8:13am 特急電車天気：暑い
On the train to Tanbabashi (limited express). Woke up at 6:50, got out by 7:30, but had to wait till 7:52 for the bus to Hirakata station. I'm with Joanna and Dustin at the moment.
8:48am 丹波橋
It's not a cow!!! Kelly just pointed out that the kanji on my shirt isn't cow (牛) it's the sign of the horse (午). It can't believe I didn't realise that. So yeah, it reads 美午 (bigo - beautiful horse). But yeah you have to admit, they are very similar kanji. We're now on the train and should be getting to Asuka in about an hour.
9:55am 橿原神宮前駅
We're in kashiharajingumae station now, and will be transfering to another train shortly...
10:22pm セミナーハウスWow!!! Today, was incredible. It was so much fun riding around on bikes, and seeing some amazing historical sites. Asuka is such a rich area for archaeological discoveries, and as I was to find, some very significant characters in Japanese history were based in this area. Getting off the train, we were so far out of the built up city area. Because of building restrictions, Asuka has remained largely undeveloped, and thus its historical sites have been left relatively pristine. As both Dustin and I had no money left (I had to borrow money from Joanna) we immediately went in search for an ATM machine. Unfortunately, like the one we had tried in Tanbabashi station, it would not except our cards. So, unperturbed, we went to the bike hire place to meet with the others.
We were soon on our way. There was 27 of us, including the professor, and it would have been quite a sight to see. Many Japanese were very friendly along the way, and we exchanged greetings. The first site we stopped at was the supposed tomb of 欽明天皇 (Emperor Kinmei) the 29th emperor of Japan. I say "supposed" because as I was to find out, a lot of the time the person who was actually buried at a sight is not 100% confirmed, so it's the Imperial Household Agency's job to decide who was buried where. And they get the final say, whether the facts are scientifically sound or not! Anyway, his 古墳 (kofun - tomb) was typical of the time having a large keyhole-shaped mound (前方後円墳 - zempokoenfun). This style is unique to ancient Japan and was prominent between the 3rd and 6th centuries, before the act of cremation was employed through the influence of Buddhist teachings. The strange thing is, you can't really appreciate the shape of the mound unless you view it from the air. So the question is, why did the ancient Japanese people build the mounds this shape; maybe the gods could appreciate them? 
A short walk from the tomb was the supposed burial site of a princess I can't remember the name of; it was a lot to take in. I tried to find a photo of the information that I took, but for some strange reason, photos that I took at the start of the day were erased. This happened to Joanna too!!! So weird. Anyway yeah, present at the site were 猿石 (saruishi - Monkey stones). There were four, one of which was clearly male, xD. The professor told us that it could only be speculated what they were used for; they were very ancient. Popular belief held that they were signs of fertility, and if a woman was having trouble having a baby she would stroke the statue, in some fashion or another, to aid in fertility, lol.
So after that, we got back onto our bikes and sped up the hill to the site of the 鬼の俎 (oni no manaita - demon's cutting board) and 鬼の雪隠 (oni no secchin - Demon's toilet). The Folklore tells of demons that lived on the mountain, and on misty nights they would snatch passing people off the road and chop them up and eat them on a boulder up top, before relieving themselves on another boulder a bit further down; very colourful tale indeed. In fact, the boulders are supposed to be part of a tomb building project that was never completed. An unnamed family who wanted to be seen as powerful was trying to find a loophole in the restrictions surrounding tomb dimensions by using a boulder. For some reason or another it was never completed. The boulder higher on the mountain had chips in it, and the professor explained, that in the latter centuries, when castles were being built, people had to bring stones from all over to aid in construction. They weren't able to break this one, so it stays as a monument.
11:18pm セミナーハウス
Yay, Deigo just recovered my photos. He's such a computer whiz. Anyway back to today...
We got back on our bikes once more and travelled to the 亀石 (kameishi - turtle stone). It's so cool, it's been curved into the shape of a turtle. Well, it's not complete; the project was never finished. One belief surrounding the stone is that, when the turtle faces due west the whole of Japan will sink under water. This is derived from the fact that in the ancient times it was though that Earth rested upon the back of a giant sea creature, swimming through the cosmos. The farmland was beautiful and throughout the day we saw huge fields of rice, and those beautiful red flowers, I think I've mentioned before. I found out that they are called 彼岸花 (higanbana - red spider lily). There was also a white variety.
We headed further along the paths, across streets, through houses, until we reached the site of 川原寺 (Kawahara temple). Only the foundation stones remained and in fact, many were replicas made of fibre glass. Weird hey; replicating ruin. But I guess it gives us a good idea of the size; and it's way cheaper than rebuilding the whole thing. The Professor talked about the names of Asuka. At present, it actually has two different sets of kanji that represent it. 飛鳥 ("flying bird") and 明日香 ("tomorrow's fragrance"); and indeed I saw both sets being interchangeably. There's even a third set derived from the Korean name 安直 (which means peaceful abode, but can be read in Japanese as cheap). That was very interesting to learn.
It was very hot today, so after Kawahara temple, we rode to a park for lunch. The ride there was awesome; through a beautiful forest. In the park there was what seemed to be some sort of play going on; however we stopped further up. I had my packed lunch so I was happy. Soon after eating, Joanna and I went exploring; not very far. We went to the site that we would be visiting next, which was just across the road. It was funny, because we walked right in without paying for a ticket; it was okay though, because we were payed for later as a group. When we realised though we still felt bad. Anyway we got to take a few pictures before the rest of class came and it got really crowded. This was the 石舞台 (ishibudai - lit. stone dancing platform), which could be the burial place of Soga no Umako, a very powerful figure in the 7th century. The structure itself was amazing; huge stones that were moved on sleds forming a tomb. We could all fit in there at once, so you can imagine how large it is.
We continued on to 板葺の宮 (itabuki no miya - lit. Shingled roof palace). I was in the second half of the group, and we ended up falling behind a bit and getting lost. We quickly found our way though, after ringing the professor. Again, just the foundations of the palace remained. In actual fact what we saw was entirely replicated. The original stones have been covered with earth and lie beneath. Well, I guess that's one way of preserving them. The professor retold the story (that we had heard in history) of the meeting of Prince Naka no Oe and Nakatomi no Kamatari (I love old Japanese names, they're so long). Apparently, at a football game (that was being played in a field right near us) Prince Naka lost his shoe. Showing his loyalty, Nakatomo no Kamatari rushed out from the crowd, recovered the shoe, and presented it to the Prince. As their eyes met, they immediately were of the same mindset, and conspired to bring down the Soga clan (Umako's line). At this point there was already much opposition towards the clan, but through their acts it was brought down. Right in front of the reigning Empress (Kogyoku), Soga no Iruka was badly wounded by the Prince. They rushed to plead their cases to the Empress but she left the room in great distress. Iruka was then killed. The day after, realising that the opposition against the Soga clan was too great, Soga no Emishi, Iruka's father, committed suicide, burning the fort and with it documents containing history of Japan. Some pages were recovered, but it was almost completely destroyed. And that was the end of the Soga clan!
We rode on, through the rice fields, to Asuka temple. We caught up with three people who had also got lost but gone ahead. It was a beautiful temple, but only a 3rd of the size of it's original glory. We went inside the main building, and the history of the temple was explained to us; the professor translated. Asuka temple, at least from what the monk was saying, is the oldest in Japan!!! I don't know if that's true or not (I suppose no one does), but it's a cool thought. I went to the oldest temple in Japan today! It displays one of the 
oldest images of Buddha; Shaka. It was burnt in a fire, so it isn't as spectacular is it would have been. It sad that so many things are ruined by natural, or indeed, unnatural disasters; human disruption. Outside there were three other small statues near the pond. On the first one (from the right), you pour one cup of water to ensure traffic safety; on the second one, you pour two cups to ensure safety at home and; on the third one, you pour three cups to gain luck in love. I didn't have time to try it as the professor was eager to leave.
After about 15 more minutes, we made it to our final destination for the day; Asuka historical museum. That was very cool, to see both the originals and replicas, of artifacts found in the area. By that time, a lot of people were really red with sunburn; I'm hardly burnt at all, lol. They had replicas of the stone monkeys and turtle in the garden. Some of the faces were so weird. It was about 4 o'clock as we made our way back. We all got back, safe in one piece, then boarded the train (Joanna had to pay for me again). We finally arrived back in Hirakata at about 6:30, and immediately Joanna and I went to the ATM that she knew would work. I payed her back, then she went and got McDonald's and, as she rode her bike there this morning, I left her and went to the bus. Got home, made dinner (rice, scrambled eggs, and salad). At 8 there was this really cool show on. Basically, a group of contestants had to survive an hour in Universal Studios Japan, without getting caught by the "hunters" (like the agents from the Matrix). Lol, it was soooo cool. I caught the last half an hour of it. They where playing for a cash prize of 960, 000 yen (about 10, 000 dollars). They also had to complete missions, like turning off "lasers" that blocked off the parade. If they failed a mission, they would be limited to the area that they could hide in. Towards the end of it the "long leg men" came out; they were so cool. They had really long prosthetic legs, and would, in a literal sense, blow the whistle on contestants if they saw them, drawing the hunters to them. It was really intense; they could run so fast. We were all screaming and shouting, and hoping the last contestant could win; He did!!! I so want to watch it again next week. Anyway it's quarter to 1, so I'd better wrap this up. Probably won't do very much tomorrow. Just go into Hirakata, send my postcards, go to the police station, and then study. That's not much right?
12:41pm 急行
5:30pm 急行
t the museum, and up the same street we had came riding down so many months ago. We got off in front of Asuka-dera (which I’d also been to before), after driving past the shrine, and the chaos, we would soon be a part of. The shrine is called 飛鳥坐神社 (Asuka Niimasu Jinga – Asuka “sitting” shrine) and while we never went to it during the field trip, I remember Jo pointing it out, curious to see it. We made our way through the torii, past the stalls, and up the steep steps, to a crowded opening in front of a stage; we had arrived just in time. I decided to film it, and again was thankful for my height; we were quite far back, and not everyone was so lucky. The festival started slow, with representatives from other shrines in the area making offerings and praying. We noticed three figures in the back in costume and wearing masks; an ox, a 天狗 (Tengu – lit. “Heavenly dog” – dangerous, but protective spirits, characterised by their unusually long noses), and an old man.
Offerings of rice were made, and then a priestess performed a dance to pre-recorded music; still very beautiful and haunting though. More offerings were made, and then everyone up on the stage (including some children) started throwing mochi into the crowd. Although the ritual was over, the Tengu, Ox, and old man and women figures, continued to prowl around the crowd, whacking young and old alike. 
Being whacked like this is supposed to wake up the spirit from its winter hibernation, to get ready for spring; I got whacked a couple of times on the legs. Some older people readily bent over to get hit, but the kids generally ran away, screaming in fear or delight as they were chased after. As the crowd made their way back down the hill, I met with Jacinthe and Rachael and we explored the shrine some. Rachael and Jacinthe had both caught some mochi, and when we went up the stage, a man gave us more, and also gave Jacinthe a piece of tissue paper. We then made our way back down the hill, and met up with the rest of the group, and also Jo and a few others, who had only seen the last few minutes of the play. This didn’t mean there were exempt from the whacking.
One girl in particular (Liz), got hit so hard she was crying. We joked that she would be expecting a lot of babies; linking the whacking with fertility too. We decided to check out Asuka-dera, and Jo and I explained to the others the practice involving the pouring of the water on the three Buddha’s heads. The scenery was just so beautiful, painted orange by the setting sun; I’m glad I got to see Asuka again. C
ontent with our lot, we waited for the bus out front, which finally came at 5:02; at least we got to sit down this time. We got back to the station, and got straight on the train, and here I am still; it’s a long ride back. Today was really amazing. It was just such a different sort of thing to see, and says a lot about the mindset, and attitudes of the Japanese; it was a real eye-opener. In a way, it kinda makes me feel like I’m missing out on something in my own background, so I was truly grateful to have seen it. I know there is another really famous fertility festival in March near Nagoya, and while I doubt I’ll be able to see it, I’ll have to let Alex know. Jacinthe is studying, a few people are reading or listening to music, and the rest have their eyes closed; I think I shall join them…
