Japan - Day 7, Part 1: Aunts Toyoko & Miye, My Grandparents, and Kakko Dango

When we woke in the morning we could appreciate the setting around Uncle Shinobu's house.  His own property is gardened carefully, but just beyond his home are rice fields and farms.  The morning light filtered in.

On the left is the front entry way that starts at ground level and steps up into the rest of the house.  We stayed in the room at the right.

The walls were sliding Shoji panels toward the windows, and Fusuma sliding panels dividing the space between rooms.  The floors in the rooms are tatami mats.

Shinobu warned us that we needed to get started quickly and make short visits so that we could see everyone before the day was over.  And he mentioned we would eat a LOT.  Aunt Akemi also took the day off work so that she could come with us, too.

Our first stop was my Dad's older brother's home.  Uncle Keiichi was ill and had just had a transfusion or dialysis and was not able to take a visit.  But his wife Aunt Toyoko greeted us at the doorway and gave us a gift box of crackers to take home and some cash to help buy my brother Sam a ukata and our kids souvenirs.

Uncle Keichi's home in Ichinoseki

Blake, Aunt Toyoko, Janet

Next we went to visit Aunt Miye who also lives in Ichinoseki.  My dad called her "Tsuriyama Obachan" which basically is like calling her "Aunt who lives near Tsuriyama park".  My mother nick-named her "Aunt Ha-ha-ha" because she likes to laugh so much.

Aunt Miye is Sachiko's mother.  Sachiko was the first relative we met in Kamakura.  Here we are enjoying the pictures that I brought of my parents, my siblings and my children from home.

We sat at her table, which is traditional in that you sit on the floor mats but underneath the table the floor is dropped to give space for your legs to rest.  If it was winter time, the heater under the table would warm your legs.  Being as it was the middle of summer, it was not being heated of course.

Janet, my Great-Aunt Miye, Blake

She had fresh mountain lilies in her home.

Next we went to the cemetery to pay respected to my grandparents.

This is our family Haka where my grandparents ashes are enshrined.

On the far left, the black granite engraving says these are the servants that had served the family in their home.  Well before WWII and the redistribution of wealth, the family had been nobles and had servants to cook and clean.

The next gray stone shows Buddah holding a baby and a small baby next to him.  Here is where infants who died after only living a few days were buried, usually before being named.  The kanji says "Water Child" which is what these babies were called.

The large black stones in the middle is the family resting place.  The wooden markers leaning up to the right are what are used temporarily until the stone can be properly engraved.

The older engraved stones had been gathered and brought here, too. You can see them behind the modern stone.

I'm not sure I can describe the feeling at being at my grandparent's grave stones.  I was mostly sorry that I hadn't come back sooner to meet them in life.  But I was glad to finally be there.  Shinobu showed us how to properly bow to pay respect.

My dad asked us to bring American flags for my grandparents 

This is the marker with 4 generations of Chiba so far buried here.  The first is Seiichiro Chiba, my father's paternal grandfather.  Then is Miyoshi, Seiichiro's wife, my great-grandmother.  Next in order are my Grandfather Riyokichi, Grandmother Fuyo, and my dad's sister Miwako who died at age 39.

Shinobu then paid his respects  here to Miye's late husband.

Our next stop was to visit my dad's high school friend and his famous "Kakko Dango" shop.  We parked at the edge of the street and walked in to the restaurant.  Dango is like mochi on sticks with various sauces on them.  They serve only dango and tea here.  But the way they serve it is unique and what made them famous.

We walked in and read the history while Uncle Shinobu talked to the ladies in the kitchen - who told us to go up some narrow stairs.

These are the beautiful gardens below the restaurant where patron can sit to enjoy their treats. 

Haruo and my dad were best friends in high school.  His last name is also Chiba so they ended up sitting close to each other alphabetically.  His bento lunch boxes were always better than my dad's and so my dad would always eat his food instead.  

Haruo was light hearted and made us all laugh the whole time.

This is Haruo.  His grandfather started this business years ago.  Haruo now runs everything.  This is his routine every day.  

Crowds and tour groups come to the other side of the river to order their treats and have them delivered by basket across the river.

Patrons put money in the basket.  Haruo pulls it up and determines what to put in the basket based on the amount of money that is inside.  He pours the tea into cups and puts it with the dango back into the basket and lets it slide down the cable to the other side.

Once we got there we all laughed as Haruo hung the American flag, put small Japanese and American flags on the delivery basket and played the American National Anthem over his loud speakers.  Everyone at the other side of the river even laughed.

There's our little basket free falling, little flags furling in the wind.

 Aunt Akemi got the first turn at operating the basket and then Blake and I both got a turn.  I'll have to figure out how to get our video clips on the blog to fully demonstrate!

And, of course, we got to open a box and eat the treats!  From left to right are the dango covered in red bean paste, black sesame paste (my favorite), and a sweet soy sauce glaze.

The walls of the cramped operating quarters are covered with layers of visitors that have been privileged to come up.  It's the equivalent of the walls in restaurants where they display pictures of famous people who visit.  He took several pictures of us and had us sign his autograph book.  Ha!

This is the space where we got to sit and write our autograph page and watch the antics going on.

Haruo also showed us a screen where he can see what is happening at the bottom of the cable where the basket is delivered.

Here is the camera that zooms in to the other side.

He showed Blake his video editing equipment.  Before he took over the business from his father, he spent most of his time working with cameras and film.  Now he doesn't have time for his hobby, but still enjoys it.

One of his prizes from his media days was being featured in a beer commercial.

Such a fun excursion to Kakko Dango and a great visit with my dad's friend.

Japan - Day 6, Part 2: Family Graves & Geibikei

My dad had instructed his brother to take us to the family graves to pay our respects to my ancestors.  We went to the grave area for the Komagi villagers - 6 families.

We drove along paths like this through the woods and past rice fields to reach the graves.

We parked here at this peaceful lily pond.

This is the Chiba-kei Haka (Chiba family grave site).

There were 5 Chiba families in the village.  This "Up" signifies our family.

This lists all the individuals that are buried or enshrined here.  Reading right to left, the first line is a description.  Each line following lists each the date, each person's name and how old they were.  Grandpa Hisashi is 3rd to last, Grandmother Susumu is 2nd to last, and Dad's cousin Yoshihisa from the Komagi farm is last.  The space in between is for his parents who are still living.  This follows the patriarchal line generally listing only the oldest son and his wife for several generations.  There is a daughter listed who died at 24 who would be included because she didn't marry and died probably of a flu.  Hisashi's brother Takeo also died at age 22 from a snake bite and is included here.  Grandmother Susumu was given a boy's name to be strong.

To read each line, the top is the new name given by a monk after the person dies, the middle of the line is the year, month and day of death, then the person's name while living, and finally the age they were when they died.

Modernly people are cremated after they die, but anciently the bodies were buried deep under the ground.

This is a flower vase decorated with the family crest.

A neighboring Chiba family Haka, not our line.

Little tiny forrest frog.

Another neighboring Chiba family, not our line.

There are old grave stones.  They would have been lined up according to where the people where buried, but in modern times these were gathered together at the family Haka.

This is the lush setting for these village Haka.

 Next Shinobu told us it was too late to visit more family, but that he was going to take us to Geibikei.  With his limited English and my limited Japanese we could not figure out what he was taking us to, but it ended up being a treat.

He took us to the local natural tourist attraction called Geibikei.  It's a canyon through the rock mountain carved by the river.  It's lush and beautiful.

During the drive it started raining.  Pouring.  When we got to the ticket office of Geibikei Shinobu went in to buy tickets while Blake and I watched the workers drain water out of the tourist boats.

 Here is the launch point for the tourist boats.

 I think because of the rain, our tour boat was small and intimate.

Look at that color on the dragonfly!

We sat at the front of the boat.  The guide pushed the boat along with a long pole.  The water was flowing but not rapidly and the riverbank was shallow and flat.  The mist from the recent rain added to the serenity.

Another dragonfly - all black this time.

There were various attraction points along the route.  Some were cliff faces, others were caves like this one.

Mid-way through the ride the boat pulled up to a riverbank and we saw the next few points on foot.  Our guide spoke enough English to give us explanations.

The water was so clear it was easy to fish swimming along side the boat.  This is the kind of fish my dad and Shinobu would catch for fun during visits to the Komagi farm.  My dad says Grandmother Susumu preferred to eat these fresh water fish rather than fish from the sea.  They would clean the fish and grill the fish whole over charcoal and eat it with soy sauce.  He was surprised at how delicious it was.

The orange rock face was supposed to look like a nose.

Here our guide pointed out a small hole in the rock face that supposedly grants wishes.  One can buy lucky engraved stones for extra luck, but our guide pointed out that there are lots along the riverbank from people dropping them or the river washing them up.  We found some rocks, made wishes, and tried to make the hole.  We all missed, even Shinobu who was a baseball pitcher in high school.  Blake yelled out something like, "I wish for a million dollars!" and threw his rock - straight in the hole!  Everyone burst out laughing.  

I've only seen coy fish in circulated ponds. It was neat to see them in a free flowing river.

Near the end of the river boat ride, we were in a quiet spot clouded in mist and our guide sang a local folk song.  In the stillness her voice echoed along side the subtle splash of the oar pushing the boat along.  It was a beautiful and calming tour.  Shinobu was so nice to take us.

I think it was nightfall by the time we returned to his home.  I got to meet Shinobu's wife, my aunt Akemi.  When I lived in Japan as a baby they were not married yet.  Aunt Akemi took the vegetables that the Komagi family had sent us home with and started making dinner for us.  I helped as best as I could in the kitchen while Blake and Shinobu watched some Olypics on TV.

I also got to meet one of my cousins for the first time.  Konomi is their 3rd child and only daughter.  Her two older brothers were working in Tokyo or at college.  Here I really wished to be able to speak better to get to know my cousin.  My cousin!  Shinobu, Akemi and Konomi all speak a little English but it's still hard to make up for 30 years with only a few words to use.  We did find out that Konomi studies hard at school and that she really enjoys being in choir.  Her choir had even won some awards in the region.  How interesting it was to me.  My 3 siblings and I all enjoyed being in choirs through school, but I thought this had only come through my mother's side of the family.  Apparently it's a common interest with my cousin, too.

I love this accidental shot because you can see Akemi & Konomi's natural smiles as they laugh at the camera hand-off between Blake & Shinobu

It's amazing how quickly Aunt Akemi whipped up this delicious dinner for us.  Chicken, veggies, and ten-don (tempura style veggies over rice).  It was all delicious.

This trip was enlightening about my dad, too.  My dad doesn't have many things in his home, but he does have a fish tank that he takes care of and that my kids love to look at when they visit.  His brother keeps a couple fish tanks, too.  Their father, my grandfather, apparently had more than 20 fish tanks also.  With their lives so far away and so different in so many ways, there were still little things like this that seemed evidence of their brotherly connection.