#hirado

[stuckonpageone]

View from Hirado Castle. Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture ~ 2018

From my photos of when I lived in Japan.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#FrogFriday:

Frog on Toadstool

Japan, mid-19th c.

Hirado ware; porcelain with blue & brown glazes

1 9/16 x 1 7/16 x 1 in. (3.9 x 3.7 x 2.6 cm)

LACMA M.87.263.60

[harurio]

izuka kenta as hirado azuma in call boy, 2018.

[frimleyblogger]

Silent Pool Rare Citrus Gin

A #gin that showcases some unusual citrons from @SilentPoolGin #GinReview

Although I am more a fan of traditional London Dry, juniper forward gins than of contemporary style gins, the team at Silent Pool Distillers from Albury near Guildford do make a tasty spirit. I had tried and reviewed their signature gin many moons ago and I was intrigued to see what their Rare Citrus Gin, which Santa had very kindly given me, was like. One of the striking things about Silent…

[thekimonogallery]

Water Dropper for Calligraphy in the Form of a Rat, Hirado Mikawachi ware, second half of 19th century, Japan

[reviews-sky]

New book review!

The Archer of Hirado by Rob Ruggenberg (De boogschutter van Hirado)

Link

[japaneseaesthetics]

Chestnut Ornament, Hirado Mikawachi ware, 19th century, Japan

[guttykreum]

舂: Hirado, Nagasaki.

[petitagite]

Weight (noshi-osae) in the Form of a Plum Branch

Japan, first half 19th century

Ceramics

Hirado Mikawachi ware; porcelain with transparent glaze

via lacma

[delicatuscii-wasbella102]

Early 1600's Genroku Edo Japanese Arita Hirado Sake Pot

[stuckonpageone]

Day whatever of sharing photos I took while living abroad.

This was in 2018 or early 2019, I'm not entirely sure. I lived in Sasebo for the first 6 months I was in Japan, and while it had lots of nearby nature that was nice, the city itself was a little small for my liking. Also it felt very segregated because of the Navy base there. Everyone just assumed I was also a part of the base and so strangers kind of kept their distance a bit. Not to be mean or rude. I just felt a natural hesitancy. That being said I met my first local friend here. He owned a Hanko shop, which is the most important stamp you'll ever have in your life if you live in Japan. You need it to sign up with a bank, at least at a bank at a smaller town like Sasebo. Yuji did me a solid and made me one in an hour. I still have it.

Hirado is a cute little town on an island of the same name, accessible from Sasesbo by train; the station of which is pictured here. As you can also see, there isn't exactly a taxi stand. But this cute orange taxi reminded me of the red taxis in Hong Kong, so I had to take a picture.

It's just a reminder that modern Japan is more than just Tokyo or Kyoto. Things work a lot more slowly and on a much smaller scale in the outer reaches of the country, but that doesn't mean they aren't worth a visit. Hirado is a gorgeous little town with excellent ice cream, a well preserved castle, a rich local history and a quaint little downtown. I highly recommend it if you're in Kyushu.

[zeroz2ro]

Rákay Kálmán az arany Mercijével behajtott Kötcsére, majd:

"Most veszem észre hogy itt van a 444 kollegája, itt áll velem szemben. Én akarom megkérdezni, hogy van magának pofája idejönni egyáltalán? Az, amit Gábor Lászlóval az origo főszerkesztőjével szemben maguk megengedtek, azok után magának nem volna szabad eljönni. Egyáltalán nem is értem, hogy nem szégyellik magukat ott a 444 szerkesztőségében. Az az undorító, lejárató, ocsmány cikk amit írtak, én vagyok hajlandó még a szabad ég alatt sem egy levegőt szívni magával innentől kezdve. Maguk mosolyoghatnak, de egyetlen itt álló újságíró nem határolódott el ettől a cikktől ami undorító, ami body shaming, annak minősíthetetlen esete. Valós-e hogy valakit a kinézete, az öltözéke a testalkata alapján megszégyenítsenek." https://rtl.hu/hirado/2023/09/09/rakay-philip-kotcsei-piknik-arany-mercedesz

[laikaflash]

Some thoughts on Shugen and Anju

I'm thinking yet again about what Sakan tells Setsuka near the end of her Soul Chronicle before she sets off. "You are like a granddaughter to me... No, more like a daughter."

It's a slip of the tongue, and I think it shows just how close Shugen and Anju were. While Anju is only directly mentioned once in this story, everything else about her is in SC6's library. Like Setsuka, she was of mixed Japanese and Portuguese ancestry. She was orphaned by a clash between Portuguese and Japanese fighters in 1561 in Hirado*. Sakan Inobe, a defector from the Kokonoe clan, took her in and raised her as his own daughter. She later met Shugen when he was still the demon assassin for the Kokonoe clan.

Also, Sakan used to be Gekkyusai Kokonoe, head of the the Hidden Kokonoe, the faction of the clan responsible for training its assassins.

I'm just gonna leave this part here:

Most did not even dare to speak his name, but Anju, who was a firm believer in the Christian faith and had faced prejudice herself, reached out to him. After meeting Anju, Shugen slowly began to understand the inner workings of the human heart, and the relationship between them grew into something more special.

Anju looked at that killer bishie and was like "I can change him". And it worked. No joke: I love that for the both of them.

Now bear with me. This an easy bit of context to miss, but consider that the Kokonoe clan had ties to Sumitada Ōmura, the first daimyō to convert to Christianity. Part of Shugen's backstory has him cutting down a whole team of assassins sent for Ōmura in 1572. I'm under the impression that it's all for pragmatic reasons, but I digress.

Immediately after the above quote is this:

One cold day after cherry blossoms fell from their branches, snow blanketed spring's flowers in winter frost. Amid this magical white landscape, Anju and Shugen shared two oaths with each other. In that quiet moment, the Demon of Hi Province swore to live on as a human.

Cherry trees tend to start blooming in late March, and it was a snowy March day when Shugen found Setsuka... I'm reminded of the poem Shugen quotes in that moment: "Cherry trees blossom upon Mount Yoshino. Unwittingly we thought them snowflakes."

Cherry blossoms are also symbolic of the transience of life, which brings me to Anju's death. The only hint as to when it happened is in Shugen's "Kokonoe" bio, which states that he left his clan "less than half a year" after thwarting Ōmura's enemies in 1572. The cause of her death isn't specified either, but in any case, it's implied to be what ultimately pushes Shugen to abandon his clan. (Though I'd think if the Kokonoe had a hand in Anju's death, they would've found Shugen sooner.)

Sakan himself later left for Ōmi Province, miles east from Kyushu. Between all this, I like to think he was well aware of Anju and Shugen's relationship. Close enough to see him as a potential son-in-law, hence the "like a granddaughter to me" line. While my headcanon is that Shugen saw Setsuka as his apprentice first, I think he also saw her as the daughter he could've had with Anju. And he never mentioned her to Setsuka like his life depended on it.

*I think this is an allusion to the Miyanomae incident, a fight which broke out that year between Portuguese and Japanese cloth merchants. Things escalated when samurai intervened, then the Portuguese took to arms, ending in 15 of the latter dead. After that, the Portuguese took their business to Nagasaki.

I'm trying not to jump around too much for this month's community prompt but Shugen's backstory has that effect on me.

[pajjorimre]

1 perc és leszopjuk Orbán Viktort. #hirado

Tibit kell előbb lerugdosni róla, nem adja könnyen

[dorka]

Minden hirado legszebb álma valora valik, semmi politika,

Csak

>>>A hurrikan kozepen foldrenges volt<<<

!!!