December 30th, 2004
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Hi no youjin
This essentially means, “be careful with fire.” This is especially important during the winter here in Japan, mainly because the air is dry, people are using heat/gas, and old, wooden houses burn easily. I helped the choukai (the best I can translate is “town council”) with it this evening, which basically entails walking around our jurisdiction and clapping special pieces of wood together while calling “Hi no youjin!”.
When I first came to Japan in the winter two years ago I was a little frightened by it. I mean, when is the last time you heard ghostly calls and wood clapping in the middle of the night? But here, it’s a common thing and you even get some families who open their doors and say thank you. So, it’s a good deal. It makes me feel fulfilled to help out my community.
There are concepts giri and ninjyo that I have yet to fully understand (my initial estimation is they translate roughly to compassion and obligation for your fellow man), but the community support of the Japanese lies among their greatest strengths. And as I remain a burden and an obstacle to native life, I feel it even moreso my responsibility to help out and gain an understanding of people’s ideals and values.
Anyway, I hope it improves our chances of general safety, and I feel good about helping out. I feel even better after learning that part of the money raised from the bazaar last month went to aid the disaster relief of the Niigata earthquake.
