Calligraphy 書道

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Last week was the first day of the optional calligraphy class at IUC. We meet once a week for an hour and fourty-five minutes in the afternoon and receive instruction in traditional Japanese calligraphy from a lovely older woman. In our first week we worked on 土 (tsuchi, earth) and 月(tsuki, moon). Today we started into 火(hi, fire). Categorize this under things that are way harder than they look. I finally mastered the corner at the top right and hook at the bottom right of 月, for which I received my teachers approval (see the circular mark on the above photo), and 土 wasn't too tough, as it is just three straight lines. But 火! I have a ways to go on this one... the photo below shows my attempt in black, and my teacher's corrections in red, the red kanji at the left is her example. It's going to take a while before I can emulate her elegant brushstrokes, but each practice sheet gets me a little bit closer.... I'll keep posting about my progress as the coruse goes on. Ganbatte!
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Kamakura- Kanazawa Kaido 鎌倉ー金沢街道

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We had a holiday on Monday the 12th of October, so we headed down to Kamakura for a little temple hopping.
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After a tasty lunch of tempura rice bowls at Tenkin, a small Japanese restaurant near Kamakura Station, we took the bus out to Sugimoto Temple. Founded in 734 it is among the oldest temples in Kamakura, and is famous for the Kannon images enshrined within. Above is a guardian figure at the temple gate, below are the well worn steps to the main hall, no longer in use.
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The main hall of Sugimotodera.
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Jizo images near the main hall.
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The main hall of Sugimotodera.
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We next walked a few blocks through a quiet residential neighborhood at the bottom of a narrow valley to reach Hokokuji, a Rinzai Zen Temple founded in 1334. Along the way we followed a small creek with lots of koi fish.
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Hokokuji is best known for it's bamboo forest.
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The small forest contained only bamboo, which created a serene blue-tinted light.
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The bamboo was surprisingly tall, and the forest was nestled against a high cliff, lending a cozy feel to the area.
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Sculpture at the edge of the bamboo forest.
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The cultivated garden near the main hall of the temple.
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The main hall of Hokokuji.
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We continued our walk through the neighborhood to Jyomyoji, founded in 1188.
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A meditating cat, chillin' on the central steps of the Jyomyoji main hall.
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The garden at Jyomyoji.
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A neat variety of bamboo near the main hall of the temple.
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After Jyomyoji we took the bus back to Komachidori, the shopping street near Kamakura Station. We enjoyed some amazing creme brulee ice cream sundaes (topped with caramel flakes and placed atop fresh madelines) at Ovale on Wakamiyaoji to complete our perfect day of sightseeing before heading back home.

Sankeien 三溪園

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On Friday we took a field trip to Sankeien, a lovely historic garden in Yokohama (click here for the English guide). Our visit was sponsored by the Rotary club, so we began with some speeches from the members, and then broke into groups to do different activities. My first activity was　華道 (kadō) or flower arranging.　
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The instructor explained the principles of different arrangements, and then walked us through an arrangement while other volunteers came around to help us. I elected to "live in my own world" as the instructor said, and did a more open style arrangement than he was doing. I guess I'm not too good at conforming.... but he did say that it looked nice. I honestly felt that the wide container that I was using and the crescent shaped nature of my particular twigs lent itself to this arrangement better. This is my imitation of the shape of my arrangement...
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Some of my classmates express their feelings about their arrangements.
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Our next activity was 茶道 (sadō) or tea ceremony. This is a highly rituatlized way of serving and drinking matcha. In this photo, our hostess is preparing the tea.
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The 和菓子 (wagashi), or Japanese-style sweet served before the matcha is given. These sweets are meant to balance the slightly bitter flavor of the matcha, and are carefully crafted to represent the seasons.
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Our final activity was a stroll around the garden with one of the volunteer guides. The following photos show the (mostly) Edo period buildings that were moved to the garden when it was built by a wealthy silk merchant in the late 19th and early 20th century.
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Time flies....

The last two months have been quite busy, leaving little time for blogging. After a while I fell behind on posting things that I wanted to say and felt overwhelmed by the task of catching up, so I have decided to post the super-condensed version of the last two months in an effort to be current.
In August we spent three weeks back in the U.S., mostly visiting with friends and family in the Chicago area, but also taking a three day trip to Michigan with Joe’s family. I’m including some photo highlights of the Lake Michigan beach near Saugatuck, Michigan, the new wing of the Art Institute, and Millenium Park. We also spent a great deal of time just relaxing, hanging out in the backyard with the dog, and enjoying the lovely weather.
When we arrived back in Japan we spent a few days getting over jet lag and organizing our apartment before I had to start back to school at the IUC. School has been fantastic, I can’t speak highly enough of the program here. It is crazy intense and leaves me little time for anything other than studying, but my language is progressing really quickly, and I’m thrilled to have this opportunity.
September flew by and was mostly uneventful, but we did enjoy some time off during the Silver Week holiday. We spent one day visiting the Shin-hanga special exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, as well as walking around the electronics district of Akihabara so I could replace my broken headphones and another day visiting the National Museum of Modern Art and exploring Jinbocho, the used book district of Tokyo and my new favorite neighborhood. We also spent a lovely afternoon walking around Ginza.
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Lake Michigan near Saugatuck, Michigan.


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Lake Michigan.
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Stormy day on the lake.
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Beyond Golden Clouds, the special exhibition of Japanese screens at the Art Institute.
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Millenium Park.
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The new Modern Wing of the Art Institute. Yes, I am wearing a jacket in August in Chicago, it was chilly for most of our visit. Talk about climate change...
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Back in Japan, the Edo-Tokyo Museum.
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Bikes parked in the Ryogoku neighborhood of Tokyo, near the Edo-Tokyo Museum.
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Kinako ohagi flavored Kit Kat that we had with our lunch of onigiri. This surprisingly tasty Kit Kat was emulating kinako ohagi, ohagi is sweet a rice ball with bean paste and ground sesame, and kinako is soybean flour. I'm not sure how the two come together, if the kinako replaces the sesame topping, or is just added to it, but either way this was one of the better special edition Kit Kat flavors, and was super tasty.
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National Museum of Modern Art.
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A theatre building in the Jinbocho neighborhood of Tokyo.
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Books! Lots and lots of used books! All in tiny shops that specialize by subject matter. Block after block of books for me, mixed in with a few record shops and music stores for Joe, some cafes for both of us, and a great natural food shop that sells wheat gluten "meat". So wonderful....
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Shops in Ginza.
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Ginza.
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More Ginza.
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