207 Park Heim Yoga Itchome, 1-19-19 Yoga, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo-to
158, Japan.
Fall is the time for harvest festivals, and on November 5 the
Sanuki Engine Club put on a display at the ‘Karin Matsuri’
in Manno town, which is situated in Kagawa prefecture on the island
of Shikoku. A ‘karin’ is a Chinese quince, recognized for
its medicinal value, and these are a specialty of the town.
The display included several engines manufactured in Kagawa
prefecture, such as the ‘Orient,’ which was made in Enza,
as well as engines made in other parts of Japan. The sound
attracted farmers of the older generation, who remembered working
with these machines in their youth.
Hiroshi Kubo’s 1966 Mazda T600 three-wheeler pickup was
standing by, and during the course of the afternoon was called upon
to fetch an old engine offered by one of the visitors as being
surplus to his requirements. The engine was a single-flywheel
Yanmar diesel, and it was hard work to persuade the farmer to
accept a bottle of ‘sake,’ rice wine, in return for it. He
wanted to give us the engine for free.
The weather was warm for November, and everyone had an enjoyable
day, visitors and exhibitors alike. A harvest festival in Japan is
usually a joyful and noisy celebration, however I wonder what the
gods of the Kanno Shrine felt about this particular type of
celebration!
