Okayama, Mermaids, Momotaro, and a Crow Castle (supposed to be brief, but...) (Patreon)

Hey hey 👋 so much to say, but I'll try to keep it brief (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

The Okayama trip was fast and furious. A looong train ride, but what's more relaxing than a trip in a Shinkansen? That gentle hum as it flies along at 300 km/h (185 mph), reclining seats, a window view of the scenery (Nagoya, zoom! Kyoto, zoom! Osaka...) zipping by, the hushed tones of the car because all passengers are snoozing or dreamily dreaming as the gaze out their own windows. I take back what I said about driving. Shinkansen = way to go. Five hours goes by in a whoosh.Until you get to the station, then all bets are off. Bustling crowds just wipe me out. But, that said, the Okayama Station was big, clean, and had all kinds of places to explore. We got in around three, and I was too nervous to be functional, so a bit of shopping, then to the hotel to go over the 20+ pages of questions and answers I needed to have memorized.

The whole shoot came together really quickly. From the time I answered the email until the time I was sitting in the interview chair, less than two weeks. I was supposed to have a week to read the questions, work out the answers, and practice. He promised (waahh!)! It turned out, I had a day and a half. Yeah. Totally unprepared. My moments of panic were REAL. Oh! Funny (related) side story: Every time I practiced an answer here at home, I screwed up. Every. Time. I was really worried I couldn't do this at all. So in a moment of desperation I grabbed my mock up Yokai Oracle Cards -- the ones I printed myself and used while making the deck -- and I shuffled well and pulled a card. I got...

Shirime.

Shirime is an absolutely silly yōkai that has a big eye on its butt. I added it because I think every deck needs an "absurdity" card. Not shown on the card above is the page in the booklet that says basically, don't take yourself so seriously, relax, and laugh.

So that was spot on! And it did help me calm down a tiny bit.

I mean I didn't even know what time I needed to be at the temple (early) until 7pm-ish the day before. The camera crew messaged me. They were champs, wonderful people, every single one of them, a four person, ragtag team of freelancers who LA calls to do these things. I learned Google maps isn't always right, either.

A one hour train ride to Kamogata Station, taxi ride from there. My favorite time in Okayama was chatting with the taxi driver about the Sengoku Jidai (Warring States Era) and how much he loved everything samurai, shogun, daimyo and Sengoku! He had a great Okayama accent (Okayama-ben) that was fun to decipher. We got very animated!

The temple is called Enjuin. Here's some mermaid news. And some more. The taxi driver told me that a couple years ago it was all in the news and the place was packed every day, all day with Japanese and foreign press and tourists.

Here's the head abbott sitting for his interview. This happened the day before I got there and he showed the actual mummified mermaid (monkey fish). They said it was hidden in a secret, fireproof spot. I really wanted to see it irl. But he was gone all day when I was there. 😒

Here's the temple itself.

So I mentioned over on the chat thing, it didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but not as bad as I'd expected. The producer and camera team were very  kind and encouraging. Had I had the week I was supposed to have gotten, it would have gone loads better. But The Unxplained TV show is mostly clips and images all pieced together, so I think they're only going to use a tiny bit of what I said. At least I hope so! Because the way the questions were asked, it was very confusing as some information I had to repeat, while other stuff just came out of nowhere. I can't imagine how they are going to put it together. I really can't. I'm also not used to being on camera so the head cameraman would say, That was great, can you say that last line without grimacing?

Errrgh~. Anyway...

We finished around noon, went back to Okayama Station and had to decide what one or two sightseeing things we could do and still make it back to Shizuoka that day. On the local train ride back, the sound guy said he understood why there weren't any foreigners in Okayama, he didn't think there was much to do there. Maybe, but I don't know. He's a world traveler and lives in Tokyo. My initial feeling was it was a nice place. There were a couple things I really wanted to go to...(and had I more time I'm sure I could find more to do, too.)

1) Kibitsu Jinja. You get there by taking the Momotaro (The Peach Boy) Line. And there's a reason for that. The shrine is dedicated to Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto a prince and Shinto deity who defeated a wicked man/oni named Ura. It's a great story where he chops off his head and buries it under a cauldron, and it's supposedly STILL THERE! Prince Kibitsu's story is believed this is where the story Momotaro came from. Here's more details on the origin of the temple.

Unfortunately, didn't have time to go here.

You'll find Momotaro and his three animal friends (pheasant, monkey, dog) all over the city. This is the statue outside the station. I thought it was brilliant that at the exact time I just happened to walk by early in the morning, the shadow of his hand makes it look like he really is shading his eyes from the sun.

2) Okayama Castle. This is nicknamed the Crow Castle because it's all black.

I'm not a big castle person, though. I mean, I love them and all and the history behind them, but I kind of want them to be old and lived in. I want to feel like I'm in an ancient castle when I go inside. The few I've been to in Japan are set up as museums inside, which is great actually. But I still want to feel like I'm in the living quarters or kitchen of some Daimyo feudal lord.

This one was originally completed in 1597 and then destroyed by bombing in 1945 (😡!!). It was rebuilt in 1966. While it's replicated in all black now, it used to have golden roofs and was called the Golden Crow Castle. Cool.

I think people forget how small Japanese people used to be. I guess everyone was smaller everywhere, but seriously before WWII nutrition just wasn't what it is today. Look at this gorgeous armor...but also the size.

There was a chart in the corner somewhere that said Are you as tall las a daimyo? And basically if you are over five feet tall, you're taller than any feudal lord.

One more castle trivia. I learned this from the taxi driver. He said when I go into the castle grounds to look for the big rocks. He then explained (and I missed details because of his Okayama accent and our excitement) that when the castle was built, ?? had these massive stones brought in from his own province to make the outer wall. No one knows how in the world he had them brought in. It's still a mystery!

Next to it is ...

3) Korakuen Gardens. They're supposed to absolutely stunning and took over 13 years to complete back in the late 1600s. They're one of Japan's three best landscaped gardens.

Here's a photo from their brochure.

Here's what we saw.

Yeah. I laughed, too.

Um. It looked like they'd burned all the grass which I assume is so that it returns more lush and beautiful in the spring? And not warm enough for flowers to be blooming. By this point, though, my leg was hurting, so we just sat at the tea house next to some elderly couples drinking tea and eating sweet mochi cakes and looked at the koi / carp swimming around.

And that my friends is...brief!

I have a February Bedtime Story I'm recording this week and will get that out ASAP.

OH! One more thing. I saw the Dr. yesterday for the first time since I left the hospital and it'll be my last time seeing him. He's far from me in a big/busy hospital, so he said I should find a local dr. and check in with him from now on. The blood clot is mostly gone (Yay!). There is some old parts that are probably never going to dissolve. But he said they are going anywhere, so don't worry about that too much. Leg use might return completely but might not either. There is often irreparable damage that happens when the blood can't move for that long. That said, I am able to walk somewhat and that means everything to me. Taking walks is one of my favorite things, so I was so worried about that. I mean, I still have my Deck Out a Van and Travel Dream. I'll need to walk around then!

I can't do seiza (where you kneel and sit on your legs) which is a bummer, because it's my preferred way to sit meditation. There's still some swelling and all. But I'm elated with where I am in the healing process and will wait patiently to see if it gets better. The one thing that has me a little irked is the dr. really seemed to not want me to be on the anticoagulants for any length of time, like to get me off of them. But this is my second very large blood clot and I do drink water and I try to move around when I'm working on the computer. He mentioned that people who have had cancer at a young age are sometimes prone to them...which is ME. I would feel so much better if I stayed on the medication. So I guess I have to have a heart to heart with the new dr. and hope he understands. And THIS, my friends, is brief.

Two more photos and I'll leave. I promise. Here's my first castle goshuin, not goshuin, it's called gojoin, because it's not a temple or shrine, but a castle. I was happy to get this.

Here's lunch after the shoot. We were starving and ordered this. But then I ended up giving the whole of the katsudon (bottom left) to Richard, who ATE it along with his own meal.

Everyone, please stay safe and well.

Thank you ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ XOXO, t