Propositioned by Izanagi

I learned a few things today. I have mastered the Japanese art of sleeping wherever, whenever. I fell asleep on the 3 hour bus ride without even meaning to. We did a "tourist" stop at a little place in the mountains, which may be worth visiting during a later trip. In Takachiho, my hotel is for the first time quite close to the station, and I am on my way to sightseeing without much fuzz. This is when I learn that Takachiho is a hidden gem without too many tourists. The streets are small, the buildings old, and the history in the place is quite frankly breathtaking. The Takachiho jinja is first on my list. An old beauty of wood and stone, it represents all the gods of the 88 shrines around the area. They also have a pair of Cedars,who have grown so far together even their roots are interlinked. I don't need to mention this is a great couples destination, right? My day will start and end at Takachiho jinja, but I don't know that yet.

The next stop is Takachiho Gorge. The area has a great number of natural waterfalls, but only one of them is deemed "the" gorge. The route to it is quite steep, and I have countless cars as well as buses pass me by as I try not to be hit. Next lesson of the day: even in the country side, Japanese people don't believe in pavements. Slowly but surely, I get to the river. They have a lot of natural ponds in the area, which are filled with the fattest, biggest koi I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot of koi. This is the only spot that feels a bit cramped, as buses after buses after buses of Japanese tourists flog to the viewing platforms. The gorge is beautiful. It was formed after an eruption of Mount Aso. Of course, the folklore tells another tale. It is part of the very creation of Japan, at least according to Shinto believes.

The viewing of the gorge sadly has to commence on land, as the river is too dangerous today to take a boat. I opt for a taxi to take me back to town, as I have a lot more sightseeing to do. This will not be the last time I have somebody call me a Taxi. Back in town, I pass through Gamadase Market, where local produce and crafts are sold. After this, it is time to dive head first into the Shinto believe of Japanese creation. I can't believe Takachiho isn't overrun with tourists. Here, the magic happened. It goes like this:

Once upon a time, the world was covered by sea (quite forward thinking there), and the land now known as Japan flowed around in the sea like jelly fish. From "heaven" two gods were selected to create the world (Japan, but really, which country hasn't believed itself to be the whole world?):  Izanagi and Izanami. They received a spear to muck around in the pre-worldly soup. As they withdraw the spear, clumps of earth fell from it, forming the islands of Japan. Both gods descended upon the land on the spot Amenomanai  (Which is a spot of a lot of twisted, strong trees and MILLIONS of moquitoes) and the Kushifuru Shrine (which is so empty I can't believe it). And it is build in a holy forest, quite and breathtakingly beautiful to get lost in. The two gods married and lived in the Aratate shrine. There, you have to hit a piece of wood really hard 7 times to make your dreams come true. I love that!

The creation story of course goes on and gets a lot more detailed, but long story short, they make lots and lots of baby gods, who become Japanese deities as well. Among the first is Amaterasu, who allegedly gave birth to the first Tenno and through him to all of the Japanese people.

After this intense lesson in Japanese folklore, I walk back to my hotel to check in. I find an invitation to join the nightly rendition of Yokagura, as well as an email that the Japanese post system has failed me. Long story short, I left an important piece of luggage in Nagasaki, and hoped to find it send to Takachiho once I arrive. Sadly, it has not arrived. I take a Taxi to the big post distribution office (10 minutes before closing time) to find out that the package hadn't even made it out of Nagasaki. Now, German public servants would have now shooed me out of the office, claiming closing time and bye bye. Not the Japanese post employees though. They take the phone and argue with the post masters, figure out post routes and everything to make sure to get the package delivered on time to my next hotel. This takes about 30 minutes to do, and I cannot apologize and thank them enough for their efforts. Did I mention the redirection comes free of charge? They even get me a taxi back to the town center.

I choose to spend the 2 hours befor the Kagura with some quality Takachiho beef Yakiniku. I tell you, in my humble opinion, it is even better than Kobe beef. It really is.

And so in the end, I return back to Takachiho Jinja for some quality Yokagura. These are dances usually performed throughout the night in November, to appease the gods and thank for good harvest. Usually, there are 33 parts to last the night, but they perform 4 selected pieces every evening for the tourists.

I have taken a short video of each of the songs, however, the performances of course last much longer.
The first dance Tajikarao, shows the god Tajikaro, who is searching for Amaterasu, who hid in a cave.
The second dance is Ameno-Uzume, an amusing dance that was designed to make the gods laugh and cheer, so Amaterasu may become curious and come out of her cave.
The third dance Totori, depicts Tajikarao at an amazing feat of strength, as he rips the stone doors off the cave.
And the last dance, my absolute favourite for many reasons, shows the two gods Izanagi and Izanami making rice and getting drunk. The two of them actually interact with the audience. Making each other jealous and so on. You may also pinpoint the exact moment where I get tackled to the floor by Isanagi. I give them that, it was very funny indeed.

All in all, you can spend probably a lot longer in Takachiho and not get bored. I kinda regret that I have to leave before seeing the Amanoyasugawara shrines, the Kunimigaoka or the Railway. Really, anybody who wants to have a fun time, with lots of folklore, Takachiho is the place.


Pictures Takachiho