Restless 4 - Catching Up on Japanese History / Mount Kōya, Wakayama Walk, & the Kiso-ji / Mini Camper Van hunting
Hello. This is Restless, my monthly newsletter. Hopefully keeping things to the point, relevant to Japan and easy to read. Sent from the Shinano Express on my way to walk another section of the Nakasendō/Kiso-ji.
Contents:
- Catching Up on Japanese History
- Mount Kōya, Wakayama Walk, & the Kiso-ji
- Mini Camper van/car hunting
- Books Read / Films Watched
Japanese History - I’ve been catching up on Japanese history. Following on from last month’s 1950 Japanese cinema binge I delved into The Age of Samurai on Netflix and am currently one-third of the way through reading the History of Japan: Revised Edition by R.H.P Mason and J.G. Caiger. With more and more walks to look forward to it has become imperative to brush up on the history of Japan to set the foundations for each outing. Watching The Age of Samurai surprised me. For one thing, I hardly ever watch a season of shows on Netflix, I usually just stick to films, but this documentary series was worth it. Not only was it actually very good, but a lot of the historical locations in the series are within easy reach of my home thereby providing a wealth of local knowledge. In fact, episode one is based in Owari, the region I have called home for most of my life in Japan. Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and Ieyasu Tokugawa will be familiar to anyone with knowledge of the sengoku period of Japanese history, but I wasn’t aware how downright brutal Nobunaga Oda was to people he deemed his enemies, innocent villagers included. It’s well worth a watch if Japanese history interests you.
Mount Kōya, Wakayama Walk & the Kiso-ji - This time every year I’m usually on the Gold Coast in southern Queensland with a group of kids. It’s one of the most rewarding times of the year — introducing kids to a different culture, the English language, and an alternative way of living brings great rewards to everyone involved. It opens their eyes to the outside world, it expands their horizons. And of course they love the surfing. All the usual clichés that we, the older generation, already know and value. It’s the most worthwhile and productive job I think I’ve ever done.
But this year for obvious reasons the trip isn’t happening. So with a week free on the calendar we instead headed to Ise Grand Shrine in Mie, the world heritage site of Mount Kōya, the home of Shingon Buddhism, in Wakayama, did some walking in the area, and the plan as this newsletter goes out is to walk another solo stretch of the Nakasendō/Kiso-ji. I’ve already written about Ise Grand Shrine with more on the other locations coming soon.
Mini Camper van/car hunting - We are also in the process of searching for a small camper car/van for weekends away from home now that our daughter has relegated my bike-packing endeavours to a distant memory. I’m fine with that though, change is good, and I feel lucky to be in Japan where cars are often designed to be compact. What that means is that there’s an ample supply of small cars that double as weekend campers. Cars like this. Initially we were interested in buying new but have since decided that a secondhand car is better and that building the inside ourselves would be a lot more fun, even if we don’t really know what we’re doing. There doesn’t seem to be any logic or value in buying a car that’s just a car anymore, it needs to do more for us. Buying a car to camp in should allow for more weekends away as a family without having to worry too much about location. High in the mountains, next to the ocean, or even in a city park, anywhere that we can park for the evening. That’ll mean early mornings or evenings in more ideal places with better light and potentially better photo opportunities. Well that’s the plan, anyway.
There you go. Another month passes and we all get a little older. Every month, every day, it’s now or never.
Blog Posts
Nakasendō/Kiso-ji - Walking Niekawa to Yabuhara - SeanBreslin.net
Walking the Nakasendō/Kiso-ji. Niekawa to Yabuhara, passing through Narai-juku and over the Torii Pass into Yabuhara in the Kiso Valley.
Archive: Kiso Fukushima・Kumbh Mela - SeanBreslin.net
Reflecting on where I am on my photo journey with two portraits taken in Japan and India in February 2013.
Ise Grand Shrine - SeanBreslin.net
Taking a detour to Ise Grand Shrine recently. Once again visitors were few which meant more time to slow down and enjoy the scenery.
Books Read
Everest - Naoki Ishikawa - Naoki Ishikawa is a Japanese mountaineer and photographer and regularly produces photo books that inspire. It’s worth noting that the photos in this book were taken in 2011 a few years before climbing Mt. Everest became just another package tour.
Grief Is the Thing With Feathers: A Novel - Max Porter (reread)
Lanny: A Novel - Max Porter
Zen: The Art of Simple Living - Shunmyō Masano
History of Japan: Revised Edition - R.H.P Mason and J.G. Caiger
Watched
Alec Soth’s YouTube channel - If you have a passion for photography and photo books in particular this is hands down the best photography channel on YouTube.
The Age of Samurai - Netflix
Elegant Beast / しとやかな獣 (Shitoyakana Kedamono) - Yuzo Kawashima
Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve. I still can’t believe this was a box office flop.