Knife Smith in Kami City

My last few weeks in Japan have been cold and rainy but despite the bad weather ruining my plans for enjoyable hikes and bike rides in my last days, I visited a local knife smith to see how Japanese knives are made and to pick up a few of these for gifts for family back home.

Tsutomu Kajihara in Kami City

 The knife smith is a local man named Tsutomu Kajihara in Kami City. He was extremely friendly and welcomed me into his one man workshop with enthusiasm of someone who loves what he does. The shop was warm and the machines make such a racket that I am surprised he could hear anything I said at all.

Tsutomu Kajihara in Kami City

 Even though typically his work day would include just one phase of making the knives (from the little I understood of his Japanese explanation I believe it is 8 steps), he showed me multiple stages in the knives transformation from blocks of metal to sharpened beautiful knives.

Tsutomu Kajihara in Kami City

I bought damasuc blades, known for the lovely pattern in the metal. Buying from a local smith is cheaper than buying from a store or market in the city and I also love the feeling of supporting the kind man that is working on them directly. Seeing them get made and gaining an understanding of the process is an added bonus!

Tsutomu Kajihara in Kami City

Hiking Old Logging Roads in Tosayamada

Tosayamada doesn't have too much to offer in terms of maintained hiking trails but there are a few places where you can go for a walk in the woods. One of the most common 'trail' types for this is abandoned logging roads.

Although the roads are overgrown to varying degrees and could be challenging for a car they could in some places be alright for a bike and definitely great for a walk and sometimes you stumble upon interesting things like old shrines that may or may not still be used by a few locals.

 The birding along the lowland areas is loud with Brown-eared Bulbuls, Oriental Turtledoves, Japanese White-eye, Pale Thrush, Oriental Greenfinch, Japanese Wagtail and Eurasian Tree Sparrows.

 Higher in the woodlands there are Japanese Woodpeckers, Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, Japanese Tits, Green Pigeons, Meadow Bunting, Black-eared Kites and still many of the noisy Brown-eared Bulbuls.

On one of the trails I encountered an area of landslide where it had cleared a nice view for me to see the valley below. Most of the time all you can see is the surrounding forest and towering trees above you.

Despite only being at 311m elevation the topography of the valley below is at around 100m and still makes for a picturesque view.

Snakes are pretty common in the evenings as it cools down and most likely in the mornings as the sun warms spots along the old pavement. The most common ones are ratsnakes and keelbacks.

Tiger Keelback - yamakagashi (Rhabdophis tigrinus)

 One of the prettiest is the Tiger Keelback with yellow and red colouring on its sides. These little guys are as fast and wiry as gartersnakes back home but have a neurotoxic venom.  They primarily eat frogs and are abundant n rice fields and lowland forest areas along rivers.

Tiger Keelback - yamakagashi (Rhabdophis tigrinus)

Tiger Keelback - yamakagashi (Rhabdophis tigrinus)

Tiger Keelback - yamakagashi (Rhabdophis tigrinus)

Despite the cold weather I was lucky enough to find a migrating (I assume heading for its wintering grounds) Japanese Fire Belly Newt.

Japanese Fire Belly Newt (Cynops pyrrhogaster)

Trying to navigate logging roads that don't appear on maps can be a bit challenging and sometimes you walk them and arrive at a complete dead end or have to bushwalk to get through to another section of road that doesn't actually link up with pavement or gravel. I try to use a combination of maps.ma and google earth to find these places to hike but it still can end up in a bit of a failure.

Tosayamada River Festival

The Tosayamada River Festival took place in a park alongside the Monobe River just down the street from our house.  I took the opportunity to wear my kimono that I bought in Matsuyama. I had to straighten it a bit after the photo because I don't actually have any full length mirrors in my house and couldn't see it until after the picture. It took a few tries to get it right but I really love kimono and this one was absolutely beautiful. Tying the bow of the obi and the knot of the obijime weren't actually the hardest part. The hardest part was trying to get the fold right while still keeping everything straight. I think it is a bit short for me so possibly this is easier if I had more fabric to do the fold.

 

 The festival was smaller that the Tosayamada Yosakoi. It only had about 20 stands set up and a small stage with tables facing it. Local bands play and we arrive just as this was ending and a belly dancing performance started. It was a bit out of place watching a belly dancing performance in Japan but they did very good.

Tosayamada River Festival

A lottery started after the performance and they gave away a random mix of things including toilet paper, toys, plants and two bikes as the grand prize. 

Tosayamada River Festival

Afterwards all the lights went out and a fireworks show that lasted 15 minutes started. It  was small but impressive for such a small festival.

Tosayamada River Festival

Tosayamada River Festival

Tosayamada River Festival

Tosayamada River Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

The main shopping street (not the highway) that runs perpendicular to the street to Tosayamada Station is closed to car traffic on the day of the Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival. Yosakoi teams dance in parade lines down the street led by large trucks playing music. Costumes are colourful and usually are traditional kimono in appearance but not always. Dancers have wooden clappers (naruko) that they dance with and make noise with to certain part of the songs.

Tosayamada is a small town but despite this the festival was quite large. About 10-15 teams danced through the streets and included people of all ages.

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

 I took lots of photos in the hopes that it would show the progress of the dance and how some of the moves look. One team was very very professional and I don't believe they were included in the competition because they performed later in the night and were not among the competitors when they announced the winners.

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

The Kochi University of Technology team that we had seen practicing on campus for months before the event were the winners. It was nice to see the university team win since we had sort of met a few people on it before and since they had practiced so hard.

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

 The festival traversed the road and ended up at the baseball diamond where many toy and food stands were set up and a large stage with lighting had been set up. Even at this point in the evening the festival was far from over and all of the teams participated in a large group dance to local songs and then each team had the chance to dance on stage.

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

The crowds got bigger the later it got and tables got very very packed! The food was the usual Japanese festival food with karage, yakitori and snow cones.

Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Once all teams had performed on stage a light show started and after a while Yamada Daiko, a drum band started playing. It was very cool to see the band playing and with the lights and smoke effects as well. They played for a while considering how much effort they were putting in and often switched members playing the drum to give each other a break.

Yamada Daiko at the Tosayamada Yosakoi Festival

Despite it's small size the Tosayamada Yosakoi festival was really really fun to go to and got very crowded at night with so many people watching. The streets were fairly empty but everyone joins for the night activities. In the heat of the day I can't blame them but seeing them on the street was a nice introduction to yosakoi and much better views than the crowded Kochi Yosakoi Festival.

Restaurants in Kochi and Tosayamada, Japan

The one place I have visited most frequently is a ramen shop (豚太郎 宮ノ口店) that is just a short bike ride north of the Kochi University of Technology along the main road. The miso ramen is absolutely lovely and flavourful.The logo is a pig with a ramen bowl and I get the impression that it belongs to a chain of restaurants so you might be able to find this other places in Japan as well.

豚太郎 宮ノ口店

Miso Shatsu Ramen (lots of meat)

All Izakayas will serve food and drinks. There is usually one one type of beer on tap and the food is delicious but typically snack food for sharing rather than a full meal. They can look very small from the outside but somehow are actually bigger on the inside by making use of space very well. Typically they are signified by a yellow sign.One in Tosayamada that has good food and an all-you-can-drink plus a set menu of 6 dishes (with large servings) for 4000 Yen is Izakaya Akashiya.

Izakaya, Tosayamadacho, Japan

Izakaya, Tosayamada, Japan

Another great ramen shop was a bit further away but had some spicy options on the menu. I love spicy ramen! It is by no means unbearably spicy but has so much flavour. This restaurant also appeared to be a chain and all of the ramen on the menu was miso ramen. Both these ramen restaurants have amazing service and extremely friendly staff and I am sure I will frequent them for the time I am in Japan. I hope I can learn how to cook such rich and yummy ramen!

Ramen shop roughly translates to 'World of noodle'

 In Kochi-city I have most frequently been to an area near Kochi castle called Obiyamachi. Here there are shops under a covered walkway. Many restaurants and bars line the alleys on either sides of the covered walkway area. So far my favorite has been all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink at an "Izakaya" or a small Japanese pub.  After a few drinks your bills can get quite expensive but all-you-can-eat/drink is usually around Y3,000 per person making it much cheaper than the alternative. Food does come in small portions and can arrive slowly but is very very good. Menus have so far never been in English and had almost zero photos. Google translate can only do so well at this so ordering is a bit challenging.

Obiyamachi

Obiyamachi

Shrine Rituals in Japan - Hachiōji-gū Shrine, Tosayamada

Despite all of my walking around in the countryside I haven't really explored Tosayamada much in terms of visiting temples or shrines.  The first shrine I visited was the Hachiōji-gū Shrine.

Torii Gate at Hachiōji-gū Shrine, Tosayamada

A torii gate is the boundary line between holy ground and the secular world and you are supposed to bow once when entering it and pass through the side rather than the middle. Shrines and temples may also have a "temizuya"for performing a purifying ritual where you wash your hands and mouth with the ladles provided.  The ritual goes:

・First, scoop up water in a ladle with your right hand and pour water over your left hand.
・Next, hold the ladle with your left hand and pour water over your right hand.
・In your left hand, take some water that you have scooped with the ladle and rinse your mouth. Never touch the ladle directly to your mouth.
・Lastly, using the remaining water, tip the ladle to rinse it off.

"Temizuya" washing basin at Hachiōji-gū Shrine, Tosayamada

 After purification rituals are complete you go to the altar bow twice, clap twice and then bow again to pray. After praying you ring the bell, leave your donation and bow twice and clap twice again before leaving.

 

The shrine and trails around the shrine have many small altars and strings where prayers have been hung.  You can purchase paper to write prayers on at an office in most shrines and temples. I am unsure about the etiquette of bringing your own paper for this but would say it is best to buy from the office. I would also ask where you can hang it if it is possible for you to communicate this.

Hachiōji-gū Shrine, Tosayamada

The Hachiōji-gū Shrine has trails going up a small hill with a large monument at the top.  Unfortunately the signs were all in Japanese so I have no clue what the monument is for.

Hachiōji-gū Shrine, Tosayamada

From the hill you can actually see that the town is a lot more spread out than you expect of a small area like Tosayamada. The town does join to others adjacent to it and houses are small but farms are all around the town as a patchwork. It is quite a nice view with the mountains in the background and a very peaceful place above the town.

View of the Town from Hachiōji-gū Shrine, Tosayamada