September 23. 2004 20:37

Calligraphy, Chinese paintings and Honmaru

I enjoyed yesterday more than anything I've experienced here so far. We started the day with the Kampo calligraphy museum and school, and got the 5000 yen lesson for a mighty discount, paying only 300 yen. It was so much fun I felt the urge to buy my own calligraphy set right away so I could practice more. The teaching part was brief, the teacher just showed us how to hold the brush and the assistant girls demonstrated how to warm up by drawing different forms. But after that we sat down with our own brushes and papers and set out to try it ourselves for an hour while the teacher and his assistants walked around and gave some tips. It was quite easy, but very hard at the same time. The basic forms came without difficulty, but to get the right kind of a curve was the thing. We got to make a plate with a character of our choice that we took home afterwards. I took the models for both "kokoro" (heart, mind) and "wa" (peace), but decided to do kokoro because it's always been one of my favourite Japanese words and it's easier. Didn't stop me from blundering the right-hand curve and dot, though... I really want to make another one, better, so that I can then hang on my wall. I already bought a little guide book to Japanese calligraphy from the Kampo school, and when I have money I'll go buy some other supplies downtown ^_^

After the lesson we ate a fairly expensive but delicious meal and continued to an exhibition of Chinese ink paintings and copper stuff. I wondered if it was worth the money at my current situation, but thought it might be a nice thing to see, and I'm very glad that I decided to go. I never got to the other side of the exhibition as I got stuck in the ink painting side... They were wonderful. I can't believe how fine the lines of the drawings were, and how the can make the landscapes fade into the white of the paper like that. I want to make ink paintings like that as well... There was a particularly wonderful piece called (... checking papers ...) Flowers and fluttering butterflies by Wang Chuzhen, from Qing Dynasty (1896). It was the last piece I went to, but it was certainly the one I liked most. There were like fifty butteflies fluttering around each other. If they'd sold posters of the paintings, I would've taken that one without blinking.

The time at the exhibition was very short, and after it we went along the Philosopher's Path to Honen-in temple where there was yet another ceramics exhibition. There we spent even less, though, because Ken-san wanted to get soon to the Ginkakuji temple. At this point I decided to leave the group, though, because I can get to Ginkakuji anytime later and I don't want to spend my money before I get more from somewhere. As there was a lot of time before I was supposed to meet Heidi, Keiko and a friend at a gallery downtown, I thought I might as well save the buss money and walk there.

It was a long walk and I was quite tired after it, but I got to see some nice places on the way. I ran into a cafe called Marikoji near Ichijoji area, and ate an absolutely delicious banana cake there. (There went my bus money ;P) I got some kind of a discount coupon as I left, but even if I hadn't I had already decided I have to go there again. Then I got to walk by the Kamo river and cross over it on a big stone path, one of those "dragon's spines". There are interesting establishments under the bridges... Either the people staying there are having a flea market, or then they are living there. I don't know which.

I walked around the shops for a while and then went to the meeting place, a small gallery called Neutron, which holds exhibitions and sells stuff by a lot of students and other "small scale" people. Giles told me about it the other day and showed a leaflet and I thought it looked like a really interesting place, and it indeed was. Stuff by students never seemed this interesting in Finland. There were some prints by a guy who's graduated from the Cartoon department at Kyoto Seika and if I had had more money I would've bought two of them. They were so cute. I have to see if they're there later.

The point of meeting Keiko and her friend, Mika, was that they wanted to ask some things about Finland. Keiko was one of the two exchange students in Turku last year and she's going for a holiday in Finland soon. She wanted to ask about schools that teach furniture design and about the ferries to Sweden. We ate a meal at the restaurant above the gallery (it had delicious food, though it was a bit expensive) and talked for quite a while, then they showed their art portfolios that were among the others in a bookshelf in the restaurant. It was over half past nine when we finally left. Mika came to Kokusaikaikan by subway with me and gave me one of the cards she made for the gallery shop. She works ther part-time and sells her works (Keiko had some there, too).

Today was my last chance to see the Honmaru castle at Nijo, so I left there at half past nine in the morning, even though I had had far too little sleep (and had only 4000 yen left, now reduced to 2000). I had decided before that I'm not going to miss this once-in-a-lifetime experience, so there was no option but to pay the entrance fee again. There was no question whether it was worth it or not, I wanted to see it. But it was very nice, a lot more interesting than the Nijo castle, and looked more like someone could've lived in it. In fact, I saw it so clearly in my mind that I felt like doing a little manga with a setting like that. Wonder if I'll do it here...

The school today was a little disappointing, again. The CG class didn't start at one as Mr. Thorn had told me, but at 14.40, and on top of that no teacher showed up. I guess he thought it was a holiday, like it is for the rest of the Japan, even though we still have school. But I got to talk more to Mr. Thorn about my classes. There's another lecture class at one on Thursdays called Comparative Comics and it's about Western comics. Then we ended up talking about English language, I don't remember how, but in the end I asked him to look for an English course. If I were in Finland, we'd have an English course right now, so I thought I could do it here so I won't have to bother about it later on. English is the same all around the world, after all.

In search for a suitable course we went to the humanities building and found an English teacher, who promised to ask a few teachers about when their courses where and what were the topics. There are a few native English speakers teaching, so I think it'll work out fine. It was so nice to hear someone speak clear, clean English for change. Even though the woman was Japanese, she spoke English like no-one else than an English teacher can, very well and understandably. Tim and Laura, the students from Glasgow, are native speakers, but they're too native and speak so unclearly that I sometimes have trouble understanding them.

It's a thunderstorm outside again... Good thing I came home this early. Wouldn't've wanted to carry that bag of art supplies in the rain, oh no. On Monday we're going to select some manga for a book they're doing at school and the teacher wanted me and Dion to make some pictures for it, so we might get in. The problem is that I'm going to Tango for the weekend with the Canberra group, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to draw there... But I'll try. It'd be great to appear in a Japanese manga book, even though it'd only be an illustration on one page of a school book ^_^ I already got a compilation called Mizu monogatari, which was the book that the previous year did in the course I'm on now. I'm planning on buying some other books by the students as well, they're so good at drawing them.

...

Heidi just visited me, looking for a package her parents have sent her to this address. It's been on its way for over 2 weeks and it's still not here. She got a card, though. It seems that I'm not the only one with credit card problems, now. Heidi hasn't been able to get any money with her Visa Electron, either. She has a regular Visa, too, so she was able to get some with that, but the problem with Electron is bothering us both. But as there are some problems with connecting even within Finland, I wouldn't be surprised if this was just some communication problem with the machine and the bank. I would've gone to tried again today, but the ATM at the post office was closed because it's a holiday.