Culture Archive

If you are visiting Japan in the springtime, you may be lucky enough to visit during cherry blossom season, the annual and somewhat unofficial symbol of spring. I don’t know the exact reason why, but traditionally, Japanese people go a little crazy around sakura season. We love to see cherry trees, photograph them, have parties under them, buy things that have cherry blossom pictures pasted on them and even take long journeys to discover them.

If you have visited Japan in the springtime or if this spring marks your first visit, you will find a huge array of goods and meals that are packaged in pink, the color that represents the sakura blossoms. We just go crazy about anything and everything related to sakura and if you have been here in the spring before, you know what I mean.
Ise, of course, is no exception. There are many of these annual works of art along the Isuzu River if you are visiting Naiku. Or if you are traveling by car, another wonderful place is along the Miya River near Miyagawa Tsutsumi Park (宮川堤公園). I will post a link to an Ise City map that can help you with specifics and for more detailed information, I recommend a google or yahoo map to really zoom in on where to go.

http://www.ise-kanko.jp/english/html/map/map.html

Many of the shops and restaurants in Ise offer special goods and meals for this season. The Okage-yokocho area near Naiku usually closes down by 5 o’clock in the evening but during this season and, perhaps, until the middle of April depending on the weather, some areas along the Isuzu River are lighted in the evening giving visitors the chance for some beautiful viewing after sundown. The following link is in Japanese, but you can see a few images in order to get a better understanding of what I am writing about!

http://www.okageyokocho.co.jp/html/sakuramaturi.html
Some of cherry blossoms in Ise have already bloomed but we are certainly not at the peak just yet. If you are visiting Japan or hopefully Ise in the next few weeks, please enjoy this beautiful and very “Japanese” season! I hope to post more sakura pictures in the coming days.

I purchased and watched a great DVD this week that focuses on the philosophy of sustainability that is practiced within Ise Jingu and by many of the people in the local community. The customs and traditions of Ise Jingu have been consistently followed for at least 2000 years. This is an amazing fact and definitely something you don’t see in many other places around the world.

The DVD has English subtitles and some English voiceover so English speaking viewers can definitely understand the message throughout the 30 minute movie. Besides beautiful scenes of Ise Jingu and the surrounding natural landscape, the DVD talks about how Ise Jingu started and how people have continually carried out the traditions and culture of sustainability within the shrine.

The DVD is available at “Circle K” convenience stores in Ise City for 500 yen. Also, the DVD is region-free, so it would make a great souvenir to remember your time in Ise City.

Traditionally, Japanese people visit their local shrines and temples on new year’s day to give thanks for the previous year and wish for happiness, health and success in the coming year. If you have lived or visited Japan during the new year’s season, there is no doubt you witnessed the masses of people who flock to shrines and temples in a flurry of activity and celebration as they say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.

Tucked within the southeast part of Ise City lies Ise Jingu, the most sacred of all Shinto shrines in Japan. Within Ise Jingu, Amaterasu Ohmikami, is enshrined. She is the sun goddess and one of the principal Shinto gods or Japanese “kami”. Her name, Amaterasu, loosely translates into English as “the god that lights the world from heaven”. Amaterasu Ohmikami is the most respected god for the Japanese people and is still believed by some to be in direct lineage to the Japanese royal family. In many ways, the history of Ise Jingu is the history of Japan. It is long, rich and filled with tradition.

An unforgettable and truly Japanese experience awaits any visitor to Ise Jingu during the new year’s holiday since each year, approximately one half a million people visit Ise in order to pay their respects at Jingu. If you are one for crowds or being in the middle of the action, then Ise City is the place for you. Besides the serene beauty and nature that surrounds Ise Jingu, the Okageyokocho and Oharai Street areas near the entrance to Ise Jingu are filled with shops, restaurants and museums to satisfy almost any visitor.

However, one does not have to be a student of Japanese history or folklore to enjoy the splendor of Ise Jingu throughout the year since Ise Jingu is open every day of the year. I personally love to visit when it is very quiet—usually at dawn. Visitors can normally enter the shrine area at first light or soon after. I feel early morning is the best time since visitors can enjoy walking through the beautiful gardens and forest and connect to the divine no matter what religion they may or may not have. (The picture above was taken on an early morning last July. No one was around at that time—a somewhat rare occurrence for Jingu!). I have often heard it said by visitors to Ise Jingu that they cannot put their finger on just what is so special about it however, they all agree, IT IS an extraordinary place.

Things will begin to quiet down this week and even more so in the few remaining days of January. After that, I plan to begin my usual visits to Ise Jingu again to find the peace and serenity that only Jingu can offer. Please check back in a few weeks and I will post more about one of my favorite places in Ise! For more information about Ise Jingu, please click this link.

After the Christmas holiday has come and gone, people quickly start preparing for one of the biggest events on the Japanese calendar, new years. For most people in Japan, the new years holiday is a time to clean our houses, cook special foods, decorate our houses and cars with special new year’s ornaments, write new years greeting cards to all our friends, family and business associates and of course, visit our relatives.

Cleaning our houses is key since most people, myself included, need to literally and symbolically get rid of the unwanted things in our lives to prepare for the new year. We always want to start everything fresh from January 1st. After cleaning our houses, many families attach this kind of ornament above their front doors to protect the house and family from any unwelcoming energy, while at the same time, inviting positive energy into our houses. Each town uses its own method or materials to construct these ornaments and generally people take them down after January 7th. In contrast, generally, people in Ise keep the ornaments on their houses for the entire year. I don’t know why, but I aim to find out!

If you are visiting the Ise area during the new year season, please pay special attention to the houses and shops and how they decorate. You can definitely sense the spirit of Japanese people celebrating the new year.