Spring Round Up
It’s been a while, so I thought it was time for a round up. For reasons that I’ll elaborate on below, it hasn’t been the most productive periods of reading, but hopefully I still have some things to share.
Books
Like I mention, not so many books these past weeks/months. ‘A freewheelin time’ by Suze Rotola was an enjoyable audiobook, an engaging read of a particular period of cultural history. Definately of interest to more than just the casual Dylan fan.
‘Frenetic and engrossing’ was how I described ‘The Benefactors’ by Wendy Erskine and I was surprised and delighted when the author herself got in touch in to tell me how much she enjoyed my review. Deserves all the praise and plaudits that will inevitably follow.
So fairly thin on the book reviews, but there are a few more to follow as I haven’t got around to writing up my reviews. They’ll mostly be on the same topic, as I have been in…..
Japan
Planning this trip, which I took in early May and which lasted 17 days, has been the main reason for the hiatus from reading and posting reviews. I just loved researching this trip, coming up with an itinerary with my travelling companion (my brother).
This was very much my cliched ‘trip of a lifetime,’ to somewhere I’ve always been curious about. Although there were places we agreed we’d like to visit, I purposely avoided looking at videos of them online, or even at where we’d be staying on Google maps. I wanted to experience Japan with as open an approach as possible.
There were certain places of interest we mapped out, but we also wanted it to be fairly loose. We were doing the traditional ‘Golden triangle’ of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto with a couple of side trips, but this was the Japan I had read most about and wanted to see.
I’m not going to give a detailed breakdown of our journey through Japan, but just share some of my own random observations. These are based on a short trip, so excuse my sweeping generalisations, which are completely random and written off the top of my head, as we say in Ireland.
Flow and Silence
One of the first things I noticed about Japan, from the momment I stepped off the plane in Osaka, was flow. From the terminal, through the train, to the hotel, everything seemed to be effortless in terms of movement. It all felt interconnected. It’s silly, but I had a strong feeling I’d been there before - the sense of place seemed strong and familiar to me. I flowed like water in Japan.
As previously said, this was my trip of a lifetime. It had come about in short space of time, making it more special. With that came an anxiety that I wouldn’t get to see all that I wanted to in 17 days. This anxiety vanished in my first few hours of being on Japanese soil, as I realised quickly I would return.
From the signage in English, and with everything just making sense, any anxieties I had about being in a Foreign country and navigating my surroundings vanished. I later described this to my brother as like playing a computer game on easy level. Sure you could take a wrong turn but it always felt easily rectified. Google maps and a battery pack were essential to this seamlessness.
To begin with, everything was a cultural shock. From the eerily quiet train carriages, kitkat shops, vending machines on every street corner, animal cafes (?), Lawsons etc etc I spend my first few days curious about everything. But it was never overwhelming, and I loved the daily surprises just from a short walk. Just when you think you’ve identified a problem in Japan, you turn a corner and realise they’ve solved it, even for problems you didn’t know existed. Everyday was one of discovery and surprise.
The next thing I noticed was the silence. For an introvert, it’s so wonderfully quiet, with a respect for peoples personal space. I felt I could tap into a deep silence even on the busiest of streets. There’s an order, I’m going to say flow again, that seems to underlie everything. On the busiest of streets all you’d hear might be the blinking sound for the green man at the traffic lights, which is similar to the occasional chirp of a small bird. The sound of silence on the streets.
Railway carriages were also wonderfully quiet. How pleasant not to listen to a one sided conversation of someone shouting into their phone about their crappy workday. And if people were talking, it was kept low. There were the occasional loud mouthed tourists but mostly it was heavenly.
Sacred
Early morning Japan was something of my favourite Japan. Jetlag and my usual early morning awakenings were a blessing and meant I felt I had suburbs like Fukushima in the city of Osaka to myself, and even Asakusa in Tokyo was pretty deserted. This was my time to visit temples and shrines, of which you can find lots in each neighbourhood. Sometimes you’d even find them together on the same site and I liked watching the locals make the daily devotions on their way to work, and became interested in the rituals of purification, bowing, clapping and offerings. I’d like to read more about Japanese spirituality, especially Shintoism. ‘Ghosts of the Tsunami’ by Richard Lloyd Parry was an interesting read a few years back about Japanese supersition and grief.
Buddhism is something very close to my heart, so it was incredibly special for me to go to Senso-Ji in Asakusa, as well as Todai-Ji in Nara, where I visted the Great Buddha. I felt a great compassion, a heart opening, in these sacred places, and it was a trip highlight for me.
I’ve talked a lot about meditation and mindfulness on this blog, and after a couple of days I was able to sometimes achieve a flow state even when walking through city streets. It was akin to the feeling I sometimes get when I’m surrounded by nature, when objects and thoughts and feelings just arise and fall. A Japanese saying I’d once heard came to mind: ‘Name the bird and cease to experience the song.’ I was often in a state of open, pure awareness - my everyday mind seemed to be happy to take a step back.
Entertainment
Jazz and lots of it. The Jazz cafe sub - a small bar in an Osaka underground station where the owner served beers, cheese on toast, then joined the band on stage for to play saxophone for a forty five minute set. Happy memories of finding a listening bar on a rainy Tokyo Saturday afternoon and listening to whatever vinyl was being played - the barman took as much time over choosing an album from his collection as he did our lattes. Duke Ellington & John Coltrane ‘in a sentimental mood’ and the Larry Brunker quartet on ‘A foolish heart’ (neat Vibraphone bro). Jazz in Ueno park too.
Places
Some sweeping impressions of cities. Osaka was a great place to catch up with my brother - lots of great eating and drinking establishments, especially street food. Bustling, as you’d expect of a city of nearly three million inhabitants, but apart from the dotonburi it never felt as busy as Tokyo. People were friendly, and had some good craic with the locals. The Transport system, all metro, made navigation a dream. Possibly cheaper for food as well. Wasn’t there long enough to really compare it other places, but I enjoyed it and would go back. Great for close proximity to Kyoto and Nara.
Nara - First get past the dangerous deer in the park, who will go for your pockets if they even get a sniff of a rice cracker. Then overcome the tourist hordes on day trips to the park and it’s a beautiful place to explore - Toda Ji, beautiful temples with museums, wonderful scenery. It’s a manageable city (300,000 or so) with some lovely back street Izakaya’s and we had some of the our best interactions with locals here. Glad I spent two days.
Kyoto. Absolutely stunning city, and the temples, bamboo forests, incredible history etc etc attract tourists for a reason. You can’t throw a stick without hitting a beautiful historical shrine, and I enjoyed it just as much once we ventured away from the typical sites. Metro doesn’t cover the city just as well, so taxis and buses are useful here. Philosophers path was a highlight for me, a simple meditative canal walk in the twilight that I really enjoyed. Food markets were stunning too. Loved Kyoto, would go back in heartbeat, no matter the crowds but fairly easy to explore lesser visited areas and avoid the instragrammer pain in the arses.
Gora. Very much the relaxing part of the trip, before we entered the worlds biggest metropolis. An onsen was just what my aching bones needed, and I was like a prune by the time my two day stay finished. One of my favourite nights eating also took place here, and I loved my cable car trip up to Mount Hakone, an active volcano (though it last erupted 3000 years ago, it still gives the odd sulphuric burp and there’s lots of fumes and steam up here). Black eggs were nice.
Tokyo. Into the belly of the beast. Glad we left T-town to the end, as it dwarfs every other city I’ve ever been, never mind Japan. Arriving then exiting out of Shinjuku station, walking around Shibuya - totally etched in my memory. Stayed in Akasusa, which has the famous Senso - Ji temple - there was a festival when we stayed named Sanja Matsuri, with two million people attending over the weekend. Was fun to see the different neighbourhoods competing against each other carrying their portable Mikoshi shrines.
Loved exploring the various neighbourhoods, more than I can remember - ueno park, skytree, back to Shinjuku and the golden gai, Ginza, more whiskey and jazz bars, record shops, ramen spots, Teamlabs, etc etc etc
I will return to Japan and explore other islands and prefectures. I can imagine how it could become mentally and physically exhausting if you spent too much time there, with so much to do, and I don’t think I could cope with a Japanese, never mind a Tokyo, summer. But I think I’ll always finish with a stay in Tokyo - endlessly unique and captivating.
Food
Izakayas of course were a big hit. Too many to mention, but one in Nara, with about six courses and us communicating with a Japanese mammy over broken English and even more broken Japanese, was memorable. Spinach fritters and amazing Tempura dishes in Fukishama too. Melt in your mouth molten hot tofu. Often it was just a case of following our noses. Food was generally of an incredibly high standard and I was surprised as a vegan (and sometime vegetarian) how much choice I had. My brother took me to a Ramen place somewhere in Tokyo where I can almost still taste it three weeks on.
Onigiri - rice balls with salted kelp and endamame from Lawsons, red bean rice balls from 711, dorayaki from family mart - (pancakes filled with syrup) - I miss you all desperately.
The bigger chains were just as good - Ramen, Japanese curries (coco curry?) - all reasonably priced and ordering on touch screens made it ridiculously easy.
Culture
Open air museums in Hakone with Picasso, Henry Moore and Rodin, museum of western art in Tokyo with Monet, Van gogh etc etc the stunning teamlabs with the dropping down Orchids and the dance of the Koi. Buddhist museum in Nara.
Cats
Obviously I knew from Murikami that cats can talk but they really are revered in Japan. I’ve read since that they were first brought over from China on boats, protecting Buddhist scriptures from pests. So they seem to be spritual protectors and bring a lot of luck. I did visit a cat cafe which was just a bit odd, to be honest. Some of the moggies were sitting on photocopiers and spent their time staring out a window. I felt a bit sorry for them but they were well looked after.
Enough already
I’m talking about cats. Enough already. I spent 17 days there so my musings are unoriginal and anyone who’s been won’t be surprised at anything I’ve said. Since I’ve come home, I’ve told people to tell me to STFU if I keep comparing things to J…..but shit, it’s hard not to. I try to slip in something about Japan on a daily basis.
What do I miss most? It’s always better on holiday, of course. But I miss the order. The unspoken agreement between people that there are rules and it’s ok to be quiet. It’s fine to have respect for each others personal space. Society is based around making things work, about making life as functional as possible for it’s citizens. Imagine such a thing.
TV
Dammit, holidays over and back to watching TV again. ‘This city is ours’ on the BBC was a cracking family crime drama set in Liverpool that I binged whilst getting over a heavy cold. Loved the slow pace to this and the great performance from James Nelson Joyce and Hannah Onslow. Minded me a bit of ‘Love/Hate’ in parts.
Just when I thought ‘The Pitt’ couldn’t get any more frenetic, along came episode 12, as tense as anything I’ve watched this year. It’s 15 episodes, each one an hour in the day on the frontline of a Pittsburgh ER department and though I wouldn’t be a huge fan of hospital dramas, this is totally gripping. Can’t comment on it’s realism but it’s how I’d imagine it.
I’m watching ‘The rehersal’ and wondering at times what I’m looking at. If you haven’t seen it, this is a show where Nathan Fielder gives people the chance to rehearse for events in their lives. This time he is investigating the lack of communication between pilots and co-pilots and how this has contributed to aviation disasters. and he’s the man to fix it. Haven’t finished this and can only guess where it’s going.
Music
Spent too much money on vinyl in Japan so I’ve been listening to Nina Simone, Bill Evans, Billie Holliday etc etc and as I was in Japan, I had to buy some Ryuichi Sakamota.
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So that’s the roundup and hopefully I will have read and reviewed some books before the next one. If you have any advice on travelling to Japan, let me know below - the only way for me to get over this post trip malaise is to start planning the next visit. A few images before I go.
I have to finish with some Ryuichi Sakamoto, who I discovered before my Japan trip. I’m still happily exploring his works, but this one has stuck me at present. Something wonderfully haunting about this, and I especially like the jazzy dissonance.
As always, may you be happy, be well, and free from suffering.