Temples, Gardens, Space, Light

For the past week or so we have been traveling in Kyoto and Takayama. During our time we have visited many shrines, temples and gardens. The thing we have noticed about the architecture of these places is their consideration of space and scale. Perhaps because of Japan’s large population and small land mass they have been forced to consider space in a way that we don’t in Canada. When something is scarce more value is placed upon it. When we visited a 100-year-old merchant’s home today, the Yoshijima House. The room sizes just felt right, the light filtering through the screens made the rooms peaceful and reflective. You can see how the lines of these traditional buildings influenced modern architecture. Even though they evoke a minimalist aesthetic, there is a softness and esteem for nature in the material chosen, using raw wood left unpainted and uncut in the exposed beams and posts.

 Around most of the temples there are gardens, some of them are Zen gardens composed mostly of stones and gravel.  The names can be a bit obscure and we have struggled to decipher “the young tigers crossing a stream” in the shapes, perhaps more contemplation was needed…. The other gardens have largely centered around ponds and I realized that they have been carefully pruned to create a composition, so that when you look at the garden your eye moves around it like it would a painting or photograph. The lushness of the landscape enables nearly every plant to be bonsai’d and survive, I think if I tried to prune the trees in our yard the way they do here, they would just pack it in. 

Hospitality Japanese Style

I have mentioned in past blogs the amazing hospitality here in Japan. I should probably say the hospitality we have received is mostly due to Masahiro and his wife Shiho, they really went out of  their way to make sure we were comfortable staying with them.  Because of them we can now say we are fans of unagi (eel) and Shinto shrines.

Although we came to Nagoya to work with Masahiro in his studio he took time off from his busy schedule to tour us through several important shrines in the area. We were fortunate to visit the Atsuta-Jinga  shrine in Nagoya while marriage ceremonies were being performed. The bride and groom and many of the family members were attired in traditional kimonos that were stunning. We have discovered that most women own kimonos and that these silk robes often cost over $2000 . The quality of the material and patterning has stopped me in my tracks and I have spent some time with my nose pressed up to kimono shop windows. We often see women wearing them and they seem to imbue the wearer with a calm gracious air. 

We went  on a  road trip with the Sasaki family and visited Ise – Jingu Shrine south of Nagoya on the peninsula. This shrine seemed to embody what we understood of Shinto beliefs, a reverence for nature, and the presence of gods in all living things. What struck me the most was the enormous cedar trees that are  surrounded by the shrine walls, they were not cut down to create the shrine but instead were protected by it.  Although Japan is a crowded , industrial country, I felt  within the forest in the shrine a sense of  awe.

The other thing we learned during our shrine visits is that even though a shrine may have existed since the 15^th century, they are reconstructed every 25 years. Most of the shrines are created with wood, so they need to be replaced to deal with rotting. The other benefit of this practice is that the knowledge of these traditional building techniques and craftsmanship has endured.

 Since leaving Nagoya our diet has become less diverse and this is largely due to our limited Japanese and the absence of Shiho’s (Masahiro’s wife) cooking. She created each meal in order that we try local specialties, if we had stayed in a 5 star hotel we would not  have been better cared for. It was nice to not only get a chance to see how Masahiro creates his pieces in the studio but also to get to know his daughters Shii and Yu. They practiced their English with us and we communicated with cats cradle and piggybacks. Although we were eager to tour the rest of Japan, we were sad to leave our friends and the comfort of their home that they offered to us. Below are some images from Nagoya. The first photo is of the Sasaki family, Masahiro, Shiho, their eldest daughter Shii, and Yu. The first photos are from Atsuta-Jinga shrine, some shots of home-life and the tasty food. The final photos are from our road trip to Ise – Jingu Shrine and Futami on the coast.  

Shiho's Soba Tempura Delight

Studio Iemak

We met our friend Masahiro Sasaki in 2006 when we helped organize the Glass Art Association of Canada conference in Red Deer. We had never met Masahiro before the conference but while there he made many friends with his easygoing manner and impressed people with images of his work and his glass blowing skills. While staying with us he mentioned that if we ever came to Japan that we had to visit him. Both Tyler and I have long been drawn to Japanese design and Masahiro’s work seemed to embody its quiet elegance. The last few days have been spent in Masahiro’s studio and home, which are on a lovely piece of property in Nagoya that he has sort of inherited from another glass artist who passed away a few years ago. Like most glass artists, Masahiro’s home and studio life are enmeshed and we had many great moments getting to know his family and studio assistants while working with him. With his busy work schedule he spends about 2 -3 days a week making work in his studio but otherwise the shop is buzzing with renters and assistants working most days. All this activity made for a fun atmosphere and we got to know his studio assistant Kenta quite well, as he is keen to come to Canada and work in a hotshop. We said we would do our best to find a situation for him, as his blowing and assisting skills were top notch. One of our favourite things about the glass community is there are these connections over long distances despite language barriers. We all have one thing in common and that is our love of glass. It has been great to realize that in many ways you do not need much of a common language to blow glass with someone, as hand gestures and sound effects (torch sounds) come in handy. During our time there, we worked with Masahiro, helping him to create pieces from a new body of work that he is preparing for an upcoming exhibit. The work has received critical acclaim and is not just visually stunning but is also technically demanding. The pieces require thin vessel walls, which meant that the timing was precise and all windows and doors were shut to prevent drafts. With the heat and humidity this meant that there was a whole lot of sweating on our part, so we adopted the Japanese style headscarf. It was amazing to see how he has developed through trial and error, and of course skill, to create these thin and large pieces. We learned a lot from watching him work and came away from the experience inspired and thinking how important it is to persist past technical challenges in making work.

sasaki-iemak2

Small World

I know the world is small and the glass world even smaller but I never would have imagined that kind of connection between Black Diamond and Japan’s fourth biggest city, Nagoya, where we currently are!

 This year, one of the people who has been working with us at our studio is Miku Beer and how is this for coincidence…Miku’s Aunts Family owns a glass gallery in Nagoya. Upon our return from Aichi University to Nagoya we had a chance to meet Miku’s relatives and to visit their glass gallery.

 The gallery was lovely, and it focused on refined functional vessels, which are highly esteemed and often more valued than paintings or other “fine art” here. As we entered the gallery we were both drawn to several pieces with a burnished metallic finish, when we enquired about the artist, it turned out to be Masahiro’s functional work. Apparently, the texture and finish were creating by enameling them in platinum.

 The gallery owner Nishida- San then invited us out for sushi lunch. The restaurant was beautiful and the sushi like none we have ever tasted. We feel like it is the first time we have really eaten sushi, the fish more or less melted in our mouths.

 The other coincidence of this trip is that when I applied for the RBC award for Glass, I proposed that I would research the Mingei craft movement in Japan, and examine it’s influences on modern craft design. Well, it just so happens that Nishida – San , represents and is also friends with, one of the leading mingei glass artists, Kodani -San and has a collection of his work. Through this connection he has arranged for us to visit this famous Japanese craftsperson in Kurashiki.

 After lunch we were able to view his collection of finely made functional vessels and to talk about the mingei movement , and its influence on contemporary Japanese craft. One thing that surprised me was the idea that many students and practicing Japanese glass artists are uninterested in making one of kind sculptural pieces and prefer to make functional vessels. It seems the mingei notion of the value of well made functional vessels is still influential in Japan, even though the mingei movement occurred almost 100 years ago. As a gallery owner, Nishida –San felt that many collectors in Japan  were interested in small functional pieces as their homes were small and they did not have room for larger sculptural pieces.

As we travel through Japan and spend time with friends, we realized that in the area of hospitality, the Japanese are in a professional league, taking time from their busy schedules to make sure you are comfortable, and creating opportunities to learn about their country and culture.  

Workshop in Aichi

Seto

Our friend Masahiro toured  us to through the city of Seto today. It is about an hour by car from Nagoya with no discernable break in the buildings and industry between cities. When we arrived however it had a very different feel. Seto was a traditional centre for ceramics and the city is justifiable proud of this craft tradition. The ceramics is evident and physically a part of the city, in the walls, bridges and paths. It felt very cared for and well looked after as a result. We toured a number of ceramics galleries including one in a 300 year old wood building (the garden was well established). We had an incredible lunch at a noodle house that  Masahiro picked. We have  developed a craving for  homemade noodles and miso that we had there.

After lunch we toured the Seto Ceramics and Glass Art Centre. At the centre we were greeted very hospitably by one of the coordinators, Kukiyo Mikamoto.  We took in  the exhibition “Flat Glass” which had many interesting works, and a lecture by Shogo Abiru who is making sophisticated fused and slumped works. The lecture and exhibition was well attended, a number of students attended from Aichi University and near by Nagoya University came with several faculty members. One of the faculty, Koichi Matsufuji, was the curator of the Exhibition. We had interesting conversations with Michael Schiener, Matt Szosz, Hiroki Numi, and a number of other artists present, in the Gallery, a setting that was low key but engaged.

The facilities at the center are well laid out and well equipped. They have a residency program for recent graduates and as well as international residencies. 

Bullets and BBQs

It was a day of contrasts. We left Tokyo for Nagoya and took the “shinkansen” or bullet train. The trains can go up to 300km and it took almost no time at all to make the trip. We were met at the station by a friendly face, our friend Masahiro Sasaki, who we met in Canada at the Glass Art Association of Canada conference in 2006. Masahiro welcomed us into his home and we met his lovely family, his wife Shiiho, and daughters Shii and Yu. We had a quick tour of his studio, and then we went out for a traditional Japanese barbeque dinner, that made us feel that we were worlds away from Black Diamond. We entered the restaurant that had been there for many many years, through a low door.

The center of the length of restaurant was a low-slung platform with three tables. The platform was roughly 12 feet across, made of rich wood with three tables spaced evenly in the space. In a very traditional style we were seated in the last sitting on the floor on mats around a low table, 4×4feet, with two charcoal grills in the middle.  The grills were heated with charcoal in ancient stone crucibles with small 12” grills placed overtop.  This place was known for beef, so Masahiro ordered various kinds of meat for us to sample including tongue, flank and stomach. The meat was brought out thinly sliced on plates with various Miso sauces. The evening was an engaging mix of animated discussion with cooking and turning the meat with chopsticks. All the meat was great to eat, and at the onset we thought it might be challenging to try some of the items that we had never tasted, but they were all well prepared and very good to eat. A highlight for me, and high up there on the list of things I never thought of eating or would not consider trying, was eating raw liver. The flavour and texture was incredible. I kept asking if it had been marinated in something (it wasn’t) it was sweet tasting… very bright and fresh tasting for lack of other words.  The meat was accompanied with rice and frosty mugs of beer (Tyler was a happy man). At the end of the meal the grandmother of the owner’s family tallied the bill. She was stooped and I would guess her age to be around 90. She came from the back to tally our meal by counting our dishes and purchases using an abacus, the final clue that Masahiro and Shiiho had provided us a truly remarkable evening. There was not a word of English spoken (other than their efforts to speak with us) and we really felt that we were fortunate to have this glimpse of life that many tourists never get to see. 

Woods in the City

Tokyo is a very clean city, and well maintained. Like New York there is something to do around the clock, and the city never sleeps. We spent today learning the Subway System and challenged ourselves to get to the Tokyo Imperial Gardens and the Tokyo Contemporary Art Museum. It became immediately apparent that there was another whole level to the city we previously knew nothing about. Beneath the streets where we had been walking the night before, was a series of well light spacious tunnels full of shops, it was through these that we made our way to the train. After being challenged by how to purchase tickets and for what amount, for what distance, and how many line transfers, we boarded the train and were on our way. Again it was easy to navigate because of systematic signage and some English directions. The trains are always moving, always punctual and always half to packed with people depending on the time of day.

The Museum was great, we were introduced to a parallel contemporary art movement, and a number of artists were particularly inspiring including:

Seiju Omada

The Scroll of Insects and Fish was a piece that was about 18 feet long and for all intents was a triptych. A traditional eastern approach was taken to the manufacture of the painting on the scroll but the viewpoints and content look as though they may have been produced last week.

Naboru Kitawaki.

I particularly liked the fact he was presenting paintings and objects together.

The final work that resonated for both Julia and I was the Untitled Installation work of Toshikatsu Endo from 1983 from an Exhibition titled “What Lurks in Wood”.


 

Senses in Shinjuku

Overwhelmed is the best word to describe our feelings here at the moment. There is layer upon layer of imagery, sound and smell that have combined to create sensory overload. I am completely turned around in the narrow alleys of Shinjuku, one of the happening neighbourhoods of Tokyo. We arrived last night and my first impression of the city was of a concrete forest, tall narrow buildings competing for an inch of the skyline. Through keywords, gestures and smiles we managed to find our hotel as well as some cheap sushi and cold beer.

Firebrand Glass and a bit of Black Diamond

Here are some shots of us working in the studio. These picture were taken by a talented photographer and musician Caroline Connolly. For those of you who haven’t been to the studio, we are located in the lovely town of Black Diamond which is in the shadows of  the Rocky Mountains. The best thing for us about living in this area is going for hikes with our dog Pius, getting inspired by the raw beauty  that surrounds us and then coming back home to our studio and designing and creating work based on that inspiration.