Some Things Just Don't Translate

Throughout China and Japan, we saw several things that just didn't seem to come across right in translation. Here are a few:

It seems that elderly people getting run over on escalators is a common problem here.



The toilet in our Tokyo hotel room. No toilet should ever have this many bells and whistles on it.

This was on the menu at a resaurant we visited. So to the Japanese, they really are pronouncing it right!

You kids with crayons...stay away!

Look out! That light of Luminous Buddha is dangerous, it's going to get you! I love signs.

Could this be referring to the sign above? Hmmm.

Above one of the menu items is translated as "A beefsteak. I wore roasted meat sauce," and another line says "I sprinkled the soup which a crab was in to an omelet."

-Scott

Nightingales and Buddhas

GeoTagged, [N35.00939, W135.78755]

After a full day of shopping on our second full day in Kyoto (see The pic of Anna's new dress, very nice) we wanted to see more of the cultural side of Kyoto. The following day we made our way to Nijo Castle in the middle of the city.
The castle was built in the 1600'sb to protect the Imperial Palace in was was once the political capital - and many believe is still the cultural capital - of Japan. It is a sprawling site with it own palace, several gardens, a barracks, and offices and meeting rooms for the Shogun, the warrior elite who rules Japan at the time.
Inside the palace is the famous "Nightingale Floor". The floor lines the hallway to the palace and was designed so that the slightest weight shift would make the floor creak like the sound of Nightingales singing. This was to alert the gaurs in case anyone tried to sneak in, or out, in the middle of the night. We walked on the floor with our shoes off (you have to remove your shows before entering), and even tried to sneak around. The floor squeaks exactly like its namesake. It is a little strange, but sounds quite nice. I'm sure it did not sound so nice to the Shogun's enemies.

We were not able to take pictures inside, but you can see from the pictures we took outside that the grounds of the castle are gorgeous and very well kept. There is evens moat that is still filled with water, complete with many Carp (hmmm, are they Ill tempered Carp?).
The castle was complete with life sized figures that depict what daily life would have been like during the time of the shogun. The screens dividing the rooms were still original and had been painted in beautiful scenes showing tigers, dragons, hawks in a variety of landscapes. The castle has been not been altered at all since the 1600's and it felt like we were walking through a slice of history. We could almost see Samuri walking the halls.
We enjoyed the garden and peacefullness of the grounds until the site closed, and then went for sushi. That's right, Anna actually ate raw fish! I'm so proud of her!

The following day (today) we went to see the hall of 1001 statues in Sanjusangen-do Temple. Sanjusanhen-do is a Buddhist Temple, in the heart of Kyoto. There are actually 1001 statues in it. It is pretty impressive to see. Most of the statues are of the thousand armed Buddha, but the highlights are the very large central statue, and the 28 guardian statues along the front of the hall. Each of the guardian statues represented a different deity in Buddhism.
Anna and I tried to keep up with all the names and how they are connected, but we soon lost track. I didn't know that there were so many deities in Buddhism. For some reason I always thought it was one of the more uncomplicated religions. It's amazing what you can learn when you travel.
Again, we were not able to take photos inside, but above you can see the outside of the building. It is very long. It would have to be to house that many statues. The building is unique in that it was one of the first to combine sand with clay to form a more sturdy foundation, allowing for the longer base.

Both the building, and what it houses are impressive. And there is something about being inside a Buddhist temple that is humbling and calming. The smell of incense, the quiet, the feeling of peace. I'm not sure I understand it entirely, but I do respect and admire it. It's too bad the rest of the world isn't as serene.

Kyoto's Nijo Castle

Kimono and Traditional Dress

Above is a department store display of modern yukata, or a cotton kimono. The sash is called an obi and the shoes, which are traditionally wooden, are called geta. Many older women wear yukata everyday, and in Kyoto the traditional dress is even popular with young women. Antique kimono can still be seen in some stores, and they are more elaborate and made of silk. Silk kimonos are far more expensive than the cotton types.

Above is part of a fashion show we saw at the Nishijin Textile center. Polka dot yukata with white obi.

A lavender kimono with swirling flower pattern. A nostalgic design on a modern silk kimono. Elaborately tied matching obi.

Blue modern silk kimono with silver obi. Kimonos for men exist as well, I'll try to get a picture and post it soon. They are mostly only worn in stores or restaurants where it is the employee uniform, or anywhere in Kyoto.

I bought a new dress after oggling all the beautiful kimono. Men, tune out here. Modern Japanese women LOVE to shop, and designer shoes, purses, and clothing is very popular. Pleating and beautifully draped flow-y fabrics are popular styles. I find it interesting that even after all this time, well-draped and folded garments are still the height of fashion. It's really not hard to see the leap from traditional dress to modern. The shirt dress, which I am wearing, is elevated to a high art here. There are so many styles, and they actually fit me. Finally, clothing designed for short people! -Anna

Geisha in Gion

We spent our first day in Kyoto visiting Nanzenji Temple and the Gion district, and we finished with a wonderul traditional dance show.


Above is a garden surrounding Nanzenji Temple.

Pond near the temple.



More gardens. It is very serene to walk around the temple grounds. The climb to the top is very steep, but thankfully only a short climb. Pictures are not allowed at the top, but inside there is a beautiful Buddha statue and views of the gardens.



View from the top of the temple.

The front of the temple.


A mieko returning to her hanamachi. Notice the paparazzi-like fervor with which the crowd snaps her picture. I felt a little bad for all the geisha walking around, since they were constantly followed by a hoard of fans.

This fuzzy image doesn't really do Kyoto's Gion district justice. Gion is the area where most of the geisha hanamachi and tea houses are located, and is considered one of the best areas in Japan to see "traditional" Japanese culture and architecture. The streets are all lined with beautifully crafted businesses and restaurants, with rice paper windows, linear wood slatted walls, sliding doors, tapestries, and paper lanterns. The cobblestones streets are filled with more traditionally dressed men and women than any other area, and if you're lucky you will see a geisha hurrying to an appointment. Through the open doorways you can glimpse rows of wooden geta shoes lining the hallways next to tatami mat floors, and stepping stones leading to hidden courtyard gardens with bubbling waterfalls. In the soft glow of the lanterns, it's easy to feel you have stepped back into time. After appreciating the atmosphere, we saw a show which gave an overview of a variety of traditional dance and music.

Koto, the Japanese harp. It is played laying flat like a steel guitar, and the notes are created entirely by fingerpicking. The sound of the strings is similar to the sound of a regular harp, but flat notes and bending of the strings was used frequently. The songs included a lot of interesting cascading riffs.

Above is a man dancing to the Gagaku, or imperial, style of music. This is music which is created with several upright pan-flute type wind instruments, two drums hung like gongs, and a handful of other unusual instruments. If I may be honest, this music is terrible. The pipes are shrill, extremely flat, and out of tune. They sound like someone is strangling a herd of in-heat cats. The drums beat a staccato pattern that was seemingly random and not in time with each other or the pipes. I have no idea how anyone can stand to be in the same room with this music, let alone listen to a whole concert. Since Scott and I were in the front row, we managed to smile weakly and nod appreciatively for the 3 minutes of torture.

Above is a much more easily appreciated form of traditional entertainment - Kyogen. This is a type of short skit based on physical and situational comedy. The skits are performed as intermission to the much more serious Noh performances. Nowadays, they are popular enough to become stand-alone productions. This skit was about a worrisome sake dealer who tricks his two employees into being tied up to keep them from getting into his stores while he is away on business. They still have their hands free, and they manage to open the kegs and drink most of the sake. While they are singing and dancing, their boss returns and makes angry faces into the sake bowl over their shoulders. When they see this, they exclaim how ugly their boss is, enraging him to beat and chase them out of the warehouse.

Two mieko perform a kyomai dance to music. Emphasis is on subtle hand and body movements, with no facial expression.

This picture shows a very large puppet, an art known as bunraku. The puppet is operated by 3 people who look a tad like executioners. The manipulation is very sophisticated, and even the fingers can move independently. This plot was confusing to watch despite the written explaination. The puppet became very aggitated and was stomping around and pulling it's hair out at one point. The show also included a display of ikebana, or flower arranging, plus a tea ceremony. All in all the show was a good overview of various traditional arts. -Anna

Tokyo Museum

Today we saw the Tokyo National Museum. It contains antique kimono, tea ceremony articles, the history fo Buddhism in Japan, laquerware and ceramics, and samuri armor and weapons. This is the armor that was used to decorate horses in battle in Japan during the bronze age.

Ancient painted screen.

Samuri armor. Impressive.

Katana Sword. I can't believe that the sword has been so well preserved after 600 years. It looks like it just came out of the forge.

A Beautiful example of ancient Japanese pottery. There was a lot of influence from China and Korea on all aspects of the culture of Japan. Prehistoric neanderthal people lived in Japan as early as 10,000 BC to 5,000 BC, and then the Jomon people from lived from 5,000 BC - 1,000 BC. The Jomon people were reportedly the earliest civilization to develop pottery. After this, more civilizations developed under increasing influence from China and Korea, and eventually the arts and crafts were very similar. There were many more museums in Tokyo, but we're not museum types so we skipped them. They are all conveniently located in Ueno Park near a zoo. We finished the day by shopping. -Anna

Kabuki-cho, Tokyo

The folllowing night we took some advice from Frommers and went to the Hayashi restaurant in the Kabuki-cho district. This section of Tokyo is what you imagine Tokyo looks like, with highrises, neon, and huge crowds of people in the streets.

Hayashi offers Robatayaki cuisine, which is traditional Japanese farmhouse cooking. The restaurant was very rustic and the woman who ran the place was dressed in a traditional kimono. The restaurant was on the bottom floor of a building in a very unlikely place - the red light district. Amidst all of the bright lights, gentlemen's clubs and arcades, it was like stepping through a doorway to the past.

The walls were plywood and we sat on benches around a small fire pit with a small pile of charcoal in the center. Around us hung old Japanese fishing implements and right over the fire pit was an iron hook decorated by a bronze fish, a symbol of a blessed hearth.
Our hostess placed a wire grate over the pit and brought out several small courses of food on skewers. The food included some unusual items, such as chicken liver, an unusual type of mushroom (which our host called a potato), and a full prawn which I was made to eat whole, head and all. It actually wasn't bad. Anna accidentally tried a pepper which she nearly choked on. She said it was too spicy, and our hostess laughed as if Anna was making a joke. Apparently, that kind of pepper is not supposed to be that spicy.

For desert we were given a block of radish covered in a sweet sauce, and it had a soft, unradish-like consistency. It was a great experience and we felt like we were able to get another taste of traditional Japanese culture.

Our hostess was facinated with the iPhone and we took some pictures with her after dinner. She was very nice, and if we come back I'd like to make it back to that little restaurant.

After dinner, we had drinks in the 20th floor bar of our hotel. There's something about the city lights of Tokyo that makes everything, especially having drinks, seem very hip and trendy. I think we've discovered why people live in cities. -Scott