Imamura Church

Edson Aoki, a Japanese Brazilian, whom I just got to know, visited Tachiarai**, Fukuoka recently. Tachiarai, easily reachable by train from Kurume (20 km further inland) or Fukuoka Tenjin Station, is a quiet rural country with rice paddies. We can't imagine what it looked like during World War II. Tachiarai back then was heavily bombed because the Imperial Army Air Force base was there. It was the training center of young pilots and AA artillery armies. I barely remember the odd name Tachiarai in the Kamikaze pilot song of my younger days, but I didn't know where it was located.

I read that in the early 1900s the Army looked for a suitable site for an airbase that met the following conditions: 1) was close to Korea and China; 2) was reasonably inland and impregnable from coast bombardment of enemy warships; 3) had no tall obstacles around to hinder flight activities; and 4) had few human habitations. Thus Tachiarai prospered for more than half of a century as military capital.

I read also that returnees from China and Korea right after the war were mass allotted there to turn airbases back to rice paddies. The story was that they worked hard sweating and with blisters. The hard asphalted airstrips remained in town as main roads.

Edson's visit, however, had nothing to do with the penitence of the war. He told me he visited "Imamura Church" in Tachiarai, showing me a colorful pamphlet. "Do you know Imamura Church, Imamura-san" was his first question to me. Imamura, in this case, is not a surname but the name of the village inside Tachiarai.

"No, I don't! Any particular reason for the visit?" I asked him.

"My ancestors were from Taichiarai. "

"No kidding!"

I remembered again that many Fukuokans immigrated overseas to Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentine, etc. ever since the early 1900s**, and quite a few were from the Yabe River area, the branch river of Chikugo River further inland. Fred Nabeta, father of my San Diego friend Joyce was from Kuroki, along Yabe River. Father of Senator Daniel Inoue, Hawaii was from Yame, also along Yabe River. George Ariyoshi, ex-Governor, Hawaii has his father born in Buzen. Antonio Ueno, President of Parana State Chamber of Commerce had parents from Fukuoka. Marcia Uematsu, currently a court judge in Sao Paulo is a 3rd generation Nisei who graduated from Kyushu University with her law degree. Yes, Brazil boasts 2 million Japanese Nisei population.

According to the brochure Edson showed me, there were quite a few Christians in Imamura in the late 1500s, influenced by the Christian Lord Sorin Otomo. But after 1638, when Tokugawa had a bitter experience suppressing the Christian's Revolt at the Shimabara Peninsula and subsequently closed the doors of the nation, Christians were expelled and punished. It was the beginning of hidden or crypt-Christians in Kyushu. Informers were awarded with prize money. Joanne Hirata Mataemon, who was crucified on the cross by the Kurume Clan, was memorialized in the corner of the Imamura Church. When the ban was withdrawn in 1853, about 200 from Imamura stepped forward as Christians.

Missionaries arrived and the construction plans were drawn under Rev. Honda. It was in 1913** when the red-brick church was completed by architect Yosuke Tetsukawa with donations from Europe, Germany in particular, and from the Imamurans who immigrated overseas in early Meiji period. Religious freedom and limited land acreage to share among the families were reasons for the exodus.

Today, I had a sudden revelation and visited Kitakyushu City Library to research Tachiarai Village books. Tachiarai and Kitakyushu are in the same prefecture.

I was quite thrilled to discover a couple of Imamurans who were active in Brazil as reported by Asahi Broadcasting (the book dated 1997). One was Rev. Aoki, who assisted Rev. Honda while in Imamura, the other Mr. Hirata, politician, probably descendent of the martyr Hirata. I understood now why Edson was so eager to visit the Imamaura Church.

Introducing again, Edson Aoki, is a researcher from the University of Twente, Enschede**, Netherlands visiting the Kitakyushu Institute of Technology during the month of April. He is a member of Twente Toastmasters (see photo) and he wanted to visit Kitakyushu Toastmasters as a courtesy call and exchange information while staying here in our city. Kitakyushu Toastmasters greatly enjoyed the company of this tri-national visitor.

** Notes

1) The name "Tachiarai" comes from the old fierce battleground Chikugo River in the Northern and Southern Courts Period (1336-1392), when the civil war spread nationwide. Kikuchi Clan, Kumamoto, siding with Southern Court, confronted with Isshiki and Shoni Clans, the Kyushu Commissioners of Northern Court of Muromachi Bakufu. The statue of Takemitsu Kikuchi, the brave lord warrior stands in Tachiarai River Park, as the site where he washed his sword blade after winning the battle.

2) The first boat to Brazil sailed in 1908.

3) Centennial Anniversary this year

4) Enschede, famous for Twente Canal, is a northern Netherlands city, close to the German-Nertherlands border, which is about 100 km north of Dusseldorf.

Hikone Castle Part 3

I left the hotel luncheon early to visit the Hikone Castle Museum, which was not included in the trip itinerary. I wish to touch upon two points of Hikone Castle from what I saw. One is Naosuke Ii's as a tea expert, and the other about the so-called Hikone Byobu (Folding Screen), the registered national treasure of art.

1

Tea Expert

Naosuke, a man of tea, used Munemi (water of no root) first and Sokan later in Edo as his pseudonyms. He probably learned tea by watching his father and others during his boyhood and enthusiastically read available books on tea at random as he grew older. In his 20’s, he already wrote a couple of books on tea, including guidebooks for beginners and a history of tea, quoting and compiling anecdotes of tea masters such as as Rikyu Sen, Enshu Kobori, etc.

Along with Zen Buddhism, he found tea as the ultimate jewel and beauty for a samurai in pursuit of both swordsmanship and literature. Furthermore, upon being summoned by the Tokugawa Shogunate, he concluded the way of tea was compatible with the way of politics. His writings are found in the two most famous books: "Collection of Notes of One-Chance Tea Ceremony" and "Stories of Tea at Tranquil Night". Naosuke started writing in Hikone and continued in Edo. He had excellent penmanship.

Sen no Rikyu, the founder of Senke Tea School, taught that both host and guest be so disciplined to practice "one encounter, one chance" , the core value of Chado and Budo (ways of tea and swordsmanship). Naosuke quoted Rikyu's core word "one chance" on his book title. There aren't any do-overs or Mulligan shot, as in the game of golf. Always seek perfection. It's a life and death matter as in combat. Naosuke devised a new word "Yojo Zanshin", mediate awhile and when the ceremony is over, deeply reflect on the experience. Honesty, Harmony and Tranquility are the three creeds he sought to produce, denying formalism as well as denying the use of rare and fancy tea utensils.

In Edo he contacted Tokugawa's tea master Soen Katagiri of Sekishu School, known for "Teas for Samurais" and exchanged views regarding the tea ceremony. "The Questions and Answers exchanged with Tea Master Soen" was soon published. Some people called Naosuke a New Sekishu school, but it seemed that Naosuke wanted to create a new school of his own in due time. The recorded numbers of Naosuke's tea ceremonies are 50 as host and 200 as guest; venue-wise, 70 in Hikone and 180 in Edo.

The museum exhibits had many tea items: books, scrolls, utensils, and in particular, numerous hand-made incense containers made by Naosuke himself, of various shapes, insects, pine cones, etc. He gave them as gifts to friends.

Naosuke li is listed among three giants of tea in the Tokugawa period along with Sansai Hosokawa (1563-1646) and Fumai Matsudaira (1751-1818 ).

2

Omi Byobu (folding screen)

Omi is an old name of Shiga Prefecture with Lake Biwa in the central position. The word derives from 1) fresh water and 2) the inlet near Kyoto, the capital. Kyoto depended on most of its food coming from the fertile Omi land and fish from Lake Biwa via seaway. The name Omi prevalently used includes Omi-Merchant, Omi-S(Z)ushi, Omi-Onna, etc. Omi-Merchants are famous for their business creed and philosophy of three way excellence, "aim business to satisfy seller, buyer and society". Today, Omi-Onna (woman) is a Noh-mask of matured woman. The mask bears compassion of the commoner woman, with down-turned eyes, used in such Noh plays as famous "Dojoji-temple", "Autumn Foliage Excursion", etc.

On this trip, I found another one - "Omi-Byobu". Probably this one might have been as equally popular as the above mentioned Omi-stuff. I just wasn't aware of all this. Omi-Byobu is a gilded folding screen with 6 panels, height 94.5cm (37.2 inches) width 278.8cm (110 inches). It's a registered national treasure, so the exhibit is displayed for limited amount of time every year during the golden week in early May. I was unable to see it the day I visited but I saw a replica, photos, and related exhibits such as individual dolls from the screen, postage stamps, trays, platters and metal containers with inscribed figures of the arts.

The screen was successively owned by the Iis, until the Hikone Municipal Office became the new owner. Naoyoshi Ii, great grandson of Naosuke, who served as Hikone Mayor, died in 1993. The Ii family, unable to pay Naoyoshi's inheritance tax, opted to sell the screen. The municipal Government, with the help of benefactors, acquired and restored it extensively for the 400th year anniversary of Hikone Castle.

The screen depicts 1) Kyoto street scenes - a young samurai reclining with his sword as a squire flirts with three girls who are passing, one of them walking with a dog, 2) Joyful quarter indoor scenes - letter-writing woman, a dictating couple, and a kneeling waitress. 3) Noisier groups of three-string Shamisen players (one of them is a priest), three backgammon players over the board and an observing waitress, all in front of a Chinese mountain art screen.

Hikone Byobu has a somewhat a darker sensual side in the Edo period and many people tried to decipher the mysterious story narrated by an anonymous artist.

There's one theory that provoked my interest. This person (deceased) noticed green leaves of plantain as the dress motif of a girl whose long hair hangs freshly washed and she claims she is the spirit of plantain, from the Noh play "Plantain". One of the proofs, according to the claimant, is that the Chinese Screen therein has the famous Lake Dongting scenes in the present-day Hunan Province, China, the imaginary venue of the Noh "Plantain". In the play "Plantain", the spirit of plantain, disguised as a woman, haunts the mountain village allured by mantras chanted by priest. Seemingly an interesting opinion, but how to explain all the other figures on the screen? Incidentally, I learned later that the disguised woman uses the "Omi-Onna" Noh mask.

Hikone Castle Part 2: From Bogwood Samurai to Tokugawa's Great Elder

The last stop of our castle tour was the "Bogwood House", where Naosuke Ii spent his youth and adulthood as a single man as the 14th son of Ienaka, 11th generation but not in line of succession as a child by Ienaka's concubine. Most of his elder brothers left Ii as adopted children and Naosuke too was called to Edo together with his younger brother for such an arrangement. His brother was chosen to stay and Naosuke returned to Hikone crestfallen. As a child, he was taken by his father, already retired, to teachers of both literary and military arts and he yearned to study local Japanese classics, tea ceremony, poems, and develop swordsmanship like archery and the way of quick draw. However, after his father passed away, he saw his destiny as a bogwood tree, so naming his residence, and lamented his ill fortune. The knowledge needed to administer as Tokugawa's Great Elder was nurtured during this limelight period. At the time, he was not well off financially at all.

His career suddenly took a turn when his other brother who was supposed to succeed Naoaki Ii, 12th generation, passed away. And when Naoaki passed, Naosuke inherited Ii Clan's 350,000 Koku (see Notes l) as 13th Hikone lord. Naosuke was reported to have distributed 50,000 Ryos (see Notes 2) among his clan samurais, merchants and farmers according to the bequeathed will of Naoaki, his foster father. The generous 50,000 Ryos were comparable to a year’s income in the Ii Clan. He also financially assisted temples and the like, reinvigorated Kodokan, school for children, banned the red light district, and the people hailed him as benevolent lord.

Naosuke's performance as Tokugawa's protocol officer, which included foreign affairs, steadily pushed him up the ranks. He headed the coast guard along Tokyo Bay and circumvented the black ship threat and proposed his own defense plans which were highly praised. He declined to accept Chief Minister (Great Elder) position at first, in view of the impending downfall of Tokugawa. He had to deal with not only black ships but confrontations among clans as to who to select as the next heir to Tokugawa, relations with emperor and courtiers in Kyoto and the rising movement to "Restore the Emperor and Repulse Foreigners." He probably anticipated what could happen once he had taken the reigns. I wrote in detail why he was assassinated in Part 1. Naosuke antagonized Mito Clan Samurais when his Ansei Purge involved harsh punishments against Mito. Naosuke, despite the attack warning, didn't reinforce security more than the number stipulated by Tokugawa.

As mentioned earlier, Naosuke studied Japanese Classics and revered the emperor but remained as Tokugawa's caretaker. It is a tragic tale of a bogwood-to-be-samurai who grabbed prestige and power second only to the Shogun. After Naosuke’s death the Ii family was disgraced for many years. Recently, however, Ii’s actions have been looked at in a more favorable light and Ii Naosuke has taken his place as one of the most important political figures in Japanese history.

Notes

1) "Koku" was a unit of fief wealth. Originally one Koku was the volume of rice a person can eat in one year
2) "Ryo" was an Edo period currency, available as Oban (large size coin of higher denominations) and Koban (small size coin of lower denominations).
3) Hikone Museum exhibits artworks of both Sekigahara Battle and Sakurada Gate Incident

Hikone Castle Part 1

"I stepped out into town in the early morning. I was surprised that it was brighter than the lakeside, which was still in the dark. Shaded areas here and there in the street corners looked graceful. It is still February. I smelled winter morning in the lingering smoke coming from burning dead leaves. The castle stone steps proved awkward for me. Breathing heavily while climbing, I glimpsed a group of dozen men coming down spread out evenly. They all looked around 50 years of age or older, all clad in plain suits and coats, speechless, yet keeping pace together and breathing in unison. 'Clansmen,' I muttered."

- from "Strolling in Omi", by Ryotaro Shiba

February is almost over. March is taking its time arriving but will most likely hurry along. Then what? A sudden burgeoning of cherry blossoms without mercy! You don't have a month. Are you ready? Time's up!

I had a bitter-sweet experience. Our San Diego Business Fellow Veterans gather every mid-April. The secretariat by turn picks the venue and invites us. We usually meet in Kyoto and Osaka and I take the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Kitakyushu to be in time for the gathering. Last year, the venue was at Hikone in Omi District. The Shinkansen doesn't stop at Hikone and you have to take a local train from Kyoto, which may take an hour.

I was late in making hotel reservations and found no vacancy in decent Hikone hotels. I panicked. Then I changed my strategy. I searched the satellite towns, near Hikone. It worked. I got a hotel in Minami Hikone (southern Hikone), which happened to be very close to the station. Hikone was all hustle and bustle the following day with thousands of visitors viewing the cherry-blossoms planted around the moat and inside Hikone Castle.

Now the story starts in 1590 from the Battle of Sekigahara near the current Ogaki City in Gifu Prefecture between two great clans, Tokugawa and Toyotomi. General Hideyoshi Toyotomi died shortly after his retreat from Korea without accomplishing his wild dream of conquering the Ming Dynasty. Tokugawa claimed his turn and opened hostilities. Mitsunari Ishida, Hideyoshi's administrator, raised an army in support of Hideyori, Hideyoshi's son, but he could not mobilize enough supporters. Ieyasu Tokugawa won the battle by forming a coalition of warlord and their followers.

Naomasa Ii, who served as Ieyasu’s page, valiantly fought and defeated Mitsunari and was endowed with the Hikone land, including Sawa Castle owned by Mitsunari, the defeated. It was his son who established Hikone as a strategic stronghold, since Sawa Castle was a mountainous castle, and the Ii Clan had to face off not only western Japan Daimyos, but supervise Lake Biwa seaway transportation on behalf of the Tokugawa clan. Hikone was the main route and gateway for eastern Daimyos to enter into Kyoto.

The historians exaggerated it as a decisive war of the nation which attracted troops from all parts of Japan. Yes, soldiers assembled, but as fence sitters to see which way the wind would blow. Mitsunari Ishida lacked actual battle experience and the cunning Ieyasu Tokugawa took advantage to enlist opportunists.

Hikone Castle took 20 years to complete, with carpenters and masons mostly mobilized from the east. Stones, towers and gates were transplanted from the old local castles and temples, like Otsu, Nagahama, Sawa, etc. Hikone Castle survived 400 years as one of the four designated national treasures, the others being Himeji, Matsumoto and Inuyama.

There were three crises during which Hikone Castle could have been lost. The first one was the decommissioning crisis, when Naosuke Ii (1815-1860), the 13th generation, Chief Minister of the Tokugawa clan, responsible for signing the Harris Treaty without imperial sanction, carried out the so-called Ansei Purge to quell opposition, inviting grudges. He was assassinated by enemy Samurais, and the Ii clan was discredited from the Tokugawas.

The second was when it escaped the Meiji Restoration War, because the Ii Clan was left out of the war altogether. The Aizu Clan, replacing Ii Clan as the Kyoto safeguarding agent for Tokugawa, ran the gauntlet of Meiji Restoration Troops and eventually lost its castle in Aizu-Wakamatsu in Fukushima in the fire.

The third time was when castles in the country were all being demolished when the Tokugawa period ended. Emperor Meiji, who stayed at Hikone Castle, wanted to preserve it because of its true beauty.

We Japanese are really blessed to be able to see the original Hikone Castle today.

Accompanied by two volunteer guides, we took tours of the four hectare (10 acres) castle area including Genkyuen Garden. Before entering the front gate, we saw a hall turret and a flat Edo stable, which is the only stable of this kind existing today.

On our way to the hilltop, we walked under a unique curved and symmetrical wooden bridge, which gives the impression of a balancing scale. According to our guide, the bridge connecting the two towers can easily be collapsed in the event of an emergency. The supporting stone walls are also of special layering called burdock blocking, also collapsible. We went through authentic Bell and Drum Towers to reach the main keep. The view of Lake Biwa and the flowing river and moat complex from the castle keep were truly gorgeous.

Coming down, we entered Genkyuen Garden, at the opposite base of the castle, leading to the Konki Children Park where the statue of Naosuke Ii stands. Genkyuen is one of the best three Daimyo Gardens*, which offers the pleasure of Japanese landscapes for every season - new life of spring, deep green of summer, brilliant foliage of fall and quiet snow of winter. Modeled after a detached palace of Emperor Genso of the Tang Dynasty in ancient China, this Chisen-kaiyu style garden (landscaped around a large pond) was constructed in 1677. It incorporates the Hoshodai Guesthouse built on an artificial hill, and trees and rocks imitate the famous Eight Views of Omi region, Biwa Lake, Chikubujima Island and the White Rocks of Oki.

The 400th Annivesary of Hikone Castle was held in 2007 from March to September with a variety of cultural celebratory events such as cherry blossom festivals, music concerts, guided historical city walk tours, clean-up movement, etc. 760,000 visitors were recorded during a 250 day period, well over the targeted half a million, bringing a rippling effect on Hikone's economy.

Getting back to the San Diego Business Veterans Meeting - about 40 members participated last spring and after the tour we had a great luncheon party at Hikone Castle Hotel facing the moat surrounded by beautiful cherry trees.

I So Love Shimonoseki!

Speech given on Feb 20, 2013 at Tokyu Hotel cafe lounge

"Live a pleasant life in the unpleasant world!" This is a famous quote of Shinsaku Takasugi, Choshu Clan Samurai, perhaps your hero, who played a pivotal role in the pre-Meiji Restoration. He passed away young before his dream came true; however, his strategy of organizing militia and his visionary leadership should well be long remembered.

Ladies and gentlemen and guests, I'm honored to speak today for Shimonoseki Toastmasters in the making. Shimonoseki is my favorite city where I'm always hoping to return. My sister-in-law invited my wife and me to live in Kitakyushu upon our return to Japan from the U.S. The first place she drove us to was Tsunoshima Resort, a beautiful cobalt blue ocean view and sand beach and a bridge to the island. The scenery is comparable to the 7-mile Bridge, Key Largo, Florida. I was so impressed that I have taken American guests there, also my son from New York and my granddaughter from California.

Representing Kitakyushu Toastmasters, I was fortunate to meet today's Chair TM Miyake. She visited with me at Kozanji, Mohri Palatial Residence, Nogi-jinja, etc. in Chofu. I had a chance later to visit Akama Shrine, Shunpanro, Yume-Tower, and Karato. Oh, I so love Shimonoseki!

Thank you for coming today to join us in our noble venture, and I know you are anxious to know what Toastmasters is all about. First and foremost, Toastmasters is a non-profit organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of improving English communication and leadership. Founded by Dr. Ralph Smedley in California, it covers over 110 countries and accommodates a quarter million members. The greater San Diego District, where I used to work, had a population of 3 million and had about 150 clubs when I left. In other words, 50 clubs per million there. Upon my return in 1995, I found clubs in Japan narrowly reached 60.

Kyushu had only one club, in Fukuoka, right after the war, started by a GARIOA scholarship student who came back from the U.S. It is one of the oldest clubs in Japan. Fukuoka, therefore, had a few Kitakyushu members who commuted twice a month by train. They were so happy to join the newly formed club in Kitakyushu. It was in 1997, over 15 years ago. Now the time has come for Shimonoseki to claim the same exciting beginning.

New members will learn tonight, through well established protocols - the one minute self-introduction and the two-to-three-minute response to table topics question. Then, after you are inducted as a member, you must give a formal 6-minute speech. You will then be evaluated by your friendly fellow members and the mentor in charge for improvement. Friends help friends practice in a warm accepting atmosphere. You will advance step by step following the Toastmasters Manual, the treasures of this century old wisdom to success. The project manual covers speech organization, vocal variety, language, gestures, humor, persuasion, etc.

I'm sure each of you has made your New Year's resolution in January to brush up and expand your English communication this year. It's never too late to empower yourself by way of joining the Shimonoseki Toastmasters as founding members. Seize this opportunity and realize your dream! It is better late than never. Welcome to an exciting adventure.

Tagore and Japan

"Standing on the outskirts of Yokohama town, bristling with its display of modern miscellanies, I watched the sunset in your southern sea, and saw its peace and majesty among your pine-clad hills, - - with the great Fujiyama going faint against the golden horizon, like a god overcome with his own radiance, - - the music of eternity welled up through the evening silence, and I felt that the sky and the earth and the lyrics of the dawn and day fall are with the poets and idealists."
(from Sir Rabindranath Tagore's speech at Keio University)

1. Visit the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama

2. Visit Koishigawa Korakuen Garden (Mito Branch of the Tokugawa Residence)

3. Visit Rikugien or 6-Poems Garden

These were the top three items of my "bucket" list once I returned to Tokyo in 1995, as I was deeply involved in the planning and fund raising of the San Diego Japanese Friendship Garden, initiated by Wil Hippen Junior, the Honorary Japanese Consul of San Diego. This San Diego garden was named after Yokohama Sankeien, in view of the sister-city relationship between San Diego and Yokohama. Phonetically named it was the same, but our San Diego Sankeien used different Kanji characters. Whereas the Yokohama Sankeien is blessed with the massive land of 43,240 acres, the San Diego Sankeien had leased only 5 acres from the city inside the 14,000 acre Balboa Park. But when you think of the authentic Portland Japanese Garden with 5.5 acres, the size of San Diego Sankeien is fair. Having heard Consul Hippen admiring Yokohama Sankeien so much, I thought I had to see the garden for myself.

One day in 1995, my wife and I extended our trip from our Yokohama relatives to the original Sankeien close to Tokyo Bay, called Honmoku. It is here the Yokohama bay shore bends to form a chevron shape. It is a bit hilly and Commodore Perry called it Treaty Point. Today, the shore is surrounded by oil refineries and tanks by city highways. It must have been a good lookout point in the past. Here the city maintains a complex of public parks, swimming pools, museums, including Sankeien, originally owned by silk trader king Tomitaro Hara (1868-1939).

My heart was full of emotion at Sankeien. I felt I was finally back home as a Japanese. Mr. Hara had 17 historically significant buildings moved, set amidst an inner and outer garden and two lakes. These buildings were from Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura, etc. Ten of them have been declared Important Cultural Property, and three more are Tangible Cultural Properties. Mr. Hara was a pioneer of transplanting buildings. Today it is fashionable to move old houses to new locations. The outer garden opened in 1915 to the public, and the inner, which housed his private house and garden, was donated to the city in 1953. It is pure bliss to see that Sankeien is now fully recovered to prewar levels.

During this garden tour, I learned Mr. Hara offered Gurudev Tagore and his entourage a two month stay in 1916. The quote at the beginning of this post is from his speech delivered at Keio University. He was on his way to the U.S. to give lectures as Nobel Laureate but he was eager, as an artist himself, to learn Nihonga, inspired by Tenshin Okakura who visited India. When Tagore stayed at Okyo Maruyama's home in Tokyo, Mr. Hara came to his rescue as dilettante and art sponsor. Mukul Dey, a young artist accompanying Tagore, wrote to his father:

"Dear Father, A couple of days ago we came here from Tokyo. Gurudev and the others have arrived as well. We are staying with a very famous Japanese millionaire here. The sea is just in front of this house. Across the sea is America. Steep and big cliffs rise from the shoreline. These are thickly covered with pine trees. On top of the cliff, amid the rows of pine trees, is a palatial complex where we are staying. We are living royally with Gurudev. Lots of servants and maids around. All of them eager to serve us. This wealthy man, Mr. Hara, with whom we are staying, is a superb host. He is full of kindness. The common man can visit his garden at their will and organize picnics here. For them Mr. Hara provides firewood, good stoves and water. In his garden there are places where people can sit down and rest…many teahouses and temples, all are here. This Mr. Hara lets his money flow for the sake of his country’s art. All the great artists of Japan, Mr. Taikan, Mr. Shimomura Kanzan receive generous patronage from him. They receive unstinted support from him in exchange for their paintings. Mr. Hara has a great passion for art."
 
Tagore seemed so impressed with Kanzan's "Yoroboshi" that he wanted to take home a replica. When artist Hirokata Arai made the requested replica arranged by Mr. Hara, Tagore offered Arai a teaching position for appreciation at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, popularly known as Tagore University.

Tagore's observation of the Sankeien was as follows:

"Every day about noontime, neighborhood workers started to arrive on foot at this beautiful garden, like bees gathering for honey. They strolled around the park, bewitched with sceneries of ocean and sky molten, filled their hunger with refreshment, moistened the dry heart, invigorated themselves and walked back to where they belonged. While so doing, nobody made noise, trampled down grasses, broke tree branches or flowers, scattered trashes. No fights and no drunkards. And they were ordinary workers. This totally amazed and enraptured me."
 

Here at Sankeien, Tagore took part in tea ceremonies, witnessed flower arrangement, saw Noh plays and composed haikus. The haiku he sang in Japan became an anthology titled Stray Birds, which he dedicated to his generous host Tomitaro Hara. I'm quoting here several haikus from the anthology including those he made in a Karuizawa summer resort where he met Tomi Kora (1896-1993) as his student of the Japanese Women's University. (Tagore taught summer class there). Dr. Kora, a graduate from Columbia University, became a congresswoman who visited Russia as the first Japanese after World War II and met Japanese prisoners.

Stray birds of summer came to my window to sing and fly away.
And yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fall there with a sigh.
 
Once we dreamt that we were strangers.
We wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
 
Woman, with the grace of your fingers,
you touched my things and order came out like music.
 
Tagore visited Japan three times but never after Japan marched on to imperialism and took a militaristic direction. I had a chance to read his elegant speeches delivered in two universities, Tokyo and Keio. I felt that he was a real prophet from his first moment of arrival and tried his best to curb Japan from entering into war. But alas, I think very few people understood his lofty proficient English.

His prolific works, available mostly online, includes poems, novels, plays, essays, diaries, national anthems of India and Bangladesh and Bengal folk songs called Baul music and we see in them his noble aphorism, sublime morals, profound religious thoughts and philosophy, call of truth and cry for peace.

The prophetic soul of the wide world dreaming of things to come
 
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and kings depart.
 
*Note:
"Yoroboshi" or the blind beggar monk based on the Zeami's Noh Play is one of Kanzan Shimomura's representative works produced in 1915 on a folding screen. It is currently housed in the Tokyo National Museum as an important cultural property. The replica produced by Hirokata Arai is housed at the Visva-Bharati University.

"See the USA in your Chevrolet" - Dinah Shore

New Year's Sunday papers were enlivened with a full page ad of one of the leading travel agent's "6900-kilometer Cross U.S. Bus Trip for 15 days". The agency is holding its orientation meetings for their prospective clients in major Japanese cities, including Fukuoka. This particular bus tour's itineraries are as follows: luxury bus ride (max 24 passengers on one bus, so one person to occupy two seats) from LAX to Atlanta, stopping at Las Vegas, Route 66 Cruise, Grand Canyon (for sunrise viewing), Santa Fe, San Antonio, Memphis and Atlanta, then Amtrak train ride from Atlanta to Washington DC, then back on the bus to Philadelphia and then on to New York. "Will promise you an unforgettable trip", so reads a catch phrase, since "you go over land with grand landscapes and spectacles, you can appreciate different multi-colored faces of the U.S." I looked up the agency's website and found the cost of the tour to be 600,000 to 700,000 Yen, equal to $6,800 to $8,000 per person.

In early 1980s, I was blessed with a happenstance to drive close to 3,800 kilometers, from California to North Carolina. My ex-employer acquired a German plant in Mountain Home, near Asheville, western North Carolina. I was short by 900 kilometers to make it coast to coast – roughly the distance from Asheville to maybe Cape Hatteras (eastern end of NC), known as the graveyard of the Atlantic Ocean. A few San Diego engineers were to join the new affiliate plant with their accompanying families. The corporate relocation policy then, however, allowed transportation of only one car per family to be paid by the company. If families owned a second car, they had to move it on their own. I was consulted by my relocating friend for advice and I just told him," leave it here until spring". "As the parent company, we should regularly offer you administrative services, and we will deliver a car as extra service by our administrative teams".

I had read about cars driven by hired students from coast to coast, a cheap way to haul cars long distance, but I wasn't sure about the credibility. I asked a couple of colleagues if they would join me in a driving venture. A Safety Officer and an Insurance Officer volunteered to go with me, as I went to the local AAA service to map out the driving routes and look for key precautions, such as snow. I also carefully gathered weather reports from the east. I have lived in New York for close to 10 years and I knew you could not stay free of snow before the month of April. Our departure was set in late March.

So at noon on a Friday, we rolled a brown sporty Chevorlet Camaro, just back from the service station, onto the highway. There were only two drivers - the Safety Officer, Al and myself. The Insurance Officer Mat bowed out at the last minute because of family matters.

Friday, the first night, we drove past the New Mexico State border, after our decent Mexican dinner in Phoenix until we became sleepy and called it a day. We stopped at an unknown roadside motel and fell dead asleep. On the second day, Saturday, we drove to Dallas/Fort Worth. We got take-out-lunches and ate in the car while one of us was driving. Sunday, we just drove on and on, passing Texarkana, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, and then started climbing up hills. We saw a bit of snow fall and quit driving as we had no tire chains. All I remember seeing was a Tennessee Tech sign.

It must have been near Cookeville somewhere. Luckily, the snow stopped at night. Monday morning, we had fine weather and we arrived at Mountain Home at around a little after noon, our venture completed. We made it in 3 nights and 4 days. Al reminisced that I was singing while I drove, spoiling his nap.

I learned through this venture that California to Texas is semi-desert, followed by a lot of greenery in Arkansas and Tennessee. On major highways you had to adjust your speed and follow the fleet of truckers as they communicated among themselves by CB radio. When they slowed, police cars were approaching. It was fun to mingle with them at the big truck stops. Food was delicious there, my favorite being grits served as you went east.

Upon returning to Japan after retirement, I read author Haruki Murakami's travelogue "Henkyo, Kinkyou" (Frontiers and Borders) wherein he wrote a 25 page article "Let's cross the U.S. Continent" with his personal note that this article was originally for a June 1995 Magazine "Sinra." "When you drive yourself coast to coast, you'd feel with your skin how gigantic the country is. Culture and clothes vary drastically as you go. The gas was impressively cheap. Toll roads were few. Meals and hotels, however, were monotonous. I would probably say no, if asked to do it again, because the intense yearning might develop akin to a craze or sickness to make you take another trip for trip’s sake. He was accompanied by his photographer friend.

Haruki's route was opposite to mine, east to west, and took a northerly route. Started from Boston to Toronto (he visited his Canadian friend on the way) and down to Detroit and Chicago. Then, South Dakota (visited Chinatown underground) to Yellowstone, down to Las Vegas and LAX. He rented a Volvo 850 Estate, well cushioned seat car. They were stopped often by police for questioning because of being an out-of-place vehicle wandering into the countryside.

I wrote in my June 2009 blog post that my San Diego friends, the Doi couple, made a 10,000 kilometer trip in one month, crossing the U.S. Rockies twice. I wrote "They visited Yellowstone, then drove east on Interstate 90 (5,000 kilometers from coast to coast) to see Niagara Falls, then south on I-75, and back on I-70 to the Rockies." Their route was somewhat closer to Murakami's.

Another San Diego friend, Fred, was always on tour until some years ago. I asked what motivated him to travel so much. He recently replied:

"It must be in the blood or genes. As you may remember, I was a holocaust survivor. My home was gone and so there was nothing holding me to one location. After I grew older living in the USA, I went into the military twice and saw more of the world. When I got married, I found that my wife (interned Nisei American) also had a sense of adventure and we agreed to a life where we traveled for the company I worked for, as an aerospace engineer. Prior to retiring we bought a motor home and spent four months out of the year seeing the USA. We covered over 100,000 miles (161,000 kilometers). I never regretted it. I don’t travel any more, but do miss it.”

See the USA in your Chevrolet
America is asking you to call
Drive your Chevrolet through the USA
America's the greatest land of all
On a highway, or a road along the levy
Performance is sweeter, nothing can beat her
Life is completer in a Chevy
So make a date today to see the USA

And see it in your Chevrolet
Traveling East, Traveling West

Wherever you go Chevy service is best

Southward or North, near place or far

There's a Chevrolet dealer for your Chevrolet car
So make a date today to see the USA

And see it in your Chevrolet.