Walking on Earth
Walking and writing. Writing and walking.
I’ve long had the sense that, in my life, walking, writing, and living day to day are all different aspects of the same fundamental activity. Periods of openness, possibility, and creativity often arrive on the tail of some free and easy wandering. And then writing fuels the need to step outside in turn.
The posts here will be a walkabout through the landscape of life in rural Japan, its culture and people and natural environment. Its challenges. I’ll write about a side of the nation rarely seen, in a way that, I hope, gives a feel for the heart of this ancient land. Other topics will include mindfulness, fatherhood at 50, and waking up in the convulsing world of our times. And of course, I’ll be writing about writing. Writing and walking. Walking on this splendid Earth.
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Nagamochi Procession
A short video I made from Osaka Chinju Shrine in Okaya’s yearly festival, held in mid-October. Nagamochi are portable arks unique to central Nagano (especially the Suwa region).
Maybe not so small after all
“But, Japan is such a small country.” How this often voiced perception got its start.
A Tale of Two Baths
One of the boons of Japan’s intense geological activity is that natural hot springs abound. Known as onsen, in most locales they have long been built over and put to work in spas. While the setting may not be au naturel, the earth fired water most definitely is.
An Audience in Kamakura
Amitabha—also known in Japan as Amida Nyorai—is the principle enlightened being of Pure Land Buddhism.
Ontake Satomiya Shrine
This is the first stop on the pilgrimage trail up Mt. Ontake. At the heart of the main island, Japan’s second-highest volcano (3,067 m) has been a locus of worship and spiritual practice since ancient times. Japan’s Shinto faith sees the world as alive and nature itself as divine
Old Calendar, New Beginnings
Walking through the village in my winter jacket, plumes of breath rising, it sure doesn’t feel like spring. But in the traditional Japanese way of reckoning the seasons, equinoxes and solstices mark their height, not their beginning.
Onbashira 2022
Suwa’s ancient festival in the time of COVID-19
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Every six years, the people of the Suwa Basin in Japan’s Nagano highlands hold their Onbashira Festival, an exuberant celebration of community and renewal.