Tomo-no-tsu Museum in Tomo-no-ura

Museum Facade
Go to http://abtm.jp/ to see more photos

The museum is planned to officially open this May. But it has already held some events and workshops. I, as a self-proclaimed Tomo Walker, came across this museum yesterday on February 28, 2012 and had a chance to take a first look at the interior and artworks currently exhibited. 


A former warehouse made of wood and clay owned by the well-established Hayashi family is now reborn as a heart-warming museum. 




The great location, well-designed architecture making a good use of the original house, comfortable atmosphere are highly appreciated. I loved it.


They are having a free exhibit now. Now is the great opportunity for you to go to Tomo. Besides the new museum, lots of dolls celebrating and wishing for girls' healthy growth and happiness can be enjoyed. 


The dolls, called Hina-nin-gyo, are seen at many places around this time of year. The families who have girls will set the dolls at home though at my place they remain in the closet due to my ignorance and the presence of our cat. Besides, in my family, all the girls have grown into women including the cat. That's my excuse.


With a bit of guidance on Tomo's Hina dolls, your appreciation will be amplified but it's also just fine to make yourself free, slow down and wander around Tomo.


More about Tomo's Hina dolls in details, possibly in the next article.


Just one comment: Tomo's Hina celebrations were not just for the girls but for the flourishing business, for Tomo once prospered as a trading port and the trading houses showed off their gorgeous dolls to their business associates, say from Osaka, to impress and gain trust from them. 

Prelude to an eastbound journey

Aomori Ken by
NARA Yoshitomo at
Aomori Museum of Art

This year this March, I'm definitely traveling in Tohoku and then attending a graduation ceremony in Tokyo for the students successfully finishing their phD courses and going back home in Southeast Asia. 




I intended to do so last March but couldn't make it due to conflicting schedules. But it's partly an excuse. I didn't have enough energy and enthusiasm last winter and look what happened in East Japan on March 11, 2011: the earthquake of that unprecedented scale and ensuing disasters caused by successive nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. People evacuated from their home places contaminated by radiation leaking from the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Tohoku.


It still took some time to make up my mind to go for sure but something clicked one day and then right away I declared my decision to my clients who had kindly encouraged me to attend the graduation ceremony in Tokyo for the students they support as a corporation. 

Now I'm pretty happy and busy preparing for the journey, checking the places to go, making various reservations and arrangements.

Sawanoya Ryokan in Nezu, Tokyo

In Tokyo, I'll stay at Sawanoya Ryokan again. This inn even appeared in English textbooks for Japanese students thanks to their ingenious way for survival: they appealed to international travelers, updating their facilities and services to meet the needs of individual travelers from abroad. For details just type in Sawanoya and go to their site. Besides Sawanoya, there are several Ryokan inns in its vicinity. I had a chance to try out one and loved it. It was not new and fancy but clean and convenient and the room was spacious. 


In this article, let me just tell that I'm staying at Sawanoya again and I like the place and its neighborhood with old livable Tokyo atmosphere. Lots of photos and stories on Tohoku later on. The photo of the dog is from one of the destinations I plan to go. Amazingly Aomori has three architectural marvels which you should not miss. They will give you an inspiring and artistic experience. I'm gonna visit all three.


Many decades ago, I first visited Chuson-ji temple and other places nearby in Iwate Pref. They are currently designated World Cultural Heritage. Now I don't remember why I chose to go there as a young college student but this time I have a special feeling. Dr. Donald Keene, a renowned scholar on Japanese literature, visited there twice, long time ago and last year in 2011 and I had an honor to meet and talk with him on a winter day in 2011. I'd like to follow his footsteps and imagine how he felt there especially after the earthquake.


One of my friends I met at college was from Sendai, Miyagi Pref., Tohoku. and I once stayed at her house, meeting her parents for the first time. A funny thing was: my friend got ill and couldn't entertain me so her mother took me to Matsushima and a shrine called Shiogama Jinja. 


I remember this shrine pretty well 'cause I had just learned something interesting about this shrine in one of the lectures I took at college: the shrine has a large cauldron used for fortune-telling. I didn't appreciate much about Matsushima where a group of islands and islets in the bay are supposed to make a charming scenic seascape. How I like it now I don't know. Matsushima suffered from the earthquake but thanks to its geography of many islands in the bay and lots of pine trees, it spared itself from the worst. I might be able to go if time allows.


Besides Chuson-ji and Matsushima, I mostly picked up buildings in the present time. Gees I love architecture and want to see how architecture, landscape, nature, art, and humans have affairs.  


I'll see architecture by ANDO Tadao, AOKI Jun, NISHIZAWA Ryue, and ITO Toyo. The first three are in Aomori and the last in Sendai. Can't wait to go but this preparation period is not bad at all. 

Freezing cold and I like it

This article is transfer.ed from my previous blog site and revised slightly.

The approach slopes down to Butsu-den main hall.

Kyoto holds a winter campaign every year to lure people to come to the ancient capital even when the climate is not kind. Wear warm clothes, hat, gloves, socks, boots, and jacket, and you will love Kyoto’s winter, when there are less visitors and the air is extra crisp.

Oh, don’t forget to drop by a convenience store to get portable adhesive body warmers to beat the cold. Put it on the back of your inner wear. It will warm you up. The same type of warmers is available for your soles too if you like. And non-sticky ones are also on sale. Say “hokkai-ro” forming a rectangle with your fingers, and the staff will understand.





Famous places are fine; in fact, easier than you go there in high season like spring and fall. But take advantage of Kyoto’s winter campaign. A dozen locations in Kyoto have their halls, rooms and items usually closed to the public accessible until March 22, 2010.

One of my recommendations to you is the temple called Sen-nyu-ji, the temple of welling spring water. The temple is commonly called Mi-tera, meaning the temple for the imperial family, because of its historically close links with the imperial court. The temple has 39 imperial mausoleums at the foot of the hill, which is closed to the public.

Pay the admission fee and have fun in the precincts first. Go into the Butsu-den main hall and enjoy the hall as an architectural marvel as well as its interior with the three Buddha statues, the dragon motif painting on the ceiling, and the whitish Kannon Bodhisattva drawing you’ll see just before you leave the hall.

Then you might be ready to pay again to take off your shoes and go into the special area, which includes the six rooms still used by the imperial family members when they take a rest while visiting Kyoto. Enjoy the graceful paintings on the panels of the sliding doors installed at these rooms in Goza-sho hall. The garden is also fine, feels gentle and graceful. A stone lantern near the water adds tasteful atmosphere to the garden.

Proceed to the solemn-looking Rei-mei-den hall which enshrines the tablets with posthumous names of the deceased emperors and imperial members. Look at the ceilings of the inner area. Quite sophisticated. Compare them with the other types of ceilings you see while visiting the area, exclusively open this time of the year.

The temple is 880 Yen away by taxi (smallest type) from the Hachi-jo-guchi gate of Kyoto Station. Or take a train or a bus. You need to walk for 10 to 15 minutes to the ticket gate. Could be more. Ask the information on the second floor of Kyoto JR Station. You’ll enjoy the station as well.

Dynamic glass and steel structure of Kyoto Station

Large atrium of Kyoto Station

The present JR Kyoto Station is the fourth construction built in the course of one of the commemorative projects to celebrate the 1200th anniversary of the establishment of ancient capital Kyoto in 794. Kyoto served as the capital until 1868 when the Meiji restoration was carried out and the emperor left Kyoto for Edo in 1869. Seven appointed architects from Japan and abroad submitted their plan in 1994. The one by HARA Hiroshi was chosen. The architect limited the height to 60 meters (or low) but it’s a 470-meter-long building from west to east. Some say the station might not be a skyscraper but looks like a high-rise building lying on its side. The station, completed in 1997, might be a space ship landed on the earth and took root.

Rock Garden and more at Ryoan-ji Temple

Famed Rock Garden

Here's the rock garden of Ryoan-ji temple. Many visitors sit on the porch to the right but the garden looks as if it were enjoying its solitude.

Many love to talk about the mystery and secret of this garden but you should rather sit still and do not think much until you become none.

Ume blossoms in early spring

This is also from Ryoan-ji temple: Ume Japanese apricot blossoms in early March of 2009. This tree is rather unusual because on this single tree are both pink and white Ume flowers in bloom. Find the tree on the way to the rock garden. 

Ume comes into bloom before the arrival of spring from February to early March. They are proud flowers coming into bloom when the air is still chilly. 

Daisugi Ceder

The rock garden is said to be one of the supreme examples of abstract Zen gardens and could be world-famous. However, the large pond garden spreading in front of the temple complex looks graceful. 

The precincts formerly belonged to the aristocratic Tokudaiji family and used as their retreat. The large Kyoyo-chi pond was made by them in the late 12th century. Though the precincts were handed over to HOSOKAWA Katsumoto, a high-ranking samurai official of the Muromachi shogunate in 1450 and made into a Zen temple, this strolling type garden seems to retain the Heian elegance. 

Be sure to feel the Heian ambience before and after your visit to the rock garden.

For most of the visitors, however, the priority of their visit is to sit on the porch in front of the rock garden trying to feel a bit of Zen meditation, though you have a lot of company and many are busy counting the rocks. You can only see 14 out of the total 15 rocks arranged in the rectangle white gravel garden regardless of your position. People want to make sure that they see 14. The only position you can see the whole rocks at one glance is said to be a certain point in the room.

Many seriously believe that the garden was designed that way; others say it’s only a coincidence. It will be better to see the garden as it appears rather than analyze it, though. Tourists are attracted to the garden due to its established fame and touted mystery and later end up saying “been there, done that.”

If you have enough time at the temple however, it will still make a very memorable visit. After you have “meditated” at the rock garden and put your shoes on again, take time to stroll around the large pond. On the way, try going up a little bit to the right. You will find a grove of DAISUGI cedar trees.

Originally this style of cedar was invented to make the best use of the limited grounds to make more cedar logs; now these trees are used as garden trees. Their trunk is intentionally cut at a certain height, from which several branches grow. Bask in the afterglow of your rock garden visit, or rather you might feel refreshed being released from one puzzling garden.

Three kinds of stone pavement at Katsura

Gyo Pavement

There are three kinds of stone pavements at Katsura, Shin, Gyo, and So. You first encounter Gyo pavement, followed by So, then Shin.

So Pavement

This is in front of Show-i-ken, a cottage for tea ceremony.

Shin Pavement

This leads to Ko-sho-in house, the oldest of the houses standing in echelon. The large rectangle stone slab on top of the stairs is called Mutsu-no-kutsu-nugi, meaning six shoes can be placed in a row.

Deceiving Katsura

This article is transferred from my previous blog site.

German architect Bruno Taut was shown Katsura Imperial Villa on the next day of his arrival in Japan. The day of visit happened to be his birthday. UENO Isaburo took him there. He was a member of the International Architectural Association of Japan which invited Taut to Japan. Taut appreciated Katsura and commented that its beauty pleased the eyes. He was not a devoted modernist, rather an expressionist. He didn’t praise Katsura because it reminded him of practical beauty of modernism architecture but because various views wait ahead to be revealed. But his Japanese friends emphasized on his modernist side.

When Taut arrived in Japan in 1933, Japanese modernists as an emerging force in architecture were struggling to make themselves recognized. They insisted Katsura, as a supreme example of Japanese simple and rational beauty, had something in common with modernism. It seems they attempted to spread their influence and increase their say in Japanese architecture by cleverly using Katsura.

However, architects who belonged to the same modernist discipline later stopped saying Katsura shared something with modernism. Katsura is now understood more from a manierisme point of view.

How things are evaluated could depend on intention of those who try to justify themselves. It might be uninteresting if you are trapped by stereotypes or myths commonly known.

The buildings look simple and plain at first glance but turn out to be tricky and exquisite at another glance.

The garden is also quite manipulated to look natural yet refined. Artificial straight shorelines, however, reminds you that this garden is full of plots. It seems every item at the villa is mysteriously alive but does not concern your presence.

Pine tree screen blocks your view

Katsura Rikyu or Katsura Imperial Villa should be one of the destinations you would like to consider while visiting Kyoto. As an international visitor, you have a privilege of easier admission to the garden of the villa than the ordinary Japanese. For details go to the official web site where details are described.

The garden is not yet in sight, blocked intentionally by a perfectly shaped and trimmed pine tree.

Legend has it that there once stood a large pine tree called Sumiyoshi where the present tree stands. That large tree is said to have had a pair named Takasago standing on the shore across the pond.

These paired trees are referred to in the preface of the Anthology of Kokin Waka poems compiled at the beginning of the 10th century. The anthology represented the sense of aesthetic the ruling class of the society in those days was supposed to appreciate. They would have been admired if they had exhibited the high level of knowledge and comprehension about these Waka poems.

Prince Toshihito and his son Toshitada had profound knowledge and capacity to fully appreciate the cultural traditions of the Heian Court and reflected their aesthetic ideals in Katsura Imperial Villa. The villa was completed taking about 50 years. It is culturally very important and also interesting to think about the time that the villa was built. Not an easy period for the imperial members whose clout was completely overtaken by the Tokugawa shogunate.

There’s too much to appreciate and it’s almost impossible to feel completely satisfied with one visit only. However, if even a single unforgettable image should stay with you after the visit, what else would you have to ask?

Welcome to Katsura. It will reveal itself slowly. Meanwhile enjoy the video from the official web page and photos Katsura visitors in the past took in the URLs listed below.

http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/guide/katsura.html
In the above URL, the video of Katsura is available.

http://www.ac.auone-net.jp/~komori/A12_1.htm
Katsura in summer

http://www.k2.dion.ne.jp/~komori/A24_1.htm
Katsura in winter

Here's the other side of Sumiyoshi pine tree.

This article is transferred from my previous blog site and slightly revised. 

How Sake Town Saijo developed

Shusen-kan or the hall where Sake wells up

Saijo is a community of decent scale. Quite a few Sake breweries, however, stand close to each other; eight breweries near JR Saijo Station and one about 13 kilometers away.

But why does Saijo have this density of Sake breweries? Has it been like Nada and Fushimi, proud and established Sake production sites for centuries?

In a nutshell, Saijo is a Sake town of the 20th century and its history of modern development is something to tell.

Good water, good rice, and suitable winter weather, which Saijo is blessed with, are crucial keys for producing good Sake; but human effort makes a significant difference in the end. 

There were those who tried to learn; people involved succeeded the efforts of their forerunners and continued to improve. Some upgraded brewing techniques or cultured new species of Sake rice; others thought how they could strengthen competitiveness in the market; and there was a young engineer who invented a machine in 1931 capable of milling Sake rice further down to 40% of the original weight. Which contributed to the birth of Ginjo Premium Sake.

In 1894, the Sanyo Railways expanded its eastbound service as far as to Hiroshima. Saijo Station, located some 30 kilometers west of Hiroshima Station, was built at that time. A brewery owner persuaded townspeople to have a station built in the center of the community where some breweries stood. Part of the shrine precincts became the station. That way, Saijo came to have an advantage in shipping.

And the fact that should not be forgotten is that the government was eager to improve the Sake industry because the Sake tax could provide quite a high percentage of the national revenue.

No wonder a national Sake laboratory was established in Tokyo in 1904 under the jurisdiction of Finance Ministry, not the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Later a prefectural laboratory of the same nature was established in Hiroshima and again some years later in 1928 a Saijo branch was formed and its new buildings were constructed in the next year on the premises next to Kamoizumi Brewery. Now they are owned and made use of as Shusen-kan and Aisen-kan by Kamoizumi.

Shusen-kan has a café, where you can sit down and enjoy coffee, tea, sweets, and Kamoizumi Sake. Of course you can buy their products there. There’s also a Sake library where Sake books are collected and a video introducing how their sake is made can be seen. The second floor has a large Tatami-matted room which can be rented for holding events.

Behind Shusen-kan stands Aisen-kan where you can try indigo-dying if arranged in advance.

There’s the other building from the former laboratory sometimes used for holding little concerts.

These buildings, once part of the laboratory, are now revived with different functions. 

Max from Korea in Shusen-kan, wondering which sake to buy