Kyoto and calligraphy

 From Wednesday April 16 to Saturday April 19 had calligraphy lessons with Chikako, a well known calligrapher, that I found through VAWAA. The first 3 days were in her studio, in the Arashiyama area in western Kyoto. On the last day I took part in a special event with her other students, held in a cultural centre nearby.

Chikako cmes from a family of calligraphers. Her mom is 90 and still teaches calligraphy, and her sister and daughter are also calligraphers.

We started the first day with some usual basics, but because of my experience in calligraphy I progressed through the exercises and the increasingly difficult styles quite quickly on the first day.

It was interesting that the lessons uncovered some bad habits I'd developed, particularly in doing the Kaisho (printed style) with a soft brush.  I also corrected my posture and the way I held the paper.

The second and third days were basically more practice with different characters in the Kaisho, Gyousho (semi-cursive), and Sousho (cursive) styles. The practice was with 4 characters per page, then six characters per page, and finally on longer paper.

The event on Saturday was really great. Chikako's family, and about 8 of her students were there. The students worked on  calligraphy pieces on large paper, for submission to a competition. 

I worked one as well, and Chikako applied the stamp for the group, and attached pieces to each end to make a scroll out of it.

I even tried doing something with the very large brush.

Each day, after the lesson, I had a little time to look around. On Wednesday, since it was near the studio, I went to Arashiyama Park and the famous bamboo grove. 

Afterwards, I thought I find a park to eat the food I'd packed for dinner, but there wasn't much open in the evening. I took the bus to Yasaka shrine, whuch is near the popular Gion area with its old narrow streets and restaurants and night spots. It was PACKED. The busses were too full so I ended up walking back to the hotel.

The next day after class I went to SanJuuSanGenDo temple, with its 1001 statues of Kannon bodhisatva. From there I went to a nearby calligraphy and ink painting supply store that Chikako recommended. On the way back to the hotel I found another place that serves craft beer, called Kyoto Craft House.

On Friday after class I tried to get to the Nijo castle, but it was already closed. So I had dinner at a soba restaurant and went to Kyoto Beer Lab again.

On Saturday, after the special event, I just went back to the hotel to do laundry and sort through all the papers of calligraphy practice I'd made in the last few days.

Afterward I had dinner at a restaurant across the street from the hotel called Gustos. You placed your order on a tablet on the table, and the food was brought by a robot waiter.

Next I went to a branch of Kyoto Beer Lab called KBL The Garage. I walked through sidestreets to get there. Interesting thing about Japan is that I  the sidestreets, every few blocks there is a little shrine or temple. I passed one where about 20 kids, about 10 years old, were walking in a circle playing flutes and drums - that slow melodic shrine music. Looked like they were practicing.

First days in Kyoto

Monday, April 14 I took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto. The weather was mostly clear, so I got a good view of Mt. Fuji.

On arriving in Kyoto I noticed the temperature was quite a bit cooler, despite being farther south. There a LOT of tourists in Kyoto, much more noticeable than Tokyo. A lot are from China, and when walking around I often more Mandarin spoken around me than Japanese. 

From a craft beer place in Tokyo I had picked up a postcard advertising a place in Kyoto, called Kyoto Beer Lab. After settling into the hotel I looked it up. I took a subway to the river and then it was about a half hour walk down the river. I found it OK, and had a beer and something to eat. It started to rain and I found a bus back to the hotel.

The next day I had free, before the calligraphy lessons started, so I took the train to Nara. Even though I've been to Kyoto a few times, I have not been to Nara since my first trip to Japan in 1990.

Nara was a former capital and a center of Buddhism in Japan, form around the 600's, so there are several large, important temples and shrines there. 

I first went to Gangoji Temple, just outside of Nara Park. It says it is the oldest temple in Japan, with some of the materials dating back to the 600's, although the main hall was build in the 1300's. Since it is a bit off the main track, it was nice and quiet.

Next I walked back to Nara Park and to the huge Kasuga Taisha Shrine complex. There are several shrine buildings, and walkways lined with lanterns.

There are also trees that are a thousand years old. So old that  they are mentioned in Japanese literature from hundreds of years ago.

From there I walked over to the large Buddhist complex, Todaiji Temple, which has one of the largest Buddha statues.

Another thing that Nara is famous for is the large number of deer that wander freely around the park.

 Next I made my way to the train station, just as it started pouring rain. I took the train to Uji, between Kyoto and Nara, which in the tea growing region. There is a traditional teahouse there that is supposed to be the oldest in Japan. Unfortunately when I got there, there was a sign saying 'closed today'.

I had dinner at a small traditional ramen place in Uji, then continued back to Kyoto and my hotel.

Last day in Tokyo

 In the morning of my last day in Tokyo I went to the Nezu Museum, which contains artwork and artifacts from the collection of the wealthy industrialist Nezu Kaichirou.

The first floor contained a special exhibition of screen and scroll paintings by the artists Kourin, Tokyo, and Kiitsu Trio. The artworks are considered national treasures. The second floor had displayed of Noh masks, and tea ceremony artifacts. The museum grounds are a beautiful Japanese garden.

Next I decided to check out a couple of major hubs in Tokyo. First I went to Shibuya. I found the area around the station to be very confusing, with the subway and JR stations apart from each other and all the connected shopping towers. I finally went up to a floor with restaurants to have lunch and settle down.

It's interesting that in Canada, the few remaining large department stores are struggling. Here in Tokyo, the large department store is still thriving. Riding down floor after floor on the escalators was kind of nostalgic for me.

Back outside, I found my way around, and found a place to view the famous Shibuya Crossing. The sight was even more interesting with everyone carrying umbrellas.

 Shibuya is a major shopping district with huge department stores. On the other hand the small sidestreets are full of small restaurants. Walking around, I found a craft brewery called Ottotto Brewery, so I stopped for a  beer.

Next I took the train to Shinjuku. I had heard about an area of several narrow, old passageways with tiny bars, called Golden Gai. I think I might have bumped into it on a previous trip without knowing what it was. I found it walked around.

It was a bit early so only a few places were open. I found a place with only about 5 seats. There was just one customer and the server seemed nice, so I went in. It turned out to be a great experience. The customer was from London but was half Japanese and spoke Japanese with the server. He was very friendly and started to talk to me in English, but when I told him I studied Japanese he said in Japanese, 'Well lets speak in Japanese then.' Soon a youn g Japanese guy also came in, and we all chatted in Japanese for a couple of hours.

Afterward I made my way to the hotel.

More Tokyo and Ink Painting

April 10 to 12 were the days of my lessons with the ink painting master, Shukou. Each day they were from abot 10am to 2pm. The studio was located in Kitazawa, a nice suburb west of the main part if Tokyo. I found the lessons through the Vacation With An Artist website.

The first day started with basic line drawing with graduations of ink, but since I had already studied some sumie we didn't spend much time on it. They some basic flower painting.

Next was the rigurously defined, standard painting of an orchid with the long leaves and the flower. I must have done a hundred attempts, and it took me to part of the second day before I did a satisfactory one.

The rest of the second day was technique for rocks and trees, and it was harder than it seemed to make it look somehow natural.

The third day was abstract painting which I did surprisingly well at. This is a set of three.

On the 10th, after class I took the train to the Meguro area to meet a friend of mine, Kanako. Kanako and I met over 10 years ago when she was studying English in Vancouver, and we did a language exchange. She stayed and worked in Vancouver for a couple of years, then returned to Japan. Now she is married and has an 8 month old daughter. We arranged to meet at a restaurant and it was great to see her again and meet her family.

I got there a bit early so I had time to walk a while along the Meguro River.

After dinner with Kanako I took the train to Shinagawa station, and walked to the T. Y. Harbor area, to go to a craft brewery I had heard about. It's an interesting area, right on Tokyo Bay, with modern tall buildings, and canals and linear parks. It would have been a nice walk  but when I got off the train it started pouring rain. I ran to the brewery.

On the 11th, after the ink painting class I took the train to the Shinbashi station. Being a major hub, I thought the area would be worth checking out, but there wasn't much. I went back to the hotel and went to bed early.

On the 12th, after the last ink painting class, I walked around the Kitazawa area. The narrow streets  have a lot of restaurants and vintage stores. I think the area has a reputation for being kind of artsy. Then I stopped at a craft beer place the teacher recommeded, called Tap & Growler.

Afterward I went back to the hotel to do laundry. I sorted through all the papers I had from the ink painting class, keeping the best ones and putting my stamp on them.

Next days in Tokyo

 My third day in Tokyo, April 8th, was the day of the 2 and 1/2 hour sumi-e, or ink painting, class that I booked through Wabunka. The actual class was at the Rimpa Sumie Heritage Club, which turned out to be one person who teaches out of her apartment. 

The class started at 10am, and I allowed myself lots of time to get there. Japanese addresses are difficult to follow at the best of times, and since was just an apartment, there no signs or indication of a business or something on Google Maps. Fortunately the address was enough for Google Maps to lead me right to the door, where the teacher had a hand-painted sign hanging outside.

I arrived quite early and so I went to a nearby cafe for a while. It was Cafe Kitsune, the same chain of cafe I go to a lot in Vancouver.

The class was a one-on-one session with the teacher, and it was really good. She explained the make-up of brush and ink, which is different from calligraphy. Even though I had studied a little bit of sumie before, her explanation of the techniques for loading the brush with water and ink and how to make the brush stokes helped a lot. And all with a kind of spiritual feeling about painting. 

When the class was finished I had lunch and relaxed at the hotel for the rest of the day  then went to the craft beer place.

The next day had beautiful, sunny weather and in the morning I went to the large Shinjuku National Garden. I walked around for a couple of hours, taking in more cherry blossoms, the Japanese garden, and I had a matcha tea at a teahouse.

From there I went to the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. The main collection consists of paintings from the early 1900s to the present. 

The floor for the period 1900 - 1940 had large Nihon-ga works of colour on silk, depicting natural scenes in a traditional style. 

It also had some of the first oil paintings by Japanese artists as that medium became adopted from the West. There were also several Surealist works.

The floor for 1940 - 1970 had several large oil paintings that were done to support the Japanese war effort, depicting things like victorious Japanese generals after successful battles in the first part of the war. 

There was also a post-war section on watercolour paintings. Although water-based media like ink had been used for a long time in Japan, at this time artists started experimenting with watercolour in a more Western style.

The floor for 1970 - present period was more abstract. There was a section on paintings that consisted of detailed, repetitive patterns. In one section, the mood of the paintings was quite dark, in the context of the cold war and the legacy of the atomic bomb.

I really enjoyed the museum. Afterwards I was quite tired. The museum is located just north of the Imperial Palace Gardens, so I slowly walked threw them on my way to Tokyo Station.

At the station I bought a reserved ticket to go to Kyoto on the 14th. In reserving a seat they make an effort to sit you on the side with a view of Mt. Fuji.

I wandered around the station for a bit. In the basement level there is a 'Character Street' full of shops with cute anime trinkets, and a 'Ramen Street'. 

Afterwards I stopped for a beer at the usual place on the way to the hotel.

Tokyo First 2 Days: Cherry Blossoms and More

 I was thinking that the start of my trip would be too late to see cherry blossoms in Tokyo when I arrived. However, perhaps because of cooler weather, the blossoms were still in full bloom. 

I arrived in the evening of the 5th. Everything went quite smoothly: the flight was early, I picked up my pocket wifi from the counter at the airport,  bought an IC card for the trains and busses, and made my way to the hotel. I had dinner at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel. There were a couple of Japanese women talking about the blossoms and where to go, and I was able to join the conversation in Japanese. 

I woke up very early due to jet lag, and after a bath and breakfast at the hotel, I took the subway to Ueno Park. I had read that this was a popular place for blossoms  and the people from the night before warned me it would be crowded, so I figured it would be good to get there early.  Entering the park from the south end, there is a large pond with a cherry tree-lined path across it.

At the other end is a shrine and a temple and a row of stalls selling food for the festival. Across the main road that runs along the east side of the park is a large cherry tree-lined path. 

Off to the sides of this thoroughfare were other smaller temples, and a grove of cheery trees with tarps on the ground and people picnicing. By the time I left a couple of hours later the whole place was packed with people.

I took the train to Kitanomaru, at the north end of the Imperial Palace grounds. The large moat around the place grounds are lined with blossoms in many places, and there is a long blossom-lined path all the way done the west side. 

I continued walking back to my hotel, stopping for dinner on the way. That was a lot of walking. So, another bath at the hotel. Then to Roppngi to check out a craft beer place, called Ant N Bee, that found the last time I was here in 2014. It was still there, and the craft beer from various parts of Japan is very good. 

The next day, my second full day in Tokyo, I woke up early again. I started the day exploring the area of my hotel, called Akasaka. Nearby is the Hie shrine, which was mostly rebuilt after the war but dates back to the Tokugawa Shogunate. 

It is on the top of a hill and you reach it by a long and wide staircase whose entrance is marked by a large concrete tori gate. On the other side I went down through a row of small orange tori gates.

After leaving the shrine I walked towards the Akasaka subway station. Across the street is an interesting shopping area just off the main street, that has a Harry Potter themed store and restaurant, next to a theatre that seems to have a long-running play based on Harry Potter. 

I kept walking north and found the Toyokawa Inari temple complex. It is a small area on a corner but is quite dense with little shrines in addition to the main temple. They had a table set up for pouring tea over a small statue of the Buddha, in celebration of the Buddha's birthday. 

I went into the temple, sat down, and soon  some monks entered to do a ceremony. I recognized some of the elements from Zen. 

Next I took the subway to Yoyogi Park and walked around. It is another place for cherry blossoms and there were a lot of people picnicing.

Next to Yoyogi Park is the Harajuku shopping area for kids and youth. The main street is Takeshita street, which had the fun sign over the entrance. Can you find me?

It's a really fun, quirky street with anime shops, dog cafe, candy shops, etc.

I took the subway back to Akasaka and had dinner. After searching online I found there was a craft beer place in the area, Carbon Brews. It was a couple of blocks further north, and in getting there I found a few blocks that are full of restaurants and bars. Kind of a small nightlife area. Carbon Brews had different Japanese craft beers and some from Hong Kong as well. 

After a beer I headed back to the hotel and crashed.  

Start of 2-month Japan trip, 2025

I'm in the departure lounge at the Vancouver airport, waiting for my flight to Tokyo. 

This is a big post-retirement trip for me, and I've always wanted to spend an extended time in Japan. In the past, it seems that whenever there was an opportunity to work/study in Japan for a while, something always came up and I decided against it. Now, in retirement, this 2-month trip will be like a mini-version of things I wanted to do.

I will arrive in Tokyo early April, hopefully in time to catch the end of the cherry blossoms.

In Tokyo and in Kyoto, I will be doing some classes in Japanese painting and calligraphy. I found a Japanese ink-painting, or sumie, course through a company called Wabunka. I also found the chance to study with a known Japanese painter in Tokyo, and with a calligrapher in Kyoto, through a company called Vacation With An Artist.

Next I'm doing a 6-day hike called the Kumano-Kodo.

Then, after some travel in Osaka and Miyajima, I will spend one month at a Japanese Language School in Fukuoka. After that I will travel a bit in Kyushu before heading back to Tokyo for the flight home in early June.