Friday, September 30, 2011

Kumamoto castle, full moon

Kumamoto castle koto concert


Kumamoto castle

we were so lucky as we had walked to the nearby castle-considered 1 of the 5 great ones in Japan- and there were special events for the full moon. Tea ceremony with intense matcha. Then inside we were treated to an amazing group playing koto and shamisen and flute...originally planned for an outdoor stage the rain spurt gave us a bonus as we were brought into the official ancient hall where no tourist is normally allowed!







Tuesday, September 27, 2011

If one train, traveling at 175 km/h, passes another train going 175 km/h in the opposite direction with only 5' between them, then with a pop and a whoosh and a blurring of time and space returns you to your view of rice and lotus fields framing ancient shrines and  houses that emulate ancient lords' castles within a society of controlled sobriety of sleepy salarymen, girly girls, modernism, animism-on your way to the Hadron collider that is shinjuku tokyo and then back in time to old friends house in ancient Kyoto-that means you are probably in Japan.
Post flight
In the dark my body thought it was night
So a lovely surprise after airport maze-
I'm ejected from a train tunnel into the warm embrace of familiar sunlit ricefields
Welcome home along bamboo pathways and rambling tracks defined by rice, agronomy and apparent historic fiefdom
The evening light is dreamy golden-and it's 1 AM Canada time but I'm not dreaming.