Category Archives: history

Supernovas and Other Birthdays

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Willie+Nelsonkristen dunst

Birth
It’s my birthday today. So I was curious to see who else shared my birthday. I conducted an internet search and found a lot of saints and a whole lot of other people I’d never heard of. I guess because my search was in English, the search results were mostly American or European. So if you know of any others from around the world, let me know.

From the results, there were only three people that I recognized and who I also like. Nevertheless, the best I could come up with were a grizzled country singer, a pretty good non-fiction writer, and an actress who’s already a has-been at 27.

1933 –Willie Nelson
1945 –Annie Dillard
1982 –Kirsten Dunst

April 30 is also a big day in Northern Europe. Both Sweden and the Netherlands celebrate the birthdays of their monarchs. And it’s the official first day of Spring for all of Scandinavia.

MuddyWatersgeorge balanchine

Death
More interesting than the birthdays are the deaths. Apart from the happy death of a genocidal maniac, I came across some truly fabulous artists: a French impressionist painter, a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, and a great blues musician.

1883 –Édouard Manet
1945 –Adolf Hitler
1983 –George Balanchine
1983 –Muddy Waters

sn1006

Supernovas
There is actually one other birthday that I found. April 30, 1006 was the day Supernova SN 1006 was born. According to Wikipedia, SN 1006 was the brightest stellar event in recorded history. Even though it was 7,200 light years away from Earth, it was as bright as a quarter of the full moon. And people could read at night by the light of the explosion. Here’s a picture of the 1,000 year old remains.

I thought that was cool. But maybe it’s more of an event than a birthday. So I decided to check out what other important world events have occurred. Here are four that I picked out.

1492 –Spain gives Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
1789 –George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected US President.
1975 –The Vietnam War ends with the fall of Saigon.
1993 –The World Wide Web is born at CERN.

The first three seemed to create a nice narrative arc, spanning the beginning of the European colonization of the Americas to US independence. And then to another country becoming independent from US influence.

And finally, the birth of the World Wide Web is perhaps another world altogether, becoming independent from us. And based on this schematic of the Web, maybe it was the birth of another supernova.

Internet_map_1024

Kamakura in Autumn

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parasol

I went to Kamakura last Wednesday and it was pretty much the peak of the autumn colors. I can’t get used to how late autumn is in Tokyo. It’s mid December now and the reds, oranges and yellows are just now past the peak.

A History of Austerity
Kamakura was the capital of Japan during the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) when the Shogunate wrested control away from the Emperor and the former capital in Kyoto. During this time, the warrior class distinguished itself from the Shinto/Imperial priestly class by practicing Buddhism.

The austerity and fatalism of the warrior class developed a brand of Buddhism that favored austerity and fatalism, namely the various Zen sects. So the architecture of Kamakura reflects this, with all the temples and even the Shinto shrines designed and built very simply, without much decoration and almost no colors.

pointing

Kamakura is probably my favorite place in Japan. Maybe even more than Kyoto or Nara. Nearly all the temples are within walking distance from each other. And the city itself is still charming, with no tall modern buildings, yet none of the ugly old run-down post-war buildings that’s usually the alternative in those other cities.

It’s also only about an hour ride away by train from central Tokyo. And it’s never really been busy, so you can still get a nice spiritual experience, wandering around.

I wanted to visit some of the out of the way temples that I’ve never been able to visit. They’re accessible only after an hour hike in the forests surrounding the city. But according to the guidebooks the best places for autumn colors are the large major temples I’d already visited several times. Since I’d never been there in the fall, and I haven’t been there in over two years, I figured it would be a new experience regardless.

For the course that I followed click on this sentence. It’s a link to the Kamakura City site. They have over a dozen recommended walking courses depending on your mood or interests. I chose the one that started at Kita-Kamakura Station and ended in Kamakura Station, which hits the biggest of the Rinkai Zen temples. The whole trip lasted 4 hours even with a leisurely stroll, an amazake break, and a stop off for some udon. If you really want to make a day of it, I suggest you hop on the train and go further south another 2 stations and visit the Great Buddha, and the nearby Hasedera.

amazakeThe temples of Kamakura are ranked by importance. Number 1 is Kencho-ji. I highly recommend you do two things there:

  1. Climb the endless stairs up the back of the huge temple grounds up to Hansobo. The view is excellent, but the trek up there can be taxing for those not in shape. I really dig the statues of protective what I call ‘crowboys’ that line the stairs.
  2. A shorter climb, but no less taxing, is the staircase up to Bonsho, which is the historically important large bell on a hill off to the side of the temple grounds. The bell is nice, but the important thing is to sit down at the teahouse up there and sip amazake or green tea while looking at Mt. Fuji peer around the wooded hills.

For more pictures from Kamakura, from all my visits there, click on this sentence.

coins at the feet

The Edo-Tokyo Museum

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the spidey escalator
Entrance to the Edo-Tokyo Museum

The Edo-Tokyo Museum near Ryogoku Station in Tokyo, is a massive concrete hangar-like structure with a broad outdoor plaza designed for hundreds of school kids and senior citizen tour groups. The main exhibit is divided into two zones. One features the history of Edo, what Tokyo was called before the Meiji Era, and the other features how Edo became the Tokyo that we now know. The exhibit consist mostly of scale models of historical street scenes and buildings, dioramas of daily life, and lots of artifacts. Give yourself at least three hours to see the whole thing, four hours if you’re like me, ponderously reading the posted information and looking for interesting details. Among the details I learned was that low-level samurai had very simple lives. Their daily living things were often rough and utilitarian.

In the Edo Zone I found a particularly interesting corner devoted to the Korean diplomats who came when a new Japanese Shogun rose to power. The processional was described as a highlight of cultural exchange for the Japanese. This was a time for local scholars and technicians to visit the Koreans and get the latest in technology, philosophy, religion and statecraft, while the general populace regaled in the horsemanship of the guards. As for any other Korean references I found it odd that no displays were devoted to the Japanese occupation of Korea since there were lots of Tokyo-Seoul connections during this time. In contrast, there were displays on the occupation of Manchuria, as well as war with the Chinese and Russians.

korean processional
Korean processional

My favorite thing about the museum were the huge floor maps of Edo. It was fun to walk over the city and look for my neighborhood, Ebisu, only to find that it was farmland in the outskirts of the city.

edo map
Edo map

A Kawase Hasui exhibit was included in the regular ticket price and consisted of his works of ukioe prints. It was interesting when they put up current photographs of the same scenes he illustrated. Mostly it was poignant to see a beautiful scene worth portraying become a concrete eyesore. For those interested, there were good notes on the printmaking process.

Tensho-in Atusu-hime was thoroughly informative on a little known but critically important member of the Tokugawa clan. She helped to make a peaceful transition (for Edo anyway) to anti-Shogun forces. Otherwise, it was far too crowded to get a good viewing. The displays were text heavy and therefore uninteresting for the non-Japanese literate, and were packed in with readers even if you could read Japanese. Even if you could read it and secured a spot over the display, it was written in an ornate old style of writing that is difficult to read. Still, there were some special pieces, such as silk, brocade robes and exquisite paintings. But the galleries were packed with visitors who drawn to the exhibit because they had watched the TV show of the princess. In short, while the subject matter was fascinating, the exhibit wasn’t worth the 900 yen admission fee.

The main exhibit of Edo and Tokyo, however, was well worth the 600 yen admission, free with the Grutt pass.

An Art Deco Masterpiece

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teien

Before the Japanese emperor regained control of Japan in the mid-19th century, the Shogun exerted control over the warlords through a variety of means. The most important way was to require his lords and their families to live in Tokyo. This allowed the Shogun to keep an eye on them, keep their families hostage, and make them spend a lot of their resources keeping two households while traveling back and forth.

What’s this got to do with the museum I’m about to review? The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum is located in Shirokane, the neighborhood where many of those lords lived. The museum itself is housed in the former Prince Asaka’s mansion, a lovely and inspired use of an historical building. Completed in 1933, the house is truly an art deco masterpiece. There are murals by Henri Rapin on the walls, gorgeous glass reliefs by Rene Lalique, decorative ironwork by Raymond Subes, and sculptures by Leon Blanchot, among others. It’s a spectacular venue. Every so often, the museum has a special exhibition of the mansion itself, opening all the rooms to the public.

Architectural Photography

teien exhibit

Most of the time, however, the main rooms of the mansion serve as galleries for other exhibits. The current exhibit is Remembrance of Places Past: Japanese Architectural Photography from the 19th to the 21st Century. This is an exhibit of Japanese photographers who’ve photographed architecture and western photographers who have photographed Japanese buildings.

Highlights include:

  • Early photographs of palaces around Tokyo. These were designed in Western styles by European and American architects, and includes the museum itself. These were built to try to rival Western imperial powers to prove that Japan was an equal to other world/European powers, according to the gallery explanation. Curious that they thought mimicry was the best path to this, instead of glorifying or innovating Japan’s unique architectural heritage.
  • Ito Chuta advocated such a development of native architecture. For his troubles he was asked by the Japanese government to go to Beijing and sketch and photograph the palaces there. He captured beautiful sepia photographs of the gates, processional staircases and sprawling courtyards. The best were his drawings of engraving details.
  • Pictures of the Aomori Art Museum. The all white building blends into the snows of Aomori. The low profile elicits comparisons to a Frank Lloyd Wright creation, if he were ever to design something arctic.
  • The Tokyo Archdiocese Cathedral photos captured the stunning use of light in its design and a roof vaulted in the classic form of a cross. I need to make a pilgrimage to this building.

The ticket price includes the sprawling garden which has nice sculptures, plenty of places to sit and relax, a pond, and a teahouse.

coffee and anko

And of course, what about the café? Café Sahsya Kanetanaka has big tables by the gift shop. It has the usual over-priced coffee, but this is offset by the stuffed leather chairs that were so comfy that the old man sitting at the next table was asleep. Later a young couple sat down at the table next to him and they also joined in the slumber.

The exhibit runs through the end of the month and is free with the Grutt Pass.

National Treasure no. 1

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800px-Namdaemun-Fire-16.PNG

It survived centuries of invasion, occupation, and civil war. It burned down in a few hours last night. Korea’s National Treasure no. 1, Namdaemun, or the Great South Gate, was the oldest surviving wooden structure in Seoul. It was built in 1398, by the first King of the Yi Dynasty. Although it had been given three major renovations during its lifetime, it had never been burned down. It will have to be rebuilt completely. I did notice in some of the wire photos that many of the largest beams seemed to be intact. The signboard was also saved.

But it’s just tragic. I was in shock when I heard the news. It had only been open to the public just two years ago. It had been closed to the public for almost a century before that. T and I were fortunate to have been able to visit it in 2006. It’s inexplicable that this happened. Though Namdaemun marked the southern boundary of the original Seoul, it now lies in the center, surrounded by a wide, busy intersection. During our visit, there were intimidating plain-clothes guards and security cameras everywhere. It’s unbelievable that the fire could have escalated so much. Apparently the 100+ firefighters thought the fire was extinguished only to flare back up with a vengeance.

CIMG4300.JPG

Above is a picture that I took when it was newly opened to the public. Namdaemun is so closely identified with Korea that you’ll find it prominently displayed in textbooks and tourism literature. The equivalent of such a tragedy in the U.S. would be if the Statue of Liberty collapsed, or if the Declaration of Independence went up in flames. Except Namdaemun is centuries older.

It’s amazing that a wooden structure survived for so long. Perhaps we should be grateful that it’s been with us for such a long period. But if an arsonist is indeed responsible, as some reports suggest, what possible motive could that person have? And how did he get through all the security undetected?

Originally, the gate, and wall (long ago demolished by Japanese imperialists), were constructed to keep out tigers at night. Now, of course, tigers exist on the peninsula only in remote mountain areas. Perhaps, now that the gate is open, the tigers can come back.

Photo credits. Top: from Reuters. Middle: by Wind