Tokyo Heart

Mortal - yet remembered Hearts

We are mortal.

Three short words; only 11 letters, but the meaning and the emotion embedded in these three words says so much more.

Yes, we are mortal, but we can be remembered.

Today I attened a "nana kai ki," the 7 year memorial service for a Japanese friend. Actually, he died six years ago, but in the Buddhist tradition the time of death counts as one year so this was the 7 year service.  It's the second memorial service I've attended this year. The first was the first memorial for my mother-in-law held one year after her death. Next year the memorial will be the third year - the Buddhist counting makes it 3 years.

Today's memorial service was actually a fairly simple affair. Held in a Buddhist temple the service lasted only about 25 minutes. Just enough time for the priests to chant the prayers and each person - in pairs - to offer a prayer and burn bits of incense in the small braziers placed on the altar.

For those who have not attended such a service here are a few simple steps to follow when or if the time comes for you to attend one.

1. Arrive a bit early. You'll need to sign the guest book including your name and address. This can be done in Japanese or your own language.

2. Take a seat in the temple & follow the others' actions - when the priest says offer a prayer put your hands together, bow your head, and offer whatever prayer you wish. If you have a bracelet of Bhuddist beads have them in your hand.

3. When it's your turn to approach the altar to offer a prayer first bow to the family of the deceased, then turn and bow to the other side of the room (the other guests), and turn back to the altar so you're facing the photo of the deceased. Bow, offer your prayer with clasped hands, take a very small pinch of incense, lift is slightly, and place it on the burning charcoal. You may do this 1 or 3 times. Bow to the deceased's photo again, turn and bow to the family & the guests, and return to your seat.

4. When all have finished the family will exit first. Follow the others when it's your turn to exit & upon leaving gthe temple bow to the family who will be waiting outside.

 
The priests offer prayers in memorium for the deceased.

In today's case we also visited the cemetary, which was right next to the temple, and lined up to offer one more prayer and burn a  bit more incense.  Same procedure, except no bowing to the family until after you have offered your prayer & incense to the deceased & then bow as you walk past the family.

As I stood in line in the cemetary I shaded my eyes from the brilliant autumn sun. In so doing I rested my thumb against my temple where I could feel my own pulse. A good reminder of my own mortality.

Since this friend was the Chairman of a major company here in Japan, as well as being a board member of several other companies, the family also held a lunch in a hotel ballroom after the memorial service in the temple.

During this lunch photos of our friend were in albums on each table and a very well done video showing him during the memorable days of his life, with family and friends, was shown. This was all done in such an excellent manner and in such good taste that everyone enjoyed it. It wasn't a time of sadness; it was a time of remembering him as we had known him.  Several people gave nice speeches about the things they remembered about him and about working with him.

Yes, we can be remembered. I think this tradition in Japan is a good one. Wonder why we don't do these services in our own countries.... or maybe some do, but it's not a common practice in the USA.

Water for the Hearts

Off we went in pursuit of some recreational walking today, with the first thought being to head to Yamanashi and the Nishizawa River Gorge (Nishizawa Keikoku), but when we hit the Chuo Expressway & saw that the traffic jam was already 35 km. long we decided to get off the highway & head for something a bit closer to home.

Of course, getting off the expressway didn't equal getting out of traffic and two and a half hours later, yet still only about 40 km from home we finally parked the car close to Mitake Train Station (if you're going by train you can get to Mitake from Shinjuku on the Chuo Line) and went down the steps to the path along the Tama River. The Tama River starts in Yamanashi & makes its way along a 138 km long path until it ends the journey in Tokyo Bay.

Along the way the river gets a lot of use and today we saw a pretty good mixture of that use. We saw kayakers practicing their turns in the moderate rapids and other kayakers gliding along in the more placid areas of the river. The Tama seems to offer enough variety from smooth moving water, to white water rapids, to satisfy a varied level of kayaking sportsmen and sportsladies.

 

We also saw lots of strong armed rock-climbers-in-the-making practicing their sport on the room and house sized boulders that line the river. When we first saw them, with their bags of rosin and thick foam pads at the bottom of the big rocks we thought it was kind of odd that people would be trying to climb such small rocks (boulders really), but after touching the boulders we soon realized just how slippery they are and since many of them have fairly decent undercuts, we realized that this is probably a pretty good practice area for these young athletes. After watching several of them we also realized that it's a lot harder than it looks, despite the size of the boulders. They can practice without too much danger (although we heard later that it's actually possible to die from a fall that is just higher than one's own height) and get ready for their "big" climbs when they'll tackle the real cliffs in the mountains.

Plenty of fishermen line the banks as they cast for rainbow trout and other fish that call the river home. The poles they use are typically about 6 or more meters (nearly 20 feet) long and some of the fishermen (and here too, fisherwomen) have very good accuracy in placing their hooks just where they want them; as good as any fly fishermen we've seen anywhere.

 

This is a pretty easy "hike" and can easily be handled by children and adults. There are some "tsuri-bori" (fishing ponds) along the way where even the most novice fisherboy or fishergirl can have a good chance to land that big one (for a price, of course) and you even build a fire, or set up a BBQ, along the river and cook the fish you catch. All you need is a few pieces of wood & some sticks to hold the fish over the fire (and maybe a bit of salt to flavor your fish).

If you don't want to catch and cook your own grub there are plenty of places along the river banks and the road above the river to stop and have noodles of many varieties, or grilled fish, or just about anything you want to eat. You can also pack a picnic lunch and sit on the river, enjoying your food and drinks, while watching the kayakers practice in the eddies and currents of the river.

 
COFFEE TIME BY THE TAMA RIVER!