WEC Class Notes

  Once known as Awa Province (Awa-no-kuni), Tokushima Prefecture is renowned as the venue for the Awa Odori (Awa Dance)*. It is also famous for its high-quality indigo dye called Awa Indigo** and the Awa Ningyo (Puppet) Joruri***, designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan. These are collectively referred to as the Three Great Awa Cultures. We spoke with the person in charge of promoting cultural tourism at the Tokushima Prefectural Government Office about tourism experiences centered on these special cultural aspects of the region. In Tokushima Prefecture, the Yoshino River, often referred to as the "raging river," stretches from east to west. During the typhoon season, this river frequently floods, causing extensive damage. Due to that factor, it was difficult to utilize the water of the Yoshino River as a resource, and rice cultivation was difficult in parts of the river basin. So instead, indigo plant's cultivation, which is a primary source for ...

  The Ichibata Electric Railway, known familiarly as the Bataden, connects Izumo City and Matsue City in Shimane Prefecture, taking passengers to local charms including a lake, hot springs, a temple, shrine and castle. Ichibata Yakushi in Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture is a temple located at the center of Shimane Peninsula, which faces the Japan Sea. It has a history of more than 1,100 years and has attracted many devout worshippers since ancient times. In 1912, a railway operator was founded that transported worshippers to the temple. It is currently operated as Ichibata Electric Railway Co. and has its headquarters in Izumo City. Ichibata Electric Railway operates two lines: the Kita-Matsue Line, which connects Matsue City and Izumo City (33.9 km) between Matsue Shinjiko-onsen Station and Dentetsu Izumoshi Station, and the Taisha Line between Izumotaisha-mae Station and Kawato Station (8.3 km). The railway lines are both known as the “Bataden” by local people. According to Kato M...

  While consumers over the world are enjoying more gluten-free foods, a new product has been released in Japan: “non-gluten” rice flour, which contains virtually no gluten. It is said that rice cultivation was transmitted to Japan from mainland China about 3,000 years ago. Later, rice farming spread to most parts of Japan around 2,000 years ago, and rice has been the staple food of the Japanese ever since. Rice flour, or powdered rice, has been used mainly as an ingredient in confectionery products for more than 1,000 years. The number of products using rice flour used to be limited. In the last ten years, however, rice flour has begun to be widely used as an ingredient in daily food products such as bread, cake and noodles. This is due to the development of flour milling machines that are capable of making rice flour with much tinier grains than before. Further, rice varieties that are appropriate for bread and noodles have been developed, which has resulted in the better flavor a...

 Once the haunt of middle-aged and older men, saunas in Japan have surged in popularity in recent years, with the younger generation and women driving the boom. 1. In Japan as elsewhere in the world, many people enjoy using the sauna, or Finnish-style steam bath. According to the Japan Sauna Spa Association, Japan is home to more than 10 million sauna enthusiasts. 2. Japan’s first sauna was created in 1957 in a public bathing facility in Ginza, Tokyo, but the sauna did not take off in Japan until the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. 3. As Wakabayashi Mikio, General Manager of the Secretariat of the Japan Sauna Spa Association explains, “Reports that the Finnish athletes had created a prefabricated sauna in the athletes village boosted public awareness of saunas. After that, sauna facilities grew more widespread, especially in urban areas of Japan.” 4. Initially, sauna users were mostly businessmen, who dropped off on their way home from work to unwind. Some businessmen who were so busy...