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Pilgrimage to Japan Reveals the Virtues of Soaking

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发表于 12-18-2018 17:35:21 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
Jada Yuan, Pilgrimage to Japan Reveals the Virtues of Soaking; Experiences with hot spring, sushi and traditional footwear overseen by a deity of mercy. New York Times, Dec 16, 2018 (om the "Travel; section that appears every Sunday; under the heading "52 Places Traveler").
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/ ... u-island-japan.html

Note:
(a) Jada Yuan is "the Times' inaugural 52 Places Traveler" -- it is a travel column where 52 places will be visited in a year -- "She grew up in northern New Mexico, has a degree in history from Yale University and lives in Brooklyn (when she's not on the road)."  www.nytimes.com.

(b) About "planks of wood that attached to my feet with cloth thongs, like flip-flops. But their contact surface with the ground was two blocks of wood, neither of which [referring to the two blocks underneath ONE geta] was under the toe. I pitched forward with each step and felt like I might launch face first into the ground. * * * [I was] click-clacking down the streets of Kinosaki, Japan, in geta sandals * * * I wore a yukata robe, or lightweight cotton kimono, that had been so complicated to put on, it came with illustrated instructions. A staff member from my traditional Japanese inn, Tsukimotoya Ryokan, tugged and tied it into place. “No, no, no,” said the woman, who was half my height, as she put the right-side flap over the left. Then she reversed them, nodded, and cinched it all together with an obi [Japanese pronunciation if 帯] sash, 'OK, OK OK.' * * * [I wandered along] the lantern-lit Otani River winding through the city."
(i) geta (footwear)  下駄
https://0en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geta_(footwear)
(ii) pitch (vi): "to fall precipitately or headlong"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pitch
(iii) The en.wikipedia.org has a page for "Kinosaki, Hyōgo" which says it was a town: Kinosaki-chō, Kinosaki-gun, Hyōgo prefecture 兵庫県 城崎郡 城崎町 (The English words for district and chō are district and town, respectively.) It does not emphasize "was" and I could not understand why both the English- and Japanese-language Wiki pages for the district and prefecture does not have this district or town. At last the latter says that in 2005 (旧) 豊岡市 and 城崎郡 combined 合併 to create (新) 豊岡市.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyooka,_Hy%C5%8Dgo
Presently it is 豊岡市城崎町.

Hyōgo's capital is Kobe 神戸(市).

The "ki" pronunciation for 城 is used in place names only.
(iv) Tsukimotoya Ryokan  月本屋旅館
www.tukimotoya.com/en/

The tsuki is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 月.
(v) yukata 浴衣
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukata
("The left side of the yukata is wrapped over the right side (commonly reversed with right over left when dressing a body for a funeral) and secured with an obi sash tied in a bow" in the back (see photo; men too have a bow in the back) )
(vi) 大谿川  Ōtani River
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大谿川

A portmanteau of 溪 and 谷 and pronounced "tani" (Japanese pronunciation of kanji 谷) or "tanigawa," 谿 appeared in ancient Chinese books and meant -- and still means -- valley OR a river in the valley, in both Chinese and Japanese
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 楼主| 发表于 12-18-2018 17:36:16 | 显示全部楼层
(c) "The morning after I’d arrived, I took the Kinosaki Ropeway ロープウェイ (a cable car) high up Mount Taishi to the Onsenji temple, home to the 1,300-year-old statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy in the Buddhist tradition. She has 11 faces, 10 in a crown to signify her wisdom, and was carved from the top of a mystical tree that produced three deities, of which she is the only original one left. This [past] April began her unveiling, which will last for three years, until she goes back into hiding for another 30 years [soone cycle lasts 33 years]."
(i) ロープウェイ is katakana for Ropeway. It is a cable car (which 城崎観光株式会社 運営 operates; 全長676m, rare among cable car systems in the world with 中間駅) with three stops: 山頂駅 (a viewing platform 展望台 at the top of 231-meter-high Mt Daishi 大師山), 温泉寺駅 (halfway) and 山麓駅 (where 温泉街 is, in the valley).
(ii) It is unusual but also true. 大師山 has japanese pronunciation たいしやまtaishiyama, but its ENGLISH spelling is Mt Daishi. (So this NYT travelogue is wrong to write Mount Taishi.) My guess is it is akin to Toyota Motor Corp, founded and still run by Toyoda clan (both the surname and company name share the same kanji 豊田.

From the Web: "大師山なんて名前だから何かお大師さんの伝説があるやも…"   My rough translation: The [mountain] name and who the 大師 usm there are [various] folklores * * *
(iii) Onsenji  温泉寺 (豊岡市)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/温泉寺_(豊岡市)
(真言宗; In 738, 城崎温泉の開祖の道智上人による開基; 最古の木造建造物である室町時代初期建立の本堂; section 3.1 重要文化財(国指定):  "本堂 - 室町時代初期 * * * 木造十一面観音立像 - 平安時代 [794-1185/1192; capiutal was 平安京([presently 京都)] 中期")
室町時代: (1336 – 1573; (征夷大将军) 足利尊氏 founded 室町幕府 at then 京都の室町, following 鎌倉幕府)

Halfway down the Wiki page, there is a row of five photos. Among them is 本坊 (English: Sub Hall), which is different from, and located behind, 本堂 (English: Main Hall).
(iv)
(A) 温泉寺本堂. 温泉寺, undated
www.kinosaki-onsenji.jp/visit/main_temple.html
(温泉寺本堂: 本尊十一面観音像をお祀りする; 本尊 十一面観音立像: 2 meters tall; 千手観音立像: at 本坊, "一般的な千手観音像が42臂であるなか、現在834臂もの多くのお手をお持ちになった珍しい観音像" [unlike ordinary 千手観音 with 42 arms, this one has 834 arms[ )
(B) 十一面観音
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/十一面観音
(観音菩薩の変化身(へんげしん)の1つ [one of Kannon's variations ("variation" is my word)]; section 2 歴史的由来: "顔の数の由来など、起源の明確な根拠が少ない" [little is known about origin of number of faces])

In Japanese, 変化 (as a noun or a verb) may have two Chinese pronunciations: "henka" to mean "change" and "henge" (the second syllable sounds the same as the English verb "get" without the t) to man "shapeshifting (of an animal or a spirit." Jim Breen's online dictionary, where the spitit may be a god, a ghost or a deveil.
(v) "She has 11 faces, 10 in a crown to signify her wisdom, and was carved from the top of a mystical tree that produced three deities, of which she is the only original one left."

I am sure this statement is wrong. Two sources, one of which is Onsenji itself, says three (nearly identical) Kannon were carved from the same mystical tree 霊木.
(A) www.kinosaki-onsenji.jp/visit/main_temple.html
("温泉寺のご本尊様、十一面観世音菩薩は、大和(奈良)の長谷寺の観音さまと同木同作の由緒正しき観音様で、 千三百年の歴史を持つ重要文化財の仏様です")

Jim Breen's online Japanese-English dictionary:
* yu-i-shotadashi 由緒正しい 【ゆいしょただしい】 (adj): "having an ancient and honorable origin"
(B) 本尊十一面観音立像ご開帳ダイジェストムービー.
www.kinosaki-spa.gr.jp/11menkannon/
(解説: "天平 [元号/年号 (compare 天秤, which is pronounced different in Japanese); 729-749 AD]の昔、観音さまの一大霊場である大和の国 長谷寺の観音像と同じ霊木より鎌倉の長谷寺の観音ともう一体の観音さまを、長谷寺の近く長楽寺に安置するために稽文という仏師が一刀三礼にて彫刻しておりました")

Katakana: ダイジェスト(digest as noun) and ムービー (movie).

My rough translation: 稽文 the sculptor carved from the same wood three 11-head Kannon statues: one at 長谷寺 (Nana 奈良; specifically 奈良県桜井市), another at 長谷寺 (Kamakura 神奈川県鎌倉市) and the third at 温泉寺. Both of the preceding 長谷寺 is pronounced the same; all three temples retains its own 十一面観音立像 .

大和国  Yamato no kuni
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/大和国
(畿内 [in contrast to 近畿 (the area surrounding 畿内); 相当領域 奈良県 [correspond to present-day Nana Prefecture]; map)

The "kuni" is Japanese pronunciation of kanji 国.
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 楼主| 发表于 12-18-2018 17:36:46 | 显示全部楼层
(d) "Midway up the ropeway * * * I rushed inside the temple. There, with the help of a translator, I spoke with Ogawa Yusho, the resident monk, who was born in the temple and is now raising his family there. He'd grown up hearing the legend of Dōchi Shōnin, a priest who came to this very spot in the eighth century and prayed for 1,000 days for the health of the people here — and on the 1,000th day, an onsen sprung from the ground. It is said to be Mandara-yu, the oldest of the seven on Kinosaki's onsen circuit.  Before modern medicine, ill people would trek to Onsenji temple, pray to the spirit of Dochi Shonin, and then bathe, naked, with a wooden ladle in the hot springs. Once there, the ritual is to strip down, shower while sitting and then soak in those healing waters, surrounded by bodies of all shapes and sizes. (Onsen are divided into all-male and all-female sides.)
(i) "OGAWA Yushō, the resident monk, who was born in the temple and is now raising his family there"
(A) "温泉寺住職 小川祐章"
(B) Buddhist monasticism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_monasticism
("Monastics in Japan are particularly exceptional in the Buddhist tradition because the monks and nuns can marry after receiving their higher ordination. This idea is said to be introduced by Saichō [最澄 (767 – 822)], the founder of the Tendai school [天台宗], who preferred ordaining monks under the Bodhisattva vows rather than the traditional Vinaya [Sanskrit; 佛教戒律]. There had long been many instances of Jōdo Shinshū [浄土真宗] priests and priestesses marrying, influenced by the sect's founder Shinran [親鸞 (1173 – 1263), who is said to marry and re-marry and founded 浄土真宗 in 1247, after his master monk Hōnen 法然 founded 浄土宗 in 1175], but it was not predominant until a government Nikujiku Saitai Law (肉食妻帯) was passed during the Meiji Restoration that monks or priests of any Buddhist sect are free to seek wives. This practice influenced Korea and Taiwan.[39] A nun in Taiwan gave birth.[40] Some Korean monks live with wives in their monasteries. Monks of some Chinese lay Buddhist sects may marry, such as in historical Yunnan, Lingnan 岭南 and Taiwan") (footnotes omitted)

To be frank, I have not heard of a Buddhist monk or nun being able to marry, including Tibetan ones, maybe except one branch).
(ii) Mandara-yu まんだら湯
remains an onsen hotel with that name.

Mandara
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandara
(may refer to "Mandara or Mandala, Hindu and Buddhist religious objects")  
I have not seen "Mandara" but then again, Japanese transliteration has no letter L, only R,
(iii) Japanese-English dictionary:
* 肉食妻帯 【にくじきさいたい】 (n,v): "meat and matrimony (Buddhism); Buddhist priest eating meat dishes and being married"
* sa-i-ta-i 妻帯 【さいたい】 (n,v): "marriage; marry"

(e) "His name was Sushi Tiger. He was 76 * * * I was the only person in his narrow restaurant, breaking a cardinal travelers' rule to follow crowds to the best food. But I'd already been wandering the streets of Kanazawa 金沢[市], the capital city of the Ishikawa Prefecture 石川県 [to the east of 兵庫県, separated by two prefectures], for 20 minutes in search of sushi and a kind young man had brought me here, so who was I to mess with fate?  Sushi Tiger, who also goes by Takashi, wrapped a twisted white bandana around his forehead as he prepared my dinner. He spoke little English and I spoke almost no Japanese * * * I was glad to be his only customer. * * * Kawai, another Kanazawa sushi master at Takasakiya Sushi [高崎屋(金沢市)]"

The restaurant name is 寿し寅, located 金沢駅前.  寿し寅 is different from 寿し虎 or すし寅, two other sushi restaurants of the same pronunciation (sushi-tora) that are both based in City of Osaka.
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 楼主| 发表于 12-18-2018 17:37:46 | 显示全部楼层
(f) "In my Kinosaki ryokans, at lavish kaiseki dinners [probably the reviewer stayed in a couple of ryokans and ate several kaiseki dinners], the learning curve was steeper. I'd sit down to a tray filled with 20 little plates and no one who spoke English to guide me through them. What order was I supposed to eat them in? Did any of them get dipped in soy sauce? So I’d try first and ask questions later. It turns out I am not a fan of preserved fish eggs melded into a rectangular cake, but I'm OK with tender fish intestines. * * * [in Kinosaki] snow crab season starts in November, and lasts only a few months. * * * A good crab can sell for up to $300.  I was lucky enough to have a snow-crab kaiseki dinner served to me in my room at Sinonomesou Ryokan, where I sat at a low table on a bamboo floor mat. I had been relying on guidance from young members of the Kinosaki tourism board and invited them in to eat my crab. Nakada Naoki [the surname is Nakada 中田], who had grown up nearby, showed us how to suck the meat out of the claws.  Easier to navigate were sweets and bento boxes. I tried buckwheat-battered red bean cakes and soba-flavored ice cream in the castle town of Izushi, famed for its soba"
(i)
(A) Sinonomesou
https://www.sinonomesou.com/en/
is also located at 兵庫県豊岡市城崎町.

That is the ryokan's own transliteration for しののめ荘. A most common way to transliterate the Japanese name is Shinonome-sō (the last syllable is Chinese pronunciation of kanji 荘.
(B) Japanese-English dictionary:
* 東雲 【しののめ】 (n): "(arch[aic]) daybreak; dawn"
* shun-no-sakana 旬の魚 【しゅんのさかな】 (n): "fish in season"
(ii) Kaiseki ryōri  会席料理
https://www.sinonomesou.com
("香住蟹1匹付き旬の会席料理 * * * 1泊2食付き")

costs, as of today, from 8,640円 (平日限定)to 17,820円 a person.

Japanese works five days a week. 平日 in Japan means weekday (Monday through Friday).
(iii)
(A) 香住蟹 is the local name for snow crabs that was loaded at 香住漁港 (located at 兵庫県美方郡香美町; 美方郡 is western neighbor of 豊岡市, both of which faces Sea of Japan).
(B) 学名 Chionoecetes opilio, the snow crabs are ズワイガニ (in katakana), ずわい蟹 (in hiragana) or 楚蟹 -- pronounced "zuwa-i gani" ("kani" is Japanese pronunciation for 蟹, whose k is softened to g while in the midst of a compound word).

本田和也, ズワイガニ 漢字で書くと「楚蟹」 それ以外はありません. Kyoto: 本田鮮魚店 (The URL show its pronunciation), Nov 17, 2017
https://hondasengyoten.com/kaniblog/archives/1820
("ズワイガニを漢字で書くと「楚蟹」になります。この「楚」ってのは「木の細い枝」みたいな意味があって、細めの木の枝ぐらいの太さの脚がついてるカニってことなのかな?って思います")
My rough translation: Title: ズワイガニ is written only as 楚蟹 when it comes to kanji. Quotation: This 楚 kinka means a narrow tree branch, referring to the [ten] legs of [snow] crab

Jim Breen's online dictionary has only one definition for kanji 楚: "whip, cane" and one of its Japanese pronunciation is "suwa-e" which is corrupted into "zuwa-i" as a prefix for crab name.

Colloquially 楚蟹 is いばら(pronunciation: ibara; the hiragana is shown in a photo of this NYT review; ibara can be represented by kanji 茨; 荊; 棘)).
(iv) Izumi (兵庫県豊岡市)出石(町) has 出石城
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/出石城
, home of the former 出石藩 (before 明治維新).
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