Issue 19 - putting art in my face
A possibly weekly email about what's been going on in my brain
26 March - 1 April 2023
And that's Shikoku all done! A flying visit but definitely a part of Japan that I hadn't experienced before. That leaves my last four weeks in Honshu, with over half of that in just two places: Kyoto and Tokyo. The afternoon I arrived in Kobe, my "first" stop on Japan's main island, I had three separate people ask if I lived in Japan after I'd spoken some Japanese. I'm not sure whether to be flattered considering I was tired and more than a little grumpy when they asked, maybe that's the expat vibe?
Cherry blossom season is in full bloom and I've sadly been hearing that Kyoto at the minute is thronging with visitors, with some locals uncharitably calling it a "zoo", which bodes ill for my extended visit in a few days. I may look to do very early morning visits to some sights (like I did with Fushimi Inari on my last visit) to try and avoid the most populous times. Thankfully I have my trip to Mount Koya and the Kumano Kodo walking trails separating my time in the big cities.
Tokushima
About as east as you can get on Shikoku, Tokushima is a city that's a straight forward two hour-ish drive from the Iya Valley and, as I had the car until 5pm, I stopped by the Modern Art Museum on the outskirts of town. The museum has permanent exhibitions of paintings and sculptures as well as temporary ones on the human body and the works of (I think) Kiyo Watanabe. It was hearteningly busy and there was plenty to like, a fine way to spend a rainy afternoon.
The city is probably best known for the Awa Odori (Autumn Dance), Tokushima's main sight is the Kaikan which not only ran me through the history of the dance and how it had changed throughout the years but also had regular performances throughout the day. It's a vibrant, energetic dance that was superb up on the stage and must be unforgettable out on the streets. Despite my best efforts I still hadn't quite dialled my camera settings in, so although I took over 200 photos of the show, only a few came out crisp and usable. Ah well.
On the Kaikan's fifth floor is a ropeway station leading up to the top of the Mount Bizan, offering some nice views across the city but the nearby temple was a little spoiled by the gargantuan telecommunication antennas that towered over it. Apart from a pleasant park near the train station, that's all Tokushima really has to offer the intrepid tourist: a solid day of sights and activities but not much else.
Takamatsu
On the face of it Takamatsu has even fewer tourist attractions to offer than Tokushima, but that somewhat diminishes the city as it's a superbly positioned jumping off point for numerous other destinations (one of them being previously visited Kotohira). That's not to sell Ritsurin Koen short though, it's celebrated as one of the best gardens in Japan and spending my first afternoon in the city wandering around it, sun shining, cherry blossoms out, I'd absolutely agree. Flawlessly maintained, with a huge variety of landscapes to experience, and plenty of rest-stops and tea-houses to visit, it was well worth the visit.
My main reason for coming to Takamatsu though was its proximity to Naoshima, also known as "Art Island". The friendly history of the art on the island is that architect Tadao Ando designed a swathe of the buildings while Yayoi Kusama plonked the iconic "pumpkin" on one of the piers. The less friendly history involves the Benesse Corporation's "oversight" of all the art and museums on the island. Regardless, a short ferry trip is all it takes to reach it, and I started with the Art House Project.
Converting local, abandoned or run down houses into art-spaces is certainly a novel idea and out of the six that I visited, the majority were quirky and inscrutable but with each site less than five minutes walk from one another, even the duds didn't feel like a let-down. Special mention to "Minamidera" that has you sit in almost absolute darkness for fifteen minutes while your eyes adjust so that you can see... something? This one had a lot of build-up and instructions on how to experience it, but perhaps my night-vision just isn't as good as everyone else's?
One pizza at a local cafe later and I was heading to the south of the island to enjoy the museums, starting with the Benesse House. A combination gallery and hotel, this museum and I did not get along. Perhaps it was the modern art that I felt was comically pretentious, or the building itself with exposed concrete walls reverberating with every single sound. Whatever it was, I was aggrieved to have paid such a costly entrance fee and was glad to leave. My ticket did include the "Valley Gallery" though a short walk down the road which... well it was mainly shiny balls. Lots and lots of shiny balls the size of melons.
At this point the afternoon was wearing on and I didn't want to miss the last ferry back to Takamatsu. Not that I would have been able to visit the other big museum on the island: Chichu Art Museum. It not only required you to pre-purchase your tickets but also stick to a strict time slot. At least the site actually had slots to book, unlike when I was in Nagasaki and tried to visit Gunkanjima only to find out they were booked solid, months in advance.
So, Naoshima was a mixed bag. A lovely little island and very different to anything I'd experienced before, but perhaps those with a more discerning eye would get more from the museums and galleries on there.
Kobe
With Shikoku all done, my first proper stop on Honshu was Kobe, and for the longest time I had no idea why I'd popped this city on my itinerary. My notes, written way back in the mists of time, indicate it was probably for the night view from the Mount Rokko observation deck, however I was scuppered once again by opening times, as the ropeway to reach the deck closes at 5pm on a spring weekday, only staying open until 9pm at a weekend. And I wasn't in Kobe at the weekend, so there goes that idea.
Kobe is, unfortunately for me, a functional city rather than a sightseeing one. With a large and busy port, it is probably most notable for the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995 (which I remember writing a paper about in secondary school geography). Oh and the beef obviously. Kobe Beef is well known outside of Japan but is just one of many brands of wagyu (no beef producers in Kobe export, so if you see "Kobe beef" outside of Japan, it's fake). I'm not usually guided by food but it would have been a shame to pass it up while I'm here, but instead of going for the usual teppanyaki cooked, thinly sliced serving, I went for a beef burger at a litter diner joint near my hotel called Wanto. I'm not about to say it was the best burger I ever had in my life, but it was really good; even the patty had a buttery flavour to it.
All told I found Kobe a little overwhelming. A lot of guides describe it as a "cosmopolitan" city which given the range of eateries on display is true. But somehow the city seemed a lot denser and more vertiginous than any I've been in before, with seemingly every building ten stories of dentists, cafes, bunny girl bars, izakayas, hair salons, plastic surgery clinics and all points in between. Even for a Wednesday afternoon the city centre was crowded and I could feel my spirit of adventure ebb away as I jostled with yet another thicket of tourists at another just "fine" shrine.
Side note: luggage
One of the wheels of my luggage has deformed making controlling it very squirly, now more an art than a skill. I've always had to pack it a certain way to ensure that the heavier items are at the bottom lest it topple over when manoeuvring, but now I also need to think about the weight as to what wheel it sits upon. You would think after banging on about them repeatedly that packing cubes would help with this. Well, I'm not so sure they do.
From an organisation standpoint they're perfect as it's immediately obvious where my socks or t-shirts are. And if everything were in a 'cube, packing would be a breeze. In this imperfect world though, I am burdened with peculiarly shaped items like my tripod and my overnight bag as well as items that would take up an entire cube on their own like my fleece lined hoodie. Not to mention the ebb and flow of dirty clothes migrating around the case away from the clean ones. In short, I don't think I've ever packed my case the same twice, and never has a configuration been the golden standard: the one to remember and recreate in future.
Weight has always been the bane of my luggage though, most of it coming from things that I could have done without but didn't want to: tripod, toiletry replacements, electric razor, clippers and toothbrush etc. When I'm hoofing it about between trains and up stairs I think "I don't really need an electric toothbrush", but then when I use it... I'm not so sure.
Eight weeks living out of a suitcase has given me some thoughts, but I am looking forward to not having to lug my wardrobe (and some) around with me in those short little periods between hotels where I'm technically homeless.
The next ten days
- 2nd Apr - Osaka
- 3rd Apr - Osaka
- 4th Apr - transfer to Kyoto
- 5th Apr - Kyoto
- 6th Apr - Kyoto
- 7th Apr - Kyoto
- 8th Apr - Kyoto (change accommodation)
- 9th Apr - Kyoto
- 10th Apr - Kyoto
- 11th Apr - Kyoto
This was hand-crafted by John.