Yay its almost the weekend!!! Super excited as we have plans to go to visit the Gunma Foreign Wife contingent on Saturday. Will be meeting up with Laura (Japan Mama) for the 3rd time and Sophie and another foreign wife plus sprogs for the first time ever woo hoo!! There will be 6 kidlets aged 3.5 months (mine!) to 3 years – should be fairly crazy. Slowly meeting everyone on my blog list in the area.. don’t worry Kyushu gals we will make it down there soon enough.

Ryohei turned in his placement “wishlist” today and put down the office in Niigata City as his first and only choice. He doesn’t know if they will be taking someone this year and tells me he’d actually prefer to go there during his 3rd year but thought it wouldn’t hurt to show his interest. We were up there last weekend to visit a museum exhibit and it is a nice place. They actually have my bank there! Only one in the prefecture… so I was able to go and take a look at my balance for the first time in about 4 months. Niigata City is nice and I am crossing my fingers we will get to live there for a year or two. Does mean getting to Tokyo when I want to visit will be a bet more expensive/take longer BUT since I actually have a FRIEND in Niigata City. I’ve been trying to get myself out there… even went out with A-chan and her family but it just isn’t the same as having a buddy who can speak the language and understands the whole living in a foreign country thing.

So thats whats been going on really… Sakura had a better night last night. She had one feed around 11:30 and then slept until 5:30! First time I’ve had a long stretch of sleep for a while… woo hoo. Made things so much easier today.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Ryohei’s parents to spend the night then off to Gunma for the afternoon! NEXT weekend we are trekking out to Shizuoka to visit Nay and Naoki for the first time in a while. Then its just 2.5 weeks until Sakura and I head back home for Christmas. Need to keep myself busy as sitting at home twiddling my thumbs is a real bummer.

Toodles!

I once saw Valery Gergiev conduct the Kirov Orchestra here in Niigata (we’re not that far from Russia, so they do a Japan tour now and then). A friend and I had seats right back up behind the orchestra, so it was almost like being in the group, and we had a perfect view of Gergiev’s face, close enough to see his expressions. Gergiev is one of the most prominent and best conductors in the world; at least over here, the classical section of the music store is filled with his CDs. And watching him, one truly gets the sense of being in the presence of greatness. I can honestly apply the term “larger than life” to perhaps three or four people I’ve encountered in my forty-odd [VERY odd] years, and Gergiev is one of them. I had the sense that he was chiseled from something other than flesh and bone — a great, moving statue, whose baton seemed more a liquid than a solid.

Why do I tell this story now? Well, the final thing he did that deeply impressed me was that on the final encore, he put down his baton, got the orchestra started on a Christmas medley with a few beats of his hand, and then he walked away from the podium and leaned against a side wall, just listening, basking in the music, and letting the Kirov Orchestra shine forth. The clear message was, “It’s all about them. They’re the group you’re here to hear, and they’re awesome.”

My point is, this blog is all about you! You’ve proven this week that you can all carry on just fine when I’m away in San Jose. What we have here is a community. My role is to get things started with a wave of my hand, and then I’m just reading along. A “Table Round,” as we’ve talked about before! Thank you all for those fantastic Hallowe’en stories and movie comments. The rambling house was plenty lived in while I was away, and it’s so good to see lights on when I come home!

Anyway, I know you’re waiting to hear about World Fantasy. I’ve been incredibly busy since getting back (I finally just unpacked today, Friday, after getting back on Tuesday night!) — had to jump right back into teaching on Wednesday. I’m correcting student compositions, and I’ve got homework to do from my agent — which is a good thing — a very good thing — but being away for a week has its costs!

So what I think will happen is that this convention report will be spread out over several posts. That will work out well, actually, because there are several discrete topics to address. (I mean “discrete,” not “discreet” — don’t get all disappointed when I don’t bring up any scandals!)

It was a wonderful time — beyond wonderful! I can’t say enough about how important these conventions are in keeping things in perspective for me. Seeing the reality of the fantasy publishing world firsthand is both good and potentially terrible. On the one hand, it’s enormously uplifting to be among one’s own people — all those engaged in doing the same thing, valuing most of the same things, etc. On the other hand, for the faint of heart, that could be extremely daunting. The WFC always reminds me of just what a lot of incredibly wise, smart, erudite, brilliant, talented, experienced people are working in the field. It’s humbling — who am I to think I can write books among such company? But then again, the conventions reaffirm just what a wide and diverse family we are. The World Fantasy Award judges said that, too: their judging experience revealed what a vast assortment of books and tastes the fantasy field embraces. We’re a family with young and old folks, hopefuls and successful and streetwise and weary, ambitious and lazy, charismatic and unbelievably eccentric members . . . we’re a family with skeletons in the closet. But we are a family, and it’s good to reconnect in person every year.

When I came back to Japan, the first class I taught on that Wednesday was my writing class, and it went the best it’s gone this year. I think there’s something about that reaffirmation of my identity that supercharged me.

I have two sets of notes to work through here: my daily journal, and my WFC notebook, which I take to the convention each year. Of course I won’t bore you with every detail, but I guess I’ll start by hitting the highlights more or less chronologically. Then, in later posts, we’ll get into more of the content of the panels.

I noted that I do not like LAX, the Los Angeles airport. The security there is the most stressful of any I’ve encountered. If you can avoid flying through there, do so. I flew into there from Tokyo on October 28th, and then took a connecting flight up to San Jose. The scenery was quite interesting as I soared northward over California — so different from either Japan or Illinois — lots of low, brown mountains, and fields of various colors. In the Midwest, we plant vast amounts of things that are the same color. In California, they seem to plant little fields of different hues. Crayons, perhaps? Is that where crayons are grown?

I was proud of myself for doing the economic thing and taking public transportation from the airport to the hotel, instead of springing for a taxi. There was a free bus to the Light Rail system, and then I bought a $2.00 ticket at a vending machine and took the Light Rail to the back door of the Fairmont Hotel. I chatted with Peter, a writer who was going to the same place. I checked in, received my name badge and

Every year, attendees of the World Fantasy Convention receive a bag of new books and magazines that publishers wish to promote; and the bag itself bears the convention logo.

massive bag of books, and explored the hotel. The Wednesday-evenings-before-the-conventions are among my favorite times: it’s all still ahead of you, and people are just beginning to arrive, and you can get a feel for the place and venture out into the neighborhood for supper.

In the convention literature, I’d read that there was an O’Flaherty’s Irish pub nearby. So that’s where I went for dinner: the Smithwick’s was okay, the Harp was great, and the shepherd’s pie was out of this world! They had a really cool Hallowe’en decor: giant spiders dangling from the rafters, cobwebs strewn over the walls, and a bizarre skeletal bat near my table. I wrote a couple postcards and just soaked in the ambience.

Back at the hotel that evening, I took a nap, practiced my reading (for

The contents of the freebie bag are worth considerably more than the price of the convention membership!

Thursday night), and ventured down into the lobby late at night to see if anyone I knew was there yet. The first person I saw was John Joseph Adams of Fantasy & Science Fiction. We passed near the elevators and said hi to each other.

Okay: I think I’ll stop there for right now, but be advised that this will be a week of postings — I may not post every single night, but I’ll be back tomorrow night, and quite often until I’ve told the whole story of this convention. So if you’re at all interested, stop by often!

I’ll close with a couple tidbits from my WFC notes:

For one thing, one panel raved about Stephen King’s It, about how well constructed it is. Master craftsmanship, etc. I concur. For awhile back in 1988/1989, I was going around saying It was the second-best book I’d ever read. It impressed me that much.

Another fascinating thought that was brought up: The human condition is always being on the edge of survival. That’s why the true literature has always been about what’s out there in the dark.

My room in the Fairmont Hotel, San Jose.

World Fantasy Convention, 2009

Early morning view from the 18th floor of the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.

Isn't this cool? My room looked right down at the pool. It was warm enough that I actually saw people swimming now and then! California is definitely sunnier and warmer than Niigata in October/November!

Produk Kategori Mesin NIIGATA menunggu update selanjutnya

10/12-10/13

On Monday we woke up early and had breakfast. Everyone was pretty much packed to go so it only took us a few minutes to load up the van and get ready to go. Every time Katsu comes to his grandparents house his grandfather saves chestnuts that he took from the trees they have in the back yard and then puts them back out on the ground for Katsu to find and collect. Before we left he went out and scattered the chestnuts and Katsu and Taka (along with the whole family helping) gathered them up like a grand game of Easter Egg Hunt but it was chestnuts instead of eggs.

After all the chestnuts were collected, (chestnut in Japanese is くり kuri), we piled into the car and said out goodbyes until next time and headed out. From Toshi’s parents (uchikoshi) we drove to Kitakata in Fukushima ken. It is one of the most famous places in Japan for Ramen, hundreds of Ramen restaurants everywhere! We got to watch Ramen being made on this big machine that only needed one person to place the block of dough on the conveyer belt and it did everything from cutting to packaging the ramen. The symbol, or I guess symbol that Fukushima ken is known for, that you see everywear is something that looks kind of like the Swedish red horse, it’s a red cow called akabeko ( 赤ベコ). At the Ramen shop I bought many things with that red cow on it (my mother says it looks like a dog). We then ate Ramen at the ramen restaurant connected to the shop where we saw how the ramen was made and had ramen and gyoza. The name of the shop was Tanpopo たんぽぽ, which is actually the name of a very old black and white movie made in Japan about a ramen shop. I don’t think the shop had anything to do with the movie but it was neat to eat there anyway! Once we finished we all piled into the car and drove to a temple called Zenjoji, which had a Daibutsu in it but it was only about 20 meters high so it wasn’t as huge as the other’s I’ve seen. The Daibutsu is named Aibedaibutsu and even though it was not as huge as the other’s I am used to seeing it was still wonderful and serene. On the same temple grounds they also had a temple with an altar with Kannon statues on it for each Chinese zodiac, so I took a picture of my Kannon for the year of the Dragon!!

We drove from there to another temple in the area that had a large Buddha, we had to call the proprieter to open the building the Buddha was in but once he did and I got to see it I was entranced as usual. The name of that temple was Chuzenji. From the temple we drove to a place called Go Shiki Numa, or Five Colors Ponds (roughly translated). It was about a hour and a half walk to see all ponds but it was beautiful! We thought the trail would never end, by the time we had walked for almost an hour Nozomi decided to backtrack while Toshi and I and the kids kept walking forward and she got the car and drove it to meet us at the end of the trail so we could all see the last pond together and not have to walk two hours back to the car in the dark. I loved it but it was a work out! We watched the sunset and then found our hotel and checked in. After that we drove around to try and find a restaurant that was a.) open and b.) not ramen. We ended up eating at … a Denney’s. Lol!! The only pancakes were tiny ones on the dessert menu! After that we went to bed and slept hard.

We woke up the next day (10/13) and had breakfast out on the large patio, there were bridges leading all over the grounds of the hotel that the man who ran the place had made. It was pretty impressive and there were beautiful trees and a pond with koi in it. From there we drove farther into Aizu and went to the Nobuchi Hideyo Memorial Hall, he was a very famous doctor from Japan who helped come up with the cure for yellow fever. From there we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant next to Inawashiroko lake. From where we had lunch we drove to a tiny museum on how they made Japanese sweets in the old days that was across from Iimoriyama, which is the sight of a mass suicide commited in the Edo Period in Japan. A group of boys aged 16 to 17 fought to keep the Tokugawa bakufu form of government but they were ill prepared and under trained so they could not fight well. They had retreated to Iimoriyama and looked towards their castle and thought it was on fire, despairing at their loss (they thought the castle was on fire because they had lost the fight) they all killed themselves on that hill so they would not have to be ruled by the opposing side’s government. Unfortunately the fire was in front of the castle and not actually in the castle itself, they had not lost yet, so they killed themselves in vain. It was a sad story.

From there we went to the castle the boys had thought was burning, it is called Tsurugajo, Tsuru is Japanese for Crane and it was named so because of the white color the castle is (allegedly). It was a HUGE castle that reminded me of Osaka castle that I went to when I was in high school. On the inside for each level (five levels) they had a museum of the time that the castle was in use. Of course they mentioned my favorite Uesugi Kenshin and his retainer who is currently the star of the recent Japanese drama on NHK. They had an exhibit for the drama (called Tenshijin) and I was very excited! The castle is located in Aizu (Fukushima ken) and it was the location of the beginning of Japanese laquerware, those hand painted candles, and other famous Japanese handi crafts. From there we went to a place in Aizu that was where Nobuchi Hideo lived during school and studied for his medical exams before we left to go home. It was a long drive and we were all very tired by the time we got home. Nozomi really didn’t want to cook and no one was awake enough to do it for her so we bought some ready made things at the supermarket and all collapsed after dinner.

It situated in the northwestern part of Tokyo, and it takes about three hours by car or by Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo, Tsubame Onsen (Hot Spring) in Myoko highland of Niigata prefecture is now at the height of the fall foliage. There are eight small Onsen Ryokans (Japanese inns with hot spring) scattered on the either side of several tens of meters steep hill on the mountainsides of 1,100 meters high.

    Tsubame  Onsen is a famous place as a colony of martin, and “Tsubame” is a martin (a kind of swallow) in Japanese. When I were there, I saw nests of  martins lined along the eaves. As martins has already grown and left the nests, all of the nests were empty at that time.

    The hot spring was sulfur bath with milky white colour. At the edge of the town (in the middle of above photo) there is free of charge outdoor hot spring along the mountain stream.  It was full of visitors who came here to enjoy the colourful autumn leaves.

      Yes, now is the best time for the autumn leaves. The outdoor hot spring will be closed during winter.

    MASA

10/10 – 10/11

On Saturday I got up early and had breakfast with the family before putting on my Yukata and going to the cha shitsu (tea classroom) in Toshi’s parents backyard. Toshi’s mom was already there with her three students (older ladies that were all wearing very nice kimono’s that put my yukata to shame even though I thought my yukata was awesomeness.) This time I was just the visitor so I sat down (kneeling only please! No criss cross applesauce in the cha shitsu!) I was served the small sweets and then the tea. Even as simple a guest there are lots of rules and things you have to do in a certain way and things you have to say at a certain time to he a proper guest in the cha shitsu. Needless to say I was very awkward and nervous but I enjoyed it, even though my legs hurt reeeeaally bad by the end and I had a hard time standing up. Lol silly American’s who can’t sit on their knees for hours. After tea we had lunch, tempura and cold soba noodles!! It was good to get out of my kimono for a few minutes and then get back into it (I did it mostly myself!) and then it was my turn to perform the tea ceremony after lunch.

There are so many rules when it comes to tea ceremony (honestly if I had written this the day of when I learned tea ceremony I wouldn’t have remembered any more than I do now) when you enter the room you enter with your right foot and do not step on the lines where the tatami mats lay next to each other. As you leave you lead with your left foot and do the same thing trying not to step on the lines. Every movement is controlled and has a specific way of being done. Anything from picking up the ladle to get hot water to pour into the tea cup, to folding and wiping off the tea instruments. It’s understandable that I had a difficult time! But, even though my legs were in excruciating pain (I am not made to kneel) I was fascinated with the process and loved doing it. I am excited to do it again when my mom and Brett come to Japan to see me.

After tea ceremony we both changed out of our kimono’s (or in my case my yukata) and took a little break. I took a small walk around Tohsi’s parents house and yard with Nozomi, Toshi, the boys, and Toshi’s father. Toshi’s parents house is a very old house and his family have been leaders in the area for hundreds of years. Toshi will be the next heir to the house and the land is beautiful as it is impressive. They have many acres of rice fields, flowers, and even some part of their land they rent out to a person who grows pears (asian pears please!). After our walk I went with Toshi’s mom back to the cha shitsu in a different room where she taught me how to do Ikebana. It was the easier kind (name has been forgotten that’s what I get for waiting to update until 10 days later) and I ended up making two arrangements instead of one. I think she was a little miffed at me but I didn’t realize that I was supposed to use all of the flowers given to me in one arrangement at one time so I got to make two. It was fun looking at pictures in her book of Ikebana and deciding what to do and where to place each flower. I think Ikebana will be something I wish to pursue when I get home. I can see myself really getting into it, especially when flowers are blooming in my own backyard and I can go out and pick flowers and make beautiful arrangements.

That night we had sukiyaki for dinner, it always makes me think of my mom when we have sukiyaki because that is one of her favorite Japanese dishes. After dinner we did karaoke on Toshi’s parents home karaoke machine and I ended up singing to Brett on Skype, lol.

On Sunday we got up pretty early again and had breakfast before I once again donned my yukata and practiced tea ceremony. This time it was the part of cleaning up, putting things away at the end is just as difficult as bringing everything out and using them. Once I practiced a few times (okay once, my legs were giving out on me) I did the tea ceremony for Nozomi before we finished. After that I changed into normal clothing and after lunch we did Ikebana again. This time we did the harder kind and used only large leaves instead of flowers. I liked both kinds and I really do think I could take this up as a hobby, would never be as good as a Japanese person but I’d still enjoy it. Once finished Toshi’s mom actually put up my arrangement in her house, I thought that was pretty good considering she is an expert and all.

After that we went out and picked eggplants (baby ones!) and kiku (which is Japanese for chrysthanthemum). In Niigata they take the petals of the flower and cook them and eat them, it’s actually really good! After that I made scalloped potatoes for dinner, that was an experience! But they loved it so I was happy it turned out well, for a while I was not sure it was going to be a success. After that we slept for our last night at uchikoshi!

On the 4th day, I went to a small island called Awashima in Niigata prefecture.

In Niigata, Sado island is more famous than Awashima(Awa island).

In addition, on that day when I visited Awashima, there was a big festival, Earth Celebration 2009, being held on Sado.

However I chose Awashima, because I wanted to feel relaxed and avoid crowds.

The following image is my boat ticket to Awashima.

It took about 1 hour to Awashima, so I enjoyed the breeze on the deck.

My first purpose in Awashima was to cycle around the island. The circumference of Awashima is about 23 km, so I thought that cycling would not be difficult.

I rented a bicycle from the town office as soon as I arrived at Awashima, and started cycling.

The scenery on Awashima was really amazing. The sky was blue, and the sea was also blue. I regretted that I didn’t bring my swimwear.

I was very excited, however I soon noticed that the cycling road was very tough for me. Well, it might not be tough only for me but also for everyone who thought they could enjoy cycling.

There were many steep paths, and some of them were very long. I met only 3 people on my cycling journey.

I stopped at some view points.

About 1 and half hours after I had started cycling, I arrived at a small village which was located on the opposite side of the harbor.

At first, I didn’t plan to eat there, however I changed my mind when I saw a small restaurant, Kamome shokudo, whose menu seemed very delicious.

I guessed that the seafood ramen, Iso ramen, was the best dish at that restaurant, because most of the customers ordered the same ramen.

I have to say the taste of that ramen was in my best 3! It was very fresh and the seafood stock had a strong taste. In addition, the pieces of octopus were very big!

On the second half of my way, I met a university student who wanted to be an accountant. He looked very tired, and we took a short rest together at a small rest spot.

At one of the view points, I needed to get off my bicycle and walk to climb a small hill. However just before the top of the hill, many wasps blocked my way, so I gave up to go there.

The atmosphere in Awashima was like being in a movies, and I could feel very relaxed except for the wasps.

The following image is of my Japanese inn.

I could see the sea through the window of my room.

I didn’t have any plan after my cycling, so I strolled around the surrounding area of my Japanese inn till dinner.

By the way, there were over 20 similar Japanese inns in that area. I guessed that the local people who were living in that area, made their living by a running Japanese inn and fishing.

The atmosphere in that area made me wallow in nostalgia.

The distance from the sea to the mountains was very near, and the Japanese inns were built within such a small area.

Behind of the Japanese inns, there were some steep steps, and to my surprise, the old landladies of the Japanese inns go up and down the steep steps every day, carrying heavy items.

The following image shows the view from the top of the steps.

There was a small shrine which is used as a shelter, if a tsunami hit the island.

On a small harbor, children were looking for turban shells. I talked to them for a few minutes. I think that the children who grow up in rural areas, especially on small islands like Awashima, have innocence.

I also tried looking for turban shells, however I couldn’t find any. Nevertheless I knew I couldn’t take them, even if I found them, because tourists don’t have fishing rights.

The dinner on that day was very fresh and delicious. I guess if I ordered same course in Tokyo, it would cost me over 5,000 yen. However the price at my Japanese inn for accommodation and dinner was only about 8,500 yen.

My second purpose in Awashima was to eat the special local food which is called “Wappani“.

Wappani is like miso soup, and is made by putting heated stones into the soup. Fresh seasonal fish is used as the main ingredient of Wappani.

I read some information in my Japanese inn that guests can enjoy Wappani in a public area. That’s why I chose my Japanese inn.

The following images are of cooking Wappani and of my delicious breakfast!

After breakfast the landlady took me to the same harbor which I had arrived at. Since a guy was waiting for the community bus bound for the harbor, the landlady asked him if he would like to ride in her car together.

The guy and I talked for a few minutes, and I could find out that his apartment was in Nakano, which is only 2 stops by train from my place. We promised to meet again in Tokyo. I like such a casual meeting.

I really enjoyed Awashima as much as the other places which I visited on my trip.

On the third day, I moved to Murakami in Niigata prefecture.

I like traditional areas, so I chose Murakami city.

Actually, I couldn’t find much information on the Internet about Murakami.

I know it’s difficult to find information about rural areas of Japan online, so I bought 2 editions of a famous guide book which featured Gunma and Niigata prefecture and I read them before my trip.

According to the Niigata guide book, Murakami seemed very nice, so I decided to visit Murakami.

Murakami is famous as the northernmost area producing Japanese tea, salmon and also the birth place of the crown princess. It’s also known as one of the “historical castle towns” in Japan.

The following image is my seishun 18 ticket.

When I arrived at Murakami, it was not crowded even near station, because the bon holiday had already finished the day before my visit.

I rented a bicycle at the station, and rode around Murakami city.

It was a bit hot outside, however I enjoyed seeing the old Japanese houses along the streets.

I talked to some local people there. It was a lot of fun for me.

At an old tea shop, which seemed famous, I bought a gift for my shamisen group member.

There I also bought a tea flavored ice cream, which was called “Monaka“in Japanese. It was very delicious!

After a short rest, I dropped by a tourist information center.

There I met a unique person who was a Tuishu craftsman.

Murakami is also famous for a Tuishu(Japanese Lacquerware).

The tourist information center was originally opened by a non-profit organization in Murakami, however unfortunately, that group gave up to administer the center.

The craftsman heard about that, and soon decided to take it over with his friends.

I talked with him for 2 hours about his opinion on how to train pupils, and how to protect such a traditional culture.

His way of thinking was very neutral, and I began to like his personality.

I also talked to him about my opinion on the shamisen world, and he advised me about my situation.

I really enjoyed talking with him and appreciated him, so I decided to buy his handmade chopsticks for my parents as a souvenir.

He also explained to me about the details of the architecture of Murakami’s old houses.

All houses are connected to the neighbouring house.

After talking to him, I rode around again by bicycle, and arrived at the Murakami Museum of History.

When I arrived there, it was only 15 minutes before closing time. However the staff of the facility waited for me to finish seeing the exhibits.

I thought that the people who I met in Murakami were very kind, and that’s why I like rural areas.

On my way back to the station, I found a nice regional meat shop by accident. I was very lucky!

I bought a nice big beef bowl and a beer for my dinner, and enjoyed them in the waiting room of the station.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you another topic.

On that day, a small summer festival was being held all over Murakami.

I saw some Dashis(floats) on some streets.

Unfortunately, a bigger festival would be held on the day after my I visited Murakami, and the most famous festival, which is called “Murakami-taisai” is held in July every year.

I took a taxi to my ryokan. The following images are of the ryokan and my room at the ryokan.

The Senami hot spring is the nearest hot spring areas to Murakami.

When I saw this old style of mirror in my room, I was very surprised!

Usually we only see them in the movies.

Actually, the late owner of my ryokan was a founder of Senami hot spring.

I suddenly wanted to drink alcohol. I ordered a chu-hi.

The taste of the drink was not so interesting, however the situation in which I drunk alone at the ryokan was intersting.

The following images are of my breakfast. It was delicious which goes without saying.

Subtitle: Kenda REALLY likes Japanese Temples

Today 10/1 we went on a Day Trip. Katsu did not have kindergarten so after sleeping in and then rushing around trying to get ready to go we left to go to Nadachi (名立). Which is really close to Joetsu. I had found a few temples that I wanted to go in a guide book that Nozomi had shown me of Joetsu and the surrounding area. The first place we went to was called Iwaohana no Ishibotokengun (いわおはなの意思簿と健軍), Iwaohana is the name of the village the statues are located in, which was a place I saw in the guide book that had kannon’s and buddha’s carved into the side of a mountain. Or at least that is what it looked like in the guide book. We got to Nadachi (which is in the middle of nowhere) and got lost a few times before Nozomi hopped out of the car (after putting it in park of course) and asked an old lady where it was. We had driven by it, literally it’s on the side of the road after crossing a bridge over a river. It looks tiny at first with maybe 3 or 4 of the statues placed in the mountain, but when you go around the other side away from the road and up some roughly carved stairs there are a bunch of them placed in little nooks carved into the mountainside. There are 33 Kannon placed into the mountain and it all started because in the old days the place, were the bridge is now was a very dangerous place to cross the river. People placed the first, and largest Kannon called Fudumiyouou, on the mountainside next to the river crossing. It was to protect against the Dragon that was said to live in the river and they prayed for safe crossing and protection against the dragon. After the first one was placed there the people in the village started collecting money and placed more and more kannon statues in the mountainside next to the first one. It was beautiful to me and I couldn’t help cleaning off some of the statue’s little heads and shoulders and placing a flower next to the largest Kannon, not really to protect against the Dragon because as everyone who knows me knows I adore dragons and they adore me!! But because it felt respectful and I really do respect and believe in the traditions and beliefs represented by those statues and any other temple I go to in Japan.

After that we were driving to the next temple I wanted to see when we drove past a random old shrine and Nozomi asked if I wanted to go, of course I said yes! We stopped, the shrine, which was called Hakusan Jinja (白山神社), it was closed up and next to a tiny elementary school that looked like it hadn’t been used in a few years. We went up to the building and looked around the tiny grounds before having a short break to drink tea before loading into the car and going on again. Next we stopped at a temple called Karita Jinja (借りた神社), it was a small shrine but for how small it was and it being not famous it had very beautiful carvings! The tori gate was also a strange color, usually if they are made of stone they are of course grey, and if they are made of wood or another material they are usually that bright characteristic orange/red color. But, the tori gate at Karita Jinja was a light water blue! Nozomi told me the story of why the temple was built, a man found a stone that was shaped like Yin and Yang and placed it in his garden as a sort of novelty. After that the members of his family started to get sick one by one, the man’s grandson had a dream that a noble person came to him and said that the stone he found should not be used as a novelty or something to look at as weird but should be considered a holy object and used for prayer. So, the man built a temple for the stone and the god of fertility. After the temple was finished his family got better and the man had many children! I didn’t get to see the stone, don’t know if the story is even true but it was interesting to hear a reason for a shrine being built. As we were leaving the place were we parked the car, a little gravel parking lot, we drove over the ledge next to the exit and got stuck, the car could just barely touch the ground with the front wheels and they spun and spun but wouldn’t move. So, I got out and pushed and Nozomi punched the gas and we got the car to move and out of the parking lot. It was pretty funny though I don’t know what we would have done if we couldn’t get the car to move.

The next temple we drove to was Iwayadou Kannon Dou, which was a temple built in the 8th Century during the Kamakura Era. We hiked up a bunch of stairs, hiking down a bit because I wanted to know what was at the end of the stairs. But we got tired so we reversed and walked back upstairs to the main temple. That temple is one of the 13 holy places in Niigata Prefecture and it had many statues of Kannon as well as huge rock that had the remains of shuji ink that a famous person splattered on the rock. It was beautiful and made me want to visit all 13 of the holy places! I need a list…

From there we drove to a park for the kids to play and for us to eat lunch, it was called Seaside Park and was like a mini theme park for kids. The only problem was, it was on the top of a hill and the parking lot was about 600 or so meters from the park. The park is only officially open on Saturday and Sunday so they don’t run the shuttle from the parking lot to the park during off days. That meant we had to WALK uphill to the park. It was a long hike because we were tired and it was hot. I have dubbed it the hike of doom. Though it wasn’t all bad, there were chestnut trees along the road and Nozomi and Katsu went into them and came out with about 20 or 30 dollars worth of chestnuts! They use them in many different dishes here and I am looking forward to tasting what Nozomi makes with them. Once we finally reached the park it was kind of deserted but there was a very breathtaking view of the ocean and if it hadn’t been cloudy Nozomi said we could have seen Sado Island. There was a huge slide that was made with those roller rods, so you sit on them and they roll and you go really fast. You had to climb a big obstacle course to get to the top of the slide, which was pretty high up. So, after we ate lunch (and Nozomi back tracked down the hill to find Taka’s shoe he had dropped) we all started up the hill. Taka and Nozomi only doing the parts of the obstacle course that Taka could do, Katsu and I attempted to do it all but there was a few parts I couldn’t do. Once we got to the top we found out that the slide was closed! But we found the old lady who worked there and she let us go on the slide. There was also a bobsled that you road from the top of the hill where there top of the slide was that you could ride all the way down to the end of the hill where the parking lot was. But it was closed…we were very sad and it was silly that the park was still running if they only had things available on Saturday and Sunday. We went down the slide, me with Katsu behind me and Nozomi with Taka in her lap. Half way down Katsu fell forward because I was going to fast so I stopped and he climbed into my lap for the rest of the time. It was fun but the only AWFUL part was all the spiderwebs and spiders that I ran into, ugh I had tiny spiders crawling all over me! There was even a spiderweb with a huge spider over our heads that I had us lay on our backs to avoid. * shudder* After the slide we played on the other play equiptment, all of us getting a good work out! We walked back down the hill to the car and from there we went to a convinience store and bought ice cream. We all felt like we deserved it for out climb up the mountain!

From there we went to Katsu’s music lesson and I stayed in the car with Taka and we both slept. We went to Jusco (shopping plaza) and I returned a book I had accidentally bought two of and bought another book. We went grocery shopping and then finally got home and had dinner. Everyone was very tired and we all went to bed fairly quickly.

I’ve been slowly losing my bloggy mojo lately. It seems like all my (very limited) free time seems to be directed towards other pursuits. I feel sort of bad about it – I feel like I should be recording more of what is going on so that in the future I can look back and see how I made it through. And should I be foolish enough to want another baby somewhat soon this could provide as excellent birth control.

Haha I’m kidding. Sakura has gotten significantly better although she’s having a very ANTI-NAP phase at the moment. I would be more than happy to let he stay awake but if she’s up for more than about 3 hours she turns in super angry Sakura which is like hell on wheels. She’s also decided that when she does decide to nap its usually going to be only 40min – hour. Which cuts down a lot of my afternoon relax time – which means only the bare minimum gets done.

We went to see Ryohei’s parents last weekend and we are going to his Grandmothers this weekend. I wish there was a bit more spacing between the Japanese female relatives who think they know whats best for my baby. I really really hate unsolicited advice and Japanese women over the age of 50 or so seem to be bountiful in it.

Ryohei has to work every day of the upcoming 3 day weekend which is going to suck. He’s been home 2-3 hours late every night this week and this should continue on for the next 2 or so as well… Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I just am filled with a slight sense of dread for the day to come. I love spending time with Sakura – don’t get me wrong – its just really really tiring to have no one else around to “split” the work with. So when I do see any friends (rarely) I am moooore than happy to have them play with her except she’s been going through a mommy mode lately (at 2 months wtf?!) where she seems to prefer being held by me and in a distant 2nd place Ryohei. He seems sad that he doesnt get the million watt smiles I do – but he’s been busy so much and she’s in bed by the time he gets home so they maybe have 30 minutes or so in the morning and weekends.. which aren’t really happening this month.

So same old story really…

Now that I’ve gotten Ryohei’s word on moving back to America in the nestant (near+distant) future I’m feeling a bit more inaka tolerent. Just a bit though – but since its not a forever thing anymore and someday I will actually be able to have a real career again etc I feel better. I would have died if we spend 30+ years here like Ryohei had originally planned.

I can’t wait for my trip back in December with Sakura although I’m nervous as heck about bringing a 4 month old on the plane!!

Anyways not really anything exciting to update with… its about 26 degrees now and seems this will be the last hot day of the year here… looking of daytime lows of about 14 and 15 the upcoming week. Yikes – still nervous about my first niigata winter.

Last winter, I travelled to Japan. One of the highlights of the trip is of course being able to experience the climate. This may sound strange. However, Singapore, the country where I lived in is a place where it is always summer. I have never seen snow before. Thus when I arrive at Yuzawa station, I was really stunned by the beauty of the place.

Please see the below link for more information on Japan:

http://www.japan-guide.com

The Echigo Tsumari or Niigata Art Triennial was our last stop, and it, too, reflected the themes of history in landscape and rural revitalization. We visited a small portion of the 350 sites, mostly abandoned houses and schools, spread out in several hillside villages. This two month features world-class international art, much of it conceptual, and draws audiences from around Japan and the world.

The above sculpture, using local river-harvested drift wood and washed out neon colors, represents the last three students in an old school started in the Edo period. The oldest parts of the building have been opened to show the mud and bamboo walls below the plaster and paint. With only the very elderly still living in these towns, new and modern buildings that once provided education and shelter are now abandoned. These spaces provide an over-abundance of space for art, and much of it is haunting.

The school above was created only thirty years ago, and was closed nineteen years after opening. It seems to be on the verge of being reclaimed by the forest. For the Triennial, French artists Christian Boltanski and Jean Kalman turned the interior was turned into a theatrical, high art haunted house recalling the school and amplifying the gloom. Visitors enter a pitch black auditorium, covered in hay, with benches and fans. There are hallways with dark mirror windows, the sound of a heart beat, and a room full of what appear to be plexiglass coffins.

Juxtaposed with the gloom were many playful and surreal art works. Below is an outdoor grasshopper sculpture that moves as water fills the heads and cables connecting to indoor sculptures raise and shake dozens of wood puppets.

It was fun to experience the artwork and the environment with the young Nodai students. Many of them are from the countryside, and their interest and confusion in the art was palpable.

See below for more Niigata Art Triennial photos, including abandoned houses, fields, art and stories.

Our first stop was Marina Abramovic’s Dream House (for exterior photos, please see first Nodai Trip post). Self-described as the “grandmother of performance art,” since the 1970s Abramovic has been creating experiential art work. Her Niigata Triennial house was the first we entered: I was struck as we approached by the old wood architecture, its placement near a small irrigated rice field, the way the house was titled to one side, and its design for second floor egress due to heavy winter snow fall.

Inside, Abramovic has turned the house into a stripped down environment for dreaming and recording. On the first floor is a minimal kitchen, grorgeous bath with two copper tubs and sparsely furnished rooms, including one with strange, apocalyptic incantations on the walls.

At first, I started translating the words to the shocked students, and fortunately discovered later that small signs bore translations in Japanese. Several students asked, what if the house’s grandmother returns and sees these phrases?

The second floor has four bedrooms each with a different colored light (or perhaps tinted windows). Instead of a bed there is a coffin shaped structure for sleeping, with built-in notebook. Visitors must reserve sleeping time far ahead, and are instructed to write their dreams in the books. Mostly the dreamers wrote in Japanese. The artist will later publish the collected dreams.

With the austere rooms and unpadded sleeping chambers, visitors are expected to wear a padded suit to sleep. I wonder how hard it would be to fall asleep in this environment.

To give you a sense of the immense beauty of the countryside, here is a photo of terraced rice fields. Experiencing the verdant splendor of this traditional agriculture gave me a better understanding of satoyama and the central importance of rice in national culture.

While some rural roads have all the charms of a US commercial road (with lots of chain restaurants, auto body part stores, liquor stores, and the addition of the convenience store and lavish pachinko parlor), some of the villages still have sublime sidewalk plantings such as the moss, selaginella, and rock wall below.

We visited four other houses turned completely into art installations. One was sprayed with a silver-colored metal paste and all of its doors and windows removed. Its neighbor had every wood surface carved out into a simple pattern of cuts.

Clearly this house will need to be remodeled extensively if anyone were to live here again.

One house interior was full of threads, suggesting cobwebs overtaking abandoned property. Spooky.

Artwork included a giant outdoor sculpture by Yayoi Kusama, one of Japan’s preeminent conceptual artist with a 50+ year art career. Please visit the Triennial website for a list of all the participating artists from 38 countries who created 350 artworks. Much of the interactive art had a playful side, and my host Professor Suzuki got into the spirit of fun.

One part of this school room was opened to the ground. It made me think about the process of these man-made structures returning to the earth. The vision of our impermanence, and how quickly nature can reclaim our structures, can be either a scary or uplifting idea.

And finally, as we rushed to keep to the busy school field trip schedule, we quickly met this furniture maker inside of the chic cafe in one of the schools. The cafe looked like a stylish cross between a school and a Muji store, and the man introduced himself as the creator of the tables and chairs. He basically added wooden pillows to the original chairs, and used wood to raise the height of the tables to make them suitable for adult visitors.

It was great to see that the Art Triennial produces not just temporary service jobs for locals, but also a way for craftsmen to communicate with city visitors. I believe his business is called 田島撚 (Tashima Nen) and his email is tashima -at- h9.dion.ne.jp

Some photos taken by the Nodai students are collected online.

Last week I visited Nagano and Niigata prefectures with Nodai. It was my first experience seeing the incredible beauty of the countryside, the rice fields and satoyama ecosystems, steep hills, wood houses, and small towns. The focus of the trip was rural revitalization and experiencing history, both centuries-old and more recent, in landscape.

Although I had heard of satoyama from 5bai Midori, I had not expected to be so overwhelmed by the exuberant greenery of rice field, abundant water and forest. In some ways, the agricultural landscape looks like it had been there for 2,000 years of co-habitation between people and nature. Because of the small plots and terraces, much of the farming is still done by hand, and there was no evidence of industrial agri-business like flat Kansas wheat fields or Maryland chicken mega-factories.

Our university field trip made clear that this is no pastoral eden. Abandoned houses and schools reflect a rapidly aging and shrinking population, and we witnessed buildings from Japan’s 1980s Bubble that were shuttered or on the verge of bankruptcy.

The trip included three major locations connected to efforts by Nodai’s professors in the Garden Design Laboratory and Landscape Architecture Science. The tour was led by Professors Shinji, Suzuki and Hattori.

1. Obuse in Nagano: an Edo town that was once a center of commerce and culture due to its location at the confluence of the Matsu-kawa River and Chikuma River, with a six hundred year history of chestnut trees and one hundred year old sake distillery. Today there is a famous Hokusai Museum, restaurants, chestnut foods, sake production, a marathon, and an “open garden” town program.

2. New Greenpia (ニュー・グリーンピア), a massive resort built in the 1980s to provide outdoor experiences for working class urban residents. A central feature is a garden designed by a Nodai professor, and the resort history shows how the exuberance of the Bubble laid a poor foundation for the past two decades. Its name refers to its green mission and its uto*pia*n ambitions.

3. Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial, which describes itself as “350 artworks, deployed in communities, rice fields, vacant houses and closed schools, are the fruit born from the collaboration and exchanges between rural locality and city, artist and satoyama, and young and old.” A Niigata Art Triennial director spoke with our group outside Marina Abramovic’s Dream House (see Nodai Trip, part 4, for more on this installation and Niigata Art Triennial).

The trip also included a chance to speak informally with the professors, graduate and undergraduate students, and Research Fellow, plus banquets with enormous portions, visits to Japan’s giant highway rest stops, and onsen bathing.

And lastly, there was an informal lesson on making onigiri for my foreign colleague and me.

I’ll post more photos and observations from the trip in the next days.

am currently typing one handed with sleeping baby on my lap so forgive any mistakes. sakura didnt nap at all yesterday so taking this precious time while i get it

i used to play a song for her in the womb and i finally got around to playing it for her today and SHE FELL ASLEEP. i didn’t even know i had such a powerful ace up my sleeve?? of course its probably a one time only thing but still sleeping baby equals bliss and a bit of mommy computer time.

today my sil is out of the hospital and coming here for the night with iroha-chan!!! i bet there will be loooots of pictures. had another grabby mil incident which prompted to write a very scathing mail to ryohei on his lunch break about  telling him hes not allowed to spend the night out after this weekend and that i refuse to come back here to visit until at least october or so.. i was very pissed.

we were planning to go home tonight but simce sil is staying here too hoping that the smaller baby will hold mil’s attention more than huge gaijin 1 month old.

ryoheis brought up moving to america a couple times in the last few days even going so far as to asking me when and what we need  to do to apply for a green card. i think something may have happened to make him want an escape but nothing to do with work apparently?? well.. as much as moving home soon sounds appealing realistically it wouldn’t happen for another 5 years when sakura and (theoretical) sprog 2-ban are preschool aged.

just was surprised to have it brought up about 3 times in the past week. guess i just need to keep encouraging the idea as dont want to live in rural niigata for rest of my life. tbh id like to live at home but id actually prefer to live in a big japanese city like tokyo or osaka but ryohei wont quit his job to move to another place in japan so options are limited

anyways from tmw night we will be home again… we’ve been here a week and a half now. sakura is 5 weeks today and is getting smiling down altho she doesnt do it much. she can also track objects she likes when i wiggle my fingers in front of her face last two nights have been a screaming crying mess but we had some better ones before that… just keep telling myself in a few weeks the worst of it will be over but in the middle of a neverending crying spell it feels like forever.. oh well…

at heast before the end of the month we will have taken a trip to tokyo/chiba, nagano, and ill be getting ready to go abd visit osaka/kobe in october. lots of fun stuff planned then 3 weeks home in dec. heres hoping that sakura is a bit more settled and happy by that point lol

La 21ème conférence des Nations Unies sur le désarmement se tiendra du 26 au 28 août 2009  à Niigata au Japon, afin d’examiner  les moyens à mettre en œuvre pour traduire en actes la vision d’un monde exempt d’armes nucléaires. Les participants débatterint de  la question du renforcement du régime de non-prolifération, qui sera au centre de la conférence d’examen de 2010 du Traité de non-prolifération des armes nucléaires (TNP), ainsi que celles portant sur la sécurité régionale. Il sera évoqué  les défis qui se posent dans le domaine des armes classiques, l’éducation en matière de paix et de désarmement, aunsi que du  rôle de la société civile. Depuis 1989, c’est à dire 20 ans, le Japon accueille cette conférence qui a pour objectif et mission  de sensibiliser le public aux enjeux du désarmement et de la non-prolifération.

On Thursday we had to leave Okinawa which was really sad. It had been so nice but we were on our way to Fuji Rock!

We got to Tokyo early in the afternoon and took a train straight to our meeting at Ueno station. We got there really early and had a few snacks at the Newsdays in the Ueno basement. We were waiting up for our new internet friends. We finally met up with our new friends and after a quick meeting we headed down to get the Shinkansen.

The ride to Eichigo-Yuzawa was pretty quick and the Shinkansen was pretty cool. We got there and it was a light drizzle when we went to catch the shuttle. We all managed to squish onto the shuttle and held on for our lives while it careened around mountain roads. Definitely not the safest or most fun ride. But we made it!

When we arrived at the site we had quite a walk to our campsite. After a few misses we finally found a relatively flat spot(turned out it wasn’t flat enough!). The rain stopped just long enough for us to set up our tents. After setting up we headed down to see the Prefest. We got down to the Ganban night and listened to a few songs before it ended for the night. We headed over to the Red Marquee and managed to get there for a couple songs before it ended as well. Oh well. We headed back to the campsite to sleep and be ready for the next morning.

We were hoping to get a good nights sleep before the festival started on Friday. That was definitely not what we got. The rain fell all through the night and our tent started to leak on the end that was facing a little uphill. The wind was pretty strong too so I know I was terrified the fly was going to pull out of the ground, blow away and our only safety from the rain would be gone. We also had some fellow campers arrive around 4 am and start pounding in their tent pegs. It was strange because it didn’t seem like anyone would be able to get to the festival site that late. We got a little bit of sleep but not enough. Oh well.

Leave it to the Japanese to turn jiggly boobies into a tasty (or creepy) treat: the Niigata Bust Pudding.  I’ve heard of boobie cake for bachelor parties, but this takes it to another level for pervy desserts.

“Please be gentle when you eat,” the anime girl says.  Open her bra and you’ll get…

… boobies!

Thanks Brandon @brcheung for the link (Danny Choo via Gizmodo)

Suzie

「ようこそジャパン」 (Yokoso Japan!) means “Welcome to Japan!“, and is the Japan National Tourism Organization’s official slogan of their campaign to attract foreign visitors to Japan.

「Yokoso Japan!」 logo

Here are some of their Yokoso Japan! campaign ads.

Most of the scenes in this first one are of Tokyo (there are a few shots of Osaka, etc…but most of it is Tokyo):

These show many parts of Japan:

Do they make you want to visit this beautiful country?

The time of the lilacs is here.

Yes, the title of this post is supposed to be loaded with meaning — spring-loaded with meaning, if you will: because this post is about spring, and it’s about first lines of stories — which are the spring-boards into the tales.

Before I get into all that and before I forget, just last night I re-watched the movie Hero, starring Jet Li. This is one of those movies that I think highly enough of to endorse here, and it’s one I like enough to own. That’s my highest recommendation. It’s a movie I wanted on my shelf, so that I can periodically re-watch it. Don’t let the casting mislead you: this is no mere martial arts escapism flick. It’s a beautiful and mythic work of art from beginning to end, like a painting that moves. The musical score is haunting, and the film’s theme is epic and of consequence; it’s one of those stories that makes you reflect on how you want to live your life.

Just before rice-planting: sluice-ditches gurgle, the fields are flooded, and frogs begin to sing.

 It’s not a very long film, and it’s not hard to watch. If you feel like a foray into Chinese history and thought — and into an exploration of patriotism, loyalty, love, and the question of what defines a hero, check this one out.

A couple notes: the Emperor in this film, the King of Qin, is that same real-life historical Emperor who had all the Terra-Cotta Warriors made to be buried with him in his tomb.

In one single day and night -- with the flooding of the paddies -- the frogs appear: they gather like black cats to October, and our nights are full of frog music.

Also, pay attention to the opening quotation on the screen. Also, the English translation of the character’s name “Broken Sword” is a bit misleading. His name is made of the kanji for “break” and the one for “sword” — so “Broken Sword” is one rendering, but it can also be understood as “Breaks the Sword” or some such. The idea is that he’s a man who has come to, as the film asserts, the warrior’s ultimate epiphany: that Peace is the best way. So this character has “surpassed” or “overcome” the sword. He has broken the sword and put it away.

Anyway, Hero, presented by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jet Li, Tony

Tulips, ready for May.

Leung, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Chen Dao Ming, and Donnie Yen is an artful masterpiece. Two thumbs up.

Oh! — This is sort of explained in the movie, but when the candle flames whoosh and waver between Nameless and the Emperor, that indicates the waves of fury and hatred that are rushing out of Nameless toward his enemy.

Well, now, on to our main topic!

"I am looking at lilacs, and I see / Shapes of dreams in a ghost-light sea...."

Spring is always the season when I yearn to do more reading and more writing. It’s a time of burgeoning creativity, with blazing summer just appearing in the distance, trundling down the road under a golden haze. So I thought it would be fun to roust out all the first sentences from my stories and line them up here for our mutual entertainment and especially inspiration.

"Secret sunlight and shadows near, / Unfolding, untold in the new of the year."

Look at all these spring-boards into stories! Stories all begin (for readers) with a little string of words that gives us our first glimpse of the things to come. Here are mine, from nearly every one of my stories that I could remember, with a very few exceptions. They’re (almost) all here, published and unpublished.

If any of these stories catches your interest, remember that you can

 always go over to my website (http://www.fredericsdurbin.com) and see the specifics: when and where it was published, and if you click on the story title there, you can even read a little thumbnail blurb about it.

"Unwritten tales in their hollows, and me / Traveling fernwise the whispering hedge, / Finding dream paths at the shadow's edge."

If a story isn’t there, that usually (but not always) means it’s not published yet. If you have any trouble, questions, etc., please feel most free to write to me personally, and we’ll talk it over. In some cases I may be able to provide you with the story or direct you to where you can find it.

Ready? Here we gooooo!

Dragonfly:

Bad things were starting to happen again in Uncle Henry’s basement.

“The Fool Who Fished for a King”:

Alaric, the fisherman’s nephew, was a fool.

"I am looking at lilacs, and I see / All things wild, forever, free...."

“Star”:

 

 

 

 

 

The old barn sang to Timothy.

“Ren and the Shadow Imps”:

Ren clutched his vest closed at the neck and shivered, although it was a summer night.

“Murik and the Magic Sack”:

Murik trudged deep into the forest, where roots twisted like slimy stairways.

“The Guardian Tree, Part 2″:

Far beyond the city, where birds still

"Seasons remembered, and Eternity...."

sang ancient songs, the fey folk listened.

“The Gift”:

The winding stairway had never seemed so dark.

“The Place of Roots”:

Kirith had not been meant to ride the wind: I was sure of it.

"Where I have been, / And what I must be."

“The Bone Man”:

 

 

 

 

 

It was hunger that made Conlin turn off the route.

“The Star Shard”:

Cymbril sang.

Corin Booknose:

Everything changed when the Wall of our world broke; the life we had known ended with the splitting of rock.

The Fires of the Deep:

Grape hyacinths!

Strange, Loft thought in the years afterward, that such a day could begin with the calm voice of water, a changeless voice on the day that everything changed.

A Green and Ancient Light:

As the American frontier moved westward, new homesteads blossomed in the clearings of the forests and among the prairie grasses.

“The Enchanted Mountain: A Tale of Long-Ago Japan”:

Another landslide had struck the village of Takakura.

“A Tale of Silences”:

Jii turned the carving in his weathered hands, pursing his lips to blow away a runnel of wood.

The Threshold of Twilight:

Trees outside the white frame house filled the kitchen with a lazy glow of sunlight and dancing green shadows.

“Shadowbender”:

Aunt Estelle wasn’t as bad as Shan had dreaded; it was her house that bothered him.

“Uther”:

Faint moonlight glowed in the room, though the curtains were drawn.

“The Giant”:

Wind shrieked over the bleak rise, driving snow that swirled and stung the men’s faces.

“Witherwings”:

The courthouse in Fillmore smelled old.

“Under the Tower of Valk”:

The garrison commander nudged the pale corpse with his steel-toed boot.

“Here About to Die”:

This is the day I am to die.

“The Bones of Oron-Dha”:

Red light flickers on the basalt blocks of the walls, the ceiling, and the floor of this temple of the dread god Arhazh.

"It'll be spring soon in the Shire, Mr. Frodo. They'll be plantin' the rice in the lower paddies! Do you remember rice, Mr. Frodo?"

“A Fire in Shandria”:

 

 

 

 

 

A grand and fearful thing it is to be summoned into the presence of Azanah the Queen: grand, for I am a mere sword-maiden of the Fifth Heilon, those who guard the city’s west wall, specifically the Gate of the Moon; fearful, for all know the Queen’s severity.

“The Last A’Hanti”:

Light.

"Um . . . no, Sam." Seriously, this is a rice-planting tractor. Little mechanical hands on the back stick each seedling down into the mud.

“The Heir of Agondria”:

Fire sang as it surged through the wood-heap, the brilliant flames flowing, consuming, leaping high in the autumnal night air.

“Lucia’s Quest”:

‘We are here!’ called Iloni over the ringing of swords.

“Seawall”:

Drums pounded in the night, the drums of the horse-clans of Hemath.

Rice-planting in Niigata.

Quite a whirlwind tour, huh? I hope it’s had the effect of making you want to run to your bookshelf and dive into a good story — or maybe write one — and to enjoy the gifts of this season, when the world is trembling with ancient enchantment and nascent abundance. Petals are opening out there, and tales are to be born! Nurture them! Live them! As Garrison Keillor says: “Don’t sleep. You can sleep in the winter.”

I’m going to steal shamelessly a great concept I heard from Tandemcat

Seedlings in trays on the back of a truck, brought from the greenhouse and ready to be loaded onto the planting tractor.

just now: we may write with ink on paper, but we also write in people’s lives, through our interactions with them. I like to use this quote in my classes from Tennyson’s The Princess:

“Our echoes roll from soul to soul,

And grow for ever and for ever.”

A finished field: this field is planted.

I know this is anticlimactic, but an urgent message needs to be conveyed: I continue to hear from readers who have just recently discovered the “comments” aspect of this blog. If you don’t know about the fact that you can read other readers’ comments and leave your own (if you want to — no obligation!), then I’m happy to tell you that your enjoyment of this blog can easily double or triple! At the end of every posting or entry, you’ll

Sing, frogs! Grow, rice! (This is within a block of my apartment.)

 find the word “comments.” Click on that, and you can read what others have said. Leave your own if you feel so inclined! (If you’re doing it for the first time, your comment comes to me for approval, so there may be a slight delay before it appears.) I tell you the truth: if you’re only reading my entries, you’re missing out! You’re only sailing on the ocean’s surface, and you have all the wonders of snorkeling and SCUBA diving ahead of you! Come join us on the seamy underside of the blog. . . .

Happy May Day!

The straw "casa" hats are still used in Japan, equally efficacious against sun and rain.

Rice-planting, Golden Week 2009, less than a block from my place.

Rice-planting tractor. Niigata is famous for its pure water, delicious rice, and delicious rice wine, or "sake."

A very cool vine-covered house in my neighborhood. In the fall, these leaves turn a brilliant red.