We first met on the bridge over Taino-kawa River in Yakushima Town last year. Amazed with sort of sensation, each of us released the shutter of our cellphone in succession, looking down the stream of torrent after the heavy rain. We stood on both sides of the bridge,
I don’t remember why I didn’t record this first meeting, but assume my major purpose of the tour was UFO contact out there … just recalled to contact him some time after then.
I started my one week stay in Yakushima Island with a shower and blast wind, landing on Yakushima Airport, and then got on the belt line bus from the airport to get to the reserved guest house. Rain continued till next morning. I remember I went out to buy some foods for a week by the belt line bus, as it became a light rain again at noon next day. And on the way back I found him on the bridge. I spoke to him, approaching from the other side of the bridge,
“What a scene!”, and he turned back to me with a smile and nodding.
I noticed his 250cc motorcycle overloaded with many belongings, and realized he wasn’t a local.
“Where are you from?”, I asked him, and then in a minute I explained my visiting purpose.
“I’m from Kyoto, and I’ve seen a UFO before.”, he yielded to my question. I was so happy to get his answer, showing his interest in UFO.
“Will you tell me your address and phone number?”, I requested him.
Then from his motorcycle bag he took out a post card with a black cat picture and wrote down his address and phone number.
A year more has passed since then.
His wandering journey began in the first half of twenties. In the middle of his adolescent, he was psychologically possessed with an illusion of time series, and later he lost his techie job of ten years career, and the worst having his heart broken, he headed for Spain, just after fascinated with a guitar music of Recuerdos de la Alhambra along with the picture of Costa del Sol.
In his latter half of his twenties, with the intensified wanderlust he journeyed to Copan in Honduras in the Central America to attend his friend’s wedding in vain, as he didn’t get any information of their engagement breakup. With his desperate feeling, he decided to travel around another five countries, including Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
After coming back to Japan, he had no idea how to make a living, but he was inspired to draw pictures for T-shirt … he remembered an Ecuadorian trader whom he met in Costa Rica. He came up with the idea of printing his pictures on T-shirt to sell visitors on the street.
As he set up a shop on the street, he was often involved with troubles, as he had no idea how to do business there, and policemen, yakuza/gangsters, whatever, and street traders annoyed him often.
He happened to meet a man of character, who taught how to spend a life of humaneness in the end.
At the age of thirty-one, he married a woman, whom he met in a circle activity of creating and selling handicrafts. He had five children, along with a boy and a girl, who were stepchildren of her. But their marriage life was very hard, as he couldn’t make enough money for his family, and finally he left his family.
Soon after having lost a home and job, he got a temple remains through his connection, where the owner let him live with the condition of keeping it for noting, but he needs much money to renovate. His idea is to share the building with people who can keep it with some skills, and he wants to create a community, where people with similar idea, purpose, and lifestyle cooperate for their lifetime home.
Part 1
The chief priest, Koen Hatanaka, of Joshuji Temple, Shinshu/Ohtani Sect, is a husband of Akiko Hatanaka, who instructs her ceramics class at the studio. Last May I was planning to visit Nara, but I had another place on my way back home, and changed the plan due to the tight schedule.
We exchanged emails to set up a class, but they had no class on Saturday, and she offered a special private lesson for me. I needed to stay in a hotel nearby Shin Osaka Station of JR Shinkansen Train, as I planned to visit my brother in Toyonaka City in Osaka in the morning. I called Ms. Hatanaka before I left my brother’s home to make sure the time, when I was supposed to arrive at the station, and she told me she would pick me up at the station, as the local bus isn’t punctual. Lucky me! It sounded rather strange to me that she had no western accent, but had a middle-aged and elderly voice.
I estimated the time for arriving at the Kintetsu Gose Station to tell her I would be there around 2:00pm, and before I changed the train bound for Gose Station at Shakudo Station, I called her again, as I didn’t want to keep her waiting out there. After arriving at Gose Station, there seemed to be no car for picking me up, so I visited a small tourist box nearby, and I asked the elderly staff for some guidance of the city. Soon a small blue car arrived, and I approached the car to make sure if it was her or not. She opened a passenger seat window, when I bowed.
She told me that their house with a studio attached was once owned by the famous late Taichi Sakaiya, who was the Ministry of International Trade and Industry official. Entering into the yard, I was astonished to find a persimmon tree of just a height of a human with countless small fruits bearing like blooming flowers. Ms. Hatanaka explained that they were too small to eat, and she just left them every year. This year I dried up two hundred persimmons in our garden to share with my husband home relatives and my friends. Here in Japan, we usually dry astringent persimmons to make them sweet for a good snack, and preserve them for New Year’s decorations as well.
While driving, Ms. Hatanaka explained me some local history and features, and to me the most impressive story was that the Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine in Kyoto originate in this Nara, where the powerful family named Kamo Clan once lived here … I understand “Kamo Clan” was an immigrant from the west, the Middle East.
The couple is from Kyoto, and moved to Nara after they got married. His grandfather was the chief priest, but priest Koen’s father didn’t inherit the position, so his grandfather and he discussed the succession for the sake of traditional temple. And the following are the questions I asked and his answers:
① Did anything change after you became the chief priest?
…Nothing changed. It doesn’t matter I believe or not, but I simply do my duty as a chief priest.
② Where did your name come from?
…From one of the Buddhist scriptures.
③ Do you think about the Universe?
…I think I need to look up in the sky or starry skies sometimes.
④ How about UFO/ET?
…I think the Universe is vast, and there might be some entities in these innumerable galaxies.
To be continued to
Part 2 titled “Marriage life of the couple” interview for Akiko Hatanaka
※Please access to minnanokurashi.com, if you want to read my ceramics experience.