Fukuoka Impressions

Fukuoka Tower

View of Fukuoka from the Tower

Big City. Compared to where I’ve been, Fukuoka is a big city: as the prefecture’s capital, it has over 2.5 million, which is larger than Kyoto according to Wikipedia.  It has taller buildings, more crowds, more extensive public transportation, etc.  I felt I’d just left the more traditional Japan for its modern counterpart.  It took some getting used to.

Ohiro Park

But Fukuoka has much to offer, including a large lake in the midst of a beautiful park, reminding me of Central Park. On a sunny Sunday, lots of people and families were out walking, feeding the ducks, jogging, bicycling, etc.  There even was a place with benches for people to do sit-ups and stretch.  It has a wide variety of food: ramen (a Fukuoka specialty), udon dishes, yakitori, fish, and a variety of international foods.  Tonight I had “motsunabe”, a one-pot meal, cooked on a hotplate, of vegetables, and offal (edible internal organs), which was very tasty.  I’m still at the point of pointing to a picture or what my neighbor is eating and asking for that.  Makes for some very interesting choices!

Playground at Ohiro Park

Department Stores. There are huge, clean, brightly lit department stores here.  Just as in Nagasaki, one is attached to the train station.  In fact, it seems that train stations are destination and gathering points.  In addition to being a transportation hub (the bus station is next door here), they have stores, restaurants, a supermarket, etc., all convenient and of good quality.  It points out how important trains and public transportation is here compared to the US.

The Pokemon Store

The department store at the train station has 10 floors, with the top two housing restaurants and a multiplex movie theater.  There is the usual clothing of all shapes, sizes, and price ranges, but there is also a book store that covers what is probably an entire floor at Macy’s.  I’ve not seen so many books in one place in a long time, since in NY there’s a seismic shift to Kindle, Nook and iPad.  There were also at least two places for stationery, notebooks, pads, stickers, an infinite variety of pens with very fine points and a multitude of colors, etc. There were shops within the store, including a very popular Pokemon, filled with children.  Since it was Valentine’s Day, a major holiday here, there were long lines at the chocolate counter, with women buying for the men in their lives. Later there is "White Day", when the men reciprocate. 

Café Studying. There’s a good-sized coffee shop, Café Veloce, sort of Starbucks without the glitz, that I pass on the way to the train station every day.  What intrigued me was that on both Saturday and Sunday it was heavily populated by students studying.  They came with piles of books and notebooks and seemed to sit there for hours, silently reading and writing.  There was a smoking area, about half the size of the café.  Smoking is much more common here than in the US, which is a bit of an adjustment.

Kabuki.  On Wednesday, I went to see a Kabuki play:  four hours including two half-hour intermissions.  It was just fascinating.  It was funny, bold and dramatic, with bright costumes, people disappearing and reappearing, a frightening ghost, and a huge toad with blinking yellow eyes, a bright red tongue wiggling out and a mouth spewing smoke. The set was simple, with trap doors, and a long walkway extended to the back of the orchestra that often served as the actors’ entrance or exit.  Black-clothed men moved around handling props, changing parts of the set, and at times serving as a chairs for the actors. The actors were all men and played women’s roles, too.  The audience was fully engaged, laughing and applauding, calling out the actor’s name when he first appeared.  Near the end, the lead actor, who played several roles, burst forth from a box hanging high in the air and then sailed out across the audience – great fun!

With a show from 11-3, I worried about lunch.  I discovered the theater had a couple of cafes and kiosks for people to buy snacks and bento lunches to eat.  In fact, many brought their purchases into the theater and munched a bit before the show started.  At the intermissions, people would swarm out and find a seat on the banquettes surrounding the center halls to eat their lunch.  It was quite civilized. 

I sat next to a woman whom I think sees Kabuki roughly twice a year and has been many times (or perhaps she had seen this particular play a few times).  She chatted quite amicably with me, me nodding and smiling and understanding only a bit of what she said.

 

Hakata-Ori

Fukuoka Civic Hall

Crafts.  In addition to being a gateway to ceramics country, the prefecture makes beautiful Hakata-ori woven cloth (Hakata is the name of the old port and merchant town that merged with Fukuoka in the 19th century) and Hakata ceramic dolls.  I went to the local folk museum, which had videos and demonstrations of the local crafts.  I watched a woman weaving the silk Hakata-ori, listening to the rhythmical whack-pause-whack-whack-whack of the weaving.  Next door was a shop selling woven bolts of cloth:  gorgeous and very expensive.  Later, as I walked to another museum, I saw the signature Hakata weave in the city's civic hall.  What a wonderful way to celebrate the craft!

Japanese Traditional Craft Exhibition.  In my last posting on ceramics, I mentioned this exhibition, THE craft exhibition for ceramics, textiles, dolls, lacquer ware, and metal work.  It is quite an acknowledgement of your talent to be accepted into the show.  I had been given the latest catalogue, and even though it said the exhibition was still touring the country, it never occurred to me that it might be near me (besides, I couldn’t read the kanji and didn’t think to ask).  It turns out the exhibition opened in Fukuoka on Wednesday, the last day I was here and of course I went.

It had some of the finest work I’ve ever seen, and the more I looked the more amazing I realized each piece was.  The ceramics were exquisite, from an almost translucent white-on-white porcelain bowl to a more traditional bowl with beautifully painted flowers to a smoky rust and brown earthenware.  The dolls, ranging from 3-4” to a foot tall, were so finely done that you didn’t realize the clothing was clay instead of fabric. Some of the textiles looked like a solid color but on closer inspection were minute patterns.  Those made into kimonos could be a diaphanous, fine weave or elaborately silk-screened. While some were regular in their pattern, many of the kimonos were not,  even though made of panels from a single roll of cloth.  What thought had to go into an asymmetrical design that spread across the panels from left arm, across the back and to the right arm! 

Regardless of the material, the work was carefully planned, meticulously done, sometimes incredibly detailed, and always exquisite.  What struck me was that all of the artists were both masters of their craft and of design.  Sometimes here I think we consider something art even if it is not well made.  In Japan, it is as important that the person make something well and make it beautiful.  It is not always as improvisational and has a different energy than some American art. Each is beautiful, just different.