Kubota Museum

Last month I traveled to the Lake Kawaguchiko area close to the base of Mt. Fuji, a two and a half/three hour trip from my house. The purpose of this trip was to visit the Itchiku Kubota Museum. I had seen some blog posts of this special museum and a couple of the people on our Thailand trip had traveled there and said with my interest in Indigo/Shibori/Art that this was a must-see for me. They weren’t kidding.

Once a month I travel to Fujisawa to have an English conversation class, about a 45 minute trip from my house. These ladies have been getting together for over 20 years and I am just one of a long line of American women who have become their teacher. Their English is excellent, they are all talented with varying interests and I have been so fortunate to have them as my students (and I use that word loosely, since there are times I wonder who's learning more). They had asked months ago if there was someplace that I would be interested in visiting and I mentioned the Kubota Museum – but I didn't realize at the time that it was such a hike to get to. Being ever so gracious they didn't bat an eye and started to plan how we would get there. Kimiko, Hiroko, Kato-san and Kazuko met me on the train, very early (I had to catch the 6:17 a.m. train from Yokosuka) headed for Yokohama where we were to catch a bus to Lake Kawaguchiko where the museum is located. It was rainy season and we headed out in pouring down rain but that did not dampen our spirits. In addition to the Kubota Museum there was also a doll museum and a Lavender garden in full bloom on our itinerary. I settled in on the bus ride, read the article I had printed out from the Smithsonian Magazine (in 1995 Kubota's work was exhibited at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the first living artist to have his/her work exhibited), enjoyed the scenery through the rain soaked bus window, and tried to envision Kubota's work – kimono’s that are considered works of art, take more than a year to make and the artist who had the vision to create these masterpieces was a National Living Treasure up until his death in 2003.

Background
At the age of 14, Kubota left school to apprentice under a Kimono artist that specialized in yuzen (a rice-paste resist dye technique). At the age of 20 he discovered a tsujigahana fragment, a textile and decorative technique from the Muromachi period (1338-1573) at the Tokyo National Museum. With the technique lost over time, Kubota decided to devote his studies to recreating this technique. He also studied Japanese sumi-e and landscape portraiture that would later evolve into his “Symphony of Light” series that represents the four seasons and the universe. His vision was to create a series of 80 kimonos where the landscape design flows from one kimono to the next, creating a panorama of the seasons and views of Mt. Fuji. WWII erupted and Kubota’s self-study of the tsujigahana technique was interrupted. At the end of the war he was stationed in Korea where he was captured by the Russians and sent to Siberia where he was held for several years. During this period of imprisonment he witnessed intense sunsets – among so much despair he found beauty and vowed that once he returned to Japan he would create a Kimono to emulate his vision.

Impressions and Inspiration
The museum does not allow photos of the kimonos, but you can go to the links below and to see some photos of his work in articles that have been written about Kubota. I do love museums and this one will go down as life transforming for me … I know, my husband would probably laugh at this (nuke/doc vs. artist) – but the beauty of Kubota’s work is breathtakingly beautiful. As Kubota was speechless and moved by his discovery of the 17 century tsujigahana textile remanant, so too was I moved by Kubota’s work. It is like nothing I have ever seen – the colors on the kimono’s are intense when they need to be, subtle when called for. The detail work it equisite, embroidery used to emphasize the work is perfection with the silk embroidery threads hand dyed to match the background. The sumi-e painted details are delicate and highlight Kubota’s artistic eye. I could have spent hours there, I wish I had a seat in front of each of these works to just sit and absorb – the texture of each of the works is rich and it took great discipline to not reach out and touch the kimonos. The kimonos are displayed in a large hall that was created with Kubota’s vision. There are large, massive ancient beams that form a pyramid shape towards a pinnacle skylight in the ceiling. The museum does have a small room off of the gallery where you can view an English video of Kubota at work and see the many layers and processes it takes to complete one kimono. I was also in luck that day, with my 4 Japanese friends I was able to ask questions about techniques that perhaps if I had been there alone I would not have … however, I suspect that the docent in the gallery at the time had an excellent command of the English language since she was able to respond to most of my questions without translation.

There is a lovely tearoom off of the main gallery area where we had some green tea and sweet beans – American taste buds may wrinkle their noses at the sound of that but it’s quite nice, the slightly bitter macha green tea complemented by the sweet beans was delicious. The scenery, looking out towards the back of the garden area was lush and green with vegetation and quite relaxing with the sound of the steady rain coming down.

With much reluctance I left the gallery space, with the hope that I will be able to come back here at least once more before my time is up here in Japan. The kimonos rotate and apparently the ones on display had only recently come out to be viewed – so next time I may have the opportunity to see some different masterpieces. The garden area is supposed to be lovely with trails up and behind the museum but it was still raining when we left and I will have to save that for another time.

For more information on Kubota go to:
http://www.itchiku-tsujigahana.co.jp
http://www.cantonart.org/32
http://slowmuse.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/kubotas-kimono-art/

Lavender Garden
Heading back around the lake to the Lavender garden on the tour loop Retro Bus, just as we were coming around Lake Kawaguchiko the clouds broke and Mt. Fuji appeared! What a treat to see this natural beauty. We reached the park to discover we were in luck, there was a lavender festival going on and I made some purchases … lavender linen water (YES!!), lavender sachets, lavender perfume. Did I mention that I love lavender? Every house we’ve every lived in I’ve planted it … except here. It’s so darn expensive – I did see some plants that were for sale and were a whole lot more reasonable than what I could buy locally and as Kimiko stood patiently while I weighed the pros and cons of lugging a plant by bus and then by train, and then walking it to my car common sense prevailed and I left it behind for someone else to enjoy. We ate some lunch from a vendor, grabbed an excellent locally brewed beer and then headed to the Yuki Atae Doll Museum.

The Yuki Atae Doll Museum
This is a lovely little museum that features a changing display of the dolls by Yuki Atae. These figurative sculptures are meticulously created by Atae, some taking more than a month to create. He takes his inspiration from a more simple time, scenes of children from the early twentieth century – playing games like tug of war, caring for a younger sibling, a group of young boys having a battle. The scenes are charming, most of the dolls are dressed in traditional Japanese clothing – it can take him months to find the correct old kimono cloth to use – and gave this westerner a window into a time gone by. There is a video in the museum, it is in Japanese, but still worth sitting down and watching the process, particularly how he captures the facial expressions of the children. If you have the time to spare, this museum is well worth a detour. Atae’s work has been shown at the Louvre, the Baccarat Museum in Paris and a gallery in Soho, NY.
For more information on Yuki Atae and his work go to: http://www.westwoodgallery.com/yuki/doc/122000.htm
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061229a7.html

After the museum we caught the local retro bus back to the Kawaguchiko Station where we caught the bus back to Shinagawa Station and made our way home from there. It was a long day but one of my best days in Japan. I feel so very lucky to have connected with my Fujisawa ladies and am thankful they are willing to take time out of their busy lives to share a part of Japan with me that I might have otherwise missed. Till next time, sayonara.

Hiroshima

Day three and day five of our trip we spent in Hiroshima. We arrived in the afternoon on the bullet train, stored our gear in lockers and headed out to the Peace Park. It was a perfect time to hit the park, all of the school groups had departed by the time we arrived, it was a beautiful day, clear skies, unseasonably cool weather – perfect for walking around the area.

A-Dome
It’s hard to describe my emotions as we made our way through the park. The skeletal remains of the A-dome are haunting. There was a movement at one point to tear the structure down, the thought from the citizens that they needed to move on, live in the present. I am so glad those that favored that idea did not win out – the remains of the building is a very graphic reminder of the power and destruction of war. It was incredibly moving to stand there and realize that more than 60 years ago our country and Japan were at war and our country wreaked havoc on this land. Now, here I am living in this beautiful, friendly country, our countries are allies and I’m thankful the human spirit can overcome the hatred of war.

Monument to the Mobilized Students
We moved on and only a few steps away there was a Monument to the Mobilized Students. During the war students age 13 to 15 were mobilized to demolish wooden houses for fire prevention – on August 6, 1945 6097 of these young people were killed by the atomic bombing while they were working. There are doves scattered throughout its five tiers and at the base is a beautiful Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) statue, with peace cranes surrounding her. While we were standing there, speechless and moved by the beauty of the monument, a single yellow crane falls from one of the 1000 cranes behind the Kannon – Wrenn stoops down and picks it up and gently places it in the Kannons hands … and me in my mommy moment have to bite my lip to keep the tears from flowing. At 12, she gets it …

Centograph
Let all the souls here rest in peace: for we shall not repeat the evil.
This is the prayer that is inscribed at the Memorial Centograph. The Centograph is a tribute to all those that lost their lives on the day of the bombing and to those who died from its effects in the aftermath. The memorial is arch-shaped like that of an ancient Japanese home, symbolizing a shelter for the victims souls. Underneath the arch is a chest which contains the names of nearly a quarter of a million people who died.

Children’s Peace Monument
This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth.
This is a touching monument with the 1000 cranes in display cases and the memorial statue with the child holding up a peace crane. If you are not familiar with the story of Sadako, she was a young school girl who was exposed to the radiation from the bomb and developed cancer from the exposure. Her story is about courage and hope … she heard the Japanese story if you make a 1000 paper cranes good fortune will find you. In the hope that she would survive her battle with cancer she made 1000 paper cranes. Sadly, at age 12 she died from what her mom called the “A-bomb disease” but her legacy of peace and hope lives on with peace cranes sent to this site from all over the world.

Peace Memorial Museum
We probably arrived too late in the day to really give this museum our full attention – I’d say it needs a good 2 hours to visit and we had just over an hour. It is quite an extensive exhibit and I quickly reached information overload. The first half of the exhibit is pretty much void of the human element and is technical with the background and build up to the bombing on the 6th of August, 1945. Not realizing that there is a second half, the chime sounded indicating the museum would be closing in a 1/2 hour and I picked up my pace to discover the second half of the museum is where I should have spent 95% of my time – this side is a newer exhibit and touches on the impact of the bombing on the citizens of Hiroshima. Having been spoiled with visits to countless museums – most notably the Holocaust Museum in DC which deals with sensitive subject matter, working on some NPS museum projects and having lived in the DC area for 7+ years I was disappointed with the Peace Memorial Museum. It’s A LOT to take in and the flow of the overall exhibit seemed very disjointed to me … not that they’ll care what little ol’ me thinks but for those of you reading this and planning to visit, you might appreciate a heads up.

Peace Bell
Bell of Peace
We dedicate this bell
As a symbol of Hiroshima Aspiration:
Let all nuclear arms and war be gone,
and the nations live in true peace!
May it ring to all corners of the earth
to meet the ear of every man.
for in it throb and palpitate
the hearts of its peace-loving donors.
So may you too, friends,
step forward, and toll this bell for peace!

We returned on the morning of day 5 of our Kyoto/Hiroshima adventure. The school groups were out in full force and we decided to hit a few of the spots in the memorial that we had missed on our visit Monday afternoon. We crossed over the Aioi-bahsi renraku-kyo Bridge that the Enola Gay used as the landmark for releasing the bomb and we made our way to the Peace Bell. On Wednesday as we walked through the Peace Park I could hear almost at a steady rhythm a deep resonant tolling of a bell. I thought it was some sort of mechanical tolling of a bell, but no it is created by the human touch – we arrived and waited our turn as each one of us stepped up and took our turn at ringing the bell of peace. The sound is deep and the vibrations, when you place your hand on the bell run through you to your soul. It was deeply moving.


On our way back to catch the streetcar, I was standing by the A-dome area waiting for the rest of the family to catch up with me when a Japanese lady armed with a notebook approached me and offered to guide us through the park. She is a Hiroshima city volunteer and I was so disappointed that we hadn’t run into her when we first arrived, it would have been great to have her as our guide. She does this for free in order to practice her English. We told her we were sorry but we were headed to the train station to catch our train but we spared 5 minutes so she could tell us a little about what happened in Hiroshima during/after the bomb. One interesting fact we learned was that in September, just 5 weeks after the bombing, Hiroshima was hit by Makurazaki Typhoon which led to 3000 more deaths and further destruction, but the silver lining in this natural disaster is that it washed away at least some of the radioactivity. Scientists had thought that no trees would grow, no plants would reemerge for decades – instead within a year they started to see re-growth, as we saw with the Phoenix Trees in the Peace Park. The other interesting story was about the sole survivor of the area. Prior to WWII the area where the Peace Park stands was a thriving community full of shops and homes. A worker was in the basement of his shop when the bomb exploded which destroyed the area, he survived the impact because he just happened to go to the basement at the right moment. How does someone recover from that? It’s hard to wrap your head around something like that – how does someone emerge from utter destruction and then move on? But clearly, the people of Hiroshima have moved on, the city is quite nice and what struck me most is the space. Unlike the other cities I’ve been to here in Japan this one has breathing space. The streets are wide, there are lots and lots of trees, with a number of rivers running through the city there are many bridges adding to the scenery.

So that’s it … 5 days jampacked with history, world heritage sites and beautiful scenery. It was a great trip, our kids were at a perfect age to absorb it all – hard to believe it’s been a month and a half since we toured Kyoto, Mija Jima and Hiroshima. Hardly a day passes without someone talking about our experiences. It was a great trip and I hope we can find our way back down to that part of Japan before our time here ends. Especially in Kyoto, where I feel we only scratched the surface – there’s so much more waiting for us to explore. Till next time, sayonara.