2007 September 7 Friday.

Since about one month ago, I have been planning to go back to Minami Kayabe 南茅部, which is now a part of Hakodate City 函館市, and attend the 2007 Jomon no Michi Forum, which starts at 13:00 tomorrow. 

See the photo above/left for details. 

Unfortunately for me, and a lot of other people as well, Typhoon Number 9 is working its way up to Hokkaido from Southern Japan, and is scheduled to hit Hakodate City at 9:00 tomorrow morning.   Bummer.   

I know enough to respect Mother Nature, and not try to impose my will upon it.   

The coastal road to Minami Kayabe is very narrow and winding.   

Not only could a big wave splash up onto that road and pull my van out to sea, but the possibility of landslides 地すべり、土砂崩れ, are also very high during times of heavy rains. 

So even if I did start my drive towards Hakodate, the chances that I would not make it all the way, are very high.   

I am by nature, a risk taker, and have lived through some very close calls in the past, but today's decision, to not  go as planned, was a no-brainer 考えなくても解るはず. 

TRIP CANCELLED.   

The way I was planning to make this trip is as follows:    Cancel all of my Friday classes after 17:00 and hit the road soon after that time. 

Drive as far as I could, about half of the way, and stay overnight at a 道の駅. 

Then, get up on Saturday morning, and continue my drive to Minami Kayabe.   

Attend the forum from 13:00 until about 16:00, then drive about half way back to Asahikawa, and stay overnight at one of the many Roadside Rest Stations, along the way. 

Wake up on Sunday morning, and drive the rest of the way back to my home, arriving at about 12:00 noon.   

Wonderful plan, bad weather.   

Maybe next year I can attend this event. 

I really want to go and participate in the activities, and meet many like-minded people, who will elevate my vibrations, up another notch or two.   

Life is about Learning.   

Learning something NEW everyday. 

I LOVE LIFE.   

I am not afraid of "death" because "death" is simply a REBIRTH into another WORLD.   

Or wavelength, or vibration, or however you choose to label IT.   

Is there really only ONE LIFE and then comes the JUDGMENT DAY?   

NO WAY.   

That is total BULLXIT!   

If you believe in that crap, you most certainly do need to be saved.   

SAVED FROM YOURSELF.   

Wake the phuck up.　

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2007 August 19 Sunday.

My last day of summer vacation. 

Tomorrow, it's back to school for almost everyone, including myself. 

It was both a long, and short, three weeks.  I did a lot of driving, and saw some amazing things.   

I also learned a lot, during that time.  Living is Learning. 

War is NOT Peace.   

Again today, another photo which I took at 南茅部縄文遺跡群　国指定史跡　大船遺跡.   

This one shows various arrowheads, and other cutting tools.   

These specimens range from about 6,500 years ago and were found at a different location, which is very near to this site.   

While I was at the OoFune Site, I picked up for free, and also bought one copy each, of every type of printed material available.   

It turns out that I made a very smart investment,  indeed.   

Knowledge available only to those people who can READ JAPANESE!!!

Until now???    

I will summarize it for you all, in easy to read AMERICAN ENGLISH, right here on this website.   

Stay tuned.   

MORE,......     Much more,...    about the  JOMON CULTURE coming soon.    

It's time to get back to basics.　

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2007 August 18 Saturday.

Another photo that I took at the Jomon Culture, Ohfune Site 南茅部縄文遺跡群　国指定史跡　大船遺跡. 

This one shows the ChuuKuu DoGuu 中空土偶 hollow clay figurine, which was found by KoSaka Ae　小阪　アエ, on 1975 August 24,  while she was digging around in her vegetable garden!   

It was designated as an Important Cultural Asset on 1979 June 6. 

And, most recently, this DoGuu was designated as a National Treasure 国宝 on 2007 March 13. 

An important thing to remember about this clay figure is that it is HOLLOW inside.   

If it was just a solid chunk of clay, even I could have made it.   

But the very fact that it is hollow, shows a rather high level of realism and artistic skill.   

By the way, what you see in the photo above/left is only a replica of the real thing.   

The real thing is put on exhibition, both in Japan and throughout the world, and is stored at a much more secure location, somewhere outside of Hokkaido. 

The real figurine was made about 3,200 years ago, and is the largest  one of its kind, to have been found anywhere in Japan, or the entire world for that matter.   

In its entirety, the Jomon Culture lasted from about 12,000 years ago, until about 2000 years ago.   

As far as I know, this is by far the oldest and most long lasting single culture on the face of this earth.   

Therefore, it is important to learn more about it. 

And not just for me, but also for as many other people as possible.   

In other words, the Jomon Culture was a 10,000 years long reign of PEACE, in this part of the world.   

I mean think about it for a moment, they had; Free food, free housing, free "witch doctors" to chant over the ill, and free child care. 

Of course, they had to work the land very hard, to get it all and as a result I'm sure that there was the occasional homicide here and there, for various reasons, but there were NO STANDING ARMIES, constantly training to wage war 365/24/7.   

It was a completely different MENTALITY from that which this sorry-ass world has today.    

Back to Jomon.

縄文人の心を学びましょう。

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2007 August 17 Friday.

Another photo that I took at the Jomon Culture Ohfune Site 南茅部縄文遺跡群　国指定史跡　大船遺跡.   

This one shows what you will see when you enter the small museum which is right there on the site.   

As you can see from the photo, there is a huge amount of pottery and pottery fragments that were recovered from this site. 

The different sizes, shapes and designs of the pottery, causes me image what the purpose for each type of pottery might have been.   

I mean, think about all of the various dishes, plates, bowls, cups and other things that you have in your house and kitchen.   

Each and every utensil was designed and built for a certain purpose, and when you saw them at the store and bought them, you had a certain purpose of use in mind for each and every one of them.   

So did the Jomon People. 

Their INTENTIONS created the pottery they made, and then they used each and every piece of pottery for their intended purpose.   

I guess the very BASICs of human thinking haven't changed that much in about 10,000 years.   

Only the tools have become more powerful.

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2007 August 9 Thursday.

I woke up at about 8:00 to a hot, sunny and humid day.   

I had to wait around until 9:30 when the gift shop opened, so that I could buy the Muroran City sign magnet stickers. 

Then, I was back on the road again. 

Today's final destination will be Hakodate City. 

The weather all along the way today, was a mixture of sunny, cloudy, rainy and very rainy, but the wind was not that strong. 

Another objective of this road trip is to stop by and see the 5,000 year old Jomon Village at the Oofune site in Minami Kayabe  南茅部縄文遺跡群　国指定史跡　大船遺跡.   

On May 26 and 27 of this year, I went to Date City 伊達市 as a member of the Hokkaido Cultural Property Protection Association to see a similar but somewhat smaller site.   

Since that time, my interest in the Jomon People 縄文人 has been on the increase day by day.   

Not only because the remains can be found in Southern Hokkaido, but also because the Jomon People were the very first homo sapiens to have made pottery. 

Since the discovery of how to light instant fires, the making of pottery is probably the second most significant event in the advancement of human culture. 

The Jomon People never discovered metal making.   

All of their tools were made from stone and wood with hemp ropes binding them all together.   

Animal and fish bones were also used to make various utensils.   

They lived a very simple and primitive life.   

At 縄文の丘 in Date City, there was a big mound of seashells that the Jomon People had eaten and then discarded.   

At least they had enough social order to create a garbage pit.   

At Minami Kayabe, they have found no such shell mounds 貝塚 even though the site is right next to the Pacific Ocean!!!   

However,  that was more than 5,000 years ago.   

The geography could have been different then.   

Very different.    So could have been the climate.   

There are many things to consider.   

Another possibility is that the shell mounds are in fact present, but as yet,  undiscovered. 

I haven't developed a final theory on this yet.   

Nonetheless, it was an honor and a privilege for me to be easily able to come all the way over here, and learn something new, about something which is very very old.   

Or is it?   

After spending more than 50 minutes taking photos both outside and inside the data center 資料館, talking with the nice lady who was on duty that day, and taking photos of every exhibit inside the data center, I continued my journey, south, towards Hakodate.   

Photo Slideshow COMING SOON. 

Today's drive was very interesting, and more than educational.   

Why am I attracted to this now island that we now call Hokkaido?   

Why did I feel that; "Ahhhhhhh!      

Home Again!"       Why?      

I just KNOW it.         

I've been here before.       

And so have you.       

What other island on the earth today, looks quite like the dragon head shape of Hokkaido?       

I can't find any on the world map.   

Can you?     Back to Basics.   

NOT ABC but CBA.   

Total driving distance today; 275 kilometers.

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2007 June 25 Monday.

Another beautiful day in Hokkaido. 

My first gig of the day didn't start until 13:00.  It was at the  神楽公民館で英会話を楽しむ会　a mere 10 minutes walk from my classroom, if I walk slowly.   

Again today, I talked about the ridiculous invoice とんでもない請求書 that Charles Hamel and family had received after spending only 6 hours in a hospital emergency room ER in Houston Texas, for the sole purpose of passing kidney stones.   

I told the class that I had received an email and also looked at his blog called HOKKAIDO BOUND where the details of the hospital invoice are posted.   

All in all, the bill was for $12,559!!!   

Converted into Japanese Yen using the currency converter at  http://www.ratesfx.com/   that comes out to 1,553,950 yen!!!!   

Remember, Charlie didn't even stay one overnight at the hospital. 

He went back home after only 6 hours and his loving Japanese wife took care of him for the next 3 days at the family home, until the kidney stones finally passed out of his body.   

Again, everyone in the class just couldn't believe what I was telling them. 

I can't believe it either because it is so phuckin' ridiculous.   

A person could buy a new economy car for that price!   

What indeed is a civilized society, anyway?   

I know what one is because I have lived here in Hokkaido for more than 17 years.   

This place is ultra-modern, civilized and close to nature.   

What else could a person want?   

The neon lights of a big city?   

You can get all of that in Sapporo, and even in downtown Asahikawa as well.   

Hokkaido Has IT ALL.   

I am a happy camper who has no plans EVER, to live anywhere else. 

Take a trip and visit other places?   

Sure, why not.   

I will learn something from that quest.   

But it is always good to come back HOME to my own private Hokkaido.   

Underground like a wild potato.   

Anyway, after that class was finished at about 14:40, I hurried back to my classroom for lessons from 15:00 until 20:00.   

When that was all out of the way, I got onto the World Wide Web to see what else I could learn about playing the vertical flute (recorder).   

During my information quest, I stumbled upon a blast from the past that reminded me of a song called RUBY TUESDAY performed by the ROLLING STONES in 1967. 

Brian Jones plays a larger wooden recorder in this video, and the sound is both nostalgic and refreshing. 

To see the music video, click here.   

Time to practice the flute some more. 

I guess I had better close the windows for now.

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