Monday, December 10, 2012

Edo Protocol

 
 
 
These photographs do not do justice to the dazzling autumn colours and evening  lighting at the Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera (音羽山清水寺)  in Kyoto. Many years ago I had made a daytime visit to this temple complex. I knew very little of Japanese culture then. As I know a little bit more now, this visit was a lot more enjoyable. 

My only regret was that I did not have a tripod to enable me to take better nighttime photographs. So please excuse a bit shaky handheld photographs!

Kiyomizu-dera is an UNESCO World Heritage site and was founded in 798 during the Heian period 平安時代  while the current temple was constructed in 1633 which is early Edo period 江戸時代. 

Edo period saw 250 years of peace, prosperity, flowering of arts and culture and economic growth. Surprisingly despite isolationist policies and strictly enforced environmental protection there was economic growth. Perhaps we and the climate negotiators to the Kyoto Protocol successor need to re-visit this period to see how this was achieved and learn from them.

Image: Night time scenery and autumn colours at Kiyomizu dera, Kyoto. (November 2012)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Tea & Books At Jimbocho 神保町

 
 

In this age of smart phones and dumb TV programs it is always nice to see people actually reading books. Many years ago one always saw immaculately and elegantly dressed people reading books, manga or newspapers while riding the Tokyo Metro. These days that scene is rare with most people, still elegantly dressed, exercising their fingers on smart phones.

Fortunately at Jimbocho 神保町 one still sees people reading in the numerous second hand book stores, tea houses and cafes. The famous Tea House Takano is also located here. After the hustle and bustle of Ginza and Omotesando, this area of Jimbocho is serenely peaceful.

Just buy a book, maybe a second hand one, and read and watch the world go by from a window of a tea house while sipping delicious tea. Possibly from Jun Chiyabari. Ah bliss!

Images: Books shops cum tea houses / cafe on the street leading to Tea House Takano in Jimbocho 神保町, Tokyo. (November 2012)

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Cosmos At Miho

 
 
 
Only by wine one's heart is lit,
only a poem calms a soul that's torn.
You'd understand me, Tao Qian.
I wish a little sooner I was born!

- Du Fu  杜甫 (712-770)

After emerging from the womb of Mother Earth and crossing the Peach Blossom Valley one is transported into the Cosmos of Dogu, Buddha and other Asian arts and sculpture at Miho Museum in Shiga Prefecture 滋賀県. 

Masterpieces from the private collection of Mihoko Koyama are housed in a beautifully designed I.M Pei's outstanding work of creative architecture. Almost the entire building is underground having been carved deep into the mountainside.

Unlike the Peach Blossom Valley 桃花源 of Tao Qian 陶潜 which was the inspiration for this museum and its setting, one can visit this Shangri-la as many times as one likes.

Images: Miho Museum Shiga Ken, Japan (November 2012)

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Fishy Business at Kappabashi 合羽橋

 
 
Japanese knives from Sakai 堺市 are famous worldwide for their fine quality. After all they have been at it for hundreds of years. 

Some weeks ago I really struggled trying to cut slices of Salmon from Iceland with bad knives and almost cut myself in the process. I was determined to get a pair of good knives for fish and luck would have it that I was headed to Japan soon after that fishy ordeal. 

In Tokyo you need to head to Kappabashi 合羽橋 to care of such needs. At Kamaasa I was taken care of by the friendly and knowledgeable staff. As a nice finishing touch the shop offers to put some Japanese words or a name on the blade of knife. 

As a tea person Sakai 堺市 is interesting because Sen no Rikyu 千利休 was merchant in the prosperous town of Sakai. So in purchasing Sakai knives I paid my tribute to the great tea master in a roundabout way.      

Images: knife craftsman at Kamaasa puts on a nice finishing touch to a recently bought knife. (November 2012)

Saturday, November 24, 2012

神楽坂 Kagurazaka

Biggest surprises in life come in little packages. Tasty dinner in small and beautiful morsels just the way I like it at Kagurazaka 神楽坂 Tokyo. 

Images: Kagurazaka, November 2012

Sunday, November 11, 2012

How Real Is Reality?

Amongst the tea bushes near his home and set against the clear blue autumn sky, a man basks in the sunshine and contemplates the deeper meaning of life and how real reality actually is.

Image: Somewhere near the town of Hile at an altitude of 2200m (October 2012)

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Rice, Rice Everywhere!




 
 
Like in most Asian countries rice is the most important food crop in Nepal too: from dietary, religious and social points of view. Due to the crop ripening at different times at different altitudes, harvesting is nicely staggered in October and November. 

Unfortunately in the past few decades we seem to have lost the wild varieties that were endemic to Nepal. I hope someday there will be as much of original wild rice as the various hybrid varieties in the market. 

Image: 
(Top 3) Rice fields of east Nepal as seen from the air (October 2012)
(Bottom 3) Rice fields in the hills leading to Jun Chiyabari Tea Garden (October 2012)

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Yellow Leaves of Autumn

 
 
What might I leave you
as a last gift when my time comes?
Springtime flowers,
the cuckoo singing all summer,
the yellow leaves of autumn.

- Ryōkan Daigu 良寛大愚 (1758-1831)
Ryokan was an eccentric Zen monk who called himself Daigu meaning a Big Fool and is remembered for his poetry and calligraphy.

Autumn in the eastern Himalaya of Nepal always means clear blue skies, bright sunny days and cold nights: Perfect condition for good teas. Many places are also ablaze with yellow mustard fields. Not quite the autumn yellow but still very pretty. 

Unlike Sri Lanka and India tea is grown in small patches rather than big plantations. Here we see a perfect example of that. Mustard field and tea garden. Garden and not plantations!

Image (Ramche, Hile- Dhankuta 2012. Altitude ca. 1650 m above sea level): 
(Top) Looking west from Jun Chiyabari Tea Garden wtih tea bushes in the foreground.
(Middle) Farmer's tea garden and mustard fields
(Bottom) Looking east towards Hile.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

High Mountain In Autumn

 
Traveling together,
that high mountain in autumn,
was almost impassable.
How can you bravely hope
to make that journey alone?

- Princess Oku 大来皇女 (12 Feb 661 - 29 Jan 702)

Princess Oku was a Japanese princess during the Asuka period 飛鳥時代 and the daughter of Emperor Temmu 天武天皇. Quite a few poems are credited to her in the Man'yoshu, the anthology of the much revered old Japanese poems.

Image: Makalu (8481m) from the road leading to Jun Chiyabari Tea Garden's Ramche Division. October 2012. 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Multi Coloured Nagano 長野県

Autumn has returned:
multicoloured fallen leaves
carpet the garden,
and the long path lies buried:
no visitor wades those drifts.

-Anonymous (Japan)

Perhaps my loveliest visits to Japan was in the autumn of 2009. Really enjoyed the autumn colours along with good food and everything in Nagano ken that year. Despite the cold, a warm colourful nostalgia overwhelms me.

Image: Ueda 上田市 in Nagano 長野県, Japan (2009).

Monday, October 15, 2012

One Trick Pony Town

Pashupatinagar in Ilam district of Mechi zone in Nepal is a small town through which Indians and Nepalis can cross into each others' countries. The other side is Darjeeling district. Unfortunately and irrationally India does not allow foreigners from other countries to use this border. 

Unfortunate because genuine foreign tea buyers and tourists have to make a long winded trip via Kakarbhitta and Siliguri to Darjeeling spending the whole day when this could be done in 1 hour. Tourists going to Sikkim also have to make a long detour wasting time and fuel. 

Irrational because sometimes I have seen Bangladeshi passing themselves off as Bengalis and crossing into Nepal rightly making a mockery of this irrational rule. 

Pashupatinagar itself was a one trick pony town in its earlier incarnation when foreign brands and goods were difficult to buy in the India of the pre 1990's. It was the shopping mecca for Indians from across the border who invariably bought good quality but cheap Chinese products. 

All goes to show that you cannot stop the people from crossing borders despite the rules. And pragmatic economics always trumps bad politics.

Image: A pony on the main drag of Pashupatinagar, Ilam. 2012 

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Raw Beauty

 
 
Even for a person like me who is used to the beauty of nature in Nepal, I am still fascinated by the real raw beauty of Alaska. I find myself repeatedly looking at my old pictures of Alaska. What is it about this place that makes me want to go back there?

Images: Denali National Park, Alaska. August-September 2006  

Monday, September 17, 2012

Absolute And Relative Truth

A Chaitya or Chorten usually contain within them some relics. These ancient icons of Buddhist art and architecture are found all over the Himalaya. Each level is representative of some element.

The square foundation symbolises the earth. Following that, the dome represents water while the thirteen tapering steps of enlightenment symbolises the fire element. Above the fire is a parasol which is the wind. This is topped in the void or the ethereal sphere represented by the twin symbol uniting sun and moon. This is the emblem of the Twin-unity of the Absolute Truth beyond normal comprehension and the Relative Truth that we know in this world.

Image: A Chaitya - Chorten set amidst tea bushes somewhere in Ilam, Nepal.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Schneider's Lech am Arlberg

 
25 years ago this month Erwin Schneider, one of the great mountaineers of all time passed away in Lech am Arlberg, Austria. In the early 1980's to mid 1980's he often stayed in our Hotel Narayani in Kathmandu. I used to meet him regularly during my rounds. Apart from being a great mountaineer he was a great cartographer and his maps of the Himalaya of Nepal are world famous.

When I first met him at the poolside garden of our hotel, he asked my age. Upon learning my age, he remarked, "Oh! I was on the 1930 Kanchenjunga expedition at that age".  Despite the age difference we became friends.

Many years later while driving from Innsbruck to the Swiss border I passed by Lech. I managed to locate his residence in Lech but was told by the occupant that he had passed away years ago.

Image: 
Top: Lech am Arlberg (18 August 2010)
Bottom: Beautiful scenery near Lech in the Arlberg (18 August 2010)
(Amazingly these photographs from a later trip were taken exactly on his death anniversary without realising it!)

Friday, August 24, 2012

Akihabara

 
 
 
Don't let the peaceful image of Akihabara station fool you. This is an area buzzing with gaudy colours, garish signage, megaphone marketing and maid cafes. It is every foreigner's stopover to buy some gadget that is not available at home, like Panasonic's Gopan at the giant Ishimaru store. And a place populated by nerdy Japanese geeks known as otaku / おたく as it is a paradise for manga, anime and video games.

Image: 
Top Akihabara Station
Mid and Bottom: Around Akihabara