The Way of the Brush (Shodo)

 Ibata sensei

Ibata senei's brushes

Shotei Ibata's studio

31 March 2012

For the past four weeks, we have embarked on a new learning adventure: shoto, or the way of the brush (calligraphy).  Our Japanese tutor introduced us to our teacher, Shotei Ibata.  For reasons best known to himself, since he is an eminent artist and teacher, he agreed to meet with us in his studio and teach us the rudiments of holding the brush, mixing ink, making lines, and then simple Kanji and Hiriagana.   Feeling very clumsy, the equivalent in brush work of trying to get out a Japanese sentence, we spent a wonderful, peaceful hour and a half in his studio each week - we making awkward lines and characters, he cheerfully showing us a more proper way with his vermilion ink, and saying "oh, betta" from time to time to encourage us.   We hope we may continue to study calligraphy in Boston.  At the end, he and his wife took us out to sushi dinner, a great kindness. 

In his younger years, Ibata-sensei was a world-wide performance artist, combining music (heavy metal his preferred style), dance and large brush paintings on the floor.  His biggest brush was made from the tails of several horses.  He still teaches and and gives demonstrations in his studio.  We felt pleasded to buy a wood block print of a rooster in the wind, with the calligraphy saying "spring wind."

Love to all

Hokusai Prints and Manga

24 March 2012

This is the 250th year anniversary of Hokusai's birth.  The Museum of Kyoto held a wonderful exhibit of prints and manga, on loan for the first time from the Honolulu Academy of Arts (having been donated there by James Mitchner).  It was a spectacular collection, and one could have easily spent days peering at each print, thinking about marvelous color and design, the fascinating details of daily life, the many different scenes of Japan and so on.  I restrained myself to just the eight pictures above, but that was difficult.

It was a great way to spend a cold and rainy spring day.

Much love to all.

Evening out in Oksaka

Osaka - Dotombori District

20 March 2012

We took the train to Osaka for an impromptu dinner with Giovanni and his Italian mathematician friend Philippo.  After some homestyle food (Izakaya), we walked to the the Dotombori district - a sort of neon madness which one guide book describes as the "survival of the flashiest."  I think that means shops and people.  The best people watching ever!

Much love

Ise Grand Shrine and Meotoiwa (Wedded Rocks)

Hoshidekan Ryokan

Bridge at Ise Inner Shrine

Ise Inner Shrine

Meotoiwa

17-18 March 20

We decided to take a last weekend trip before our move, and chose the Ise Peninsula, the site of Japan's noblest shrine, Jingu, the spiritual home of Japanese people.  The ancient shrine is comprised of two sites, and outer shrine, Geku, devoted to Omikami, deity of the protection of food, and the inner shrine, Naiku, devoted to Amarterasu (the supreme ancestral deity of the Japanese Imperial Family).  Amarterasu was thought to be enshrined in this location in the forest about 2000 years ago.  Amarterasu is the symbol of the sun and the deity that nurtures peace and harmony.  We found the shrines to be beautifully austere, nestled among ancient Cypress trees (Cryptomeria).  The architecture is more representative of the ancient Japanese style.  Gold leaf is only apparent on roof supports, and there is little decoration.  Shrine are rebuilt every 20 years in accordance with Shinto beliefs.  After visiting the shrines we returned to the old ryokan where we were staying, a wonderful old rambling building with a lovely interior garden with a water koto.  After dinner we were treated to listening to some OLD records of Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong etc which the inn keeper played on an ancient wind up record player!  Great!

Next day we took the bus to Futamiura, famous for the Meotoiwa (wedded rocks) and the Futami Okitama Shrine ("Frog shrine"), devoted to the sanctity of marriage.  The rocks are part of the shrine, and are dedicated to Izanagi and Izanami (the marriage of the creator gods).  They have been tied with a rice straw rope (Shimenawa) for thousands of years and the rope is changes about 3 times a year by the monks and visitors.  You can guess which rock is the man and which the woman.  The Japanese word for frog is kaeru, which is the same as the verb for to return or come back...There were dozens of frog statues of every description and size.  We ate some exquisite grilled-in-the-shell oysters from Ise, certainly the best we have ever tasted - plump and tender, just barely boiled in their own juice) before getting on the bus again.

We took a walk in the Kawasaki, the old section of Ise by the river, poked into some little shops, and headed for the train home.

Love to all

Kamogawa Kai (International Friendship Group)

Detail of Screen showing Game of Chance

Repaired Roof of Founder's Hall

Repairing the Roof of Amida Hall

14 March 2012

Kamogawa Kai is an organization devoted to organizing trips and cultural events for foreign visitors to Kyoto.  The March trip was a tour of Higashi Hongan ji Temple, devoted to the memory of the Buddhist teacher, Honan, who died in 1262.  It is a magnificent wooden temple complex, currently under renovation (see above photo).  We were fortunate to be able to see many of the inner areas of the temple including beautiful tea rooms, with screens we could walk right up to (almost never possible at most temples where you see them in a dark room from a distance).  It was a great privilege.  The temple is also known for its hair ropes, made from the donated hair of female followers from all over Japan and used to transport the huge beams (hair makes hemp ropes much stronger).  The last stop was the Shosei-en detached garden surrounded by a marvelous stone wall.

Bye Bye Genpatsu (Nuclear Power Plant): Protest in Kyoto

10 March 2012

The question of nuclear power in Japan is complex, and a deeply emotional question for the Japanese, and there is clearly growing antinuclear sentiment.  The day before the first anniversary of the Great Eastern Earthquake and Fukushima disaster, there was an energetic protest march in Kyoto against nuclear power which started in Maruyama Park.  We decided to join in, having been given balloons and yellow flowers by other participants and made to feel welcome.  The participants were young and old, monks, babies in strollers, families, etc.  There were many explicit banners, some amusing costumes, musical encouragement.  Everyone was headed to Kyoto City Hall with a sense of purpose but orderly in typical Japanese fashion.  We did not get that far, but were glad to have participated.

We send all our love

Our Dinner Invitations

Five Story Pagoda at Horyu-ji

Satoki and his JR Train Set

Harada-san, Ryosuke-san, and Win at Horyu-ji

9 &13 March 2012

Now that we are getting ready to leave, our social life is heating up.  We've had four dinners in Japanese houses, which is a lot.  Only family and close friends are invited "home", so we are honored.  Once in the house, one is shown all the "special" things such as treasures from trips abroad, the small garden, the bonsai, and always, the photographs.  We didn't bring ours, which we've regretted, though we're not really sure if guests should show photos or focus on admiring the ones they are shown.  There is a kind of cozy intimacy "at home" that is charming and makes us want to cry.  In Japan, "how" you are depends on "where" you are.  Our issue, of deciding "how we really feel", and how and whether to express that seems to be a less conflicted matter (we think; we don't know).

One of our invitations was to visit one of my students in Nara, Japan's capitol city before 794CE.  While there we visited his favorite temple, Horyuji, a vast and peaceful place, bult in about 607CE, and dedicated to the life of Prince Shotoku who was one of the early advocates of Buddhism in Japan.  It may, or may not, have burned down in 670CE, but has stood since that time, giving it some claim to the title of the oldest wooden structure in the world.

Love to all,

Boston "Baked" Beans at Kinokuni Children's Village

12 March 2012

Nami-sensei, our Japanese tutor, teaches part time at Kino Kuni Children's Village, an alternative school for grades 1-12 located in a remote, mountainous setting.  (Above photos are not mine.)  The school's founder was deeply influenced by the writing of John Dewey and especially A.S.Neill (founder of Summerhill in England).  The school, as I understand it, is an open and democratic community (eg teachers are not addressed as so-and-so-sensei, no uniforms etc) which stresses the dignity of each child.  The children learn from projects, which include architecture, construction, farming, theatre, crafts, and, of course, cooking.  Classes all include children of various ages, and are often facilitated by students themselves instead of teachers.  There are also formal academics in the schedule, mostly interdisciplinary.  80% of the students board, even 6 year olds (!), going home each weekend for 3 nights.  The physical setting is definetely rough, but computers seem plentiful.  In one elementary school class I observed, children were studying India, and seemed to be giving reports on a variety of topics, while the teacher used the opportunity to practice writing, teach about time changes around the world, do geography, talk about the size of Bengal tigers etc etc.  The class lasted an hour and a half.  Older kids look out for the younger ones.    

My assigned role in the morning was to join the lower/middle school cooking class, where the children have been learning about the use of beans in various cultures (they had made tofu, shoyu, miso from soy beans, cooked "Mexican chili" and "Brazilian black beans" and now it was time for BOSTON BAKED BEANS!).  So armed with molasses and Worcestershire sauce brought over by Tim and Marg, and with the rest of the ingredients supplied by the school and the beans boiled earlier in the morning, we went to work.  The onions and bacon were perfectly diced and cubed by small children wielding sharp knives.  With no measuring, we added all the necessary ketsup, mustard, molasses, etc, etc, put the pot on the stove, boiled the mess for a while, and ended up with something remarkably like baked beans!!!!  This was a big relief to me, since every recipe calls for 5 hours of baking.  Then we had questions about American food and the role of beans...I described Native Americans helping the Pilgrims keep from starving in 1621, then about Thanksgiving (no one eats turkey in Japan), taught them to say Massachusetts (!), was asked it that was near the Kennedy Space Center, and then we all had lunch and ate beans.

I had a great time, wished I could learn more about the school.  It is so different from the usual school here, where children all wear blazers, knee socks neatly pulled up, pleated skirts, shorts for little boys, sometimes sailor shirts, ties etc.  In some schools, older boys wear military type uniforms.   Summerhill it is not for most Japanese kids.

Arrived back in time to have a great last dinner with Tim and Marg at Iroha, a lovely Suki yaki restaurant on Pontocho.  We all enjoyed the meal, and have become accustomed to dipping the cooked meat and vegetables into raw egg.  

With love

Tim and Marg Arrive: Our First Guests

Tim, Marg and Sachiko

Heian Garden

Heian Garden

Rain on Ume Blossom

Four young Maiko and B & W

1-5 March 2012

Tim and Marg arrived last Thursday evening. We went to dinner at our local restaurant and put them to bed.  The next day was rainy, but we were enthusiastic.   Tim and Marg bought see-through umbrellas, and off we went.  We started at Nishiki market, where Tim and Marg were amazed by the many strange vegetables and sea food, sampled pickles, etc.  We went to the Heian Shrine in the afternoon and had a leisurely walk in the foggy, drizzly Heian garden (see photos above).  It was, uncharacteristically, almost deserted at this time of year. Dinner was at a nearby conveyor belt restaurant (sushi), in a hotel, with a "happy" kanuki out front.  Marg giggled. Saturday the weather improved.  We went to Nijo Castle in the morning, walking along the corridors with their singing "nightingale" floors,  and exploring the large, subtle garden and moats.  Then we met Sachiko,  a business woman in her 20's, who came all the way from Tokyo for lunch. She had stayed with Tim and Marg several years ago, when she was an exchange student at the Gulf Breeze Middle School.  We had lunch at Omen,  an old,  famous, udon  restaurant. We spent the sunny afternoon seeing Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavillion) and strolling down the Philosopher's Walk.  Dinner was at Giro Giro, Kyoto's popular kaiseki restaurant, where we sat at the counter and not only enjoyed the food, but had ring-side seats for the performance of four guys and a girl, cooking, serving, and cleaning up, joking and shouting in their closet sized  kitchen.

The rain returned on Sunday, but we went to Gion in the morning.  Being a "pleasure quarter", Gion is dead on a Sunday morning, but much to our surprise, at the Simbashi Bridge, along came four young Maiko (apprentice geisha) and a photographer, who encouraged us to pose!  Hence the above photo.   Then we went to Chion-in Temple (the center of Pure Land Buddhism in Japan) and watched a service for a while, then walked through more of Gion, and then to Kasagi-ya, a very old, small, dark tea shop, for tea and sweets (Tim and Win just about filled the entire space) We ended our walk by the Yasaka Pagoda and came home for a rest.  We had dinner at one of Kyoto's oldest tempura restaurants: Takasebune.  After dinner we walked up Pontocho in the rain, passing up the many "soaplands" and "lady's bars" and took a taxi home.  Tim and Marg left Monday morning in the train for Nara, taking (still needing) their new umbrellas, and our Japanese phrase book.  Unless we have to go out and rescue them, we will meet their train when they come back to Kyoto next week.

We send love

Flea Market in the Rain

Food stalls at Flea Market

Hoping for luck

Measuring out roasted Ginko nuts

Lunch with Tonomi Noda

25 February 2012

Saturday a week ago we went in the rain to Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine to see the plum blossoms (please see earlier entry) and the flea market.  We didn't buy much, but as always enjoyed the colorful commotion and marveled at the vast variety of items and street foods for sale. 

I include a photo of a psycholodgy student Win met with whom we had a very enjoyable Italian lunch.  In spite of our mutual language impediments, we managed to talk with Tonomi-san about her work with autistic adults and a little about her own life.

We send love

Lunch with two Araki-sensei

The Araki-sensei

Izusen temple restaurant - nesting bowls

Zen Garden at Daitoku-ji

28 February 2012

Soon after we arrived at Shugakuin International House, I started attending a weekly Japanese conversation class run by Araki-senesei, a charming, and multi-lingual woman, somewhere near my own age.  Win comes when he can.  Our conversation group is an an ever-changing mix of foreigners and their partners, most from China and the Indian sub-continent.  She teaches us how to be polite,  how to introduce ourselves,  how to ask simple questions,  and how to describe our hobbies, which is a vital component of introductory Japanese conversation.  She sneaks in a surprising amount of grammar and vocabulary.  She also teaches us about the national holidays and festivals, which happen at least every other week. She teaches us about food and tea. Sometimes, like the primary schoolers we are here in Japan, we have hands-on sessions where we cook little things, and fold paper. She has been true life line for me.

I suggested we go out to lunch together sometime.  Thus she and her husband, a retired mathematics professor (Princeton Ph.D. in the time of Albert Einstein) from Kyoto University, our American friend Berg (a soon-to-be Sandskrit Ph.D.), Win and I went out to lunch at a "famous" temple restaurant called Izusen, at Daitoko-ji Temple. Temple restaurants are always vegetarian.  We had about 30 items, arranged in about five courses. At the end of the meal we each had before us, in addition to many other small plates and bowls, a beautiful set of about eight nesting red lacquer bowls, which, under the guidance of our mathematician co-host, we put into lovely order when the meal was over.  

Then we passed some charming hours in the afternoon walking through one of Kyoto's major dry landscape Zen gardens.  We ended with tea at a traditional tea house, and a stroll to the bus.

I will greatly miss Araki-sensei when we leave.

Love to all