Katsuyama

Roslynn and I went to an art exhibit in the town of Katsuyama. It's beautiful there. It's like Niimi, but less industrial and more artsy. Tamaki san, an Osa resident and artist, took us to an exhibit in Katsuyama of beautiful Japanese metal work. The works of a South African artist and his Japanese teacher were on exhibit. Most of the works on display were Tsuba, the part of the samurai's sword that is placed just above the handle.

Niimi, Osa, and Katsuyama are all in Okayama prefecture. Many samurai resided in Okayama and took their death here. The culture of this area to this day is deeply rooted in the samurai.

The people I meet in this area are very proud of where they come from and are tied deeply to the land. I went on a walk around a lake yesterday in a nationally protected wetland and my hosts knew what trees populated the area. At the metal work exhibit, the interpreter, a Katsuyama native who now lives in London, shared how special it was for her to come home and how emotional it was for her. She lived in Katsuyama up until her teens when her family moved to Tokyo and then she went to university in England and has been there ever since, yet her home is Katsuyama. The roots that connect the people to the land are very deep here and it makes becoming acquainted with the area by them very special.