What's up Aichi

Issue 12, March/April 2008 is a Publication of the Aichi Prefectural Government San Francisco Office What’s Up Aichi －Timely Tourist Information On Aichi Prefecture And The Surrounding Central Japan Region－ Racy March Festivals and the sake flows generously into the Swordsmithing and Cutlery in Aichi’s Countryside cups of pilgrims from far and wide, a Tradition of Seki City serious aura also pervades, revealing the Ah, small town parades. In America these venerated place that the ceremony holds Whether you are a weapon enthusiast or most wholesome of community events in the local lore. Don’t be surprised to just an insomniac who has developed an evoke nostalgia for a bygone era. Gather come across the local clergy blessing the appreciation for quality Japanese knives the kids and head down to Main Street to offering with the utmost gravitas. through late night infomercials, Seki City, wave hello to the mayor, sway to the tunes in Aichi’s neighboring prefecture of Gifu, is of a marching band and scramble for Take the Meijo subway line from downtown a fascinating place to sharpen your candy thrown from the float of the town Nagoya to Heian Dori station, where you’ll knowledge of Japan’s blademaking beauty queen. transfer to the Kamiida subway line for just tradition. On the first Sundays of March one stop to Kamiida station. Make a quick and April, visitors to the city, which is transfer to the Meitetsu Komaki line for the located about an hour from Nagoya, get a 15-minute trip to Tagatajinja-mae station. rare chance to see a master swordsmith at work in a town that has long been Every yin must have its yang, and female celebrated for the craft. festival lovers needn’t feel shafted. On the Sunday before the better known Tagata Shrine Fertility Festival, the people of nearby Inuyama City celebrate the Oagata Shrine Fertility Festival and pay tribute to the female fertility god in their own way. The fertility symbol is carried through Komaki In Aichi prefecture’s small towns, too, You are much less likely to see television parades are central to two March festivals. news cameras or fellow foreigners at this There are some slight differences, festival, and its homage to the deity is however. The streets are narrower, the comparatively understated. Aside from the music a little more somber, there are no lewd lollipops and the uncannily shaped Shriners on undersized motorcycles. Oh, sacred stone to which the faithful come to and one more thing: those colorful floats pray for safe childbirth, a happy marriage, Seki’s swordsmiths carry on their age-old trade are replaced with enormous renderings of or protection from disaster, you have to human reproductive organs. The look a little harder for subtle tributes to the Seki’s sword making history goes back blush-inducing fertility festivals have roots female representation of the fertility god as 700 years to the Kamakura era, when the going back over two thousand years, and the procession makes its way through the country’s top swordsmiths fled the turmoil they are sure to make you reconsider your one-and-a-half kilometer path to the Hime- of war-torn cities. Attracted to the area’s notions of Japanese modesty. no-Miya shrine. But if we told you where to outstanding soil, abundant charcoal and look, that would spoil the fun, wouldn’t it? clear water, the swordsmiths chose to At the Tagata Shrine Fertility Festival in See for yourself on March 9. settle in Seki, thus beginning a tradition Komaki (March 15), a Shinto priest leads that has lasted to this day. five women who carry offerings to the female god of fertility. Holding At the Seki Swordsmith Museum (Seki all-too-detailed carvings of oversized phalli, kaji densho kan), a master swordsmith the women walk the short distance from kneels attentively over a glowing blade, shrine to shrine surrounded by directing his apprentices’ efforts to townspeople and visitors with hopes of a hammer out impurities and fold the bountiful harvest and prosperous year in malleable metal into a sharp and durable their hearts. The star of the show, an sword. Red hot sparks fly precariously enormous male member carved especially close to the undaunted craftsmen as they for the festival from a local cypress tree, shape the sword’s graceful curve, all the soon makes its way from Kumano Shrine A more subtle celebration at the Oagata festival while communicating in a succinct patois on the shoulders of the town’s 42-year-old as old as their trade itself. At the end of men (the age is considered unlucky for The Oagata Shrine Fertility Festival takes the process, which can take many months, unrelated reasons). place near Gakuden station, just one stop the elegant weapon, one of only a handful beyond Tagatajinja-mae station on the that the facility fashions every year, is a While the festival is generally light-hearted Meitetsu Komaki line. flawless, potentially deadly piece of art. After the half-hour demonstrations that notorious airline food. until landing, Centrair has the perfect (beginning at 10:00, 1:30 and 2:30), take option for you. For the sleep deprived, the some time to explore Seki’s other cutlery For travelers whose sightseeing itineraries newly renovated Centrair Hotel has great culture. With the end of the hostilities in were so busy that they didn’t get chance to rates on shared rooms. For as little as $75 the Warring States era and the consequent sample the local specialties, Centrair is the per person in a three-person room, assure drop in demand for swords, the city shifted perfect place to get a taste of all of Aichi’s yourself of a good night’s sleep and avoid its focus to making blades for more famed treats before taking off. the pre-flight scramble by spending your utilitarian purposes such as farming and last evening at the hotel, which is located cooking. Capitalizing on their thorough only steps from the departure lobby. If your understanding of blades, Seki’s craftsmen efforts to make the most of your last night were able to apply their mastery even as in Nagoya left you a bit disheveled, scrub modern technology began to play an up in Fu no Yu, the recently refurbished increasingly important role in the trade. in-airport public bath. Nothing loosens up Today, Seki is one of the world’s premier your muscles and prepares you for an centers for cutlery, and a number of sites in-flight snooze like a hot soak and a in the city celebrate this tradition. soothing view of departing planes. A monument to Motoshige, serves as a Centrair’s Renga Dori shopping arcade tribute not only to the founder of Seki’s swordsmithing tradition, but also to the Grab a take-out set of five ($6.30) or 10 “1000 swordsmiths” that put the town on ($12.50) tenmusu shrimp rice balls at the map. At the Knife Museum, 1500 rare Senju and after getting your fill spread the blades from around the world shimmer in a love to the flight attendants in exchange for a tall stack of pillows. Or fill up on the cozy log cabin. If you’re interested in A calming view from Fu no Yu’s communal bath taking home a one of Seki’s fine blades, country’s best deep-fried pork loin at Tonkatsu Wako to ensure a full belly for stop by the Gifu Prefecture Cutlery Hall, For more on the unique comforts awaiting where you can choose from among 2000 the homeward journey. If you’ve managed to slither out of trying the most exotic of you at Japan’s newest and most cooking knives, razors and scissors. convenient international airport, visit the the region’s specialties, Unasho is your last chance to get an all-eel set meal. Centrair website: http://www.centrair.jp/en/. You can also stock up on in-flight snacks Tokugawa Doll Festival Treasures before you go. A bag of wasabi shrimp chips (ebi senbei) from Ebi Senbei no Travelers to Nagoya in March will no doubt Sato beats airline peanuts any day and notice that they are surrounded by colorful has the added bonus of keeping nosy round-faced dolls on display for the annual seatmates from striking up unwanted Doll Festival. Nagoya’s Tokugawa Art conversation lest they get a whiff of that Museum celebrates the festival with Hina horseradishy breath. The senbei are an Matsuri: Daimyo Doll Festival through excellent edible gift, and ¥840 ($8) is an April 26. The exhibit features dolls and Courtesy of Nosyudo, Inc (㈲濃州堂) outrageously good price for five bags of their accoutrements that were owned by Shining examples of Seki’s proud tradition any flavor. Uiro (sweet bean cakes) from the Tokugawa Owari clan, descendants of Toraya Uiro are the perfect decadent the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Seki City is best reached from Nagoya dessert for friends back home if you can Doll lovers and history buffs will enjoy the station by taking the JR Takayama line to resist them that long. chance to get a look into the day-to-day Mino Ota station and transferring to the lives of the daughters of feudal rulers. Nagaragawa line to Seki City Hall station Last-minute souvenir shoppers will be (Seki shiyakusho mae). rewarded for their procrastination at For more information visit the Centrair’s retail shops. If you didn’t get a museum’s website: The Comforts of Centrair chance to visit Aichi’s great pottery towns, http://www.tokugawa-art-museum.jp/englis stop by Tokoname Kobo Tosho for a h/index.html With the resumption of United Airlines’ one-of-a-kind ceramic pot.

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