The Quaich's Journeys Through Japan

[CDNSushi]

Kofu City is a miserable place in the winter. Gray, dull, and dirty. But come spring, it makes a remarkable transformation into a pink and green wonderland.



Some of my close friends gathered for a "hanami" which is a traditional, Japanese cherry blossom-viewing picnic. It was here that I first had the chance to introduce the Quaich to others, share some good whisky, and sign the logbook.











Here's me with the missus -- the fine lady who puts up with all my eccentricities, enjoying a drink together.

[CDNSushi]

So, between that small gathering of friends, it seems we went through the entire bottle of Glenfiddich rather quickly. In the span of no more than two hours, it was all gone, and here I am, just a wee bit tipsy, holding the bottle upside-down to show that it's empty. After this, we all went to the traditional, Japanese "ni-jikai" or "second party." I'll tell ya -- the Japanese know how to DRINK!







The next trip I took was to Minobu, Temple. It is the world headquarters to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, which is the second in the world for its number of practitioners around the globe. Nichiren was a saint who lived hundreds of years ago in Japan, whose philosophy for achieving enlightenment (and Nirvana) was the repetitive recitation of the "Lotus Sutra." Now, I'm not a Buddhist myself, so I won't claim that what I say here is 100% error-free, but I will do my best.

I came on a very auspicious day. Let me fast-forward for a second, as it will tell the tale much more easily if I do. The next day, on our river boat cruise (explanation forthcoming) I met a lovely lady named June, who grew up in Tokyo but moved to the U.S. and now works as a realtor in Las Vegas. As we got into a conversation I learned she was a Nichiren Buddhist, so without missing a beat I whipped out my digital camera and showed her all the pictures I had taken from Minobu Temple the day before. She was thrilled to see them, and told me that I was very lucky as it happened to be the Buddha's birthday, and that was the reason for all the pomp and ceremony I had photographed and taken video of.


Taking a drink from the Quaich, with my new friend June sitting next to me.

Anyway, back to the story.

[CDNSushi]

June explained to me, that this 5-story pagoda was recently rebuilt. From what I know of Buddhist tradition, all pagodas have a limited lifespan, and when they have served their purpose, they are rebuilt from scratch.





This monk was chanting a sutra while keeping time with a drum. He went on for quite a while without stopping. Eventually, he was replaced by another monk who also went on for quite some time.



These are the Steps of Enlightenment. There are 287 of them. I've linked to some more information on this feature if anyone should be interested.



The temple bell



One of the ancient, several hundred year-old weeping cherry trees at the temple complex. In full bloom, it is truly awesome and breath-taking!

[CDNSushi]

Then, moving on to the summit of Mt. Minobu, I took some photos of the landscape and valley down below.



A small temple at the top of the mountain.





I don't believe this is Buddhist, but Shinto -- sacred trees wrapped with sacred rope and rice paper.





Top of Mt. Minobu



As I mentioned in the logbook, and earlier on in this narrative, the very next day, we went to Tokyo to take part in a fundraiser for the earthquake and tsunami victims. It was a dinner cruise aboard a river boat, called "yakatabune."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakatabune

It was organized by the St. Andrews Society of Tokyo and Yokohama, in lieu of their regular "hanami" party at the British Embassy. It was attended by just over fifty people, who are here assembled near the dock.



My lovely wife accompanied me, as usual…





Even though the boat's speciality was "tempura," the first course was a delectable selection of fresh "sashimi" (raw fish). But to make things sufficiently Scottish, this all-you-can-drink event included the whisky ginger you see in the photo… I would call it a local (Tokyo St. Andrews) specialty.

[CDNSushi]

Outside on deck



It was here that I had a chance to play ambassador and introduce the society to X Marks the Scot, as well as the Quaich and her mission to visit the farthest reaches of the globe.





The explanation was then followed by me visiting each table and sharing "a wee dram" with everybody, and drinking a toast to the spirits and memory of those who were lost in the disaster (thanks again for the suggestion, CameronCat).



What I really like about the Tokyo St. Andrews is that they are definitely a very multicultural group, consisting not only of Scots, but Japanese and other nationalities as well!



Signing the logbook



Longtime St. Andrews member Charles Bentley, signs the logbook in poetic fashion.



Here's me sharing a drink with the St. Andrews chieftain, Richard Dawson.

[CDNSushi]

Pictured here is Tokyo Pipe Band's pipe major, Atsushi Yamane. When the fellow next to him took his sip from the Quaich, Atsushi decided to accompany him with the bagpipes.







The next morning, my wife and I left our hotel and had a chance to explore one of the parts of Tokyo we have not been to before, and got some amazing cherry blossom shots near the river.





My final excursion, several days after our return from Tokyo, was ascending into the Japanese South Alps, sometimes referred to as the Japanese Highlands. I felt that it would be a nice tribute to the Scottish Highlands, which is so closely associated with the kilt and many of the Scottish customs we are familiar with today.

The area near Kofu known as Shosenkyo is a picturesque natural area of small peaks, waterfalls, and forests. One of the best places to be, in my opinion, is the peak of Mt. Yasaburo (Yasaburo Dake). It's only about 1058m, making it about a third of Mt. Fuji's height, but it's nice, short climb that can be done by even inexperienced hikers and climbers, but it's not overrun by visitors, making it very peaceful. The view from the summit is fantastic, offering a 360-degree view of the entire area, including Mt. Fuji in the distance. It's also an area where I hid a geocache near the peak, so I must admit that my visit also had an ulterior motive, and that was to do a maintenance check on the cache, as I had not done so for well over a year.

[CDNSushi]

At the peak, I drank another toast to the Quest of the Quaich, and my friends, the rabble at XMTS.







At the top of Shosenkyo (but not the peak of Yasaburo) is also a curious, little Shinto fertility shrine. I won't say much about it, other than that it's important to remember that Japanese people do not share the same Judeo-Christian heritage that Westerners do… Things like this make us giggle!



The next photo…. Umm.. It's not that it's not safe for work or anything like that… But I want to be sensitive to others as well. I realize this is a family-friendly site. So I will describe the photo to you in words, and if you decide that you are alright with it, go ahead and click through. The shrine contains a rather oddly-shaped tree stump; some might say that it could be taken to be the form of human genitalia, and wrapped with sacred rope and sacred rice paper…

http://img43.imageshack.us/i/dscf1847e.jpg

On my way racing down the mountain to catch the sunset at Mt. Fuji, I couldn't help but stop to pose with her in the background, and Kofu City, which has been my home for almost the past decade.





With the sun rapidly dipping beneath the mountains, I caught one more daylight shot of Fuji when I got quite close. It's actually quite difficult to get a good shot without there being buildings and power lines in the way… But get TOO close, and you need a crazy wide-angle lens just to make it fit into the photo frame…



One of the sunset shots I took at Lake Yamanakako. This is truly a great place to experience a Mt. Fuji sunset, and I made it just in time.



Then, as I said in the logbook, I posed with the Quaich one last time and drank one final toast before packing her back in the box, ready to ship to Australia.