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A Book of Ken Domon


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DOMON Ken passed away quietly on September 15, 1990 at Toranomon Hospital in Tokyo, after eleven years in the hospital. He never regained consciousness following a stroke, his third, which he suffered in 1979.
He had once said, “Everyone must die. There is nothing you can do about it, and I am certainly going to die one day too. Death and life are absolutes, because they are reality.” One might say that he had submitted to the absoluteness of reality, and had even accepted it serenely. In any case, the realism of DOMON Ken was a pursuit of the absoluteness of “reality” wherever it might lead him. And he held the same view with regard to life and death.

Ken was born the eldest son of DOMON Kumazo, his father, and Tomie, his mother, in the Aioi section of today’s Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture on October 25, 1909. In naming him “Ken,” which means “fist,” Kumazo hoped that his son would make something of himself, barehanded (tosh-kuken). In Watashi no rirekisyo ( My curriculum vitae ), DOMON describes the landscapes of his formative years. ” I grew up in the embrace of Nature in this northern region, where the winter skies present an unbroken blanket of low-hanging snow clouds and waves crest over the lead-colored Japan Sea, where spring finds the peach, plum and cherry wakening to blossom all at once, and where Mt. Chokai, with its glistening remnants of snow, stands out against the deep blue sky of summer.”

But the environment in which he spent his childhood was by no means cheerful. His parents quarreled constantly, and after they went to Tokyo to try to make a new start, he followed them in 1916, taken there by an uncle.

He graduated from Yokohama Dai-ni Middle School in 1928. At that time DOMON dreamed of becoming a painter, but he happened to see Admonitions of the Imperial Instructress, a painting by Qu Kai Zhi, a famous Chinese painter of the 4th century, and “reached the conclusion that, with my ability, even after a lifetime I would never be as good as that. After a depressing and painful stocktaking, I gave up my dream of becoming a painter and broke all of my brushes” ( Watashi no rirekisho). He eventually got involved in the peasant movement, but after repeated arrests, had no choice but to give up.

This was his second setback, but these experiences had opened his eyes to the contradictions of the social structure. The ground for the ideas about social realism and ethnic realism, which were incorporated in his photographs after the war, was cultivated in this period.

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Kamo aquarium

Kamo aquarium is along the coast line of Tsuruoka city and is near a harbour. The aquarium itself is known for and has a large collection of jellyfish. It also has a small section where you can see the evolution of the jellyfish as it ages which is something quite amazing. There is a unusual selection sea life, local fishes, anemones and crabs and finally a sea lion show which is on multiple times throughout the day. The aquarium is quite popular and is busy during the weekends so it is better if you have the chance to go during the week. At the end, visit the gift shop and take a venture at tasting the unusual aquarium speciality, Jelly fish ice-cream.

Text & Photo by Shana L

Kamo aquarium Web

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Sakata Sanno-sai Sairei Kame Kasa Hoko

Sakata Sanno-sai Sairei Kame Kasa Hoko
Skata city-designated tangible folklore cultural asset

During the Chinju Hie Shrine Festival in Sakata, called Sakata Sanno-sai (presently the Sakata Festival ), each neighborhood contributed a float the festival, Mitsuoka Honma, head of the third generation of the Honma Family, commissioned the Kame Kasa Hoko parade float to contribute splendor to the Sanno Festival and enliven the city. Taking a hint from the Kyoto Gion Festival, in 1765 he had the float built by a Kyoto puppeteer and brought by ship to Sakata.

A Kame Hoko ( turtle float )was chosen because the Kamegasaki Castle was a part of Sakata’s his tory. And turtles were thought to be messengers of the Sea God’s Palace and thus considered very auspicious.

IMG_5052In addition, the head of this turtle resembles the head of dragon. This is apparently connected to the fact that the Sintai god at Kamihie Shrine is dragon god.

For many years, each time the Sanno Festival was held the float was placed in front of the Honma Residence. It was also part of the parade procession and came to be known as “The Honma Family’s turtle.”
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In February 2001, it was donated the city of Sakata and designated as a tangible folklore cultural asset. For the two years 2001 and 2002 it underwent repairs and the umbrella was newly restored.

Kamikasa Hoko has an intimate history connected with the Sakata Sanno Festival.
(Sakata Board of Education)

(Displayed in Sankyo Souko)

Yamadera

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IMG_4968Yama-dera is a historical site located North east of Yamagata city. It is a small mountain climb with steep steps which reach the peak where you can overlook the amazing mountainous landscape from a small open temple at the mountains edge.

On our arrival to Yama-dera we first crossed a red bridge that lead onto a small hill where souvenir shops were on either side of the road. The shops sold things such as sandogasa hats, dango and other local cuisine as well as a few fruit markets which had a delicious selection of apples. As you reach the near top of the hill we turned left to reach a small temple named konponchudo temple and a pot of burning incense.

Continuing down, you will eventually come across the temple gate after passing a few other shrines and smaller temples. You will have to pay a small entry fee to begin your climb up Yamadera to Risshakuji temple.

The climb up is interesting but beware as the stairs can be a little narrow. The climb goes through a forest with amazing cedar and various other large trees, you will pass many wooden temples and there are interesting stops along the way. Oyamiishi is a cliff face and engraved into it is a something which is difficult to discern but many people had stuck coins into the crevasses for good luck and making wishes. This is a common occurrence up yamadera and you will see coins that have been placed into various trees, shrines and sculptures along the way. Nearer the mountain peak you will go through niomon gate where the ni-yo guardians ‘a’ and ‘un’ (which mean the beginning and the end of all things) stand at either side of the entrance.

Near the mountain peak there is a small cluster of wooden temples and houses and is quite a site to see. You are able to walk along the mountain paths and look down at the steep valley below or continue up the path to open temple viewing point, I was recommended to come here either in the early summer or winter when the skies are clearer to be able to see further into the valley. Along the right hand path if you look across the valley you will see a small wooden house on the mountain cliff edge which is an amazing sight to see and for me was a highlight of visiting yama-dera. At Risshakuji temple I bought a fortune slip and picked up a ‘moderate fortune’.

Unfortunately I cannot read kanji and had trouble making sense of what my fortune was, but overall it was telling me to ‘enjoy and not to rush my work and be careful when travelling from west to east’, this was both coincidentally accurate to my current situation and had be feeling rather apprehensive. But overall was great fun to translate with the help of my friends. Many people tie their paper fortunes to the wooden beams or trees in the area but I decided to take mine along with me because of the small but nice illustrations that are on the slip.

On the way down it began to get very busy but there are a few hidden paths and shortcuts in the amongst the forest to look out for to avoid the crowds.

Back at the base of Yamadera we came across a small shop selling many hand made ceramics and stone carved sculptures such as the roundish ‘o-jizo’ figures. They also had a kokeshi doll workshop where the daughter of a local kokeshi painter was running the workshop. Just outside of the shop was a small vendor selling freshly made dango. This is highly recommend after you finish your climb up yamadera as konjac is a healthy and filling snack.

written by Shana L.

Yamadera sightseeing website  http://www.yamaderakankou.com

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Honma Museum of Art

IMG_2157This museum opened in 1947 to promote regional culture. The museum is housed in Si-enkaku, a former villa of the Homma family that was built in 1813, with the garden Kkubu-en , which is an nationally designated scenic spot. There is also an annex completed in 1968.  (From the guidebook of “Museums in Yamagata” )