Ersatz

view from our minshiku window

What a week it's been. It feels like the long slide that was interrupted by pouring billions of dollars of fantasy money into the banks has been recommenced and everyone is looking at each other sheepishly wondering what will happen next.



We heard all about it from the BBC while our short (2 night three day) trip to the lovely fishing island of Toshi jima (答志島). The skies were blue, the beaches lovely, the people hard working and friendly, and the town full of lovely little streets that pull at that ancient memory.

As we strolled the little streets, swam in the beautiful ocean we were reminded once again what a lush and beautiful jewel Japan is. The Japanese have spend hundreds of years in these towns and through hard work and great craftsmanship have honed many things to such an artful state.












 I spent a long time looking at the サッパ (sappa). They are beautiful old wooden fishing boats and if you look at them carefully you can see the Japenese skill at building and design. With these marvelous boats the people would go out to harvest their fish from the seas.

unused sappa beached before the tusnami wall

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we were on this lovely fishing island and the minshiku we were staying in was empty except for us. The beautiful beaches were left pretty much to the waves and those few rare Japanese who don't want to go where it's popular. What a treat for us but we wished more business for the local people. ( 2 of the 3 coffee shop snaku we saw were closed.) It seems people want more excitement--that this quiet island doesn't keep them entertained--enough. (Though I ate the best, freshest Uni and most delicious Udon for lunch here.)

What to say?? It seems to me that people are continually ready to give up something real and good for an imitation of poorer quality if it is but new.  Pokiman moves into Wabi Sabi land and middle age men have little dangling stuffed creatures hanging from their kaban. Plastic is endemic. You can't not find it along the beautiful rivers and washed up on the beaches. It's wrapped around everything you buy--often with two or three layers.

I sometimes feel I'm in Bosen-sei. "Japan is a very safe place," is still the refrain, even as the fish that are so important to it's people become more questionable due to rising mercury levels and collapsing populations. Even as the world economy which Japan is now so dependent on teeters on the brink. And to me the plastic flood seems to be part of this. It looks clean and safe--if it's made in China.

Maybe the lack of real money in the world will catch up to us and we'll stop buying things we don't need--which is about 90%  of what's being sold.  The earth and oceans will have a rest, crafts and artisans will again be in demand. Items will be valued not only for how many things they can do at once but if they can hold their value for 10, 20 or 50 years. Long live artists and craftsman and what they produce and may the highly colored plastics and modern tastes quickly pass into our collective memory.

 

Pavlov's Dogs

Ivan Pavlov became interested in studying reflexes when he saw that his dogs were drooling without the proper stimulus.

The Christian Church's legacy is not generally one of philosophy, inquiry but one of codes and behaviors defined by the hierarchy.  The classification system has generally be reduced to good and evil

It is maybe because of our own inherited moral bifurcation that we seem to be so culturally blind and imperceptive. The conductor has lost the beat and everyone scrambles to find their place in the score. "I believe in freedom," sings the trained but off key chorus. The lead singers rush on, "They want to take your freedom, your guns, your money away!" "We're not going to take it!" Money, guns, oil and freedom!! Yes.

Somewhere lost in the hubris is the realization that one man's slice of pie effects the size of another man's pie. The wealthy seem to think that they have earned it through hard work and effort (and maybe some have worked hard and been clever) but does being the 1st in line give you the right to take more than you need? While American billionaires may have many houses, fly here and there, some people in this world have far too little. Kids in the sandbox at sometime learn to share.

In America, where their are so many personal freedoms and all their weird idiosyncratic manifestations, the main theme--as the boat takes on more and more water--isn't how we can fix things for everyone but it's about my personal liberties. What?!?! Sarah Palin and the leftists are reading from the same page. And it is equally self interested. Blame the government. Me me mine. My guns, my money, my car.

If my night club bothers the next door neighbors with its loud music and has influences they don't appreciate who's "freedom" must take precedent. Janis Jopin sang that, "Freedom was just another word for nothing left to lose," and it has an element of the Buddhist's liberty of giving up need, but the freedom most American's seem to be most concerned with these days isn't their basic human needs but their desires. Freedom = Me and what I want.

Where is the serious talk about making schools educate and protect the young and the future? Is it freedom for the rich to send their kids to private schools while not supporting schools for the less well off. Where is the talk about a transportation system that will work into the future. Can we give up our ego driven machines and ride together?

If my house is large, if I'm using great sums of money, if I have an average American's fuel need,  I am feeding the economy and the dealer but I'm also using limited resources that are constantly harder and more costly environmentally to procure and someone, somewhere, is getting the short end of the stick. Gandhi said that, "There is enough for everyone's need but not everyone's greed." The earth will not be able to sustain a world full of American appetites and habits.

Freedom is not a "good" thing. It is part of the spectrum and like pleasure it should be savored and treated with great respect. Hopefully all people can someday have enough liberty to express themselves and move freely in their lives. American's, hopefully, will come to see the difference between gluttony, selfishness and freedom--to see that freedom must find balance with cooperation and restraint.

 幸運

flotsam jetsum; rubbing the lamp

There's a lot to catch up on and I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking. Japan is a busy place and we've been up to it too.

Golden Week in Japan and it was the first time since we arrived that we all had a chance to relax over a period without the uncertainty that settling into a foreign land, earthquakes and nuclear meltdowns can elicit. 

 On Wednesday  we traveled to Eihouji (永保寺) Two of the buildings were built nearly 700 years ago, long before the west had started to wake from its dark ages. It's like the deep echoing of a well to imagine the lives of people who lived and meditated here.

Here among the mountains, pines and bamboo the the fast a wild Tokigawa river flows and you can get the real flavor of ancient 日本。You wander down to the riverside, birds singing and river rushing but little can you escape the detritus of the modern world--plastic bottles and bags 
washed up on the river banks.










We also biked down the Shonai Gawa 庄内川 to a small barbeque gathering. Down the Yada river to where the 2 rivers almost touch and then a beautiful bicycle and foot bridge. Sometime I can't believe I'm in large city

Japan really has so many natural and cultural beauties and even in the frantic pace they seem to be just a nice bike ride away. May they all not be swallowed up by the modern economic onslaught.

Other Side of the Leaf. . . or a walk in the Park

Mokuren at night

 Why is it so hard for me to grasp is how how different worlds cans be. Here, south-west of the wounded Tokoku region, life, amazingly, goes on at much the same tempo as before. Conversations often get pulled into the tragedy-- the suffers, the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, etc, but still spring pushes it's renewal. Cherry blossoms burst forth white and pink in a magnificent and delicate resurrection.

Looking NW from the guide way bu

Yesterday we traveled north on the Guide Way Bus (a bus that rides on it's own special elevated road) north to the Shonai Gawa (Shonai River), the park, and a Tibetan Buddhist Temple. The first thing we discovered as we moved into the green of bamboo and woods was a patch where a very kind and cheerful man (Mr.Muramatsu) was working in his rice field. He took time to talk to us, to show us some of the water life in the irrigation canals and tell us about how he's been growing there for 15 years and never has used any chemicals on his plot. It was so nice to be walking on the good earth with tadpoles, little crayfish and shrimps swimming right there here still in Nagoya. Mr. Muramatsu said he would see if he could find an open plot for me to work. Such a lovely area and only about 15-20 minutes ride by bicycle.

Mr. Muramatsu at work in his rice

Mr. Muramatsu shows Yumiko some water life

We then wandered down to Obata Ryokuchi Koen park proper and while enjoying our onigri, tea and sembe we happen to hear the strains of a violin emanating from the woods. Tracking the sound down we came to a small pagoda with two smiley musician (Yuu and Yuhei  aka  Sora Tobu Kujira-Sky Flying Whale) enjoying the spring weather and the music they were skillfully making.

Sky Flying Whale--Yu and Yuhei

I shot them while they were busy playing. A Minor Swing 

Came back later to get their names chat more and then shot: A Sentimental Mood.

(You can follow the links above to hear them.)

looking down at the Shonai River in Nagoya

and in the NW view across the river . . . mountains

My head was filling so full of the honey of blue skies, spring air, trees, walking, and swing music. Now on to temples and a look over the river valley in front of us.

 Chanbarin Temple

in Chanbarin Temple

Siddhartha

We came home tired and complete. . .full of the realization that within a short bike ride from our home in Sunadabashi there were many treasures to find, maybe a garden to grow and very warm human music springing and singing in the woods to be heard.

peace and happiness. . .

Strange things in the sky tonight

Looking down into the waters below through a Plexiglas box was something that I absolutely loved as a kid. A whole other unseen world was revealed with fish and moving plants and different light and. . . It was such magic to peer into another world. Later I would enjoy the world that Jacques Cousteau opened up with his invention of the "aqua lung." The underwater world was so quiet and enveloping. Even the dangers were silent; sharks, our favorite the Moray Eels, barracudas or even the possibility of being lost under the ice. Kind of dream like--the cries can't be heard.

There's a part of me that is still entangled by the frenetic self expression that the last week has made me think the western "rich" world represents. I still read the doom and arrogant gloom of James Kunstler's blog and it still fills me with the trepidations he's so good at instilling. I guess selling fear is almost as big a business as selling salvation. Maybe they walk the aisle together.

When the Huffington Post (spit on the the left for being as reactionary as the right) printed "NO HOPE" as their big headline just as the Fukushima (Happy Island) nuclear uncertainty was at its peak and scaring many and there was lots of uncertainty in Japan, I realized how far we have gone toward the direction of no restraint. I see it in the Facebook posts and even the NY Times-- which until recently I have always held to be above the generally lack of civility. The PBS News Hour was actually the best at listening and talking to people who weren't just beating the drum of Apocalypse. However when Mark Shields tried to take credit for the 'Messy American system of free information," being responsible for loosening the information flow from Japanese officials in Fukushima I almost choked. The only thing the American press did was spread rumor and fear--and probably they received a lot of hits on their websites for it too.


I cried when I saw the workers who volunteered to go into the dangerous plants to work on fixing what could have potentially been even more horrific. They knew the risks and for their families, their country and the world, they went. I'm tearing up now. Such beauty in action. I love the Japanese. 思いやりがあります。Awareness of the other person.

When in a store tonight with Kaime to buy just one thing the lady in front of me said please go ahead. So typical. Such a polite people.

I always found the NHK broadcasts about the Fukushima nuclear plant to be informative, serious, and calm. No one was cavalier or smug (the way G. Bush senior looked when he announced the start of the first war with Iraq) but they were doing their best to fix this absolutely nightmarish situation.
On the subway to work I looked around me like that kid in the boat. I can't understand it at all. Always a stranger in a strange land. Mystery on mystery.

Peace and Love. . .

If possible please help to support the effort to rebuild the Tohoku area by donating to one of the organization listed below in the "Prayers" blog.

Radiate

We appreciate your kind thoughts and concern. Japan has been hit by a real blow (the best laid plans of mice and men…) and all the redundant systems to keep the waves at bay and the nuclear cobra in its jar have proved insufficient. Now we wait and wonder what will evolve and how it will affect Japan, our lives, the greater world community.

The first thing is that I have such great respect for the Japanese as a people. They are proud, stoic and behave like civilized people even during a crisis. Going into to those nuclear plants to try to diffuse this nightmare might be as brave a thing as someone could do. The Japanese carry on but you can see the apprehension about these melting, exploding nuclear plants. I talked to a friend in Tokyo (Matsumoto Akihiko) and he said, “準備します。Meaning: “We are getting ready.” Supplies are in short supply in Tokyo and there are the rolling black outs.

That Japan has not moved toward a more sustainable path is only understandable if one realizes that the same people are calling the shots here as are calling them in much of the developed and undeveloped world—large energy corporations. Maybe the change will come in the form of nuclear energy becoming too expensive (isn’t it already???) and the business sector will abandon it. I don’t feel it will come from consensus seeking leaders or the easily mislead peoples. The Japanese have great solar gain and wind all the time. A town like Nagoya could have solar panels on every flat roof and turbines spinning to boot. In a country that is always eager to embrace the future and high tech development it’s more than a little puzzling that they headed down not only such a dangerous road but one that has already left a painfully searing mark in there history.

We feel safe but insecure—here, at the moment—we are about 600 some kilometers from Fukushima and luckily we’re south west of them so the prevailing winds usually blow all the unknowns out to sea with out affecting us here. Or so we believe at the moment.

On the way into work today while walking down “Sun Road” (which most ironically is an underground mall (very nice smells of cakes and roasting teas etc.) from the Nagoya train station (which is huge) I walked past a store I had never noticed before. A clothing store. Usually a store like this would be full of folk browsing but it was surprisingly empty. I, then, in my hurried pace, I happened to catch the name on the sign board above the wide open doors “Radiate.”

peace and love and payers for the best out come. . .

Prayers

Nothing to write. Please send prayers, wishes, good thoughts to the suffering people of northern Japan, and for safest possible ending to the nuclear situation.

Aid and Charitable Organizations

Each of the following groups have set up fundraising sites specifically for the victims of Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

AMERICAN RED CROSS
Red Cross officials say donors can text REDCROSS to 90999 and a $10 donation will automatically be charged to donor’s phone bill, or donations can be made directly on its Web site.

AMERICARES
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

CARE
CARE is one of the world’s largest private international humanitarian organizations. Their offices in Asia are on high alert and have ensured that staff are informed of the tsunami warnings and other related developments.

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

GLOBALGIVING.ORG
GlobalGiving is working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and other organizations on the ground to disburse funds to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Donors can text JAPAN to 50555 to give $10, and larger increments can be submitted on GlobalGiving’s Web site.

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL
Information is available on the organization’s Web site.

THE SALVATION ARMY
The Salvation Army has been providing food and shelter to Tokyo commuters who were stranded when public transportation was interrupted by the earthquake. They are to send a team to Sendai, a city about 250 miles Tokyo, to assess the situation there. Text JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to make a $10 donation. (Make sure to respond “YES” to the Thank You message you receive.) Donations can also be made on the organization’s Web site or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.

SAVE THE CHILDREN
To make a donation, visit Save the Children’s Web site, call 1-800-728-3843, or text JAPAN to 20222 to donate $10.

SHELTERBOX.ORG
Shelterbox.org is a disaster-relief organization that focuses on providing survival materials such as tents and cooking equipment to families displaced by disasters.

UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK
Information is available on the organization’s Web site or by calling (212) 836-1486.