Attention Canadians Abroad 海外に住んでいるカナダ人へのお知らせ

Election time! 選挙だ！

Various Shrines and Temples 異なる神社と寺

I was coming back from a school I dislike (although I actually had a good day there, so perhaps my opinion will change) a bit early, so I had time to explore. I saw this massive temple gate from the main road, so I went up to it to have a look. Apparently it was rebuilt a few years ago. I didn't go into the temple itself, though. To speak truthfully, I don't like temples. I much prefer shrines.
あまり好きじゃな い学校から（でも実は良い日を過ごしたので意見が変わるかも）普通より早く帰ってたので探検する時間が有った。道からこの寺の大門を覗い てちょっと見に行った。なんか何年前に再建された。寺の中に入らなかったけどさ。実は、寺はあまり好きじゃない。神社はもっともっと好き。

Inside both ... pillars? of the gate, there are Buddhist saints/gods to protect the interior. This guy might be Niou, the Benevolent King, making a scary face to prevent evil spirits from entering.
大門の・・・柱？の中に域内を守る為の仏教の聖人・神の木像がある。悪い神が入らないように怖い顔をやっている木像は仁王かもしれない。

Damned if I know where it comes from (possibly mountain streams that were concreted over in the name of progress), but water tends to flow down these ditches.
どこから来るか全く知らぬ（進展の名でコンクリートされた沢）が、水がこんな溝に流れるのは普通だ。

This particular one was very steep, and the water was rushing very fast.
この溝はとても険しいので水が早く流れた。

As the sun began to set, I entered the precincts of a shrine.
日没が始まる時に神社の域に入った。

I wasn't sure what the shrine was dedicated to. A mountain god, perhaps?
この神社は何を献納・奉納していたか分からなかった。山神かな？

Or perhaps snakes?
それとも蛇？

I would probably find my answer at the top.
山頂で答えが見つかれるかな。

Imagine my surprise when I found this giant main building at the top! There was even a Shinto priest there, dressed in robes of white and purple, who happily told me that the shrine had been here for about six hundred years, although the main shrine of which this was just a division, had been founded by the Fifteenth Emperor, Oujin. The priest also used the Imperial Year dating system (counting years from the traditional founding of Japan by Emperor Jinmu; Imperial Year 2600 was in 1940.) when he told me this. Cool. After seeing the previous signs on the way up the hill, I asked what god the shrine was dedicated to. He laughed and said all of them. It's all under Amaterasu's dominion anyway.
山頂に着いてこんなに大きな宮が在るを見ると驚いた！ 白と紫の袴を着ている神官がこの八幡神社が六百年前ぐらい建てたけど、本宮は第十五天皇の応神天皇に設定されたと喜んで教えた。神官さんも皇紀年齢制度を使っていた。凄い。坂を上りながら色んな神の看板を見たから神官さんにどっちの神が奉納されていると尋ねた。笑って「八百万」と答えた。全部は天照大御神の領域だから問題はない。

Biking back to the Board of Education, I saw this sign. Sounds like a 50's horror movie of sorts.
教育委員会に戻りながらこの看板を見た。なんか五十年代の恐怖映画みたいね。

A few days ago there was an International Thing at the place I teach English at on Monday night. It was designed to Teach Japanese Culture to the Foreigners, and consisted mostly of Brazilians. Omar, Joshua and I also participated, making pottery where I attempted to create a teacup that would fall within the Wabi style.
先日は国際な故事が僕が月曜日に英語を教える市立館で行った。「外国人に日本文化を教える」為の会だったしブラジル人が一杯来た。オーマーとジョシュアも参加した。朕は陶芸会で侘び式の茶碗を作ってみた。

There was also some shodou (yay!), where everyone wrote Harmony, but I, with imperial ambitions, wrote Country. The funny thing is, I kept on switching between pronunciations, alternating between kuni and koku but mostly using guo.　
書道会（やった！）も有った。皆が「和」を書いたけど、帝国的な大望を持っている朕が「國」を書いた。変な処は、異なる発音を使って、くに、コク、そして大体中国語の「グヮオ」を使っていた。

I also met the Chinese teacher, a naturalised Chinese woman whose classes I wish I could take, but they always occur on days when I am busy. The Japanese girls also dressed up in Chinawear. Here Omar works his magic.
帰化した元中国人の中国語先生に会った。先生の授業に入りたいけどいつも忙しい日に起こる。日本人の美人達も中国服を着た。この写真でオーマーが彼の魅力な魔法を使う。

The next day we all went to karaoke. For some reason I think Chibi Aya (right) looks like a fish with that face.
次の日はカラオケに行った。不明な理由でちび亜矢がその顔で魚みたいと思う。

Of course, when no-one suspected, Omar went at it again.
勿論、誰もが期待しない時に、オーマーがもう一回魔法を使った。

On the road to the Board of Education, I found another kura abandoned in the woods, next to a rice field. I wonder who owns it; I'd love to take a look inside.
また教育委員会行きの道に田圃の隣に捨てられた庫を見つけた。誰かがこれを持っているかな。中に入ってみたい。

Usually I pass by this pillar, but that day I had time and decided to explore. I went onto a small road and attempted to find the Kashihara Shrine that this pillar points the way to.
普通はこの柱を無視して行くけど、その日は時間あったので探検しようと決めた。小さな路に入って橿原（かしはら）神社の参道の路を沿った。

After a short jaunt I found it.
短い旅の後で見つけた。

Inside, there were cute instructions on washing your hands.
中には可愛い手洗い・清める説明が書いてあった。

The basin had a dragon perched on top spewing water, akin to The Hall of Two Moons in Nara.
水盤の上に龍がひょいと座って口から水を吐いていた。奈良の東大寺の二月堂みたい。

While I was looking at the giant stone pillar celebrating Amaterasu, who should appear but the same Shinto priest from Hachiman Jinja! Just a quick hello this time though.
この天照大御神を祭っている巨石柱を見ながら、八幡神社の同じ神官さんが出た！今回は急ぎ挨拶だけだったけど。

In front of the bell at the main shrine were instructions on proper praying. Turns out I've been doing it wrong the whole time.
鈴の前に正しい祈り方の説明が書いてあった。今までは違う方をやりそうだった・・・

One cool thing I found in the shrine (partly because there was nobody there to stop me) was a god village. Anyone remember Spirited Away? God houses ... Cool. Must be fun at night.
神社の中で一つ格好良い物を見つけた（僕を止めさせる人は居なかったかな？）。それは神の村だった。誰かが千と千尋の神隠し？神の家・・・凄い。夜は楽しそうだね。

I found this statue hidden behind some leaves. I wonder what god/saint it is?
葉の奥にこの石像は隠れていた。どっちの神・聖人かな？

Apparently Emperor Meiji visited here a long time ago, and there are lots of stone markers strewn about. This one celebrates the 2600th Imperial Year.
なんか昔に明治天皇がこのに来たそうだ。色んな石柱が立っている。これは皇紀２６００年を祝う。

Having seen all there was to see, I left the shrine and continued to the Board of Education. Along the way I found more stones. Graves or gods? Who knows.
見える物を全部見てから神社を出て教育委員会に行き続けた。行きながら石をもっと見つけた。墓か神？誰も知らぬ。

I've been reading a lot of Ranma recently. Gotta love Shanpu.
最近は乱馬をよく読んでいる。珊璞を愛しなくちゃならぬ。

I went to one school and saw that the fifth graders had put portraits of themselves up on the wall, much like I did in Grade 5. Except that they are much much better.
或る学校で五年生が自分が描いた絵を壁に貼った。僕も五年生の頃にこんな事をやっていた。しかし、日本人の方は目茶上手い。

I then fulfilled my promise of getting a Chinese textbook for a student at a school with a Chinese friend. It's pretty cute. Unfortunately it uses katakana, but since the pinyin is also written I hope she will learn it the correct way.
それからは中国人の友達がいる小学生に教科書を上げるよの約束を守った。結構可愛いね。但し、片仮名を使っちゃうので駄目だな・・・でも、ピンインも使うので正しい方で習うと望む。

And I cleaned the apartment.
そしてアパートの掃除をした。

Buddhist Caves 仏教の洞窟の跡

On Saturday, I went with Liz and Kira to Matsushima, an area of Sendai that was called one of Japan's three most beautiful places by the great poet Basho. To get there we rode a train, and I instantly felt like I was back in Tokyo, with the blue-striped JR train coming by ... just like the Keihin-Tohoku line.
土曜日はリズとキラと一緒に芭蕉が日本の三つ一番綺麗な場所の一つと言った仙台の地域の松島に行った。その為に電車に乗って、なんか青空色の列車を見ると丸で又東京に居る感じが出た。京浜東北線の電車の色と一緒の・・・凄く懐かしい。

Before going to Matsushima, however, we stopped at a place called Shiogama (salt pot). There, we went in search of a hill fort but found a huge shrine instead.
松島に行く前に塩釜という所に行った。それで坂城を探しに行ったけどでかい神社を見つけた。

An amusing sign on the road to the shrine. It says "No throwing away cats! We are watching you!".
神社行きの路に貼ってある看板。

There was a holy horse near the main entrance of the shrine! Kira proceeded to feed it carrots. 聖馬が神社の中央口に居た！キラがにんじんを食べさせた。

A sign promoting Shichi-Go-San.
七五三をお勧めしている看板。

A creepy-looking lantern.
何か奇怪っぽいな灯。

This picture turned out nice, didn't it? Kind of like a postcard. Very Japanese.
この写真はよく撮られたね！葉書みたいでしょう。とっても日本っぽい。

So eventually we left the shrine and took the ferry to Matsushima, which isn't one island but a bunch of small ones.
結局その神社を出て松島まで路船に乗った。

One island that we visited (there are bridges at the terminal port) had apparently been the site of a Buddhist temple. As such, there were lots of caves and ruins.
朕們が行った島の一つ（橋はある）は多分お寺の域だったと想う。それで、色んな洞窟と跡が在る。

This particular cave is actually a well, which made an odd sound when I dropped a coin into it. Maybe there's a bell at the bottom?
実はこの洞窟は井戸だ。硬貨を落として不思議な音が出た。底に鈴があるか？

The Light of Buddha.
仏陀の光。











These are pictures of the various statues and caves that make up the temple complex. 寺域で在る様々な石像と洞窟の写真だ。

Buddha's light shines on Liz.
仏陀の光がリズを輝かせる。

The girls ponder the meaning of life.
命の意味を考えている二人の娘等。

The cliffs of the island.
島の岸壁。

Somebody stuffed daruma into this crack in the stone.
岩の穴に誰かが達磨を入れた。

On our way back to the station we found another (lively) temple complex, but as it was getting late and there was an entrance fee we opted to do it another day.
駅に戻りながらもう一つの寺域を見つけたけど、段々暗くなっていたし入金は必要だったので他の日にしようと決めた。

Outside of Sendai Station there were a bunch of girls dancing! The weird thing is ... they were Japanese ... yet they could dance!
仙台駅の外で女性団体が踊っていた！変な点は・・・日本人だったのに・・・踊れた！

The day finished up with dinner at Sukiya and viewing a ganguro.
すき屋で夕飯を食べて顔黒を観て日が終わった。