Jul 2006

What did you do on the weekend Yuki?

"I went to the local temple and crapped."

...

Um, I think you mean clapped .

Osaka was in the full swing of summer. Dispite the wisping clouds creeping across the sky, the heat clung to grey buildings around us. 29C and humid.

It was time to venture to a summer festival. To leave the comfort of our air-con and witness the local wildlife in their natural environment. Baby J and I headed out to find something to drink.

The vending machines called to us. Beer, beer, beer.

Fortunately, my tastebud dislike the amber gold so we were forced to walk past past Juso station to a Lawsons to buy a Chuhi.

Crossing

We wander for the next 4 hours, stopping at every convienience store along the way. After 3 Chuhi were had discussed the best way to cook fish, the texture of Natto, how to solve the Middle East crisis in five easy steps, the superiority of Coke over Pepsi and why aliens would never land on earth.

By the 5th Chihi we were in desperate need of a pitstop. We were stuck between Yodobashi and Hommachi, a business district with no where to go. I knew of some department store just past Hommachi but could we make it?

Our walk became brisk and awkard. Our conversation stiffled as we desperately tried not to think about waterfalls and fountains. The weekday was over and suits began to flood the steets. Somehow these people knew our desperate plight and deliberately began jumping in front of us.

A few blocks further and we began to jog, our knees glued together and we shuffled along at unnatural speeds using only our lower legs. The Chuhi needed an out and we were still 2 blocks away.

Somehow we made it to the department store and pushed our way down to the basement level, leaving only a trail of smoke as we beelined for the bathroom. *sigh* Release.

Suitably refreshed, we restocked our hands and wandered the final Km to Namba station.

We arrived at Uehommachi station and followed the crowd to the Summer festival.

The festival was in full swing. Roasted corn filled the air. Crowds rocked back and forth while children darted around carrying colourful ice cones.

Summer festival

A large stone Tori gate marked the beginning of the shrine and as we wandered up the stairs, we could finally see the large Taiko drums that had been thumping for the last hour.

Tori Gate

Upon the wooden float crowded 8 players and their repetitive heatbeat beat reverberated in the crowd. The float was twisted and turned and drawn back and forth to the delight of the crowd.

Eventually, it was moved to a store, illuminated by the lanterns and the strobe of cameras and mobile phone flashes.

The beat continued.

Drumming

The float was rocked and tip. The beat continued.

Drumming

Sideways. Twisted. Vertically. Turned. The beat continued.

Behind us, a parade of flute players, dancers and dragons cicled in the corner.

A wall of lanterns decorated the far corner.

Back amounst the stalls, a shooting gallery provided a melody to the distance drumming. The guns making high pops as people shot at lighters, tabaco and stuffed toys. A cheer rung out whenever something was hit, followed by a sigh when the item failed to fall of its tiny perch.

Shooting gallery

We found a fireworks stand and after loading ourself us we giggled our way off to the park.

Fireworks stall

We sat there for over an hour, lighting fireworks, watching the festival crowd wander snake through the stalls in tradition dress, drunken business man getting overly excited in conversation, children darting around slides and covering their ears after each colourful explotion.

And all the while, in the distance, the beat continued ...

The air is hot in my lungs
Haze drifts through the sky like a lost brown cloud
A train empties and a faceless crowd marches forward, forming puddles at the street corner
Lights turn red. A green man appears.
The puddle oozes forth
Its time to escape the city,
To taste clean air and fill my lungs with the scent of green.

We march forth between the suits
Rocking back and forth with the rhythm of the tracks
The city scape still fills the windows after an hour

The mountains approach
Darkness
Light
Trees appear, Osaka is now another world.
Villages, rice fields, fresh air escapes into the carrige between the cracks.

Rice Field lines

A round of deep breaths. A round of smiles.

3 hours from point A and we stand in a small village
A gravel square, a lonely bus.
We board at the back and take a ticket. Zone 1.

Zone 3 approaches after 15 mintues.

Akame Village

48 Waterfalls over a 8 KM walk

A Salamander exhibit guards the beginning of Falls walk
20 glass cages hide 20 different species

Salamander 1

Salamander 2

Rocky walls grow around us as we decend further into the gorge

Water falls appear

We stop. Remove our shoes and dangle our feet in the icy water.
A nearby pool of tadpoles
Like children we spend 20 minutes scooping them up
Slimy bodies wriggling in wet hands

We continue ...

Further and further, crossing the river, rock hopping

Back in the village, a final lungful before returning to the city

Rice Field Sunset