Sushi, calligraphy and Shibuya Crossing: walk the course for today’s Olympic team showjumping qualifier

Olympic showjumping team course — (Image credit: Polly Bryan)

Spanish course-builder Santiago Varela has set a track of 14 beautifully decorated fences for tonight’s Tokyo Olympic team showjumping qualifier. The optimum time is 82 seconds.

Check out all the fences on the track for the Olympic team showjumping qualifier…

The harmonized chequered emblem, the logo for the 2020 Olympic Games, was produced by the Japanese designer Asao Tokoro. Composed of three varieties of rectangular shapes, the design represents different countries, cultures and ways of thinking. It incorporates the message of “unity in diversity”. It also expresses that the Olympic and Paralympic Games seek to promote diversity as a platform to connect the world.

Himeji-jo is the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture. It is located in Himeji City, in the Hyogo Prefecture, an area that has been an important transportation hub in West Japan since ancient times. The castle has been designated a National Treasure and UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. The castle property, situated on a hill summit in the central part of the Harima Plain, covers 107 hectares and comprises eighty-two buildings. It is centred on the Tenshu-gun, a complex made up of the donjon, keeps and connecting structures ,which are part of a highly developed system of defence and ingenious protection devices dating from the beginning of the Shogun period. The castle worked continuously as the centre of a feudal domain for almost three centuries, until 1868 when the Shogun fell, and a new national government was created. The principal complex of these structures is a masterpiece of construction in wood, combining function with aesthetic appeal.

Before trains and railway systems arrived in Japan, one of the main routes in Japan was the Tokaido Route, which connects Kyoto (Capital of the Empire) and Osaka with Edo (Tokyo). As a tribute to the Olympic Games celebrated in 1964, Japan developed something new, the Sinkansen or Bullet Train. For the year 2020, a new train has been developed, with a more dynamic design and higher performance, known as Shinkansen Supreme. As previous bullet trains, its first trip will complete the route Tokaido-Shinkansen.

Every year, during the month of January (normally on 6th and 7th) more than 400,000 Japanese reach the temple in search of a daruma for the incoming year. The Daruma is considered a motivational amulet. It is considered to be motivational because it motivates us and gives us strength so that we can achieve what we propose. The daruma is a representation of the objective that we have self-imposed, a way to remember, a motivation, so that we do not feel weak during the process. Fall seven times, come back eight.

Described as the busiest road intersection in the world (and definitely in Japan), Shibuya Crossing is like a giant beating heart, sending people in all directions with every pulsing light change. Hundreds of people – and at peak times reaching the estimated quantity of 3,000 people – cross at a time, coming from all directions at once, yet still managing to dodge each other with a practiced, nonchalant agility. It is located in Tokyo, the district that shares name with the city where we can find it, a popular commercial and leisure district.

Shirakawago and Gokayama (五箇山), both neighbour villages, were declared by the UNESCO in 1995 as Patrimony of Humanity. Both are surrounded by mountains and are well known for their typical houses ,which were built following the gassho-zukuri style (合掌造り), which consists of houses with a triangular rooftop with a high inclination degree made out of hay so that it can handle the heavy weight that the snow can exert upon it.

This immersed-tube tunnel beneath Tokyo Port was completed in 1976. It forms a crucial link in the Tokyo Port Metropolitan Expressway loop road that serves the Odaiba and Tokyo Bay waterfront areas. It is located on the Bayshore Route, the Tokyo metropolitan area expressway, which joins the prefectures of Kanagawa, Tokyo and Chiba. It joins the many artificial islands which compose Tokyo Bay throughout underwater bridges and tunnels. This route, along with the Aqua-line located in Tokyo Bay and the Ken-Ō Expressway, forms an outer ring around the metropolis (Tokyo), with a radius of 40-60 km and a length of about 300 km.

The “kintsugi” is a traditional technique used in Japan that dates of the second half of the 15th century. It gives a new life to the fragments of broken ceramics by joining them with a special enamel sprinkled with gold, silver or platinum, turning the different fractures into golden and visible scars. This turns its aesthetic essence into a more beautiful object than it was originally. It evokes the value of imperfection by making emphasis on its scars instead of concealing the lines of breakage, and by not hiding them, they become unique and more beautiful. It is one possible kind of life philosophy: when we are facing adversities and our errors, we must know how to recover, how to see the beauty in this imperfection (Japanese philosophy of Wabi-Sabi). We must also know how to lament only when we waste opportunities (the Mottainai sentiment), and most importantly, we must be able to accept changes.

Flamenco is a perfect representation of the fusion of Japanese and Spanish culture. Out from all the countries throughout the world, Japan is the one where they best understand Spanish Flamenco. Both cultures share some similarities, and Flamenco is the best way to represent this idea. Flamenco has been conceived not to be understood, but to be felt, it is a really expressive art. This jump is in some way, a tribute to the course designer team’s country.

The Kanzashi (簪) are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. They are fabricated from a wide range of materials such as lacquered wood, gold- and silver-plated metal, tortoiseshell and silk, and recently, plastic. Early bakelite kanzashi are highly valued as collectibles. There are several basic kanzashi styles that traditionally followed more complex hana (flower) and seasonal arrangements. Today these arrangements are only followed by maiko. Kanzashi were first used in Japan during the Jōmon period. During that time, a single thin rod or stick was considered to have mystical powers which could ward off evil spirits, so people would wear them in their hair. It came into wide use during the Edo period, when hairstyles became larger and more complicated, it required using a larger number of ornaments. Artisans began to produce more finely crafted products, including some hair ornaments that could be used as defensive weapons. During the latter part of the Edo period, the craftsmanship of kanzashi reached a high point, with many styles and designs being created.

Hanafuda is a Karuta deck of cards that were invented halfway through the XVI century. Card games were forbidden throughout all Japan, so Japanese people searched for an alternative and they came out with Hanafuda, a card game where the card numbers were now represented by the twelve months of the year. Reaching the end of the XVIII century cards were legalised again and Fusajiro Yamamuchi, a card-game lover, was so delighted that he opened a company whose objective was to sell high-class cards, the company’s name was Nintendo.

The Japanese understand gastronomy as an art. When cooking they always seek the harmony of all the ingredients and the presentation of these. Making sushi is a real spectacle in itself. Aesthetics always play an important role as they are a vital part when we are in search of this harmony. We begin to enjoy food through the sense of sight. Occasionally, on informal occasions soup and rice are eaten with some fish, shellfish and meat. When we prepare meals to be carried in the typical Bento boxes, it is common to include small portions of different types of food separated in different compartments. On more formal occasions, those “rules” that we follow when: presenting our dishes, choosing the food and the cooking of these; become much more stringent. One of the best-known set of rules is to use five colours: green, yellow, red, white and black; five flavours: sweet, salty, sour, hot & spicy and acid; and five kinds of cooking: raw, cooked, steamed, grilled/griddled and fried.

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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.

Sushi, calligraphy and Shibuya Crossing: walk the course for today’s Olympic team showjumping qualifier

Tokyo Olympics team showjumping qualifier course plan

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