One of the most attractive features of Ube is undoubtedly Tokiwa Park. Set around a man-made lake, it is a truly beautiful corner of the city. However, this park is not all it seems. There is a wealth of hidden treasure you could easily miss.
Beautiful nature
I used to come here with a single purpose: to enjoy the natural beauty. There was only one ‘problem’ in my mind. There happen to be statues and sculptures dotted at regular intervals around the park and some of them are made with what honestly look to me like decaying, rusting and rotting man-made materials. I could never get my head around how such things could be placed in such a beautiful location.
So I guess it is here I am throwing my hands up and admitting to an embarrassing lack of education and appreciation of sculptural art. I am sure several of my more enlightened arty friends will be rolling their eyes at this point. However, for me, nature has always been something to be honored in its own right. My thoughts ran more along the lines that sculptures belong in dedicated museums.
A curious find
One particular sculpture though caught my eye. Unfortunately my photo-taking skills and equipment need some improvement, so it may be difficult to see, but there is in fact a large spider in the middle of the web. This is where I tell you something that all my students know well: I have a strange fascination with spiders. (And snakes too actually.) I always have, for as long as I can remember.
So, as many people probably can’t imagine, seeing this, I naturally had to investigate. Walking round to the other side I found there was a barred door.
At this point I didn’t get it at all. I mean, yes I like spiders, great, but what on earth is this metal hut-like building doing here? Surely it is an eyesore? An unnecessary aberration in an otherwise stunning place? Why didn’t they use natural materials? What does it even mean? Why Tokiwa Park? Why Japan?
What’s inside
However, still curious, (the call of the spider is strong with this one), I approached. Looking through the bars, this is what I saw. On first glance, it’s kind of cool but weird right?
Now, please bear in mind that I live in a country where “kind of cool but weird” is an almost every day occurrence. So much so, that I’ve previously found myself dismissing things regularly into that category without further worrying too much about them. I’ve often told myself, maybe sometimes there just aren’t good reasons for things.
Except, that of course is rarely, if ever true.
The Spider’s Thread
A little research, led me to discover that this sculpture is based on a story written by a Japanese author, Ryunosuke Akutagawa (芥川龍之介). (1892-1927)
It tells how the Buddha Śākyamuni was walking past a lotus pond and peered in. He could see right down into the bottom of hell. He noticed a violent criminal called Kandata who was being punished in the pool of blood for the crimes he had committed. However, the Buddha remembered how once Kandata had deliberately refrained from stepping on and killing a spider and so he decided to offer him salvation.
The Buddha lowered a thread into the pond so that Kandata could use it to climb out of hell and into paradise. However, halfway up, he got tired and took a rest. He looked down and realized that other sinners who had also been condemned to hell had started to climb up too. Fearful that their extra weight would cause the thread to break, Kandata angrily and selfishly yelled for them to stop climbing, for the thread was his alone to use.
At this point the thread snapped and Kandata and all the other sinners fell back down into the deepest part of hell. Saddened, the Buddha left the lotus pond and carried on his stroll.
Click here to read an English translation of “The Spider’s Thread”.
Click here for more information on this story, including its meaning and origins.
Hidden Treasure
Learning about this story and the meaning behind the sculpture opened my eyes. Tokiwa Park is not just about the beauty of nature. It’s also about human culture, art, literature and history. How can I not see the beauty in that?
So, I no longer walk around the park questioning the decision to place objects I don’t understand there. Rather I now question what they mean. What is the story behind them and what can I learn?
I’m also reminded that hidden treasure is everywhere. We just have to open our eyes and notice it.
Things to do and see in Tokiwa Park
Note: Most of these links are to Japanese sites, but they have a lot of pictures, so I think they’re still useful.
- A 3.6m (5.76km) jogging track around the lake (Japanese)
- Ube Biennale (Biannual sculpture competition)
- Tokiwa museum (Japanese)
- An indoor botanical garden (Japanese)
- An amusement park (Japanese)
- Tokiwa zoo (Japanese)
- Restaurants and shops (Japanese)
Click here to find out more about how Ube, an industrial port town, became Japan’s sculpting center.
Click here to read about my recent (2021) spring road trip through rural Japan.