Folklore and Noh..

Sunday 2nd November.  Today we were taken further afield on Awaji island.  We went to the local folk museum where we were shown an example of an authentic Edo period house.  The image below is taken from inside the house.

Awaji was ravaged by an earthquake and this picture below is from a museum, which was built over the site of the fault line.  Here, scientists can study how earthquakes operate. In the picture it can be seen how the tectonic plates had shifted during the quake.

These are some pictures taken from the City Hall, where we had met the mayor a couple of weeks ago.  The bonsai exhibition is part of a wider cultural festival that took place over the weekend.

This is a view taken from outside the local onsen.

Sunday evening.  At sunset, we went to see a Noh play at Izanagi shrine.  Here is the entrance to the Noh play.

This photo was taken inside the shrine, where the play was being performed.

Here a Shinto blessing is being performed on stage.  In Noh, the stage is the place where the seen and unseen worlds meet. Dramas are played out where human actors try and resolve obstacles before the gods.  Usually, there is only one piece of scenery, which is a pine tree painted on the back wall.  This tree is the place where the gods 'descend' to and the play is performed as an offering to the gods.

On Wednesday the master printer comes to teach us until Friday.  We then move all our equipment to the residency for the five remaining weeks.