Japan - Part 2

Author's note: During my 1998 study trip to Japan I kept a daily journal. I wrote an entry for each day, and used the same book to make sketches of the bonsai displayed at the Kokufu exhibition. I have reproduced the actual opening pages of that journal, which recount the first day of my trip, to begin this Curator's Journal entry. Following that are transcribed samples of other selected daily entries from the Japan journal. A sampling of a few of the sixty-eight sketches made at Kokufu are also reproduced here to allow some sense of what was produced in that drawing exercise.

2/3 day two: Visiting Mr. Kato's nursery in Omiya

Mr. Kato specializes in Ezo spruce (though he has lots of everything else, too) and we saw some massive group plantings of his, some with trees larger than Mr. Kato himself. He is a very small man, thin and old too, but spry and full of life. 

From Mr. Kato's we walked back to the train station, along narrow streets, past small houses with small yards, all planted in beautiful little gardens, trees all trimmed like big bonsai (this is true all over Japan as far as I've seen, not just in Omiya), past the many bicycle riders, past groups of school children in tidy blue and white uniforms, and the weather was mild and birds I'd never seen before were flitting in the treetops. It all produced such a happy moment of recognition about where in the world I am.

2/4 day three: Traveling with Mr. Nakamura's son, Makoto, to the city of Kyoto

We get something to eat and then board the Shinkansen, the fastest train on earth, capable of speeds up to 155 MPH. It's impressive, really. Sleek, modern, comfortable and fast, it takes us zooming east across Honshu Island, past cities, towns, farms and mountains, including Fuji-san, which can't be seen today on account of clouds. We arrive in Kyoto nearly mid-afternoon (...) We walk to Ryoanji Temple, the first stop on a travel itinerary that Makoto has all worked out. He proves to be an interesting fellow — very organized, very helpful, a strong walker and a smart traveler. He's carrying a half-filled day pack on his back while I'm lugging forty pounds of mostly unnecessary stuff in a duffle bag, and it's a twenty-minute or so walk, uphill, to our first destination. I'm already beat when we get there. The main attraction of Ryoanji Temple is a world-famous Zen garden. Before entering the enclosure that houses this garden it is required that you remove your shoes. I'm game, but unknowingly I step, with my shoes on, onto a board platform where you shouldn't step until shoes are off. Makoto quickly points out my error. Only minutes before we had been at a spot where water trickles out of a bamboo pipe into a stone basin and visitors are invited to "purify" themselves by washing their hands in the water. So I plunge my hands in like I'm using the sink in the men's room and Makoto had to correct me, with some embarrassment, I think. Seems there's this little ladle that you're supposed to use. Oops. So now I've committed a second gaffe and I'm feeling pretty self-conscious, and unhappy too, because I want to be a good guest and not an ignorant gaishin. Later I apologize to Makoto and ask that he understand the mistakes I make unknowingly. He tells me it's no problem. "You haven't done anything too bad. Yet."

From Ryoanji we walk another fifteen or twenty minutes to Kinkakuji Temple, another truly outstanding site. The gardens are beautiful, but the real highlight is a golden temple, three stories high, sitting above a large pond that reflects the image. It's fantastic, dreamlike. I shoot a million pictures, but it's unlikely that I capture on film the shock of seeing such an amazingly wondrous thing for the first time.

2/5 day four: Another day touring Kyoto

This wonderful, memorable day started with a visit to Kiyomizudera Temple, another amazing and to my eyes exotic and unlikely place, with intricate woodwork painted in vermilion and pale yellow. The streets around the temple are narrow and old, lined with small shops selling food, souvenirs and incense. We walked a lot, following a schedule worked out in precise detail by Makoto. Highlights included Nanzenji Temple, where I made a quick sketch of part of a Zen garden; strolling along a quaint old residential street called the Philosopher’s Walk; stopping somewhere along the way for another great meal at a small traditional Japanese restaurant where we sat on pillows on the floor and ate at a small, low table; and, finally, Ginkakuji Temple, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion, which was one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen.

2/8 day seven: Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition

The opening day of Kokufu, and who knows how many thousands of people come out to see it. My job today was to draw as many trees as I could. I made ten sketches and it was tough conditions. If I stand normally before the trees my viewpoint is too high. I couldn't use a chair so I had to bend over or crouch while standing. This was uncomfortable enough, but what really made it difficult were the endless crowds of people jostling by. Naturally I became a focal point of curiosity — the big foreigner standing in the way, drawing something in a little book. People gathered around to watch, some of them asking questions that of course I couldn't answer. Fortunately I'm no stranger to drawing in public places, so I was able to focus on the work and more or less ignore everything else.

2/10 day nine: Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition

Today at Kokufu I started the day by learning how to write my name and The North Carolina Arboretum in Japanese, and then copying that on to the back of my business cards. (...) The rest of my time there, about four and a half hours, was spent doing a painting for one of the NBA directors, Mr. Endoh. He had been impressed by the sketches I made the last two days and asked Mr. N if I would do a picture of a tree of his that won a Kokufu prize two years ago. Of course I didn't mind, so today I was given a catalogue from Kokufu '96 and I worked from the photo in that book. The tree is an Amelanchier, deciduous of course, so there was a lot of detail in the branching. I took my time and enjoyed being able to sit in the office drinking green tea and listening to swirling unintelligible voices all around me while I worked. The painting came out well, I think.

2/12 day eleven: Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition

This morning I woke up an hour earlier than usual and made it out the door about forty minutes ahead of schedule. I had made plans to do this so that I might explore a little bit along the route I take each morning to the train station. I've been interested in something that looked like an old shrine, which I could see up a side road off the main drag, so I checked that out. Turns out it's a cemetery, a rather large one, with some interesting old garden trees throughout. Right at the gate, which is what I had been noticing when I looked up the street, are two really old crape myrtles, pruned to a height of about eight feet. (...) I had about fifteen minutes to kill when I got to the area of the train station, so I stopped in at Mr. Donut and had a cup of American coffee for the price of two-hundred-fifty yen. At Kokufu today it was back to sketching, and I wound up with ten more pictures. I was mindful of the crowds and at points when it was really busy I wouldn't try to draw, but only move along with the flow and study the trees as I passed. The sketching is fairly grueling business, though I feel sheepish saying so. After all, isn't it a dream come true to spend day after day surrounded by some of the best bonsai in the world and drawing them? It is, but I have to keep reminding myself of it.

During the time of my Japan trip cell phones and email were not an option, so I kept in touch with folks back at the Arboretum via FAX. The above is a copy of one such transmission.

Mr. Ogasawara was one of the Nippon Bonsai Association directors. He consented to having his portrait made and was so pleased with the likeness that he signed it. It might look like I portrayed him with his eyes closed, but they were as open in this picture as I ever saw them be.

2/14 day thirteen: Blue

Probably the less I write right now the better. Not only because it's already late, but because my spirits are low and there's no use whining about it. (...) I met Mr. N as he was leaving the show at 5:00, but he told me he had a meeting to attend so he wouldn't be going home just yet. He said he had called his wife and told her to expect me over for dinner, which was nice, but the problem was in my getting there. I already knew I could negotiate the train ride home alone no problem, but I had made the bus trip to Mr. N's house only once, and he was with me then. I got on the right bus tonight, but when we got to the area where his house probably was nothing looked familiar, or rather everything looked familiar, which is to say that it all looked the same to me in the dark and I wasn't sure at all. I wound up staying on the bus rather than getting off and getting lost, and it eventually brought me back to the hotel. (...) A FAX from Andy and Cass was waiting for me at the hotel, and it helped to hear something from the folks back home because I was starting to feel lonely and isolated. (This is the part I don't want to whine about.) I made some instant ramen noodles, ate about three or four oranges, and watched some of the Olympics (men's figure skating - I'll hate myself in the morning.) I called Chris to say happy Valentines Day, and then washed some socks and underwear in the sink. They're hanging over the tub to dry right now, and I'm going to bed.

2/15 day fourteen: Better

A better day, fortunately. Got out the door a little less early today, but just as well — it was snowing. I walked up a side street I hadn't explored yet, and though there was nothing extraordinary it was still interesting just seeing a basic suburban Japanese neighborhood, and the snow added a nice effect. On the train ride I had a good conversation with Mr. N, as we often do. We talked about bonsai mostly, but the conversation always takes little detours into other topics like art, or human nature, or differences between the U.S. and Japan. At Kokufu things went well and I felt more comfortable. Partly this was due to there being less of a crowd on account of the weather, but also because after nine days wandering around the place I've become a familiar sight and have come to recognize and be recognized by quite a few people. Of course with most of them I can do little more than smile and exchange the most simple pleasantries, but that's enough to make me feel better. Today one of the museum guards started a conversation by telling me he has relatives in the U.S. who are about to have a first baby, and then asked if I knew what would make a good gift for them. He's a young guy, a student who does the guard job part time, as he was quick to point out, and he spoke English rather well. I think he said his name was Kenji, but he told me to call him Ken. He said he'd love to live in America because it's so free. (...) When it was time to go home, Mr. N told me he would be doing something again tonight so I was on my own. Mr. Morita was walking with me to the train station and I made a joke about Mr. N having a sake meeting. Mr. Morita then proposed that he and I have our own sake meeting at a restaurant right there at the train station. This was fun. Mr. Morita ordered a small bottle of heated sake which came with two small cups, and he also ordered some appetizers to go with it. We had a pretty good conversation considering how little we know of each other's languages, and I drew a quick sketch of him. When he took out some cigarettes I asked him for one and joined him in a smoke, which was pretty amazing. Must have been the sake. The ride home on the train went by with a hazy ease. I bought some chocolate and ice cream on the walk home and ate it here at the hotel, to round off a rather decadent evening.

2/17 day sixteen: Last Day of Kokufu

Once at Kokufu I began drawing and got five sketches done in the morning before the crowds became uncomfortably thick. (...) I was able to do two more sketches after lunch which brought my total up to sixty-eight for the whole event. Before I left I gave Mr. Morita one of the wooden boxes as a gift for being so nice to me, and I gave Mr. Kato one also. Mr. Kato then pinned a little bonsai tree lapel pin on my shirt pocket and Mr. Morita pronounced me an official "bonsai man." I felt good.

2/18 day seventeen: Day Trip to Kamakura

Went to Denny's for breakfast again today, and this time no second cup of coffee. I was very disappointed. I met Makoto at Totsuka at 9:30 and after a short ride we were in Kamakura. We spent the day walking, visiting shrines and temples, and it was reminiscent of our excursion to Kyoto, only not as amazing because I've become more familiar with the many sights and sounds that were so new to me then. Still, it was very enjoyable. For me the highlights of the day were not the temples or structures themselves, but all the plants I saw in the landscapes around them. There were plum trees in flower and groves of mature bamboo and cryptomeria, and flowering witchhazels, and ancient gnarled Chinese junipers, and the biggest ginkgo I've ever seen, supposedly over one thousand years old. (...) The last place we visited was Kotokuin to see the Great Buddha of Kamakura, the largest statue of Buddha in the world. This was very impressive and memorable. (...) Tomorrow I begin my studies with Mr. N at Shonan Bonsai Garden.