Kumamoto Castle - Celebrating 400 years

Kumamoto Castle, built under the leadership of Kato Kiyomasa, was completed 400 years ago, in 1607. Most of it was destroyed by fire in the Seinan Civil War of 1877, but the main and secondary towers were rebuilt in the 1960s.

The castle is truly one of the highlights of the city, and this year there are numerous festivities to help celebrate its long history. Among the programs are concerts of taiko, dance, koto, shamisen, and others. There was a palanquin race and a beautiful display of candles along the approach to the castle and in the river and the long wall.

Having purchased an annual pass, I've made a habit of visiting the castle every month or so, to see it in different light and in different seasons. Hisako and Yukari just finished a two-month long course to become official volunteer tour guides of the castle, and I was fortunate enough to be given their first tour. They did a wonderful job.

Open house!

One of my hobbies, which I nowadays have very little time for, is to visit homes or apartments that are for sale and open for viewing. I always have to apologize up front to the staff showing the house that I have no intention of purchasing and that I would rather not give my address, because I'll soon be moving and I don't want to receive a lot of direct mail. However, once this is cleared up, I'm allowed to walk around freely.

I especially like open houses because it gives me an idea of what needs developers think that today's home buyers have. I am also able to talk with people who sell houses for a living and thus meet with home buyers on a daily basis. They say that most buyers are young families, usually with one or two children under the age of 4. Sellers say that young families have been saving up money by renting or living with family and that they want to buy a home before their children start school, so that they can stay in one school for the duration of their elementary education.

The house sellers are always fun to talk with. I find myself asking off-the-wall questions, like whether I can add another patio door in the back or what the loan rates are like (30 or 35 year loans at around 2 or 3 percent are common). They have to answer hundreds of similar questions each day, so I don't think that I'm bothering them too much.

I also enjoy just imagining life in this pristine spaces. They radiate with promise, sunny windowsills waiting to fill with houseplants, open counter space just waiting for a basket of fresh fruit, a balcony that could just fit a small table or a bbq set. The decorations tend to be black, white, beige, or grey - less warm and comfy than the open houses I've visited in the United States, which are colorful and sometimes overfilled with details.

Minamata

October 8, 2007
On the last day of the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Geography Association (Nihon chiri gakkai), there was a fieldtrip to Minamata. The first thing on the agenda was a visit with a man who he spoke of the impacts of the mercury poisoning from the Chisso plant in the 1950s on both his family, which had to stop fishing for a living, and the larger community, which was afflicted with deaths, birth defects, and community disintegration. This was especially evident following the legal settlements with the company, which caused huge wealth differentials among households. Such immediate and seemingly random affluence tore the community apart, in his mind.

Later in the day we enjoyed lunch at a village that has turned to ecotourism, serving meals and giving short tours to visitors. All of the food is locally grown or collected, and it is all chemical-free. The town itself is undergoing depopulation and an aging of the population, but it is hoped that this latest effort will curb some of these problems.

At the end of the day we also visited the Minamata disease memorial museum, which features striking photos and stories of the people affected by the disease. It seems remarkable that the Chisso factory continues to operate in this town, and that it has not changed its name following what is one of the worst industrial accidents in Japan's history. The company still makes chemicals and still employs a large number of local residents.