Around the World - Column by Jennifer Merin

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Around the World: Japan is Seeking Tradition, Not Toyota

Jennifer Merin

Japan--the proud homeland of Sony, Sanyo, Subaru, Toshiba, Toyota and other brands that so epitomize contemporary convenience technology--is a thoroughly modern country with high rise office and residential towers, streamlined bullet trains and subways, immense computer centers for work and gaming, and factories that are almost entirely automated.

Japan’s urban lifestyle is fast paced and trendy, shops carry the latest fashions and consumer goods, toilet seats are automatically heated and sanitized, athletic options include cyber baseball and golf and there are computerized pets.

In fact, Japan’s is so cutting edge in so many ways that most people--including the Japanese themselves--tend to overlook traditional arts and attitudes that were once the core values of Japanese culture. What’s become of the tea ceremony and flower arranging? Truth is, they--and the other traditional customs and arts--are becoming harder and harder to find, especially in their authentic practice.

If you’re seeking an authentic traditional Japanese experience--one well worth having--look to Gifu, the rural prefecture and small, centrally located city that serves as its county seat, that has taken up what is described as the “Slow Life City Initiative,” or what we might call the ongoing celebration of a “let’s stop to smell the roses” way of life and philosophy.

Gifu, which has become (ironically, perhaps) a burb of Nagoya--the bustling city where Toyota and other international companies are headquartered--is deliberately boosting ‘slow’ in all aspects of its lifestyle. First, there‘s slow food, which calls for use of local produce for traditional artisanal cuisine. Next there is slow industry, which means the promotion of traditional artisanal merchandise, ranging from textiles to Mino washi (handmade paper), umbrellas, fans and lanterns, and other such items. Slow education encourages people to pursue personal quality of life pleasures such as the tea ceremony and flower arranging, literature and calligraphy, and all the other traditional arts and skills, and taking time to simply enjoy life.

Finally, there is slow tourism--a very good thing for those of us who must or should switch, at least for a little while, from speed walking to strolling.

Gifu offers plenty of opportunities to stroll. Or, if you‘re going a bit further a field, to bike.

One of the best strolling sites is Gifu Park, landscaped with cherry trees, wisteria vines, ponds and waterfalls in shaded glens. The park also features several stroll-worthy museums. Start with the Gifu City Museum of History for a good backgrounder on the area’s past, presenting artifacts from ancient settlements and from the Sengoku period, a time during which the powerful Saito Dosan began his quest to unify Japan.

At the nearby Eizo & Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum, you’ll find the works of the famous Gifu-born artists Eizo and Toichi Kato, brothers whose works feature the Nagara River and the cormorant fishing tradition, which is still practiced today.

Also located in Gifu Park is the Nawa Insect Museum. Founded by Japan’s ‘Insect Man,’ Yasushi Nawa, in 1919, it offers a fascinating and quirky up close and personal look at the lives of insects.

Gifu Castle Archive Museum, a repository for important historical documents and other artifacts, is next to ancient Gifu Castle (Saito Dosan, mentioned above, was one of its first residents), perched atop Mount Kinka, which borders Gifu Park, overlooking the Nagara River. Mount Kinka’s many hiking trails afford magnificent views of the city.

Other museums worth visiting are Yanaizu Folklore Museum (a branch of the Museum of History), Gifu City Science Museum with its planetarium and rooftop observatory, and the Museum of Fine Arts which exhibits works of local and international artists.

Other ‘slow’ environments include Bairin Park, landscaped with some 50 types of plum trees which bloom in an array of colors ranging from white to a dark purple-like pink, and Nagaragawa Onsen, a collection of healthful hot springs and inns located along the Nagara River.

Festivals are held to celebrate Gifu’s traditions and the slow life, and several excellent fetes take place in August: At the Tehikara Fire Festival, celebrants gather at Nagara River Park to watch scantily clad men carrying shrines, ringing bells and settin off fireworks. Later in August, Takigi Noh, a traditional form of Japanese theater, is staged outdoors on the banks of the Nagara River, lit by bonfires and the fires of traditional cormorant fishing boats. And the Nagara River National Fireworks Display, held the first Saturday in August, sets off some 30,000 pyrotechnic devices.

Historic castles, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples abound. There are great stories attached to each, and you can learn all about them from local guides or guidebooks. But just for example of what you have in store: the famous Inaba, Kogane and Kashimori Shrines are considered to be a family of shrines because, according to local belief, the Inishiki Irihiko-no-mikoto god at Inaba Shrine is married to the Nunoshi Hime-mikoto goddess at Kogane Shrine, and together they are the parents of the Ichihaya-no-mikoto God at Kashimori Shrine. Got that?

At Shoho-ji, a Buddhist temple surrounded by exquisite gardens replete with a lovely tea house, you’ll find the Gifu Great Buddha, one of the largest Buddha images in Japan. The dry lacquered statue is about 45 feet tall. During the Edo period, it took 38 ‘slow’ years to build it.

One of the most traditional aspects of Gifu’s ‘slow’ lifestyle is cormorant fishing, a unique combination of ancient ritual, business enterprise and spectator sport. Basically, the fishermen harness cormorants to catch fish--primarily ayu (sweetfish), a staple in Gifu cuisine.

Controlled by ropes, the birds catch and can hold up to six fish in their beaks. A collar placed around their necks prevents them from swallowing the sizeable fish, which they drop when they return to the fisherman‘s boat.

Cormorant fishing is done at night. Activities begin with a short fireworks display, then six fishing boats progress one by one down the river. The fishermen draw lots to see who’s going first. Each fisherman manages about a dozen birds, and each boat has a light at its front attract fish, and fishermen bang the sides of their boats to activate their birds. As the evening progresses, the six boats draw up side by side and continue down river in a special formation that‘s part of the age old tradition.

Cormorant fishing originated some 1300 years ago as a means for local folk to feed their families. As fishermen acquired greater skill, harvesting ayu developed into a substantial industry. The fish were sent to other prefectures and cities. Eventually fishermen, known as usho, were granted the title of “Cormorant Fisherman of the Imperial Household Agency,” a hereditary post that’s passed from father to son.

To this date, the first fish caught during the annual five month fishing season are sent to the Imperial Household. As result of the Emperor’s interest in cormorant fishing, the Nagara River is protected and kept pollution-free.

You can watch from the river banks, or hire small excursion boats so you can watch from the water. It’s a fascinating spectacle, so take your time to savor and digest it--slowly.

For more information, browse the Japan National Tourist Organizations Website at www.jnto.go.jp.

Copyright 2008 Jennifer Merin

This news arrived on: 06/17/2008

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