kappa shrine in tono

I stayed in Tono, the land of Japanese folktales, last night. That evening i made the pilgrimage down to the kappa buchi (kappa pool) to see the shrine that some crazy local built (according to my guide book). The kappa is not only the result of unfortunate transformation that can be cured with a green cherry (for dorks only), it is also a well-known legend in Japan. The kappa is a green, frog-looking monster with a turtle shell, a sharp beak, and a dish of water on its head. The dish ensures its body stays moist outside the water, where it makes its home. They are mischievous creatures who coax horses into entering waterways and pulling children in to drown. Upon meeting a kappa, you should always bow, so that he returns the bow, loses all his water, and is forced to retreat back to the river. In Tono, kappa are quite friendly. One even saved a nearby temple from a great fire. In other places famous for kappa like Kochi on Shikoku however, they can be vicious, and have been known to challenge passersby to on-the-spot sumo matches. The kappa shrine was so cluttered with various things, from kappa dolls to prayer seals to a set of kappa journals. I wrote in one and took a photo (soon to be on flickr).

The hostel i stayed in what drop-dead gorgeous. Their ofuro was magnificently modern but also oh so vintage, with a heat-regulated bathtub indoors and a cedar tub outdoors complete with flower garden and little frog who watched me bathe. Manga library downstairs with all the Inuyasha series (no time to read them), tatami reading room upstairs with free tea and coffee. I stayed in the "Kappa Room," how ironic. Some old guy and i were the only guests, and it felt so empty there, but who cares when the place is like a palace? After "tea-time" at 9 pm and some homemade pineapple cake, the manager brought out an array of maps and guides and sat down to teach me about Tono's history, its legends, and all the sites to see. In Japanese. Luckily for us both, he had a dictionary at hand, and words like "incarnation of devil" and "pilgrimage" were soon translated to everyone's liking. One interesting tale was of Oshira-san, who fell in love with a handsome horse and asked her father if she could marry him. Naturally, the father hung the horse in disgust and skinned the poor corpse, rendering the girl sad as could be. She then climbed up to heaven somehow to be with her lover. The next part is hazy, but something with silkworms and carved idols. In essence, people in this region would pray to carved idols of the heads of Oshira-san and her horse lover.

The next morning i set out on bike to see the sights. First up was a "water wheel." Didn't sound that exciting, but who knows? I biked for half an hour uphill and found just that -- a waterwheel. It spun, but nothing was inside to be churned but spiderwebs. Frustration nearly reared its ugly head, but the clean air and mountains in the distance were a good remedy. Next up -- dan no hana -- a place where the upper torsos of criminals were displayed as warnings to all the town troublemakers and ruffians. Now there is only a hill of gravestones (surprising?). Next was some kind of field, and i walked and walked down a muddy path until i realized it was one of those Japanese roads to nowhere infinity (there are too many to count), and turned back only to find a plaquea that said the field was once a spot where old people were cast off to because they were useless (according to legend). Much like our modern old age homes. At this point, i realized it was getting late and pushed on back to the hostel, from which i ejected shortly after. I managed to hitch a ride back to the station after walking along a country road for half and hour with all my luggage, thinking like a genius that instead of waiting for the next country bus in an hour, i would just be a man and walk it. Country roads are no fun to walk with more than 50 lbs of luggage. The driver was an older woman who basically offered me her 28 yr old daughter, but i reminded her i was a traveler who was leaving quite soon and i couldn't possibly accept her generous offer. I think now about how my life would have been like if i had married a Tono farmer girl...

Now i'm in Morioka and have no set plans as usual. There must be stuff here worth seeing, maybe even better than waterwheels and empty fields. It took me a good hour of walking to circles to find this place, remarkably. I was eventually picked up by two dudes in a van who must have watched me walk in circles for a long enough time to pity me. They passenger-seat guy said in English, "Hi! Where going?" And this was the start of a most delightful conversation, as you can imagine. More tomorrow.