kamys, Author at Life is a Journey

Visiting Kyoto? Don’t Miss This Hidden Gem!

Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts & Crafts

Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

You don’t want to miss Kyoto when traveling to Japan. What exactly do you want to see there?

Yes, you can visit the impressive stage of Kyiyomizu Temple. Yes, you can take a selfie in that famous shrine with so many red torii gates. And yes, you may encounter real geishas who are wearing beautiful kimono.

But beyond its buildings or beautiful komono, what really makes Kyoto so special is those master craftspeople who are trained to make all the things you may admire.

For example, have you ever seen how those intricate Buddha statues are created? How the colorful kimonos are dyed? How the meticulous design of the bamboo basket is formed? You can see real people creating these beautiful items firsthand in the middle of the city of Kyoto.

On the third floor of Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts & Crafts building, students or alumni of Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto (TASK) take turns to demonstrate what they have been learning at school.

When I visited the gallery, Ms Takako Nagasu was sitting cross-legged. Her samue jacket looked comfortable. On the right side of her laps were several wood carving knives with different shapes of tips. On her left side were photos of wooden statues. She was working on something, but when I approached her, her hands stopped and she greeted me with a warm smile.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I’m carving a small buddha statue.”
“Is this what you do for a living?”
“Yes, I learned Buddhist sculpture in college, and now I usually teach there. Today I’m here demonstrating how these statues are made.”

This statue that she made for her graduation exhibition won first prize in 2016. The Buddha statue is made of a single piece of wood (except for what he holds in his hands), the aureole of a separate piece, and the platform of another.

Carving Buddhist sculptures requires not only skills but also a wealth of knowledge of history. Ms. Nagasu told me that one of her highlights during her college days was studying the details of Japan’s Buddhist art history.

Her work is not merely a copy of old statues, however. Based upon her knowledge, her understanding, and her interpretation, a new Buddhist sculpture is born.

Not only watch the students’ work, but you can also ask any question regarding his/her work. The more you learn about the detailed process of how things are created, and how much precision and attention are devoted to creating the work of art, the more you appreciate their work.

Gallery of Kyoto Traditional Arts & Crafts is open to the public from 10 am – 5 pm except for Tuesday and Wednesday. I highly recommend visiting this place if you would like to enjoy a richer, deeper experience in Kyoto.

“In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun”

A 20^th-century feminist in Japan declared

Photo:
Amaterasu cave – large – 1856. 19th century Japan. Public domain image.

March is “Women’s History Month” in the US. Several major institutions join in commemorating and encouraging the study, observance, and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.

I would like to take this opportunity to learn more about women in history, especially in Japan. Contrary to what is commonly understood, I sense that women in Japan once enjoyed much more freedom, equality, and even power than modern day.

Hiratsuka Raicho 平塚雷鳥 (1886 – 1971) is well-known as the founder of Japan’s first all-women literary magazine, Seitō (青鞜, literally Bluestocking). The opening of the first issue of Seito was also a very famous line, “In the Beginning, Woman Was the Sun .（元始、女性は太陽であった）”

When Raicho wrote this statement in 1911, women in Japan didn’t have voting right. Much stricter social norm was imposed upon women than on men. Starting a magazine company run by all women must have been epoch making.

What is more intriguing for me, however, is her declaration. She reminded us of what the Japanese took for granted, that is, in Japanese mythology, the sun was a goddess, not a god.

Ancient Japanese people paid pretty impressive respect to women, don’t you think?

This Little Tea Caddy Was Worth The Whole State

How samurais utilized tea utensils during the civil war in 16^th-century Japan

A tea caddy: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

No, not this one in the photo above. (I use this for my everyday practice.) The real tea caddy in this story is now housed in Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan. You can see the photo on their website.

The tea caddy is small enough to hold in a palm. What’s a big deal about this tiny object, you might say. Well, it was really a big deal to possess it in the 16^th– century Japan.

Known as “Tsukumo-nasu,” this eggplant-shaped tea caddy was made in the Southern Son-Yuan dynasty in China, 12^th – 13^th century.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利義満(1358-1408), the 3^rd shogun who built the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, used to own it. His grandson Ashikaga Yoshimasa足利義政 (1436-1490), the 8^th shogun, gave it to one of his subordinates Yamana Masatoyo 山名政豊. One story says that Masatoyo was Yoshimasa’s lover.

It is said that Murata Juko 村田珠光 (1422 – 1503), the person who introduced the “wabi” concept to the tea ceremony, purchased this tea caddy from Yamana Masatoyo.

It is unknown how this tea caddy ended up in the hands of Matsunaga Hisahide 松永久秀 (1508 – 1577), a warlord who was ruling the state of Yamato.

When confronted by Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 (1534 – 1382), a powerful warlord who later became the first unifier of Japan, Hisahide presented this tea caddy as a gift to Nobunaga.

By giving up a little tea caddy, Hisahide saved both his own life and the state he ruled.

Was Oda Nobunaga crazy to forgo the opportunity to grab the whole state in return for the little tea caddy?

Ikenobo: Flower Arranging that Reflects the Harmony of Nature

The oldest school of Ikebana

Ikenobo Style Flower Arrangement: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

Among so many different schools of Ikebana that exist today, Ikenobo池坊 is by far the oldest with over 600 years of history.

The spirit of Ikenobo, therefore, is the spirit of Ikebana as a whole. Even students of other Ikebana schools benefit by learning the spirit of Ikebana that Ikenobo teaches.

What is Ikenobo’s spirit?

Flowers are not only beautiful but also reflect:

The force of nature with which plants live in harmony.
The feelings in our own hearts, and
The passing of time.

In traditional styles of Ikenobo flower arrangement, branches represent mountains and flowers, water. Nothing exists in separation, but everything in nature exists in harmony. The arrangement is an expression of nature in an abstract form.

We humans are part of nature, and our feelings are also expressed through the arrangement.

With not only the flowers in full bloom but also hard buds, the arrangement expresses the impermanence of life.

The photo above is an example of an Ikenobo-style arrangement. I hope you enjoy it.

How Nature Inspired Japanese Waka Poetry

The preface of the first imperially-commissioned anthology of Waka poetry in the 9^th century explains

Photo by may yue on Unsplash

In ancient Japan, the ability to create wonderful poetry was indispensable for emperors and aristocrats to be politically successful.

What does poetry have to with politics, you may wonder. So do I! By learning ancient literature, this mystery might be solved.

Compiled in the 9^th century, Kokin Wakashu 古今和歌集 was the first of 21 imperially-commissioned anthologies of Waka poetry. The fact that the imperial court officially commissioned it tells you how highly the ruling class in those days thought of Waka poetry.

The preface of this epoch-making anthology shows up in the 9^th-grade textbook in Japan. I remember I hated memorizing it. Now I’m reading anew, and quite impressed.

Here I will share with you how the preface explains the relationship between nature and Waka poetry.

The English translation is by Helen Craig McCullough.

やまと歌は、人の心を種として、万の言の葉とぞなれりける。

Japanese poetry has the human heart as seed and myriads of words as leaves.

世の中にある人、ことわざ繁きものなれば、心に思ふことを、見るもの聞くものにつけて、言ひ出せるなり。

It comes into being when men use the seen and the heard to give voice to feelings aroused by the innumerable events in their lives.

花に鳴く鶯、水に住む蛙の声を聞けば、生きとし生けるもの、いづれか歌を読まざりける。

The song of the warbler among the blossoms, the voice of the frog dwelling in the water – these teach us that every living creature sings.

力をも入れずして天地を動かし、目に見えぬ鬼神をもあはれと思はせ、男女の中をも和らげ、猛き武士の心をも慰むるは歌なり。

It is song that moves heaven and earth without effort, stirs emotions in the invisible spirits and gods, brings harmony to the relations between men and women, and calms the hearts of fierce warriors.

Source: Kokin Wakashu – The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry: with ‘Tosa Nikki’ and ‘Shinsen Waka’ Translated and annotated by Helen Craig McCullough

Why My Father Used to Buy Fruits by a Whole Box

In response to Dancing Elephants prompt 23 of 52

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Fruits! I grew up with lots of fruits all year round!

Bright red strawberries in the spring were sour and I used to sprinkle sugar. Nowadays, most strawberries are so sweet that no sugar is needed. I guess the process of selective breeding has advanced so much in the last half a century.

Summer started with seedless grapes. Delaware cultivar was the most common. Did you know that people in Japan don’t eat the skin of grapes? And watermelons – my favorite! I could eat watermelons for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Late summer to fall was fig season, although I didn’t care for it much… My tongue just doesn’t accept that texture. Persimmons followed figs. Our Pomeranian dog liked persimmons better than anyone else in our family. She could not stay still while my mother was pealing the skin.

Then apples and oranges in winter. My hands would turn orange by peeling the skins of so many oranges.

In our family, it was not my mother but my father who brought fruits home. Only four of us were in our family, my father, my mother, my younger brother, and me. But my father would always buy fruits in a whole box from the wholesaler. In a box, at least three dozen of apples were neatly lined up and stacked. We tried to eat them all before they went bad, or simply gave some away to neighbors.

When my father was not at home, I asked my mother why he was so wasteful. Granted that wholesale price was better than retail, but if he bought only as much as we could consume comfortably, we would appreciate the taste much better rather than shoveling in.

Then my mother started.

“When your younger brother was born, your father didn’t look excited but rather worried. I asked him what was the matter, why he didn’t look as happy as when you were born.”

“Your father was afraid that now he has two children, those children would have to share one apple half. You know, your father had eight siblings. He never had an opportunity to eat the whole apple, but only one-eighth. Before your brother was born you used to have the whole apple. Your father was afraid he could only give you half from now on.”

My father was 6 years old when World War II ended. He grew up poor, not having enough even to eat.

Fortunately, my father could afford to buy a whole apple each for me and for my brother. And more. Maybe his urge to buy a whole box of fruits was a defensive reaction to his childhood trauma.

After my mother told me this story, I stopped criticizing my father as being wasteful. I simply thanked him for getting us abundant fruits.

This Super College Teaches 10 Vital Courses for Japan

An innovative way to pass Japan’s traditional arts and crafts on to the next generation

Buddha statue made by Ms. Nagasu of TASK: Photo by Author Akemi Sagawa

Traditional Arts Super College of Kyoto, TASK for short… Not only its name but the 10 courses it offers are also unique.

They are:
ceramics, wood carving, Buddha engraving, woodcraft, Urushi (Japanese lacquer) craft, Makie lacquer work, metal craft, bamboo craft, Japanese paper craft, and Kyoto tegaki yuzen (kimono dyeing)

For centuries, people used to get trained in these arts and crafts through apprenticeship. At an early age, they would live with their master, and do menial jobs like cleaning and running errands for years before learning the respective skills. Only after decades of training would they become master craftspeople.

Such apprenticeship, however, became harder to carry on. The compulsory education system in the modern days doesn’t allow kids to start early. Young people don’t have enough patience to go through such rigorous years. Many master craftspeople are getting old with nobody to take over. Once the master is deceased, the craft is forever gone.

In order to preserve traditional craftsmanship and pass it on to future generations, there should be an innovation on how to train people. TASK was the solution.

When I learned out TASK, I was determined that Five Senses Foundation* should focus on supporting TASK.

*Five Senses Foundation is a non-profit organization that I founded. Its mission is to promote Japan’s traditional culture in the US.

My Hinamatsuri Tea Bowl is Special

Can you tell why?

Photo of my Hinamatsuri tea bowl: by Author Akemi Sagawa

March 3^rd is Hinamatsuri ひな祭り… What is it? Well, there are so many articles that explain about Hinamatsuri in Medium, of which I listed two below. Please read them to familiarize yourself.

“The Dolls’ Festival is a Special Day to Celebrate Girls” by Diane Neill Tincher

“Happy Girl’s Day — Hinamatsuri” by Kyoko Nagano

The photo above is of my Hinamatsuri tea bowl. I always look forward to using this cute bowl at this time of the year, to celebrate this girl’s festival.

Now you have read those three articles, and you see my tea bowl. Have you found why I said my bowl is special?

Look at the photos of Hina dolls 雛人形on the above two articles. Which side is the emperor situated?

As you see in the photos in the two articles, the emperor doll is situated on the right side of the empress. But my tea bowl has the emperor situated on the left side of the empress. You might wonder why…

In ancient Japan, the left was considered to be a higher position than the right. When placing the Hina dolls, therefore, people used to put the emperor on the left side of the empress.

After Japan opened up the country to the West, however, the Japanese emperor and the empress started to follow western customs, that is, the emperor stands on the right side of the empress. If you see the photos of the current emperor and empress standing together, the emperor is on the right side of the empress.

Regions near Tokyo now follow the new way and place the emperor doll on the right. People in Kyoto, however, still follow the old way.

My tea bowl was made by a Kyoto-based potter. For him, the emperor doll has to be on the left side of the empress. And I follow him because I’m from Osaka, much closer to Kyoto than Tokyo physically and culturally.

For me, right is not “right,” left is “right.”

What The Contrast between Golden Pavillion and Silver Pavillion Tells You

The rise and fall of Japan’s Ashikaga Shogunate and their tea utensil collection

Photo of Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion), Kyoto, Japan – Wikimedia

If you have ever visited Kyoto, I bet you visited Kinkaku-ji or the Temple of the Golden Pavillion. Covered with gold leaf, the temple is lavish. The original was built when tocha, tea gambling, was most popular.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu足利義満(1358–1408), the 3^rd generation of Ashikaga Shogunate, re-established trade between China and enjoyed enormous wealth. In addition to building this lavish Golden Pavillion, he imported many valuable tea utensils such as tea bowls and kettles, accumulating his collection.

About a century later, Ashikaga Yoshimasa 足利義政(1436-1490), Yoshimitsu’s grandson and the 6^th Shogun, tried to build a temple covered with silver.

He did build a temple, now called Ginkaku-ji or the Temple of the Silver Pavilion. But it is far from lavish, with no silver coating.

Obviously, you can imagine the huge difference in their financial situation.

Yoshimasa had to wait until the Onin no Ran, an 11-year civil war was ended, to build his dream villa, the Silver Pavillion. By the time the war was over, his shogunate reign was weakened and his financial situation worsened. He could no longer afford the silver coating.

Not only that, Yoshimasa had to sell many treasures that he inherited from his grandfather, including precious tea utensils imported from China. Who became the new owners of such treasures? Newly advanced samurais and merchants in Sakai.

Burning Fire, Like Burning Love

Found in a Poem from Hyakunin Isshu

Photo by Vinicius “amnx” Amano on Unsplash

What did ancient Japanese associate with the burning fire? Let me refer to Hyakunin Isshu 百人一首, the classical Japanese anthology of one hundred waka poems by one hundred poets compiled in the 13^th century. Yes, I found one! What’s the theme?

You guessed right. One of the 43 poems that read about love! I told you, that ancient Japanese people were more direct in expressing their passionate love.

…

49/100大中臣能宣 by Onakatomi no Yoshinobu Ason

みかきもり Mikakimori

衛士のたく火の Eji no taku hi no

夜は燃え Yoru ha moe

昼は消えつつ Hiru ha kietsutsu

物をこそ思へ Mono wo koso omoe

The following is the English translation by William N. Porter (1909)

MY constancy to her I love
  I never will forsake;
As surely as the Palace Guards
  Each night their watch-fire make
  And guard it till daybreak.

Just like the torch fire burns hard at night, the two lovers’ night is blazing.

Source: A Hundred Verses from Old Japan (The Hyakunin-isshu), tr. by William N. Porter, [1909], at sacred-texts.com