Onbashira

The Resilience of Japan’s Most Dangerous Festival

By Chris Gladden. Assistant Researchers: Seira Gado, Airi Ito, and Chiharu Ohnishi.

The long-awaited moment has arrived. Hundreds of people in festival attire strain against two arm-thick ropes absorbed in the ancient task of hauling the Great Pillar of the Onbashira Festival. At last, they arrive at the infamous stretch of mountainside, which is treacherous and as steep as a ski jump. One heave at a time, they bring the pillar forward until it protrudes over the edge, ready for the plunge. Those chosen to accompany the falling log sit on top and brace themselves. In the valley below, thousands of spectators roar in anticipation. The traditional festival song swells all around, its message offering words of encouragement—and caution. Amid a final frenzy of chants and pulling, the pillar lurches ahead, drops, and begins its raging descent.

Nagano Nostalgia

By Peter Grilli

One of the first Japanese novels I read in my youthful forays into modern Japanese literature was Hakai, written in 1905 by Shimazaki Tōson and later published in English as The Broken Commandment. It must have been around 1961 or 1962 when I read this masterful novel at the age of 19 or 20. As I struggled to read the Japanese prose, dictionary in hand, I remember feeling swept away by the power and drama of the plot and the beauty of Tōson’s descriptions of the deep valleys and rocky plateaus of the Kiso Mountains of southern Nagano Prefecture. I’d gone several times to Karuizawa in Nagano, but Kiso was unfamiliar to me. Tōson, who was born in the town of Magome on the Nakasendo Road, wrote compelling, intimate, and magnetic descriptions of Kiso’s scenery.

Yumiko's Home Cooking YAKISOBA

JAPANESE STIR FIRED NOODLES

Yakisoba (焼きそば) is the Japanese version of stir-fried noodles. Th e noodles are stir fried with sliced pork and plenty of vegetables and then coated with a sweet and mildly spicy sauce that distinguishes it from other Asian stir-fried noodles.