Let's go to temple & shrines! ： Nezu Shrine (Tokyo)

Hi everyone!

If you are not particularly interested in Japanese traditional culture, almost all the shrines and temples may look the same, or similar, to you. Most of my students cannot even tell which one is temple and which is shrine.

I'm not blaming you at all. It is natural. I still remember an American guy said to me, "When I saw a gorgeous temple or shrine for the first time, I thought wow, it's great. But after visiting two or three, I was getting tired. They are the same anyway. Now I think you should not visit more than two temples or shrines on the same day."

Well, I agree. One per day is probably enough, but there are so many interesting shrines and temples worth visiting. Even today these religious places are considered as power spots. If you are a spiritual person, you may feel something.

Unfortunately I'm not very religious person and don't care about spiritualism either. Even so, I feel like visiting such places occasionally to wish happiness and health for someone, or for no special reason.

The other day, I visited the Nezu Shrine in Tokyo, well-known for the big festival that takes place in September. It is also famous for its azalea garden and many people come and see the flowers in April and May, but usually the shrine is very calm and quiet despite its historical value.

This is the torii gate of Nezu Shrine. Torii is built at the entrancence of the shinto shrine to mark a sacred precinct. If you see a structure like this, the place is not a Buddhist temple but a shinto shrine.

Shinto is Japanese indigenous religion that worships holy spirits or deities called "kami." In Shinto they say there are 8 millions of kami in this world, implying there are too many to count. It resembles Greek myth a little, but not all the shinto dieties take human forms. In many cases they are the spirits of ancestors, or even just concepts important to people such as fertility and prosperity, therefore invisible.        

The main shrine building of Nezu Shrine was built at the present location in 1706 by order of the fifth Tokugawa shogun Tsunayoshi. 

The deity enshrined there is Susanoo no Mikoto, the rowdy god of  storm. According to the myth, Susanoo is a brave hero who successfully killed Yamata no Orochi, the eight-forked serpent which was devouring villagers. Many ancient warlords worshipped this deity and prayed for the victory in wars. It is believed today that you'll be protected from evil spirits after visiting this temple.

This is the image of Suranoo no Mikoto. Looks a little like a hippie though...

Actually, while vast urban area in Tokyo was burnt down by the Great Tokyo Air Raids in 1945, this shrine miraculously survived, and it has been designated as the nation's important cultural property.  Some people say the shrine was able to keep off  bad luck by the protection of the deity.

If you want to be protected from evil and disasters, why don't you buy a charm at the shrine? 

This "Romon" or two-story gate with a roof is also the country's important cultural asset.

In the precinct, there is another smaller shrine called Otome Inari, where Uka no Mitama no Mikoto (what a long name!), a god of crops and commerce, is enshrined. At Inari shrines, a pair of fox figures are placed, instead of komainu (guardian dogs).

.

As many merchants who worship this god of commerce have offered torii gates, some Inari shrines have a vermillion tunnel called Senbon Torii (thousands of torii gate) like this. Very mysterious looking...

1-28-9 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
tel: 03-3822-0753
5min. from Nezu or Sendagi station on the subway Chiyoda Line, or Todai-mae station on the subway Nanboku line.

ここからは、日本語で。
From here I'll write in Japanese.

みなさん、こんにちは。

もし日本の伝統的な文化にあまり興味がなければ、寺と神社の違いもわからないですよね。

伝統的　でんとうてき　traditional
文化　　ぶんか　culture
興味（きょうみ）がある　　be interested in
寺　てら　　Buddhist temples
神社　じんじゃ　shinto shrine
違い　　ちがい　difference

日本には見るべき寺や神社がたくさんありますので、これから時々紹介していきます。

見るべき　（みる～）　should　see
時々　ときどき　　occasionally
紹介（しょうかい）する　　to introduce

今日は東京にある根津神社をご紹介。9月に行われる祭りと、４～５月に満開になるつつじの庭で有名ですが、普段はとても静かです。

根津神社　　ねづじんじゃ　　Nezu Shrine
行われる　　おこなわれる　　to take place
満開　　まんかい　　to be in full bloom
つつじ　　azalea
庭　　にわ　　garden
有名　　ゆうめい　　famous
普段　　ふだん　　usually
静か　　しずか　　quiet

根津神社が今の場所に建てられたのは1706年、将軍徳川綱吉の命令によるものでした。

場所　　ばしょ　　location
建てられる　　たてられる　　to be constructed
年　　～ねん　year
将軍　　しょうぐん　　shogun
徳川綱吉　　とくがわ　つなよし　name of the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

奉られている神さまは嵐の神、スサノオノミコトです。神話によると、スサノオは頭が8つある蛇を退治した英雄です。その強い力で災難からお参りした人を守ってくれるそうです。

奉（まつ）られている　　enshrined
神（かみ）さま　　deity
嵐　　あらし　　storm
蛇　へビ　　serpent
英雄　　えいゆう　　hero
災難　　さいなん　　disasters
お参（まい）りする　to visit shrines
守（まも）る　　to protect

根津神社内には、乙女稲荷という別の神社があります。赤い鳥居がトンネルのように並んでいて、面白いです。

乙女稲荷　　おとめいなり　　the name of the shrine
赤い　あかい　　red
鳥居　とりい
面白い　　おもしろい　interesting

Tokyo towns you should visit ①： Yanaka, the cats' town

If you are a tourist who visits Tokyo for the first time, you'd probably go to Asakusa, Shibuya, Harajuku, Akihabara and Roppongi.

Many Tokyo travel guides suggest you go to Asakusa to take a look at traditional side of Japan, to Shibuya and Harajuku for young culture, to Akihabara to buy electrical appliances and experience a little bit of the Japanese otaku (manga and anime) culture and to Roppongi for a night out.

They are all nice for "beginners," but if you have already visited these places and are looking for somewhere less touristy, why don't you visit "Yanesen" area?

The name "Yanesen" (ya-ne-sen) was made up by putting the first letters of neighboring towns Yanaka　(谷中）, Nezu （根津）and Sendagi　（千駄木）.　During the World War II many parts of Tokyo were burnt down by bombing, but this Yanesen area miraculously escaped war damage despite its old downtown location.

If you visit Yanesen, you'll see what Tokyo's shitamachi (下町） is like. Literally meaning "downtown," shitamachi usually indicates the areas where commoners like merchants and craftsmen were mainly living in the Edo Period, while Yamanote (山の手） was the residential area for upper samurai class.

I recently went to Yanaka, one of the Yanesen towns.  There are actually two famous spots you should not miss. One is Yanaka Reien (谷中霊園）, a huge cemetery where the last shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu was buried. It is also well-known for cherry blossoms. If you happen to be here in April, why not enjoy flower viewing in the cemetery? 

And the other touristic attraction is Yanaka Ginza (谷中銀座）shopping street with approximately 60 small shops and restaurants. It is small, but always busy with local shoppers, tourists and cat lovers.  Why cats? Because alley cats living in this area are considered as mascots of this shopping street.

This is the entrance of Yanaka Ginza taken from "Yuyake dandan," the stairs on the way from the JR Nippori station to the shopping street.  It is said that the sunset views seen from these stairs are very beautiful, although I've never seen them.

Look! A white cat is sitting on the roof of a tempura store, looking down at shoppers... oh sorry, it is a cat figure. Doesn't it look very real?

What about this one? ... It is another fake cat.

 This is the wooden signboard of a shop called Kittens. I forgot what they are selling...

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These two cat dolls are placed in front of a store. Traditionally shopkeepers often put a cat figure called 招き猫（maneki-neko, or beckoning cat) in their shops, since the one with the right paw raised is believed to bring money and the one with the left paw raised brings people, or customers. The cats in this photo don't look like typical beckoning cats, though.  

Strolling in the town of Yanaka,  you may feel as if you have slipped back into the good old Japan. But maintaining this unique atmosphere always requires the efforts of townspeople.

For example, this temple-like building (photo below) is actually an elementary school　（谷中小学校 Yanaka Shogakko). It was reconstructed 22 years ago, so as to blend in with the shitamachi surroundings.

 

ここからは日本語で。

From here, I'll write in Japanese.

浅草、渋谷、新宿、秋葉原に飽きたら今度は「谷根千」に行ってみたら？

浅草　あさくさ

渋谷　しぶや

新宿　しんじゅく

秋葉原　あきはばら

飽きる　あきる　　to get tired 

今度　こんど　next time

谷根千　　やねせん

谷根千というのは、谷中、根津、千駄木のこと。戦争中に空襲の被害にあわなかったから、今でも古い下町の町並みが残っているのです。

谷中　やなか

根津　ねづ

千駄木　せんだぎ

戦争中　戦争中　during the war

空襲　くうしゅう　　air raids

被害　ひがい　damage

下町　したまち

町並み　　まちなみ　　streets

下町とは、江戸時代に商人や職人が暮らしていた庶民の町で、上流武士は山の手と言われる地域に住んでいました。

江戸時代　えどじだい　the Edo Period

商人　しょうにん　　merchants

職人　しょくにん　　craftsmen

暮らす　くらす　　to live

庶民　しょみん　　common people

上流　じょうりゅう　　upper class

武士　ぶし　　samurai

山の手　やまのて　　

地域　　ちいき　　regions

先日、谷中に行ってきました。谷中で有名なのは、谷中霊園と谷中銀座商店街。

先日　せんじつ　the other day

有名　ゆうめい　　famous

霊園　れいえん　 cemetery

谷中銀座　やなかぎんざ

商店街　しょうてんがい　　shopping street

谷中銀座は野良猫がたくさん住みついていて、マスコットのような存在なんですよ。

野良猫　のらねこ　　alley cats

住み着く　　すみつく　　to live

存在　　そんざい　　existence

だから、屋根の上には置物の猫がいたり、店の看板も猫だったり。

置物　　おきもの　　figures

看板　　かんばん　　signboards

その他、谷中小学校も面白いですよ。校舎が今の形になったのは22年前。町の雰囲気に合うようにデザインされました。

面白い　　おもしろい　　interesting

校舎　　こうしゃ　　school building

雰囲気　　ふんいき　　atmosphere

下町らしさを維持するのも大変なんです。

維持する　　いじする　　to maintain

 

Discover the origin of Japanese manga at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art

There are mainly two kinds of people interested in Japan: those who love traditional culture and those attracted to the pop culture, like anime and manga. 

An art exhibition that may appeal to both of them is currently taking place at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art in Harajuku. Titled"北斎と暁斎　奇想の漫画 -- Katsushika Hokusai and Kawanabe Kyosai: Fantastic Comics," it features two great masters of ukiyoe (woodblock prints) 葛飾北斎（Katsushika　Hokusai 1760-1849)　and 河鍋暁斎 (Kawanabe Kyosai 1831-1889). 

This is the upper-half of the brochure of the exhibition, showing all Hokudai's works. Among the people who are making strange facial expressions or doing some funny things, there are two monsters -- a woman with a snake-like long neck and a "kappa" (river child) with reptile-like skin and a turtle shell on the back (did you find it?)

This is the lower half, showing personified frogs and dancing skeletons by Kyosai, who is considered as a successor to Hokusai.

Even if you don't know the name of Hokusai, I guess many of you have probably seen his famous Mount Fuji series at least once.  (photos below) 

浮世絵 (ukiyoe) prints were produced in the Edo Period and the early Meiji Era (17th-20th century),  and made a great impact on the Western art world in the 19th century as well. It is often regarded as fine art, but that is wrong. Ukiyoe are mass-produced prints created for the general public.   

浮世（ukiyo) of ukiyoe literally means "floating word", which indicates "real life,"  and anything became the subjects of ukiye, including beautiful girls in town, popular geisha, kabuki actors, sumo wrestlers, events, festivals, landscapes,  murder cases, ghosts, animals, and of course sex (this specific genre is called makura-e, or pillow pictures) . 

Hokusai was a very energetic man who tried to draw and paint almost all the things he had seen. He published a collection of sketches of various subjects titled "Hokusai Manga" in 1814. Back then the word "manga" referred to "sketches drawn aimlessly",  not to story-telling comics.  

In this exhibition we can see many illustrations from Hokusai Manga. The photos below are actually the postcards I bought at the museum, but good examples of the exhibition.  

They are marine creatures. The big black one is a whale, and the white one is a shark.　The upper right black creature looks like a dolphin but I'm not sure.

This half-naked chubby guy washes his kimono, hangs it to dry, and takies a quick bath in a washtub, etc. Hokusai tried to depict various body motions seen in everyday life.

The same (?)  Mr. Chubby and a woman (I don't know their relationship) are taking a nap, reading a book and a letter. Kind of cute...

The most hilarious work displayed in the exhibition for me was Kyosai's (not Hokusai) "放屁合戦　Hohi Gasseｎ" meaning "Fart Battle"!!!  I bursted into laughter when I saw it. It is vulgar, stupid and funny. I'm sorry I could not find the image of exactly the same work anywhere.

While surfing on the internet, however, I found out the existence of an old scroll with the same subject, titled "Fart Battle Scroll" housed at the library of Waseda University. I don't think it is Kyosai's but If you would like to see what it is like, click here. Hope you'll like it.

The exhibition is until June 26.

Museum information

浮世絵　太田記念美術館　Ukiyoe　Ota Kinen Bijutsukan
Ukiyoe Ota Memorial Museum of Art

address: 1-10-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
tel: 03-5777-8600
Located at 5-minute walk from JR Harajuku Station, 3-minute walk from Meiji Jingumae on the subway Chiyoda and Fukutoshin Lines.

Open 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. during the exhibition period
Admission: 1,000 yen for adults, 700 yen for high school and university students, free for junior high school students and below. 

For farther information, check the English website here.

Today's useful expression
おとな　ふたり　おねがいします。　Otona　futari onegaishimasu. Two adults, please.