Month: March 2015

Hanami

It was close! Our plane back to the US was to leave on the evening of March 25 and reports were that the cherry blossoms might begin to bloom in Tokyo at about that time. So, we took the train north on the 24th to be able to run into Tokyo on the day of our departure. We relied on what we learned online, rather than from the desk clerk at our Narita hotel (“no, that’s not until April”) and headed for Ueno Park where the cherry trees tend to bloom a day or two earlier than in other areas of Tokyo.
We were rewarded with lovely blooms on a number of mature trees at Ueno. We had seen the first blossoms on 3 varieties of small trees in a neighborhood park in Hirikata, but it takes a mature tree for a grand display.
The city is well prepared for people enjoying hanami or flower viewing. Areas are cordoned off to set up viewing parties and trash collection is exceptionally well organized. The crowds when the trees are at their peak must be as amazing to see as the trees!
Here, the sponsors get prominent billing for supporting the sakura (cherry tree) festival.
We didn’t remember seeing this Starbucks right in Ueno Park the last time we were here in November 2013. They were doing a wonderful business selling coffee and sakura cake!
We also ventured over to Shinjuku to visit a park we hadn’t seen during our last visit to Tokyo – Shinjuku Gyoen – known as one of Tokyo’s most beautiful parks and the best place in the country to view cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, we were a little too early for a good display.
Although it is never too early to appreciate the beautiful blossoms people look forward to each year and there is a new park for us to explore the next time we’re in Tokyo. With that, it was a train ride back to Narita and the long journey home.

A Writing Lesson

Learning to read and write Japanese is a far more daunting task than learning to read and write a Western language. For one thing, there are multiple systems of syllables and of characters to be learned, including kanji or the idea based writing system adapted from Chinese characters.
Here, Kyle has rendered “ocean” – a component of the meaning/sound combination he has developed to render an approximation of “Kyle” as a given name in the Japanese environment.
We were invited to join him for his calligraphy lesson, expecting that we would sit in the background as observers. Instead, the couple who are the other students in his class had generously provided us with materials and given us their instruction time to teach us the rudiments of writing kanji with traditional calligraphy tools. They are learning to write the kanji in an older style that is used traditionally for poetry. Their teacher’s granddaughter also joined us.
The evening’s lesson was to work on writing “momo” or “peach” (coincidentally our dog’s name). Comparing notes later, we had both reacted with some unspoken initial consternation because we knew how to write “momo” and this wasn’t it! Naturally, we knew how to write “momo” with hirigana and this was kanji. Oh well.
We got off to a rough start until some of the elements began to come together. The brush must be held perpendicular, not like a pen or pencil, and it must be held somewhat loosely to enable a relaxed and free stroke. And, one must push the brush into the paper, rather than dab at it. In the photos, none of us are really doing it correctly. Despite our reluctance to try it, we had fun and developed a bit of confidence, helped along by a little translation here and a few words in English or French there. It’s surprising how little language is needed, when it comes down to it.
It was also surprising how individualized and expressive each person’s take on momo could be, how each writing of the word captured a slightly different sensibility that all of us could admire.

Kanazawa

We were off for a weekend trip to Kanazawa. The train north goes alongside Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, and through the mountains. It’s a city with sprinklers on the main roads to wash away the significant snow falls of winter and a local saying that “even if you forget your lunchbox, don’t forget your umbrella.” We were, in fact, quite lucky because rain had been predicted, but we had none.

Kanazawa is a beautiful city with a well-preserved Edo era heritage, such as Kenrokuen or the Garden of Six Attributes in the heart of the city. Kenrokuen is often cited as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan.

Kanazawa Castle is across the road from the Garden. Ishikawa Gate is one of the few remaining original buildings from its 400+ year history.

On the other hand, the Myoryugi Temple or “Ninja” Temple is very well preserved and a hot tourist destination where reservations are required for no-cameras tours by fast-talking (Japanese only) guides who move groups along on the hour-long tours at an impressive pace. That said, seeing the temple was well worth it. It appears to be a two-story building from the outside, but is actually four stories in seven layers. It’s an ingeniously constructed wooden defensive bastion with secret rooms, hidden passageways, traps, and stairs through which to spear intruders (23 rooms, 29 staircases), besides being a continuously functioning place of worship.

It seems that everywhere we go in Japan is well-known for its food, especially seafood. Kanazawa is no exception, being on the sea and tucked up close to mountains (as is most of the country). We loved this fish egg lady in the fish market.
The oysters were enormous. If anything, the photo minimizes the size. The oyster itself in the ones pictured is easily 5 times as big as a good sized oyster on Cape Cod.
And, Kyle accepted the challenge.
We were pleased with lunch, whether raw shrimp (garnished with some of the gold for which Kanazawa is known) or soba or udon that you cooked and assembled yourself.
We started out Sunday morning by taking koto lessons Kyle had called to arrange. The simple song of Sakura was mastered only by Amanda. Jim was especially thrown by the notation being in kanji, reading the music vertically from right to left, and the lower notes being further away from the player – at least, that’s his excuse (and he’s sticking with it).
Sunday afternoon, before catching the train back to Kyoto, we strolled through the old entertainment district where tea houses with geishas have been almost entirely replaced by sweets shops and other stores more geared to the modern entertainment of sightseeing. However, take a look at the white van in the background of the middle picture. Amanda spotted a maiko (apprentice geisha) walking to the van and joining two other women inside. This was a rare spotting, as kimono-wearing by women is relatively common, but seeing a geisha or one of their apprentices on the street is certainly not.

In putting together this posting, we saw that we’d neglected to take a photo of the Kanazawa train station and so shamelessly poached this one off of the Internet. The public architecture, especially of train stations, is very nice indeed. In addition to this monumental tori, Kanazawa has a fountain in front of the station that spouts water to indicate the time and spell out messages. It’s a lot of fun and, of course, we were once again a little sad to leave yet another city. Add Kanazawa to the list of those worthy of a return visit. The numbers of foreign visitors, by the way, are likely to increase significantly because Shinkansen service to the city from Tokyo was just begun during our visit to Japan and Kanazawa seems to be the new “hot” destination.

Deterred by Fog & Rain

Naoshima will have to wait for another trip due to another foggy morning. There will always be things that are not quite complete and a visit to Naoshima and the other nearby small islands is a good reason to pay a return visit to Takamatsu and Shikoku. Wanting to stay a bit more dry than our day in Kotohira, we made for Japan’s largest wax museum – Takamatsu Heike Monogatari Wax Museum.

A wide variety of personalities are showcased, such as an important 9th century priest, a manga artist and a jazz singer.

But, the real draw of the museum is a series of dioramas dramatizing the rise and fall of the Heike clan in the 12th century, including depictions of the war between the Heike and and Genji clans. The key battle of the Gempei war was fought nearby, not far from the the Shikoku-mura we visited in Yashima. This photo doesn’t do justice to the posing of the diorama of samurais charging down a hill.

We were grateful for extensive signage in English all through the museum.
Nara was burned and 3500 people killed in a battle at Nara because the monks had assisted the Genji.
When the rain stopped, we made for Takamatsu Castle, built in 1587 and a short walk from our hotel.
It is one of three castles right on the Sea of Japan . . .
. . . and its moats are fed from the sea.
Sayabachi or Saya Bridge is one of the bridges allowing access to the central part of the castle.
In the park inside the castle there were a few wire baskets where one might expect to see trash receptacles. There were no trash receptacles, but the grounds were immaculate and the baskets were filled with the pine cones you would expect to see littering the ground. The Japanese aesthetic emphasizes wabi sabi or the sense of the flawed beauty of natural simplicity. One Western writer has noted that it “nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.” However, acknowledging that nothing is perfect isn’t the same as not striving for perfection in how life is organized and lived.

A Climb, a Shrine & Kabuki

Once again we were fogged out of Naoshima, so we took the train out to the town of Kotohira to investigate a popular shrine and an old Kabuki theater.
We followed the flow of pedestrians from the train station towards Kompira san or Kotohira-gu, the most popular Shinto shrine on Shikoku and said to have one of the most “difficult” approaches.
We should have taken the hint when we saw the men with the “kago” or litter for hire to carry people up the mountain.
The beginning of the climb merits some consultation.
Jim naively thought this must be our destination.
After all, other climbers were beginning to show signs of effort.
But, no, on we climbed.
Any chance to stop and take a picture was welcomed by everyone.

For some reason, there seemed to be elderly horses being taken care of at the shrine.

We felt the Asahi-sha was the most interesting building architecturally (if that’s a word).

The shrine is supported by people purchasing various fortunes or amulets.
Kompira san was founded in the 11th century and for centuries served as both Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple. When at the beginning of the Meiji period the government ordered a separation of the two religions, it became a shrine. However, it retains suggestions of both.

Another excuse to breath – this one a mythical creature.

Then upward. A total of 1,368 stone steps.

“Only” 785 steps to the main hall.

Kompira originated as a Hindu deity and found its way to Japan by way of China. Kompira is the protector of sailors, fishermen and all others who make a living from the sea (so there is a minisub here under cover).
We continued upward.
And upward.
Finally, as it began to rain, Kyle continued on his own . . .
. . . finding that at the top one can never reach the summit.
Kanamaruza, Japan’s oldest surviving and operating kabuki theater, was built in 1835. The names of the actors are featured on the white lanterns.
The actors enter the theater on this walkway . . .
. . . or are lifted up through this trapdoor by their colleagues . . .
. . . or through this one, also used for quick changes.

The percussion musicians are shielded from the audience.

Backstage . . .

. . . and under the stage the machinery is all there. Here is the turntable mechanism that can be used to rotate a large section of the main stage.

The contraption above the walkway is used for flying scenes. They’re all ready for the next performance. The man at the ticket booth handed Kyle a flyer on our way out.

On the way back to the station, we stopped off for a sweet potato soft serve ice cream as a reward for a strenuous day.

Ritsurin Garden, Takamatsu

This morning we walked through the fog past trucks lined up ready to load onto the ferry and through crowds of people to the ticket counter to purchase our tickets for Naoshima, the art island. We shouldn’t have been surprised at the news. “Our” boat was still at Naoshima and none of the ferries were going anywhere until after the fog lifted. So, we formulated Plan B, hoping for a decent sailing day tomorrow. We made for Ritsurin Garden.

The first stage of the gardens was constructed as a “strolling garden” in the 1620s by the feudal lord or “daimyo” of Takamatsu Domain. It was expanded over the next hundred years and then served as the Matsudaira family residence until the 1870s when it was opened to the public.

The black pines are especially magnificent and ancient. When we asked our volunteer guide about this one, he thought it was probably about 300 years old.

The crane and tortoise pine has been cultivated over hundreds of years with 110 rocks to (if the photo were better) suggest a crane spreading its wings on the back of a tortoise, both symbols of long life. It’s the most prized tree in the garden and is carefully shaped by the head gardener twice a year. A job that takes him two weeks, while other trees command a gardener’s attention for 3 or 4 days.

Another prized specimen is this oak tree that grew up in the decaying trunk of a pine so that when the pine tree finally sloughed away the now-exposed root structure became the trunk of the oak.

The tree on the left is known as the copper tree, being a graft of a black pine (man tree) on the right and a red pine (woman tree) on the left. The needles of a black pine are considerably tougher than those of the red pine, although that has nothing to do with the toughness of the plant, as the red pine has thrived much more in this pairing. Our guide had a good laugh.

Rocks feature prominently in the garden and are highly valued. Some were extravagant gifts to the daimyo. One that was not in a very photogenic setting was brought all the way from Korea and was huge.

An artificial waterfall was constructed opposite one of the tea houses so that guests might enjoy the pleasant sound.

This tea house, actually, that was originally built by the second feudal lord of the Matsudaira clan.
A number of tea houses grace the grounds.

These trees were brought from Okinawa, but grow much larger in Takamatsu because they keep being ravaged by typhoons on Okinawa.

Black and white stepping stones modeled on the game of Go.
A reflecting pond . . .
on the other side of this tea house, the Kikugetsu-tei – the name having been inspired by an old Chinese poem: “When I scoop up the water, I hold the moon in my hands.”

A potted bonsai tree when given as a gift in 1833.

Thermal springs allow iris to bloom in March.
 
As a parting shot, we bring you blossoming plum trees. The Sakura or blooming of the cherry trees will be in about a week.

Nagasaki

Nagasaki has a lot to offer for a small city. Perhaps that’s why it seemed to be full of Japanese tourists, clutching their one day passes, just as uncertain about the streetcar route as we were.

Dejima had been an artificial island ordered constructed just off Nagasaki in 1634 by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu to isolate foreigners, specifically the merchants and seamen facilitating the trickle of foreign trade. (You may remember Tokugawa from some of our postings in 2013.) Initially it was the Portuguese, then the Dutch, who inhabited the island for a rent of roughly $1 million a year. When Napoleon swept into the Netherlands and the Dutch lost their overseas possessions to Britain, Dejima became the only place in the world where the Dutch flag flew from 1811 through 1814.

Some school kids dressed up in Komonos take a break to enjoy cotton candy. The handy excuse for the attraction was a sugar warehouse where the Dutch stored this inbound commodity.
With the gradual reclamation of land from the harbor, Dejima is no longer an island. However, the long range plan is to restore it so thoroughly that it will once again be completely surrounded by water.

There are many attractive exhibits and signage in English is very good. This tiny European outpost played an outsized role in the opening of Japan to the technologies and cultures of the outside world. These are some of the plants introduced from Europe.

Still an island is Hashima, uninhabited until 1810 when coal was discovered and the island began to be developed, and better known to the Japanese as Gunkanshima or “Battleship Island.”

From certain angles the island does look like a battleship, although it is more akin to an offshore oil rig. The coal mine under the sea bed extends far beyond the outline of the island above. It operated until 1974 and supported a mini city on the island that had the highest population density of any place on earth. The island was expanded to accomodate the workers needed by the mine, and their families, by moving sea walls further out over the years so that it is now three times its original size.
Our guide sought out people who had lived on the island and they all told him that Hashima was a fun place to live. They had the highest adoption of electronic devices in Japan and lots of organized activities, including a swimming pool. Of course, the teenagers simply dove into the sea.
The force of typhoons since 1974 has devastated the island and compromised the 30′ + sea walls. Tourists are kept well away from the crumbling buildings.
We don’t know how this fisherman reached his perch and hadn’t actually noticed him until we reviewed the day’s photos.
At the Peace Park we met a man who survived the bomb only because his foreman had reassigned him to a different area of his factory just before the explosion. The complicated posture of the Peace Statue is explained as the right hand extended up in a warning against nuclear weapons, the left arm extended out in a gesture for world peace, the legs signifying both meditation and an aggressive stance to protect the world and the eyes closed in meditation.
The Jesuits arrived in Japan in 1549. Both the Shogunate and Imperial government granted permission to found a mission, apparently motivated by a desire to help counter the influence of the Buddhist monks and to encourage a trade relationship with Spain and Portugal. After seeing that Spain had taken over the Phillipines after converting the population, however, the Shogunate recognized Catholicism as a threat and banned Christianity. In 1597, Hideyoshi Toyotomi ordered the crucifixion of 26 Christians at Nagasaki – 6 Franciscan missionaries, 3 Japanese Jesuits, and 17 Japanese laypeople. They were arrested in Osaka and Kyoto then marched to Nagasaki through the snow so that their crucifixion might be a warning to Nagasaki’s large Christian population. Persecution continued through the 17th century and the church was driven underground until the reopening of Japan in the 19th century.
Yes, the architect of St. Philip Church traveled to Europe to study with Corbusier and was influenced by Gaudi. He converted to Catholicism.
The view at night from the mountains rimming the city and the harbor is . . . well, you may supply your own words.

 

Saga & the Yoshinogari Historical Park

At the Yoshinogari-koen train station, just three stops from downtown Saga, the tourist office lends bicycles for the 1/2 mile trek to the entrance to the historical park. It’s a nice ride through local rice fields.
Once inside the park, one of the first things to strike you is the seriousness of the ancient fortifications.
It reminded us of The Seven Samurai, the Kurasawa film, with row upon row of pointed stakes to blunt a mounted attack.
The reconstruction at Yoshinogari is the largest in Japan of a prehistoric moated village. It dates from the Yayoi period, roughly 500 B.C. to 200 A.D., and is unusual for covering all of the Yayoi period.
The reconstructed area is quite extensive and there is a shuttle bus to help people get around. From the size of the tour bus parking area, we were happy to have been there during the off-season.
Storage buildings were elevated. Habitations were dug into the ground to take advantage of the natural cooling and heating that comes from being in the ground. Ceremonial buildings seem to have been elevated And, of course, so were all of the watch towers and elaborate defensive positions.
We briefly joined a Yayoi king and his wife. The volunteer guide (day job: helicopter pilot for the Self-Defense Force) who briefly befriended us confided that the king’s wife is sitting Korean style (one knee raised). Scholarship indicates that the Yayoi swept into Japan from either Korea (the leading theory) or China near the Yangtze River, mostly displacing the native population (today’s Ainu).
An arms storage building for the very well-defended settlement.
Burial jars.
Birds on top of gates or tori are everywhere through the reconstruction. Birds with wings down indicate defense, while wings out signifies attack (or some such thing, according to the volunteer guide). Yoshinogari was well worth the visit.
Back in Saga, we walked to Saga Castle – also a reconstruction. It’s the largest wooden building in Japan and a special exemption was obtained for its reconstruction because it significantly exceeds the maximum size permitted for wooden buildings. Having now been in a number of large wooden castles and temples, it was interesting only for its dimensions.
Dinner was in a private room at a restaurant near the hotel, allowing us to unwind a bit.

Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka

Fukuoka – as the gateway to Kyushu – is also a gateway to Asia for Japan, with important connections by sea. The Asian Art Museum is dedicated to the art of contemporary Asia. We were drawn to the works we wouldn’t equally expect to see in Berlin or New York. To us, they were the most interesting and appealing.

Of course, we actually saw some of this Chinese artist’s work in Philadelphia and also loved it then. He explodes gunpowder to create the bursts.
A Thai artist, innovating from a Buddhist tradition.
The only title we can remember: “8 Strokes”, by a Korean artist now living in Germany and executed in 8 strokes.
A Bangladeshi artist uses traditional tapestry techniques to depict something of village life.
An Indian rickshaw painter creates works that can be enjoyed next to canvas hanging on a wall.
As a bonus to our day in Fukuoka, we stumbled upon the rehearsal of a string trio with piano and sat down to listen before heading back to our hotel.

Otaimatsu at Nara

Before Tokyo (Edo) was the capital of Japan there was Kyoto and before Kyoto there was Nara and at Nara for more than 1,250 years there has been Otaimatsu each year at Todaiji Temple.

The Temple precinct of Nara feels like the ancient capital it is, well-worn and burnished by time. Up a slope within the Temple complex is Nigatsudo Hall.

We came to experience a unique Buddhist ceremony. Eleven monks come to stay at the Temple to pray for peace and cleanse the world of sin. Bamboo poles are donated to the temple and the donor’s names are written on them. These poles are then transformed into torches with baskets attached to one end ready to be ignited for the ceremony.

Awaiting the night, people stand or kneel at the foot of the hall in the hope that sparks soon to come will land on them and protect them for the coming year. Upon the conclusion of the festival spring will have arrived. In preparation, workers with water tanks on their backs wet down the sides of the wooden structure and the slope just above the onlookers. Fire has destroyed quite a few temples in Japan, although they are quickly and faithfully rebuilt.

Each night during the annual festival the monks carry ten of the giant torches up into the hall, run across the upper porch and, culminating the firey display, waving the torches in circles and showering the crowd below with sparks, bringing oohs and ahs. Men with brooms patrol the porch above the crowd along the wooden wall, brushing the embers away.

After the ceremony the crowd goes up the steps and into the Hall, looking for bits of ashes to improve their prospects for the year . . .

and then head home.