Yagyu Village, Nara City Japan

[aiki-zen]

Tis’ just a thought. I stayed in the town of Yagyu located in Nara City this last November. It was about an hour from Nara station by bus. This town was amazingly small. It was in a valley surrounded by mountains very much like in the movie, "The Last Samurai."

As I walked around the town for almost the entire day, I felt very privledged. I realized I was standing in a town where the Yagyu family lived and studied swordsmanship. It was quit amazing.

I was a little disappointed though. When I walked up these very steep steps to get to the Yagyu Dojo, it and the Yagyu house even further up was not very well kept. I had just come from Kyoto where I visited several temples. It seems like the history of the Yagyu family plays a very popular role in Japanese cinema, especially in samurai films.

Does anyone know why Japan is allowing it whither away? The grounds on the outside were overgrown. I was quite disappointed to see the condition that the Yagyu house was in, in comparison to how Japan keeps up other temples in Nara and Kyoto.

Anyone have any thoughts???

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by aiki-zen
I was quite disappointed to see the condition that the Yagyu house was in, in comparison to how Japan keeps up other temples in Nara and Kyoto.
Is the Yagyu house now a temple?

I suspect that if Yagyu village is small, and in a remote valley, funds are simply not made available due to lack of interest.

This seems to be more something that a private foundation should undertake, as with most historic mansions, etc., in the U.S.

[Dan Harden]

Yagyu village
Perhaps we are simply seeing the disinterest of an indigenous culture for its martial past. In and of itself this is sad enough, but what of the men whose lives have been enriched by the art? Where cultures forget or fail, men can step to the for. Many times the act of small groups or even single individuals can change the course of history. We have eloquent words in print, authors writing of the ryu's rich past and sayings, men all over the world who have walked Yagyu's road, and yet.....there is the house and garden left to wither. Can no one tend a field once a year? Hire a gardener and carpenter. Were I a member or a "Yagyu Kenshi" I might think seriously about this. Words of interest, and acts of interest are different things.

I wonder what the generations of men who devoted so much to keeping its traditions alive would think were they to see it? Would they somehow look into the lives of the many, many men who have trained in it and be able to say "Where are you?"
Is this now the way of the sword...take what you can, give nothing back? Or was it always that way. Is it seen in the hearts and actions of current Budoka worldwide? In students and in teachers?

I always considered Budo to be about life. We do make temples, we do make honor of things we cherish. Perhaps a building and site being left to wither is a far stronger statement than we realize. Perhaps- left standing as it is- withering and rotting; it is the living testimony of its current worth.

Makes these words come alive doesn't it.

"In the changing of the times, they were like autumn lightning, a thing out of season, an empty promise of rain that would fall unheeded on a field already bare."
Abe Sensei

Sad
Dan

[aiki-zen]

It seems sad to me that many of the Zen and Buddhist temples get taken care of in such a way that they will remain standing for hundreds of more years; yet the Yagyu house will eventually wither. Japans history, the samurai way, the people that built Japan are their history, yet the building is in disarray. As it seems, those that should take care of the property don't put too much a price on the Yagyu house. Opinion or fact, I am not sure...

Perhaps, Takuan, who influenced the Yagyu in such a way is a reason for this. Takuan asked to be buried in a location behind his temple with but a rock to mark it. No sayings, no writings, no words to describe his life, yet we remember him and his teachings to Yagyu, "The Unfettered Mind." Perhaps Yagyu wanted the same things, to see their house whither, I have no idea.

I was only disappointed to see the house and the property they owned overgrown and not taken care of. It still remains a popular landmark, but it just isn't taken care of in a way that reminds us of old Japan, Koryu, and the arts we live our life by. When I attempted to pay the person at Yagyu, they refused to take my payment and allowed me to in. I insisted after walking around that I pay at least the 1000 yen that they normally would charge, plus an additional 1000 yen as I would have liked to have seen it.

Sad,

[Cady Goldfield]

Chen Village in China had a much different fate. Birthplace of the Chen family system of Taijiquan, the place was going downhill like a lot of post-Mao villages, until the Chinese government discovered that there was money to be made from tourism.

Now, the place is deluged with taiji folks from around the world who come to learn "real Chen style." They stay in hotels and eat in restaurants built just for them, spend lots of money and go home with a sense of their art's unique heritage (or at least whatever the modern Chinese government's interpretation of that is).

Maybe Yagyu Village's survival lies in a similar tourist Renaissance... except that koryu doesn't have anywhere near as many international students as taiji. ;)
(I'm kidding. I would never advocate turning Yagyu into KoryuDisneyWorld.)

[aiki-zen]

Originally posted by Yagyu Kenshi
Is the Yagyu house now a temple?



No, Yagyu is not a temple, I was simply making a comparison as to structures that the Japanese government cares for versus Yagyu.

By the way, if you ever have a chance to visit Yagyu, there is a place called Yagyu Okonomiyaki. If you have never eaten okonomiyaki before, it tastes great! (Kind of unhealthy though.)

It's near one of the only barber shops in Yagyu. (Last Bus Stop) It's also right smack dab in the center of Yagyu. There was also a shop down the street where an old man was selling Japanese pottery. It was quit nice and very inexpensive for Japan.

Experiences are so amazing...

[Brian Owens]

Originally posted by Dan Harden
"In the changing of the times, they were like autumn lightning, a thing out of season, an empty promise of rain that would fall unheeded on a field already bare." Abe Sensei
I thought that was Dave Lowry.

[Carlos Estrella]

Originally posted by Cady Goldfield

(I'm kidding. I would never advocate turning Yagyu into KoryuDisneyWorld.)

What's wrong with "Pirates of the Shimonoseki?"

:laugh:

Kidding of course...

Carlos

[Carlos Estrella]

I am admittedly curious... has there been threads here or anyone have a list of the "sacred" (for want of a better term) sites to budoka, if such things exist? (For example: the Aiki Shrine" is important to Aikidoka, the grave of Musashi Miyamoto is to at least some sword students and so on...)

Info, ideas and opinions are welcome here..

Regards,

Carlos

[Mekugi]

Whatya mean "whither away"? What's going on there? Why not talk to the owners of the buildings!? The reason that all those Terra and Jinja are reconstructed is because they have supporters. That is to say, people give them money.
So, not only are they receiving some 'gubberment (which could be Prefecturial or City drawn) money, they have a base of steady cash coming in from the community. If the joint was registered historic building, then you might have to give up all the rights to the 'gubberment, which may choose to install a giant elevator in the middle...not unlike Osaka jo and Nagoya jo. So, you get what you get.

-Russ



Originally posted by aiki-zen
Tis?Ejust a thought. I stayed in the town of Yagyu located in Nara City this last November. It was about an hour from Nara station by bus. This town was amazingly small. It was in a valley surrounded by mountains very much like in the movie, "The Last Samurai."

As I walked around the town for almost the entire day, I felt very privledged. I realized I was standing in a town where the Yagyu family lived and studied swordsmanship. It was quit amazing.

I was a little disappointed though. When I walked up these very steep steps to get to the Yagyu Dojo, it and the Yagyu house even further up was not very well kept. I had just come from Kyoto where I visited several temples. It seems like the history of the Yagyu family plays a very popular role in Japanese cinema, especially in samurai films.

Does anyone know why Japan is allowing it whither away? The grounds on the outside were overgrown. I was quite disappointed to see the condition that the Yagyu house was in, in comparison to how Japan keeps up other temples in Nara and Kyoto.

Anyone have any thoughts???