出雲大社

As mentioned in our previous post, the Grand Shrine at Izumo enshrines the Shinto deity of marriage, Ōkuninushi and is therefore a very popular wedding venue. Couples visit to bind the ties of their relationship and young women visit in large numbers to pray and wish to find love. On most of the ema are written wishes to be married before early thirties, some much younger. These wooden boards are left in the shrine for the gods to receive and rather surprisingly, some people write their precise address, to be sure the gods know exactly where to send their granted wish!

The rice-straw rope hanging over the entrance of each building in this Shinto complex is called a shimenawa which literally means ‘enclosing rope’. Hanging also are the smaller, white paper zigzag streamers, called shide. Shimenawa indicate a sacred space and they are often used in purification ceremonies on a new building project, sometimes hang around certain trees or water springs although not on the scale of these at Izumo. The shimenawa hanging over the ceremony hall is the largest in Japan; remade every 3 years, and weighs around 5 tons. You might notice that there is now green netting over the ends of this one. This is to prevent the rather curious modern trend of people attempting to throw and stick coins into the straws, claiming that if the coin stuck, your wish would be granted. We got hit a few times by 100円 coins last time, so the netting was not unwelcome.

Izumo Noh Performance

Izumo-Taisha is one of the most significant Shinto shrines in Japan. It remains so highly respected not only because of its ancient spiritual connections to the creation of Japan itself, but also because of its devotion to the god Ōkuninushi, the Shinto deity of marriage (more about Izumo Grand Shrine in a separate post). We ourselves have treasured memories of this shrine, having welcomed-in 2010 with thousands of others, all gathered in the snow at midnight to pray for a happy new year to come.

As we approached the shrine this time, a traditional Noh (能) performance was being presented on a temporary stage in a clearing in the trees. Subtle and poetic, Noh plays were originally performed by Shinto priests to comfort the gods, which contrasts the more energetic, entertaining Kabuki (歌舞伎). It was hard for me to understand the detail of the stories being expressed of course but regardless, the rhythmic music and precise, elegant movements of the masked dancers, on the natural forest backdrop, was hypnotic; I couldn’t look away.

Shussai-gama, Tottori

We had been to Shussai-gama before on a previous trip to Shimane and actually bought a couple of very small ceramic items. This time we went specifically to see a small exhibition of Yanagi Sori and in the spirit of wabi sabi picked out a teapot with a slight bubble in the glaze, at a really good price. Wabi sabi comes from Buddhist teachings and is, put simply, beauty found in imperfection or incompleteness. As part of the exhibition, they were showing the techniques used to produce our teapot in a short video and I was fascinated because I had never seen a ceramic item cast in a mold before. I think the result is a nice aesthetic blend of industrial and hand-made. More about this teapot soon as it is still making its way to London (with a few other ceramic items picked out from Shussai-gama. Along with a different teapot, made of iron!).

While we had visited the shop and cafe before, we had never ventured next-door, into the workshops and kiln areas where the products are brought to life by an incredible team of master-potters. It was exciting to walk between the bamboo racks of works in progress, and really interesting to watch people, in their own perfectly formed work-spaces, creating such elegant forms with such ease. In design you often read about ‘perfection through repetition’ and this is most evident in this kind of workshop. If you think about the 10,000 hour rule (they say it takes 10 years of practicing 3 hours a day to become a master in your subject), these guys must far far exceed this level and it shows in the way they work, and in the end results.

Gessho-ji

When we told Atsuko’s niece and nephew that we were going to see the Gessho-ji temple, they were quite afraid. The original 1664 temple building has been dismantled now but nine generations of family graves of the Matsudaira clan remain. I think children in the area are a little scared simply of the graves but also of the legendary stone turtle, at the base of one gravestone, that is said to wander the grounds and drink from the ponds at night.

Each grave plot is guarded by rows of stone lanterns and has its own intricately carved entrance structure. Even among the exceptional levels of skill found in Japan, some of these gates are beyond comprehension. The patterns and family kamon are so detailed and considering some are over 300 years old, they are still in remarkable condition. Far from these being a frightening experience, we deeply enjoyed walking the grounds after a light rain-shower. The frogs were all around us, croaking to almost deafening levels; we didn’t see a single one however. After the walk, we enjoyed green tea sat for ages chatting in front of a beautiful garden.

Matsue History Museum

The last couple of times that we were in Matsue, we had one eye on an interesting construction project very close to the amazing castle in the centre of town. This time around, the building was complete so we were able to visit and explore the Matsue History Museum and learn more about the origins of the town.

It was Golden Week in Japan while we were in Shimane and so most people were off work celebrating various holidays, one of which being Kodomo-no-hi on the 5th May. The tradition on Children’s Day is to fly fish kites above your house, each kite representing a member of the family. Not only did the history museum have these koinobori flying, but they had live music and green tea in the gardens, served by some very elegant ladies wearing kimono.

Inside a skilled sweet-maker was giving demonstrations of his intricate work and selling fish-shaped sweets among many other amazing creations. Wherever we are in Shimane, we come across fantastic crafts and skilled hands in abundance…

ただいま

After a very long journey: changing flights in Amsterdam; landing in Narita and immediately heading across Tokyo to Haneda airport; we finally landed in Izumo and happily went to sleep at the family home in Matsue more than 36 hours after we left London.

Waking early in Matsue, it was wonderful to go back and walk the edge of Shinjiko Lake. Watching the fishing boats has an extraordinarily calming effect on us both; looking out across the water made us feel as though we were finally ‘home’. The boats go out each morning but can work until only 10am, so you have to catch them early. They collect Shijimi clam shells, used in a regional speciality, a soup popular across the whole of Japan. Fishermen use long poles to reach from their boats, deep into the water. Some men fish the shallower parts, actually working in the water, sometimes on stilt-like frames attached to their feet.

We’ve spoken about the fishermen before here, but there is such an atmosphere around Shinjiko, with the light constantly changing the colours of the water and surrounding mountains, I doubt I will never tire of photographing this beautiful lake…

Japan, Naturally

Apologies for the relatively long period of inactivity and silence here; we’ve just arrived back in London after a fantastic break in Japan and have so much to show you. Over the next few days/weeks we will be posting some of the photographs from our time in Shimane and Tokyo…

It was a really nice holiday spent with family and friends and with the weather mostly very nice, we were out and exploring most days.

Hypnagogia

Another example of a street artist’s work moving into the galleries… ROA’s beautifully detailed paintings are on display in the StolenSpace gallery near the Truman Brewery buildings. He often paints large animals in the streets: the large squirrel on Redchurch street, the sleeping pig on Bacon Street and the massive crane on Hanbury street that you can just about see in our previous post.

In the gallery, things got even more interesting though. He had painted cupboards and cabinets so that opening and closing the doors revealed and covered layers of the animals anatomy. It was like a street-art dissection… very clever with beautiful results.

Three Faces

Just off Brick Lane, on Hanbury Street, is a wall that has attracted some amazing artists over the last few years and it usually has something a little bit special painted on its surface. Currently there is work by Ben Slow showing 2 angered faces of the EDL and Al-Qaeda, that is generating much discussion on the street.

If you look carefully though, there is a third face; a girl (by C215) hidden in the doorway, whose warmth beautifully contrasts the cold aggression of the other two.

The skill shown in much of the street art going on in London these days is unquestionable. As confirmation of this fact, there’s a massive rise in the number of street-art-tours across London and the east areas especially, we saw a few huge groups walking around en-mass. I can’t imagine why you would want to see this public art with a gang of others, nor why you would want to pay anyone to show it to you but hey, that’s just me.

Walk Stik

Had quite a long wait to get into the Imitate Modern Gallery this afternoon, but those lucky enough to be the first 25 in line had been waiting much much longer. Those that queued from around 11am were able to buy a strictly limited hand-pulled, 3 colour screen print when the gallery finally opened at 6.30pm. I couldn’t help but think those carrying tubes out of the gallery had already made quite a reasonable investment.

We have come across Stik’s charming figures while walking in East London and have been interested to watch as this street artist, once homeless, has grown and grown in popularity. The works on show tonight, in a packed gallery in W1, seemed extremely good value when you consider how many people queued in the rain for the chance to buy. Each work was around the 4k mark, and when I finally got in, only 30 minutes after the doors opened, absolutely everything was sold.