Winter in Noto(2) Treasure House of Histrical Sites and Seafood: “Nanao” in Ishikawa Prefecture
Temple Town and Tohaku Hasegawa, the Gifted Painter
Nanao has many temples, as the warlord Maeda strategically built many temples to defend his castle 400 years ago, after Noto-Hatakeyama family lost its power. This is the “Yama-no-dera Jiingun” (literally translated, temple group in the mountain) located west of the city. Nowadays, 16 temples are opened to public for sightseeing, and many history fans crowd the area in its best season in spring and autumn. Among these, there are the temples associated with the gifted painter, Tohaku Hasegawa.
“Choju-ji” and”Honen-ji” are two best temples to visit during the walk. These are places where Tohaku spent his juvenile days and a highlight of the historic walk, following the footsteps of young Tohaku during his apprenticeship as a painter. Choju-ji is a temple where Hasegaswa family belongs, the family Tohaku was adopted, and Honen-ji is the temple for Okumura family where he was born. “Choju-ji” is a Nichiren Sect temple founded in 1457. Here, the picture “Shakanehanzu (Buddha Nirvana)” is stored, which is said to be drawn by Tohaku’s grandfather, Mubun Hasegawa. This art piece was drawn around the time when Tohaku became familiar with Buddhist paintings and started to bloom his talent as a painter, lead by his father in law. Hasegawa family was involved in dyeing, and it is said that Tohaku developed his keen sense of colors during this time, acquiring to draw both black-ink paintings to gorgeous world of paintings.
The other family temple “Honen-ji” is a temple with a touch of tranquility with the main gate after going up the gradual stairs. The calmness of the temple and the remaining snow comforts the heart of the visitors. Established in 1464, this temple preserves the precious treasure “Nichiren Shonin Zazou” which was colored by Tohaku when he was 26 years old. This sitting statue, a rare work for Tohaku being a painter, has lost its color over long years, but we can still feel the bright color of that time. Though the statue is covered with cotton during the cold winter, this is a great spot to visit as all visitors may view the statue for free.
Thirty minutes drive from the city will take you to the remains of Nanao Castle. Going up the mountain from the re and climbing up the observatory deck, you can have a whole view of the city and Nanao Bay. From the time of the rule of Noto-Hatakeyama family to the time when the landlord changed to Toshiie Maeda, together with the temples, a castle town has been developed along the bay as long as 4km. In the past, pine trees were planted by the bay. It made me wonder if young Tohaku had seen the same scenery. Walking in Nanao makes me feel as if the mystery of all the masterpiece are revealed.
If you are interested in Tohaku, I would recommend you to visit “Ishikawa Nanao Art Museum.” You will be familiar to the life of Tohaku Hasegawa by maing a tour around the museum watching Hi-vision videos and artpiece. Every year, the museum holds an exhibition of Tohaku’s work in series, so you can also fit this into your agenda (held from 25 April to 31 May in 2010).
Noto is also full of festivals, with over one hundred throughlut the year. One of the largest festival in Nanao is “Seihakusai” (3-5 May), a parade in the middle of the town pulling a large float weighing 20 tons with a huge 2m wheel. Being the 400th anniversary of Tohaku’s death, this year the float will be decorated under the theme of Tohaku.
Source: Travel Vision
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This coming Saturday, one of the World’s Top Fashion Festival, “Tokyo Girls Collection 2010″ (in Japanese 東京ガールズコレクション, also abbreviated as TGC) will kick off at Yokohama Arena, Yokohama City, showcasing the latest fashions for Spring/Summer 2010. A semi-annual fashion event launched in 2005, it showcases the seasons fashionable street-wear by domestic brands, and are modeled by celebrity-status models from various Japanese fashion magazines. The event is open not only to buyers and journalists, but also to the general public.
NHK period drama on Sundays is on air throughout the year, and naturally, the regions highlighted in the drama has high chance to gain nationwide attention. Last year, Niigata and Yamagata came under the spotlight as the leading role of the drama was Kanetsugu Naoe, the warlord who showed presence in the area. Ryoma Sakamoto is featured for this year; his birthplace Kochi Prefecture, and the associated places such as Edo (Tokyo), Kyoto, and Nagasaki, will be the center of attraction. Many historical incidents took place in Kyoto during the transition from Edo to Meiji period, and it is interesting to walk around the town taking a glance at the history of the last days of Tokugawa Shogunate. Kyoto has been an inevitable place for Japan’s history since the transfer of the capital to Kyoto 1200 years ago, with many architectural and cultural heritage from those days, but thanks to Ryoma Sakamoto, this year people are giving more than a passing thought to the history merely 150 years ago.
Taikouan is another cultural asset seen in Tofuku-ji. There is a rock garden covered with hair moss, and tea house where Juji (leader monk of the temple) Ankokuiji Eikei and Mitsunari Ishida conspired to defeat Tokugawa before the battle of Sekigahara. During the battle of Toba-Fushimi, this area was the headquarters of Choshu clan, another leading party of Satsuma-Choshu alliance. Tofuku-ji was a site where the drama took place at that time by becoming the temple supporting the clan members. Though it looks as if it completely has nothing to do with the conspiracy and conflicts, the rock garden is actually the witness of the history. Ostensibly, the garden silently express the world of zen with wabi-sabi; the seriousness of the history can be sought deep inside the tranquility of the garden.
Less than five minutes by car from Tofuku-ji is Sennyu-ji, a temple where Emperor Komei rests in peace. He was the 121st emperor who was tossed about in the turbulent days of the end of Edo period when the anti-foreigner movement was on the rise. The temple is famous for being the family temple for the imperial family, entombing emperors of Edo period from Gomizunoo to Komei. Even nowadays the temple is visited by the imperial family, and the rooms are decorated with screen paintings that reminds us of the court life back then. The temple edifice impresses the visitors with its magnificence being the royal temple. Not many people visit the temple as it is located southeast away from the center of Kyoto. I also wouldn’t drop by unless there is a chance like this, but Kyoto has witnesses of history here and there around the town.
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