March 15th, 2006

So I had a very Japanese day today. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures because my camera is broken and I forgot to get Chris's (I was running late). So anyways, at 10:30 Watanabe-san picked me up and we drove to Yamamoto-san's house to pick her up. Then, they took me to see Taisha. A few weeks ago, I had mentioned that I wanted to go to Taisha with them so they could explain everything to me.

So we drove to Taisha, they showed me the huge torii which is a gateway into the shinto shrine. It denotes that you are on sacred ground. This torii is in the middle of Taisha Town so it kinda implies that most of Taisha is sacred. Then they drove me by an old JR train staion (JR = Japan Railways) that is no longer in use. Its considered a national treasure though and many movies are filmed there. Then they took me by another really old train station (about 80 years old) thats not in use. Im not really sure why.

After that, they drove me to Taisha. I was told that during New Year's, its traditional for Japanese people to go to shrines and pray for the New Year. They block off the parking lot at Taisha so you have to walk through to main gate (by all the souvenir shops!). Taisha was really fascinating today. I learned a lot about it. It will be hard for me to describe in detail since I dont have pictures. Maybe one day next week I will go to Taisha and take a camera.

We first went by the building with the giant rope. I always thought it was part of the shrine, but its not really. Its a dance hall. Every year in May, they put do the Kagura which is a dance sacred to Japan (it originated in Izumo). Aparently, the great Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami was upset about something and she hid in a cave, taking her precious sunlight with her. So a younger goddess (Ama no Uzume no mikoto) decided to coax her out of hiding by putting on a dance for her. So now, to honor this goddess, in Izumo (and other places) they do the traditional Kagura in the Hall for Sacred Dances.

After they showed me the hall, they took me in through the bronze torii. When we got there, it was a very good time because in the Oracle Hall, they were having a ceremony. Priests played the taiko drums and some sort of traditional Japanese flute while a priestess danced with a stick with bells on it. It was very pretty and fascinating. There were many people in the hall praying while she danced. Aparently, its good to go to the oracle hall when you have something big to pray for. You have to make a donation to get there though. After the ceremony, the people from the hall got to go out and actually go into the Taisha shrine. Most people dont get to go inside the shrine. Only on New Years Day or if you pray in the Oracle Hall do you get to go. We didnt, so we stood outside the shrine gate and gave our yen and prayed. You bow two times, clap four times, and bow one more time. Normally, at a shrine, you only clap twice, but at Taisha you clap four times. Twice for yourself and twice for your mate.

The Taisha shrine has dual purposes. The first is that its the year 'round love and marriage shrine. Taisha shrine houses the Kami (God) Okuninushi no kami who is the god of happiness, love, and marriage. SO you go there to pray for your future mate and lots of weddings are held there. Watanabe-san told me that you arent supposed to go there as a couple because Okuninushi no kami is a jealous god and will split you apart. But after you are married, its ok! So anyways, thats one purpose. (Interesting side note: Okuninushi no kami is susanowo no mikoto's son. Susanowo it one of the bigger kamis and he is the brother of amaterasu and very important to the people in the Izumo area. His shrine is about 30 minutes away from Taisha in Sada). Another purpose of Taisha shrine, is in November, all the kami all over Japan (about 800 million) come to Taisha to party with Okuninushi. In all of Japan, November is considered the month with no gods. And why is that? Because they all come to Taisha for the month! So in Izumo Taisha, we call November, the month of ALL gods. Woo! How fun!

Anyways, so thats why Taisha is there and why its so important. There are lesser shrines around the main shrine. One is to Susanowo who is Okuninushi's father. Another is for one of Okuninushi's brothers (I think, maybe his son, I cant remember right now). That kami's descendents are the guardians (priests) of Taisha now. There are also these weird long shrines with steps. Those are hotels for the gods when they come in november. Also, on various shrines, you will see cups of sake, rice, and salt that are gifts to the various gods. Also, yen boxes are everywhere so you can pray and throw in your 5 yen (the word for 'five yen' is goen which sounds like God's Fortune in Japanese so its extra lucky to throw in 5 yen coins).

One last legend about Okuninushi. Aparently the rabbits got in trouble with some sharks (they were using them to cross water by having them line up and they would jump on them) and the sharks got mad. So the sharks tore of her skin. Some mean god in Izumo told her to bathe in salt water to grow the skin back. But since she had no skin, it just made her cry. Okuninushi wandered by and saw her crying so he told her how to get her fur back (bath in fresh water to clean the salt, roll in cattails fluff and then lay with no wind and tada!). So a lot of times, you see statues of Okuninushi with rabits. Isnt that a cute story? I liked it. What a friendly kami!!

When we were leaving Taisha, we stopped by the huge rope that hangs in front of the Sacred Dance Hall. Its common to try to throw 5 yen and try to get it stuck in the rope. Its very hard to do and you have to be lucky to get it to stick. I got my yen stuck on the first try. Woot! I think I was suppose to make a wish but I didnt at the time. I was just amused to get my yen stuck. :)

So that was my trip to Taisha! My Japanese day wasnt over though. We went back to Yamamoto-san's house for lunch. We had vegtable sushi which was pretty yummy. It was cold and had a sour pickly taste. I did pick out the mushrooms. Then she brought out mushroom and egg custard. I HATE that custard. It actually makes me heave when I have to taste it. Something about it being hot, gooey, and mushroomy. It turns my stomache. So I had to politefully decline to eat it. It had mushrooms, fish sausage, and chicken in it. Bleh! I understand its a treat for japanese people, I just cant handle it. Then she brought out some fried vegtable messy things. They were pretty good though I did eat somethign called burdock which is essentially a thistle. Hmmm. It was good though. Then for dessert we had plain yogurt with strawberries and honey, teaflavored anko cakes, and chocolate cookies. Lots of food. IT was fun though. I got to see a traditional japanese home. She had her Hina dolls out as well. They are these traditional dolls that everyone has to display. Aparently, you usually only display them for a week, but Izumo is special and gets to display them for a month and a week.

I got home around 5:00, so it was a really long day. Interesting though! Now its really late and I need to go to bed because Susie has to be up early.