Wabi-sabi (in Kanji: 侘寂)

Wabi-sabi (in Kanji: 侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic system, and is difficult to explain precisely in western terms. According to Leonard Koren, wabi-sabi is the most conspicuous and characteristic feature of what we think of as traditional Japanese beauty and it "occupies roughly the same position in the Japanese pantheon of aesthetic values as do the Greek ideals of beauty and perfection in the West."


Wabi-sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

It is the beauty of things modest and humble.

It is the beauty of things unconventional.

The concepts of wabi-sabi correlate with the concepts of Zen, as the first Japanese involved with wabi-sabi were tea masters, priests, and monks who practiced Zen. Zen Buddhism originated in India, traveled to China in the 6th century, and was first introduced in Japan around the 12th century. Zen emphasizes "direct, intuitive insight into transcendental truth beyond all intellectual conception." At the core of wabi-sabi is the importance of transcending ways of looking and thinking about things/existence.

* All things are impermanent
* All things are imperfect
* All things are incomplete

Material characteristics of wabi-sabi:

* suggestion of natural process
* irregular
* intimate
* unpretentious
* earthy
* simple

Ishiyamadera

Ishiyama-dera (石山寺?, lit. "Stony Mountain Temple") is a Shingon temple in Ōtsu in Japan's Shiga Prefecture. It was constructed around 762 CE, and is said to have been founded by Rōben. The temple contains a number of cultural assets.

Allegedly, Murasaki Shikibu began writing The Tale of Genji at Ishiyama-dera during a full moon night in August of 1004. In commemoration, the temple maintains a Genji room featuring a life-size figure of Lady Murasaki and displays a statue in her honorMurasaki is said to have begun writing The Tale of Genji at Ishiyamadera Temple on the night of the full moon, August 1004. To commemorate this event, the temple maintains a Genji Room with a life-size figure of the author at work.



Ishiyama Dera was established in 749 by a Kegon priest named Ryôben at the request of Emperor Shômu (701-756; reigned 724-749) to enshrine an image of Nyoirin Kannon. At the time, the Emperor was praying for the discovery of gold to assist in his undertaking of the construction of the great Buddha of Tôdai-ji Temple in Nara.



In the Heian period (794-1185), this temple became a popular pilgrimage site among the courtiers. Today, it is the 13th destination on the 33 temple Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimange which includes Hogon-ji on Chikubu Island. Ishiyama Dera is also the headquarters of the Buddhist Shingon sect.



The temple is located on the side of a mountain overlooking Lake Biwa and facing the Seta River. The Hondo, or Main Hall, designated a National Treasure, was built upon a great megalith, which contributes to the temple’s fame as one of the eight scenic views of Ômi, the Autumn Moon from Ishiyama-dera. The Hondo was built architecturally in a veranda construction style called "Butai Zukuri". The Tahoto Pagoda (treasure tower) was built by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1194 in the Kamakura period, and is the oldest of its type in Japan.



Inside the Hondo is the Room of Genji, where Shikibu Murasaki created the plot of the Genji Monogatari or the Tale of Genji, a famous court story of the Heian period and believed by many to be the world's first novel. Murasaki is said to have begun writing The Tale of Genji at Ishiyama on the night of the full moon in August 1004. The temple is mentioned in the Ukifune chapter of the story. A life-size figure of the author at work is displayed in this room.

The Sanmon Gate is another featured sight as are the wollostonite rocks, from which the name of this temple was derived from. They can be seen protruding everywhere, harmonizing with the temple's buildings. There are also Japanese maple trees on the 1.2 hectare site as well as flower gardens with cherry blossoms, Japanese plum blossoms, Chinese peonies, camellias and other flowers that bloom in different seasons.

Location
1-1-1 Ishiyama-dera, Ôtsu, Shiga Prefecture
Tel: 077-537-0013
Admission: Adult 500 yen, Elem. School Students 250 yen
Hours: 08:00 - 16:30 (last entry at 16:00)



How to get there
Take a shinkansen to Kyoto Station and transfer take a local train on the Tokaido Line to JR Ishiyama Station.
From there, take a 10-minute bus ride or transfer to Keihan Ishiyama-Sakamoto Line to Ishiyama Dera Station and walk for ten minutes.

Tours - The Japan Discovery Tours visit Ishiyama Dera.
Click here for more information regarding when Discovery visits this destination.

AOI MATSURI

May.15
Aoi Matsuri
Aoi Matsuri is the annual festival of Kamigamo and Shimogamo Shrines. It ranks as one of the three major festivals of Kyoto along with Gion Matsuri and Jidai Matsuri. It was held on a large scale during the Heian Period (794-1191) and many references to the festival are found in The Tale of Genji (first Japanese novel) and other ancient chronicles.



The festival takes its name from the custom of decorating the procession participants and the bulls which are used to pull the carts with hollyhock (aoi) leaves. The procession leaves from the Imperial Palace to make the rounds of Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines.

Fireworks at Lake Biwa on August 7

"2009 Biwako Hanabi Taikai," or Fireworks at Lake Biwa organized by its executive committee, will be held on August 7 in the vicinity of Otsu Port, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and showcase summer on Lake Biwa. Now in its 26th year, around 10,000 large-scale fireworks will fill the night sky following the concept of "roaming nature around Lake Biwa." Tickets for paid bleacher seating will be on sale from July 1.

The event attracts more than 350,000 visitors from the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe area every year. Although it is usually held on August 8, this year the date falls on Saturday, so it will take place on the weekday of August 7 in order to avoid heavy visitor congestion and to prioritize safety. The fireworks will express the landscapes and nature of each part of Shiga Prefecture. Starting at 7:30 p.m., fireworks such as "Star-mine" will be launched for about one hour.

There will be about 16,000 paid bleacher seats around the lakeside. Tickets cost 3,800 yen in advance, or 4,300 yen at the venue. Tickets will be sold at the sales branches and agencies of JTB, NTA and KNT, as well as at "Shiga Kanko Bussan Joho Center" in JR Otsu Station, the tourist information centers of both Keihan Ishiyama Station and JR Katada Station, Biwakokisen, Kyoto Shimbun Newspaper's main office in Shiga and the Culture Center of Kyoto Shimbun Project Development.

For more information, call the office of the executive committee in the Biwako Visitors Bureau at 077-511-1530.

Yaaa, Hit That Snake!

Kurama-yama Takekiri-eshiki," where green bamboo logs representing great serpents are slashed to ward off disasters, was carried out on June 20 at Kurama-dera Temple in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto. Residents dressed as warrior priests shouted energetically as they chopped off bamboo stalks oTakekiri-eshiki is based on an incident of 1,100 years ago, when a holy priest of Kurama-dera Temple vanquished a giant snake. Since the mid-Edo Period, "Omi" and "Tanba" have competed to see which group representing their area could cut bamboo logs fastest in order to predict whether their harvests would be rich or poor.

The ceremony opened to the sound of a conch being blown. The men representing the two areas swung their swords mightily at the bamboo logs, which were roughly five meters long and ten centimeters in diameter, cutting them into five pieces. The Tanba group finished in about a minute to win the contest, at which the crowd of around 700 spectators cheered loudly.

A student at Kurama Elementary School, holding a chunk of broken bamboo in one hand, said, "The banging of the bamboo breaking was really impressive. I want to come next year too."

ne after another.

EARLY SUMMER IN KYOTO "Otaue Taisai"

2009.5.18.Kyoto Shimbun 2009.5.18 News
On May 17, "Otaue Taisai," a rice-planting ritual to pray for a bountiful harvest, was performed at the sacred rice paddy of Tarobo-no-miya Shrine in Owaki-cho, Higashiomi City. Female high school students wore the colorful costumes of "Saotome," or rice-planting girls, and planted rice seedlings one by one in sync with the song.

The rite has been performed since 1940. Nineteen junior and senior high school students at Shiga Gakuen played ritual roles such as seedling planters, seedling givers, and others.

The seedling planters entered the approximately 50-square meter sacred rice paddy, wearing sedge hats and green kimono costumes with red sashes. They carefully planted "Nihonbare" rice seedlings, to the sound of drums and the singing of the rice-planting song, "Since olden times, the heart and soul of Japan, land of vigorous rice plants, is agriculture."

Rice planted this day will become a votive offering after it is harvested around September or October. Mizue Hayashi, a sophomore at Shiga Gakuen High School, said, "I wished for the seedlings rich growth as I planted them."




Photo= Female high school students in red sashes plant rice seedlings (Owaki-cho, Higashiomi City)

JAPANESE CULTURE : SAMURAI

Samurai (侍 or sometimes 士) is a common term for a warrior in pre-industrial Japan. A more appropriate term is bushi (武士) (lit. "war-man") which came into use during the Edo period. However, the term samurai now usually refers to warrior nobility, not, for example, ashigaru or foot soldiers. The samurai with no attachment to a clan or daimyo was called a ronin (lit. "wave-man").



Samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and over time, samurai during the Tokugawa era gradually lost their military function. By the end of the Tokugawa, samurai were essentially civilian bureaucrats for the daimyo with their swords serving only ceremonial purposes. With the Meiji reforms in the late 19th century, the samurai were abolished as a distinct class in favour of a western-style national army. The strict code that they followed, called bushido, still survives in present-day Japanese society, as do many other aspects of their way of life.
Etymology of samurai



The word samurai has its origins in the pre-Heian period Japan when it was pronounced saburai, meaning servant or attendant. It was not until the early modern period, namely the Azuchi-Momoyama period and early Edo period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries that the word saburai became substituted with samurai. However, by then, the meaning had already long before changed.




During the era of the rule of the samurai, the earlier term yumitori (“bowman”) was also used as an honorary title of an accomplished warrior even when swordsmanship had become more important. Japanese archery (kyujutsu), is still strongly associated with the war god Hachiman.