Old Man of Yakozue
Peering into tomorrow’s Japan.
2009, May.
A letter from some old guy living in the central highlands of Hokkaido.
Quote:
| Dear friend,
I have come down from the high country today. I am writing this letter from the back office of an old Izakaya in a mountain village in Hokkaido, Japan. I am writing this letter today to tell you that after walking away from ‘civilization’ and living alone as a hunter gatherer for 15 years amongst the trees here in Daisetsuzan country, Hokkaido, I have decided that I would like to share my outdoor primitive skills and thoughts on walking away from civilization with those who would care to learn and am extending my hand to you with this invitation to come visit this land. I am getting old and would like to pass on some ideas I have about the way we can live together ‘as one’ with Earth. I have walked away to what I believe will be the next human culture. The current so-called ‘civilized’ culture will look in vain until it is too late, until their culture collapses and they have no choice but to try to create a new one in its ruins, when they will have no resources or time left to do so and when all their energy will be expended just trying to stay alive. They will be carried along on the long right tail of all civilizations in their slow, final slide into oblivion. Though there are no leaders to follow, there is a model on which we could create a new culture. It is the model by which every non-human creature on the planet lives. It is a model where land and the rest of nature and all-life-on-Earth are treated with respect. It is a model of abundance, not scarcity, of living in balance, not in conflict. It is a model of joy, not suffering. It is a model of partnership, not hierarchy. It is a model of caring for, not competing with, each other. It is a model of responsibility, not exploitation. It is a model of steady-state slow evolution, not rapid growth. It is a model of community, not empire. It is a model of well-being and self-sufficiency. It is a model of constant learning and adaptation. It is a model of love and of peace. It is a model where we are always home, and never homeless. It is a model that exists and thrives all around us, in the midst of the modern current culture, yet is not a part of it, is free from it, untouched by it, indifferent to it. Humans can learn to listen, to imagine, to pay attention, to live lightly and freely and joyfully, and can join our fellow creatures in another, thriving, healthy culture. Our patient, furred and feathered fellow citizens of Earth are calling us, waiting to welcome us home. You should know that there is much‘government land’ in Daisetsuzan country. If guerilla squatting on ‘government land’ concerns you, here is one way to think about it. If you are truly walking away from civilization into the wilderness, off all beaten paths – are you still then bound by the regulations set forth by civilization?(Even if you only want to come up for a week) Out in the wilderness, at the helms of nature, the so-called ‘civilized rules’ that are, are nonsensical. Being a good steward of the wilderness is enough. I live in a place that the animals call ‘Yakozue’ (八梢), which means ‘Eight treetops’. We are waiting for you. If you are interested in coming: How to get here: Locate on a map the mountain village Sounkyo in Hokkaido, Japan. Go to Sounkyo. When you get to Sounkyo seek out and find a small izakaya called [.......] (Send mail to yakozue at hotmail dot co dot jp for shop name. A friend of mine still living on the grid will assist you.). Oh yeah, the Izakaya is only open on Monday mornings from 700-1000 hours. Enter the Izakaya and ask for the shop master. Tell him Yakozue sent you and tell him that you are looking for Yakozue. He will give you a copy of an old map I drew up some years ago. Following the maps directions will put you within a few kilometers of where I am located in the mountains. The map will only lead you so far. In the following I will explain how to get to where I am from the end of the maps direction. Follow the stream up-stream on the right hand side for 500 paces. At 500 paces turn left, and ford the stream. Continue on up the stream along the bank for 500 more paces. You will come to a tall and extraordinary looking boulder with votive images carved in it. Walk around to the backside of this boulder. There will be a smaller stream flowing into the stream you just ascended. Follow the smaller stream up stream for 3000 paces. At 3000 paces you will come to the beginning of the small stream. It will disappear into the earth. It is here that I humbly request that you camp for the night. Come sunrise (Tuesday morning) please start a campfire. I will spot the billowing smoke and come down from the mountain to greet and pick you up. I will be down within an hour. What to bring: Nothing (Everything will be provided to you by the wilderness.) What to expect: Living and being with nature ‘as one’. Recommended time to come: Spring Stay length: You can stay as short or long as you like. Back to the high country I go. Looking out for your smoke. Sincerely, |
The Old Man of Daisetsuzan country is 78 years of age, believes that everything in nature has a spirit or god on the inside, and was birthed by the daughter of an Ainu village chief and an American Seaman from Alaska country, who was rescued by the Daughter’s Ainu tribe after wrecking his ship off the shores of shiredoko in North Eastern Hokkaido back in 1927. The Old Man was raised in a remote area of the Shiredoko Mountain Range where he learned how to hunt and gather from his Ainu Father-in-law, American father, and local Villagers. He learned the traditional way of Matangitoni hunting, which means `the man of winter` or `hunter` in the Ainu language. At the age of 33, he was told by a friend that life in the `city` was something of a dream and consequently convinced thereafter to move to the small city of Shari in North Eastern Hokkaido. This would be the place where The Old Man would discover discrimination from the Japanese firsthand and the strife of civilization. He bitterly acceded to the taxing life-way for almost 20 years whereby he then decided to return to the natural ecosystem to `be one` with the Earth again.
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