Japanorama

Matt, Keiko and Emi’s 2007 adventure.

At the end of January, after a relaxing period of preparation, Matt, Keiko and Emi set off on a tour of their ancestral sites. This is a stimulating account of their experience(s).

Tradition seeps into our bones

In Japan you are contantly tripping over some traditional thing that's lying about. It's very beautiful. If a day were to pass and we had not seen someone in a kimono we would be flummoxed.

Kyoto is crammed with traditional stuff. Jam packed. Pick a train carriage, any train carriage, look - there's a flock of kimono wearing ladies, and some fashionable young girls over there - and sitting over there - under that advert for a mobile phone range in Pantone colours - a funky young fellow all kimonoed and wooden sandalled up.

Two incentives: you can currently travel free if you are thusly attired and wearing a kimono makes you look very, very handsome.

Here are some of the dolls.

The Geisha was kind enough to let us take this picture.

The man in the background is not at all traditional. I thought at the time that he was, because he had a codpiece, but I was wrong.

Here is a traditional giant omochi (rice cake). You make them by bashing sticky rice until it gives up. This unusually enormous one is at a temple called Daigoji and is part of a feast of ceremonies, including the open-to-all contest of lifting the giant omochi.

The temple sits in spacious grounds in a wood. Large cauldrens stuffed with incense sticks and big bonfires filled the chilly air with smoke. Thousands of punters (religion is big business) mingled with hundreds of colourfully costumed monks and helpers. Chants and music competed with the amusing monk on the mike at the omichi lifting stage.

There are two weights of giant omochi, 95kg for women, 150kg for men.

This man almost bust his guts - but couldn't lift it. He got a big cheer because he was by no means a young man.

This man showed how to do it (sit back with it in your lap). Easy - providing you are very, very strong. We think he had to keep it off the ground for twelve minutes.

The lifting was only part of the reason that thousands of people were there. All around the temple grounds other rituals were taking place. Bhuddist ceremonies, prayers, offerings and lots of food (of course) and traditional (of course) stuff for sale.

Have a look at a small (400k) movie of a ceremony that for hundreds of people was the main attraction.

Another day, another feast of ancient tradition. This is at a shrine called Heianjingu.

Shrines are Shinto holy places, temples are Buddhist.

Here's a ninja killing a different ninja (not actually killing - it's just make-believe).

This is a man selling toad oil which, evidently, will cure pretty much everything, including quite major wounds.

We loved him.

Nara is a city that's famous for the deer that live there. They are called shika, they are traditional deer.

Nara became the first permanent capital of Japan in 710 and many beautiful and enormous old buildings still exist today.

Some of them are a bit scary. Here's a video of us scared.

Behind this shika is a giant wooden gate leading to the largest wooden structure in the world, Todai-ji Temple, which contains the spectacularly beautiful (and enormous) bronze sculpture of Buddha.

Back in Kyoto, at a large market in Toji Temple, for one thousand years one of Japan's main Buddhist temples, we were bustled aside by polite security guards to clear a path for these monks.

The market is fantastic, new and old (and traditional) kimono, food (mostly new), pottery, porn, craft, pine branches (and other religious acoutrements) and lots of antiques. It is always very crowded, millions of locals, hundreds of filthy tourists. The last time we went I travelled in the dazed wake of a tiny, stooped old lady hacking her way through the throng by crashing her cart / walker into any ankles ahead.

The reaction of each of the many victims was always the same, agonised shudder (some yelping), jerked turn of the head, confusion, lowering of gaze to see culprit, expression combining anger, pain, amusement and deference, then the victim would quickly move to let her pass.

Just after that we had some takoyaki with Magic Five mayonnaise, which squirts five magic lines of creamy tradition onto tasty fried food.

This is an Am Pam Man bun.

Coming soon : AMUSEMENTS!