I took a trip to Kagawa this last August. I went on Saturday morning and spent the day! It was a great time and I got to see some interesting things! And let me tell you, climbing a mountain is definitely one of the more interesting ways to cure a hangover.
The Day Before
So, on Friday I had a nomikai (drinking party) and ended up staying out until pretty late drinking. The point is, I was hungover the next day, but had already made plans to go to Kagawa to climb a mountain. So that’s what I did!
The Morning Of
I wake up groggy, later than expected. Check the clock and see that it’s already 9:30, and I had planned to get up at 7:30 or so. I wanted to get to Kagawa early enough to have a full day of adventure ahead of me. But, despite getting up late, I still had plenty of time to do everything! So I got ready and took off just before 10 on my 1.5 hour journey to Kagawa.
Climbing Kompira
Mount Kompira is a series of shrines dedicated to the god Kompira – a god of the sea. Many sailors and other people who are venturing out to the sea will come here to pray for Kompira’s protection. Originally revered as a mixture between a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple, Kompira was officially declared a shrine in the Meiji period. Though, to me that makes the most sense! Temples proudly display and honor images of Buddha, while shrines are dedicated to one or a few Shinto gods. Considering Kompira is a Shinto god, it seems pretty simple to me! Though historically this god was linked to an Indian deity Kumbhira, who is a Buddhist deity. I suppose there’s a reason it was originally a cross-over of Shinto and Buddhism. Even today, there are elements of both.
The mountain is a series of temples, with the main temple about 780 or so steps up the mountain and other temples another 580 or so up. The ascent is 1,386 stone steps up the mountain. It’s not for the faint of heart.
At the top of the mountain, you can see most of Kagawa prefecture! It was worth the climb, though the pictures may not quite do it justice.
Descending the Mount
The way down was faster, easier, and less sweat-inducing. HOWEVER, I made a friend…a bee decided to follow me the whole way. He kept trying to get into the hole in my jeans and trying to land on me. I ran at one point to get away and thought that it had worked until he suddenly reappeared. I’m not particularly scared of bugs or bees, however the last time I was stung the reaction was pretty bad and I was on top of a mountain where there is no medical support, so I wasn’t feeling the most confident in the situation.
In the end I was fine – no stings for me! I’m just grateful it wasn’t a Japanese hornet, because those are lethal and even more persistent than other varieties of bees. I did have to combat one of those in my living room the summer before, though!
Udon and Ice Cream
Kagawa is famous for udon. Other prefectures (and people from Kagawa themselves) sometimes refer to it as udon-ken, or udon prefecture. Although it is Japan’s smallest prefecture, it has the highest concentration of udon shops, over 600 in total. The sanuki udon of Kagawa is a unique texture which can’t be found anywhere else. Sanuki is actually the old name for Kagawa (just as Tosa is the old name for Kochi, and Edo is the old name for Tokyo). I wanted to eat some kamatama udon (which is made with a raw egg that is cooked upon contact with the extremely hot noodles) but it wasn’t sold at the restaurant I went to. Instead I had a cold soba which was served with tempura and tofu! It was pretty delicious.
After udon, I had some ice cream that was topped with tiny little puffs of sugar. They were hard on the outside and hollow on the inside. They’re called oiri! They sort of remind me of cotton candy in a way. Oiri is a type of wagashi, Japanese traditional sweets.
Kabuki
Kabuki is a traditional form of Japanese theater. While the theater near Mount Kompira only performs in April every year, I was able to get a tour of the theater! It was pretty awesome and I learned a lot about the history of kabuki, how things are done, and how the room is set up. There are different ways for the actors to enter, including from the back, from below the stage, and from above on a wire. Furthermore, Kabuki theater is an artform performed only by men. Even women’s roles are performed by men. Because of this, there is a separation of the actors into different rooms. Actors who will perform as women go into a preparation room to “become women” and be apart from other men.
A long time ago, when kabuki theater was invented, there was no such thing as electricity. As a result, the moving portions of the stage are controlled by man power, and performances can only be done when it is light outside. Incidentally there are two performances a day, which are about 3 hours long each. One takes place in the morning and the other takes place in the afternoon.
A portion of the stage which weighs 2 tons is moved easily by 6 people. Similarly, the areas where actors pop up are moved by 4 or 6 people. It’s quite amazing how much can be done by man power alone!
In the theater, there is a royal viewing box which is slightly larger than the other viewing boxes. There are also lanterns which bear the insignia of different performing groups. The one which represents the theater that I visited is a swan.
Local Festival
After walking around all day, I went to the capital city for a festival. There was a lot of food (mostly foreign, actually) and a performance. The performance was quite interesting and unusual. It was a troupe from Australia! I quite enjoyed it and really wanted to try it, but it’s obviously not something I would be allowed to do. I ate German sausage, and stone oven baked pizza. And I also saw some amazing watermelon carvings! It was a great way to end the night before driving nearly 2 hours back home.
Next Time
The next time I went to Kagawa, I was able to visit Naoshima, the famous art island! Kagawa is known for its abundant islands and udon. Because of the nature of my Naoshima trip, I wasn’t able to do everything I had hoped to do, So I hope that I can go back one day!
Until next time!! xx
Jessica's English Corner 