The tradition of firewatch in Japan may have begun in the seventeenth century when night watchmen would walk through the streets hitting clappers to remind people to put out cooking fires before sleeping. This was very important for houses made of wood and paper. Even today, on the eve of the new year in Japan, a group of volunteers will patrol neighborhoods, hitting their clappers and chanting hi no yo jin: be careful with fire!
Years ago the founder of San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, represented that phrase in Japanese calligraphy in the piece shown here. It ... reminds us that the traditional warning is as relevant as ever. Fire can both destroy and serve, protect and harm, nourish and deplete. We must balance proper use of fire with its proper care.
Text above and presentation from a SFZC fundraising email sent 12/14/15
Hi no youjin 火乃用心。- thanks Shohaku Okumura
"When Shunryu Suzuki arrived at Tassajara, he'd go right away to the zendo to offer incense and do bows. He'd do the same before leaving. At one such time after having driven him in, I handed him a lit stick of incense at the altar, and before he bowed, he turned to me and said, "Many temples in Japan have burned down from one stick of incense."
Here is a collection of the history of fire in the Tassajara area dating back as early as 1902. By David Chadwick.
Flag Rock and Tassajara 2008 ~ Photo by Shundo David Haye
Photos from Soberanes Fire, 2016:
Apache Crew
Alpine Hotshots
Tassajara residents the Apache crew, three engine crews including the Angel Fire and Farmington Fire from New Mexico and Benson Fire from Arizona