Nara City (in Nara Prefecture)
Dotonbori District (in Osaka Prefecture)
Kasugai City (in Nagoya Prefecture)
Pontocho District (Nagakyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Higashiyama District (in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Toji Temple area (in Minami Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Arashiyama District (in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Nara City (in Nara Prefecture)
Dotonbori District (in Chuo Ward, Osaka Prefecture
The area was hit with a typhoon, making it difficult to get around but Dotonbori’s center is within a 5 minute walking distance from Umeda Station.
Nagoya Station (in Aichi Prefecture)
This older model of Toyota had been in production for a very long time and until recently, continued to be a staple in the taxi market.
We can only imagine the sense of relief travelers felt as they closed in on a post station, in anticipation of rest at one of a few teahouses or inns.
Chojiya in the present-day: Chojiya web site | 丁子屋
Kasugai City (Aichi Prefecture)
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This apartment is right next to the grocer. It is, more or less, representative of most apartments. Living spaces are compact by many standards.
Living room and kitchen:
A carpenter helped adjust the height of this bed.
Bedroom:
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[Eiji Ohashi has a series of photographs (“Roadside Lights”) that captures vending machines in unique, and stark settings. See: Roadside Lights I | Eiji Ohashi 大橋英児]
Japanese summers can reach intense levels of heat and humidity but it’s still the best time of the year. Summers start with steady, light rains of tsuyu season, then takes you through long days of heat and humidity before ending with typhoons in September. Obon also falls on August and many Japanese use this time to leave the big city for their hometowns.
Reality of the heat: Summer in Japan Be Like…
(Hear that sound? It’s cicadas. Summer is not summer in Japan without them.)
Escape from the heat:
Engawa is an architectural feature of old homes and structures and in the summer, its design allows for a cooling effect. It takes on many forms and uses, several of which are shown here: 1/2 The Mark of Beauty – Engawa veranda – YouTube (Note: This is from NHK World programming and has some corniness to it, but it has a lot of interesting, and very beautiful, examples of engawas and what they evoke.)
Too much nostalgia is self-defeating but these days, I miss Japan terribly, especially the streets and neighborhoods that, in their local identity, are a source of comfort. In the larger world*, everything is so fast-paced and one thing, in spite of its usefulness and utility, gets replaced by the other. Life is imperfect in Kasugai but there are no disorienting disparities (in wealth and housing or healthcare access) and streets are lined with small shops that survive on local support. You can be broke and still have access to affordable food and housing. City layout is to human scale and many amenities, including a medical clinic and college campus, are a short walk away. And, if you need a drink, a cigarette, or maybe just rice, you head out for single-item drink, cigarette or rice runs.
*including commercial centers in Japan, however, if you pull out a few streets from these centers, you will find neighborhoods, even in places like Shinjuku, where streets take on a local identity.
Gifu Prefecture
At the mid-point of Honshu, Japan’s main island, is Gifu Prefecture, a landlocked region most identified with the Japanese Alps and the old, thatched roofed farmhouses of Shirakawa-go. Gifu is one of the reasons why Japan still skews toward a large share of forested land. Gifu has a bullet train stop but for some reason, the recommended access to Gifu is interprefectural and travellers are advised to alight at Nagoya Station before taking a local (or express) train to Gifu’s cities (and towns). It’s been years since being here in person and I was last in Gifu when I was ten years old; time has not changed the imprint of Gifu’s natural landscape.
[Note: It’s persimmon (kaki) season and LA’s Chinese grocers are well-stocked with these medieval-looking, fruits–either shiny or dull and crispy or soft but always a color that leaves an impression. The trees that bear these fruits, in their starkness, don’t quite look like they are real. Branches sag and precariously hold onto the weight of the plump fruits. How the fruits, from harvest to market, keep their leaf intact, is a mystery. Kaki are a fall enjoyment across Japan but Fuyu and Hachiya are varieties that originate from and are cultivated in Gifu.
Throughout fall, kaki is enjoyed in various forms–both fresh and dried–and are a visual focal point in the fall scene. ]
Kaki are peeled then strung and across a four- to six- week long period, gradually hardening fruits are carefully massaged at regular intervals. The end result of this laborious process is hoshigaki, a dried persimmon with a thick layer of white, naturally formed sugars (for visual reference, think powdered donut).
Mino City (in Gifu Prefecture)
A highly specialized washi paper is made in Mino City, drawing its distinction from the area’s paper mulberry trees. Mino washi is a highly durable paper with a thinness that forms an interesting relationship with natural and manmade light; light passes through this ultra-thin, transluscent paper to produce an ethereal effect.
This unique relationship between light, lighting, and paper is the basis for washi’s many traditional, modern, artistic and everyday uses. Mino paper and its value across all these uses can be found at the Mino Washi Akari Art Festival (see: Paper lantern Magic: Mino Washi Akari Art Festival | VISIT GIFU), a seasonal event where rows of individually-made lanterns illuminate an otherwise dark street.
(This is a conversation on candles but it ties candles to larger topics of obsolescence and associating technology with newness: Why Do Candles Still Exist? – Freakonomics)
Tsukechi-cho (in Gifu Prefecture; now called Nakatsugawa)
Tsukechi-cho was a small, countryside town. It no longer exists in name and sometime in the 2000s, was absorbed into the larger city of Nakatsugawa. Regardless of the name change, the area continues to define itself by its mountains (Central Alps), valley (Kiso) and rivers (Tsukechi, Kiso, Nakatsu and others). Travellers are drawn to the general region for this reason. My grandmother’s home is in former Tsukechi and to get there, a bus had to be taken from Nakatsugawa Station to a bus stop that stood right next to my grandmother’s house. It’s an old house, fairly large, and made with and smells of wood. It’s in the countryside where it’s possible to build a home from scratch, which is what my grandparents did. (When I was last there, the bathroom in use was comprised of a no-plumbing squat toilet which had a pipe long enough to offer protection from an unpleasant experience.) There was a lumber yard of some kind nearby and the smell of wood was omnipresent. The house is still intact and has a lot of architectural and design features that are unique to its place but also finding influence in surprising settings. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian homes share striking similarities with old Japanese houses and both are indentifiable by their horizontal lines, wall-to-wall windows, engawas (or a similar structure), and overall integration with nature.
[Note: Usonian homes are primarily described as “American” and based on the prairie, however, this description does not quite recognize the influence of his travels to and interest in Japan.
“…structure designates “an organic form, an organization in a very definite manner of parts or elements into a larger unity—a vital whole”[3]—a characteristic inherent in all the arts of Japan and the basis of Wright’s own architecture.” To explain this “structure”, Wright “defined his architecture as “organic”—buildings that grow and harmonize with their surroundings in much the same fashion as a tree, all parts contributing to the whole, each part necessary to form and function…” (Stripe, Margo). More on FLW’s relationship to Japan can be found here: Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan – Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation] [FLW’S view of Japan is a romanticized one, as is the tendency for dealing with strong feelings, but it does speak to how everyone is just naturally drawn to a specific place or aesthetic.]
Trips here allowed feelings of adventure and it was exciting riding train after train, getting lost and reaching somewhere so different but still home. However, there’s a sense of pragmatism bred here, likely having something to do with a particular environmental and day-to-day life. Even so, there are certain characteristics to this place that seem relevant to bring attention to. I would say a lifelong interest in plants and transportation started here.
To my surprise, Nakatsugawa has a lot of accommodations, including several which are barrier-free, but unlike the options in the big cities, rates are in the higher price point. (Gifu has no sports centers or other government-funded accommodations so if cost and disability is a concern, your best bet is to stay in adjacent Aichi.)
Architectural and design features can say a lot about a place (i.e. climate and geography), its residents, and the relationship to time (i.e., always feeling you don’t have enough time vs. having enough time) and the environment. In the case of this space, there was time; this, I think, is among the reasons why such places can be beloved in childhood and old age, or when circumstances lead us to need time and stability.
(Time)
Miyajima Island (in Hiroshima Prefecture)
[Note: I have not been here in person but according to Accessible Japan, travel to this island is possible but not without physical challenges (i.e. gravel paths).
The area’s physical structures have water marks and look out-of-place atop barren ground. This has to do with high tides and low tides.
Pontocho District (in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Rivers and streams run across urban cities and rural towns, some right up against city streets. The sound of rippling water is familiar and resonates, if not for its physical proximity, then for a specific memory that was never intentionally stored. Flowing water is in the natural form of rivers and streams and in objects where design and natural materials are used to recreate its presence and sound.
The fate of Japan’s waters is in flux and not all rivers and streams are like those found in Kyoto. This article tells of the “unseen” and “unnoticed” waterways of Tokyo with a focus on the more bleaker story of development’s role in the loss and neglect of once important waterways: A city built on water: the hidden rivers under Tokyo’s concrete and neon | Cities | The Guardian.
Flood control infrastructure is what allows towns and cities to keep their rivers while mitigating flood risk in places of heavy rainfall. (Some rivers resemble a canal, as in the Kamo River, while the Shirakawa River (a tributary of Kamo River) is a canal. Here is a response that brings some clarity to questions about the physical infrastructure surrounding natural rivers):
Hollowed out bamboo, trickling water, and stone produces the eerily tranquil sound of the shi-shi-odoshi, a water feature typically found in old gardens.
Higashiyama District (in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
[Shijo Dori]
The Paradox of Pleasure – Hidden Brain Media
(Turn onto Kiyamachi Dori for quiet walk along Takano River)
[Maruyama Park]
(spring)
(summer)
Late spring (in May)
Summer (in July) when my sister went back
What season is it? A different breakdown of seasons: 72 Seasons: June | JACCC
(Fireflies are not yet at the point of endangerment or extinction but were once a common summer sight around rivers, streams, and rice fields. They can still be found but either have to be searched for or seen in more manufactured settings (involving release of farmed fireflies).
Studio Ghibli trivia (Source: Wait, wait…Don’t Tell Me!): When Princess Momonoke was getting scheduled for U.S. release, U.S. production intended to go through with cuts that would make the film more palatable to the U.S. audience. WWDTM says Miyazaki himself (but Miyazaki attributes the act to SG’s producer) subsequently sent a katana to U.S. producers with the message “No cuts.”
[Shirakawa Canal]
Note: The original yon koma (4-panel) comic strips are all in Japanese; all English versions are at the publisher’s discretion.
Here’s more on Machiko Hasegawa and her comic strip.
A traveller’s vlog on some of the places (with cherry blossoms, streams, rivers and gray herons) above: Chasing Cherry Blossoms 🌸 in Kyoto | Japan vlog
Higashiyama District (in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
(Heian Shrine area)
Okazaki Shrine is a short walk from the larger Heian Shrine. At this site, you’ll find row upon row of handcrafted ceramic rabbits. They hold spiritual significance to the shrine but these figures, in their repetition, are visual representations of effort.
(Kiyomizu-dera)
This place has a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation and has a long history that goes back to the 8th century. Its current structure dates back to the 17th century and it uses old building techniques that does not use nails. Buildings sit atop an expansive structure that looks like scaffolding and overlooks, and “floats” over a striking landscape of cherry blossoms and autumnal leaves and sometimes nighttime illuminations. See Kiyomizu-dera Temple | Kyoto Travel.
Kiyomizu-dera’s placement on the mountaintop was the reason for not visiting in person but it’s a reason I now regret. It may be a physical challenge to visit but Kiyomizu-dera, along with many historic sites, are designed to be barrier-free. See Kiyomizu-dera – Accessibility Guide (Wheelchair Access & More). This site (Accessible Japan by Josh Grisdale) mentions a road that leads directly to the main buildings but In a now defunct website that went by the same name (Accessible Japan by Wakakoma Independent Living Center), I found very useful guides, including one that stated that historic sites atop mountains have roads typically used by staff and open for use by persons with disabilities.
(Tetsugaku no Michi (Philosopher’s Path))
If you’re not familiar with Isao Takahata, he is co-founder of Studio Ghibli. He took a different approach from his more recognizable partner. Here’s an article that focuses on Kaguya Hime.
Was looking for an archive of old Sazaesan comic strips (there is none) but found this (from Japan House Los Angeles).
*Photo credit: A.K.H.
(Demachiyanagi Station area in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Aoi (Hollyhock) Festival
Flowers
(Ohara District in Sakyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Here are diagrams illustrating the once important status and role of farmers. (There should be no hierarchies based on profession but this is the one that spanned centuries.)
Diagrams from: Azby Brown’s Just Enough
It is a structure that, in many ways, is the opposite of social structures as “we” understand them. Merchants (i.e., sake dealers, paper dealers, tatami dealers) amassed fortunes but were relegated to lower social strata. Money was considered taboo and those professions that involved wealth-building had the freedom to build lavish homes while remaining in lower status. Samurai were highly regarded but some turned to craft-making to supplement their incomes.
…Yamada (mountain rice paddy), Honda (main rice paddy), Kawada (river rice paddy), and other names.
Sketch of Edo-era rice paddy whose traditional method of optimizing natural productivity is practiced in modern-day organic rice cultivation.
(Illustration by Azby Brown, from “Just Enough: lessons in living green in traditional japan,” p. 74, Used with permission)
The experience of seeing rice fields is a strange one for reasons that are intangible. This footage of rice paddies, just flooded, is west of Kyoto, in Hyogo Prefecture, and shows rice production at its early stage: Walking in the Countryside | Kusano, Japan 4K. Rice fields are visually impactful as they go through dramatic changes, not just from month to month but from week to week. In the fall, the fields are entirely harvested and cleared and all the straw meticulously stacked in bundles. Through it all, you only see a few lone figures at work, giving the fields an odd feeling of abundance and solitariness.
These feelings notwithstanding, there’s also the harsh economic realities of rice farming brought on by expectations of maximum output, regardless of the environmental and human costs. (With few economic rewards, it feels life and opportunities would be better in the city.) For small, family-run farms, these costs are all the more felt. It is in this context that rice fields still remain.
Neko no shippo, kaeru mo te provided a momentary escape from a particularly chaotic time. Here’s an episode: VENETIA ESSAY ～ Friends at the Morning Market～
Photo credit: A.K.H.
Toji Temple (in Minami Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
One way of getting to Toji Temple is by starting at Kyoto Station. It’s an approximately 15 minute walk through a commercial area with a sharp visual contrast at a turn of a corner.
Also in Aeon mall:
Arashiyama District (in Ukyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture)
Cafe Hanashirube, a short walk from Arashiyama Station, is still in operation. So glad it’s still around.
Note: Bamboo and many East Asian plants (i.e., kudzu and wisteria) are not meant to be grown in the U.S. where outside of a container or contained space, they will overtake an area.
This is something I only recently learned (source: Hidden Brain podcast) but Kyoto was top at the list of the first atomic bombing target. In 1926, H.L. and Mabel Stimson went on a sightseeing trip to Kyoto. They visited temples, saw the autumnal colors, and the trip left an impression. Fast forward to 1945 when there was a consensus in the Target Commitee, made up of scientists and generals, that Kyoto should be the first atomic bomb target. It had historic temples, a university, and an airplane factory and bombing it would be of a significance the bomb was intended for. Memos of this decision was circulated and H.L. Stimson, now Secretary of War, sees them. He “sprung to action” and speaks twice to Truman and convinces the president to take Kyoto off the list. Other cities were not spared but this is a story of why Kyoto was.