Japan: 2012, Final Post

A few more photos I want to upload, and some overall comments about my trip to Japan, for anyone who's interested. This will be the seventh post about my ten-day trip, averaging about two dozen photos per post. What more can I possibly have to say--or show?
Well, for starters, I tried my hand at traditional Kyoto-style stencil-dyeing at a place called Zentai Gallery, tucked away in a lot a block from Horikawa-dori in Kyoto. I almost didn't find the place, because the entrance looked like this: Here are a few pictures of the stencil-dyeing process, and the finished product: Final result; You can see how it is done, and at Y1,200 I guess I can't complain too much about what I got. But I will anyway: the whole procedure was entirely cut-and-dry--there was no creativity allowed on my part. I could only choose from a selection (a large selection, I'll grant) of designs; I did not get to make my own design or cut any stencils, I didn't even get to select the colors, the little old sensei did all that for me. I only got to apply the dye on pre-loaded brushes, and one time, he even corrected me on that. Next time, I'll find an artform that allows me a little greater freedom.

Perhaps the International Manga Museum (link here) which offers various workshops. I spent an hour or so there, but frankly it was less an art museum than a library or archive of manga. The collection is located in a converted school building, which itself was a converted governor's mansion, and they have had the wisdom and forethought to preserve some elements of those prior utilizations. The building is full of old wooden hallways like this, crammed floor-to-ceiling with manga at your fingertips, and occasional seating for people who want to read them: The main exhibit room has three walls that look like this, holding virtually everything produced in Japan from the 19070s to today (over 50,000 volumes). These two displays illustrate ways manga influenced real life, from clothing designs in comics that made their way into street fashion (not to mention cosplay, although it is mentioned several places in the museum), to products modeled after or bearing the likeness of characters: The first room below was a sort of home-ec classroom during the building's elementary school incarnation, and the signage points out that students gathered here to watch the Tokyo Olympics on television in the halcyon days of 1964. The room at bottom was the governor's office, though I don't believe the air-con in the corner is period.

Two interesting street scenes in Kyoto, which would suggest it is a very eco-friendly city, though I have no idea whether it actually is:

During my time in Japan, I met a number of Japanese who were fair to good English speakers; I met more that were not, but some of whom were at least willing to give it a try. I also met a number of English teachers, and heard from them the same complaints I hear from English teachers in Korea: the natives are too embarrassed about failing so they never speak English; the educational system focuses on rote learning not communicative language; they tend to transliterate things into their own writing and end up with "Engrish", the Japanese version of Konglsh. And, the pay is not as good as it is in Korea.
Still, even though I was unable to navigate by reading Japanese script (any of the three varieties) as I am able to do with hangeul, there was sufficient English, and enough helpful people, for me to get around. A key expression to remember is "simasen" (or something similar), basically, "Excuse me" in the sense of needing help. And "konnichiwa" for Hello and "arigato" for Thank you (yes, I had that Styx song--actually the whole damn album was an earworm much of the time). Like Koreans, they appreciate it if you just give it a try.

I was hesitant to take this trip, on several levels. First, I knew it would be expensive (and that was certainly the correct call); however, it came in almost exactly at my budget, with a few thousand yen at the end for some nice souvenirs. Second, in the few days before departure, I was feeling a bit ill, mainly from hayfever, and I didn't want to spend all that money just to be cooped up in a hotel sneezing and trying to breathe. I should make it clear that I was not concerned about radioactive fallout from the nuclear power plant failures in the tsunami, but I have qualms about Japan and Japanese culture at a much deeper level. There is, I believe, a lot to admire about the Japanese: Hokusai and great artists, as I mentioned earlier; Kurosawa is one of the great cinematic auteurs; Godzilla, Speed Racer, AstroBoy, and Japanimation.
Still, the historical negatives are tough to overlook: the rape of Nanking, unannounced attack on Pearl Harbor, not owning up to WWII-era sexual slavery to this day; the Japanese government is dissembling and dishonest about the past and about its efforts to make reparations for it (my government is certainly not perfect on this, but at least the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans has never been denied, and has since been atoned); much like "scholars" who deny the Holocaust, there are those in Japan who refuse to admit that Japan occupied Korea for the first half of the twentieth century. This is complicated stuff, but I have my opinions and personal feelings, and they were something I had to deal with in making this trip. And it should go without saying, it's not an issue with individual Japanese, just as I am not accountable for crimes committed by US Presidents I didn't vote for and even protested against.
What I find a little surprising is that I am 100% ready to go back! The next trip will include a lot more Tokyo, and perhaps a visit to the northern part, such as Hokkaido and a visit to the Sapporo brewery. Meanwhile, domo arigato, Japan, and sayonara.

Japan, Food and Drink, Part 2

Attentive readers of this blog may have observed that I like to take cooking classes--for one thing, it's a sure way to eat a good meal. Lonely Planet hooked me up with the website kyotouzuki.com, which is actually this petite, delightfully scatterbrained but very knowledgeable Japanese lady named Emi, who offers a cooking class in her home. The other student was an interesting world-traveler named Alice who is in Kyoto because her husband, a professor, is on sabbatical there. Anyway, Emi says she can host a class of up to four, but I don't believe it--her kitchen is admirably equipped, but vanishingly small: we were shifting furniture around with just the three of us.
We made a fairly traditional Kyoto meal, focused on seafood and vegetables in season. Below are photographs of some of the unusual ingredients: top, yuba or soymilk skins, and a Japanese ginger blossom; next, fuki or Japanese butterbur, something between a rhubarb and a celery; bottom, Emi and Alice (not technically ingredients, I suppose) assembling the salad. The salad was sugar snaps, scallops and prawns with a white miso dressing (delicious--I have to say the scallops were pan-fried in a dot of sesame oil to perfection): The meat course was tainokinome yaki, which is marinated, grilled sea bream. These fillets were wonderfully fresh, and worked great with the marinade, which is equal parts sake, mirin and light soy sauce. It was served with rice and a soup whose key ingredient, beyond the yuba and suki, is dashi stock (dashi is fish flakes, available packaged in any japanese market ...): To my mind, the piece de resistance was hirouse or giant fried tofu balls, containing any vegetables (in our case shiitake mushrooms and mitsuba leaves), and chunked prawns. The tofu was very firm, having been pressed overnight, and pushed through the strainer, but I felt certain that "deep-fried" on a gas stove in light sesame oil, these balls would just disintegrate. I am proved wrong again, as here is one floating in its broth of tsuyu, which is dashi stock simmered with mirin and dark soy sauce. Integrated and tasty! One thing about a cooking class is you meet people--often interesting, adventurous people, and I was in luck again! Alice graciously invited me for drinks, etc, with her husband, and we met up the next night in the Gion district, Kyoto's nightlife/izakaya district, also famous as the last place with genuine geisha, according to LP. We strolled around until we came across this place... ... which Chris felt was a bit touristy. I agree, but I am a tourist, and I was hungry, and whatever they were cooking smelled great. We ate okonomiyaki, which is a stuffed Japanese pancake, and it really hit the spot. I know this post is about food, but our conversation was the show, as they are both literate, opinionated and real. I think you'll be impressed with Chris's website. We made the rounds until the subway threatened to shut down, strolling on Shimbashi, "arguably Asia's most beautiful street," tasting sake at an oddly authentic place with an English menu, and enjoying beer at an upstairs place which we had to ourselves except for an outstanding playlist running from Elvis Costello to Lou Reed to Roxy Music. Thanks, Alice and Chris, for a memorable time.

Fast forward a few days, I'm in Tokyo, it's Sunday, I've done some sights and museums, and I'm sampling the nightlife. I make my way to Tokyo Midtown, a huge relatively new complex, on the advice of Rough Guide. Well, most of the places there are absurdly expensive, even for Tokyo, but on an exterior corner, I see a bar called A271, which has half-price happy hour until 8 PM. It's only around 6:00, so I can be happy here for two hours! And the beer is cold! I noticed on the happy hour menu a ham sampler, not terribly pricey, but it doesn't come with crackers or anything. The waiter points out that I can get toasted baguette slices for only Y300. "Only". Hell, that's about USD 4.50. Well, I eventually go for it, and these are actually pretty high quality--I think, not for the first time, of the gustatory delights offered to us by a pig properly perpared. Soon afterward, I make my way to Roppongi, and find my way into the Cross Over Bar, which has an impressive list of world beers. I'm just in the mood for more munchies, so I order a cheese sampler to follow the ham. Now, I went to Roppongi in order to visit a place called "Super Deluxe" which is billed as a kind of avant-garde multimedia artsy joint, but turns out they want Y3300 to get in, with only twenty minutes left in the show. Which on this night is a stand-up comedy set. In Japanese. So I retrace my steps toward the station, and stop in a place called Brasserie le Duc, where The Premium Malt's is the house draft. I have a fish course to complete my meal, in the form of a salmon and cream cheese sandwich, not so much onions, please.

My last night in Tokyo, I "saved" for what everyone says is the whirlwind, party district of the biggest city on the planet--Shibuya. Finally, here was a place with a vibe, tons of people, miles of neon--like ten or more streets I know in Seoul: To fortify myself, I wanted a filling but not too heavy meal, and wandered past this place whose loudspeaker claimed it was "the most famous noodle restaurant in Tokyo". Dunno about that, but it was kind of busy--and it was the only other restaurant besides the one on the ferry where you pick your meal from the pictures and buy the coupons from the vending machine. So that was a plus. I got the "small" pork and noodles, and it was more than I could eat, and it was really, really good, too. Thus fortified, I made my way into the Shibuya atmosphere, finding a couple of stand-up bars, a common type in real estate pressed Tokyo, before seeing the "270" phenomenon. There were several of these in the neighborhood, which promise a menu whereon all items are Y270. They also have a premium menu of Y380. Now, what they don't tell you is that though your 300 cc beer will be Y270, you must also buy an order of soybeans, also for Y270. Tricky, but not an outrage, and a soybean here or there never hurt anyone, not that I know of. Perhaps the thing that makes this kind of izakaya(?) so inexpensive is the efficiency: you place your order using an electric tablet mounted on the wall of your booth (you can see it to the right above). It has Japanese, English and Korean: My last stop of the night was up some crazy little alley, where I saw this sign: The Legless Arms?--Smokin' Steve's Bar & Grill has always been my fantasy future joint, but I'm rethinking that now. Carlsburg for Y600, a barkeep that speaks English, and a smattering of little toys and games to occupy you, that's the ticket!

Japan, Kyoto: Gardens

One thing I really enjoy is photographing plants and flowers; this fact was a key impetus for my choosing to focus on Kyoto during this visit.

Arashiyama
This region in the west of the city has three well-known gardens all directly adjacent to one another. Take the #28 bus and get off at Tenryu-ji, which is the name of the temple containing the first. Buy a Y500 ticket on your left next to the temple, and make a circuit of the grounds, ending up at the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.
The Bamboo Grove is a massive stand of the fast-growing grass, and the height of the canes filters the sunlight to a slightly eerie green shade:
At the top of the grove you will find the Okoshi-Sanso Villa, admission price Y1000, which, at a conversion of USD 14 is rather steep for a garden. However, most everything in Japan is expensive, and you find yourself eventually just giving a little shrug and paying up. The price does include a bowl of green tea and a Japanese sweet in the nice tearoom at the end. The garden belonged to a famous silent-film era star, Okochi Denjiro (1898-1962), who built the grounds over a 30 year period on the south side of Mount Ogura. There is a nice overlook of the city of Kyoto.
Gyoen National Garden
Located in central Kyoto, this is essentially the grounds of the Imperial Palace, Japan's seat of government from 794 to the early 1600s. It's open during daylight hours, and you can tour the palace itself, but only with a guided tour (available in English). Above: a group of men were gathered, pointing their hi-power tripod cameras where something, I think, was expected to happen. Below: this mound and the enormous black pine are where a huge stone lantern stood, that was lighted to warn of invaders during the Edo perod. Its metal fittings were required for the war effort, and all that remains is the pedestal, removed to a different site.
Shosei-en Garden
Though small, this delightful garden was the best I saw in Kyoto. Affiliated with the Higashi Hongwan-ji temple, it is an even shorter walk from my hostel than it is from the temple further west. Sadly, the wisteria were just past blooming.
Remember, you can click on any photo to see a full-size version.