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

Remarkable milling machines contributed to Ginjo Sake

Model of Milling Machine developed in 1898

There's a company named SATAKE in Saijo, Hiroshima. This company is inseparable from the making of super premium sake called Dai-ginjo or Ginjo. 


Thanks to their ingenious inventions of rice milling machines, the very high milling ratio necessary for making Ginjo was achieved.


Many people, from breweries and public entities alike, got involved and devoted in the progress of Sake making; they lived in the same modern period of sake making history when the government encouraged sake breweries to make rapid progress in their scientific techniques so that the quality and quantity of the product would become stable, making people consume more sake happily and the government get the sake tax all the more. The first half of the 20th century for Japan was the period that the country tried to catch up with the industrialized west and become strong in many ways. The revenue that came from the Sake tax was quite significant.


The government exerted its influence, establishing the national research center on brewing under the control of the Finance Ministry in 1904. The center changed its names a few times and moved from Tokyo and now stands in Saijo under the name of the National Research Institute of Brewing. 


The brewers tried hard to improve with the passion of making quality sake. Through national competitions, they got stimulated among each other and made special sake often only for the competitions. But it's true these efforts improved sake as a whole and gave birth to a new aromatic Sake called Ginjo.


Eventually in 1980s, the Ginjo sake became available among ordinary citizens. Before that, that type of sake was called Mirage Sake because it was so hard to obtain.


The rice used for making Ginjo has to be milled far down. It has to be 50% or less of the original weight to be called Ginjo. The very special Ginjo uses rice milled down to 35 to 40% of the original weight.


But as I wrote in a previous article, the rice powder from milling is not wasted a bit. The powder is processed into something useful like sweets and vinegar.


The founder of the company named SATAKE invented a milling machine powered by engine for the first time in Japan. He wanted to make a difference in the tedious physical job of milling grains. The first machine with engine was invented by him in 1896 but he was not satisfied with the three machines he sold and soon retrieved them. The 1898 type was much better but still the milling ratio was only 10%.

The one developed in 1908

In 1908, he produced a new type which achieved the milling ratio of 40%. The original type made use of friction between rice grains which inevitably produced too much heat and didn't perform satisfactorily; this one cleverly employed a grinding system.


And the most outstanding was the invention of Type C in 1931. It was vertical with a grinding unit and milled rice down to 40% of the original weight.


The company offers a tour showing you their museum and part of their facility. Reservation in advance is required. 


It would be one interesting experience for you.

Where does the rice powder from milling go?

The super-premium Dai-ginjo Sake is made from rice milled down to 50% or more of the original weight. You might wonder where the powder from milling goes. The powder is not really bran; it's too good to be classified so. But don't worry; not a bit is wasted but it's fully used for other purposes such as making cooking oil, vinegar, fish feed, and sweets. 


Here's the picture from one of the breweries nestling in the Saijo Sake Brewery Street area.


The powder is divided into four levels of quality. The very best is pure white and used for making Japanese sweets like crackers and rice cake. A gentleman at the brewery keeps these bags for children who come to the brewery on a school field trip  to be able to know that breweries including his are taking great care about the rice they use. 


He also let the children know that the water used at his brewery is filtered before discharge. The discharged water does not go our right away; instead it is brought out by a tank truck to be treated at a public water treatment facility.


Like their Sake, what they do is pure, clear, and environmentally friendly. 

Sky Way in Kyoto

See how glass panels are effectively equipped

Kyoto offers countless tour destination to travelers. Well, add the JR Kyoto Station building designed by HARA Hiroshi to your destination list. It's too good to consider just as a railway station where you arrive and leave. 


The building appears to be more open to the public compared with other urban railway stations. More spaces are accessible and it's fun to explore them. Allow at least one hour or take another hour to see every nook and corner.


My favorite is Kuchu-kei-ro or Sky Way, an aerial corridor about 400 meters long and 45 meters high from the ground floor. Free of charge of course.


The glass panels making up the north facade are also impressive. Here's what the architect said in the design concept submitted to the JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition committee:

The northern facade practically consists of glass to realize a bright elevation surface. As a result the structure may look alternately lost or floating with the northern skies in the backdrop. The same scenery would not be reproduced ever again.

See more photos in my picasa album.

ITO Toyo-o got involved in rebuilding Tohoku

sendai mediatheque model for competition
displayed at TIMA 

ITO's Sendai Mediatheque suffered from the earthquake on March 11, 2011 that devastated and affected the Tohoku and many parts of eastern Japan. The facility had to be repaired and closed for two months but is back in shape and people are gathering again. 

At one of the shelters for the earthquake-affected in Sendai, a "Home-for-All" he designed was built. People planted flowers there, a man made a wooden box to keep logs for the fireplace installed in the Home, and necessary utensils were brought in. They are making it their true communal place where they can feel at ease, meet each other, have a cup of tea, or do some activities. The Home-for-All is a living room for communication.

In April 2011, ITO Toyo-o was asked to join the effort of conceiving the vision for new Kamaishi. It would be a daring challenge to transform the earthquake and tsumami-stricken city to where people feel protected, mentally and physically, from any devastating damage by possible tsunami in the future.

In hilly Kamaishi, the flat area suitable for residence was limited and that small area of land was wiped out by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. In addition to the devastation caused by the natural disaster, the city has been confronted with falling and aging population caused by the declining steel making industry which the city’s economy relied on. The city’s rehabilitation, ITO believed, should not be to restore the city as it was but to solve constructively the inherent issues the city had to fight back.

He was a busy man, working on 20 some projects when he was asked to pitch in but felt urged and took the job because for one thing he wanted to find the answer to his own question: are the architects needed by the society? At the age of 70, he got determined to ask himself if his “architecture” was really architecture.

On December 18, 2011, ITO presented the people of Kamaishi his idea for new-born Kamaishi. He thought of the traditional Gassho-zukuri A-frame collective housings standing at the foot of the hills. Nearby lies the city hall which does not stand out but blends with the other houses and whole scenery. With his architecture, he intended to design the community where people can naturally form bond, be proud of the character of their city and feel like showing it off to others; then the city would attract more people and invigorate itself as a result.

You need hope to go on. ITO’s architecture has to be a source of hope.