Alex Kerr – Tenmangu

By Aksana, Shanelle & Sarah

Alex Kerr’s extract begins with him briefly describing how he came to be in Japan and the job which he was offered, and accepted, from the Oomoto foundation. Oomoto is a Japanese religious movement originated from another movement, Shinto, the purpose of which is to establish a connection between present day Japan and it’s ancient past. Despite his poor salary Kerr decides, after several weeks in a dormitory, that he will look for somewhere more permanent to live and so the search for a house begins. Upon finding a house in the mountainous city of Kameoka Kerr visits the caretaker, the priest of a nearby shrine, and begins to rent it immediately.

The seasons of Tenmangu are described vividly by Kerr and it is clear that he enjoys them from his use of lexical choices such as ‘mystique’, ‘bloom and ‘favourite’, metaphors such as referring to the frogs as ‘little emerald gems’ creates an appealing picturesque image of Tenmangu. This is contrasted with modern day Japan where, Kerr says, it is common to cut branches from trees in autumn to prevent leaves falling. Kerr is perplexed by and disagrees with his friend who tells him that nature only becomes interesting when there is an activity to participate in.

The contrast between Tenmangu and modern Japan is further illustrated through the use of colour comparison. The ‘deep red’, ‘tea green’ and ‘cloudy oranges’ that Kerr describes are disparate to the ‘ash grey’ of Tokyo. Also, the fluorescent lighting and synthetic materials of Tokyo make it seem unoriginal whereas Tenmangu seems unique, spiritual and picturesque.

Kerr states that the length of the commute to Tenmangu is problematic for people that live in the city and due to this visitors are not frequent. However, those that do make it to the house are eager to escape the constraints of Japanese society and succumb to the charm of Tenmangu slower pace of life and magical atmosphere.