The Amazing Legs of Niizuma Kanbe'e

Before the post, a bit of a foreword. As of this post, I am expanding the breadth of my topic-- while my tendency will be toward Tohoku, which is what I know and where I've lived, I am officially broadening this blog's coverage to include issues concerning rural Japanese history and culture, and aspects of the traditional arts, I will no longer limit myself to the northeast. I look forward to bringing you all more stories from more parts of Japan, soon. Anyway, on to the show!

We've all heard, I'm sure, about the marathon: 26 miles of run, run, run, in commemoration of the Greek messenger Phedippides. In this post I'd like to share the story of Niizuma Kanbe'e, a Sendai retainer who loved a good story, so much so that he ran nineteen ri (46 miles) in four hours from his post in Iwagasaki to meet with friends in Sendai for evening chats.

But how did he manage this incredible feat? How did he make it across that distance that fast, not drop dead after he'd arrived in Sendai, and then be able to turn around and go all the way back? Read on!

Spotlight on Cuisine: Yes, Ramen

So I'm guessing, dear reader, that you've heard of ramen before. Most often, outside of Japan, you'll see it prepackaged in styrofoam cups or little bricks, with the packet of suspicious-looking powder that's supposed to be soup stock. While this is convenient and cheap, those who have had the good fortune of eating more authentic (and fresher) forms of ramen know that it is a far cry from the good stuff.

But there are a lot of varieties of ramen, and northeastern Japan has a few of its own! At left is a photo of one, the famous Kitakata ramen. For more on Tohoku variants of this staple food, read on!

Suggestions? Let me know!

I think this is a good time to make a 'suggestions' post. What would you like to see here? What topics might be interesting to explore? Some things I plan to post on in coming weeks include:

• Toys/handcrafts (such as the okiagari-koboshi from Aizu, at left)
• Famous natural phenomena (e.g., the Ishibe cherry tree outside of Aizu, or the 400 year old Korean plums in Matsushima)
• More posts on women in Tohoku history (e.g. Shibue Io, Oyama Sutematsu, and Uryu Iwa)
• More folktales.

I eagerly await your comments!

Biographical Spotlight: Kudo Heisuke

There remains a popular view in Japanese history that (a) Japan was hermetically sealed during the Edo period (1603-1868) and (b) that Commodore Perry's arrival in 1853 took Japan completely by surprise, as if there were no other foreigners appearing in Japanese waters outside the approved foreign settlements at Nagasaki.

Both of these views have, by now, been soundly disproved. There are a number of scholars whose work shows that (a) Japan in the Edo period was not isolated but was highly selective in foreign contacts, and (b) that Japanese politicians and scholars were aware of foreign news and developments. These scholars include Reinier Hesselink, Donald Keene, and Martha Chaiklin, to name a few.

Today I would like to write about one such figure, Kudō Heisuke. The "take-away" with Kudo is that he was the first to voice concerns about the Russian imperial expansion southward from Siberia, and that he was a part of a group of scholars in that era who were informed on foreign affairs and were voicing calls for military reform and national defense.

More below the jump.

Hachiman!

"Shrines of the City. Seventy-eight in total, of which eight bear the name Hachiman..."

The philosopher Tanabe Marebumi, writing in the late 18th century, began his record of Sendai's shrines with these words. All around Japan, there are shrines to Hachiman who is famous as the kami of war. At left is a photo of a scroll depicting Hachiman in the guise of a Buddhist monk.

During the Edo period, there were three shrines that were given particularly special treatment within Sendai. Two of them were to Hachiman, one was to the deified Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the last shogunal dynasty.

I'd like to talk a little bit about each of them below. During the Edo period, while the other 24 districts then part of Sendai were under the jurisdiction of the city magistrate (machi-bugyo), these three shrines and their surrounding neighborhoods were under the special supervision of the Date administration's Temples-and-shrines office. (Mihara, Kyodoshi Sendai Mimibukuro, p. 124) Of the three, I have visited Osaki Hachiman and Tosho-gu in the fall of 2005.

Consider this a "miscellany" post.

Foot Soldiers and Pastry

(at left: the characters for "foot soldier" [ashigaru])

Hello everyone! It's been a long time, I hope you all are well. School has taken up a lot of my time for translation this semester, so my translation schedule and personal research has had to take a back seat. I'm still translating, but slowly.

Today I would like to talk a little bit about a snack called okoshi, and its relation to the southern part of Tohoku region. All too often when I think of history, I forget about the flavors involved. But food, then as now, was important!

In Kyodoshi Sendai Mimibukuro ("A Collection of Local History from Sendai"), folk historian Mihara Ryokichi devotes a chapter (pp. 95-98) to some of the foot soldiers who served the Date clan of Sendai. Specifically, the chapter discusses three groups of these foot soldiers (called ashigaru in Japanese) who were assigned as permanent security detachments along certain key roads or bridges. At any rate, the unit that lived at Imaichi, on the road between Sendai and Shiogama, was known for making a local pastry called tsuno-okoshi. This pastry was popular, says Mihara, among people coming back from visits to Shiogama Shrine. As the foot soldiers' official income from the Date clan for security duty would've been small, they did this to supplement their incomes. All three units had different side jobs-- for example, the one at Suwa, in the Nagamachi district of modern Sendai, made brooms.

I have been unable to figure out how tsuno-okoshi is different from regular okoshi. Given the word tsuno ("horn" or "corners"), I assume the okoshi in question would either be shaped like an animal's horn, or have corners. Given what okoshi usually looks like, I think it's safe to assume it's the latter.

So! In the spirit of hands-on research, here is a link to a Hawaiian-style recipe for okoshi. The ingredients should be readily available in the US. Enjoy, and remember those foot soldiers!

Sources:

*"Puffed Rice Cookie (Okoshi), from "Cooking Hawaiian Style" food blog, accessed 20 Dec. 2012 http://cookinghawaiianstyle.com/index.php/hawaiian-recipes/recipes/detail/608/puffed-rice-cookie-okoshi
*Mihara Ryokichi, Kyodoshi Sendai Mimibukuro (Sendai: Hobundo Shuppansha, 1983).

Dainenji, the Date funerary temple

According to this post on the "Oshu Katakura-gumi" blog, the Date family's funerary temple of Dainenji has sustained immense damage. They included some pictures from Dainenji. It almost looks like the Roman ruins I've seen in the past. The Date family, for those unaware of the region's history, was the ruling family of the feudal domain of Sendai, which encompassed all of modern Miyagi Prefecture and parts of adjoining prefectures as well. The same blog posted a screencap of what looks like an open letter from Date Yasumune, current head of the family. Part of it is cut off, but this is my translation of the rest of it.

"....as well as visiting [shrines], from now I believe we must restore the historical heritage [sites], as well as protect them. But in the midst of such great devastation, I have no choice but to ask all of you for your help. Please take in and accept this sentiment, and provide [me/us] with the reinforcing presence of your strength. Please, I humbly beseech you. Heisei 23 4/1, Yours sincerely, Sendai Date family 18th head, Date Yasumune"

I hope that Mr. Date is able to make use of his unique position to be a powerful force for good things yet to come.

Edit: Just checked Mr. Date's website, it confirms the status of Dainenji.

Can anyone ID this?

This is a shrine in Yamamoto, just south of Watari, in Miyagi Prefecture. Can anyone out there ID this shrine? As you can see, it's looking intact.