Saturday, August 4th, 2012

I've been doing a little traveling.

Six of us went in a van across the longest bridge in the world (according to the Japanese, the tour book hedges a bit on this) to Zuioji cemetery to chant and them to visit two other temples for tea and I never did figure out why else. One of the temples had the loveliest garden I have ever seen and a museum with the contents of a 3rd-6th century burial mound excavated from the hill behind the temple, along with amazing paintings, calligraphy and other treasures. The third temple was brand new and the architecture a nice blend of old and new and there were also two very cute little girls running about.

On one of my frequent trips to Unsenji, the mountain temple, we stopped briefly in Nariwa so I could see the museum designed by Ando. It is not unlike his Pulitzer Foundation building in St. Louis but I thought even more beautiful. It was closed so I only saw the outside and the stunning reflecting pond.

Tuesday I got dropped off at the Denchu Art Museum in Ibara with the guy from Wyoming who knows Japanese language and culture which made the trip so much more enjoyable because nothing was in English. Denchu was mostly a sculptor and his mentor was the author of "The Book of Tea." I really liked his work which is mostly in wood.

I was scheduled to leave Toshoji August 1 but avoided making leaving plans. Being more content than any other time in my life, I saw no reason to leave as early as planned and getting around Japan without speaking Japanese is way more difficult for me than I was led to believe it would be. Nonetheless, the teacher decided I needed to see a little of what I initially intended to see and had someone make me a plan and hotel reservations. He dropped me off at a hotel in Kurashiki yesterday with instructions on how to go to Kyoto today where I will stay until Monday morning when I will take the Shinkansen to Kansai airport.

I stayed in an old part of Kurashiki with a willow lined canal and little shops and museums, a shrine, a temple and my pricey hotel in a former textile mill. This area is famous for its peaches and I had a peach shaved ice in the International Dormitory that had one room left for a third of the cost of my room. I was tempted to move but didn't and the hotel public bath last night was more than adequate compensation.

I got to Kyoto about 4 pm. today and easily found my ryokan (small traditional Japanese hotel). The travel has been easier this time, partially because somone else made the plan and partially because although I have learned very little new Japanese language here, I hear it better and am more comfortable using what I do know. . . and even holed away in a monastery, I have become more comfortable with the culture.