Friday, May 25, 2007

The whole blog thing...

...didn`t really work all that great...

This experience has been very intense and strange and kind of hard for me to write about. And there hasn`t really been access to a computer (though now I`m in Kyoto at a youth hostel type place) and I`m using a japanese keyboard so I apologize for any strange punctuation marks.

My pictures aren`t working on this computer either, siiiighhh.

Tokyo is a city of great subways, some pretty buildings, Ueno Park is nice, and the Prada building on Omatesando street is incredible. But under those pretty things, it basically has no soul. And for a global city, it is very very homogenous, which really suprised me. People STARE at me because I`m gaijin (foreigner) and there have been several incidences where people have refused to seat me and (my friends with me). It`s all done with a smile and a bow, though. I think Tokyo has issues because it has suffered a lot in the past through fires, earthquakes, and having the shit bombed out of it in WWII.

Being in Kyoto is much better. It has more of a bohemian feel and is beautiful. It feels very grounded and is surrounded by beautiful mountains. There are over 1600 temples and shrines and Kyoto and it was founded in 794 CE based on Chinese principles of geomancy. Many of the Shinto shrines here are at least as old as Chaco Canyon. People here are much more open and friendly (or at least appear to be). I guess I realized how homesick I was yesterday when we had lunch at this hippie falafel cafe run by an Israeli man. We walked up to the outside and I got really excited and happy because it felt like home or places I have called home in the past. The building is super cool because it`s a renovated machiya (townhouse) and has a garden in the middle and the food was super good.

More later about yesterday`s pilgrimage to the Buddhist temple at the top of Daigo mountain in the rain, the meeting with the monk, Shimizu-san, dinner and a classical guitar performance at a place called Cafe Nifty....

Thursday, May 17, 2007

I heart Japan!

After not sleeping for a long long time we finally got to Japan. Yesterday we walked around a lot--we went to the Fine Arts University (Geidai), a shogun graveyard and met an incredible man named Maeno-sensei.



Maeno-sensei is picking up pods. He is into them. Also, he started the Historical Preservation progam at the Fine Arts University. He looks like this fox statue we saw or Yoda. He sketches people and likes to drink beer.

*A word about Japanese beer: Either it's because of the elevation or the minimal alcohol content in the beer but I haven't been drunk since we got here and believe me I've tried (been having trouble sleeping).



This is a sculpture preservation student at Geidai. He is working on a replication of an 800 year old temple sculpture.

We met the graduate and doctoral students of Tokyo University's Urban Design program last night and they're all so nice and funny and quirky and interesting. Though I'm tripping out completely, this is a fantastic place to visit--strange and lovely and fascinating all at once.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Requests for information

There have been some requests for information...for instance, WHERE I am going and WHEN and all that and to tell you the truth--I don't really know. I mean, I know general things like "we're going to Tokyo and Kyoto" and things that are important to me like "we're going to ride the maglev train!" and "we're going to rent bikes and ride them in Kyoto" and then things I want to do "Go get drunk and sing kareoke!" and "Catch one of those monkeys that sits in hot springs and washes its potatos in the sea and bring it back to the US!" but that is all I know. So, for your view pleasure (and probably my own, cuz I'll most likely loose the itinerary sheet) the *Official Itinerary* is as follows:

Tuesday May 15
Group Leaves Albuquerque for Tokyo Narita

Wednesday May 16
Arrival at Tokyo Narita, will be met by Chester Liebs and Julie McGilvray.
Travel to Tokyo Ueno Station via Keisei Line limited express
Cabs or city bus to The University of Tokyo (Todai)
Check in to Sanjo Honkan and Sanjo Bekkan
Dinner at kaiten sushi in Okachimachi.
Evening orientation and free time.

Thursday May 17

8:45 Meet at Tatsuoka-mon
9:30 Meet Prof. MAENO Masaru at the art school gate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Geidai)
9:30 -10:15 Brief Tour of Geidai kenzobutsu kenkyushitsu and the cultural property sculpture restoration studio with Prof UENO Katsuhisa and Assistant Professor UCHIKAWA Aki
10:30 -12:00 Tour of Ichida-tei and lecture by Prof. MAENO.
12:00 -13:00 Lunch
13:00 - 15:30 Tour of Yanaka and Old Sogakudo with Professor Maeno
16:00 Arrive back at Todai
17:00 Meet in faculty conference room, Building 14, Todai
17:00-17:40 Illustrated introductions by UNM study-tour members.
17:40-19-00 Presentation by graduate students on the Todai Urban Design Laboratory and lecture on Japanese conservation and the history of the Hongo area by Prof. NISHIMURA Yukio.
1900 Welcome reception hosted by the Todai Nishimura Urban Design Laboratory

Friday May 18

8:30 Meet at Tatsuoka-mon
9:15 Arrive at Sensoji gate under the red lantern.
9:20 Asakusa/ San'ya/ Minami Senju/ Kita Senju cultural landscape reconnaissance. Walk from Senshoji in Asakusa northeast (bad direction by feng sui). See Yoshiwara, Nihonzutsumi and remnant early Edo landscape, prostitute burial ground.
Lunch at Iseya (historic tendon restaurant (1889) . Continue on to Iroha shōtengai, San’ya, Kimura san’s lodging house, Kotsu Dori (Bone Street), kubikiri (neck cutting) jizo and execution ground, urban redevelopment Minami Senju, Kita Senju (healthy shōtengai) walk on old Mito Kaido to Arakawa. Ms. YOSIHIRA Magokoro, Visiting Scholar, Health Sociology, University of Tokyo

Saturday May 19
Meeting time TBA. Joint field study of Machizukuri (town making) challenges projects in Tokyo’s Koto-ku with students from Todai and Meiji Gakuin University. Prof. Hattori Keiro, Meiji Gakuin University, Ms. SUNAGA Yoshiko and Ms. IIDA Towa, Talo Toshi Kikaku. (Talo City Planning Co., Ltd.)

Sunday May 20

Free time.

12:00-19:00 “Leave the nest afternoon.” Members will set off individually to explore Tokyo and have lunch and dinner on their own. Suggestions for places to see will be provided if requested. You will be only a phone call away from Prof. Liebs or Julie McGilvray should you need assistance. (An alternate plan will be provided by any member who requests it but since this is a cultural landscape discovery course, it is very valuable to have this experience if possible)

20:00-22:00 Meet back at Sanjo-bekkan to discuss the afternoon’s adventures. Photograph this and all your peregrinations extensively and write down all your questions.

Monday May 21

9:00 – 17:00 Explore various areas of Tokyo to see conservation issues as time will allow including Ueno Station, Ginza, Tokyo Station and Marunouchi district, Shirodome, Yurakuchō, Shinjuku, Omote Sando, Tokyo Midtown, with Prof. Liebs and Prof. FUKUSHIMA Ayako, University of Fukuoka

17:00 Food shopping in Komagome Ginza. Dinner at Prof. Liebs’ apartment in Komogome.

Tuesday May 22

9:00-1700 Explore the sustainable, newer neighborhoods of Chiba as time permits including Minaminagareyama (neighborhoods and rural remnants), Tokiwadaira (aging planned community), Funabashi (“challenge of mansionization”).

19:00-22:00 Members will review what they have seen and photographed and then make a PowerPoint presentation of about 45 minutes worth of images for presentation in the evening of what they found of interest so far and why. Members will also compile a list of questions they have about what they have seen.

Wednesday May 23

8:30 Checkout and lock luggage in Prof. Liebs’ office

9:30-11:30 Members will present their images and observations to Todai faculty and students along with discussions and also answers to their questions by NAKAJIMA Naoto, Assistant Professor, Urban Design.

16:00 leave for Kyoto via Shinkansen, eat enroute.
18:45 (estimate) Arrive Kyoto
Check in to lodging Roku Roku, Kyoto (http://www.6969.me.uk/index.php)
Evening free

Thursday May 24
Katsura Rikyu
9:00 Group 1
10:00 Group 2
Afternoon: visit Ryoanji and discuss gardens and meaning
Evening: dinner in Kyoto and Okonomiyaji restaurant.

Friday May 25

9:00 Discussion of the evolution of and tour of a Japanese traditional house and its land, Ms. KOBAYASHI Yasuko (Julie McGilvray’s former host mother).
13:30 Hike at Daigo Mountain to see Buddhist complex and mountain
retreat and explore mountain trails and how they are linked to the city and lake Biwa. Discuss lake biwa, water history (daigo water history, etc.)….leads into tomorrow bike tour

Saturday May 26

9:00 free time and independent study in Kyoto
14:00 Bicycle field study of restored and unrestored machiya, contemporary buildings. Lots of riding, stopping, looking. (This is also a good time to see how the new/old relate and how infrastructure is very important and integrated (rivers and waterways). Also we will be meeting with Prof. HAYASHI Tomiko, Professor, Department of International Communication, Kansai Gaidai University (Prof. Liebs’ former Japanese professor at the University of Vermont), to revisit her family store on a shōtengai and also to discuss her impressions of Kyoto after being away for many years. TBA

18:30-20:20 Attend lecture by Prof. Liebs, Kyoto University of Art and Design

Sunday May 27

Leave for Tokyo. Group will decide the schedule for this day including some sort of closing event or dinner in Tokyo (Maybe something more formal will happen in the evening) .

Monday May 28

Return to the USA

Except I'm coming back on the 31st. I'm getting a Japan Rail pass and maybe I'll go down to Osaka or back to Kyoto or someplace really crazy and strange for those few days. That's assuming my passport gets here in time...everyone think positive thoughts for Congresswoman Heather Wilson's staff member Chris! (he's helping me get my passport from Charleston, SC before I leave)

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

The getting ready

My passport still has not come and I'm leaving in a week. I talked to a very nice lady on Saturday after being on hold for a 1/2 hour with the passport helpline. I did yoga to pass the time. She told me my application is now "urgent" which doesn't really mean anything...it's like water quality standards--there is regulation but no enforcement.

Other issues are left untended to such as purchasing yen from the Bank of America, finalizing petsitting logistics, how I'm getting to the airport next Tuesday at 5:00 in the morning, buying lots of black socks to wear with shoes I never wear socks with (apparently the Japanese are anti-feet? [I don't really believe this and will be removing my socks at any and all opportunities]) where I'm staying/going in Japan after the 28th and other probably really important things.

I have to make a powerpoint now about my "career" in planning (which doesn't exist) or why I like Japan or something like that. Maybe it will be about Dia de Muertos...

Aside from these things (and the migraine which began during a presentation this morning) I AM SUPER FUCKING EXCITED and hope you will all join me on my journey as I experience the ultimate hallucinogenic experience of all time--

JAPAN.