Why a Year in Japan?

I've always been intrigued by Japan:  As a child I selected two Japanese plum blossom prints to decorate my bedroom.  I learned about Japan in a college Asian history course and was intrigued by Frank Lloyd Wright's Japanese-influenced architecture.  But it was my first trip to Japan, when I went for a week on business, that hooked me.  Here was a country so different that immediately I understood what it meant to always be an outsider looking in.  It was a country of contrasts -- both feudal and modern, with urban crowds and the peacefulness of beautifully manicured gardens and ubiquitous temples.

Yamaguchi Ryuun, "Crashing Wave"

Much later,  a dear friend introduced me to Japanese basketry and I began to learn about how that art was made.  As a former basket-maker, I was fascinated by a craft that was handed down from father to son for generations.  I was amazed by the years of apprenticeship required, the attention to detail, the exquisite craftsmanship, and the fine beauty of these baskets.  I fell in love with the Japanese aesthetic -- simple, natural, nuanced, and asymmetrical. 
 

Three years ago, I returned with a friend to Japan  for two weeks.  Tired from the long flight and dragging our bags through the subway, Kit still laughs at the first words out of my mouth when we got above ground, "Look at that gorgeous building!"  It was the brand-new Cocoon Tower (right) and I was enthralled. 

The trip was fabulous.  We spent a few days in Tokyo, finding it much more accessible and intriguing than we had expected.   We spent several days in Kyoto, strolling along the Philosophers' Walk looking at the temples, savoring the Katsura Imperial Village and its gardens.  Last we stopped in Naoshima, a small island in the Inland Sea.  Designed by Tadao Ando, its incredibly beautiful museum integrated contemporary art and architecture with nature, light, and the sea.

Katsura Imperial Village

I vowed to return some day, this time to spend time in the rest of the country, to learn more about Japan's culture, arts, and architecture.  Thinking it would be useful to speak the language, I began taking Japanese classes.  That was and remains quite a challenge!  Like the country, the language is different from anything I knew:  frustratingly hard to grasp and at the same time fascinating with its Chinese-derived Kanji pictographs.


One day, walking to class, I recalled my long-ago desire to spend a year in France. I knew the language and thought it would be neat to follow the seasons in a southern village, walking to the market to buy local food.  "Guess you're not going to do that," I said to myself.  Three steps later:  "But you can go to Japan!"  So here I am, preparing to go.