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There was a bit of a gap between Part 6 & Part 7. Pete and I traveled to Michigan for a family birthday party. It was his brother Joey’s 60th birthday on 24 June, and his mom’s 90th will be on 25 July, but since it is so hot in Michigan in late July, it was decided that her 90th would be the focus of this party, one month early. It was a great family get together, and Terry and Joey went all out to create a great party. As you can see from this photo, it was quite a gathering of the clan, and not everyone is here, as some had to leave early because of their long drives home.

You’d never know that this young lady, helping Terry out by expertly arranging fresh fruit on a platter, is only 90 years young.

Now back to my Japan travelogue. It is still day 6 (12 April 2018) and we are exploring the winding streets of Takayama, which were mostly cobble stones. This was a Thursday, and there was very little activity.

This is a “Lucky Cat”, sitting outside a store like a sentinel with its paw up, beckoning customers and inviting good fortune. It is modeled after the calico Japanese bobtail cat, and it is called maneki-neko, which means “beckoning hand.” You see them literally everywhere you go in Japan. Strange though this may seem, I’ve always wanted one of these cats with its waving hand. Well, as fortune would have it, my grandson visited us for 6 days at the beginning of June, a little over a month after we returned from Japan, and I couldn’t believe it when he presented me with a gift of one of these Lucky Cats. They come in various colors, but he gave me the white one, which “summons purity and happiness”. They also come with various accessories. This one has a carp, which symbolizes “abundance, courage, and strength”. Mine came holding a coin, the valuable koban coin from Japan’s Edo period. A Lucky Cat clutching a coin invites wealth and material abundance. My Lucky Cat is also wearing a bib. Statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo Bosatsu are often found guarding Japanese holy sites like shrines and graveyards. When a child would recover from an illness, tradition dictated that the parents visit a Jizo statue and place a bib around its neck to show gratitude for the child’s recovery. A Lucky Cat with a bib is also considered to ward off poor health. My Lucky Cat also wears a collar with a bell. In seventeenth century Japan, having a cat was considered a sign of wealth, as cats were very expensive. Affluent women would affectionately adorn their kitties with a collar dyed with hichirimen, a vibrant red flower. Bells were used by prosperous owners to keep track of their cats. When a cat was out of sight, the owner could follow the faint sound of bells to retrieve her feline friend. My Lucky Cat is small, but powerful. ;o)

Thank you Grandson, for a great gift.

On this bridge over the river there were some strange bronze statues. This one had extremely long arms. The one in the earlier photo (above) had very long legs and a pot belly like this one.

The river was banked with beautiful cherry trees in full bloom, and there were romantic foot baths along its banks, with stone benches on which one could rest their weary bones.

Takayama, with it’s thatched roofed buildings was quaint and truly authentic Japanese. We thoroughly enjoyed our stroll around after our delicious lunch.

Of course we have to take a selfie to record our presence here.

The flying carp kites on the poll are for Children’s Day (originally Boys’ Festival) which is on May 5th. In Japanese culture, the carp symbolizes courage and strength because of its ability to swim up a waterfall. The Boys’s Festival is an event, expressing hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong like wild carps. During this festival families would fly Koinobori, huge carp-shaped windsocks, outside their house, one for each member of the family.

I suppose it is the wrong time of year for planting rice, because most of the fields we saw were barren with just old rice stalks sticking up our of the mud.

It was fairly cold here in Takayama, and when I saw this koi pond I shivered as I saw them slowly swimming about in search of something to eat. I know fish are cold blooded, but that didn’t help my shivering. I still felt sorry for them.

The thatched roofs were very thick and I suspect this helps insulate them from both heat and cold. Daffodils were in full bloom and they really brightened the landscape.

The beams and rafters inside the buildings were held together by rope alone. I didn’t see a single iron bolt or nail.

The floor on the upper level of this building was polished to a shine, and immaculately clean. That was one of the things both Pete and I noticed in our travels throughout Japan, how very clean everything was. No graffiti or trash to be seen anywhere. Very impressive, and indicative of a respectful and proud people.

I wasn’t sure what these stone monuments were about, but they looked ancient. They were treated as some sort of shrine, with offerings of flowers in pots sitting in front of them.

I’m probably disrespecting this small shrine by leaning on it, but I really needed a place to hold me up after all this walking. I hope nobody minded an old man in need of a little support.

Back at the hotel we show up in the lobby with our carry-on, because after lunch we will be boarding the motor coach to transfer to the scenic town of Kanazawa. Lunch was traditional Japanese, with an abundance of small dishes. Lord I’d hate to be the dish washer in a Japanese restaurant.

Rose and Rob shared our table with us, and we enjoyed their company very much. Everyone in the group was interesting and engaging, and the comradery made this tour a genuinely rewarding experience.

This pretty much concludes our visit to Takayama, and it was well worth the time we spent there. The rest of the afternoon is ours to explore as we wish. Next up, in Part 8, we will be exploring the Samurai district in the scenic town of Kanazawa.