2019 i-no-shishi

Wishing you a Happy and Peaceful New Year.

My greeting is somewhat belated, for which I apologise.

Unexpected meeting

People in Japan who, for one reason or another have not been able to send New Year greetings, instead send their best wishes in a formal way by recognising January as midwinter and a time of the year that may well bring on illness.

寒中お見舞い申し上げます　Kanchu Omimai Moshiagemasu

This midwinter greeting is inquiring in the hope that the recipient is in good health and that they will get through what is perhaps the beginning of the coldest time of year without any poor health.

2019 is the Year of the Wild Boar—the twelfth symbol of the Oriental Zodiac.

Here in the UK Wild Boar became extinct in the 17th century but today there are small colonies mainly across the south of England and especially in the Forest of Dean some 210 kilometres (130 miles) west of London and close to the boarder with Wales.

I had never seen a wild boar in the flesh until last June, when I was in Noto.  I was travelling with the architect Shinji Takagi on our way to see a wonderful traditional building.

We were on a narrow mountain road which threaded its way through a dark stand of cedars when, up ahead in a pool of scarce dappled sunlight, we spotted a large adult wild boar with three piglets.

With their rough hair and unforgiving stance, they really did look ‘wild’ and the tusks of the adult strengthened that impression.

Know in Japan as i-no-shishi they have also acquired the title of ‘mountain whale’—literally yama kujira.  In Japan they spend much of their time out of sight but when they emerge from the forests and begin rummaging through fields of vegetables there is no mistaking their presence.

To the Japanese the i-no-shishi  is recognised for its reckless courage and it figures strongly in literature, folklore and art.  It is even mentioned in Japan’s earliest literary work, the Kojiki, dating from A.D. 712.

I think Shinji was as surprised as I was to see a family of Wild Boar.  Perhaps I should go on an expedition to the Forest of Dean to see one on home ground.  One thing for sure,  they will look just as wild as the one I saw in Japan but quite possibly not so large.

Bill Tingey Photo © Copyright

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