Day 16

Nara today! On my way out I picked up 'kansai scene', a free magazine written in English. I started to read it on the train. The main article had photos of girls licking doorknobs. The article was really about stereotyping and lazy journalism though. An artist took photos of girls licking doorknobs because he thought they would be attention grabbing, but the western media tends to portray this kind of thing as the latest fad in Japan, and therefore yet another example of Japan craziness. But in Japan most people have not heard of these photos, and consider them a bit crazy. This kind of thing does happen a lot. I remember an article about the new Japanese fad of wearing LEDs behind your teeth (http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/new-japanese-fashion-led-lights-for-your-teeth-81184). It turned out, of course, that the Japanese 'students' were paid actors working for a marketing ploy, and the LED mouthpieces were never for sale.

The article pointed out that earlier this year 4000 people rode the NY subway without trousers (http://improveverywhere.com/2012/01/08/no-pants-subway-ride-2012-new-york-reports/). If such unusual behaviour was reported as yet another example of U.S. craziness, it would no doubt be met with derision, and there would be further stereotyping of our cousins across the pond.

I wondered about my blog and the image of Japan I portray. In some ways I am doing much the same thing, (although my work is intended to chart my perceptions and experiences, not sell newspapers). Even so I want to set the record straight. I have seen many weird and wonderful things here, and some of them are commonplace (like the wonderfully sensible toilet-sink). On the other hand, one of my overwhelming impressions of Japan has been that's its not so different from the U.K. It has a similar climate, though a little more humid and warm. It has cities full of teenagers discovering love (and pain) and business men exhausted after a tough day at work, both far too busy and wrapped up in their own worlds to notice a tourist onlooker. It has old people trying to navigate the rush of the streets, with a little more time for pleasantries than the young. It has beautiful rural locations full of pine trees and rivers, with rooks, deer, pigeons and carp, all making and sustaining their homes. It has people going about their daily lives, wearing 'normal' clothes, doing 'normal' things, and it has the people who live at the edges of normality. And while its important to note the cultural differences (the value placed on the communal activity of eating, for example, is higher) it is unfair to categorize this place, or its people, only by their differences. Such a thing undermines both our understanding of the nation, and our capacity for empathy with its people.

There was an excellent quote by Barbara Holthus of the German Institute for Japanese Studies. "One should be cautious about the casual use of the term stereotype, since the word itself is a difficult one. Our world is very complex. Humans need to make it less complex, and to do so, there is an absolute need to stereotype things that we don't personally know about. So stereotypes per se are not 'bad'. But if they are thoughtlessly used, in other words, if we let stereotypes turn into prejudice, then we have a problem."

The train pulled in at Nara. Walking through the station, a lady wearing two flags poking up from her back handed us fliers offering a guided tour of the main Nara attractions for 2000Y. My curiosity was piqued, I was not looking forward to simply wandering by enormous relics devoid of context or story, and the idea of having a guide appealed. Ed was not enthused. I figured, 2000Y is not cheap and the group probably would slow us down so I let it go. We headed out into the town square, and then immediately ducked into the adjacent tourist office. Picking up a map I spotted various fliers for volunteer guides offering a walking tour for free. Ed looked far from thrilled by the idea, but I persevered and asked at the main desk. The receptionist called a student guide to assists us. When she had finished she told me to head to another tourist office, on the way to the Nara attractions. "Her name is Keiko, she is waiting for you."

So we trundled off in the direction we had already planned to go. The suns rays pounded down in waves, like a bad headache. We stepped inside the information centre and asked after Keiko. The staff asked us take a seat and said she is on her way, but I got the distinct impression that they had no idea when she might arrive. I couldn't be certain they even knew who I was talking about. So we sat and waited a few minutes. I looked around aimlessly: books, leaflets etc. Nothing of special interest. The staff at the desk were fussing over some other customer now. Looking forward again I noticed a young woman outside through the glass wall. she wore a sunhat, glasses, and a lanyard around her neck. She looked like she was looking for someone. I rose to ask a member of staff. A man rushed over asking me to be patient. I pointed at the young lady outside the window and asked 'is that Keiko?'. It took him a few seconds, a remarkably long time really, to notice that she looked rather like a guide. He dashed outside to ask. I followed and introduced myself to our waiting guide, subsequently fetching Ed who seemed to be a little in his own world.

Keiko, about 5'6" and a little slight, was extremely friendly and polite, and had great, though not perfect, English. Together we all made our way to the first attraction: Kofuku ji. We learned that Keiko is a 21 year old masters student. I wondered why such a person would spend her free time helping visitors. Perhaps there is a university incentive of some kind, I wondered.

We headed to Kofuku-ji meaning something like 'happiness-making temple'. We arrived at a small shrine with baby Buddhas as we had seen before. Keiko pointed out that this is a memorial to dead babies and children. Since to die so young implies great evil, they must be in Hell, so we throw water onto the statues to cool the fire. The redness of the bibs is to repel demons.

Evil babies

Moving onwards we approached a 3 storey pagoda. Keiko explained that the three floors of the tower represent past, present, and future. She also directed our attention to the 9 rings on the needle of the pagoda.10 is considered a perfect number in Buddhism, she said, but if you have perfection the people will be lazy and will not try harder, so we only have 9 rings.

Continuing down the lane Keiko went on to explain, at my behest, the role of the the strange and complex ornament on the rooftop of some temple buildings, stating that because wooden buildings are prone to fires the shape acts like a sprinkler and there is a hand pump built into it. Next we saw the tomb of Fujiwara no hito (the Fujiwaras). Fuji means wysteria, and wara means field. Fujiwara no hito used to run Nara back in the 8th century when Nara was the capital. I was impressed by Keiko's knowledge. I did not know how well informed a student guide would be.

Turning a corner we saw nursery children all holding hands in a circle with teachers singing a song. I asked Keiko and she translated the lyrics "if all of the children smile we'll create one big smile". It reminded me a little of the hokey kokey. We came across another pagoda, this time with five levels. Each level represents one of the 5 elements. Earth, water, fire, wind, and sky.

We left Kofukuji and took a quick stop at a small centre unmarked on the tourist map. The modern building was thoughtfully designed. At the rear an old lady chuckled to herself beside the artificial stream as the goldfishes rushed towards her, eager to be fed. Ed and I had a quick go on the earthquake simulator inside: a chair that slid left an right in the pattern of the shaking of a quake. I have been in an earthquake before, though a small one, and although it is clear, while sitting in this chair, that you are perfectly safe it is easy to imagine how terrifying it might have been for real. There were three earthquake settings meant to mimic the feel of real earthquakes, the third setting was the recent Tohoku earthquake at Sendai. A fourth setting was the Tohoku earthquake again, but with a seismic isolation system activated. The ground rolled slowly to the left and right, but felt completely stable. Underneath the museum we saw the full size isolation system.

We marched on to the next destination: Todaiji Temple, the largest wooden building in the world. It's very impressive. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that, like many Japanese historical buildings, it was rebuilt after a fire and the original building was 150% of the size of this one.

The enormous Todai-ji

Huge numbers of school children were visting and Keiko pointed out that this is the field trip season for schools. We wandered around the inside of the temple while Keiko explained what the buddhas symbolised and why they look as they do. One of the construction quirks I found fascinating was that the stones of the path leading up to the Todaiji were from India, China, Korea, and Japan (moving from the centre of the path to the edge), to symbolise the path which Buddhism took to travel to Japan.

Next we went up to Niigatsu do, a hall up on the hillside with a great view over Nara. Keiko pointed out that the pillars which look like slim tombstones are actually names and figures indicating the donations made by people to the temple. While standing on the balcony of Niigatsu do, Ed was accosted by a group of primary school children. He completed a short interview and signed off their sheets for them.

eto... can I help you?

We also got a photo in front of the Niigatsu do with Keiko. I used what is quickly becoming my most natural sounding phrase in japanese, "shashin o totte kurema senka?", and I heard Kieko mutter "Sugoi Nihon go". Awesome, that beats the usual, polite, 'Nihon go no jose'. And here it is:

Me, Keiko and Ed stand in front of Niigatsu Do and a horde of school children

I tried some Mitarashi Dango (rice balls dipped in sweeted soya sauce. Very good!) on the way out of the Niigatsu Do and Todaiji complex. Next we needed to get some lunch, having not had any breakfast, so Keiko took us to a restaurant where I could try some Kakinohazushi (even though she doesn't like it and recommended against it!). Kakinohazushi is sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves, which makes the sushi a little sour. The restuarant was on the second floor (a gift shop on the first), and had a rather nice view of the Todaiji. We ordered our meal sets and the food arrived:

This is the first sushi I have ordered in Japan, amazingly, and I have to say I was not disappointed. Perhaps the Kakinohazushi which Keiko tried before was a bad example, or maybe the sushi I received was more bland than usual, but it was only very slightly tangy and delicious. The tempura, with green tea salt, raddish, and lemon was amazing, of course. And the pickled vegetables were also delicious. The noodle soup was light and refreshing, and the fresh fish and mochi were also wonderful. A flawless lunch indeed!

More amazing Japanese food including my first Japanese sushi!

While eating we chatted about various things, work, university, languages, etc. I asked Keiko why she chose to give up her free time to show tourists around Nara, was it to practice her Japanese? "Two reasons" she said, "first, it's most important to help out tourists. Second, I can improve my English. But I think it's win-win". I admired that she considered helping others more important, and was willing to give up her time to do it. It reminded me of the rescript on education by emperor Meiji and how it says to "advance public good and promote common interests". I was slightly surprised when she changed the subject and said "do you use rude words? Like, in normal conversation do you say fucking and things?". It took a second to figure out that she was asking us if it was common, in English, to use rude words for emphasis during conversation. I confirmed her suspicion and learned that it apparently is also common in colloquial Japanese.

If you get lost, just follow the lanterns

We headed out to the Kasuga Grand Shrine. Kasuga supposedly has three thousand lanterns! I don't know if it's true, but there are so many, it could be. The path to the main shrine building was long, and full of trees, grass, streams, and deer (Nara is famous for having wild deer roam about almost everywhere). Keiko explained that since the gods of Shinto represent aspects of nature, the shrine grounds must reflect this.

Delightful looking wysteria branch, my dear

Inside the main shrine the monks wear a small wysteria branch on their head to symbolise the now deceased Fujiwara family, and Wysteria plants are grown.

We grabbed an ice cream on the way back to the tourist information office and said our farewells to Keiko. We got a train back to Osaka, and nosed around in the local 100Yen shops (waaay better than pound shops) before heading back to the hostel to rest for a bit.

A little bit later and as the sun set we made our way to Osaka station. Out of the platform we headed north to the attractive Umeda sky building. The building itself vaguely resembles two skyscrapers with a U.F.O. trapped between. It has an open air ring on top which sits at 173m above sea level. Up here the breeze is gentle and cool. Ultraviolet lights attached to the inner glass wall turn the floor into a bed of stars. Lovers hold each other, kiss, and have their photo taken.

(X-files theme tune plays inside my head)

When I raise my eyes from the building itself the city of Osaka shines. Red and white stars on tall buildings pulse at eye level and the city glitters behind them. Cranes sit on rooftops and dangle lines, fishing in the street. Illuminated lifts sweep along the vertical planes of hotels, while trains weave between them on the horizontal curling as spaghetti on a fork. Planes, lights in the sky, growl as they glide down to earth. From another view 6 parallel bridges cross the river and the two sides do battle, shooting cars and trains like fiery arrows across the divide. 

Watching the trains and cars is a joy from up here

I am humbled, once more, by the power of science and the man hive. The world around me is so perfectly terraformed away from anything natural, and in all 360 degrees the city stretches outwards indefinitely. From up one can see the millions who scurry below, living out their little lives. Striving, caring, loving, and dying. And that I am but one of them is painfully clear, and highlights my insignificance.
At the same time I enjoy this place in a way similar to the beach on Sakurjima, the peaks of mount Misen, or the Kaiyukan (aquarium). From up here I can watch the writhing and stretching of the living organism we call Osaka, and almost the same sense of serenity may be found, as though this is an urban shrine for the secular. Perhaps it is simply the sense of isolation from people and the experience of beauty which generate this feeling of reverence. Shinto shrines use a buffer of nature around them, buddhists use mediation and construct giant Buddhas, and the Abrahamic religions utilise prayer and construct enormous cathedrals, mosques and synagogues; all to force the individual to slow their mental state from everyday affairs and plunge them into a state of reverence. Yes, all that is required is an impression that something is so much greater than oneself, and the mindfulness to notice it, for there to be reverence and, ultimately, worship.


But whatever the psychology, this place, the Umeda Sky Building, offers the mindful observer an opportunity for a rare moment of poignance.


It also makes me think, people, myself included, try so desperately to capture a piece of such places with photos and words. But the sense of being here cannot be meaningfully caught, at least not with today's technological miracles. But, so desperate are we to convey what we feel, we spend more time futilely trying to capture what we should be experiencing. I have said it before but I cannot understand the tourist who takes his photo and leaves without ever really seeing, hearing, or experiencing.


We stayed for a good two hours before eventually descending and finding a ramen shop near the train station. This concludes the activities of day 16. Tomorrow we return to Kyoto, to see the important bits we missed before!

Arigato gozaimasu!

Ki o tsukete kudasai!