November 29, 2009

• November 29 - Obi

  

  This entry is about the town of Obi in Miyazaki Prefecture.  You can see Miyazaki on the right side of Kyushu on the above map.  Miyazaki is a bit inaccessible from Fukuoka, and the fastest way between the two cities is to fly over the mountains.  We went to Miyazaki from Kagoshima by train, but flew back to Fukuoka.  It was a bit of a luxury, but Hubby has ALWAYS talked about how much he wanted to go back and visit Obi.  He lived there one year when he was about six years old, but the town made a deep impression on him.  He especially talked about how the elementary school that he attended was inside the Obi Castle grounds, and indeed it was.

  

  We have arrived at Obi Train Station.

  

  Looking back at the tracks from the wicket inside the station, I enjoyed the flowers.

  

  I was amazed at out luck to have happened on these kids performing a lion dance outside of Obi Station!  Five minutes before or after and we would have missed it.  The performance seemed to have some connection with a local shrine activity.

  

  

  It is good luck if a lion chews on your head.

  

  Girls in shrine attire

  

  

  Obi is a town that is cradled in the crook of a river.  We are now crossing a bridge into the main part of town.

  

  Notice the persimmons hanging out to dry in the window on the left.

  

  Now here is an interesting planter...

  

  Main St. Obi

  The buildings are all uniformly historical in style.

  

  Happy to be here again!!

  

  See?  Even the convenience store has historically correct roof tiles.

  

  Hubby is trying to find the site of the house where he lived in Obi.  This place is just off of Main Street.  Hub's mom said that they lived next door to the site of the home of Jutaro Komura, a famous government official of old.  She also said that the place where they lived was off a big street.  This is the original site of the house which was moved to a different place in 1912, which confuses our search somewhat.  This site seems to be a better match with the map in Hubby's head, but we are still not sure which place he lived in.  At any rate, the original house would have been over 50 years old and is probably gone.

  

  A pillar commemorating the birthplace of Jyutaro Komura.

  

  This house is right next door to the site of Komura's birthplace, but Hubby doesn't have any recollection of it.  He couldn't have lived here, either, because it was the home of Yamamoto Ihei, a local merchant.  It has been preserved for historical purposes.

  

  Let's have a look inside.

  

  These tiles were probably imported from Southeast Asia or Indonesia many years ago.

  

  More tiles in the entryway of the house.  Shoes off to enter, please.

  

  

  

  The kitchen

  

  The bathing area.  Please wash off on the platform and then have a nice soak in the tub that is heated from below by a wood fire.

   

  Jyutaro Komuro's birthplace in the context of the surrounding buildings.  There is a small shrine on the corner outside the picture to the right, but neither Hubby nor MIL have any memories of it.  Shrines are pretty stubborn things locationwise, and if it was there I expect that they would remember it.

   

  This house above was directly across the street from Komura's birthplace.  Hubby says that he remembers that the entrance to the house involved a small inclined bridge over a wide gutter, but he doesn't have any memories of this particular house.  MIL, how do you define "next to?"

  

  Let's continue up the street for some more exploring.  Obi is indeed a beautiful town full of castle walls.

  

  

  

  Time for lunch.  The food below was consumed in the restaurant above.

    

  

  a local cat

  

  The next destination is the building where Hubby's dad worked, the Kagoshima Bank, Obi Branch.  Grandpa was the head of the office.

  

  The bank building is still there, although it is now being used as a public meeting hall.

  

  "Kagoshima Bank Memorial Hall, Toriishita Public Hall"

  

  Next to the bank building is a church that Hubby used to hang around.  He said that the location was the same, but that the building was not.  They must have replaced the old building, which is standard practice in Japan.  Rather than selling the old building and the land, the land is kept while the building is replaced.

  

  The church, one house between and the bank building

  

  There is also a kindergarten on the church grounds.

  

  Hubby thinks he may have climbed up this incline when he played here.

  

  He said that he remembers when the moved this parsonage building to its present location by using big rollers.

  

  

  This is what the inside of the former bank building looks like now.

  

  There are a couple of rooms in the back, a kitchen and meeting room/dining area.

   

   

  This is an old samurai house.

  

  

  Got that?  Let's go in for a look.

  

  

   

  

  

  

  This was the entrance of a dining establishment.  Shoes off at the door here, too.  I liked the persimmon/flower arrangement at the door.

  

  

  Now the plot thickens as we find the house of Jyutaro Komura that was moved to this location near Obi Castle in 1912.  So where did Hubby live, here or the place that we looked at before?  We are not sure.  Hubby even called the Kagoshima Bank to see if he could get any answers, but I don't think we will ever arrive at a final conclusion as to where he lived.

  

  

  Here is the house to the left of the Komura house on the corner.  The street to the left leads to Obi Castle and Obi Elementary School.

  

  This is to the right of Komuro's house, and another possible location.  There is a sloping entrance that bridges a gutter.  Sometimes things are not as big as we remember them.

  

  Now let's visit Obi Castle.

  

  

  

  

  Wow, being here again is a dream come true for Hubby.

  

  

  Inside the castle wall.

  

  Here is Obi Elementary School, above right and below left.  The old buildings have been replaced.

  

  

  If I turn around 180 degrees from the spot where I took pictures of the school, I see castle walls.  What a fantastic historical environment for a school!  It's just like Hubby said, a school in a castle!

  

  Now let's take a look at the inside of the Castle Lord's home.

  

  This is a room where the Lord would meet with people.  See the tasseled doors on the side wall?

  

  If you tried anything funny, there were samurai behind those doors who would make a hasty appearance if necessary.

  

  Some other rooms - the hole in the floor is for a coals used under a tea ceremony kettle.

  

  

  This was something that we had not seen before.  This Castle Lord had his very own sauna.

  

  The manor also included a small museum.  Behold some samurai armor.

  

  This was another place that Jyutaro Komura lived.  This fellow really got around.

  

  

  Here are a couple of pictures of a local merchant's home that we passed on our way back to the train station.  Gotta get back to Miyazaki to catch that bus to the airport!

  

  • 07:57
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