Okuizumo (Part1)

Hello everyone!

Thank you for all the support and all the heartwarming comments on FB!

Let’s get ready for another trip with Tamaki san!

This time we will have a visit to

“Okuizumo” in Shimane Prefecture.

Izumo is a famous tourist spot because of the well-known shrine “izumo taisha“

But since we all know that he’s not looking for famous spots, but the unexplored regions… he goes far away from the center of the attention and tries to find beauties in not very famous areas!

So let’s follow him around ^^

Tamaki san says that he has been to Izumo by car and visited Izumo taisha a few times before. Even passed by this town (okuizumo) but never had the chance to get off the car and wonder around. So this time, he will be walking in the town and ask the residents about the attractions of this area!

He starts his Journey from Izumo yashiro

As he’s walking around

he finds a very old bicycle shop!

An old lady is sitting inside…

but soon arrives his son…

probably the one managing the shop.

First he’s surprised but then they

will start chatting about the shop.

Seems like customers who visit the shop and ask for a repair, can borrow his mother’s bicycle until their own bicycle gets fixed XD

Tamaki san is surprised “So mother’s bicycle is taken away every time?” and laughs out loud but then he adds himself: “Well because everyone know each other here!”

Then as they were talking, the father of the family comes back home!

He’s surprised and asks them where they come from and Tamaki san explains for him that they are from Tokyo! Then asks about his job and he answers “Planting Daikon (Radish)”

He shows us the small container he was hanging around his waist.

I’m not sure but I think they put something inside and burn it to keep the insects away. But don’t trust me cause I didn’t really find anything to prove my idea XD

Anyway, as he opens the lead…

Tamaki san says: “It’s empty!!…

there’s not even the left overs of the burnt thing left!

Just hanging the empty container?” 

hehehehe

he’s in his “Devil mode” today!!

You will see more of his teasings later!!

The poor old man panics a little bit

but he manages to show us the real thing!

Then somehow,

the pocket on the front side of the old man’s

trousers gets Tamaki san’s attention…

… and asks him if he’s wearing it backward （；^ω^）

But the old man says that it’s a woman’s trousers!!

That’s why you don’t see a zipper in the front side!!!

It’s amazing how he can tease people and joke with them

without making them mad or uncomfortable!

He’s got a talent for that…

OK let’s move on…

As a coincidence,

there is a festival being held in the town

on the very same day!!

Tamaki san is wondering about the flags

belonging to other countries…

as if this is an international festival!

Then he encounters a couple… and says hello!

The lady becomes excited and makes a scream-like sound XD

But he just asks his question as if he’s not the famous Tamaki Hiroshi!

“Is there a festival today?” he asks!

“Yes… minari atago festival!” they answrer.

Then he finds something interesting!!!

A truck with so many Taiko (drum) being set inside the wagon!

it’s gonna be used as a part of the stage for today’s performance!

Then he reaches to the place were people are

gathering around and getting ready for the show.

He asks one of the residents about the performance

and he tells him that the kids are gonna play Taiko today!

Of course he’s not gonna miss this!

He decides to stay and watch!

He starts talking to two ladies in the crowd and asks them if someone they know is gonna be in the show today and one of them replies that her grandchild is gonna play Taiko! But seems like she can’t find her/him because they all look like each other from this distance! XD XD

As he’s watching them get ready for the show…

he says: “They’re so cute!” And I totally agree with him ♡

Then he finds his next target!

A young boy （；^ω^）

He asks him: “School is closed today, right?”

He confirms by nodding his head!

Tamaki san puts his left hand on the boy’s shoulder as he’s talking to him and realizes he’s all covered with sweat and his T-shirt has become sticky!

hehehehe

all the filming crew laugh out loud!

The boy is just sooo cute he can’t resist teasing him over and over…. （；^ω^）

Sorry young man!

Thank you for being patient with our Devil mode Tamaki san!

Finally the wait is over and the kids start to play…

To be honest…

they are making no sense!!

timing is not right and the sounds are not that great!

Guess that’s why Tamaki san is laughing secretly…

But they are doing their best!!

And they are super cute…

their relatives are enjoying the show!

As they’re done

Tamaki san approaches them…

the kids are all acting normal but their teachers

are over excited to see him!! XD

He bends down a little bit,

lowers his height and starts complimenting them!

And says that they all looked “Cool!!”

He asks about how long the kids have been practicing…

… and their teacher says that they all just

started playing it for fun but they kept practicing,

and managed to do a show like this today.

Then Tamaki san says that it’s obvious they have all worked hard and became straightforward to do this together…

and suddenly one of the kids yells “Thank you!”

hehehehehe XD

Then he says that they all look like normal kids here in front of me, but they become serious and do what they should do when they stand on the stage!! And as the teacher says that it was their first time playing in front of people… Tamaki san raises his voice a little bit and says “You did a great job!”

after leaving the kids,

he starts talking to us about how beautiful it is

when the children become serious and find something they like,

and then practice hard to become good at it!

Tamaki san starts walking in the streets again and suddenly,

he notices the simple board of a cutlery workshop!

Becomes interested and decides to take a peek inside.

He greets the owner and gets inside.

Asks him what he is doing right now

and he answers: “Making a kitchen knife!”

Then Tamaki san asks him

how long has the shop been in service,

and he says 140 years!!

He is the 4th generation O_O

He starts working on the knife with his hammer…

Tamaki san asks him if it is not dangerous to stand where he is,

but the owner says that it’s alright.

He’s amazed by how fast the knife is finding its shape!

Tamaki san is really excited about what he’s watching…

after getting OK from the owner about the danger XD

He starts taking photos one after another…

He tells the old man that he has watched videos before,

but he’s really excited about being right there

and watching the real thing.

It’s not something everyone can experience!

As he finishes making the knife and shows the completed work to Tamaki san,

he asks him:

“You must be confident about the sharpness of it,

aren’t you?”

hehehehe XD

the owner becomes shy a little but

but says that people who keep buying and ordering,

always say good things about the sharpness of his knives…

so it must be fine XD

Then the owner (Kawashima san) takes him to another room!

And shows him something interesting!

A real Katana (Japanese Sword)

looks so sharp and shines beautifully!

“Woaaaah! Terrifying as expected!”

Tamaki san says.

“I do hold katana in my hand whenever I

play a role in a historical story,

but those are not the real ones!!

As for this one, first of all…

you can’t just move it around in the air!!…”

Then he talks about the importance of the quality and the shape of the katana in the old days. People in important social positions could probably keep the better quality katana. It’s almost like how people enjoy collecting the good quality stuff like Watches or Cars these days in our era.

But it seems like Kawashima san has chosen making

good quality kitchen knifes instead of katana.

Suddenly he comes up with a very kind and brilliant idea…

Kawashima san decides to give him a souvenir…

the knife he just made!

And that’s not all…

he’s gonna make it even more special…

He asks Tamaki san to write down his name on the knife…

“Tamaki Hiroshi”

he writes it down on the knife…

And hands it back to Kwashima san!

And right there..

he starts to curve the name on the blade!!

It shows in Tamaki san’s eyes how interesting this is all for him!

He looks at Kawashima san’s hands,

then keeps looking at his eyes…

very carefully!

As if he’s studying him!

curving your name on the knife…

Is something only famous chefs or

people working in this field can do!

When it’s done…

“You didn’t blink not even once while doing it!”

Tamaki san says!

XD

Both of them start laughing out loud XD

Kawashima san gives him the knife and he’s super excited to hold it in his hand!

“Thank you… Waaaah! I’m so happy!! It’s exactly as I wrote it down!”

Feels great being able to see that happiness in his face ^^

What a wonderful treasure!!

Going back to the nature…

Tamaki san is heading to a very unique place.

on his way there…

he has to walk on a very long suspension bridge!

Pretty high from the surface of the river running underneath!

（；^ω^）

Thank god Tamaki san was able to recover completely

from his fear of high places !!

As if he never had such a problem at all ^^

He stands there and as he’s looking at the other side,

he finds a group of 2 adults and a young boy

walking to this side of the bridge.

He waits for them to arrive and then greets them.

Then he looks at the young boy and asks him kindly:

“Where did you come from?”

“Aichi Prefecture!”

“Aichi?! Which part of Aichi prefecture?”

Tamaki san is surprised because he was born and

raised in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture as well.

“Do you know Miyoshi?” the boy asks!

“Ah! Miyoshi!… I’m from Nagoya!” 

Of course he knows where Miyoshi is… ^^

It seems like the boy’s grandparents are from Chiba.

Then he asks the boy

“Wasn’t it scary walking on the suspension bridge?”

The boy says not really…

because he needed to use the toilet

and all he was concentrating on was

to hold it back XD

hahahahahahaha!

They all start laughing and Tamaki san says:

“That was the scary part then…

maybe you wanna go right away!

Are you OK?”

The boy says that he’s alright,

but he doesn’t keep them any longer XD

Thanks them and say goodbye!

Now it’s his turn to cross the river on the scary bridge ^^

He says that this landscape is so beautiful…

then looks down trying to measure the height

and his guess is more than 50 meters!

He says: “The fact that the place is not being maintained

too beautifully is actually a very good thing!

Because it has the touch of nature…

the shape of the river running under the bridge,

it’s as it was build by the hands of nature.”

He goes deeper in the greenery…

into a place with lots of huge stones and rocks standing in the river’s flow.

He says that the stones here are not the common round-shaped stones…

but with sharp corners indeed!

He even finds a huge stone with the shape of a 45 degrees triangle!!

Sharp and straight!

it is called “eboshi iwa”

Another one…

This one is called “hando iwa”

Tamaki san is amazed by the shape and

how these two huge stones

are standing on each other!!

There are even plants growing on top of them…

Of course he starts taking photos one after another…

Then he shares with us his idea of how this place

may have been formed many years ago.

“It may look like there are two mountains here

and we are standing n between them,

but in fact,

it might have been one big mountain one day…

and for some reason, 

it must have collapsed right in the middle,

and that’s probably why all these huge stones

are accumulated here… it’s strange!”

“oni no shitaburui”

There’s a story about this place…

I borrowed the text from the Japan National Tourism Organization website:

Once upon a time, a small shark fell in love with a princess living in a village, and visited the village every day over the Sea of Japan. The princess felt sick of this and stemmed the water with a large rock to stop the shark, but the shark continued to admire the princess. It is said that the current name is a corruption of wani no shita buru (meaning the shark in love).

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/natuscen/oni-no-shitaburui.html

By the way,

the princess of this story is called “Tama Hime”

nice coincidence XD

Next is our Journey to a train station,

with a special meaning for Tamaki san!

A place where he wanted to visit no matter what!

But I have to leave that for the next part of the report …

So please stay with him on his railway trip on the second part!

See you soon!

End of part 1