Enough about the toe already

Lately I've been watching a program on the Japanese TV channel NHK World called Kaido Tekuteku Tabi (which roughly translates as "Plodding along the Old Highways"), in which Japanese "sports celebrities" walk the old highways of Edo Japan.

The first series aired from April 2006 and covered the Tokaido. The format involves the celebrities walking usually one or two stages a day, stopping to talk to people, etc. along the way, followed the next morning by a 15-minute live broadcast in which they recount the previous day's journey. The presenter for the first series was former Japanese soccer international Teruo Iwamoto. Iwamoto has a New Zealand connection in that he played two games for Auckland City FC during the FIFA Club World Championship 2006, failing to prevent the Auckland team finishing last. I'm not sure if he was any good as a soccer player, but he certainly wasn't much of a celebrity, which kind of made me lose interest in the program after a while.

The second series (bits of which I saw) aired late last year, and focused on the Nakasendo, which was walked by a former Olympic speed skater, Ikue Teshigawara.

The series currently screening covers the Koshu Kaido, which links Tokyo with Shimo-Suwa in Nagano prefecture, and once again is being presented by Ikue Teshigawara. It's an interesting program that introduces lots of quiet, out-of-the-way Japanese places full of honest, friendly country folk. It also explains a bit of the history of each area. Yesterday's episode, for example, featured a beautifully preserved honjin (an inn officially appointed for use by daimyo, or feudal lords).

I'm particularly looking forward to the final episode, because Shimo-Suwa is also a stop on the Nakasendo. It's a hot-spring resort on the edge of a big lake, and it's where Erik and I plan to spend the only rest day during our walk later this year.

Shimo-Suwa is also the site of one of Japan's most well known festivals, Onbashira. The purpose of the festival, which is held once every six years, is to symbolically renew the Suwa Taisha shrine. Huge trees are chopped down using special ceremonial axes and dragged down from the forest by teams of men pulling long ropes. The fun really starts when the logs are skidded or dropped down steep slopes. During this part of the festival, known as ki-otoshi, local men ride the logs down the hill to prove their bravery. Several usually end up getting injured or killed.

Luckily the festival isn't being held this year, otherwise I could imagine Erik encouraging me to don my clown costume and take a ride on one of the logs in the interests of art, or moviemaking, or something. Come to think of it, that would make quite a nice little movie. Better than this effort, although it does at least give some idea of what we could expect. The next festival is in April 2010, so we have three years to do some planning.

By the way, Kaido Tekuteku Tabi is accompanied by a great website. It's in Japanese, but just try clicking on all the links and you should find some nice photos and maps relating to all the series to date. The Nakasendo section has pictures of the prints from The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaido together with photos taken at each location showing what they look like today. Nice.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 78.4km