McCain

Woke up early today and did some studying. After expressing concerns about school credit for private language lessons, we have been getting more involved homework assignments and actually having to turn them in. So we'll get credit, which is a relief. After finishing my homework for the day, I went down to school and my studio.

Didn't spend a whole lot of time there, but put what will be, hopefully, the last required priming coat on my paper and then the real work can finally begin. While waiting for that, I played around with sumi and tried to put into practice methods from my free shodo class.

In language class, we had the normal oddball discussions here and there, politics came up, and from what I hear, the Japanese do not like Hillary Clinton. Or at least Yamada sensei does not. Then I heard something really funny about McCain, who is not reported on very much here. Apparently, translated to katakana, マケエイン, includes マケ ('make') which is 'defeat' and 'loss'. Quick, someone tell the press!

世守

I overslept somewhat, being up late the night before, then went into Kyoto. My destination was the Kyoto International House and a free (50¥ for materials) cultural class on Japanese calligraphy, called shodo. There is a class like this offered almost every Saturday, but it's the first time I've made it.

I was very happy I did. When I went into the room, there were about five Japanese women moving about the room, and about the same amount of participants sitting at tables. Some were gaijin like me, but there were a few Japanese as well. We were given brushes and sumi materials, then started with a few simple exercises. I didn't have much problem with these as I've used sumi off/on since I got here. Never a specific class about it's use though, so I was very happy to learn a system of preparing three shades of black and using them in a more structured way.

I practiced some bamboo drawings, did well on the stalks and got some compliments, but the leaves eluded me. Just more practice. I also learned something that made me very happy, my name in Kanji (instead of katakana, セス クレイトン). Well, one translation, as there are many Kanji pronounced Se and many others pronounced Su (the closest Japanese has to a th- sound). So here it is, 世守, 'sesu', which means 'world/life protector'. So I've got that going for me. The woman probably has lots of experience doing this for foreigners, as she selected Kanji of positive meaning.

I also enjoyed chatting with the women and another Japanese man, Syunpei, sitting at the table with me. As always, I got many wide eyes when I told them I was there studying nihonga. Talked more with Syunpei on the way out. He's a post-doc student studying Physics. His English is very good, and I promised I would try to help him learn more about American humor. Cross-cultural humor is always hard to understand, I sure don't understand what's funny to the Japanese.

Waiting. Again.

Today was super frustrating. It started off ok, arrived to morning lecture and sat there in the dark looking at art. There were many ink screen paintings today, which are my favorite of Japanese art. Trees, and mountains, and mist and fog. Disparate forms, dancing and echoing. The slides were followed by a short movie, which was especially interesting as it showed professional artists at work, mixing sumi, moving the brush. They used a surprising variety of brushes, including brushes of straw and pine needles for different effects.

After lecture I went home for a little while and prepared for my later studio class. I've been trying to do more drawings while here, pencil mostly, and just sketches, but in preparation for a larger painting, I reverted to charcoal use and referenced a photo I had taken. The paper I found in the store didn't have a whole lot of tooth for charcoal, more like printmaking paper, but things like that didn't bother me as I simply adapted. I even took advantage of it, my linseed-oil prepared charcoal is somewhat hard and digs away at the surface when over worked, so I was getting some interesting stress effects and textures.

Having a charcoal drawing I was happy with, and definitely looking like I had made it, I needed to distill this into line. Or at least rough shapes to provide definition when painting. It was very difficult, somewhat frustrating, and not really necessary in the end. Mountains are indistinct, shapes blur together, areas of darkness, ares of light, gradients in between. It sent me off on a tangent, trying to distill the image into some sort of abstraction. I wasn't happy with what I came out with, and pretty much ignored it later except for the main outline.

Back at school, I transferred my image onto a prepared panel. I had done this previously, mounting my primed paper onto a borrowed wooden panel, so I was all set to go. My line drawing was all ready on some tracing paper, which I then flipped over and used some willow charcoal over all the lines, then flipped it back to the front and went over my lines again with a pencil to press the underneath carbon onto my panel. An easy transfer method, good for many things.

Thats when the problems really started. I used my sumi to start making outlines, but then when I started to darken areas of shadow, the sumi acted weird, would speckle, lay inconsistent. It didn't look very good. Still, I thought it was me, so I cleaned my suzari to make sure there were no hardened chunks, patiently remixed my sumi and tried again. Some isolated areas were fine, but the same thing kept happening. Eventually my sensei came back into the room and I asked what was going on. Turns out the paper was not primed enough, instead of the 3 coats it had gotten, needed 4 or 5 at least.

So again. More waiting. I can't paint because the materials are not primed. I couldn't prime the paper again today because it was wet with the sumi. I have just one more month of studio time here (before I'm homeless roaming around Japan). I'd like to finish two larger sized works in that time, but it's so time consuming to do it right.

はな

Continued today on a flower drawing for 1st year nihonga. This class has been about specific technique, and I've really enjoyed it, but still, I can always do better. One facet of doing better is scale, and positioning. On my first class drawing, I was big and bold, but the rest of the class was smaller objects with lots of surrounding space. Mmaybe it's subconscious, because since that first painting it has been the opposite, I feel like I'm working too small and leaving too much empty space, while the rest of the class has gotten bigger and bolder.

Thats not to say my drawings and paintings are not good, but they can be better. With the flower drawing, I captured the details of the leaves, and then later the details of the blossom as it opened. But I was impatient. I transfered my drawing to washi, pasted it down, let it dry, then outlined the form in sumi. Then I made a mistake, thinking the paper was dry, I tried to continue into the shadows, but the paper that was dry to the touch was not really dry. The carbon spread outwards, beyond the lines, and was not smooth.

An obvious mistake, and could have been avoided. It can be fixed, covered up, none would be the wiser, but still, it disturbed me. I like to work fast, let the creative bursts out, but with nihonga, there is waiting. Always waiting. I've seen my sensei create an ink drawing, layering and layering with a practiced hand. He rarely needs to stop, because the sumi is so light and perfect. As one part dries, he works somewhere else. There is no pause, only deliberation. A wiser man might say to slow the hand, is to slow the mind and to see more. But I am not so wise.

Blogging

This blog is a record of my time in Japan. I will have an entry written for every day I'm here, even if just to say I didn't do anything interesting. But sometimes, I get behind, and the missed days keep adding up. If you want to keep up, watch the blog listing to the right.

There are reasons that this happens. Some reasons are good, like I spent the day out and didn't get back until late, or that it takes time to process details and write about events while the post sits unfinished as a draft.

Other reasons are bad. I'm stressed. I have nothing to say. I'm unmotivated. I'm confused. I just don't feel like it. Most of the time it's that last one. And so the draft sits there. I have one entry from back during Golden week and my trip to Shikoku that I haven't finished, though it's mostly done, I just haven't put it up.

Blogging should not be a chore, but at times it is, and that's why some entries are posted out of order. Technology allows me trickery, back-dating and editing, but that flexibility itself is a trap. I can 'get away' with mass postings, even while true day-by-day recordings of my time would be more efficient, and more to the spirit of this project. All my life, the idea of a journal, sketchbook, a daily practice, a constant un-shakeable routine, those things call to me, but continue to remain elusive. Good habits are hard to form, and my bad habits are hard to break.

Prime paper 2

Learned something important today, how to make the glue solution required to prime washi paper. Obviously, this is a very important step in the process. As I have discussed, improper preparation of materials can be very frustrating.

Not too hard, the nikiwa, or glue, comes in solid sticks that I purchased in the school store. After allowing this to soften in water for a few hours, I melted it over heat to create the primary glue solution. I use this liquid to create my paints, adding pigments and grinding it by hand in a little dish. To make the priming solution, I add more water and allow it to cool. I also add a scoop of chemical, aluminium potassium sulfate, as an additional stabilizing element.

It felt good to have this under my own control, I wonder about materials when I go back to Boston, if I can find the same type of pigments and papers. Nihonga is a slow process, somewhat demanding, but it is interesting. I look forward to continuing with these materials, as I gain a different type of satisfaction from their use than I do with a large-format charcoal drawings. Note, different does not mean greater or better, only different, and I feel myself struggling to combine newly-learned materials with past-developed methods.

Prime paper

Raining today. I can expect more of that with the rainy season on the way. Still, rode my borrowed bike to class holding an umbrella in one hand just like the Japanese do. Most bikes here are single speed, so it's not like riding around at home where I would never try the same zooming around in a high gear.

Class today was all preparation, I needed to prime my paper so I could then mount it on a panel and paint. As a priming solution, it's just glue, the same glue as is used for the paints, diluted in water. It needs to be layered on thick, one side, wait an hour, then the other. Sometimes it requires three coats, but I didn't have time for that today as with the humidity, everything was slow to dry.

During my waiting, and there is often waiting with nihonga for your paints to dry, I continued on my shell painting from Tuesday. The shells themselves are small and occupy only one corner of the image, so I am most concerned about the background. I see so many layering possibilities with this medium, ways of making fog, and obscuring, and mixed images, but I lack the technical ability to execute my ideas. I focus on my craft, and this painting is about background and layer color.

Sawano-sensei art

Today I had the opportunity to see some of Sawano-sensei art on display in Kyoto. I learned this is a yearly exhibition that he has been a part of for the last 10 years. From other teachers and artists I've talked to in Japan, this feels common, as they all seem to have steady shows at the same places over and over.

I had known we were going into Kyoto from last week, but had forgotten and ended up being late to class and everyone had left. I had a card announcing the show, but it was all in Japanese. There was a map showing me it was by the river in Kyoto, so after some comparison to other maps, I figured out the cross street and off I went. The cost of trains in Kyoto really add up and if I had more time I would have taken a different route, but after the Hankyu train, a switch to the subway, and a fast paced walk, I was there.

The building was a performance center of some kind, and when I walked in I surprised my classmates who probably did not expect to see me. Sensei seemed very happy to see me, and I was very glad to make it. The exhibition included three of his own works, and maybe 9 other pieces. The first thing I noticed was the size, everything in the room was big, and Sawano senseis' paintings were all 6ft square. The paintings were all cityscapes, he told me the first was from sketches done in Italy, the second from France, and the third an imaginary composition on his own. The paint was laid on so thickly, or so it seemed, and there was a lot of texture to the images. The color was somewhat muted, earthen and neutrals, but there was an under layering of brighter colors. The paintings were not seamless, you could see the obvious joining of two panels, but because of the quality of image, it barely registered. I wish I had taken photos, but did not want to cheapen the experience.

After looking at the art, I sat with Sawano sensei over coffee. We talked about a few things, I remember asking about how his paintings were of cities, man-made objects, when so many of the Japanese paintings I've been looking at involve nature and trees and mountains, etc etc. I could guess the answer, that of an artist following their bliss, making the very best art when they are interesting in what they are doing, but it was good to hear directly. Sawano sensei has traveled a few times in Europe, and we talked about that, how the foreign cities inspired him to make those paintings. This led to my learning something of his influences, and how he had studied under the Japanese artist Insho Domoto, which I then found out had also created a number of abstract paintings using nihonga materials and methods. This was something of a revelation to me, and Sawano sensei told me of an exhibition at a Kyoto museum showing his work.

I left sometime after, conversations like these are somewhat tiring, and I wanted to get back to Nagaokakyo. I wandered a little along Teramachi street and Nishiki food market, found a quick bite to eat, then the train home. Visiting museums, seeing "famous" art is very useful, and eye opening, but in some ways it can lead to tunnel vision. By seeing Sawano senseis' art, along with the other paintings on display, I sampled something more contemporary. I saw Japanese artists dealing with the issues of today, instead of ideas from ages past. It was very interesting and very enjoyable.

Rambo

Today I went to the movies with a Japanese friend, Nishiokaくん. When I first arrived, that was an easy way to communicate, throwing movies back and forth. He's a big fan of action movies, and Sylvester Stallone in particular, so Rambo was the perfect choice.

After some small confusion via phone-email about us going to the same place at the same time (broken English, broken Japanese), we both made it to JR Ibaraki station in Osaka, then a short walk to the Warner Mycal Theater. It was connected with a shopping area, which was nothing unusual. We enter the lobby, and again, all glitter and lights like any mainstream theater. The first real difference came when we purchased tickets and I find out that it's reserved seating, and like a Broadway play, different sections are different prices. We got our tickets, $15 US (expensive, but about the same as a movie at Boston-Copley theater), then I made the mistake of purchasing a coke, where I ended up with a large, over-priced souvenir cup. Some things are the same everywhere. In the lobby there was also a large gift shop of movie memorabilia, they had everything, key chains, towels, posters, books, trinkets, whatever you would want to spend your money on. Except dvds of the movies themselves.

Inside the theater, we got to watch a Looney Tunes service announcement, turn off phones, don't talk, etc. etc, or at least that's what I guessed they were saying. I do think it's funny how many Looney Tunes and Disney characters I see in Japan, and even moreso after asking the Japanese wearing a character shirt and they tell me they have never seen the cartoon. After the cartoons came the trailers, and the majority were American movies, still in English with Japanese subtitles. I saw previews for Indiana Jones, the new Batman, Sex in the City, a Star Wars cartoon, and a single, short 'teaser' for a Japanese film as the only thing not in english.

Eventually the movie started, English with subtitles. It was about what I expected from a Rambo movie, high body counts and the good guys win in the end. But it was enjoyable. I had not gone for the movie, more to hang out with my Japanese friend and to experience the movies in Japan. Afterwards we met up with another friend and went to a noodle place for lunch before I went back home.

いいてんきですね

Really nice day out today. Not too hot, not too cold.

Went to morning lecture, I feel like my Japanese Art history classes are helping my imagination more than my knowledge. I get to see art, see the slides the professor chooses to present, but I understand little of what he says about them. I have some printed handouts, which I'm sure would be useful when I translate them, but it's a very time-consuming process to do so. It's not like translating a European language, direct word for word, just look it up and viola! No. It requires looking up Kanji, which two Kanji separately have different meaning than together. Dissecting sentences, and by that I mean determining where the words separate so you can look up their meaning. Deciding which characters are particles, the connecting elements, isn't too hard, but it's not a direct formula, and particles can mean different things depending on context of the rest of the sentence.

I'm understanding more of the spoken Japanese around me, but if I ever want to be able to read and write Japanese, it's a long road ahead.

Outdoors club

Today was somewhat eventful. Not because things happened, but because I found out about things that will be happening.

For instance, had the first meeting of the Outdoor club at school. Back in mid-April I had given my email address to a fellow student for this club, which was really very small, I hoped something would come of it, the club might plan an event together, but until now nothing had happened. Today we met during lunch, where we looked at a few different possibilities the leader had printed out from the internet. A few were just things like go to make noodles, or Japanese candy, but something more adventurous for July is a river race north of Kyoto, in Shiga. From what I understand, you make a raft from foam and PET bottles, then race against other teams. Last year there were 47 rafts together on the river, sounds like fun, so I'll keep you posted.

Next, during painting class, we started on a flower preliminary drawing, but I didn't understand why we then painted on our pencil drawings. Turns out it was to get a rough recording of the colors before our flower wilts away and fades. Then I found out next weeks class will become a field trip into Kyoto, specifically to see a show of nihonga, and more specifically, paintings and work by Sawano-sensei himself. Sugoi! I always enjoy seeing a teachers art, it's an important part of learning, being able to see where they come from, to know them as a creator along with an educator.

Lastly, finalized plans with a classmate to go see the most recent Rambo movie as it's soon to be release here in Japan. Neither of us can speak the others language particularly well, but throwing movie titles back is always something. Foreign movies released in Japan almost always retain the original voice track and are then subtitled in Japanese, so it won't be any problem to understand. Yet another example of the pervasiveness of English here, even though few Japanese have any conversation skills because it's mostly grammar being taught in schools.

Nasic Welcome Party

Today I went into my painting studio, but could not find my professor. A classmate told me that everyone had went out into the nice weather to sketch, so that's what I did.

For a month now, there has been a poster by the entrance of my building, advertising a Nasic Welcome Party. Nasic is the building management company, and supposedly, this was a chance to wine and dine on their bill! Friends from the building had talked about it, but unfortunately it turns out only people who moved in the beginning of April were eligible. As Kristine was busy, that meant I was flying solo. Also, unfortunately for me, the others didn't really miss much.

I rode the JR train to Kyoto station, then walked into the lobby of the fancy hotel right above. I saw signs for Nasic, and following them, went up a long escalator to check-in. I did not have a name-tag prepared, maybe because I didn't RSVP (or know how), but they let me in no problem. I was given a table number, and a raffle ticket. Walking into the large banquet hall, I could feel eyes on me, but I went over and sat down at my table. Others seated in my area were mostly college students, while the tables near the stage had business types wearing suits and exchanging cards. I tried to order a beer, but my section was not allowed drinks beyond OJ, water, and tea. Food was served, and it was ok, random dishes of rice, chicken, and vegetables. Nothing stood out. There was an interesting performance by a squad of Japanese cheerleaders as they formed pyramids three girls high and threw each other around, then the raffle. Some good prizes were offered, food certificates, a mountain bike, and finally a vacation somewhere, I didn't win anything, but I did get a free pen!

After another presentation, by men in suits, where gifts were exchanged and a few short speeches were given, it was over. The staff lined up along the edges of the hall, then filed out, followed by the first-class guests. Then finally the students. All the staff were lined up outside bowing and thanking us in typical fashion. The escalator I had used to come up had been put in reverse, to help clear everyone out quickly, and I thought that was pretty neat.

Water bottle mystery

A while back I made a post about seeing water bottles set around the perimeter of houses and parking lots and all over the place. That mystery is now solved.

The water bottles are to keep away stray cats. According to the Japanese, the cats own reflection in the water scares them away. There is probably some connected myth, but thats how I understand it. I could never have guessed that.

Peace Osaka

Looking at the time, I knew if I tried to go to a major Osaka art museum I wouldn't have a whole lot of time, so instead I looked in my book and realized Peace Osaka was nearby, aka Osaka International Peace Center. Having a free ticket, I went for a look. Exactly like it sounds, it was a museum with exhibits based around WWII. Everything from Japan invasion of China, to US firebombing was explained in detail. There was a lot of information, and I found it interesting, but I will say this, for an 'International' peace center, with a stated goal of presenting clear and precise information about the war, to promote peace, it was very Japan oriented. Certainly, this is to be expected, being in Japan, but there was almost no information about the European conflict, or Germany, and only a single wall about the Holocaust.

Leaving the peace museum, I walked around the park a bit until I got hungry. Rode the subway to the Umeda JR station, then went looking for food. Went past many possibles, but it wasn't until I was in yet another underground shopping district that I stopped at a nice looking Indian restaurant. I was in the mood for spice, and they delivered. Full and refreshed, I looked at my map, then started walking towards the Umeda Sky Building.

Osaka-jo

There's a lot to see in Osaka (it's the second biggest city in Japan behind Tokyo), so with that in mind I thought to rent a bike. I hadn't looked any up, so I went to one of the many Tourist Information centers. This was near a subway station, and attached to one of the many underground/covered shopping districts littering Japan. It's the rain, and the heat which drives shoppers underground. People think the streets of Japan are crowded, you should see one of these places on a busy Saturday afternoon, also it's a maze with multiple complexes connected.

The information center was able to point out a bike rental place nearby, along with sell me Museums Grutto Pass KANSAI 2008, a great deal I had not known about for museum admission in the Kansai area. I stopped at a bakery cafe for breakfast, there's a lot of these in Japan too, you walk in, get a tray and you own tongs, then select from bins of baked goods that all seem to be fresh from that same day. Lots of variety.

I tried finding the bike place, but couldn't and ended up wandering for a bit. I stopped at Hōzen-ji, a tiny little temple with a moss-covered statue. Wait your turn, then throw water at the statue and onto the plants to either side. The ripples and waves of plant matter inspired me. This is supposedly a shrine popular with sea-faring tradesmen. Continued walking, I saw a gallery advertising an 'Art as Line' exhibition, but after I went in I was a little disappointed. Not a very large collection, the most interesting pieces were sketches and gesture drawings, which wasn't saying much.

I continued heading north and went through a few more covered shopping areas. I passed a bike shop that offered rental, but he was closing early that day and I didn't think it'd be worth it. It was a hot day, tall buildings to either side until I came out into the open area surround Osaka-jo (castle). I approached the moat, and just blown away by the scale! I've seen a few castles in Europe, but this was different, and I could just picture a massive army trying to get across that moat and up the wall. While I was admiring the view, a pair of Japanese student, perhaps high-school age, came up to me all friendly and excited. They were less interested in conversation, but really wanted to have their picture taken with me. I guess I'm funny looking, but I agreed, we said hello, then said goodbye and went our separate ways. They didn't even ask me my name.
Approaching the castle, I went through a series of gates and bridges. Over a secondary moat, overgrown with weeds, I came to the main gate. I read a few signs talking about the massive size of individual stones used along the inner wall, but it was all a wind up as the next sign told me that after recent excavation, it was discovered to something of a cover-stone, tall, wide, but only 6" thick.

Up through a couple more gates, past a few little shops, then I had a good view of the actual castle, Osaka-jo. It was actually a somewhat recent reproduction, being destroyed by lightning and rebuilt in 1931, but it looked impressive to me. Examined an international time capsule from 2007 in the courtyard, then paid for my ticket and went in. There were two lines, one for the elevator, another for the stairs. I took the stairs and went all the way up as instructed, the exhibits are designed to be viewed on the way down.

From the top, I had great views of the surrounding area. A park surrounded the castle, but everything beyond was city and tall buildings. I looked around in the little gift shop, then started my way down. There was a lot of history of the castle, names and dates, clans and factions battling over control. Mixed in were artifacts and art, reproductions of a portable tea room transported around by the controlling warlord, swords, armor, a few screen paintings, and I was happy to find a lot of english language text that I could read. On one floor they had a bunch of dioramas, with actor recordings over laid on glass, almost like watching ghosts perform a play. Altogether, it was a pretty good museum, though very site specific. I enjoyed it.

I went out a different gate than I came in, heading generally east, I followed the road and eventually found myself on a nice wooded path. I started to hear drums in the distance, and as I got closer, I came to a big open-air performance area with a festival of some sort. I took a seat and watched the next performance. I wouldn't call it an iconic Japanese performance, though the performers were Japanese, it was more african beats, for lack of a better word, something of a hippie festival, with beads, drum circles, free-form dancing, it was fun, then I continued walking.

Osaka capsule hotel

It was late in the day by the time I planned my weekend. I hadn't been to Osaka yet (which is really close, but I've been busy elsewhere), and to add an experience and get an early start, I decided to spend the night there. Specifically, in one of the notorious Japanese capsule hotels.

I packed a small bag and boarded the JR train into Osaka. Missed the express, so I had to take a local that stopped at every stop, then transfer onto the JR Circle line, which is just like it sounds, a big circle around the city. My first destination for the evening was SpaWorld which is a 24-hour onsen in the heart of Osaka. The pool and gym did not appear to be open, and that really disappointed me, but I had a good time exploring the different baths and saunas on the European floor. There is also an Asian-themed floor, but the two areas are switched each month between men and women. I left a little sooner than I would have liked to avoid paying the additional after-hours fee.

From the southern area I was in, I walked north towards the Minami night-time district. I was reminded of NYC with the tall buildings around me, especially walking through Den-Den Town, the electronics district (though everything was closed by then). And the homeless, unlike Kyoto, I saw a lot of them here. At first the streets were empty, but as I got closer to Dōtombori Arcade it was more lively. Tall, brightly lit signs, electrical wires everywhere, bikes, hawkers, the nighttime crowd was everywhere. I wandered around a bit, along the Dōtombori-gawa (canal), criss-crossing different streets, went into a music store and listened to demo cds for awhile. I must look like a mark, because I was offered a 'massage' at three different corners (Osaka is infamous for it's sex industry, for instance No-pan kissa and various other affairs). It was getting late, then just by chance, I passed Sauna and Capsule AMZA, one of the hotels I looked up and had planned to find if I was nearby!

The hotel itself was on the top floors of the the building, so I rode an elevator up to the 7th (open glass elevators are very popular here, and this was one). Immediately upon entering the lobby you remove your shoes and place them in a locker. The key for your shoes is with your bill, you're not really expected to go in and out of a capsule hotel, just check-in, then check-out. I paid for my stay, and was given a locker key on a band that went around my wrist. Going to my locker, I removed my contacts and put away all my clothes and belongings, changing into the cotton robe and crisp blue boxers made available to me. From there, I went downstairs to the sauna and bath, also used the barcode on my key to purchase some milk from a vending machine. The sentō was really very nice, with powered massage jets and an open air area. There were some female attendants (yes, all the men were naked), offering salt scrubs and massages, so I spree'd and had one (very affordable, $35 for 30-minutes). The woman went at me with scrub-gloves and salt, then oils and lotion, she was very thorough, my skin has never been so soft! She told me at the end to go into the sauna for 3-minutes, then a quick rinse and bed. So thats what I did.

Upstairs there are sinks and toiletries, including shaving gear and a tooth brush, so you really don't need to bring anything. The capsules themselves, you climb in, there is a pillow and a blanket for you, also controls for a tv, radio, alarm, and adjustable light. There's no door, but a retractable bamboo shade you pull down for privacy. Flat on my back, I had maybe an inch of extra space between my head and headboard, but lots of room above and too the sides. I slept very comfortably.

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...