Revisiting Balboa Park Japanese Friendship Garden

I wish to dedicate this article to: Will Hippen, Jr., Clara Breed, Marge Wells, Mark Umemura, Ken Takada, Denny Ikeda, and George Woodworth.

Recently, I had the chance to re-visit the Balboa Park Japanese Friendship Garden. I tried to rely on my memory to find the entrance from the Organ Pavilion, the center of San Diego Balboa Park. I found myself at the VIP (or service) gate which was locked to the general public. Once I realized I was at the wrong gate, I stopped two girls who seemed to be returning from lunch and told them that I had an appointment with the Japanese Friendship Garden Executives. They opened the gate and ushered me into the nearest building, which was their administrative building, and fortunately exactly where I was supposed to be.

I found about five people there, one young man and four young women. From their appearances I guessed they were sales people selling wedding banquets. The waiting room table was full with wedding service advertisements for photographers, florists, hairdressers, and the like. When I was walking out around 4:30 p.m., a banquet setting was in preparation. I saw outdoor lighting, catering gear, band crew instruments, and other things that suggested a wedding. Seemingly the main business associated with the garden is related to wedding banquets. These young people were very lively, and I am sure they were quite good at selling the banquets. The Japanese Garden has a long history of catering to weddings; the brochure said 15 years of service.

The conceptual starting date, however, could go back at least 25 years ago. Will Hippen, Jr., Honorary Consul General of Japan in San Diego, 1st President and donor himself of the Japanese Friendship Garden, raised the banner and blazed the trail. He had his own Japanese garden complete with Koi pond and tea house, where he held a reception party more than once when the Japanese self-defense Navy frigate visited San Diego port. He invited officers and sailors alike, members of SD-Yokohama sister-city relations to mingle with food and drink, while the Japanese naval band played both US and Japanese music.

Two ideas for a Japanese Garden were circulating. The first had to do with the city of San Diego contemplating if its Balboa Park gorge area could be developed into a Japanese garden. The second consisted of a local group of Japanese Americans trying to rebuild the Japanese garden, a popular 1915 Panama International Exhibit, which was destroyed during WWII. It was Will Hippen who combined these two ideas into one grand plan. He first asked Mayor Wilson, and then his successor Rodger Hedgecock to sign a 100-year lease agreement to use the gorge in Balboa Park as a Japanese Friendship Garden. Thankfully, he ultimately succeeded. I was honored to attend the signing ceremony at the Mayor’s office.

A fund raising campaign started immediately with a very tough requirement; the lease agreement stipulated there be enough money to break ground on the project by a specified date. My former company, Kyocera, took the lead in the campaign, as Dr. Inamori, President, was thankful and enthusiastic for being listed among the best San Diego businesses to participate in the project. The Japanese Friendship Garden concept struck his heart and his first comment upon visiting Balboa Park was “Kyoto where he resides has more challenging venues than Balboa gorge and he never worried about the awkward cliff and sharp slopes to landscape despite the misgivings of the local people.”

When I left San Diego in the mid-1990s, I remembered the Japanese Friendship Garden sitting only on top of the gorge close to the Organ Pavilion, the Meiji style gate designed by Storrier Sterns, the curved pathways along the bamboo groves, the exhibit house as the main event center, the Karesansui (dried garden), the outdoor tea reception stage, etc. The crepe myrtle I donated in memory of Denny Ikeda (a Kyocera employee gunned down by two ruffians near Sea World) was still there, extending its branches.

Today, going down through Stern’s gate (which was moved to the newly expanded garden), I was thrilled to see a couple of pseudo-glens already covered with white stones—one cascade to be covered in water, other perhaps to remain dry—as I strolled down the cherry tree pathway. Mike Kawamura, the Japanese Friendship Garden VP and my fellow colleague at work, told me that more than 100 cherry trees were transplanted already. Honestly, I felt uneasy as to whether my physical stamina could carry me down the gorge and back to the top. Thanks to the ADA compliant strolling pathway, I had no problem, but found myself exhilarated with the walk while viewing the camellia/azalea slope garden.

As per their latest new release, the Japanese Friendship Garden, just a month ago, had the August Moon Gala and Awards Dinner celebration to open its north end of the garden expansion before the official public opening. This addition is now open. I saw many people walking down the roughly planted gorge, crossing the Dragon Bridge, zigzagging the cherry tree grove, stopping at one of the pairing ponds.

The other pairing pond, larger than the pond near the Dragon Bridge, is coming with what the Japanese Friendship Garden is calling the “Pavilion” and “Amphitheater”; the next and perhaps the last phase of construction. It will be located where the horse stables of the SD Park Police were once found. I heard that the Pavilion could be PAGODA shaped. That’s a fantastic concept and could contribute to this garden becoming the best West Coast Japanese garden; perhaps rivaling the Sankei-en gardens in Yokohama, Japan, which acclaimed the world’s best by Tagor and others. Dennis Otsuji is confident. The Japanese Friendship Garden President said they could definitely finish all the construction by 2015, the year SD will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its Panama Exhibition at Balboa Park.

Finally, I dropped in at the donors’ board and fondly found very familiar names: fellow Japanese corporations: Sanyo, Sony, Fujitsu, Nissan, Union Bank. San Diego corporations: Naiman, A.O. Reed, Qualcom, Kokusai Travel. Then, Acquaintances: Saburo Muraoka & Family, Bruce Henderson, Marge Wells, Moto Asakawa & Family, Kay Leonard/J. Forsyth, Dr. R. Phillips, Dr. Harvey Itano, Takeo Uesugi, Kuramoto, Bishop, Bogart, Arthur Jonishi, 5 Samurais of Kyocera.

Links:

Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego

Discover Nikkei article source

Nagasaki Kaido Walk

Nagasaki and Kokura is strangely bound. They are two ends of Nagasaki Kaido, a famous road next to the five Kaidos, connecting Edo and Kyoto and others in Edo period. Nagasaki just marked the 68th anniversary of the dropping of an atomic bomb this Friday with more than 6,300 people attending the ceremony including A-Bomb survivors and bereaved families at the Peace Park. It is well known irony that Kokura was the original bomb target but clouds over Kokura changed the bomber’s flight path to Nagasaki.

I recently read a travel log of a walker who took the 280 km Nagasaki Kaido. His name is Takuji Matsuo, who lives in Shimabara, Nagasaki. He was a Shimabara Junior High School principal and now serves as a Shimabara Castle Archive specialist. He visited shrines and temples, took notes and photos, updated local maps and news, documented folk stories while traveling. He divided his travel plans into several legs to suit his convenience, so the entire trip took a whole year to complete. The walking itself took only 17 days or 420,000 steps as per his trusty pedometer.

I was interested in his description of Hiyamizu (cold water) Mountain Pass, the Hakone Pass of Nagasaki Kaido, the most difficult and laborious route. It is sometimes called Pan Pass, because travelers scooped mountain water with a pan to soothe their thirsts. Yes, the pass was a hard one. He perspired intensely, but endured.

He wrote that all the railroads and highways today come and go there under their respective tunnels and travelers enjoy a great view from above. Records show an elephant calf, a gift to a Shogun, passed here.

It's a straight line from Dazaifu / Tsukushino to reach Iizuka / Kurosaki / Kokura. Uchino is the station coming off the Pass and Matsuo, the writer, found happily, that Uchino retained its form the way they were during the Edo days.

A "Nagasaki Walk" is occasionally held like "Earth Walk" or "Peace Walk," in spring and autumn by children and adults alike, sponsored by local municipal governments or newspapers.

This spring (2013), the city of Kitakyushu where I live, had a one day Nagasaki Walk Event to commemorate its 50th Birthday with great participation by its citizens. The full official course was from Tokiwabash Bridge (the elephant on the way to Edo) to Koyanose Station, including the Magari Row of Pines. I'm sure the path the elephant took depicted by artist Jakuchu was the same one. Other shorter courses were respectively 12 km and 15 km.

Thank You, Lt. Nicholson

I read about the "Lt. Nicholson Monument" in the recent Kitakyushu City Magazine "Kumo-no-ue" (Above the Cloud) No. 18. The monument must be in the same ward "Yahata-Nishi" where we live.

Who so blind as he that will not see! So true and I know the area well. I made a detour recently on my way back from the newly built library next to the remains of Nagasaki Kaido row of pine trees (see *Note below). The venue was closer than I thought. Alas, a bit off where the walkway crosses (熊西緑道ーKumanishi Greenway), within a stone's throw away and the monument was hidden a bit so as to be hardly noticed. A huge palm tree sits aplomb at the above crossroads, the corner across from Kumanishi Elementary School Compound. Passers-by would be more attracted to the palms than a cluster of rusted irons, unless otherwise advised.

The English text on a metal plate reads:

"Not so long after WWII, on Nov. 12, 1947, the airplane piloted by Lt. Rodney Nicholson of the U.S. Air Force ran into trouble when it was flying over this area. Even though he had the opportunity to bail out, he chose to remain at the controls, so as to avoid crashing into the residential area. He crashed into a nearby field owned by Mitsubishi Kasei Corp and was killed. The people in the area admired his humane act and built a monument in his memory, whereby they could pray, in May 1948.

However, because of the redevelopment of the city, we obliged to break the monument in August 1988. The Kitakyushu Municipal Government and Mitsubishi Kasei Corp decided to erect a sculpture for the eternal memory of his heroic action and asked Kiyonori Bori, an iron sculptor from the area, to create a sculpture. Lt. Nicholson's heroic act will remain in the heart of our citizens forever with this work of art.” - April 1989

It is a well written plate and I'm deeply impressed. While working in the naval town of San Diego, California, there was a similar plane crash incident. The naval jet had trouble as soon as it took off at the Miramar Airbase. The pilot tried to control his jet to fly out to the ocean in vain. He ejected himself right before the jet crashed into the parking lot of our Sorrento Valley plant. A dozen cars and the plant roof eaves were damaged but there was no loss of human life.

I read also Nicholson's plane knocked off the Elementary School building eaves, while classes were in session. Nicholson's death must have saved many school children.

Years ago, I belonged to the Kurosaki "Prince Hotel" tennis and swimming club center. However, the change of hotel ownership kept me away for awhile from the area. The swimming pool and skate rink were demolished first. Then home appliance and food shopping centers emerged, replacing the indulgent sporting villa. Outdoor tennis courts turned into restaurant rows. Kept vacant after bulldozed and compacted was where the indoor tennis courts and club house were across from busy State Route 200. Nicholson's monument may be exposed soon when the new development move surges. I hope it will stay eternally as written on the plate.

*Note

Historic Nagasaki Kaido in Kyushu, started from Nagasaki and ended at Kokura, the stretch of walk of 228 kilomters (142 miles). The walk usually took one week. In the Edo-Tokugawa Shogunate days, there were 25 posts / stations to stay and rest in between Nagasaki and Kokura. Feudal lords in northern Kyushu had to commute at certain intervals to Edo in procession for the dual residential duties in their continued subservience to the Shogunate. Dutch traders also tread the same route, including famous Philip Franz Von Siebold (1796-1866), Engelbert Kaempfer (1743-1828), Carl Peter Thunnberg (1796-1866), etc. Kurosaki Station is between Kokura (last station) and Koyanose. Rows of pine trees were famous between Koyanose and Kurosaki. Most of them are gone. Today, Kurosaki kept 86,000 sq ft as a park - 310 meter (1000 ft.) long, 25 meter wide (80 ft).

A Visit to Former Residence of Chang Hsueh-liang in Wufong, Taiwan

I made a "beat the clock" solo trip to the hidden back mountain border of Taiwan. I had just one and a half days to accomplish it, so the countdown started as soon as I landed at the Taoyuan International Airport. Delayed departure at Fukuoka was the reason for a delayed arrival, causing everything to be an hour later from the original schedule, even deducting the time difference of an hour between Japan and Taiwan. It was 2 PM (3 PM in Japan) in the afternoon when I completed clearance at immigration and customs. "No use panicking. Go easy!" I told myself.

The airport shuttle bus took only 15 minutes to the Taoyuan Station of the Taiwan High Speed Railway (THSR). I was relieved greatly. Ticket purchase was super fast at a special window serving women and seniors only with passport, and I was on board the speed train by 3 PM bound southward.

In another 15 minutes, I was at the Hsinchu THSR station, where I deposited my heavy luggage and souvenirs in the time locker permitting 24 hour overnight stay and quickly exited for the bus headed for Tsing Hua University. The THSR service gave me the bus line number, so I just followed directions.

By 3:30 PM, I was at Tsing Hua University to change buses for Chutong, per the instruction of an ex-Chutong friend. I faced one snag there. The Chutong bus stop was a little further away from the regular Hsinchu bus stop. My embarrassment was on my face because the young man at the small ticket office came out, locked the door, and walked me to the right bus stop where several people were waiting for the Chutong bus. He asked one elderly woman to help me when the bus comes. She nodded and she sat with me on the bench. We waited there for about 15 minutes. Bus showed up and we got on together.

Another snag was that I used up all my small change (coins used for bottled water purchase), and the bus driver didn't accept paper money. This woman paid NT$40 for me from her purse. I offered my NT$100 bill but she didn't accept. She got off before Chutong, but after asking another passenger to signal me when the bus got to Chutong. I showed my appreciation by gestures and with bowed head.

I expected some change of scenery between Hsinchu and Chutong but same scenery continued until the Chutong bus stopped. The fellow passenger was a real help. It was now a little after 5 PM and I got in before the bus station service office closed. I asked the bus station attendant about the morning bus schedules for the following day and confirmed there was no change from the March schedules I had looked up on the Internet. The man in charge kindly suggested that I could take the return bus around noon to Hsinchu Station without any bus transfer on the way back. He didn't name any particular hotel in Chutong, but gave me instructions where I could find hotels a few blocks away. I was able to check into a clean hotel before dark. It was all I wanted on Day 1. I made it! But only with the big help of those two kind women I met on the Chutong bus. Thank you, Chutong ladies!

My destination was Wufong (meaning 5 mountain ranges), situated on the northernmost part of Tri-Mountain (Lion's Head Mountain, Lishan and Baguashan), a scenic area that spread out in Central Taiwan, but close to the Shei-Pa National Park whose Wuling Farms is popular as the vacation land of the Taiwanese, the area known for the aboriginal mountain people "Atayal" or "Tayal" tribes.

Now here's why I needed to go to such a hidden and remote location.

In late 1990s, I befriended a Korean Chinese student named Zhu through my Tokyo friend who taught Japanese at Jilin University. He graduated from Jilin University and got a job in Shanghai. Shanghai and Kitakyushu were pretty close by air when Kitakyushu opened its new airport. I had taken an inaugural one-hour direct flight charter airplane to fly into Shanghai and then traveled to Xian in 2004. I accepted his wedding invitation lightly. Then I found the venue of his wedding was not in Shanghai but in Jilin, his hometown near North Korea. I regretted my hasty answer, but I decided to honor my reply. He sent his brother to Shenyang Airport to escort me to Jllin. On my way back to Shenyang Airport, I was alone and spent a couple of sightseeing days in Shenyang.

There I visited Chang's family residence in downtown Shenyang and there I was truly dumbfounded by the huge chateau-style buildings and the luxurious way of living. The building looked like a big banking headquarters, called Daqinglou (大青樓 - shown up top) which belonged to Chang Zuolin, Hsueh-liang's father, killed in a plot / railroad accident by the Japanese imperial army. Hsueh-liang occupied Xiaoqinlou (小青樓 - shown right). Zuolin had actually his bank in this quarter. Chang's residence is a traditional Chinese quadrangle with a courtyard in the middle, surrounded by a number of concubines' homes of Chang Zuolin. I had a preconceived notion that they were bandits, plundering in the mountainous countries. I had to correct my big misconception. On this trip, I had no knowledge how Hsueh-liang fared in his later life during and after World War II. The gigantic chateau and the mysterious family affairs left a deep impression on me.

While visiting Taiwan often, I came to find a couple of familiar Manchurian names which were associated with Taiwan. One is Aisin Gioro (orAixin Jueluo) clan poet, calligrapher and artist Puru or known as Pu Xinyu, who taught at Normal University. He was a cousin to the last Emperor - Puyi.

The other is Chang Hsueh-liang who spent half a century in house arrest by the order of Chiang Kai-shek, since the 1936 Xian incident. Hsueh-liang was brought to the above noted Wufong (the destination of my hasty overnight trip in April), along the retreating Kuomintang (KMT) from the Continent.

The 7 AM Chutong minibus climbed up curving mountain roads picking up and dropping off passengers along the way for two hours. The bus was following an edge-meandering path along the riverbed; I was not able to see from the bus window. At 9 AM, I was at the small park dedicated to the Chang Hsueh-liang Museum at one of the mountain gorges. I've read that this house was rebuilt similar to the former residence of Hsueh-liang which was destroyed by a typhoon and now a museum by the village master to promote the hot springs in the neighborhood across the river.

I waited for the museum to open at 10 AM. It was a very simple unpretentious dwelling as compared to the Shenyang chateau I saw. An old sewing machine, a chair that dominated the house, fishing rod and sedge hat are the main exhibits with a collection of books in a glass book cabinet. There was a video for visitors to learn more about Chang, in addition to the houseful of photographic illustrations of Hsueh-liang's biography.

The custodial locations of Hsueh-liang changed often, almost annually, while on the Continent. Hsueh-liang should have found his first solace here in Taiwan, represented by the fishing rod and sedge hat with use of hot springs nearby

I did not cross the suspended bridge to visit the hot springs. I hopped onto the return bus after taking photos of the surroundings and a cross on a church, towering over the museum. I got back to the Hsinchu, picked up my luggage deposited at the new Hsinchu Station and headed to Taichung, the Day 2 destination, satisfied with the mission accomplished.

On the way to Taichung I was reciting Hsueh-liang's poem I scribbled down from the stone tablet in front of the museum:

不怕死 不愛錢 no fear of death, no love for money

丈夫 決不 受人憐 a true man never accept pity from others

頂天 立地 男兒漢 me, one stand-up man

磊落 光明 度餘年 will live remaining life with honor and dignity

In 1954, Chang Hsueh-liang sent Chiang Kai-shek a self-critical paper of 200,000 words and was allowed to move from Wufong to Taipei later in 1961, but he was still under informal confinement. It was only after the deaths of Chiang Kai-sheck and Chiang Ching-kuo, Kai-shek's son in 1991 that he became free and chose to live in Hawaii, ending over more than half-century of imprisonment. He died in Hawaii in 2001, as a centenarian.

Calligraphy Greenway, Taichung

I frankly never thought I would yearn to return to Taichung and become more knowledgeable of the city Government's visions and driving efforts of urbanization and revitalization. Taiwan Toastmasters Conventions in which I have participated in the past had mostly chosen venues in suburban Taichung rather than the downtown area, except the ones held at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel, Chungkang Road, and the new Taichung HSR Station Complex. The Evergreen Group, I understood, was a great sponsor of Taiwan Toastmasters. The Hsin Wuri Conference was timely right after the HSR inaugurated Taiwan Shinkansen.

I'm not at all complaining about the suburban venues, like Dajia, Longjing, Shalu, Wuri, etc. Rather I very much enjoyed visiting those areas, all bordering Greater Taichung Megalopolis. I remember I visited Dajia twice. I never would've had a chance otherwise without the great selections by the Taiwan Toastmasters. Each had a unique landscape and culture of its own. At Tunghai University, the palm-folding style Luce Chapel was beautiful, as was the pious campus and the library. Dajia Jennlann Temple and its Cultural Center Palace taught me about the elegance of centuries-old Mazu pilgrimage and festivals. The rented Education and Training Center Facilities in Wuri and Shalu were first class and promoted convention venues away from the hustle and bustle of Taichung. Free bus transportation, exclusive for Toastmasters, was offered from the new HSR Taichung station to the respective venues.

This April, Paul Lee, a retired business executive turned scholar in Japanese literature (his favorite author is Soseki Natsume), took me to this new POI green belt zone, immediately after the Spring Toastmasters Conference near Taichung Airport before inviting me to his apartment.

When I saw "草悟道” the Kanji character, I interpreted it "Enlighteners' Road", as in the "Philosophers' Road" in Kyoto I know. I wasn't sure about ”草” the grass, but remembered ”陽明山” was once "草山” in Taipei which may have similar nostalgic connotations like the Japanese ”里山”.

Paul informed me that Taichung City named it "Calligraphy Greenway" in English. The designated zone starts at Taichung North District, home of the Natural Science Museum and the Civic Square, and ends at Taichung West District, home to the National Museum of Fine Arts, Culture Affairs Bureau, and Taichung City Hall. It is about 3.6 kilometers in length (almost comparable to New York Central Park of 4 kilometers) and a dozen of street blocks in width, it incorporates the Jingguo Parkway green belt zones which had existed before.

Paul told me when the road was officially opened in the spring of 2012, a scroll of paper was spread out on the road for more than one kilometer for many famous calligraphers' competition for their cursive script (草書）writing demonstration with brushes, attracting the admiration of on-lookers. ”草” in ”草悟道” therefore, is used to symbolize the calligraphy, brushes and Indian ink splashing free and easy like a river flow meandering and purifying the urban streets, plus the artistic inspirations, sculptures and objects, arranged throughout Calligraphy Greenway. Street names, like Mofan (model), Yingcai (genius), Gongyi (public interests) all help to enhance the spirit of visitors.

Taichung City Government admitted that Calligraphy Greenway was modeled after Tokyo's Omote Sando renovation, designed by Architect Tadao Ando, with a basic concept of integrating living environment with nature, bringing sites together of home, work, exercise, socialization, enrichment, and entertainment, aiming for a well balanced, sustainable ecosystem neighborhood. Playful, exhilarating and colorful life style is sought in the concept with the use of water motif of rivulets, cascades, fountains, water curtains for the greenway. In addition, it incorporates enforced no-smoking zones, expanded clean-air cyclist and pedestrian lanes, and park stages for live jazz music concerts. With the eco-friendly green walled CMP Parklane Department as the anchor landmark, hotels, bakeries, cafes, restaurants and fashion stores surround the area to attract people for shopping, dating and partying.

Worthy of note for the Japanese tourists is my finding of Issey Miyake's Taichung store at 2nd floor 245 Chungxing. I was told the store complex had existed for almost ten years before the Calligraphy Greenway was announced.

I am expecting the Taiwan Toastmasters to hold its semi-annual convention in this Calligrapher Greenway very soon.

Jerry Fig / Jabuticaba

A jerry fig is a native tree of Taiwan found accidentally by a tea trader in the 1800s when he drank from a river near Chiayi. He found a clear yellowish jelly in the water he was drinking and was refreshed upon trying it. Examining the jelly, he noticed it was fruit hanging on vines that exuded a sticky gel when rubbed. He marketed it under his daughter's name Aiyu (pronounced o-gio in Taiwanese) successfully. Today, lemon aiyu jelly is loved by children and adults alike as their favorite summer refreshment. I heard there are aiyu jelly specialty shops in Tokyo. The problem is that preparation takes a lot time for a small profit margin.

I had a chance to try it in Taiwan and was interested in taking a look at the tree. I looked up Chiayi Toastmasters website to ask where I can see the tree. Bingo! The president of Chiayi Toastmasters was Dr. Lai, with the Chiayi Experiment Station, Governmental Agricultural Research Institute. He introduced me to Dr. Chung, an expert working on low land cultivation of the jerry fig. I learned that the jerry fig thrives in a misty highlands like Alishan, which requires plant breeding in the lower land and special farming preparations such as a watering networks, trelliswork, vining support, etc. I was looking forward to meeting Dr. Chung. So I sent email when I decided to join the Spring Toastmasters Conference in Taichung, he didn't respond. I contacted through my Taichung friend. I was told he retired last year.

An alternative advice came from Taichung Toastmasters friends. A new member joined them who was with the Taichung Experiment Station and he could drive me to a jerry fig farm. It was a case of wish fulfillment and I jumped on the opportunity.

The Taichung Experiment Station Complex in Wufen we dropped in on the way (about an hour drive from central Taichung through a new highway) has been the main headquarters of the Government Agrarian Research Institute since 1997, occupying 145 hectares (ha) including 17 ha building and 128 ha of experimental farms served by complete irrigation and drainage systems.

Unfortunately, the Puli farmer we visited no longer owned jerry fig farms any more. He took us, the disappointed guests, to a jerry fig farm in the neighborhood mountain. They are taller than I thought. The owner didn't go into detail, but I'm guessing he either sold it or changed all of his plant acreage from jerry fig to jabuticaba, a new lucrative business, grape tree native to Brazil for the following reasons: l) the fruit is new to Taiwan and has rarity value; 2) farmer receives possible Government subsidies; and 3) provides opportunity for sightseeing and on-site grape picking tours. He was excited to welcome tourists coming soon after us. He gave us fresh jabuticaba on trays. Tasted like grape, more viscous than regular grapes.

Edson Aoki, my Brazilian friend (see Imamura Church post) sent me info on Jabuticaba from the Netherlands. He wrote:

Jabuticaba is indeed a typical Brazilian fruit from the Atlantic rainforest, and hence is common in my state of São Paulo. I don't think jabuticaba is produced in a large scale, but it is commonly found in small farms and ranches, mostly for local consumption. ‘Jabuticaba’ is actually a word from Tupi (a Native Brazilian language) and it means ‘button fruits.’ But ‘Jabuti’ alone is also a word from Tupi, which means ‘tortoise.’

My jerry fig hunt caught jabuticaba instead! I met a smart farmer ahead of his time!

Notes:

I searched books giving information on jabuticaba in the library. I found one "The Fruits Hunters - A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession" (2008) by Adam Leith Gollner. Here is some information from the book:

1) Appearances are embryos of cosmonauts. Tastes, however, are fantastic, incomparable to any other fruits.

2) Jabuticabas grow on the trees like mushrooms. Children in Brazil sneak into the orchard of others to play "jabuticaba kiss", pluck jabuticaba by mouth, with sounds like puk, gooch, pooch.

3) At Hilo Airport, Hawaii, I pulled out souvenir jabuticabas from my pocket. As I gazed at them, these cubes I've never been aware of before seemed to veil unworldly riddles. I photographed them, one sharp focusing, the other blurred and hazy to have cubes melt in a geometric pattern. Jabuticaba promised hopes, endowing revelations which I have not experienced. Just holding jabuticabas in my hands, I felt miracles to descend, answering my prayers I'm humming without notice.

4) Brazilian photographer Silvestre Silva stopped endangered white jabuticaba from extinction after his 10 years of personal battles. It was in the suburbs of Guararema, the State of Sao Paulo. Soon the white jabuticaba will be cultivated and we will be able to see it.

Puli Water Bamboo

Beautiful Mishimae inlet where I marked sheaves of growing water bamboos as mine.
Alas, I haven't time to crop up as yet! (#07-1348)
三島江の玉江のこもを標めしより己がとぞ思う いまだ刈らねど - 万葉集

She suggested Mishimae Inlet journey for water bamboos.
Hurray, she might have got the thing in me! (#11-2766)
三島江の入江のこもを刈りにこそ　吾をば君は思いたりけれ - 万葉集

You've probably heard about Hakka*1) and Hakka cuisine in Southern Asia, especially in Guangdon, Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore. They are Han Chinese, but speak Hakka Chinese, a subdivision language of Chinese. Taiwan Toastmasters have an independent Taiwanese Speech Contest in a variant of the Hakka language, resembling other variants of Hakka spoken in other parts of the world but differs vastly in terms of pronunciation.

Hakka, "Keijia" in Mandarin, literally means guest families, whose ancestors immigrated out of China and settled wherever they are now. During my April trip to Puli, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Taichung to see Jelly Fig farms *2) accompanied by my Taichung friends,I was treated at Ya-Zhou, one of the famous local Hakka restaurants, which was very close to the famous Puli Brewery *3), the sightseers' spot.

Chang Meili suggested that I order "Makomo", popular Puli produced water bamboo or water oats. The scientific name is zizania latifolia. Puli is known for the quality of its water, as is the capital of Taiwan, Shaosingjiu.

I was served half a dozen fat Makomo served on a bamboo basket. I enjoyed them, peeling green skins, eating a mouthful of white roots. I remembered that I picked up the unique city brochure (see photo) of Puli some years ago inviting long-term Japanese visitors to stay and savor water bamboo touting its healthy qualities.

Containing lots of water, water bamboo helps clean the bowels. It also contains calcium, Vitamin B, black lead and is good for diabetes, insomnia, gout and high blood pressure. Upon my return, I learned that Puli *5), produces close to 90% of Taiwan's water bamboos. No wonder they are so proud of it and hold a special festival to choose an expert to grow it annually. Puli promotes sales and export, including to Japan, with fancy names such as "beauty's rich thigh", "Sweet smelling beauty" *5).

Hakka dishes are excellent, added with the rural entertainment atmosphere of separating groups of guests by tables. I thanked my host Tonyo Tsai for this induction. He is a retiree from the Governmental Agricultural Experiment Station.

Japan had produced and is still producing "Makomo" or "Komokusa" since the olden days of Manyo, on occasions related mostly with divine affairs. Komono in Mie Prefecture, for instance, advertises its Makomo and Makomo tea sales. Komono seems to present its first crop to the "Ise Grand Shrine" annually as a Shinto ritual. It's also used in dishes prepared with medicinal herbs.

Komokusa grows 1.5 or 2 meters long, and the dried Komokusa is said to make huge straw festoons for Shinto shrines, such as the "Izumo Grand Shrine" in Shimane Prefecture.

Looking more into historical notes, I dug up two poems quoted above from Manyoshu, the Anthology of Myriad Leaves, compiled in mid 700C. Both poems, whose authors are unknown, refer to the water bamboos and to the same Mishimae River Inlet. Mishimae is an old name in the suburban area of Kyoto along the Yodo River, and amazingly, if you follow it downstream, you’ll reach southern Takatsuki City in Osaka, where I spent my college days. Back then, I crossed the Yodo River to Hirakata to see the famous Chrysanthemum Dolls Festival there in the mid 1950s. I rambled on foot along long dusty roads with my classmates. Mishimae, Tamae or Ichinoe are seemingly popular boat ride stops along the Yodo River. Makomo led me to these “golden” names of place, which we can only find in the 7th century Anthology (Manyo - shu) or Collection of Poems of Ancient and Modern Times (Kokin - shu).

Notes:

1) Hakka
Some notable Hakka descendents:
Den Xiaoping, China
Lee Teng-hui, Annete Lu, Chen Shui-bian, Soon May-ling; Taiwan
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore
Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck Shinawatra; Thailand

2) Puli Jerry Fig Farm (Gaolin Jaboticaba Farm)
I saw the neighboring ferry fig farm surrounded by wire fences. The altitude is about 700-800 meters above sea level. The fig trees were quite tall, 4-5 meters. They barely had figs yet. Too early for the season.

3) Puli Brewery
During the Japanese colonial days, Sake Brewery was established here. Chiang Kai-shek ordered change to Shaosing Brewery, right after World War II. Shaosing in Japan mostly comes from Puli. "Chen-shao" meaning Shaosing stored for more than 7 years. They are highly craved for.
Puli Brewery Website

4) Water Bamboo Nutrition Table

5) Water Bamboo merchandising
Example 1
Example 2

6) YouTube cooking demo