Japan on my mind

June 5, 2007

I have not yet committed to this trip to Japan, but I get closer all the time. Today I met with Karen, my Japanese Art History Professor, who is the inspiration for my trip. She gave me some suggestions for places to stay and discussed things I want to see. When I get my airplane ticket then I will be committed. Maybe next week. In the meantime I am looking at travel books and my internet links. I plan to compile a list and make a definite plan. Most of the time I like to go somewhere and then decide what I will see. I think I need more structure to make this trip a success.

June 26, 2007

I finally did it! I used my frequent flier miles and got a ticket to fly to Japan in the middle of October and stay for a month. Now I have to start planning how I will use that month. I am particularly interested in Japanese Folk Art, folding screens with scenes from Kyoto and Edo, and of course, many Buddhist and Shinto temples.

July 6, 2007

In addition to the Internet, which seems to have unlimited resources, I am using two guidebooks: Lonely Planet Japan; Kodansha Gateway to Japan ; and three books from classes I’ve taken during the last two years: Gerhart, Eyes of Power; Coaldrake, Architecture and Authority in Japan; and McKelway, Capitalscapes. I want to make decisions now about where I would like to go in Tokyo, Kyoto and various other places and figure out, approximately, how much time I will spend in each place. Since I am sure the best laid plans can go astray, I also want to decide what is most important to me. Some of the places I have already selected are the National Museum of Tokyo; Mingei Museum Tokyo; Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum; Museum of Modern Art, Shiga; and the National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, near Narita, which I will save for last day. This is just the beginning of a long list. As I make these decisions I will write about what I plan to see in each place and use this blog as a guide.

July 26, 2007

I’ve heard that using frequent flier miles can be tricky, although I’ve never had a problem in the past. While I made my reservation well in advance and am reasonably pleased with my final arrangements, getting there wasn’t easy. When I started looking for travel dates the airline computer gave me a lot of choices involving an overnight stopover in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles or somewhere else I don’t remember. It was late in the evening; I decided I couldn’t cope and went to bed. I like to sleep on important decisions– this looked like it was going to be painful. The next morning, having decided that if I had to have a sleepover, it should be in Chicago, my former hometown, I began looking at the computer again, changing some parameters, looking at different dates, and finally found a flight to Chicago with only a few hours layover before a non-stop flight to Narita–well worth the extra effort on a good night’s sleep.

August 3, 2007

Thanks to Steve I have contacts in Japan. After weeks of reading, surfing, I finally decided to ask some questions about the plans I am trying to make. Following is most of the email I sent:

Thank you so much, both of you, for your good advice. It is much appreciated.

I have been spending most of my free time poring over books on Japan and surfing the internet for information. I made a list of about 30 places in Tokyo and probably 10 places around the country, in addition to Kyoto, which I haven’t even begun to research. I have the feeling I will not be able to accomplish all of this within my alloted month and I would like some advice about logistics and if there is some way to determine in advance whether the objects I want to see are on display.

I want to visit many of the temples and shrines in Kyoto, Nara, and possibly Nikko, and I have also developed an interest in two somewhat disparate areas: 1) Edo zu byobu and rakuchu rakugai zu, and 2) mingei. I have identified the locations of many of these painted screens but I have no way of knowing whether they will be on display. For instance, one of the earliest examples of rakuchu rakugai zu are the Uesugi screens, located in the Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum in Yamagata Prefecture. It’s a long way to go if the screens won’t be on public display. Is there some way I can find out ahead of time, although it can wait until after I arrive?

Several of these screens are located in the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture. Since my flight home leaves late in the day I am hoping to go to Sakura on my way to Narita. One of the guidebooks said something about the Tokyo City Air Terminal. Is it still possible, considering security restrictions, to leave my luggage at the terminal in Tokyo and proceed to Sakura and then to Narita by public transportation? While I am asking about air travel, please tell me about the situation in Japan. Flying here has become so unpleasant it’s almost impossible. For all of the so-called security precautions, I don’t feel any safer than before, only annoyed.

For the mingei I plan to visit the folk art museums in Tokyo and Osaka. I am particularly interested in a set of screens, supposedly painted by Hamada, showing the locations of various craftsmen. These screens are supposed to be in Osaka. I am very interested in folk art here in the US, but it is something different than in Japan, I think. Usually there is little craftsmanship or training involved, the artists are considered to be outside of the purview of art history or art school, but I think the best folk art here can be wonderfully expressive. Twenty years ago I bought a wonderful carved wooden cat at a flea market in Tokyo, (see header above) but I have not seen any other evidence of these kinds of artists in Japan.

Here is a list of the places I would like to visit outside of Tokyo and Kyoto. I plan to buy a railpass. Should I also buy some kind of airline pass? I don’t know if that is really worthwhile, but I can see where flying might be a good thing. Also, how many of these places should I forget about? Keep in mind, I am no longer young.
Yonezawa, Nikko, Sakura, Nara, Ise, Otsu, Shiga, Osaka, Hiroshima and Izumo.

One more question: How and when should I go from Tokyo to Kyoto for the Jidai festival?

I will be going to New York next Friday. I plan to visit JNTO and some of the other Japan information places. Do you have any suggestions about good places for information in NYC?

When I get some answers I’ll post them.

August 6, 2007

One reply came from my emails but wasn’t very helpful, mostly telling me things I already knew. I’m waiting for a second respondent. One of my fellow students in the Japanese Art History Department came to visit this afternoon. She got her MA in Japan and made some useful suggestions. I am feeling the need to make hotel reservations and will probably do so this week. Next week I will be in New York and can spend time at the Japan Tourist Office. I am counting on them for logistics info.

August 22, 2007

Today I bought my railpass. It’s not possible to buy it in Pittsburgh, and I wasn’t happy about doing it online. Since I am in New York for a few more days, I went to the Japan Tourist Bureau and bought a 21 day pass. I’m certain I’ll want that. The only question is what I’ll do for the other 10 days. First thing I did when I arrived in New York was go to the Japan National Tourist Office and pick up about 3 pounds of information. I’m still working my way through it.

September 3, 2007

The trip has begun to have a shape. As of today I will begin with four days in Tokyo (no hotel reservation, yet), then four days in Kyoto (with reservations). I will go on to two days in Matsue and Izumo, then two days in Hiroshima and Miyajima. Returning to Kyoto I have five or six days booked in the previous hotel. Also on my itinerary, but not yet scheduled, are trips to Nara and Ise from Kyoto. I don’t really know how much time I want to spend in Kyoto and Tokyo. I will conclude my trip in Tokyo and from there go to Atami, Nikko and possibly, Yonezawa. All of this depends on how my energy holds up. It’s possible I could spend most of my time around Kyoto.

I found a wonderful website: enter the departure and arrival points and it gives you available trains and connections. It’s been very helpful in figuring out how I hope to manage this trip.

September 5, 2007

A slight digression. Browsing through a book on Mingei in the Frick Art Library, I found a picture of a crouching cat just like the one above. It is evidently a classic folk art piece, not the outsider art I wanted it to be. I was happy to find it, but just a little disappointed to have my theory blown away.

September 14, 2007

Hotel Reservations. Kyoto is a booming place at the end of October, beginning of November. I am having trouble getting a hotel room for the amount of time I would like to be there. I now have 11 nights reserved; I would like 4 or 5 more, which I may have arranged for a lot more money than I wanted to spend. I’m waiting for a confirmation. I still have to get reservations in Tokyo, Matsue, Hiroshima, Mt. Koya, maybe Osaka. I really understand why most people book tours; I’m just too stubborn to do it.

September 16, 2007

Panic set in. Kyoto is my most important destination. I will be there when many of the temples and shrines put significant treasures on display. I also found a symposium, about Kano Eitoku, at the Kyoto National Museum, on November 4. Several of the participants are American. If their talks are given in English, or if there will be English translations, I would like to attend. While I had hotel reservations up to the morning of November 4, I was having trouble finding anything for that night. And I really wanted to remain in Kyoto until November 8 or 9. I spent hours searching the internet for a modestly priced hotel that had vacancies. Finally, in desperation, I reserved a room for four nights at $150 a night, more than twice as much as I wanted to pay, and I had to give a credit card number in order to get the reservation. I brooded over this most of Friday night and again on Saturday morning. I haven’t received the promised voucher from the reservation service, but they said it wouldn’t happen over the weekend.

I went back to the website of the Palace Side Hotel where I had already made reservations and found I could get something for every night except November 4. I have had several satisfactory negotiations with this hotel and decided to go back to them again. I asked for additional nights from the 5th through the 9th, and since they were fully booked for the fourth, I would go out of the city for the one night. I promptly received a revised confirmation giving me everything I requested including November 4. Now I have duplicate reservations. I can cancel the other one, for a fee, but it will be a little messy because of the credit card. I decided to wait for the voucher before I did anything. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll tell me they can’t accommodate me.

September 19, 2007

Sometimes luck is with me. That expensive hotel I booked cannot accommodate me, so I’m off the hook. I didn’t mind the $15 cancellation fee; it was the 10 to 14 day wait for my credit card refund that bothered me. So that’s one less thing to think about.

I made another change in my plans. I started to think about my plane transfer at O’Hare with only about 2 and half hours between planes. Recalling the number of times I’ve been involved with late planes, waiting to depart or for someone else to arrive, and remembering the distances between terminals at O’Hare, I had second thoughts about my plane reservations. I will leave Pittsburgh on Saturday, October 13, spend the night in Chicago, and depart for Tokyo on Sunday. It seems more likely that both me, and my luggage, will arrive in Japan at the same time.

September 25, 2007

The hotel in Kyoto was recommended to me. I found a website for them and have had no trouble communicating directly with them. I made a reservation for my first four nights in Tokyo through an agency. They have a lot of rules and I’m not entirely comfortable with them. I still need one more night in Tokyo. I made a mistake with that reservation; it should have been for five nights. I got two nights in Hiroshima through the Comfort Inn chain. I still need reservations for six or seven more nights.

I sent emails to two different hotels for reservations and haven’t heard back from either of them. I have reservations for most of my stay, but have a few nights to fill in. Since I sent the first request last Thursday I think I’d better try another means of communication. The second email, to a hotel in Tokyo only went out Saturday night, so I’ll give it another day or so. They should have someone who reads English. The first place is in a town called Matsue, on the Sea of Japan. They may not know what to do with my email.

I got some Japanese language CDs from the library and started working with them. The words don’t want to stay in my head, but maybe if I keep repeating them, I’ll get it–at least, please, thank you, excuse me and where is the toilet.

The other big thing is shoes. I’m sure I’ll be doing lots of walking and taking shoes off and on in temples and other non-Westernized places. The shoes I’ve had the most success with are Merrell jungle mocs. I don’t like them in warm weather; otherwise they are great. I’ve been wearing them every winter for years. I think I’ve only worn my snow boots two or three times in the last ten years. I ordered two new pairs of Merrells online. Now I’m just waiting for the weather to cool off.

September 27, 2007

Plan for my first week. I use the Google calendar to keep track of my life. I decided to use the calendar in Japan as I would here. I have entered many of the places I want to visit in Tokyo during my first four days. I don’t consider any of this written in stone, except the hotel reservation, and will modify it as I go along. This is a screen shot of the first week. Time indications are completely bogus; just a way of getting multiple entries without those big blue blocks. As you can see, I still don’t have a hotel for Friday night. I am waiting to hear from my Japanese contacts before I make a decision about what to do.

Here are links to the places I plan to visit in these four days:

Tsukuji Fish Market: Work starts here at 3 am. If I wake up at that time (it will be 2 pm for my body), I’ll try to get there. Otherwise, I’ll save these sights for the week before I leave Japan.

Hama rikyu garden: A trip up the Sumida River begins here.

Suntory Museum: The current exhibit, Biombo: Japanese Heritage as Legend of Gold, is of particular interest to me. It will only be on display until October 21.

Riccar Museum: This museum specializes in ukiyo-e prints.

Imperial Palace East Garden, Nijubashi Bridge: This could also get postponed.

Idemitsu Art Museum

Mitsui Museum

Shitamachi Museum

Tokyo National Museum another link here

Ueno Park

September 30, 2007

Tentative Itinerary. Only two weeks now. I’ve written out my itinerary with problem days indicated.

• October 15: arrive, Ginza Capital Hotel Main
• October 16: Tsukuji Fish Market, Hama rikyu garden, trip up the Sumida River if I wake up early enough; Suntory Museum, Riccar Museum (both museums are important to me)
• October 17: Imperial Palace East Garden, Nijubashi Bridge: This could also get postponed. Idemitsu Art Museum, Mitsui Museum, Shitamachi Museum
• October 18: Tokyo National Museum (very important), Ueno Park
• October 19: no hotel yet. This is one of my problem days
• October 20: Kyoto, Japanese style accommodation reserved by my Japanese contact, need details
• October 21: Kobo San Market, Toji Temple
• October 22: Jidai Matsuri, Kurama Himatsuri (if possible), Palace Side Hotel
• October 23: Kyoto
• October 24-25: Matsue, Izumo shrine no hotel yet. Another problem. I could go to Mt. Koya on these two days and change Izumo to another time.
• October 26-27: Hiroshima, Miyajima
• October 28 through November 8: Palace Side Hotel. I have not made detailed plans for Kyoto. Obviously there is much to see. Among the things that are important to me are: Katsura Imperial Villa; Nijo Castle; Kyoto National Museum; many temples and shrines, which seem to have special events at this time, including Tofuku-ji, Kodai-ji, Daitoku-ji; Kyoto handicraft center and traditional craft center; and Orinasukan Handmade Fabrics Museum. I am still working on this part of the trip.
• I intend to make day trips to Nara and maybe to Shiga and Otsu. I would also like to get to Osaka and Mt. Koya, but I have not figured that out entirely, either. I could cancel one or two nights in Kyoto, stay in Osaka and make a day trip to Koyasan.
• November 9-13: return to Tokyo; day trips to Nikko, Atami, Sakura (National History Museum), and if time permits, Yonezawa to see the Uesugi screens.

October 5, 2007

Research. When I began planning this trip I used three books from my Japanese Art History studies that were most meaningful to me: Gerhart, Eyes of Power; Coaldrake, Architecture and Authority in Japan; and McKelway, Capitalscapes. I am using three guidebooks: Lonely Planet Japan; Kodansha Gateway to Japan; and Frommer’s Japan. The best book about places and history is the Kodansha. Frommers gives the most practical information and detailed directions for getting to various places. Much of the Frommers information is online. I plan to take the Kodansha with me. I am contemplating removing sections of it, Hokkaido and Kyushu for instance, where I will not go, to reduce the weight of the book.

Maps are very important; I got decent maps of Tokyo, Kyoto and a Japan map from Japan National Tourist Office (JNTO). I have been marking the maps so I can determine which places are near each other. I tried to use Google, which I generally rely on for maps, but not directions, but all of their Japan maps are in Japanese making them useless for me. Walking guides for Tokyo and Kyoto that I got from JNTO have been useful.

Information from the Internet has been critical to my planning. Most of the time when I looked up a new place or Japanese name I was able to find lots of info. I bookmarked everything as I went along, adding or deleting when I found better sites or decided not to visit a particular place. My favorite sites are listed on the side. The “Most Useful” site is for train information. Enter starting and ending destinations and approximate departure time; it gives train numbers, routes, travel time and cost. This has been invaluable in determining whether certain trips were feasible and how to do them. I got a timetable from JNTO. It’s in 8 pt. type and is generally unintelligible, although it is printed in English.

I usually work on a 20″ iMac, which I love. It is comfortable for me even with my lousy eyesight. I will be traveling with my old HP laptop, state of the art when I bought it, now sad by comparison to the iMac. I’m trying to figure out ways to compensate for the small screen and to make sure I have moved everything I need to the laptop or to the internet.

October 11, 2007

In order to keep blogging and keep a good record of this trip I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the equipment I want to carry. First, the camera. I really enjoy my little point and shoot Sony. It’s light, easy to carry, I always have it in my bag, but I’m not always happy with my results, even though I finally figured out all of the settings on the camera. There is seldom enough detail in highlights and shadows. I considered the possibility of replacing it with something better and decided I would have to go to an SLR with different lenses. I don’t want to carry all that stuff; I don’t want to pay for it; I’ll just do the best I can.

I’m taking two batteries for the camera, and I have two memory sticks with a total of three GB. The camera has an effective 7.2 megapixels (whatever “effective” means). I have been shooting at 3 megapixels, which is overkill for most of my purposes. I’ve decided to shoot at 5 megapixels for this trip so that I will be able to make high quality large prints if I want them. I haven’t had enough time to really check this out, but I got some very nice pictures using the 5 megapixel setting. Maybe that makes for better pictures or maybe I’m just unnecessarily using a lot of extra memory.

I’m taking my hp laptop, now about six years old. I haven’t used it since I bought an iMac about a year ago. I cleaned most of the extra junk data off of it, purged the trash, used disk cleanup and disk defrag. The laptop has most of 20 GB available for downloading my photos. I’m taking 5 GB of portable memory for backup and considering backing up to a Flickr account. Images look so different on my two computers I realize I will have a hard time judging pictures on the laptop, especially darker images. I plan to do little or no editing or touchup. You will see what the camera gives me, not necessarily what was really there and not what I’d like you to see. You can see my 5 megapixel shots here.