“FOCUS, and then you will be able to relax…”

Now, that definitely sounds like an oxymoron to me.

At least it was when I first heard it from Reverend Takafumi Kawakami (“Rev.”), while we were seated cross-legged from each other on our separate small cushions. The meditation hall was quiet….it was 9am in a spring morning Kyoto and the air outside was crisp and cool. I was taking this Zen meditation session very seriously. Still, I couldn’t help but ask Rev. in English, “Ermm, really? Is that possible?”


Reverend Takafumi meditating with me at Shunko-In Temple, Kyoto

Now first you got to know a little about Rev. Takafumi. If he was any stricter, I think I would have been hit on the head by the keisaku (a piece of wood used to whack meditators for losing focus or falling asleep, or in my case for being too inquisitive). Fortunately, Rev. is quite atypical of a Zen Abbot although he might seem like a stiff-necked serious guy from this picture (well that was because I asked him to pose…). Probably in his mid-thirties, Rev is the Vice-Abbot of Shunko-in Temple in Kyoto. His family had been caretakers of the Shunko-in Temple in Kyoto for centuries, and he would one day become his family’s 5th generation Chief Abbot here. Despite this heavy duty background, Rev. was actually a light-hearted guy. Educated in the U.S., Rev. was not only forward looking with his programs to educate foreigners on Zen monastery architecture and meditation, he very much looked like any hip city guy after ‘official’ working hours in his jeans and bubble jacket! Best of all, he believes that meditation is for relaxation, not torture! :)

Being introduced to the halls of the temple...fascinating

It might also be appropriate at this juncture to talk a little about Zen Buddhism, which is said to have come to Japan from China and flourished in Japan in the 14th century. The austere discipline and practical approach of Zen made it the Buddhism of the medieval Japanese military class. It is easy to categorize Zen Buddhism as a religion or a philosophy, but dig deeper and one would realize it is neither. Zen Buddhism is an experience…big on ‘intuitive understanding’ and recognition of the original nature of things, rather than on intellectual reasoning and philosophizing. It is concerned with what actually IS, rather than what we think or feel about what it is. It is concerned with the present, the Now. According to Rev., we should all experience less stress in our lives by concentrating our tasks based on what we have at present, unhampered by past failures nor the uncertainties of the future. Now this sounds easy enough, but how do we reinforce this approach and be aware of the present?

Simple. Through Zen meditation. And I had chosen to learn about it here within the compounds of the huge Myoshinji Temple in the northwest part of Kyoto, where I had also decided to stay 1 night the day before. This is the perfect place to learn about Zen meditation since Kyoto was one of the key places where Zen Buddhism flourished and several Zen monasteries here had become educational centers.

Zen meditation practices singular concentration on the breathing movement. If you think about it, our breathing really IS the perfect representative of the Now. We breathe all the time, all the ‘Nows’. Of course, like all other things that we take for granted in our lives, we never pay attention to it. By concentrating on breathing though, we are able to bring ourselves closer to an awareness of the present.

Well, up to this point all these made sense to me…I shouldn’t have any problem. But getting “there” with Zen meditation is not as easy as how Rev. made it sound to be. He lit a joss stick (used to measure time, not as an offering to any god or ancestor, thank goodness), hit the wooden blocks three times and rang a bell to signal the start of a meditation session. I was so aware of my concentration on breathing itself, that I couldn’t REALLY concentrate. I know it sounds confusing, but it’s true. My eyes were closed, but my eyeballs were roaming in all directions with random images and thoughts flashing before me…those of the bird chirping outside, of my posture, my breakfast, my lunch, my existence (ok, not in order of importance). I had to sit and keep my back as straight as possible while drawing in my breaths and exhaling them out. After the first joss stick was almost burnt and I had made my first attempt at meditation, Rev. looked me seriously in the eye and said, “I see your head nodding downwards…" followed by my declaration that no, I was not asleep. "You must sit up straighter. To sit straighter, imagine that your belly button is being pushed upwards….”. And to think that being a ballet dancer, I would have no problem whatsoever with posture.

And so I started my 2nd session, concentrating on my breathing and trying to imagine my belly button moving upwards from my belly to my abdomen…and then upwards somemore..up the abdomen..to...

And then, all of a sudden, I snapped back and returned to concentrate on my breathing. It was hard.

The joss-stick is meant to measure time! No cheating now...

Halfway through the second session though, I was starting to roam less and was concentrating better on just a few things (like my breathing, and still, the birds chirping outside!). Quite strangely the more I listened to my breathing, the less I concentrated on my concentration, and I actually began to…relax. I wasn’t even conscious that I was starting to relax. I guess that was the point. That was the answer to the oxymoron. Now perhaps I am starting to understand what Rev. meant by relaxing through meditation, through a one-minded focus on breathing.

Of course I am a long way away from mastering Zen meditation, but the short sessions helped me experience the idea of being singularly focused on the present. Surprisingly, it somehow gave an invigorating effect…a ‘can-do’ attitude to face life (for that day at least!). I had been looking forward to this, and I must say that practicing meditation under the direct teachings of a Zen abbot must be the best personal encounter of my inner self in Kyoto and with Kyoto, and perhaps with the underlying spirit of Zen.

View of its Zen garden from the corridor of Shunko-in Temple

Kyoto - experience the extra-ordinary. But first, the temples...

Shrine at the Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto

Kyoto, now where do I even start? This place is simply magic. There were many things I set out to find in Kyoto, and I found them all. And the surprising thing? The list did not include temples. Well, okay..maybe just one.

Undoubtedly, Kyoto is famous with more than 2,500 big and small temples, shrines & castles. My taxi driver gave me the exact number, and I remembered it as something like 2,670.....although it could really be 2,760. But, you get the point. Assuming you target just to see the top 1% of these temples and you visit 3 temples a day, it would still take you 8 days to complete them by which time you would end up with "temple fatigue", and nothing left in you to explore what I call the real magic of Kyoto.

To be sure, there are some really amazingly unique temples in Kyoto which I would include in my shortlist for anyone going there for the first time. The shortlist is based on my own experience when I last visited Kyoto. If there was something special that I still recall now about any of the temples I had visited, that temple would be worth the visit for you. The others are probably going to escape your memory like they did mine, so don't bother.

My favorite temples in Kyoto, and why I love them are listed here (in order of preference):

1) Kiyomizu Temple (meaning 'Pure Water Temple'). Kiyomizu was the only temple I re-visited during this trip...I love it for its spaciousness. Beautiful scenery during sakura season with a famous huge wooden vendara overlooking the city. You can taste the spring water below the terrance...cool..:) The walk towards the Temple along Higashiyama Street itself is a festive exploration into little shops and eateries, which just might set you back a little longer than you thought!

2) Sanjusangendo Temple. This one is sure to stun you to a stop for admiration when you enter the Sanjusangendo, which means a hall with 33 bays. To the buddhists, the number 33 is sacred as they believe that Buddha disguised himself in 33 forms to save mankind. What would stun you would be the impressive 1,001 carved wooden statutes of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy standing on the 33 bays, all of the same height. Too bad pictures can't be taken!

3) Nijo Castle. This castle was built by the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, in 1603, as a luxurious fortified residence. I like the Nijo Castle for the intriguing way certain features were built-in to the architecture that conjures images of ninjas sneaking in and out of the castle in the dark. The most fascinating feature is the nightingale floorings, which are special floorboards that creak and sound like nightingale when trod upon in the castle corridors. This serves to protect the Shogun from enemies or intruders (in addition to the already heavy defense of moat and stone walls, which shows just how much he thinks he is being loved). As if that is not enough, the nightingale floors have hidden extensions within them for bodyguards to ambush against enemies. How mysterious!

4) Kinkakuji Temple. Guidebooks describe this temple as beautiful, but I would prefer to describe it more as gaudy with its famous gold-leaf covered pavilion. It's like seeing someone adorn with nothing but a gold color gown and gold jewelry all over. The huge mirror pond does serve to soften the gaudiness, but the interesting thing part about Kinkakuji is not so much the gold-leaf pavilion as it is the architecture style. The first floor of the temple (which actually used to be a Shogun residence from 1397 - 1419) was built in Heian noble style, the 2nd floor Samurai style and the 3rd zen temple style. How the 3 styles decide to come together and be clothed in gold leaf is already a question you should come to find out the answer for.

5) The Zen rock garden at Daisen-In Temple (located within the larger Daitokuji Temple). Staring at rocks does not immediately seem an exciting thing to do. But somehow, a Zen rock garden seem to have a tranquilizing effect on even the most hurried minds. Maybe it is the act of sipping a cup of freshly brewed green tea while getting lost in the circles, lines and small mounts of rocks (reminds me of those 3D drawings). Or maybe it is the presence in this environment that suddenly creates an awareness to the Spirit of Zen, which emphasizes on living according to Nature. The garden was made about 500 years ago by the founding Zen abbot and is a 3D replicate of monochrome landscape paintings. Unless you take it as literally staring at rocks, chances are you would love the calming effect of a Zen rock garden and ask for a 2nd cup of tea :)

So there, that's my top 5 choices of temples to hop to in Kyoto. Hundreds of guidebooks write on temples in Kyoto, so it's a topic I would leave to the experts in this area. What I want to do is embark over the next blogs on the other extraordinary experiences in Kyoto.

Those that would leave you just a little bit more Japanese than before you came :)

And I just have to interrupt my blog entries for this...

Sakuras are at full bloom!!

At Nara...

In Tokyo..

(Pictures taken at Himuro Shrine, Nara and Ueno Park, Tokyo :) )

“Hands in Prayer” – Japanese style

Thatched-roofed houses at Ainokura

Despite being such a culturally rich country, it is an understatement to say that Japan is not a place well-understood by people from the world outside. There are people who would love to savor every bit of fascinating Japan they can, but are only hampered by a single problem - language. Having said that, sometimes it’s the Japanese that prefer to keep their treasures a secret (until modernization forces them to find a way to preserve these treasures through an internationally recognized movement).

Therefore it is not surprising to find that the two sites of the Ainokura village at Gokayama* (in Toyama prefecture) and Shirakawa-go (in Gifu prefecture) in the Chubu region, with traditional houses of more than 300 years old boasting architecture and thatched roofs that can be found no other place in Japan, were only designated the Unesco World Cultural Heritage Sites in 1995. At the same time, it is also amazing that the locals have managed to keep the villages, the houses and the way of life the same now as several generations ago, oblivious to the rapid changes that Japan as a nation is going through.

Aerial view of Ainokura village, a Unesco World Cultural Heritage Site

Ainokura village is the most remote destination on my entire trip itinerary, but also the one I looked forward to most. It is nestled deep in steep mountains and faces the most snowfall in Japan during winter. It used to be extremely difficult to reach this place due to the harsh winters, but now it is possible to access by car or bus. Geographically, it is located nearer to central Ishikawa prefecture but due to the surrounding alpine mountains and valleys, there was no easy way to get there except to make a detour trip up to northern Ishikawa by train from Kanazawa and then a bus down to the village. Because the Ainokura village is so remotely located in the mountains, the houses themselves had to be able to withstand the heavy snowfall and the penetrating cold in winter (I guess because there was no electricity 300 years ago…??) yet also be able to allow the air within to be cool in the summer. This brings us to the amazing feature of houses in Ainokura village.

Check out the "Hands-in-Prayer" style roof of the house

There are only 23 houses in the remote Ainokura village (although there are more in nearby Shirakawa-go), most of which were built between the end of the Edo period (about 300 years ago) and the end of the Meiji period. The oldest house is dated back to the 17th century. These houses are built in “Gassho-Zukuri” (or “hands-in-prayer”) style, so called because of the shape of the roof, which are at 60 degrees in an inverted V-shape to prevent snow from building up on them. The thatched roofs are made with straw from crops and can withstand 3 m of snow. Constructing these thick straw roofs is an art in itself, and an extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming affair. Layers of the straws must be tied and bound onto the roof, and the process repeated 5 times by skilled craftsmen all within a day or two to prevent decay of the straws. In general, these houses require 20 x 4 tons truck loads of straws to rethatch but once constructed, the roofs are so durable that re-thatching is done only once in every 15 - 20 years! (Also, despite the size of these houses, there are no nails used at all in their construction.)

And it's just straw and ropes and beams...no nails

So it was great timing I thought, to find that the 300 yr-old minshuku (i.e. traditional Japanese house) I would be staying at in Ainokura village was undergoing its first day of re-thatching after 15 years. Nakaya Minshuku (http://www1.tst.ne.jp/snakaya/index.html) was featured in Japan Hour in December 2008** and the owner, Nakatani-san and his wife, were delighted to have me visit them from Singapore :)

The owners of Nakaya Minshuku, Nakatani-san and his wife :)

Rethatching of the roof at Nakaya, the 300 yrs old minshuku I was staying in

Ainokura village is small, but stepping into it was like walking straight into a storybook “Once upon a time…” place in the mountains, Japanese style. Again, like the snow monkeys I visited, Ainokura would be extremely beautiful to visit in winter time from December – February. The picturesque scenery would be any photographer’s dream, and well-worth travelling the road for. The lack of accessibility to the village in earlier times meant that the village was largely self-sufficient, and had developed its own unique traditions in folk music and dance. The locals would have happily kept this remote and unique village a secret, even from other Japanese, if not for the fact that several of the Gassho-zukuri houses were being torn down due to dam construction and housing modernization. Only then did the locals realize that they had to start a movement to protect the heritage of the village. And only then were Ainokura village, together with Shirakawa-go, really revealed to the outside world and finally added to the list of Unesco World Cultural Heritage Sites in 1995.

In the cold of about 5 degrees at night, sitting by the irori (i.e. sunken fireplace) and having a home-cooked kaiseki dinner at Nakaya was definitely the perfect way to stay warm!

Having my dinner in front of the Irori (sunken fireplace) in my room

Chatting with the wife of Nakatani-san about the village and the heritage of this 300 years old house brought as much wonder to me as I brought to her with my tale of travels alone in search of authentic Japan. As I took a hot ofuro bath and settled in the comfortable futon laid out for me, I could only place my “hands-in-prayer” and hope that people would learn about this place and visit it before it loses itself in time that always erodes.

* Gokayama means five valleys in Japanese, and Ainokura is surrounded by these five valleys of Akao-dani, Kami-Nashi-dani, Shimo-Nashi-dani, Otani, and Toga-dani along the Sho-gawa River.

** Refer to the last section of the Japan Hour episode found at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/japanhour/highlights_dec27.htm

Warmest oysters ever tasted in Anamizu

Prelude (added 4 days after first posting this blog):

This article is not like the rest. Nothing much about facts and background...a lot on personal feelings. That is because I am attempting to convey something I experienced in Japan that surpassed the destination itself.

Travelling is more than sight-seeing. Relax. Slow down. Be friends. If you have gone travelling to a foreign place, but have not had any interactions with the locals, then you are missing out on the essence of travel. Humanity. Sometimes I can travel miles to a place, but only remember the journey along the way or an interaction I had there. This article is about that. The best thing is that it is both about the journey AND an unforgettable interaction.

Remember, sometimes the highlight of your travel may not be the destination itself! :)
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Main blog:

At Riki, a small family-owned oyster & seafood shop in Anamizu

I have had the great fortune to meet some really special people during my travels in Japan this time. Some of them I may never meet again, but I know I will remember for a very long time. Two of these people own a small family-owned oyster shop called Riki (カ) in Anamizu, a town located in Noto Peninsula, northern Ishikawa Prefecture.

The Noto Peninsula boasts the largest oyster cultivation district on the Sea of Japan. Therefore finding an oyster restaurant at Anamizu didn't seem such a difficult task....unless you are talking about searching for it at 8.30pm and without any prior reservation, not to mention that the temperature outside was about 7 deg! It turned out to be a huge challenge, though hunting for the oysters while on a Harley Davidson made it a great deal more exciting :) My friend, Nate (from Kanazawa, he would add) and I had already, before reaching Anamizu, been riding an hour from Kanazawa to Nanao, and another 45min from Nanao to Anamizu (not to mention the detour to Notojima in between). With the cold wind rushing against us at about 120km/hr, we were almost freezing at a blistering 5deg. So if we didn't have the oysters we wanted, we would be two very hungry and cold monsters indeed.


Riding on the Harley up the winding roads of Ishikawa Prefecture!

There were many small restaurants in Anamizu that serve fresh oysters in various forms such as batter-frying, stir-frying, or just simply raw. The most interesting must be baking them alive (somehow the Japanese have a fetish of eating things alive..). By 9.30pm however, none of these delicious options seemed within reach. We were about to give up until a local lady helped us telephone Riki, which we were convinced was the only one in town that still had a table on a tatami seating for two! We sped there fast as we could, and were elated to step into Riki knowing that we finally had seats waiting for us in a warm place, and that we were actually going to have oysters...(some of the freshest at that)!


Delicious fresh oysters at Riki in Anamizu!

Riki was a nice warm place to be in after braving the cold for almost 2 hours. The oysters were delicious and we had to order more since we didn't know when we would come back again. We had friendly little chats with the elderly couple who were running the shop over some beer, mainly about the oysters and the queer transparent looking tiny fish called Isaza swimming in the tank that would be eaten alive later (Isaza is also a specialty of Anamizu - http://www.hanashiori.jp/image/fish/big/isaza_big.jpg). We also talked about why I could speak Japanese, how Singapore is like (besides our Merlion!) and how they would love to visit :)

I loved the homely feeling away from home, but the warmth didn't end there. The Oba-chan (auntie) and Oji-chan (uncle) that I knew for only slightly more than an hour, did something for me which I shall always remember. We were about to mount onto the Harley for a cold 1.5hrs ride back to Kanazawa at 11.30pm, when the Oba-chan suddenly appeared at the doorstep with a thick bubble jacket probably more expensive than the meal we had, uttered in Japanese that it should keep me warm for my ride home, and buttoned the jacket on for me.

In this situation where even the most polite 'Domo arigatou gozaimasu' was unable to fully express how I felt, I did the most un-Japanese thing. I gave the sweet Oba-chan a big hug and could not say anything more.

I still remember the ride in the cold night to hunt for the oysters, and the little shop with some of the freshest taste of the oysters I ever had. But most of all, I will always remember the gesture of kindness and humanity I received in the most unexpected way here in Japan. Thank you Oba-chan & Oji-chan. I will keep the jacket for now and hope to see you again one day in Anamizu or Merlion Singapore....:)

* Tel no. for Riki (カ): 81-768-52-2164 (only Japanese!)

Chill like the Snow Monkeys

Posing for my camera

I must admit, I am not really an avid animal lover. Other than the whale sharks in the Philippines for which I recently took two flights and a van ride just to snorkel with (it was an amazing experience by the way!), I have never travelled long distances for any other creature.

So I am a little surprised at myself for deciding to take a 3.5 hours trip* from Nozawa Onsen where I was snowboarding, to a relatively difficult-to-reach place called Jidokudani.....just to see a bunch of monkeys. Well, actually these were really not 'just a bunch of monkeys', but I do have to attribute my decision to embark on this leg of the journey largely to a guy named Michael Helbig**. I don't know him personally, but his wonderful series of photographs taken of the Snow Monkeys of Japan inspired me enough to want to capture the fascinating behaviour of these Japanese Macaque myself.

Munching on some flea I suppose...

The Snow Monkeys are so named because they reside in a place that is covered in snow for 1/3 of the year due to its high elevation of 850m. The area of Jigokudani, located in the valley of the Yokoyu River that flows from Shiga Kogen (also the largest ski resort in the northern part of Nagano prefecture), is also known as Hell's Valley because of the steep cliffs and hotspring.

Unfortunately, of all times, I was at Jigokudani at the start of the remaining 2/3 year where there is no more snow. The best time to visit them would be December to February since capturing these animated animals (note: not all animals are animated) in the most scenic snow environment would have been highly rewarding. Nevertheless I met a few nature photographers who had come from Australia and Europe to observe and photograph the amazing behavior of these highly intellectual animals, so that humbled my grand ambitions to an appreciation of nature for what it is at any point in time.

To me, there were 2 most interesting things about these Snow Monkeys. First, they resemble Japanese in one very particular way - They love to lounge. In hotsprings. In fact, they have an outdoor onsen all to themselves at the valley which they soak in everyday. Well, to me that sure doesn't sound anything like hell!

Who says only people know how to enjoy life??

And....these monkeys sure know how to pose!! One brochure introducing these monkeys read, "Photography of the monkeys by camera or video is possible. The monkeys do not mind camera flashes." Well, at least that sounds more obliging than some people I have come across. Judging from some of the pictures I have seen and taken, I believe these clever animals knew exactly what we humans were there at their habitat for. Rather than feeling intruded, they have decided to be totally nonchalant about our presence...at times even sparing us the agony of TRYING to capture their expressions at the right moments by, well, just simply staring right into our camera lens. Now, THAT is good modelling skills indeed! :)

Taking a nap after a dip in the hotspring...what a life!

If I have a chance, I would come back in the snow season to do this again. Meantime, I need to learn from these monkeys and just CHILL!

* The 3.5 hrs ride included a 1.5 hr bus from Nozawa Onsen to Nagano City, followed by a 1 hour train ride to Yudanaka & Shiga Onsen, and a 45min bus ride to Jigokudani.

* The website of the photo gallery is http://giphsub.smugmug.com/gallery/3281434_n4nnb#241636160_WA8Wg

Stepping back in time to Old Japan..

A family from the Edo period..or at least, looking like it! :)

I have found a gem in Japan. A place called Yudanaka & Shibu Onsen at Yamanouchi town in Nagano. If I have to choose a place to truly feel like you are stepping back into old Japan, this would probably be one of the best.

Yamanouchi Town is located in the northeastern part of Nagano Prefecture, and comprises of three main tourists areas: Shiga Kogen heights (ski resort), Kita-Shiga Kogen Heights (ski resort) and Yudanaka & Shibu Onsen. The Onsen was found about 1,300 years ago by a Japanese monk, Gyoki and is a well-known hot spring resort among locals.

I was stopping by Yudanaka Onsen on the way to my hunt for the Snow Monkeys the next day. Knowing that I was going to stay at Kokuya, a ryokan with 400 years of history here made it a stay that I was really looking forward to. Kokuya ryokan (http://www.ichizaemon/) is the only one in the area with 6 different 100% natural hot springs and still uses the same pure hot spring water for the last 400 years. The ryokan’s present master is 16th generation and the Okami-san* (wife of the master who manages the ryokan, whom I had chats with about the history of the area and the ryokan), has devoted her life to mastering the skills and art of managing the ryokan.

Kokuya Ryokan on the right

There is deep-rootedness and preservation of Japanese tradition in this place. Everything along the main Shibu Onsen street brings you back to the past…to somewhere 300 years ago. It is almost natural to feel like you are in the Edo period. Locals and visitors alike were going to the public onsen baths and strolling along on the stone-paved streets in their yukata (simplified kimono) and Geta slippers (Japanese wooden footgear) just like how people who lived here did hundreds of years ago.

Walking out after a a dip in the public onsen

The tablet pass from Kokuya that is used to gain access to the public onsens in the town (looks like a tablet of authority from the emporer!)

The old architecture of ryokans and houses were also impressive. The ryokan just opposite of Kokuya (whose beautiful night light-up view I had the fortune to see from my room balcony while sipping on my Sapporo beer) - Kanaguya (http://www.kanaguya.com/), had managed to preserve its original form since 1758. The pictures outside the ryokan showed people from the long past, in their kimonos and hairstyles of that period, posing at exactly the same spots of the ryokan that were visible to anyone standing on the street looking at it now. This ryokan is a national heritage asset, and I hope it would still be the same 250 years later.

The beautiful Kanaguya ryokan built in 1758

Wanting to be part of the past, I decided that I would go out and stroll and have yakitori in a small little izakaya in my yukata. But first, I had to choose one out of 7 hotspring baths within Kokuya. Of course I chose the outdoor hotspring (Issa) which allowed me to do some star-gaze while soaking in the onsen (oh yes, of course!). It was a little difficult to tear myself away from that, but wrapping myself in yukata and with my toes in tabi socks and Geta slippers, I stepped out of the ryokan onto the street. Taking a deep breath of the crisp cool spring air while feeling warm from the onsen, I felt such bliss it was almost difficult to stop smiling to myself. I took my time to stroll up and down the street, listening to the tapping my slippers made on the stone-pavements. Being able to enjoy life the same way as the ancestors did (albeit just for one night), in an old ryokan and cobbled streets as the ancestors were in, provided such a transient interaction with the past that it was a truly unforgettable meeting with history heart to heart :)

* The okami's role corresponds to that of a general manager in a Western hotel. In many cases, the okami is the owner of the ryokan or the wife of the owner, which means that the okami, as the representative of the ryokan, attends to all external affairs such as business matters and cooperation with the local community (Quote: Japan Ryokan Association)