Scale

Scale is important in art. A large painting has a different impression than a small painting. An artist works in minute details, or with broad strokes. Personally, I have always been more enthralled by large scale works. I'd rather look at huge painting on the wall then have to examine the tiny etchings of a jewelry box. Doris Salcedo’s Shibboleth is a piece that really impressed me in scale and conception.

In Japanese painting, I feel scale plays a very important role as both a physical object and within the image itself. Images like this render from a birds-eye view, the scale is not in the figures, but the amount of activity within the image. Theres a lot to look at. Other images, like this one, use scale as a contrasting element. We see the traces of man, set against the overwhelming presence of nature. As a physical object, there are large-scale folding screens, wall hangings, smaller works, and all sizes in between. At school, most students work at a fairly large scale. Obviously it's up to the artist, but 1) large-scale action, 2) large-scale physicality, and 3) scale-within image contrast, are all patterns I continue to recognize when I look at Japanese art.

Don't touch that!

I had a Japanese lesson in the morning, then off to school. I've been bad with Japanese and not studying enough, I can understand the grammar, but don't remember the vocabulary!

Today was sumie of our shells and apples. The difference from last time and today is we were not given a reference sheet. For the pepper/onion, we were given a sheet showing simple brush direction and technique to render those objects, much like this page for a rose. Today we were left on our own except when sensei came around and gave pointers. It was hard, especially because we were supposed to render both objects on the same sheet, so if I did really good on the shell, odds are I didn't like the apple, and vice versa.

After working at it for a few hours and making many versions, I finished something I was somewhat proud of. The shell looked like my shell, the apple looked like my apple. Then something happened that I didn't really like. Sensei came around with a tray of colors, grabbed a brush and went right over top my sumie. Bright colors, no subtlety, and too much water for the paper type so the colors bleed outside my object. My apple turned into tie-dye, and my shell was turned blue, though in reality it was mostly white with hints of yellow. He went around and colored everyones work, adding a layer of his own hand on top of our sumie. He has done something like this before, with better results when demonstrating a technique or putting on the finishing touches, not only for me but the whole class. It's useful, it has a purpose, and it very minor, but in this situation it was too heavy handed. Sumie is different, it's not layering, and if we were going to add a highlight of color onto our sumie, it would have made just as much sense for us to do it as for him.

Cold

I was sick today with a cold and sore throat. A few people I know have been sick recently, so a bug has definitely been going around. I took some medicine but it didn't help. I could barely talk and I didn't go to class, that was the worst part, because I knew Muraoka-sensei would want to talk to me and wonder where I was.

I did my best to study and be productive, but in the end I really wasn't. But things happen, and I did listen to a whole lot of Japanese audio lessons and do some reading. Oh, and I found this which is pretty funny, Harry you sexy beast you.

Singing in the office

Monday language lesson with Yamada-sensei as happens every week. I'll make excuses again and say I haven't been studying Japanese like I should be. Language was one of my goals for being here, but I haven't been very focused with it, more like sporadic. A quote by Barry Fisher in his book "How to Learn Any Language", I've taken it in heart, but not in hand.

A language has a lot in common with a military foe. Don’t let it rest. Don’t let it regroup and devise fresh ways to foil your attack. Keep up the rhythm of your offensive. Keep your momentum going.

I was not asked about the 'big' news stories in the US today, which is just as well because I would only have mentioned the DNC primaries and the ruling about delegates from Michigan and Florida. But I did have a phrase all prepared to say 'It's complicated to explain.' which I didn't get a chance to use.

On my way out, I heard my name called and Kawakatsuさん had something for me in the office. It was just my receipt for rent paid last month, but I chatted with her and another woman in the office for a bit. They both examined my collapsible umbrella and complimented me on how light it was, I had brought it with me and it's good for travel, fits in a bag. It's kinda small though, if it's raining too hard my shins still get wet, so I also have a bigger Gene Kelly/Singin' in the Rain-style umbrella, like everyone else here has, for the downpour days. This lead to talking about the rain, and they told me about a Japanese rain song that school children sing. They teased each other about it, but neither would sing for me. We also talked about the past weekend, and when they found out I had gone clubbing in Japanese style, let me tell you, the whole office laughed and was thoroughly amused by the idea.

Billiards at MK Taxi

After the market I walked north to a Umekoji Park. I see this park everytime I ride the JR train into Kyoto station, so a closer look was in order. It was a busy day, lots of children and family out, wading in a little stream, having picnics, running around on the field. There was a bell choir, and other out musicians practicing. I stopped here for a short nap in the shade, then some food on my way to the train.

My destination was north, some building called MK Taxi where I was meeting a guy to play pool. It was a bit of a hike after getting off the train, but it was a nice day going along the river side. Again, there were a lot of people out enjoying the day, biking, walking, playing in the sun. I eventually saw the building with the big logo and went up to the 4th floor. There was an arcade, various other games (a lot of those claw-games), a little seating area, an indoor soccer area, ping-pong, bowling on the 3rd floor, and pool tables. I greeted Joe and used his membership to get a table, it was very cheap, you can play all day until 6pm for about ¥600/person (not by table) and bring drinks in with you. This was the first time I met Joe, who has been a teacher in Japan for almost 20 years now and decided to put up a post looking for new people to play pool with. I responded and we had a good time playing and talking about Japan and such. We played for a few hours, and while I don't play often, I did have a table growing up, and it showed, I was dominating. Joe is very fluent in spoken Japanese, obviously after 20 years, but at some point had given up on the Kanji and does not read much. I don't intend to do that.

On the way back, I stopped by the river and listened to the water a bit. This is a fast river coming down from the mountains, but it's been tamed for ages and has little waterfalls at set distances. Most rivers in Japan have been tamed, I've heard there are only about 4 or 5 natural rivers remaining without dams, shored up banks, or elevation control. Sad in many ways, but at the same time, nature takes over, even a cement barrier overgrown with moss and vines has beauty.

Back on the Hankyu, I was listening to music and not paying attention when I got off at the wrong stop. I was on a Limited Express train, meaning I thought it was skipping every stop until mine, but I guess not that one. Hungry, I looked around and gave into temptation by going to KFC for some extra spicy chicken. Japan is really missing out as far as spices are concerned, they have things that may be 'hot' like wasabi, and a few indian restaurants here and there, but nowhere have I see anything even remotely mexican. Anna's Taqueria would make a killing here, give me that burrito with jalepaneos and extra hot sauce, mmmm...

Toji Market

Heading to my destination, I passed something interesting. A busy road with shops all around, under a store awning, was a birds nest. With the baby chicks heads popping right out and the mother flying around. It was somewhat odd to see in the middle of a city, not in a park or anything, but just on the street like that.

Also on my way I stopped at a public bath located under Kyoto Tower, not the best I've been to, but a nice refresher, woke me right up, then I continued south via subway. My destination was Toji Shrine, one of the world cultural heritage sites in Kyoto. But I wasn't headed there for the shrine today, but the market held there on the first sunday of every month. There are many markets in Kyoto, including a few bigger ones late in the month, so I wasn't really planning to purchase anything today, just see what was there. And what I saw, was everything. The biggest yard sale/flea market ever, with booths and canopies, mostly old goods, antiques and tidbits, rows and rows of merchants selling whatever they had. Most things were laid out neatly on blankets or tables, so it was easy to just wander around and look.

Old cameras, pottery, dishes, stone carvings, glass carvings, wood carvings, new and old kimonos, textiles, fabrics, brushes, old axes, boxes, keys, old coins and money, old photographs, lamps, knives, jewelry, pocket watches, masks, toys, teapots, swords, guns, books, pages, videos, dvds, weavings, sake sets, abacus, hilts, leather goods, weavings, rope, figurines, ceramics, zippo lighters, matches, suzuri, old wooden locks, the list goes on and on, simply the biggest yard sale of the most varied junk imaginable that I had ever seen.
The item that had me most excited though were the old scroll paintings. Any merchant having these kept them rolled up safely, with a book of photographs for browsing. If you saw one you liked, they would open it up for closer inspection. Some of these looked maybe not genuine, or of lower quality, but others were dated all the way back to the Edo period. The prices looked very reasonable for what you were purchasing, upwards of a couple hundred US$ depending, and I'm sure that could be bargained down. It's been on my mind from the start, that if I could find it, a genuine Japanese painted scroll would be my 'big' souvenir from Japan, so it's good to know it's possible. I've also heard of a similar market of books and old wood-block prints sometime in the summer, so I will be looking out for that.

Alex Kerr, who has written a number of books about Japan, once talked about antiques in Japan. He said that in their rush to modernize, much of Japanese culture was devalued, specifically artistic relics like scroll paintings, calligraphy and wood-block prints. I don't think it's as bad as it once was before Japan's economic bubble burst in the 90s, but I see what he means.

Being at one of Kyotos most famous temple, I obviously looked around a bit. I didn't pay to go into the main temple area, but there was a little sub temple one could go into. There were some paintings on the wall and a few large wooden sculptures. Photography was not allowed (as would be expected), but the 'No Sketching' sign almost made me laugh out loud.

おはようございます

Kyoto is surreal in the early morning, or maybe that's just alcohol and the sudden transition from noisy-hypnotic club basement into the light of dawn. Either way, when you've been out clubbing all night in Japan, the popular thing to do is find a McDonalds.

All McDonalds in Japan are 24-hour. Sometimes backpackers who need a few hours rest will just find a table and sleep there. Same goes for clubbers in Japan, and by the time I had bought some food and walked upstairs to the seating area, almost every table was already occupied by someone laughing, talking, eating, or (majority) head down sleeping. Private booths in the corner were the first to go, but it doesn't really matter as long as you find a seat. Even if you have a purse or a bag, there's very little theft and I wasn't worried at all as I set my bag down, ate breakfast, then slept. When I woke up a few hours later, it was the same, most tables occupied, people asleep, or awake, eating and talking.

You might ask, why? Why? Doesn't sound like very good rest to me! Well, I had planned an early day in the city (before going out), and this way at least I saved on train fare. Plus, Kyoto is beautiful in the morning, it was well worth it.