Dondoyaki: Festive Decorations Go up In Smoke on Jan. 16th in Tsuchiura
By Avi Landau
In Tsukuba, when we want to get rid of any unneeded or unwanted stuff taking up space in our homes, it’s always necessary to consult the City`s GARBAGE SEPARATION MANUAL, which after much bewildered scrutinization might finally reveal when and where certain materials can be disposed of.
However, there are some items for which even that labyrinthine text gives no clue as to how to deal with. For example, the festive decorations and other sacred objects that Japanese people, as a matter of pure common sense, would never simply throw into the garbage.
What is to be done with last year’s Daruma doll and the New Year’s shimenawa (sacred rope), kado-matsu ( a sort of Japanese Christmas tree in pairs) and other decorations? The Japanese do not need to have this information printed in the Trash Disposal Manual. It is natural for them to take such items to a shrine to be disposed of respectfully, or bring them to a ritual burning ceremony usually called DONDOYAKI ( どんど焼き）in this area (though it is variously called called sagicho- 左儀長, dosojin-yaki, sankuroyaki, onpe, etc. in other parts of Japan).
Traditionally, New Years Decorations and other sacred items have been burned at shrines ( or other set locations) throughout Japan on January 14th or 15th. It has been ( and still is) considered VERY lucky and healthy to eat mochi rice cakes which have been roasted in these fires.
Since it was believed that the gods would descend, attracted to these sacred ropes, bamboos and paper etc., it was at the dondoyaki ceremonies these these spirits were thought to return, along with the smoke, to the heavens.
It is when watching the decorations go up in smoke, warmed by the large bon-fire on what is certainly a very cold January day that the Japanese have the sense that the O-Shogatsu ( New Year`s) period is over.
I have also heard that practicioners of Japanese calligraphy ( shodo), take their first works of the year ( kakizome), and put them into the pyres. If these works ascend high into the sky with the smoke,it is a sign that their skill will RISE this year.
If you have any items (straw, wood or paper) that you would like to dispose of with respect, there will be a big dondoyaki bash held on the Tsukuba-Tsuchiura border, by the Gakuen O-hashi Bridge, on The Tsuchiura Gakuen Road (the same place from which the fireworks are launched at the Hanabi Festival). The event will be held on the 16th and not the 15th, because weekends are more convenient, and will begin at 11am. Mochi will be served to the first 200 people who sign up, and registration begins at 9am ( get there early!).
Don’t put any plastic, ceramic or metal objects in the fire.
See you there! Its quite a spectacle with the huge bonfire and 2oo people roasting rice cake stuck onto the tips of long, bending bamboo poles!
If you would like to read more about DARUMA DOLLS read my article:
Print This Post
Holiday Garbage Schedule
Okay, this is not the sexiest of topics, but I think it's important for people to know about this.
The last day for collecting burnable garbage for this year is December 28 for the north and south districts, and December 29 for the east, west, and special districts. There will be no garbage collection until January 1 in any district. Please do not put your garbage out during the collection holiday.
The last day for collecting large items (粗大ごみ) is December 15 for the north district, December 20 for the east and special districts, December 22 for the south district, and December 27 for the west district. However, there is a procedure to follow when throwing out large items, so you will have to have made a reservation in advance in order to be able to put large items out on these days. There is a limit to how much they can collect in one day, so if you know you will be throwing something large out, be sure to make a reservation well in advance.
It is possible to take some kinds of garbage directly to the Clean Center. However, the Center closes on December 29 at 4:30pm and doesn't open again until January 3 at 8:30am.
Find out your garbage district
http://www.city.tsukuba.ibaraki.jp/hp/e_hp/guide/garbage.html
Print This Post
Religious Symbols Used To Discourage Littering (and Urinating in Public)
When I spotted the small vermillion torii (gate) up ahead by the side of the mountain road, I tried to catch a glimpse of the shrine or sacred stone behind it as the car I was in rolled by. Curiously, there seemed to be nothing. I was more surprised when we soon drove by another little torii which seemed to lead to nowhere as well. We then passed another.
Toriis are the symbol of Japan's native religion, now referred to as Shinto. They are the easily recognizable entranceways to shrines, gates which are always open, leading into or demarkating the presence of sacred space. Sometimes small torii are placed in front of objects considered sacred: an ancient tree, a mysterious mountain, an unusual stone.
What were these toriis doing by the roadside if they did not indicate the presence of a shrine or sacred object? This question led us to stopping the car and getting out for a closer look. Writing on the back of the unusually thin gate told us that what we had found were GOMI YOKE TORII, or garbage preventing torii, set up by the owner of the roadside forest to discourage littering! These most familiar signs of the sacred, along with Jizo statues(popular Buddhist images), are becoming more and more frequently used to discourage littering and public urination.
Though most Japanese you talk to will probably deny that they are religious, in actuallity most seem to still have respect for (or more likely fear of !) the Gods and Buddhas. When rolling down the car window to chuck out an empy can or wrapper , the sight of a torii or jizo would almost surely make the typical Japanese hold on to their trash. Few would want to risk the wrath of retribution (in Japanese, BACHI GA ATARU) and for most Japanese it is just plain common sense not to pollute a shrine or a temple. On the internet I have found several discussions of why toriis and Jizo are used (effectively) in this way. The usual responses are: "Are you a Japanese? If you are Japanese you surely understand why people wouldn't litter around a torii!"
It is also possible to buy stencil sheets for painting small torii gates on walls or the sides of buildings. These are usually effective in keeping these structures urine free.
Check out this ad for GOMI YOKE TORII.
I have made lots of calls to determine who exactly pays for and sets up these litter-stoppers. I have found out that it is case by case. Private landowners, local and prefectural governments and NPOs are all ordering them. In Tsukuba, The Gomi No Kai (garbage society) pays for and sets up Jizos with the aim of preventing littering (if you check, the sponsor's name is usually indicated on the back). At one location where the Gomi No Kai had set up a jizo I found that though the area near the Jizo was certainly clean, the situation was very different JUST ACROSS THE STREET. It seems that we need a few MORE toriis and Jizos!
Print This Post
Religious Symbols Used To Discourage Littering (and Urinating in Public)-again
By Avi Landau
When I spotted the small vermillion torii (gate) up ahead by the side of the mountain road, I tried to catch a glimpse of the shrine or sacred stone behind it as the car I was in rolled by. Curiously, there seemed to be nothing. I was more surprised when we soon drove by another little torii which seemed to lead to nowhere as well. We then passed another.
Toriis are the symbol of Japan’s native religion, now referred to as Shinto. They are the easily recognizable entranceways to shrines, gates which are always open, leading into or demarcating the presence of sacred space. Sometimes small torii are placed in front of objects considered sacred: an ancient tree, a mysterious mountain, an unusual stone.
What were these toriis doing by the roadside if they did not indicate the presence of a shrine or sacred object? This question led us to stopping the car and getting out for a closer look. Writing on the back of the unusually thin gate told us that what we had found were GOMI YOKE TORII, or garbage preventing torii, set up by the owner of the roadside forest to discourage littering! These most familiar signs of the sacred, along with Jizo statues(popular Buddhist images), are becoming more and more frequently used to discourage littering and public urination.
Though most Japanese you talk to will probably deny that they are religious, in actuallity most seem to still have respect for (or more likely fear of !) the Gods and Buddhas. When rolling down the car window to chuck out an empy can or wrapper , the sight of a torii or jizo would almost surely make the typical Japanese hold on to their trash. Few would want to risk the wrath of retribution (in Japanese, BACHI GA ATARU) and for most Japanese it is just plain common sense not to pollute a shrine or a temple. On the internet I have found several discussions of why toriis and Jizo are used (effectively) in this way. The usual responses are: “Are you a Japanese? If you are Japanese you surely understand why people wouldn’t litter around a torii!”
It is also possible to buy stencil sheets for painting small torii gates on walls or the sides of buildings. These are usually effective in keeping these structures urine free.
Check out this ad for GOMI YOKE TORII.
I have made lots of calls to determine who exactly pays for and sets up these litter-stoppers. I have found out that it is case by case. Private landowners, local and prefectural governments and NPOs are all ordering them. In Tsukuba, The Gomi No Kai (garbage society) pays for and sets up Jizos with the aim of preventing littering (if you check, the sponsor’s name is usually indicated on the back). At one location where the Gomi No Kai had set up a jizo I found that though the area near the Jizo was certainly clean, the situation was very different JUST ACROSS THE STREET. It seems that we need a few MORE toriis and Jizos!
Print This Post
The New Year`s Decorations Go Up In Smoke in Tsuchiura`s Big DONDO-YAKI (どんど焼き) Bonfire on Saturday January 15th
A DONDO-YAKI bonfire by the Sakura River in Tsuchiura (2011)
In Tsukuba, when we want to get rid of any unneeded or unwanted stuff taking up space in our homes, it’s always necessary to consult the City`s GARBAGE SEPARATION MANUAL, which after much bewildered scrutinization might finally reveal when and where certain materials can be disposed of.
However, there are some items for which even that labyrinthine text gives no clue as to how to deal with. For example, the festive decorations and other sacred objects that Japanese people, as a matter of pure common sense, would never simply throw into the garbage.
What is to be done with last year’s Daruma doll and the New Year’s shimenawa (sacred rope), kado-matsu ( a sort of Japanese Christmas tree in pairs) and other decorations? The Japanese do not need to have this information printed in the Trash Disposal Manual. It is natural for them to take such items to a shrine to be disposed of respectfully, or bring them to a ritual burning ceremony usually called DONDOYAKI ( どんど焼き）in this area (though it is variously called called sagicho- 左儀長, dosojin-yaki, sankuroyaki, onpe, etc. in other parts of Japan).
Traditionally, New Years Decorations and other sacred items have been burned at shrines ( or other set locations) throughout Japan on January 14th or 15th. It has been ( and still is) considered VERY lucky and healthy to eat mochi rice cakes which have been roasted in these fires.
Since it was believed that the gods would descend, attracted to these sacred ropes, bamboos and paper etc., it was at the dondoyaki ceremonies these these spirits were thought to return, along with the smoke, to the heavens.
It is when watching the decorations go up in smoke, warmed by the large bon-fire on what is certainly a very cold January day that the Japanese have the sense that the O-Shogatsu ( New Year`s) period is over.
I have also heard that practicioners of Japanese calligraphy ( shodo), take their first works of the year ( kakizome), and put them into the pyres. If these works ascend high into the sky with the smoke,it is a sign that their skill will RISE this year.
If you have any items (straw, wood or paper) that you would like to dispose of with respect, there will be a big dondoyaki bash held on the Tsukuba-Tsuchiura border, by the Gakuen O-hashi Bridge, on The Tsuchiura Gakuen Road (the same place from which the fireworks are launched at the Hanabi Festival). The event will be held on Saturday the 15th, and will begin at 11am. Mochi will be served to the first 200 people who sign up, and registration begins at 9am ( so get there early!).
Don’t put any plastic, ceramic or metal objects in the fire.
See you there! Its quite a spectacle with the huge bonfire and 2oo people roasting rice cake stuck onto the tips of long, bending bamboo poles!
A view from the bridge of the Sakura River and the crowd starting to gather for the DONDOYAKI- the pyre can be seen near the center
Like airport security the city office staff sifts carefully through everything that has been brought to be burned
Before the actual DONDOYAKI gets underway peopel grill their KAGAMI-MOCHI and sweet potatoes as well. Lots of people gather round the grill to keep warm!
Looking closely into the pyre you can see HAMAYA (Lucky Arrows) and SHIMENAWA ( sacred rope) etc.
Starting the blaze!
People ready with long bamboo poles for roasting MOCHI rice cakes
Pink and white rice cakes dangling on the tips of bamboo poles
Print This Post