Comments on: Mythology

By: CJW

CJW — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:33:03 +0000

Hi Aileen – I thoroughly fell in love with the place, especially the deep valleys and hamlets of Oku-Izumo. As we drove through them, we saw numerous “For Sale” signs – farmhouses with land and fields, only Y5,000,000. In the darker days of 2008, my mind kept returning to them, thinking “Farming in Izumo might not be a bad life…”

By: Aileen Kawagoe

Aileen Kawagoe — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:33:38 +0000

Rare to find beautiful imagery of Izumo – evocative of the subjugated ancient heartland of Japan that even the Japanese have forgotten today. Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

By: Deas

Deas — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:08:24 +0000

Another stupendous entry. I missed it the first time around, but caught it via the Japan blog matsuri. I really enjoyed how you meld into one post the pictures, the inner narrative, and the portrait of your relationship with Yuka.

By: cjw

cjw — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:11:37 +0000

Ted T – that’s a great area to have lived in. I quite fell in love with it. As we passed through those little villages, so many of them had signs announcing “House for Sale”. Kept thinking about throwing the towel in on the rat-race, buying a wee plot down there, farming rice, shovelling snow…

Melanie – glad you enjoyed. More vicarious mountain climbing to come!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:01:36 +0000

So poetic and such amazing images! I have to say, I love each and every one of your posts.

By: Ted T

Ted T — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:33:46 +0000

Ah, you sure brought me back home man. I lived up in Yonago for 12 years, and the tracks of my soles/soul can be found in the dust of all the peaks in the region. San-in simply pulsates with the old gods.

I followed that knife-edge route once, and to be sure, it was hairy even back in ‘94. The autumn winds kicked up midway across, forcing me to crouch into a Chuck Berry duckwalk for awhile. Then the cold began to cramp my legs…

Those gods command much respect.

By: cjw

cjw — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:51:19 +0000

Butuki, Julian, thank you both. I’m really glad you liked the post – we had such a good time down there, and I hope some of that feeling came through.

I got to know a fair bit of Japanese mythology when I was at undergrad. One of my graduation papers was on ghosts and psychological phenomena in the Tale of Genji – I read through a large portion of the Kojiki and Nihongi as background. It’s with some sense of awe that I can travel to places like Takachiho, Izumo or Togakushi; the ancient Japanese chose their mythological locations well!

By: Julian

Julian — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:21:09 +0000

As with all of your posts, the style of writing is an absolute joy to read, and I wonder how you know so much about the history and mythology of the mountains and Japan in general.

By: butuki

butuki — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:53:54 +0000

CJW, what a joy to read this was! Not only did you evoke what climbing is like in Japan, but you also expressed the joy and the love for both mountains, nature, and one another that you both carry with you. The photographs were delightful! I especially like the one with Yuka holding her hand out for the dragonfly, but I also like the last picture of (I guess that’s Yuka?) in the waterfall pool. Both the words and the photos make you forget that they are essay and photograph and tell a story like I would hear over a campfire with good friends. I even forgot I was reading a blog! That doesn’t happen very often! Wonderful trip!

By: cjw

cjw — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:00:40 +0000

Thanks Captain, that is a curious coincidence – I didn’t have time before going to read the chapter on Daisen, so was quite unaware that Fukada had taken the same tack. But it doesn’t surprise me; I found the region almost forces its mythology upon you, and I think you’d be hard pressed not to come away with the feeling of having encountered something ancient.

Hey Wes: the ridge actually looked feasible to me, although it was roped off – there was a definite path. More than the rope, though, it was the look that Yuka gave me as I stepped towards it that kept me from exploring further.. sensible girl! I quite fancy giving the winter ascent a go, maybe something for late this year or early next – I’ll take my rope and find out if that ridge can be done..