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Visiting Jakushu Itteki Bunko

2017.09.10

Places to visit

Last weekend, I went to Jakushu Itteki Bunko, where is in Oi Town, Fukui Prefecture.
Jakushu Itteki Bunko is a facility which the late author Tsutomu Mizukami who was born in the Oi Town, built. His thought on the facility was described in his own words on its brochure.
The following is a part of it.
“I have not graduated from even the village elementary school, because I left for Kyoto when I was ten years old. There was no light in my house, so I couldn’t read books.
Recently the books I possess have been increased, so I decided to build a small library in the village where I was born and open it up to boys who want to read but cannot like the old me. Books should be read by many people. Pick up something out of one of the books and create your life.”

 

Entering the main building, you can watch an interview video of Mizukami before death.
In the video, Mizukami said, “I was born as the second of five brothers and we were always fighting. When my mother grilled one mackerel, I was given the fish meat but my youngest brother was given only the fishbone, so we got into a fight. Moreover, my mother had not eaten at all. She was just watching the fire grilled the mackerel with an empty stomach.
I was very poor so I feel grateful I have anything now. I appreciate that I can put on my socks. Because I was always barefooted. “

 

What might his mother was thinking when she grilled the mackerel?
Tsutomu Mizukami had grown seeing the way his mother raised him.
If he hadn’t had the mother and he wasn’t poor, probably Mizukami literature would not have been born.

 

*Remarks : Jakushu means the Wakasa region of Fukui Prefecture.
Itteki means a drop.
Bunko means a library.

 


The theater gate of Jakushu Itteki Bunko

 


The entrance

 


There was a photo of Mizukami at the entrance in the Wheelchair Theater on the premises.

 


The stage of the Wheelchair Theater and a bamboo forest.
There was another photo which Mizukami sitting on the floor.
I was filled with deep emotions as Mizukami was really sitting there.

 


When I walked out of the theater, I spotted a tiny autumn scene.

 


A thatched house in the garden

 


The modest sized garden to stroll.
It is the garden which has beauty in nature blended in with the surroundings.

 

In the main building, the special exhibition of a painter, Sunao Watanabe, who was born
in Oi Town too and passed away at the age of 86 years old in this past August, was holding. He drew many book covers and illustrations of the books of Mizukami.
Sunao Watanabe kept painting simply and honestly while charcoal making and deliver mails.
I can imagine that Mizukami and he found some subjects in common and became close immediately.

 

Also, the Bamboo Doll Hall is a sight to see. The sixty bamboo dolls which play Mizukami literature literally were alive there. They had a strong presence just being decorated, so what will happen if they are moved on stage? I am sure that it will be breathed life into them beyond dolls.

 

After taking a look-around, I took a quick break at a rest place, Rokkakudo (hexagonal hall). They brought me barley tea. You can order noodles and coffee.

 

The place where Itteki Buko is located was once the rice fields where Mizukami’s mother had to do heavy labor. And there is the site of his birthplace at a short distance from there, which no buildings remain and there is only bamboo grove. If I visit it again, I would like to go out there. (H.S)

Dokurakugin (Reciting Poetry for My Own Pleasure) by No.1 Scale of Cherry Blossom Tree in Asuwa River

2017.05.23

Places to visit

Did you go to see cherry blossoms this year?

In your city, are the cherry blossoms usually large or small?

Are there many of them planted there?

Are there streets lined with cherry trees?

As I mentioned in our previous blog that there is a long row of cherry blossoms trees by Asuwa River which flows through Fukui City, and it has about 600 trees and it’s 2.2km long.

It also has been designated as one of Japan’s Top 100 Cherry Blossom Viewing Sites.

This year, by Asuwa River there were about 120 lanterns hung on the strings tied between the cherry trees and it lasted almost 400 meters. Each lantern had washi (traditional handmade Japanese paper) with Dokurakugin (reciting poetry for my own pleasure) written on it. About the 390 students from Meirin junior high school and Koyo junior high school in Fukui City wrote those Dokurakugin and put the washi on lantern themselves.

Some of them said that “my own pleasure is to get excited talking about games with my brother when I go home”. And there’s another one said that “my pleasure is to get caught up in reading a book at night and fall asleep.”

 

There were some terrible people who destroyed some of the precious lanterns.

6 of the lanterns were damaged by some people.

It is terrible for anyone to do such a thing. They damaged not only the lanterns but they also greatly damaged the thoughts, time and effort of the people who organized this event and made it happen. The act with no caring and consideration about how it can influence others create nothing good.

 

The lanterns were fixed the next day, but they were destroyed again.

 

T.F

Guinea pigs in Mt. Asuwa, Fukui City

2017.05.21

Places to visit

I went to see the guinea pigs in the small zoo in Mt.Asuwa after so long, and I found an expanded space newly built so that you can feed them there. You can feed greens which is in an attached box. They are kept with rabbits but almost only the guinea pigs came close.
They are cute.

 

T.S

 

 

Black-tailed gull on the Echizen Coast|At pike rocks and café Mare 2017.5.12

2017.05.15

Places to visit

 

A lot of black-tailed gulls were flying over the pike rocks on the Echizen Coast.
The pike rocks are a tiny island which rock pillars were piled up characteristically like
Tojimbo Cliffs. On the top of the rocks, Fudo Myoo is enshrined and you can get there on foot.

 

At the café Mare, where is located in the slightly south of the pike rocks, if you go the length of a wooden deck which is extended toward the sea, you can see black-tailed gulls sitting on a rock. They look about the size of a pigeon but when I see it flying near, surprisingly it is big. Its wings are over one meter when it spreads ones.

T.S

 

Related pages

Map of the pike rocks

cafe Mare

Cherry Blossom Trees along Asuwa River in Fukui, Japan

2017.05.14

Places to visit

Did you get to see the cherry blossoms this year? How was it in your town?

In Fukui City, the cherry blossoms started being in full bloom from around April 4th for about 10days. The city looks as if it has been decorated beautifully by pink cotton candy and it was amazing.

The row of cherry blossoms trees by Asuwa River which flows through Fukui City has about 600 trees and it’s 2.2km long. According to Fukui Tourism Guide, “Walk along Asuwa River and Enjoy Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom” (http://www.fuku-e.com/010_spot/index.php?id=514) that Asuwa river is listed among “Japan’s Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots”. The trees are large and they look powerful so this pathway is known as one of the largest one in Japan.
There are many visitors enjoying the site every year.
If you have a chance, how about visiting and enjoying the cherry blossoms along Asuwa River.

 

T.F

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