We've been 1/2 way around the world and
back since I last blogged here.
We stayed high in the mountains in the
middle of Japan with our dear friend Akane.
Here is Lilia on top of Teungu Ewa.
Akane lives in Uenomura, a small village
with a population of 2000 that stretches out over 30 km along the
Kana River. People live in little pockets where the valley widens.
The mountains all around are steep and forested, filled with monkeys,
deer, wild pig and bear. Akane has joined the local pack of hunters,
and her small freezer was full of wild meat.
The mountain towns in Gunma Prefecture
have steeply declining populations. Most people want to live in the
cities; teachers and other workers have to be recruited from far
away. The buildings are almost all former silk worm houses, the
second story had been used to grow silken cacoons. In the 80s the
last silk mill in the area closed, and the silk industry has moved to
countries where labour is cheaper. The huge houses are left empty.
We met old people who have watched the
mountain towns drain out and dry up. Stooped at the waist, they rake
the leaves off of the streets and tend their gardens while the
neighbourhoods turns to artifacts. Some were so kind to us, welcoming
our interest in their lives and despite the language barrier they
shared with us parts of their traditional culture. We are so grateful
for their generosity.
We met some young folks, glowing
exceptions to the trend of outward migration.
In Japanese they say you do a U-turn in
life if you go leave your home and then return and build your life
there.
Tsune made a U-turn, he and his wife
Miho run a high class cafe, Yotacco (meaning naughty kids), in an old
silk house. Out back they have a small farm where they grow
everything on their menu, down to the soybeans for the tofu and and
the wheat for the ramyan noodles.
They have a blog at: http://yotacco.exblog.jp/i21/ (Google can translate into English)
Here Berwyn and Selwyn help to plant the winter wheat while Tsune plows in the background.
If you move away
from home and don't return you do an I-turn. (I think the
interpretation of turn didn't quite come across right!)
Hokuto and Sachiko are a young couple
who have moved from other parts of Japan to Uenomura because it's in
the forest and is renowned for wooden crafts. Hokuto is a wood
artisan and Sachiko is a calligrapher and together they run a
business producing wooden chairs and bowls and utensils.
Here is coffee in Hokuto's mugs.
A father we met in Ueno has lived all
his life there. He is a fourth generation mushroom farmer. His six
year old daughter was the highlight of Selwyn's trip. His family
taught us about farming and hunting and getting along in these
mountains.
My imagination has been invigorated by
the ways of living we experience there. I am so proud of the young
people of Uenomura for sustaining the rural traditions and creating
a sustainable community. Despite all our fauxpas, we felt a kindred
spirit with our contemporaries in Japan and we will never forget.
Here are Selwyn and I in
the first snow on the trail leading up to Tajikaro's Shrine. 400 year
old Japanese Cedear tower over the trail that pilgrims have followed
for thousands of years.
