Written in Stone
Comments: 4
Film from the recent trip to Shikine is starting to come back. Most of it was used photographing the carvings around Jinata onsen (hot spring), with which I seem to have become quite obsessed. These carvings are portraits of people, many of whom don’t exist anymore.
Some people have gone to a lot of trouble to leave their mark. The character above is a metre tall, and although it’s a beautiful example, it’s not the most elaborately carved.
The graphological interest is heightened when you pay attention to how the various seams of rock have made people’s jobs easier or more difficult. And the carvings are all weathering in slightly different ways depending on how they’ve been made and where they are in the ravine.
Some of the work is so old that it’s almost weathered away to nothing. There’s a real poignancy when trying to make out a message carved in rock that’s almost gone. You get a long time with rock, but not forever. The words fade away to rejoin their writers.
Many of the carvings — including some very accomplished ones that must have taken ages to do — are in locations which are surprisingly difficult to get to. I had to do some serious climbing and could often operate the camera with only one hand while the other clung on for dear life.
Above is a view down to the onsen itself from the eastern wall of the ravine. In the very bottom left corner you can see people bathing. The water is extremely hot here, so you have to wait until high tide when the sea comes up enough to mix with the spring water. The spring rises further up the ravine. Follow the railings from the baths back towards the right of the picture and you can make out the path leading back up to the top. The spring water flows down through a cut along this path to mix with seawater at the ocean’s edge.
Jinata, if I can steal a line from Benjamin Franklin, is proof that the gods exist and want us to be happy.
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Posted to Photographs • 2003.09.12 (Fri) • 16:39
Comments
Posted by Dave 2003.09.12, 16:56
I love the pictures that you post Jeremy, especially since I know very little about Japanese culture. It really gives me good insight.
Currently, my friend Karen is doing a foreign exchange program in Motoyama. Almost everyday I get new emails from her explaining some new oddity in Japan.
One of the things that sounded particulary intriguing was how the Japanese bathe - in an onsen.
Do you have any pictures of onsens? What are the customs like regarding bathing?
Posted by Adam 2003.09.12, 22:26
Textured with mystery, that opens the eyes.
Posted by Blake 2003.09.13, 11:00
There is something quite beautiful about Japanese symbols. I don’t know if it is the flowing lines, the abrupt bolds and curves, or what. But always draws my attention.
Posted by pixelkitty 2003.09.13, 12:48
these are beautiful and express the poigancy you mention in the post.
cant wait to visit japan. we are hoping to do so end of next year - fingers crossed!
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