Announcing the Winners of the Japonica Travel Writing Contest!
A big thank you to everyone for participating!
Thank you all for the fabulous submissions to Japonica’s inaugural writing contest! To everyone who submitted an article — thank you.
どうもありがとうございます。
The Japonica editors as well as guest judge Donny Kimball had a difficult time choosing the best travel stories. We loved all your submissions. They took us to new places, from the town of Shukunegi on the island of Sado in Niigata Prefecture, to the Snowy Alps of Tohoku.
We were fascinated, enthralled, delighted, humored, and touched by your tales.
On that note, we would like to announce the winners!
🥇Gold Award
Omizu Okuri: Festival of Fire and Water by Joshua Bewig
Prior to the Meiji Restoration (1868), Shintoism and Buddhism co-existed in a syncretic faith known as Shinbutsushugo.
Joshua Bewig writes about the Shinbutsushugo ceremony called the Omizu-Okuri (Water Sending), which is held in Jingu-ji in Fukui Prefecture every March 2. This sets up the ritual for the Omizu-Tori (Water Receiving) festival, which is held at Todai-ji in Nara ten days later.
“Outside, the temple grounds are illuminated by torchlight and the theme of fire continues. Branches of cedar have been stacked high in a large mound awaiting to be set ablaze. The tension mounts amidst more chanting and praying, and an elaborate performance ensues involving symbolic implements of war to ward away evil spirits.”
We are spellbound by the detailed description which has sent us to a more magical and spiritual world. Jingu-ji and Fukui Prefecture are now definitely on our travel list!
🥈Silver Award
Shukunegi, Japan — The Town Where People Fish from Barrels by Diane Neill Tincher
Diane Neill Tincher takes us to the island of Sado, off the coast of Niigata Prefecture. She transports us to the town of Shukunegi, and it felt like we were time-traveling as we read her account of the beautiful and rustic town.
Shukunegi is situated on a small piece of land surrounded on three sides by hills. In the late Edo era, the town along with the surrounding countryside consisted of 120 households and 500 residents. There were peasants, shipowners, captains, sailors, shipbuilders and carpenters, blacksmiths, and bucket makers. As well, there was a continuous stream of men who came and went on the Sengoku-bune.
People still live there today.
Japan is full of quaint, charming towns that seem to have slipped through the machine of relentless modernity. And although the population of these rural towns continues to decline as young people migrate to urban centers, we are lucky to have people like Diane who continue to document the beauty and charm of these places.
🌸 Reader’s Choice Award
The Mistakes I Made on My First Trip to Japan by Rebecca Copeland
Rebecca’s piece is the winner of the reader’s choice award! She takes us back in time to Lake Nojiri, in Nagano Prefecture. Writing about all the mistakes she committed on her first trip to Japan to Lake Nojiri in Nagano Prefecture, “a cheaper version of Karuizawa,” we had a good laugh when she discovered that the “hotdogs” and “marshmallows” that her family had bought for the trip turned out to be kamaboko and manju.
Even though her trip was decades ago, many of the places she describes — Haneda Airport, Ueno Station, the Yamanote Line, and Lake Nojiri — are still familiar to us even today.
So, there we were on the Ueno train platform, after taking the monorail from Haneda and then the Yamanote Line in what had to have been a long-lost route on one of Dante’s circles of inferno.
I had never been so self-conscious in all my life. Everyone was staring at us.
And why wouldn’t they? We had become a portable roadblock of listless teenagers and harried parents dragging mountains of luggage on and off commuter trains.
Some places in Japan never change — in a good way.
⭐Special Mentions
First Time In Japan — 30 Years Apart by Elin Johansson
Elin tells us a heartwarming story of how father and daughter bonded over a shared love for Japan inside the train on the Shinkansen.
I sat inside the Shinkansen with my face almost pressed against the window, trying to see everything the train passed by at its high speed. The small villages and rice fields sitting at the foot of forest-covered mountains reminded me of the Ghibli movies I had watched growing up.
My dad and I were on our way to Kyoto after spending five days in Tokyo. It had only been a few days, but I had already been charmed by the country.
I turned to my dad, who sat next to me, reading a book.
“Isn’t it stunning,” I said and pointed to the landscape outside the window. My dad looked up from his book and nodded.
“Yes, it’s incredible,” he agreed. “But the scenery looks even more beautiful when you’re up in the mountains.”
Let’s Enjoy Snowy Tohoku Winter! by Emi Miyanishi
Have you heard of the Inukko Matsuri (犬っこまつり)? It is a winter festival that is held in Akita every year.
Folklore says it dates back around 400 years. It memorializes a historical event when the lord of Yuzawa fought off bandits. Villagers made dog-shaped dolls out of rice flour and displayed them at their houses to celebrate peace. Now, people bring their pet dogs to the shrine made of snow and pray for their health and happiness.
To all our participants, thank you!
ご参加いただいた皆様、誠にありがとうございました！
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