Okayama: Momotaro`s Hometown

I left on a Friday. A speeding train across the underbelly of the Great Seto Inland Sea Bridge. The weather was lovely, and the islands drifted above the nearby Seto Island sea like clouds leisurely cruising through the pale. The sunset backlit the scene, from the West, dipping behind the islands as though they were clouds obscuring all from view but the pink champagne and violet purple streaks across the lower back of the sky. It was the perfect beginning to a trip off Shikoku.

Location: Okayama (B)
That being said, my actual arrival in Okayama was fraught with doubt. Although it was a Friday night, the entire city was hushed, with even the street in front of the station muted--if this was the transportation hub of Central-West Japan, like I imagined it to be, where were the crowds of people, the hustle and bustle to go to and from bars and clubs and karaoke joints near the station? I hopped on a
streetcar and set off to find my favorite, internet cafe for my overnight stay. But first, I got lost. In heels.











After wandering with my 2 1/2 inch babies down 4 city blocks down a deserted arcade street, and down the back alley where the bus terminal/internet cafe was(n't), I found an Indian restaurant. The craving for curry superseding all else, I plopped myself down and ordered a spicy curry.
The curry wasn't spicy.
I also asked for directions to the bus terminal (/internet cafe)
I got directions on how to get back to the train station.
After that illustrious beginning, my fortune changed when I passed a Koban (police office box, here in Japan there are stations for police to wait and monitor the area, and they also give directions to lost people. They usually give directions..thats why there's a million maps in their windows and you can't miss them! Thanks po-pos!) And they pointed me toward the bus terminal. There I found my internet cafe--but not before popping into Starbucks!--and settled in for the night.







Next day I threw my bags in a locker, grabbed some breakfast on the go and headed out for the garden on the edge of the river. Short bus ride later, I was entering Ko-rakuen (a reference to pleasure after affairs of the state, a quote by Confucius) and what a pleasure it was! At 9:00 in the morning, not crowded at all, and with gorgeous sunny weather too! I took it easy, wandering through secluded forests glades with teahouses at every turn, over a Monet-esque bridge over water-lily filled ponds, across scenic stretches of open land with commanding views up to the castle, and even a look over the entire garden from a central bluff. After a stop to enjoy the pleasant surroundings with some strong (matcha) green tea, I wandered to the back of the garden where the plum trees and maples could be found, and wandered through a strange outdoor pavillion cut in two with a stream running through it, on the side of which were irises springing from a pond with a zig-zag, Tale of Genji-inspired footbridge running through it. There were forests of rustling bamboo stalks 20 ft tall, and shady coves with mini shrines to the Jizo bodhisattvas.































Then, it was around the corner to the river that divides the garden from the rest of the city, which has the lovely black Crow Castle standing guard over it. I would feel pretty cool if I was in the shadow of that castle. I'd probably offer it a peach, too, just like this kid is doing. (Actually, this kid is MomoTaro, or the little peach boy, from the legendary Japanese folk tale.) I hung out here snapped this shot and relaxed for a little bit before heading over and into the castle. Walked across the river and entered the castle keep, heading up through the gates and into the restored castle. it was pretty formidable. Luckily the inside not so much, as there was an elevator to shuffle me up to the top floor and I could leisurely drift back down. The display inside is pretty boring, and useless if you dont read Japanese, but the pictures of all of Japan's castles, and the palanquin that they used to carry the noble family in (that I got to take this picture with) made it semi-worth the stop. I headed out of the castle and back out into the beautiful weather, but not before snapping this awesome view of the park from the top floor of the castle's interior. After admiring the castle one more time from outside, I headed along the river before coming upon this sculpture park, at the junction of the riverside walk and Momotaro St. From there I headed right up the street to the Museum of the Orient, where I unexpectedly arrived at the beginning a tour of the ancient Near East history section. It was like having a listening comprehension test and a history lesson, all in one. Who knew the first wheat (=beer) was brewed...er, harvested, in the Middle East thousands of years ago? I do now. There were interesting shaped pitchers, bowls, and even seals for documentation. Then I headed upstairs for the special exhibit on Persia, with artifacts from Iran through the ages. Some were very sophisticated, and I appreciated their fine glazes and extraordinary detailing of scenes and miniatures. Even better, upstairs there was a cafe where I could enjoy something I had never tried before (despite serving it multiple times at Alsolymania hookah bar in Journal Sq...) arabic coffee! So I ordered myself a fingel masboot and waited for her to bring it over and pour it..it was so much richer than average instant coffee, like with actual complex flavors. If that's real coffee, I might become a coffee drinker. Oh the wonderful things we have received from the cradle of the world!In the cafe, I got to have a talk with a Japanese guy with impeccable English who was delivering a lecture later that day on glass and glassware as it had traveled from the Middle East along the Silk Road until the methods arrived in Japan. While I didn't stick around for the lecture, he was a cool enough guy, and mentioned his interest in Middle Eastern culture and the fact that he lived in Africa for two years when he was younger, where they spoke french and arabic, but not english. I think it must have been an interesting juxtaposition, Japanese and Arabic cultures, but not so different. They are both very hospitable and welcoming to guests, after all.






















Then, it was off to do some shopping in the arcade, where I met a really nice girl, Hitomi, who is currently studying English in Okayama. I gave her my email address and told her to look me up and to definitely come to New York City! I think it's just a really mind-blowing place for the Japanese, even after Tokyo--New York must seem really wild and untamed to the average Japanese, I think (maybe its wishful thinking haha) but she was really sweet, and I picked up some clothes I desperately needed for zazen the next day. Then I stopped by the bookstore, and finally I surprised myself by running into the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, and as there was a current exhibition on Angkor Wat in Cambodia, I popped in and looked around. Pictures weren't allowed, but I did manage to sketch a couple of the more interesting pictures. There were lots of Hindu references, including some finely detailed panels from the Cambodian version of the Ramayana. Even more interesting were the facial features on the Vishnus, Lakshmis, and Buddhas ... they were very soft and with wide faces, looking more pacific islander than mainland Asian. It was definitely a style I've never seen before...even more interesting were the gold leafmetal shadow puppet looking sculptures toward the end of the exhibit. With the precision of the tips of the figures, I can see how shadow puppetry must be really exciting to witness there.

Finally, that was the apex of my picture taking, at the end of the day it was one last look at the lit castle at nighttime, then an early bedtime. The next morning I was up and on the bus for 6:12 to Sougenji, the temple on the outskirts of Okayama where I had read there was a free weekly zazen meditation on Sunday mornings. And so i arrived, slipped out of my heels, got a refresher course, and then did the one hour meditation (with a break halfway through to stretch, amen.) The most interesting --and distracting, unfortunately--part was during the second half of the meditation, when the priest and his assistant came around wielding sticks that they swatted people with who looked as though they needed to reach enlightenment. They didn't hit them hard, it was mainly the sound that made me flinch! Finally, I got a ride home after a short tea ceremony from a really cool Mr. Mori, who dropped me off at the train station in time for my ride home.

So, in one weekend I got to explore a garden and a castle, visit the Middle East and Cambodia, enjoy starbucks coffee and arabic coffee, and finally, i got some Zen back in my life. Overall, a
pretty kickass weekend!

Golden Week Art Holiday around Japan...

location: Japan

So start of the journey: Tokyo! showed up a day early and messed around in Ueno Park and in Asakusa near the famous Sensou-ji temple. Tried to walk over to Asakusa from Ueno Park and
cruising through the aboveground art installation that was the walk from Ueno's subway station across the street to Asakusa street, where I encountered various sculptures, such as this walk underneath me black obsidian looking globe. Interesting...





From there, it was a 25 minute walk in the scorching sun down a street full of buddhist altar shops (literally, shops full of items you buy to remember your dead with. An entire street. In downtown Tokyo. Kinda surreal...) Then finally made it to Sensou-ji. It was still a little early in the day, so there weren't too many people. Then, I headed over to Shinjuku to do a little shopping and to meet up with my friend Elin, who's from Sweden, but currently studying in Tokyo. We studied together at Kansai Gaidai. We met up and headed over to Shibuya, and grabbed some dinner. Finally, we got some karaoke, and I crashed over at the first internet cafe I could find, to get up the next morning, grab me some donuts, and go out to Narita Airport to meet Andy...

...from there, we chatted up a friendly group of Lady Gaga and Rihanna lovin' high school girls til we reached our destination at the Sakura hostel in Ikebukuro.
That night, it was off to all you can eat korean bbq, and catching up about life...
then, the next day, Sensou-ji temple in Asakusa again! Here are some more of the pix from that beautiful temple. It's a fun part of town, because there's also an old theme park there, where I took this dorky photo with two popular children's animated feature favorite characters, and this tower of terror is visible in the background behind the temple..

Finally, it was back out through the arcade/shopping street that let to the temple and back on the train over to the airport. Our flight from Tokyo's Haneda airport (wayyy nicer than Narita, for the record, which basically sums up how little they care about foreigners by giving them the shittier airport haha) to Takamatsu was a quick one, and we headed over to the pier to catch the last speedboat ferry to Naoshima..it was a passenger ferry (aka it might have had room for 30 people..there were 9 of us) and not at all what i was expecting! It was a heck of a ride. then, we got picked up by local Fisherman and self-appointed ambassador of the island of Naoshima Mr. Hanbe. He picked us up at the pier, and we headed back to his place for food, beer, and conversation (during which time i acted as translator, of course, much to my chagrin. have i mentioned im not fluent in Japanese???) We trudged around to the Ando Tadao designed Chichu Museum, which is literally in the ground. But, um, the building was the best part of it. The worst part were the lines we waited in. The strangest was an installation piece that was a room filled with a hazy purple blue-ish light that made you feel like you were in the middle of a bad drug trip. it was pretty awesome, actually. Then, it was Benessee House and the beautiful beaches and sunny weather. It's impossible to be in a bad mood and be on Naoshima.
That day, it was a hop on the ferry and a train back to my town of Saijo, then from there a short stop at local watering hole World's End and onto the beautiful--and uber crowded--Orange Ferry for an overnight ride to Osaka. Even got to go out on the deck in the warm night air and look to the Shikoku shore line (spoiler alert: it looks just like the night sea scene in Princess Bride when they've kidnapped Buttercup, minus the eels... i think!) Next morning it was off to meet Jennifer in Kyoto, where we witnessed the glory that was the Tohaku Hasegawa exhibit. He was a contemporary of the Kano school in the Momoyama period of Japanese art, basically characterized by gold background folding screens, wide angles, arched bridges, and plants and animals serving as seasonal markers. It was a lovely exhibit. Next was SanJuSanGendo, which unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures of, but that really doesnt matter because a picture can't capture it anyway. It's this long, darkened hall 10 times as long as it is wide (it used to be an archery stable) and filled with 1000--yes, a thousand--gold covered images of the Boddhisatva of compassion, Kannon. Each has a slightly different face, and statues of the images of the sacred guardians of the Buddha are lined up in the front rows, with the most impressive figure being set in exactly the middle of the hall, a lovely eyes have opened seated Kannon bodhissatva figure easily about 30 feet tall. Always an awe-inspiring place to visit.




Next was a walk to fetch tofu donuts near the Nishiki market on the other side of the Kamo river in Kyoto, then finally saying bye to Jennifer and a train ride back to Osaka to take a stroll in the nice weather. We wandered over by Ebisu bridge, the main hub of Osaka shopping areas, and viewed some art on display near the canal. Then it was dinner at a Japanese-style pub (called an izakayaa here) , and guessing from the pictures what we're eating! always fun. Next morning was a day trip to Himeji-jo castle, the White Heron castle out west a little from Kobe. The main part (donjon) was under construction, so we headed over to the lady's quarters after posing for pictures by the main part of the castle and wandering the grounds. the cool rooms and floors of the lady's wing showed a more elegant side of the castle than I had planned for, with an excellent view of the main building. From there, we headed back to Nara for the evening and ate at a lovely rotating sushi restaurant, before retiring at our former geisha house Japanese style traveler's inn.














The next day it was off to the Big Buddha in Nara at Todai-ji, the world's largest wooden building, featuring the giant indoor Buddha himself and of course his famous nostril-sized hole in the pillar (the line for englightenment was ridiculous this time!) and then it was off to feed deer in the park nearby. After the big buddha himself, it was time to take a break back at the inn during the heat of the day, and then heading off for Kyoto, to go enjoy Fushimi Inari, the fox god shrine of the thousand gates trailing up the hill.











it was nice and quiet, as there was a temple festival nearby that everyone else was at. so we wandered up a bit through the cool of evening and then meandered back. then we got a ride over to Kiyomizudera which was ...closed (thanks cabbie lol) so we wandered through the back alleys and deserted streets back around to Yasuka shrine, which looked amazing at night, as always. then back around to the Kamo River, where we ate dinner on a platform over the river--expensive, as expected, but also an extremely relaxing, and delicious, experience. and the service was incredible, of course. but that goes without saying. we also got entertained by a local, um, Celtic flute band (i couldnt make this up!) it was very, traditional(ly Irish. lol.) and fun!

















The next morning we took the fastest possible train from Kyoto to Tokyo (um, try a 3 hr trip, basically! pretty sweet. the landscape went by faster than you could make sense of anything around you!) the Nozomi Shinkansen train. Then in Tokyo immediately checked into the hotel and set off for Akihabara, where we explored the electronics capital of Japan (sans maid cafe, thank god.) and then it was to the performance art izakaya (pub), but on the way, we were lucky enough to run into the beginnings of the local festivities near the castle part of town in Shimbashi. even got to see them bless the shrine before all the men --and even some ladies! -- hauled it off to the temple in their hapi (festival coats.) it was cool to see something so homespun and traditional happen in the heart of Tokyo! Then it was Kagaya downstairs performace art pub, where we got to don silly glasses and watch the shop owner make a spectacle of himself. it was tons of fun--so much fun the owner couldn't resist chasing us down the street with his fake ninja gear. Uh, ok, i'll think twice before crossing you, ninja/restaurant guy!



Next day it was up and after dealing with a bit of a hotel situation I'd inadvertantly caused, it was off to the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, Tokyo, where we spent our afternoon viewing the provocatively titled "Can There be Art?" dealing with contemporary artists in Japan and their current works. There was everything from noise rock done automatically by household appliances, rigged up record players, and even a car engine, a montage of videos taken in a sports car of cityscapes at night that spawned a drone-induced trance-like state. some were good (i've mentioned my personal favorite two) and some not so good (a hitler dress-up video comes to mind) but overall it was definitely thought-provoking! After that it was over to Odaiba for burgers and a visit with our own lady Liberty
in the Odaiba island harbor.




Finally, the last day consisted of a visit to Harajuku, so of course the crazy gaudy dress-up street of Takeshita dori, and then across the street to Meiji jingu, or Meiji shrine, shrine honoring the Meiji emperor. We were even lucky enough to witness a marriage! And the weather was so beautiful too. Lucky them! Then, before i knew it, I was saying goodbye to Andy and the end of my golden week...