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Thank the mountain before you play
Mr. Kaizawa kneels blowing on his freshly made flute 99.10.10/ Temperature: 10C/ Weather: Partly Cloudy/Wind Direction: NE
Current Location : Nibutani, Biratori/Latitude: 42 37 42N/Longitude: 142 08 55 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (rest day)Spending the entire morning in the forest with Mr. KAIZAWA Kaoru, I learned a great deal about the importance of playing in nature in Ainu culture. In front of a small mountain stream, which empties out into the olive green of the Saru River, we started the morning with a little ceremony.
"Please allow us to play a little bit here in the mountains," said Mr. KAIZAWA Kaoru stopping at edge of the forest and pulling the lid off the top of a small cup of sake (Japanese rice wine). "Here is some for the mountain spirits." he said while spreading half of the sake over high grass. "I offer half of the sake to the mountain spirits and drink the other half is for myself. This is a ceremony that I always do when I come to the mountain, whether it is to collect edible plants, to cut down a tree, or to cut grasses."
We walked up the small valley and Mr. Kaizawa stopped again at the small stream coming from the mountain. "Here we do the same ritual for the water spirit," he said dripping sake into the clear water.
Once we had requested permission to play in the mountains, we began to do just that, play. Swinging his hatchet swiftly, the ping of the blade sliced through a willow branch in one stroke. Mr. Kaizawa had made himself a walking stick. Mr. Kaizawa's scanned the forest-scape for the proper plants to play. Another few pings of the hatchet and Mr. Kaizawa had made a flute from the chute of itadori. A few more pings and pulls and he had created a swing out of a dangling vine. To test it out I swung through the branches 2.5 meters above the ground, holding on for dear life. The fun didn't stop there.
Mr. Kaizawa pours ceremonial sake over tall grasses asking for permission to play in the mountains. Next, Mr. Kaizawa had made a stick and loop contraption that kids used to use. Tossing the loop up into the air, kids would catch the loop with the crotch of a long stick. In another game my balance and strength were then tested by trying to pass my body under a stick (while holding it) placed diagonally in the ground.
Kneeling down by the small murky stream, Mr. Kaizawa picked up a small rock. "I used to look for crawfish like this when I was little," he said nostalgically. "Everything up until you catch it is a game. After you catch it, it becomes a snack. We then tell kids to put the rock back where it came >from because it is the home of waterbugs and crawfish. This is the type of thing that I have been taught from long ago." Playing in nature is liberating. "Once you blend in with nature, time just slips past," Mr. Kaizawa added. Though all of this is second nature to Mr. Kaizawa, I was impressed by the variety of ways to enjoy playing in nature and even more so by his respect for it.
"Ainu culture cannot be spoken about without bringing up playing in and living of the riches of nature," he said proudly. "Unfortunately, most kids today aren't getting this passed on to them. In this civilized society kids have fewer chances to experience nature."
Respecting nature and playing in nature are two important aspects of Mr. Kaizawa's description of Ainu culture. "These are key to raising children in Ainu culture," he said. These ideas may be important for all us.
Where and what kind of games do all of you play? What do you learn from them?
Greg
PS. There is far too much to tell you about my encounter with Mr. Kaizawa so you'll hear more tomorrow.
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