What does this holiday mean for me? Not a whole lot. Except that Hitomi-san has the day off and asked me if I wanted to join her family on a visit to the Japan Snake Center, which for some reason is located in Gunma-ken. It's the only snake zoo in Japan, and it also has a snake-bite treatment clinic where antivenom is made (the only such clinic in Japan, according to Hitomi-san). When she said family, I was under the impression that it would be her, her daughter, and her mother, since that's who she mentioned. As it turned out, it was pretty much her ENTIRE family: sister-in-law and two kids + sister, brother-in-law, and two kids. Of course, they were all very nice people, and the kids were shy at first with me, but got used to me after a while.
Hitomi-san asked me several times if I was okay with snakes, and I replied that I was. After all, a snake is just a snake, and I have no problem with that. Just don't invite me to a spider farm. I get why snakes freak people out, but there's something incredibly beautiful about them, the gracefulness of them, the quickness.
Apparently, back in September, a man in Tokyo was found to have ~50 snakes (most of them poisonous) in his condo. This was discovered when he was bitten by one - a green mamba, easily one of the most poisonous snakes in the world - and had to go to the hospital for treatment. The snakes were confiscated and brought to the Center, because it isn't done to destroy them. According to Hitomi-san, snakes are seen as gods - I'm not sure if this is part of a nature as kami thing or if it's something more specific, with snakes holding an important role in the belief system. One of my students did tell me that putting a piece of snakeskin in your wallet is said to bring you more money, so maybe snakes have something to do with wealth? Either way, the snakes had to be found and home, and the Center is where they went. Of course, the Center had plenty of snakes already, but apparently, this added to their collection, particularly in the area of cobras.
This is the statue of the Goddess of Mercy (who may or may not be the Benzuiten of the Seven Lucky Gods, I haven't figured that all out yet). She has a snake coiled up at her feet. From what little information I can find, Benzuiten may be able to turn into a snake; at the least, she's often associated with serpents. Women and snakes are often seen as related in Shinto, and as with many other aspects of the religion, this does not mean that they are all evil or all good. Shinto is pretty gray about things, which is maybe why I like it so much. I'm still doing some research into this, but what I've found is interesting, just scanty. The highlight of this trip was really the opportunity to hold a snake and get your picture taken with it, whichis pretty mundane when you think about it. Off the top of my head, I can count on both hands enough places in Florida where you can do this. Nobody in Hitomi-san's family wanted to do it, and when she asked me if I wanted to, I said, "If you do it with me." I enjoy making life amusing for Japanese people, which is fairly easy to do - all you have to do is agree to do anything that most people won't do. I'm pretty sure some of the other Japanese visitors there also took pictures of me holding this snake.
I hope I don't look nervous in this picture, because I wasn't really. I was in some pain because the snake was laying on my hair and pulled at it whenever it moved, and I'm fairly sensitive about hair-pulling. Also, the snake guy kept telling me not to touch the snake - which makes perfect sense - but instinct kept telling me otherwise. Besides, snakes are nice to touch. This one kept climbing back up my shoulder toward Hitomi-san, which was hilarious because she truly was terrified of it. She wouldn't even touch it.
After that, we watched a noon feeding (mmm, mice), which prompted one of Hitomi-san's nephews to be physically ill. That kind of brought the mood down some. There wasn't much left to do anyway - the zoo consisted of three reptile houses, three empty reptile pens, and a small gift shop. I ate lunch with Hitomi-san and her daughter (mmm, ramen and gyoza - much better than mice), and then she drove me back to Isesaki and dropped me off at Beisia, the grocery store, so I could pick up a couple of things.
And thus came the last interesting thing that happened to me today: it snowed on me on the way home from Beisia. Not a lot, and certainly not enough to cover the ground, especially considering that each flake melted upon impact. But it flurried a little bit.
That was my holiday Monday. I'm still a little sickly, but I feel much better than I did yesterday, when I was all nasty and congested. Should be back to normal soon, with any luck.
(with thanks to Shel Silverstein: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Shel-Silverstein/19765)
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