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laurainlimbo at 10:23am on 18/08/2005I'm going to sum up the details of my trip this week, and then hopefully later I can scan some of the pictures from brochures I gathered. I didn't take any pictures on Monday, mostly because I didn't get any film for my camera (I didn't take the digital) and also because our pace was too quick (more on that later).
I left here on Sunday midday and took the Shinkansen to Tokyo station (it takes a little over an hour, but is quite expensive!) and arrived in the town of Higashi-Kawaguchi, Saitama prefecture around 2:30 p.m. It takes about one hour by local train lines from Tokyo station. I was visiting the Yoshinos, who our family has known since we lived in Denver. Fujiko and her daughters actually visited our home in Lakewood, Colorado when I was just 15 years old (her daughters would have been about 8 and 11) - they visited with my cousin Byron and his wife Keiko, who is Japanese. After their visit, Mr. Yoshino (Katsu) also visited Denver on business and met with my parents at a downtown hotel in Denver. For a couple years after that visit, I was in contact with the girls through letters, but the correspondence tapered off of course. But when I came to Japan in 1998, I contacted them and visited them several times during that two years that I lived here. The two girls, Masami and Mariko, are both married now with children. My mother also visited their home in Saitama when she came here to visit me. So then, when I got married, Fujiko came all the way out to Port Angeles to attend my wedding. She and my friend Naomi, also from Japan, actually got to know each other well because they both got stuck in Seattle after the 9/11 bombing (my wedding was appropriately 3 days before 9/11 on September 8, 2001 - don't I have marvelous timing??).
So, you see, this family is quite special and I have to keep visiting them when I can!
Anyway, Katsu picked me up on Sunday and took me to their home - we talked for awhile and then before dinner he drove me to see the big soccer stadium that was built maybe three years ago for the World Cup that was held in Japan in 2002. It is now of course used for local soccer games (soccer is the second most popular sport in Japan, next to Baseball). It is a really big stadium and quite impressive. That night we just had dinner and watched the women's marathon on tv (a big deal since there were four Japanese runners, though I didn't see any Americans).
Monday was the busy day. Fujiko had to work, so Katsu took me to Gunma prefecture, about two hours drive from Saitama, to visit the Tomihiro Art Museum, for a famous artist who draws watercolors by using his mouth. The artist, named Tomihiro Hoshino, was born in a small village in Gunma called Azuma, and attended Gunma University (the same as Katsu). At the age of 24, Hoshino was a junior high school gymnastics coach and had an accident while coaching some kids, which left him paralyzed from the neck down. While he was in the hospital, Hoshino began painting wildflowers by holding the brush in his mouth. Eventually he also starting writing poems to go with the flowers, and a museum was opened in his home town in 1991. He has also had exhibits in Los Angeles, Hawaii, New York, San Francisco, and Poland. I really enjoyed the museum and bought a book of his paintings and poems (translated into English). I will try to scan one of his pictures, but in the meantime, you can see his website - its in Japanese but you can find pictures and an English timeline of his life: http://www.vill.seta-azuma.gunma.jp/sisetu/bunka_tomihiro.html
http://www.vill.seta-azuma.gunma.jp/htm/tomi.htm
After visiting that museum, Katsu decided that he wanted to go to another nearby site, which used to be a copper mine at the turn of the century. The mine is of course gone, but there is a museum and some gift shops. It was by this time after 11 a.m., so I was getting anxious for something to eat, but since he was my guide, I went with him to the museum. I couldn't understand any of the explanations, and could only see the photos of the mine and the workers. It was a really different time then in Japan! I do have two photos that Katsu took of the bridge and the entrance to the old mine (with me in front): http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/DSCF0037.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/DSCF0038.jpg
At this Ashio Copper Mine museum, we had an iced coffee and cookies, but I was hungry and thought that lunch would be next on the agenda. It was already after noon. But there were only two restaurants there, and Katsu didn't like them, so we drove all the way back to the site of the other museum, at least 30 minutes away, and finally found a place with a view of the lake (by the Tomihiro Art Museum) to have ramen. By the time we sat down with our food, it was after 2 p.m.!
After lunch, we drove back the direction we had come, and stopped two more times. The first stop was a big dam in Gunma prefecture called the Kusaki dam, which is still used to generate electricity and water supply for several thousand people in the area. One day a year, from 3 to 4 pm, they allow people to take an elevator to the bottom of the dam for a view. We were there just at the right time, so we got the small tour. here's a photo from the website of that dam and that area: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y289/laurafuji/dam.jpglater. and here's the website (again in Japanese, but you can see pictures if you click the links): http://www.water.go.jp/kanto/kusaki/
It was interesting, but I was getting tired after two museums and a late lunch. Plus it was hot of course, even though we were a little higher in elevation and in a mountainous area. Its quite beautiful in Gunma, very rural, and I imagine its even more beautiful in Spring (with cherry blossoms) or fall (with the colored leaves) or winter (with snow). We might be able to go back to Gunma in the wintertime to visit Katsu's home village!
The final stop before heading home was another museum that Katsu had read about on his map, this one for a man who also came from the Gunma area who is famous for writing children's songs. His name is Ishihara Wasaburou. This is in another small village in Gunma called Azuma (officially Azuma-mura, Seta-gun, Gunma-ken). We spent a short time here, and I bought a couple souvenirs, and then we headed back. We stopped in a city called Sano to buy some ramen for "omiyage" (gifts) - the town of Sano in Saitama is famous for its ramen. (we ate it last night and it was delicious).
So by the time we got back to the Yoshinos home in Saitama it was 7:30 - I was hot and tired and took a shower and ate curry rice and relaxed. It was a busy day! And typical for the Japanese, we had such a fast pace, with few stops and little time to really relax and enjoy the views! In the morning, we had driven the entire 2 1/2 hours without stopping for bathroom breaks or anything to drink! And I will write more later about how interesting it was to spend the day with Mr. Yoshino, who is fluent in English and extremely intelligent, and loves to talk!! I felt like I was in a college classroom, I learned so much about business, politics, history and customs!!
I'm going to take a break and write later about Tuesday's events. Now I must do laundry and vacuum before going to work tonight!
busy