An outing with Brooke and Zoe

 Today, Brooke and Zoe took me to Naruto to visit Temple Number 1, a Shinto temple, and the German House.

Zoe is on the left and Brooke is on the right.  No, I didn't ask them to pose for this picture and I don't have any photos with their faces.  I hope they do not mind me posting this.

The island of Shikoku has a pilgrimage route that visits 88 Temples.  We visited Ryozen-ji, the first temple.  It was explained that even though the temples are tied to Buddhism, many people view it more as a cultural ritual as opposed to a fully religious one.  There is a lot of ceremony tied to it.  Actions you do to show respect to the temple and the monks also mentally prepare you to think about what you are doing.  At least they did in my case.  Me being me, I didn't take a lot of pictures because I was more being in the moment.  When I visit some of the other temples I will be sure to take pictures to share.

We also went to a Shinto Temple.  It seems that whereas the prayers and purpose of the Buddhist pilgrimage is to find enlightenment, the Shinto temple prayers are about more immediate and earthly things.  ("Selfish" is the word that was very hesitantly used, but I interpret it as "prayers of intercession.")  People write prayers on small wood placards, and hang these in different locations depending on the prayer.  In some period of time the monks collect these prayers and burn them.  The smoke carries the prayers to the gods.

One thing you can do for 100 yen is draw a fortune.  Mine opens with "Wind blows hard, the waves are high, yet calm is our harbor."  My fortune is "Very Good," and I "owe what [I am] to [my] ancestors.  Remember this and be kind to others, and [I'll] be more prosperous and happier even if it were stormy elsewhere."  There are other bits to it, but I won't bother typing it all out.  If you get a bad fortune, you can tie it to a tree or some designated spot.  The tree absorbs the bad luck, and the monks burn these fortunes to cleanse you.  Needless to say, I kept my fortune.

Brooke took this picture of me outside the Shinto main temple.

 

The German House is an interesting place.  It was a World War 1 prisoner of war camp that formed the basis of an international cooperation that exists today.  Normally if you think of a POW camp you probably think somber and depressing.  Here the prisoners and locals became friends.  The big thing the prisoners did was start an orchestra and played Beethoven.  Many stayed behind or returned after the war, and there is a bit of German architecture.  Every year around Christmas or New Years, there is an open air concert with German and Japanese musicians.

Associated with this museum is another museum dedicated to Toyohiko Kagawa.  He was a life-long advocate for the poor and worked hard to fight poverty.  Through his writing and works he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twice and the Nobel Peace Prize four times.  (The video we were shown gives these numbers, but his Wikipedia page gives 2 and 2.)  He and his wife, Haru, worked together to educate and provide basic human needs to those suffering in poverty.  When we went to the second floor of the museum, I saw this on a wall above some windows.

Brooke interpreted some signs for us.  It seems Kagawa preferred to prepare lecture notes on large cardboard sheets hanging on the walls.  He felt the motion connected his mind and body to the material.  This resonated with me as anyone who has sat in my lecture classes knows I cannot stand still.  I pace to different places in the room to emphasize different points.  Now, if you look closely at the pictures you should see some English text.  They are names.  Among them are De Broglie, de Sitter, Hoyle, Lawrence, Planck, and Dirac.  The bottom of the middle piece is an electromagnetic wave, and to the right side of that wave is a diagram of a cyclotron.  He was preparing notes for or attempting to understand quantum mechanics.  It was an unexpected and welcome surprise.

After this we had lunch at Komeda Coffee.  I ate a miso katsu sandwich.  Katsu is a way of preparing food sort of like making a pork tenderloin sandwich - breaded and pan-fried.  It was very good.

Yes.  I took a bite before I remembered (was reminded) to take a picture for the blog.  This was no small sandwich.

We ended the day by going to Tokushima Central Park (which I'll provide pictures for later when I go there for a day) and a tea ceremony.  This last was like a dessert for the day.

There's a whole ritual that I'm too unfocused to write about now.  However, you work your way from right to left.  First there's a salty plum juice.  Then you eat a sweet.  Ours was a cold rice cake filled with sweet red bean paste and wrapped loosely in a gelatin sheet.  You cut it into pieces with the wood stick, then stab the piece to eat it.  This is followed by a bowl of matcha tea.  It's fairly bitter.  After you have consumed these pieces you are brought a cup of fruit syrup mixed with hot water. 

This was sweet without being too sweet.  It was like a mellow sweet.  On a humid day like today was, I found it to be more refreshing than cold water.  I don't remember the name of the syrup used, and I've searched everything I think is close to it.  I've even looked up "Japanese Tea Ceremony" drinks to no avail.  I'll ask again and update things.  The progression from salty to sweet to bitter to mellow sort of followed the flow of a busy day where you end up with lots to talk or think about.

I owe Brooke and Zoe thanks for entertaining me today.  My hope is I didn't do anything to offend them or bore them.  It was a very lovely day.  The timing of things, like seeing Toyohiko Kagawa's notes, made me feel even more like it is right of me to stretch myself in this endeavor.  I believe I am ready for the upcoming week.