Last week the group met with the Osaka Prefectural Governor's office, and also with Kunio Hiramatsu, Mayor of Osaka, who graciously spent about an hour with us in his office. One of his staff, Asuka Shinagawa, will be traveling to Austin in a few days on the opposite side of the Group Study Exchange-- hopefully we'll have a chance to meet up with her back home.
After a lunch meeting, we went to a dojo adjacent to Osaka Castle, where we were treated to an iai-do demonstration. Iai-do is the art of the "quick draw," though here it's a katana (sword) rather than a six-shooter. Iai is considered to be a defensive art, and is only employed when under attack. The samurai trained to parry a blow and counterattack while seated, standing or walking.
The counterattack involves an upward- or downward-sweeping motion (or a thrust of the sword if in close quarters) designed to cut through the shoulder and spine of the attacker. Upon completion of the lethal blow, the samurai would quickly draw the blade free in a sweeping motion to shake the blood off, before wiping the sword and returning it to the sheath.
We were able to examine and handle two katana and a tantou (short sword). The tantou was typically worn by the samurai for two reasons only: for pride (decoration), and to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) upon failure.
Seppuku involved self-disembowelment, with a fellow samurai completing the act by beheading the disgraced samurai. The swords were amazing-- one katana was 400 years old and had been used numerous times in battle, as evidenced by some minor marks and the thinness of the blade from reworking it.
The next day was a vocational day. Kasey, Bryan and I were taken to see the Umeda Sky Building, a "super high-rise" that is formed by two connected skyscrapers with a "floating garden observatory" at the intersection 173 meters above the ground. During construction, the sky garden was lifted up in between the two skyscrapers at a rate of 35cm per minute, reaching the top in around 7 hours.
I took a photo of Bryan and Kasey on their prom date...
In the afternoon, we took a long bus ride to Mt. Koyasan, the site of the Okunoin temple, where Kobo Daishi (the founder of the Shingon Buddhist sect) is enshrined. Okunoin is surrounded by Japan's largest graveyards, and is considered one of the most sacred sites in Japan. Unfortunately, the bus ride was so long that we didn't have much time to visit the temple.
The walk to the temple is lined with the grave markers of feudal lords, politicians, and corporate commemorative headstones (?!).
That evening I went to an izakaya with Ohmichi-san and Makoto to drink and dine with Ohmichi-san's office staff. Izakaya are small Japanese bars, usually with room for no more than a dozen or so customers. Cooking is generally done right behind the bar; the food is typically relatively inexpensive. Izakaya are great neighborhood spots, and a lot of fun. Makoto taught me some good Osaka-ben (Osaka dialect) and my exclamation of "Umai wa kore, yamerarehen!" got some good laughs.
We mostly ate yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers) but most of it was parts that Americans wouldn't recognize: skin, gizzards, and other "expensive parts" (as Makoto put it). A lot of fun...
Haiku #12
geta on white stone
clip-clop sound of walking monk
swish of saffron robes
No comments:
Post a Comment