanbanji — Second Nanban-ji (artist's impression)

Not long afterwards a second Nanban-dera arose in the city, following the arrival of the Franciscans in 1593. The newcomers had come from Manila and established a small monastery with hospitals and a church. Though the official name was Los Angeles, locals nicknamed it after the first church.

It lasted just four years, until Hideyoshi turned against the Franciscans as a fifth column for Spanish colonialism. A small museum now stands on the site.

A third Kyoto church was established on Motoseiganji from 1604-12, when the Tokugawa regime clamped down on the foreign faith.

元和クリシタン殉教の地 ~ “This is the spot of a Genna era Christian matyrdom”

It heralded an age of persecution, marked in Kyoto by the Great Martyrdom of 1619 when 52 people were burnt on the banks of the Kamogawa. Amongst the victims was Hashimoto Tecla, the only known pregnant martyr in Catholic history, who was burnt along with five of her six children. By 1639, with the age of isolation, Kyoto’s flirtation with Christianity was over. Not until 1873 was the religion allowed again.

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Nanbanji noticeboard — Click for a better image.

(The first and third Kirishitan churches are marked by noticeboards. The site of the second church is now the Furansisuko no Ie, which displays items related to Kyoto’s Kirishitan past. It is just to the west of Shijo Omiya, at Satakechou 388, Iwagamidori sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8391. Tel: 075-822-2397.)

Takigi Noh (Noh by Firelight)

May 24, 2010 By Michael Lambe

John Dougill writes…

For many people Noh is a turn-off. The plays have no conflict, no humour and no facial expression. Actors move at a snail’s pace, the language is arcane and the music archaic. To its detractors it’s simply an outmoded relic of medieval times. Noh way, Noh thank you.

There are regular performances in Kyoto, and if you attend you’ll find a good number of the audience asleep. One top performer told me he would do the same if he were watching rather than on stage! It’s very much an acquired taste, for knowledge is needed of the crafts and skills to truly appreciate them. The types of play and their ethereal nature, for example. The stately movement of the actors. The exquisite quality of the costumes. The almost sacred nature of the masks. The musical form. It’s an art form for connoisseurs.

Once a year, however, Kyoto offers an opportunity to enjoy Noh in a different light, when an outdoor show in the atmospheric surrounds of the Heian Shrine brings the plays to life in spectacular style. [Read more…]

Geisha Dance: Kamogawa Odori

April 30, 2010 By Michael Lambe

John Dougill writes…

Charlie Chaplin loved it, and so have thousands of others. The Kamogawa Odori is simply irresistible and a rare chance to see geisha perform in public. It helps make May the merriest month of the year.

Kyoto has five geisha areas in all, popularly known as ‘hanamachi’ or flower districts. Gion is the biggest and best-known; Pontocho which stages the Kamogawa Odori is the second biggest. The name is thought to derive from the Portuguese term for ‘point’ in reference to a prominent spur of land once visible in the Kamo River. The geisha first catered to businesses along the Takase Canal, and when the area was made safe from flooding in 1670 teashops sprang up in a narrow passageway between the canal and the Kamo River. It’s said that the well-known term ‘the water trade’ arose here from the geisha’s custom of attracting passing boatmen. The district was given formal recognition in 1813 and became one of the city’s most popular entertainment spots. Set in tiny alleyways, it still retains a distinctive feel even today. [Read more…]

Introducing John Dougill

April 29, 2010 By Michael Lambe

I am very happy to welcome a new regular contributor to Deep Kyoto: Mr. John Dougill.

Born in Yorkshire, John Dougill first came to Japan in 1986 and to Kyoto in 1994. He has taught in several universities but is now happily employed at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University as professor of British Studies. His fascinating book Kyoto: A Cultural History makes his love for the city clear.

In conversation he explained why he has made Kyoto his home: “It’s a city of one and half million people, full of cultural opportunities and historical associations, yet small enough to cycle around. Within 10 minutes I can be walking on a deeply wooded hill or looking at the bird life on the Kamo river”.

John Dougill is professor of British Studies at Kyoto’s Ryukoku University and the author of Kyoto: A Cultural History, In Search of the Hidden Christians, and Japan’s World Heritage Sites. He is also a contributor to our book, Deep Kyoto: Walks. Each month on Deep Kyoto he will be unveiling for us a little bit of the hidden knowledge he has about this great city’s cultural heritage.

His first post, on the Kamogawa Odori, will be posted tomorrow.

Related: My review of Kyoto: A Cultural History
See also John’s contribution to the Great Deep Kyoto Trivia Quiz posted yesterday!