The Dust of Ages

Everyone knows the name Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital that is dotted with historic buildings. That they still stand is partly due to the restraint shown during WWII when bombs were dropped on all the most populous cities but not on Kyoto. But a lot is due to the materials used and the craftsmanship with which they were built.

One popular attraction is the 400-year old Katsura detached palace, which is a landscaping gem, worth visiting just for the gardens. True afficionados, though, fall in love with the buildings. The flooring, the ceilings, the woodwork and the columns that support it all are designed to show off the natural patterns in the logs that were selected for construction centuries ago.

Perhaps because the Katsura palace sits all by itself in a lovely natural environment, detached from the jam-packed jumble of Kyoto's crowded neighborhoods, it never fell victim to the fires that destroyed so many other original landmarks. The wooden parts aged, and grew more beautiful with time.

And then...termites!

In the mid 70's, a team was organized to save the Katsura palace by replacing all the wooden parts. First they took it apart, board by board, wrapping the beams in brown paper and tying them up with string, and then storing them lovingly in a storehouse erected just for them. A pair of mummified catfish found under the foundation was carted to the storehouse. Someone even swept all the dust from the rafters and stored the dust in a brown paper sack.

The project moved along nicely until the replacement for the termite-eaten central column was selected. It was perfect in every way except one: it was too new. It gleamed like pale yellow gold, beautiful in its own way but out of place in the dimly-lit rooms decorated with hand-painted, aged by the centuries artwork.

Can you guess how they saved the historic atmosphere and made that shiny pillar fit in?

(hint: think of the items that were tenderly packed away in that storehouse)

Someone got the brilliant idea that, if it was the dust of ages that created the special atmosphere of Katsura, then it was the dust of ages that could transform that column. One of the artisans made it his job to bathe that column three times a day in a solution made from the dust in that brown paper sack and a fixative until the pillar developed the proper coloration.

This story, first broadcast in an NHK documentary, captivated me. Imagine making good use of that bag of dust! For people like me who hate to throw things away, though, it might be better to pretend it never happened.

What's Blooming Now?

October, and the kinmokusei is blooming its beautifully fragrant heart out. The dictionary calls it "fragrant olive". Hmmm... Maybe it is a fruit-free distant cousin of the olive tree.

In any case, it sends out a sweet perfume, but you shouldn't cut off a branch and stick it in a vase to enjoy indoors. If you touch the blossoms, you'll get a poison-ivy-like rash. Some beauties are best enjoyed from a distance.

Good Gourd, A Typhoon is Coming!

Typhoon #18 struck Tokyo on Thursday morning. It was the first typhoon in two years to directly affect the metropolis, but city workers hadn't forgotten what to do. NHK news showed workers cutting down the vines clinging to public buildings that provide shade and insulation from hot summer temperatures.

Why would they do that?

They are the kind of vine that produces gourds as long as your arm, the kind that can be turned into bath sponges. (hechima) They are huge and heavy, and could have been lethal if blown around by the typhoon winds.

Who knew?

Japan in the Top Ten

The UN index rating countries according to their livability status puts Japan in the top ten. Among the criteria are such factors as lifespan, literacy and school enrollment, health care, and GNP.

The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.

Way to go, Japan!

Cautiously Optimistic

As I reported in my book Japan's Road to Popular Empowerment in 2000, the first time the government changed hands, the main benefit of ousting a long time ruling party is that a new set of people takes over the ministries and opens windows on deep, dark secrets.

This is happening now. You can read about it in today's Japan Times online. http://tinyurl.com/yccjqag

It's the part about Okinawa that especially interests me. I still remember a colleague on the Mainichi Newspapers being hounded out of his fast track reporting career because he suggested the reversion of Okinawa was not exactly as advertised. It turns out he was right all along.

Now that he's in his 70's, is someone going to turn back the clock and give him back his life? I don't think so.

What color is "red"?

There may be 100 words for snow in Iceland, and a hundred ways to describe the green of Ireland, but when it comes to red, the world offers more than a thousand choices of names for red. So, when Shuri Castle in Okinawa was ready to be painted red, not any red color would do. It had to be the right red.

The wooden castle built on a stone foundation burned to the ground during WWII. After Japan's southernmost province, Okinawa, was returned to the country in 1972, one of the projects closest to the Okinawan people's hearts was rebuilding the castle as a symbol of Okinawan pride and as a focal point around which to build a tourist industry.

There were many, many problems to overcome, and one of them was choosing the color. Everyone knew it should be red, but which red?

In the end, four shades were chosen: one for the columns, one for the walls, one for the frames around the windows, and one for the roof tiles.

To me, the most interesting choice was the color for the window frames. Remember, this castle was built ages ago, when every kind of paint came from the earth--not Dutch Boy or Sherwin Williams or even Martha Stewart.

The ancestors of the Okinawan kings came from the island of Kume. So, from a certain cliffside deep in the heart of Kume, red earth was dug up, powdered, and used to make paint.

From ancient times until today, when you look out a window in Shuri Castle, your eye will register the earth-red color of the home island.


*This information is from the NHK hit documentary series, Project X.

PS Please go to the July 7 post to see a picture of the red castle, Shuri.

Nine--Rhymes with Fine

Today is September 9, 2009--also known as 9-9-9.

There will be people lined up at the automated ticket machines at train stations to buy a ticket stamped 09-09-09, and better yet if it is printed at the hour 09:09, just because it is an interesting number.

People in Japan who care about the secret meanings of numbers will avoid 9, however. In Japan, the word for 9 sounds a lot like the word for pain and suffering.

In China, however, today is the day for eternal romance. Wedding halls will be booked solid. In Chinese, the word for 9 sounds a lot like the word for eternal, as in eternal love.

How is it in English? Nine, fine, mine, wine, thine, dine...

I will choose "fine", as in everything will be fine.