Are we descendants of the Jewish people?

I think so. Below are some interesting videos that have been shown on TV.

There is evidence that has indicated that the Japanese do belong to the tribe of Ephraim as proven by a DNA search.

Revelation 7:1~2
"After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the east of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: " 

Three biggest Tohoku's festivals

Sendai Tanabata Festival is held in August from the 6th to 8th at Sendai city in Miyagi prefecture. Many large and small colourful decorations are displayed throughout the arcade lined streets.

Aomori Nebuta Festival is also held in August from the 2nd to 7th every year at Aomori city in Aomori prefecture.

And Akita Kanto Festival is also held in August from the 3rd to 6th at Akita city in Akita prefecture.

The drum which tells a time and Tatebe Seian

There are two valuable things in Ichinoseki in spite of a small territory.
 
They are the drum which tells the time, and a person who was called Tatebe Seian.

Tatebe Seian was a doctor of Ichinoseki-han(1712~1782).

The Tatebe family's successors inherited the name of Seian until five generation. It was Seian of the second generation that appears here.

He was not only excellent as a doctor, but wrote the relief book of famine called "Minkan Bikōroku" and "Bikōkusakizu".

Then he saved the people who suffered from the famine.

And as it was in the above mentioned sentence, the drum which was used for the time signal in Ichinoseki was an excellent piece of boast of people of Ichinoseki.

As for the drum, four of them were made from one zelkova tree. Shōun Temple's drum is the third one but it is not famous than the Chōshō Temple's.

The drum at the time of the second generation is exhibited to the Shinkansen Ichinoseki Station concourse.

Hina-matsuri at Geibikei

 
In Japan, we have the Doll Festival which is called Hina-matsuri (Momono Sekku) on March 3. This is also the Girl's Festival which prays for women healthy growth. The origin of the festival is Chinese Shangsi(上巳) Festival. Then, it became the current style at later period in Japan.

And here at Geibikei, we are displaying a tiered-stand-for-dolls decoration until the day.

                                          Handmade Accessories

                                                


We are going to treat the visitors to Amazake made from fermented rice on the day of the Girl's Festival this year.

Main Festivals of Iwate on Spring

○Hidaka Hibuse Festival (日高火防祭)

The festival of fire prevention prayer which is about 300 yeas of history is held in Ōshū-shi on April 28 and 29 every year.

The musical accompaniment used for a festival has been specified as the Important Intangible Cultural Heritage of Iwate Prefecture as "Musical Accompaniment On The Float(Yatai Bayashi)" of a fire prevention festival.

○Fujiwara Festival on Spring (春の藤原まつり）

The festival which is the prayer for the dead of four generation of Fujiwara Clan is held between 1st and 5th of May every year.  

Moreover, announcing "Ennen Dance" of an important intangible cultural heritage, and " The procession of going-down to the east of Minamotono Yoshitsune" and "Benkei's Strong Muscle Man Athletic Meet" are opened.

  

○Chagu-chagu Horse (チャグチャグ馬コ）

This is a traditional event in which about 100 horses which dressed up gorgeous clothes have about 200 years of history which marches with sounds of the bells such as "chagu-chagu" from the Onikoshi Shōzen shrine in Takizawa-mura to Morioka Hachiman shurine.

Moreover, this festival has been chosen as the one of "The 100th of The Scenery of Sound to Leave in Japan" at the Ministry of Environment.

Tsuriyama Park

When spring comes, Tsuriyama Park is covered by cherry blossoms.


In my childhood, my family and I used to go there, take the special lunch boxes and enjoy the view. Although it was beautiful view of the cherry blossoms in the daytime, the night view of  flowers in which the lanterns were lighted was also exceptionally beautiful.

Tsuriyama which is 90 metres above sea level is located in the east end of the mountain range which met the Iwai river which makes Mt Kurikoma the original flow. The top of the mountain is an open space called *"Senjōjiki" which can command a whole view of a city area.

The Tsuriyama Park which it takes about 10 minutes on foot from JR Ichinoseki station has a little history. It is reported that the park is the remains of  a castle barrier, and there are the circumstances to which excavation work  was advanced once.


It's just a pity for drivers because there are not much parking spaces around.

The people who are related to the history of Tsuriyama; Sakanoue no Tamuramaro(坂上田村麻呂）, Abe no Sdato(阿部貞任）, Date Munekatsu(伊達宗勝）, Tamura Tatsuakira(田村建顕）

 

*Senjōjiki means the land space of 1000 tatami mats.

Iwate's Food Culture (2)

Mochi Bunka (Rice Cake Culture)

In Japan, we have the customs of eating rice cake for most of seasonal events and the congratulations or condolence. And speaking of Japanese New Year's dishes, it could be called Osechi and Mochi dishes(ryōri).


It seems that mochi ryōri was a main dish more than osechi ryōri since old times to New Year's dishes especially in the Ichinoseki district.


Ichinoseki is known for Japan as an area with the most abundant kinds of mochi dishes. The numbers are said to be about from 200 to 300 sorts. And the custom of eating rice cake in this district in the annual events reaches also more than 60 days a year. That such rice cake culture started going back till the Edo period.
 
Especially, “Mochi Honzen” is a rice cake dish peculiar to this district. It imitates the Japanese honzen cuisine form by rice cake.

There are Anko mochi(rice cake with red bean paste) and different types of mochi, Zōni, pickles and grated Japanese radish on the meal tray. And There are regular manners in the way of eating.

The old days, the southern Iwate around this area was the territory of the Date han. At the farmhouses, they have the custom to pray for peace and good health and took rest the 1^st and 15^th every month. At that time, it is said that the people offered a rice cake to God by the order of the feudal lord.

Above picture is the rice cake dish which I had at my house on New Year's day.

By the way, although some people are believing in public, it is not true all people of Ichinoseki have a machine of pounding mochi at each home.

If you would like to try the mochi cuisine, you should stop by one of the restaurants in Ichinoseki after Geibikei's boat trip. And the lists are below:
 
蔵元レストラン せきのいち (Kuramoto Restaurant Sekinoichi)
Address: 5-42 Tamura-cho, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0885
       Tel: 0191-21-1144 


三彩館 ふじせい (Sansaikan Fujisei)
Address: 3-53 Otsukigai, Ichinoseki, Iwate 021-0882
       Tel: 0191-23-4536 / Fax: 0191-23-4537
   E-mail: 11010@d2.dion.ne.jp


カフェ・モンテ (Cafe Monter)
Address: 2F Higashi Koryu Centre
             2-5 Yanagimachi, Ichinoseki, Iwate
Tel/Fax : 0191-26-7300