The Mojo of Gujo
...written on 06.15.05, @ 7:20 a.m.
Sunday night, Min and I headed for Gujo, where he had work to do on Monday morning. We found a hotel just outside of the city and crashed. In the morning, Min went off to work, and I stayed in a coffee shop for an hour and a half to wait until the stores and other tourist attractions opened.
My first stop was the Tourist Information Center which had plenty of city maps and other interesting artifacts. I almost bought some wooden geta (traditional Japanese shoes) there.
As I was leaving, I spotted some bicycles inside the building. I wondered if they belonged to the employees and then I saw that they looked alike. I walked over to them and saw the word “rental bicycle” written in katakana. Whhhhooooo, now didn’t that sound like a good idea?
I went up to the counter and arranged to rent a bicycle. Before I got to Gujo I had done a little research about things to do and souvenirs to buy. Since Min doesn’t like shopping too much, I decided to get all that done on my own time. My earlier perusal of the city maps (I had to use three, one in English, and two in Japanese for cross referencing information) showed that I had a bit of ground to cover and doing it by bicycle was a great idea. It cost 300 yen (almost 3 dollars) an hour to rent a bicycle.
It took me a while to find the first place. In fact, I got lost and had to circle around a couple of times. I finally stopped and asked two Japanese ladies where the kimono shop was. My idea was to rent a yukata (informal Japanese summer wear) later in the day to surprise Min. The bad news was that it was too early in the year for yukata rentals (July-August).
Of course riding a bicycle in a yukata wouldn’t have been the most practical thing, but I would have managed somehow. Anyway, I took off to find the other things on my list, which included cinnamon candy, pickled chili relish and posters of the dance festival.
I got all of my shopping done and was just coming down a trail that led up to Gujo castle, when Min called to say that his work was over and we could meet for lunch. Great timing! We went to a noodle shop I had spied earlier.
Afterwards we went down to the river and set up a little resting area on top of a group of rocks that had been cemented together. Min put down a painter’s drop cloth and a few pillows, and though it all provided little comfort, we nestled into each other and began to read the books we had brought.
The book I was reading was one I discovered when I was in elementary school in Tucson, Arizona. I loved that book so much I went back and asked the librarian for more books by that author, Sally Watson. I easily devoured all that were available and re-read the first one many times. I ran into the book again in the junior high I went to in Dayton, Ohio. After that I found out that the book was out of print. About five years ago, I mentioned it here in my diary and someone left me a note that, Witch of the Glens, was coming back into print. I had seen some copies on Ebay selling for over two hundred dollars-OUCH! That person recently left me an email saying that indeed, the books were back in print (at $12.99 each!). I lost no time and ordered all that were available, my favorites, and even some I haven’t read yet. I had my dad send me my two favorites and the rest he mailed to my niece, Sarah. I hope, that despite being in the “throws” of softball season, she finds time to become as enthralled with the books as I did. And many THANKS to Linda, Caryn at http://ursae.com/sallywatson/index.html and Image Cascade Publishing at www.imagecascade.com/ .
After we got off our rock island, Min and I went to the Gujo dance museum. Gujo is famous for its Japanese folk dancing festival. It happens every summer and goes on for thirty (30) days! There are ten styles of dance that you can do and everyone wears yukata and geta to dance in. About 20,000 people come to Gujo to partake in the festival. Some even do “The Challenge” which is four days straight of non-stop dancing. EGAD! And WHERE do all of those people STAY?!
After visiting the Dance Museum, we went up a winding road to Gujo Castle. It was first built in the 1500’s, but was later rebuilt in 1933. On the top floor we commanded a glorious view on all sides of the mountains. In one valley, the city took on the shape of a fish, lodged between the mountains and the river. There was a wonderful breeze and we sat quietly listening to the trees sway and the birds calling out to each other.
I took lots of pictures and have posted some here: http://homepage.mac.com/lunasoul/PhotoAlbum6.html” .
There are other photo albums there as well, Kyoto, Nara, Vietnam, etc. I am loathe to load them up here because as you can see, I lost all of my images in the GREAT DIARYLAND CRASH of ’05 and I haven’t had the gumption to put them up again (some I can’t recover, like my origami squares). So go on over and take a peek!
I want to take some time to comment on Min. He is always looking out for me and doing all in his power to ensure that I am comfortable (even on a bed of cement and rocks!) and that we have a great time. He is ever the romantic and strives to set the "mood" in a most natural way. He is a deep thinker and uses his simple English stunningly to convey his meaning. He is affectionate, kind and generous and I thank him every day for being in my life.