Volunteer Community Service: Master of the 水路/Canal, With His Long Pole, Battles the Weeds and Trash Heaps

There is a narrow canal (水路, suiro) behind my house that runs parellel with the Neyagawa River for several kilometers. The canal serves as the border between Neyagawa-shi and Kadoma-shi. On the Neyagawa-shi side there is a narrow road that is lined with cherry trees. In the spring, the trees seem to explode with sakura (cherry blossoms) and it is quite spectacular. In the summer, the trees explode with semi (cicada) and their buzzing and whining sounds. The canal is full of fish and turtles, and attracts various birds, cranes, dragon flies, other insects, occasional snakes, stray cats at night other other critters. It's a welcoming green space and slice of nature in the residential environment.

The canal is man-made, meaning that it is lined with cement banks. Despite that, many plants and weeds grow on the banks and river weed grows in the water. Unfortunately, some people throw bottles, cans and other trash into the water, assuming the garbage to flow away out of sight, out of mind. Most of the disposed items do flow somewhere, but a lot of them get caught in the weeds, sometimes even creating small trash heaps.

In years past, local gevernment workers would come once during the summer to cut down the weeds. But for whatever reason, no one has come this summer.

But there is a private citizen, an older man, who has a long pole with sharp blades on the end, who cuts the weeds, rakes the river weed and cleans up the banks on the Neyagawa-shi side.

It must be extremely hot and exhausting work. While he doesn't seem to smile, I imagine he none-the-less enjoys his work.

Thank you, Master of the 水路/Canal!

"Taking Pictures of Snakes at Midnight: An Anthropological Perspective" - An Anthropological Talk by Ryan Xin XIE

"Taking Pictures of Snakes at Midnight: An Anthropological Perspective" on the relation between snakes and humans, and nature and humans, in Hong Kong, by Ryan Xin Xie.
Venue: Hong Kong Museum of History on Friday, August 22, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.

For more information: https://www.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/~ant/hkas/current_event.htm

"Light Leak as Method: Theorizing a Photographic Accident" - Essay on American Anthropologist by Myriam Amri

ABSTRACT: This project began as a 35 mm film photography collection to document the presence of waste in the Northwest border of Tunisia, as the materiality of waste, its existence “everywhere,” has become a medium through which people in the region understand their positions at the margins of the nation-state. Yet after months, I realized that a light leak had marked all of my photographs. Taking the accident as a chance encounter, I produced a collection of images that articulate the gap between their intended effects, of visualizing waste, and their final rendering, images marked by a light leak. In this essay, I trace the project's process from my initial intentions of photographing waste to the light leak accident, to the final rendering into a visual booklet. In doing so, I foreground the light leak as an accident that became a generative method to examine the spills, leaks, and overflows of wasteful landscapes in North Africa.

Access article: https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aman.28101

This article is part of the special section of American Anthropologist titled “On Vanishing Fieldsites.” The multimodal accompaniment to this article is available at https://simplebooklet.com/lightleak

Saijō-chō Sake Breweries in Higashihiroshima

The last adventure and post in the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc is about my tour of the sake breweries in Saijō-chō in Higashihiroshima. I left the big city and took a leisurely train ride through the countryside to get to Saijō-chō, located on the plains surrounded by mountains. It felt good to get away from the big crowds in Hiroshima (although I enjoyed the fewer numbers of tourists in Hiroshima compared to Osaka and Kyoto closer to home). Saijō is famous for its sake breweries that make ginjo and daiginjo nihonshu (premium and ultra premium rice wine), many of which have 100 years or more of history. The staff was very friendly at the train station information booth and helped me get to the brewery streets. The area is inviting and it is easy to walk to all of the breweries (even in the extreme heat). I visited 4 of the 7 larger breweries. Here are a couple of sources for more information about Saijō:

Higashihiroshima Kanko website: Saijō Sake Brewery Street / 西条酒蔵通り https://higashihiroshima-kanko.jp/saijo-sakaguradori/

Dive! Hiroshima website: Visit Hiroshima's local sake capital “Saijō” https://dive-hiroshima.com/en/feature/sake-wine-sake/

Kamoizumi

The first brewery I went to was Kamoizumi. This was my favorite of the shops I visited. It seemed more traditional and the staff was the most hospitable. I was allowed to sample small cups of the 4 brands of sake they make. You can purchase their products online. The other shops I went to were OK, and I gained much new knowledge from the staff that seemed releived I could speak Japanese, but they seemed a little more touristy. And the sake samples were limited and not free. Still, I was able to sample some very nice and varied kinds of sake. At Kamoizumi I bought a small bottle of sake that one is supposed to drink hot; I am doing my best to save it for the winter months.

Kirei

Saijotsuru

Lunch Break at Kamotsuru France-ya

At the train station information booth I asked what restaurant they would recommend for some traditional Hiroshima gourmet (something other than okonomiyaki). The big-hearted and good-natured lady recommended a place associated with the Kamotsuru brewery; she mentioned a very nice nabe dish. But when I got there, the lunch menu was only "Japanese French" dishes. And they seemed to focus on the pairing of French food and Japanese nihonshu (one of my favorite examples of globalization). I welcomed their air conditioning along with their suggestions for the lunch special and a good sake that went well with it. I'm afraid I don't have much experience with French food and its small portions so I wasn't quite sure about what some of the dishes I was eating was. I did develop a thirst for wine, but the (French?!?) restaurant didn't serve wine. So I settled for a pink lemon sake cocktail instead. Since I spent more than 3,000 yen, I received a coupon for a free sample of sake at the next brewery.

Kamotsuru

This place seemed to be the most famous and the crown jewel of the tour. It had many exhibitions and varieties of sake. I drank my free beverage and then purchased a tasting set of 4 different varieties.

One of this brewery's sake varieties is served at the famous shop, Sukiyabashi Jiro, in Tokyo featured in the film, Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Gelb 2011). Several years ago, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took then U.S. President Barack Obama to Jiro's shop and enjoyed drinking the sake.

I would very much recommend Saijō for sake enthusists or anthropologists/travelers looking for a more relaxed experience at a less beaten tourist path spot. I would also recommend doing more research than I did beforehand because it seems like there are discounts and free items at breweries given (or purchased) at other local shops and information booths.

I learned a lot in this brief VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip that I can use in my various projects and course lectures. I wish I could have had more time, but I had to return for a faculty report meeting (where I really didn't learn much...). The fall semester starts soon and research trips will have to wait. But I have some good ideas for next summer to explore Japanese baseball, cuisine and sake.

Hot Food and Hotter Baseball at Hiroshima Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium

This is the third post in the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc. The day's main event (7/8/25): the baseball game between the host Hiroshima Carp and the visiting Hanshin Tigers (bias alert!). The fieldwork involved two continuing projects: 1) anthropological research of the Hanshin Tigers, and 2) the gourmet boom expanding to Japanese Professional Baseball (see "Food Terrorism and Japanese Baseball: A Hanshin Tigers Case Study.")

Welcome to Hiroshima Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium, JR Station Entrance.

Advertisement for Aoyama Clothing modeled after Hiroshima Toyo Carp players featuring infielder Kozono Kaito (小園 海斗).

Warming up before the game begins.

Some of the stadium vibe. It was so hot. The cooling mist was refreshing.

The same area from a different angle. Note that there is a sports gym above the stands so that you can multitask exercising with your baseball habit.

Inside the stadium where you can find THE FOOD!

A wide variety of "gourmet": snacks in the fan merchandise shop, bento, caramel corn, strawberry floats and a whole variety of food court shops.

Even organic produce from Tottori Prefecture...

I opted for the C-Dogs...

which were not bad...

See more at the 2025 Carp Meshi website: https://www.carp-gurumet.com/

But let's get to THE GAME!

The view form my seat in left center.

The closest Hanshin player was center-fielder Chikamoto.

The Hanshin Tigers fan club section; no empty seats here...

Several years ago, the Hanshin Togers started the release of the jetto fusen balloons in the lucky 7th inning. Many teams followed suit at their home stadiums. The ritual was discontinued during the COVID years. Some teams have brought it back (Hanshin has not... yet...). But here a couple of Hanshin fans hijacked Hiroshima balloons and released them before the Tigers went up to bat in the 7th inning.

Here are the Carp balloons. You might also notice many empty seats in the Carp fan club section.

The beer girls kept busy in the hot stadium...

And by the end of the game...

Hanshin Tigers VICTORY!

Image source: https://www.facebook.com/tigersdreamlink/posts/%E5%BA%83%E5%B3%B6-1-6-%E9%98%AA%E7%A5%9E%E5%8B%9D-%E6%89%8D%E6%9C%A87%E5%8B%9D4%E6%95%970shttpscorehanshintigersjpgamescoretabletable20250708html%E9%98%AA%E7%A5%9E%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC/1285855606226644/

Hanshin Tigers supporters stay for the Hero Interview (Sato Teruaki) and to cheer some more... Hanshin fans until the end... Go Tigers!

Game details:

Hanshin Tigers Official website: https://score.hanshintigers.jp/game/score/table/table20250708.html

Yahoo Sports Navi: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021029520/text

Yahoo Sports Navi: https://baseball.yahoo.co.jp/npb/game/2021029520/top

The next post of the VAoJ Hiroshima Research Trip Arc will feature the sake breweries of Saijō-chō in Higashihiroshima.