Lake Yubara and Katsuyama

LAKE YUBARA

Yubara Dam

     There is a dam visible from the thermal pools at Yubara Onsen which make a dramatic backdrop when you consider all the water being held back behind that dam. In spite of the relaxation induced by the hot water there is always that little what if (as in what if the dam breaks) in the back of your mind—not enough to induce paranoia but just enough to give a little spice of apprehension to the experience.

        In all the years since we started going to Yubara we had never gone up to the dam or seen the reservoir called Lake Yubara formed by damming the river. The dam is very high and consequently the lake is extensive. A satellite or map view looks like a monster with a long pigtail. We learned that there is a road across the dam and a long winding road that parallels the southern shore of the lake as well as a nature park. We decided to drive up to the dam and have a look at the lake and do some walking in the nature park after checking out of our ryokan.

Map: Lake Yubara

nature park entrance
and spattered Demi

Lake Yubara

        After a rainy previous day the weather was improving and the sun was breaking through the clouds promising a nice day. We crossed the dam and drove to the nature park which is situated on a peninsula and has a nice viewpoint. The park was deserted and the walking path proved to be very hilly but doable. As we climbed up towards the end of the trail we saw a viewing platform sitting on the crest of a rather steep incline that had to be negotiated on steps that were covered with wet slippery leaves. The view from the platform wasn't particularly dramatic or spectacular, just a nice mix of air, earth and water with an occasional touch of fire when the sun peeped out from behind a cloud. Coming down the wet slippery steps proved dicier than going up, but accomplished without mishaps.

platform with a scenic view
(if you can reach it)

the view from the platform (we reached it)


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KATSUYAMA

antique sewing machine

Mickey D inspiration? noren

         After leaving the nature park we drove along the lake for several kilometers and then veered south to return to the Asahi River and along the river to the city of Katsuyama which has preserved an old merchant area. The area is interesting for a couple of reasons: the unique (暖簾) noren* on the shops, and an old boat canal that was used to supply the merchant's shops. The shops therefore back onto the river and front onto the street that parallels the river.

auto repair shop noren

bicycle shop noren

post office noren

tea shop nore

*Noren are traditional Japanese fabric dividers, hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. They usually have one or more vertical slits cut from the bottom to nearly the top of the fabric. Noren are rectangular and come in many different materials, sizes, colors, and patterns. Exterior noren are traditionally used by shops and restaurants as a means of protection from sun, wind, and dust, and for display of the shop name or logo. [Wikipedia]

Katsuyama preserved merchant street

rear of merchant shops on Asahi River boat canal

A Room with the Ultimate View

     “Your room has a beautiful view; depending, of course, on what you think is beautiful,” the room attendant joked as she ushered us into our 旅館 [ryokan] room at 湯原温泉[Yubara Onsen].

        In Okayama Prefecture, a river called the 旭川[Asahikawa] runs more or less north to south from the mountain divide in the north of the prefecture to the Inland Sea. It is a rather scenic river with, Yubara, one of our favorite onsen 温泉 (hot springs) with thermal pools in the river in the northern part of the prefecture. The same river flows through our city and, in fact, you can drive along the river all the way to the hot spring. It is a very scenic drive that takes about two to two and a half hours of pleasant country driving to get there.

Map: River Road to Yubara Onsen

thermal pools and Asahikawa, Yubara Onsen

        The unique thing about Yubara is the open air thermal pools in the river that are free of charge and feature mixed bathing, both a rarity in Japan these days. Nudity is de rigueur when using the pools although they are in plain view of anyone passing by. Public nudity is commonplace in Japan in the popular hot spring culture that the country enjoys. Japan is blessed, thanks to its volcanic geology, with a large network of natural thermal springs, and the Japanese have developed a culture built around public bathing. Nowadays the sexes are separated in the hot spring hotels' communal baths. But Yubara upholds an older tradition of mixed bathing in the town-run thermal pools in the river. Naturally, there are many ryokan with their own spas, but they conform to the more modern separated baths. Many onsen ryokan, however, feature private baths for mixed bathing on a reservation basis. 

the ryokan lobby, Asahikawa through the window

        We decided to take an overnight trip for an early celebration of Xmas and my birthday and booked a room with breakfast and dinner included at a ryokan overlooking the public pools—the circumstance that led to the room attendant's quip about “the beautiful view”.

THE "BEAUTIFUL VIEW"

notice the woman wrapped in a special wrap

in the roof bath

        After checking out the “view” we decided to soak in the hotel's roof bath in the rain before dinner. The roof bath is open air and there was nobody else in the men's bath. I could hear Road Buddy on the other side of the fence in the women's bath so I suggested she come over to the men's side since there was no one else there. She did, no other men showed up, and we enjoyed a relaxing soak together until it was time to get ready for dinner, which included a birthday cake for me after the meal.

EINE KLEINE NACHTMUSIK

        It was still raining after dinner but we decided to go out to the open air thermal springs in the river (a must) anyway. The hotel provided umbrellas for guests but, to our surprise, the rain had let up as we left the lobby of the hotel and the umbrellas were unnecessary but we carried them anyhow. There was only one other man in the bath when we arrived so we moved to an empty pool and, being alone, took out the camera and had a lot of fun taking pictures in the light of lamps around the pools. I will say that although mixed bathing is the rule at Yubara, most of the bathers tend to be men who seem to be less shy about taking it all off. Women are allowed to wear a special towel in the pools, although swim wear is strictly prohibited. So, you will rarely see women in the pools in daylight. (We went to Yubara with a couple from Spain last summer and the women were the only ones in the pools surrounded by admiring lads in the afternoon. Naturally, they loved the attention.) In general though, for the ladies, soaking in the outside pools is more comfortable at night. That is why we especially like Yubara at night. It is very special when you are there on a snowy night in winter. It didn't snow this time around, but it did start raining again while we were in the pool. And that is third best. Second best is when the moon breaks through the clouds on a snowy evening. 

under a lamp post - ryokan in the background

Happy Holidays

R U talkin' 2 me?

A Pretty Pass . . .

. . . and an up-to-date Modest Proposal (apologies to Jonathan Swift)

duck and cover - c. 1950s

     Shades of "duck and cover" under your desk in case of a nuclear attack when I was a kid in school in the early days of the Cold War.

bullet proof blankets in attractive red - 2015

        Modern marketing, in the wake of mass shootings, some in elementary and high schools, have come up with the perfect solution for protecting the young—bullet proof blankets. It's no longer crawl under your desk children, it's crawl under your blankie. Leave it to modern marketing to find new ways to part the consumer from his swag. “Don't need a new refrigerator or flat screen TV? How about a nice bright red or blue bullet-proof blankie for your child. Your child deserves nothing but the best in the latest advances in child security.”

        No, this alone won't do. I have a much better idea. . . or two.

.45 Cal Automatic

        I seem to remember some rumblings about the possibility of requiring classroom teachers to be armed after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. I haven't heard whether or not that idea passed into legislation. But, in addition to bullet proof blankets for the children, it might be a good idea to have an armed and target-trained teacher to keep the intruders from coming in, kicking off the bullet proof blankets and shooting the kids while the helplessly/hopelessly unarmed teacher can only watch in horror. But, with Ms. Oakley whipping her .45 Cal Automatic out of the desk drawer and engaging the intruders in a shootout over their heads, the children would be safely huddled under their bullet proof blankets while sharpshooter Ms. Annie dispatches the perps, blows the smoke from the business end of her .45 and calmly continues the Math lesson.

        For real protection for the children, however, bullet proof blankies and sharpshooter teachers are not enough. And here, I'm sure the NRA will be in full 100% support of this idea. In the classroom the armed teacher and bullet proof blankies might turn the trick, but what about on the playground, or walking to and from school or in the school bus? Bullet proof vests are not practical in these non-classroom venues. And unless the teachers are packing heat on their hips, the playground is open territory for would be terrorists. You could arm the school bus drivers on school buses, but it's pretty hard to have a shootout while driving and, anyway, lots of kids (without their bullet proof blankies) would be caught in the crossfire.

Colt Peacemaker Caliber .45

        The logical thing, obviously, is to arm the children themselves for their own self-protection. The Second Amendments rights of adults to bear arms should be extended to the children. Of course, children should not carry weapons without knowing how to use them. Therefore, mandatory target practice must be added to the PE program in all schools from K through 12. All the children would receive a nice Christmas present of a child size working replica of the Colt .45, a hand tooled leather holster to keep it in and a green beret in the same year as they receive their proficiency-with-the-weapon certificate. I would dare any terrorist to set foot in that classroom!

        This idea may sound a bit bizarre, but I'm willing to bet that modern marketing can make this seem the greatest idea since sliced bread. It's all in the packaging. And think of the boon to the arms manufacturers' profits and those of the target-range construction industry and gun shooting trainers. I see a goldmine here. Then we can all sleep peacefully with thoughts of sugar-plum fairies dancing in our heads.  

Venezia - Santa Maria della Salute e gondole

Self Confidence – 自信 (JISHIN)

     I've come increasingly to realize that teacher's don't really teach, good ones simply get out of the way of learning. The best ones are simply facilitators of self confidence building. This is especially true in the case of young learners who have poor self images that block their ability to learn because they compare themselves to the “smarter” kids and come up short in their own eyes.

a young reader (6-years-old)

      Unfortunately, in a classroom, it isn't possible to erase or hide the different levels of learning ability among a group of children from each other. The teacher can try to shoot for the “middle” but will soon find that that doesn't work. There really is no such thing as “the middle”. Each child has different degrees of ability and different learning styles. Every parent wants to think that his child is a genius. Every teacher knows that there are very few if any geniuses in any given population.

      Although retired, I do a little part time ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching to a couple of evening classes of primary school age children a week. They are boys and girls of 8 to 10-years of age in grades three and four. Their levels of achievement therefore are also related to age and experience as well as learning ability. Generally, an older child will be advanced over a younger one. Ideally, they should be separated by grade level, but scheduling circumstances often preclude that possibility. In which case a younger child might feel intimidated by an older one.

      Since the situation of mixing ages and grade levels can't be avoided I found it necessary to have reading groups—the more advanced learners of course reading more difficult material. The less advanced, be it due to age or some reading or emotional problem, are aware that their material is easier and can feel a little inadequate (they might say “stupid” to themselves), loose confidence and get stuck in a kind of negative self feedback loop and be reluctant to try more difficult material. I have two students, one boy in the third grade and a girl in the fourth who I would say are caught in a poor self image and confidence trap.

      The third grade boy recently came to my other class for a makeup lesson where the reading level is not as high as the two third grade girls in his regular class. One of the fourth grade girls in this makeup class is a lower reader than he is. I decided to push him a bit and offered him a choice of reading with the lower level girl or with the higher level others. He asked me to show him the material. When I did he immediately opted for the easier. I said no, insisted he try the other and told him I would help him if needed. He sighed and started reading along with the other two while I attended to the other girl.

      She surprised me. I had been in the habit of reading the material for her to boost her confidence. When she first joined the class she sat in as an observer during the reading lesson. When I asked her if she would like to join in and try a little reading she broke down into sobs and tears. I took quite a while for her to compose herself, but she joined the class. She had heard the exchange between myself and the third grade boy. Instead of waiting for me to read she started to read by herself. I asked her if she wanted me to read it first, but she indicated no and wanted to read on her own. I helped her with a couple of word stumbles but she managed the whole text and got 100% on the multiple choice comprehension quiz.

      When I returned to the other group, my reluctant reader was engrossed in the text. I asked him if he needed some help, but he indicated that he didn't. When they had all finished with their silent reading I read the text aloud to model pronunciation and then had them read aloud as I listened. As I had suspected, my reluctant reader read very well with only a little help from me. The reading is followed by a 10 sentence True/False quiz. I asked the group, as I usually do, if they wanted to do the quiz “together” (with me) or on their own. They all, including my reluctant reader, opted to go it alone. The “star”, a fourth grade girl, got, unsurprisingly 100%, but the two third grade boys both managed 90%.

      I tapped my reluctant reader on the hand and said: “See, you can do it. You just need self confidence.“ [自信が必要です.] Then he blurted out: “自信がない!” [“I don't have self confidence.” ]

     “Uh-huh,” I thought to myself, “we'll see about that!”

The Temple that was thrown up to its cliffside location

Mount Mitoku area- location of
 三徳山三佛寺 Mitokusan Sanbutsuji 

     After leaving 燕趙園 [Enchoen], the Chinese Garden, it was only a short drive into the mountains to the 三徳山三佛寺 [Mitokusan Sanbutsuji] temple and its famous (in Japan anyway) cliffside temple called, interestingly enough, 投入堂 [Nageiredo]. The Japanese language seems to be able to compress complex concepts into a few concise syllables. Na-ge-i-re-do, for example consists of five syllables for what I have to explain in English means: The Temple that was created below and thrown up to its cliffside location—19 syllables, count 'em. Let me bore you with another story. It's called how The Temple (that was created below and thrown up to its cliffside location) came into existence.

The Nageiredo (from the road through my zoom lens)

     Long, long ago in the Nara Period around the 8^th Century when Buddhism was being introduced into Japan from China, there was a sort of magician monk who wanted to spread the teachings of Buddha around the country. This magician monk's name was Enno Gyoja. According to legend he threw three lotus petals into the sky intending to build a new temple in each area where they fell back to earth. One of the petals fell onto a cliffside cave on Mount Mitoku 三徳山 in present day Tottori Prefecture. When Enno Gyoja arrived at Mitokusan and saw the almost inaccessible location of the cave and the difficulty involved in building a temple there he decided to build it lower down the mountain slope. Being a magician monk he compressed the completed building into the palm of his hand and boldly threw it up to the cave where, magically, it stuck and has been there ever since. It's called the Nageiredo 投入堂 (I don't have the patience to translate the name again), and is thought to be the oldest surviving wooden structure in Japan.

old and new (junk drinks even here)

weathered gate to the guest house

       Even accessing the main parts of the 三佛寺 [Sanbutsuji] temple can be a bit of a challenge if you are on the shady side of 70 and living with a titanium pin in the hip. The temple seems to have foreseen the needs of mobility-on-steep-slopes challenged people. They graciously provided walking sticks fashioned from local tree limbs at the base of the first set of steps, one of which I grabbed to begin the climb. The temple is an old weatherbeaten affair where moss covered stone sculptures abound. One set of steps shows evidence of centuries of wear and tear. There is an interesting set of Buddhist style prayer beads in front of the gate to a wayfarers' guest house. Usually these beads are fingered much like a rosary while muttering prayers. This set, however, is huge and hung from a pulley that you pull slowly while the wooden beads drop down with a sharp click that can be mesmerizing if you do it long enough. I guess they are designed to put one in a meditative trance. 

prayer beads for giants

Statue of Zao Gongen, a mountain deity,
that used to be in the Nageiredo
(now in a museum at the temple)

staircase well worn by time and countless feet

sun filtered through cedar trees
produces cathedral-like effect
(in my imagination at least)

weather worn and moss covered sculptures of I have no idea what

the Nageiredo and the view for those
able to see it (not my photos) 

little green haired boy

     The Nageiredo, as I mentioned in the previous post, is notoriously difficult to climb up to and is, consequently used for training monks and challenging intrepid climbers. To this day experts can't deduce how the building was actually built in such a difficult location. Although the climber is rewarded with a breathtaking view and photo op, thanks to me bum leg I had to forego, although sorely tempted, the agony and the ecstasy.

if you look real close you will see the Nageiredo in a notch in the foliage in one of the sun's rays;
the little sparkles all over the photo are a swarm of lady bugs (many of which landed on our clothes)