First Look at Osaka

Osaka Station area

Osaka from the ferris wheel

Osaka is a huge modern city of 9 million people, quite different than where I've been the last 6 weeks.  Throngs of people are going every which way, there are tons of skyscrapers, some quite interesting.  Osaka Station, a huge complex in the midst of a major revitalization project, has two train stations, at least 5 other subway or private train lines coming through, bus stops n front, several department stores, a hotel or two, multiple restaurants, and some shopping arcades.  It makes Grand Central look small!

Alfred Manta Ray

I spent much of my first full day here down in the port area, visiting the Osaka Aquarium, designed by Tadao Ando.  But first, I went on the ferris wheel, one of the world’s largest it says.  It was just fun – reminded me of the London Millenium Wheel – and it was a great way to see the city from above.  

Part of Aquarium fac

The aquarium was terrific.  It is more than a zoo for fish, for it also had animals that live near or on the water.  There was a gorgeous white duck with a little bit of black trim, a fluffy white heron, and of course, penguins.  There was a big green iguana from Ecuador and a capybara, the world’s largest rodent at 130 cm (roughly 50”) long and 70 kg (150 lb) in weight!  My favorite, though, was the Alfred Manta Ray, gracefully swooping through the water, a fish getting a ride on its back.  It was fascinating to see animals I’d never seen before or didn’t know even existed.  There are more on Facebook if you want to see them.

Yayoi Kusama, Tulip Installation

National Art Museum Entrance

In the afternoon, I had a “first ever” experience that I suspect has rarely occurred anywhere:  I went to see the National Museum of Art and found that its entire exhibition space – its special exhibition of Yayoi Kusama’s recent work and its “Collection” exhibit – was of female artists since WWII.  I have never seen an all-female exhibit of work in the arts, which like many fields is predominantly male.  Kusama is a rather eccentric artist whose work I first saw in Naoshima several years ago.  She was part of the New York art scene in the ‘60’s, paints polka dots almost obsessively, though her new work here was more organic and wild.  The Collection exhibit , which was quite good, had roughly half Japanese, half western artists, though interestingly no one’s home country was listed.

Minami area shopping street

Pachinko Parlor sig

On Saturday, I decided to wander in the shopping districts in what’s known as the Minami Area.  This, too, was an experience:  crowds of people everywhere, mostly strolling or eating.  There were gritty narrow alleys off shopping arcades filled with shops, restaurants, and Pachinko parlors, which are so noisy that I can’t tolerate being inside for more than a few seconds. 

Waiting in line for Takoyaki

Takoyaki cooking

People were lined up for takoyaki, chunks of octopus in batter, cooked in a cast-iron round-holed muffin-tin, where the cook turns them many times with a think chopstick until they are golden brown.  I had just eaten lunch, so wasn’t interested in standing in line for half an hour to get a taste.  Next time.

I also wandered up Mido-suji, a wide avenue that reminded me of Fifth Avenue in New York:  all the high-end name brand stores are here, including a very crowded Apple Store, though this one is sheathed in what looked like matte stainless steel.

Bike parking

On an Osaka side stree

I’m only in Osaka for a few days and will be returning in April before going to Tokushima.  There is so much to see and do here that I may come back for another visit, so consider this a first taste of this huge, bustling, lively city.

On the Road to Osaka

I’ve spent the last week or so traveling from Hiroshima to Osaka, staying in a couple of towns on the Inland Sea and taking day trips from there.  It’s been a pleasant time with a bit more sun and warmth, though nothing like the 70 degrees I hear New York has experienced. Before I describe my travels, though, I wanted to begin with my impression of the activities around the March 11 memorial to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, as it is called here.

Protestors against nuclear reactors

March 11 Memorial.   Over the past couple of weeks, there have been many TV pieces on the effects of the tsunami and nuclear reactor meltdown: people returning to the towns they had had to flee, the vast empty spaces where the debris had been cleared – there was one shot of a lone tree standing and that was all -- and the continuing nagging questions about the level and extent of the radiation.  I found out there was a memorial service in Tokyo where the Emperor would speak and made plans to watch it.  The Emperor’s participation was of real significance since he had just returned home the week before after bypass surgery.

I don’t know if you saw pictures of the service, but it was very simple, moving, and sad.  The Emperor and Empress, both in their late seventies and gray-haired, were dressed in black, she in a simple kimono.  The stage was simple, with a blue arc, a tall wooden upright plaque memorial, and hundreds of white chrysanthemums.  What was interesting was that all of the speakers – the Emperor, Prime Minister, and others – spoke facing the memorial, their backs to the audience. 

In Okayama where I was staying, there was a parade of people near my hotel, protesting the use of nuclear reactors, understandably a big issue in Japan.  But they, like everyone else in the country, fell silent at 2:46, when the earthquake struck.  In some towns, the temple bells sounded and in others the fire sirens rang.  But after that, all was silent for a moment.  Later, I watched news clips of memorial services around the country:  thousands of white chrysanthemums were laid on tables or shrines, and people gathered at shrines, at their former towns, and at the sea.  It was quite moving.

Kosan-ji

Onomichi and the small islands.  Onomichi is the jumping off point for a bike route to several small islands and ultimately to Imabari on the island of Shikoku.  I only went part way – I didn’t think I could walk the next day if I biked the seven hours it would have taken to go the full distance.  Some of the trip was fairly boring, but it was interesting to ride through the farmland on the second island and go across modern bridges.  On the third little island was a temple, Kosan-ji, built by a wealthy businessman in honor of his mother, and a garden entirely of Italian Carrera marble that he had built by a Japanese sculptor who had a studio in Italy.  Let’s just say this was a very unusual complex, bordering on the garish.  It certainly was interesting!

Marble garden at Kosahn-ji

Bizen Pottery.   From Okayama, the next town where I stayed, I took a day trip to Imbe, home of Bizen pottery that has been made since the 12^th century.  Bizen is earthenware, more rustic, utilitarian and durable than the fine porcelain I saw on Kyushu.  It is unglazed, and its reddish-brown or grey-blue coloring comes from adding ash, charcoal, or straw with the red pine that is used in firing.  Unlike the porcelain I saw, each piece is different; there is no exact duplication of a particular shape.

Bizen pottery

At one shop, I met a young Japanese woman, a potter, who had lived for several years in New Jersey near New York City.  She had gone to study English, met her Korean-born husband, and they had returned to Japan a year ago.   Her father is a ninth generation potter and she, as the only child, will carry on the business.  They were preparing the four-chambered kiln for its annual firing, which would use 1,500 bundles of red pine, 6 cut pieces to a bundle.  It was interesting talking to them about their work and new life.  I also think they liked being able to speak with an American.

Okayama's Black Castle

Okayama.  Okayama is a bigger town than Onomichi, with several rail lines connecting here.  I’m not sure what the basis of its economy is, but its interest for tourists is a large garden, Korakuen, and the black Okayama Castle.  I believe the castle is black because of the wood used when it was originally built in 1597.  It, the white trim and the glinting ornamentation make it quite striking.

Korakuen

Korakuen is one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan.  It is large and has expansive views, unlike the compact Shukkeien Garden in Hiroshima.  As I looked out from the main house, it reminded me of the vistas in the Western US – I guess that tells you how much I have adjusted to the small spaces in Japan!  Korakuen also has a lovely plum tree orchard, next to what will be a stunning cherry blossom display in a few weeks.

Okayama also proved me wrong about shopping arcades, which I had come to think were a bit tacky.  There’s a quite lovely new arcade next to Okayama’s Symphony Hall, in which an entire block is taken by the Tenmaya department store, complete with Gucci and Chanel displays.  The shopping street is Japan’s answer to the US mall, but it’s all-pedestrian, with no parking lots, and you don’t need to heat the walkways.

Ohashi House

Sand toilet

Kurashiki.  I took another day trip to Kurashiki, which sounds Russian as it’s pronounced “Ku-RASH-ki”.  It’s a lovely old feudal town, where the rice warehouses have been restored and converted to museums, galleries, and the like.  I went to Ohashi House, the 18^th-century home of a wealthy merchant.  Compared to where I’ve stayed and the houses I’ve seen as I walked about, it was huge.  It was just beautiful, well preserved with lovely simple flower arrangements in each tatami-mat room. 

I also went to the Ohara Museum of Art, founded by a textile magnate in the early 20^th century, housing an interesting collection of impressionist and modern art, a lovely exhibit of Japanese painters, and a wonderful display of mingei (folk) pottery.  There are so many different kinds of pottery in Japan, each made in different regions, influenced by the type of clay and the (generally) Korean potters who were brought to the area.  There are also many different kinds of bowls and cups, each for a different purpose:  green tea or roasted, sake and other drinks, rice, udon, soba, churashi, etc.  I could spend the year just exploring Japanese pottery and ceramics, and still have much more to learn!

Himeji & its scaffolding

Himeji.  My last stop on the way to Osaka was Himeji, a town known for its huge white heron of a castle, the finest in all of Japan.  Built in the early 1600’s, it is one of the few original castles left, meaning that it has been maintained as it was originally constructed, not rebuilt in concrete.  That’s important, since the castle is now undergoing a five-year restoration, the first full-scale renovation in 50 years (that’s 1964, if you want to feel old).  Instead of seeing a multi-storied main building, I saw a huge white block of screening around it, with the castle outlines traced upon it.   But, what I and the other visitors got to see was the restoration work being done and stunning views of the city from the scaffolding.  What initially was a bit of a disappointment turned out to be an absolutely fascinating visit.  (If you want to see Himeji as it normally is, go to the web.  I haven't mastered uploading pictures from it yet.)

Tile restoration process: display

Plastering the tile

We were taken up eight stories to the top roof, where we could watch the restoration underway, aided by a video of the work to date and clear displays.   For all of the castle’s roofs, 80,506 different tiles were used.  After careful laying and overlaying, and nailing at least the base to the wooden supporting structure, all the joints were covered in plaster.  The type of clay for the tiles, the structure of the roof, and the kind of plaster used all were designed to withstand weather, wind, and wear.

Working on the plasterwork

Plastering process: display

We also saw the walls being plastered.  The workmen first inspected an area to see where the plaster needed to be repaired or replaced, and how deep they needed to go.  In many places they took the plaster down layer by layer to the foundation, which was a combination of wood and bamboo set vertically and horizontally and bound together with hemp.  To rebuild the wall, the workmen pound clay into the structure to make a rough wall.  After that there are five layers of plaster, each made with slightly different ingredients in a different mix, each a different thickness, some laid over dry plaster, other over wet.  It is quite a process, but one done carefully, with pride, and to withstand another 50 years of wind and weather.  

Castle Garden

There were other videos that described the process of repairing or replacing the woodwork:  carved symbols, eaves, etc.  Each section of the building was drawn to scale, initially by hand, and within the section each piece was measured or traced, again by hand.  Then patterns were constructed where needed to make sure the dimensions taken were correct, and from that new pieces were made.   

Bonzai plum tree

As usual, the castle had its own garden, this time with a couple of lovely waterfalls.  The only blooms were on some old, bonzai plum trees -- quite special.

The Beautiful and the Everyday

This will be a posting primarily of pictures.  Half are of Shukkeien, a stunning Hiroshima garden and half of everyday scenes from my travels here so far. Together, I hope they give a somewhat fuller sense of Japan and the many layers of this country.

Shukkeien, one of Japan’s great gardens, is small, roughly 12 acres in size (about two New York City blocks).  It was built in 1620 for Hiroshima’s feudal lord and restored after the war.  Some of the trees actually survived the bombing and bloomed the following year. 

Shukkeien is designed so that at every turn you see a new vista.  It has a plum orchard, which at this time of year attracts lots of people, including some serious photographers and amateur watercolorists. Shukkeien also attracts the newly-married who want to have their picture taken in this beautiful garden.  It was just lovely to be there, to wander, look, sit, watch people and enjoy the beautiful and careful plantings.

The pictures of everyday Japan are something of a counterpart to the beauty of Shukkeien.  In my travels here and in talking with friends, I realized we all tend to focus on what we find beautiful or interesting, but rarely what we think is ugly.  As I looked back through the pictures I’ve taken, I certainly am guilty of that.

Though I actually tried to take pictures of what was unappealing, there are none that showed the grey city buildings, streets barely wide enough for a single car, or some decrepit buildings, all of which exist here.  But the pictures I do have are of things that I have found in virtually every town or city I’ve visited.

Everyone hangs out their laundry, and even new apartment buildings have small balconies with poles built in for hanging.  My guess is that dryers take so much expensive energy, and the Japanese are very careful users.  But everyone has an air conditioner, necessary in Japan's hot and humid summers.  Shopping arcades are Japan's pedestrian malls, probably what were once narrow streets.  It works, especially when it rains.  I was fascinated with the American chains that had stores here, including the unexpected Lawsons Milk and Seven Eleven.  And yes, McDonalds and some Starbucks are here, too.

Hiroshima and Miyajima

View Larger Map 

I am now in Honshu (see map), Japan’s “big island” that extends from Kyushu north to Hokkaido (think Sapporo and snow).  It’s the most populous island and home to Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Sendai.  Except for about three or four weeks in Shikoku (mid-April into May), I’ll be here until August, when I go to Hokkaido and Korea, each for a week.  Then it’s back to Honshu for the rest of my journey.

Hiroshima and Miyajima each have notable icons:  Hiroshima its Peace Memorial and Miyajima the vermillion torii gate that sits in the sea.  I’ll describe these first, then move to other impressions:  the walk down Mt. Misen on Miyajima and this area’s food.

Peace Memorial looking to the Dome

Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial.   Like Nagasaki, Hiroshima lost roughly 140,000 people when the atomic bomb was dropped.  Similarly, its peace memorial is a cluster of buildings in a large, lovely and peaceful park at the bomb’s epicenter.  One building, called “The Dome” is left standing in ruins as a memorial.  And, like Nagasaki, it has a building that memorializes those who died, which is a tough thing to visit in either city.  Here, rather than a building that both descends down into the earth and pushes upward through water to the sky, Hiroshima’s is a round underground structure that gives a 360˚ view of the devastation after the bomb was dropped.  That depiction is made of 140,000 different tiles, one for each person who died.

Hiroshima’s Peace Museum is also different from Nagasaki’s.  It is more mission-driven, advocating the end of nuclear arms.  Included is a display of all the letters it has written to heads of state to protest the latest nuclear test blast (the last was this century to our President).  And, since Hiroshima was the first city on which the atomic bomb was dropped, there are displays of declassified internal US memos describing the thinking behind using the bomb.   The memos state that the research and development effort had cost the government $2 billion (in 1940’s dollars) and that some felt dropping the bomb would justify the expense (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).  There was concern that the Soviet Union was moving into Asia so dropping the bomb would be a warning to them to stay away.   Apparently Japan had reached out to the Soviet Union to seek peace before the bomb was dropped, but our response did not provide sufficient room for talks to proceed.  And last, we chose cities like Hiroshima because they hadn’t been bombed (much) and we wanted to see the extent of the damage the bomb would cause.  It was very disturbing reading.  It made me quite angry at the slaughter any country can wreak so dispassionately and the senselessness of war and politics where narrow, rigid assumptions dominate.

Torii Gate at Miyajima

Miyajima’s Torii Gate.  I left early Saturday morning to go to Miyajima to see the gate when the tide had not fully gone out and left late afternoon as the tide was moving in.  (It also looked like it would be the only even partially sunny day I would have in Hiroshima, so I had to take advantage of it!)  The gate is truly iconic:  a beautiful, vermilion symbol of Japan and its Shinto religion.   It sits off the water from the Itsukushima Shrine, a vermillion and white complex of wooden buildings.  I saw a woman in a cream-colored silk kimono – her wedding garb – with her family and future husband being escorted  into a room for the wedding ceremony or blessing.   Yes, it’s touristy and yes, it’s a good idea to get there early (better to be there at high tide), but it is a beautiful, amazing place, where you can  feel the deep traditions of Japan and look across the sea to urban Hiroshima creeping up the hills.

Temple construction

A comment on construction: The Torii Gate is not the original one, but it has been faithfully reproduced.  This one was built in 1875.  As I learned from a Dutch architect I met on the way to Kagoshima, the Japanese preserve their historical buildings and rebuild and renovate them in the same way that they were first made.  In another Miyajima shrine and at Hiroshima Castle (which was destroyed by the bomb and rebuilt), the original construction techniques are used: mortise and tenon joints rather than nails, huge wooden logs as beams, some notched and overlaid to be able to span the building’s length or width, etc. 

Looking from Miyajima toward Shikoku

The  Walk down Mt. Misen.  I took a gondola to Shishiiwa Station, about 1,200 feet above sea level, where on a clear day you can see Shikoku (I could only imagine it).  From there I walked toward Mt. Misen (the island's highest peak at about 1,600 feet) and down through the primeval forest, passing various shrines on the way to the Itsukushima Shrine.  It is a very well-traveled path, so most of it is stepped, paved, and otherwise graded, though my calves are still aching two days later.  There were a number of people hiking, mostly down, including a man who was intently going from shrine to shrine on pilgrimage, stopping to pray at each. 

Rock "fortress" against avalanche

About three quarters of the way down, I noticed a large barren spot, evidence of a sizeable avalanche.  As I continued, I saw that the side of my path, along one side of the avalanche valley, had recently been carefully and narrowly terraced.  Then I saw a huge pile of rocks, built fortress-like across the valley itself.  When I crossed to the other side, I saw several sluices built into the fortress to let water through.   Even further down, I saw another rock fortress, including around a lone tree, aiming to divert whatever came down the hill from a nearby shrine.  It was quite a construction.

Statues of Buddhist disciples

Tengu statue

Buddhist statues with caps

At the edge of town was another complex of buildings, Daisho-in, a well-known temple of the Shingon sect of Buddhism (so says the pamphlet).  The place was alive with statues.  There were hundreds of small expressive Buddhist-like figures, each different, that I later learned depicted Buddhist disciples.  There were 2-foot tall fierce warriors protecting the shrine.  Best of all, there was a bigger than life statue of a figure with a Pinocchio-like nose and wings, a Tengu, said to possess supernatural powers.  Some of the small Buddha statues wore red bibs and others colored caps.  The descriptive pamphlet said that parents who had lost children took care of these statues as if they were their children.  It was all quite fascinating and lovely, including the drumming and chanting before a brief sermon talk by one of the followers at the temple, about family from what I could understand. 

Soba & oysters

Food.  At the end of my walk, I was ready for lunch, so stopped at a lovely restaurant/ryokan.  There I had typical regional food:  buckwheat soba noodles (perhaps hand-made) and the largest, most luscious oysters I have ever seen, cooked in a tasty broth.  It was delicious!

Okonomiyaki

On a different day, I sat at a restaurant counter and watched the cooks make a Hiroshima specialty, “okonomiyaki”.  Okonomiyaki is essentially a multi-layered  sandwich cooked on a grill:  a thin crepe bottom, on top of which is put a pile of shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, other vegetables, and pork, fish, shrimp or oysters. This is then flipped over so the veggies can cook, while a circle of udon or soba cooks by its side.  The veggie/crepe is put on top of the noodles and continues to cook while the last layer, an egg, is cracked, mixed, and then spread in a circle to fry.  The cook plops everything on top of the egg, flips it all over, paints it with the shop’s own special sauce (similar to smoky or sweet barbecue sauce), herbs and spices, and voila!.  It was really good.

As everywhere I’ve been, there’s always fish in many forms.  While much is similar here, for the first time I had sushi (fish on top of rice).  In Kyushu raw fish was served sashimi style, i.e., without rice.  Both are delicious.

This posting would not be complete without a brief comment on the weather:  it is February, now early March, so not really winter and not yet spring.  Here, that means we’ve had roughly five days of clouds, mist, light rain, or steady rain (London weather, some would say), to one day of sun.  Every time there’s a sunny day it is just wonderful:  I smile, I laugh, there’s a bounce in my step, and I take lots of pictures.  Hopefully there will be more sunny days as spring comes.  And you can remind me of this in the heat of the summer.

Bicycle umbrella clamp

And that leads to a snippet:   In the picture, you’ll see a clamp in the middle of the bicycle, which is designed to hold an umbrella upright to shelter the rider.  I saw several women riding along this way, Mary Poppins style.  Quite effective!