Ise Jingu Naiku

After visiting Geku, I continued on to Naiku. (If you are thinking about visiting, there is a bus you can take, but I decided to walk). Naiku is the inner shrine of the Ise Grand Shrine and is dedicated to the supreme guardian deity of the Japanese.

"A sacred world unfolds after you cross the Ujibashi Bridge." (from the tourist brochure)

As at Geku, the trees were giants.

It was a very peaceful day. I didn't have to understand the Shinto religion.  I could be alone among the many people and just enjoy the tranquility and the beautiful location.

Ise Jingu - Geku

Ise Jingu is considered the most sacred shinto place in Japan.  It is made up of the outer shrine (Geku) and the inner shrine (Naiku). Geku is dedicated to the Shinto deity of clothing, food, and housing.

This is Goshoden, the main sanctuary.  Photos are not allowed inside.

The trees here are huge!

The stable had a real horse.

After visiting Geku, I walked to the inner shrine, Naiku.  (Come back tomorrow for more of the story.)

Hawaian Festival

It seems like there is always a festival somewhere. When I got off the train in Toyohashi, there was a street full of Hawaian dancers and music and flowers and food.

I love living in Japan!

Noh Performance at the Hagoromo Matsuri

Every year at the beginning of October, the Hagoromo Festival is held at Miho Matsubara in Shimizu. I was excited about going to see the Noh Performance at the festival this year with three friends. Usually the performance is held at the beach at Miho Matsubara, near Mount Fuji, but this year rainy weather forced the perfomance to move to an indoor venue near the train station.  We were disappointed not to be at the beach for the performance, but maybe we can go another year.

Hagoromo means garment or veil.  The legend is that a fisherman named Hakuryo found a beautiful robe hanging on a pine branch in the Miho Pine Grove.  He was about to take it away when a heavenly maiden appeared and asked him to return the "hagoromo" to her. The fisherman insisted on keeping it because he had found it. She cried in despair, saying she could not return to heaven without it.  The fisherman agreed to return it to her on the condition that he could see her dance the Celestial Dance wearing the robe.  The heavenly maiden agreed and danced for him, but then vanished into a mist when her dance was finished. 

(photo from the internet)

My friend bought our tickets early and was able to get us in the eighth row. Photos were not allowed during the performance, but I did take a few of the stage before it began.  

The performance used an ancient form of Japanese that even my Japanese friends did not understand. We knew the story behind the performance, so it was okay that we didn't understand the words.

Work In Progress Wednesday - Mostly Kogin Progress

This week I picked up the chicken scratch and after only a few stitches, noticed a mistake.  

I promptly put that away and picked up the kogin. It's hard to tell from one photo to the next that I've made any progress, but believe me, it is coming along.  

My original plan was to make this into a bag, but maybe I will do something different.  If I ever complete the stitching, that is...