31 October, Friday
I attended a memorial service for John Taylor, an archivist specializing in military records, tonight. What made this commemoration memorable was that it occurred at Waseda University and the attendees were Japanese researchers who had benefitted from Taylor’s assistance at the National Archives. Over 63 years, he had graciously and eruditely assisted hundreds of Japanese scholars in addition to tens of thousands of American scholars.
Now, eight men and three women gathered to honor Taylor. I left Titech with professor Yamazaki, whose work on the Japanese atomic bomb gained from Taylor’s knowledge, and Kurihara, a graduate student who had just finished a year working at the National Archives. Upon entering the classroom, a young man took 3000 yen from each of us and gave us a photocopied program and a set of photos of Taylor taken by a Japanese scholar days before the archivist’s death. The program contained a list of participants (I was listed as from Texas “M and A” University, which is better than the usual mistake of confusing A&M with the University of Texas) and brief remembrances from them.
We sat at tables in a U-shape around a desk with a small framed photo of Taylor and a small set of white flowers. We took turns talking about Taylor, his personality, his southern accent (often hard for Japanese and others to understand) and how he had helped and guided our research. I spoke about how wonderful it was to be thousands of miles away from the National Archives surrounded by people who, like me, had benefitted from Taylor’s professional and personal attention.
After we finished, the young man and another assistant distributed bento boxes, sweets, beer, and Waseda University sake (the “spirit of Waseda University” – somehow, it’s hard to imagine my university licensing “the official alcohol of Texas A&M University.” Apparently, Tokyo University has its own brand of shuchu, a powerful spirit.
More comments followed the alcohol. I suggested that there could be no better memorial to John Taylor and the spirit of openness he embodied than to fully fund the National Archives. Perhaps the next president should announce his intention to preserve America’s history and make it more accessible.
1 November
In Yoyogi Park again, it’s impressive to see how many activities considered private in America, such as rehearsing a script for a play or practicing a musical instrument, are conducted publicly in Japan.
NHK, the television authority, hosted an open house and farmer’s market. Part of the entertainment was a four-meter-long boat made of vegetables. Quite impressive.
3 November, Monday
Our first overnight trip to West Izu demonstrated that traveling as a family of four is different than as a couple. Among our pleasant memories of our 1995 visit was staying at a ryokan in Nikko. Seeing a similar experience and benefitting from a friend who booked the ryokan and vouched for us (many ryokan owners who only speak Japanese do not like to rent to foreigners on the reasonable ground that they probably don’t understand the rules, demand extra work, and, in cause of a disaster, would be an additional burden), we set off early Sunday morning.
Not unusually, we took several trains: Shibuya to Shinagawa to Atami to Mishima to Shuzenji, then bus to Toi. Leaving Tokyo is always a visual pleasure as the big buildings disappear to be replaced by mountains, hills, and open spaces. In September, we saw grapes. This time, we saw ripe manderin oranges and persimmons dangling from trees in people’s yards.
From Atami, we took local trains, slower and more jolting than the intercity trains. At Mishima, we stopped to visit a garden and wished we had gone straight to Shunzenji. Unmentioned in the guide, the garden was more a kiddie amusement park with a few small animals in concrete and metal cages than a park or garden. To be fair, we were there off-season, as the empty lake bordering a impressive traditional building testified. The park was busy, however, mainly with small kids and families, though a number of couples and older groups also visited.
One attraction for them was the flower displays. What was impressive on a small scale, decorating with flowers, felt overwhelming on the large scale of an entire house covered from ground to rooftop with flowers.
The hour-long bus ride from Shuzenji in the middle of the Izu peninsula to Toi on the coast was breath-taking in its beauty and sharp curves. The steep mountains were the cause of both. The roads were all in excellent shape, sign of a strong public works mentality (and pork-barreling). After the bus dropped us off at a stop, we called the ryokan and were picked up promptly. The ryokan was a B or C level – fluorescent lights in the room and CRT televisions. More troubling were the smokers.
The proprietors could not have been nicer. They delivered dinner and breakfast to the room and covered the entire table with beautiful food. They wanted to know where we were from, how
long we had been in Japan and more. The only limitation was our Japanese - which we are trying to improve.
The kids enjoyed playing on the deserted beach. They were free to take up as much space as they wanted and could make as much noise as desired. Toi has the distinction of having the world’s largest flower clock, although it was really a concrete clock set into the ground surrounded by flowers. There was also a path surrounding the clock paved with pebbles that stuck out to offer a reflexology path or torture. The kids and Lisa enjoyed the path, I declined to go the entire route.
Toi itself reminded me of Brighton without the excitement. It’s a seaside town, the economy clearly based on tourism from the beach and onsens. At night, it felt almost deserted, though that may just be my Shibuya comparison for any place not jammed with people, aglow with light and noise. The little tourist information center was well located and run by competent folks who also sold bus tickets and, for 200 yen, stored luggage.
What did we learn from our trip?
1. Futons are fine if placed on pads instead of directly on tatami.
2. Buckwheat pillows are not as comfortable as feather pillows.
3. The kids enjoy meat more than fish.
4. Smoke and noise can indeed travel through walls.
5. Vegetables should be more than garnish in a meal.
6. Our taste is not refined enough to fully appreciate Japanese food.
7. A full night of sleep is vital for a full day of activities.
8. Japan has a variety of geography and we need to explore as much as possible and the journey was well worth the effort.
We wanted to take the ferry from Toi to Shuzoaka, but the day was overcast, depriving us of the views. Instead, we took bus and trains back home.
