Dazaifu and Night Fukuoka (Tenmangu, Komyozenji, and Yatai)

Close to Fukuoka is a small city that is considered the "Kyoto of Kyushu."  I ventured to Dazaifu to look around, something that only took about 2 hours of slow walking.  It was beautiful.  Tenmangu Shrine was first built in 905 on the burial of Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and politician who was exiled from Kyoto.  He had a life-long love for plum trees and one of the plum trees on the grounds is said to have flown there from Kyoto from his longing for it.  At his burial, the ox carrying his casket reached this spot and refused to go further and so there are many statues of them throughout the shrine. The shrine is one of the main shrines in Japan dedicated to Tenjin, a shinto god that is the deified version of Michizane, important in scholarship and academic good fortune.  Many students come here for good luck during exam times.

surfacing rocks

camphor tree gets a little help

the three bridges leading to the shrine:
the first is the past, the flat one in the center is the present, and the last one is the future

outside the main gate

outside the walls of the main building

tucked on a hill behind the shrine

enjoying the big fish

the main building
the tobi ume (flying plum tree) is close to the main structure on the right side

approach to the main gate

feeding the ducks and fish

the ox that wouldn't budge

ponds and bridges

After Tenmangu shrine I walked along the streets of shops and vendors just outside and made my way to Komyozenji, a zen garden.

umegaemochi
sweet rice cake with red bean paste filling

making of umegaemochi

before the garden at Komyozenji 

Komyozenji garden

sky and trees above

tending the garden of the light of Buddha
the large rocks are in the formation of the Japanese character for "light," referring to the halo around Buddha
trees drop many leaves which need to be carefully removed from the garden

And then I headed back to Fukuoka.  Later in the evening I went out to see Fukuoka at night, when it supposedly shines its brightest.  Food stalls, and shops along the river.

Nishitetsu train

inside the train, waiting for departure

food stall

night skateboarding 

waiting for customers 

line of food stalls

stories of things to do (building directory) 

some of the many romantic Fukuoka flowers available for purchase 

Saga to Nagasaki to Fukuoka

The day after a party is always a little foggy and Kyushu saw us coming.  The bus ride from Saga to Nagasaki this morning was filled with mist rising from the green mountains above the rice paddies.  And the same sight greeted us as the sun set on our trip from Nagasaki to Fukuoka.  But upon arrival to Fukuoka the haze was quickly broken by the bright lights of this trendy city.  Ready to start again tomorrow with another day off.

From Saga to Nagasaki

Nagasaki Hall

Eyeglass Bridge

From Nagasaki to Fukuoka

Nagasaki to Fukuoka

Fukuoka

The Next: Saga

There is a refreshing fragrant humidity to the air in Kyushu.  Everything is very green, the wood of the buildings has lived a second life breathing the moisture of the air, small plants defiantly brave the cracks of tidied sidewalks.  The drizzle on the walk from the hall to the hotel smelled of summer rains.

We travelled for 4 hours by bus through the green mountains and flat rice paddies of Kyushu, making our way from Miyazaki to Saga.  Every little town and region in Japan is known or famous for something.   And Saga is no exception.  It is known for not being known for anything.  But they have a very nice hall.  After the concert Sado-san sponsored a party at a nearby restaurant.  A very generous and kind man.

bus from Miyazaki to Saga

taken by my friend Bernice- some members of the violin section
(the two on the left play in my quartet)

hall in Saga

facing Tchaikovsky 

this was the name of all the roads at this intersection (?)

one of three tables at Sado-san's party

Miyazaki (Beginning of Kyushu Tour)

The first day of a string of days away from home.  An early flight to Miyazaki, an afternoon walk in a nearby park, and warm-up in the hall before an evening concert.  Tomorrow another very early morning.

At Itami Airport, before the flight

Medikit  Hall, Miyazaki

Sense of Place

I dipped out of Japan on this day off, something that happens quite often on days of no obligations.  Part of me still lives in another world on the other side of the ocean, part of me visits the one behind Asia.  Part of me still persists elsewhere.

There are communities to which we belong our whole lives, or for long periods of our lives, whether they are a religious institution, a group of friends, a family.  They are not defined by our physical location, but our presence and theirs is still important.  They feed what we give to the new communities that we create where we live.  In being physically so far away, the importance of remembering and reflecting on the communities from which I came has become more and more evident to me.  It has been another stage in my understanding of self, realizing the values that have been taught to me, realizing the values to which I have listened, reflecting upon them as a means of stability in a world that isn't mine.  I'm a child here, but one that remembers and honors many lives before this one.

And when I step out of Japan, I do not leave it.  I am still within it and it is still growing in me.  It is a life that will persist in me whenever I am elsewhere.  It is a life that is offering me lessons that I will carry with me and reflect upon for the rest of my life.

There is a weaving of presence and absence.  I am here and not there.  But I'm not without where I have been, I'm not without who I have known, those who have given to me knowingly and unknowingly.  They grow within me in their absence.  And it makes me think that perhaps part of me is growing within those I cannot see, those I may never have known I touched.  It seems important to acknowledge that this exchange persists.   What has been given to me in the past and what is being offered to me now?  And of these things, what am I giving?

To step of away, to step within, to return to a space that is elsewhere, but always here–sometimes these things can bring us closer to our physical surroundings.  Sometimes we can find a sense of self, a sense of purpose in reflecting upon what values have been given to us and how those values have shaped us into a being that will influence the world in which we live.  And then we can return to the place where we are with more of ourselves present, with more to offer, with more to give.

Wakayama (Start of Tour)

And we're off!  This was the first official day of the tour though I awoke in my bed and will return to it shortly.  A day trip to Wakayama prefecture and a day free tomorrow before an early morning flight on Friday to Miyazaki in Kyushu.  It's exciting to be travelling in Japan with the orchestra.  The audience today was full of new faces, a new collective energy with whom to share our music.  And it's just the beginning.

There seems to be a lucky trend on these tours–perhaps it was the way Japan was planned when it was created–that concert halls are often within walking distance of castles.  We got off the bus today and went for a stroll in the park surrounding the castle.  It makes for a nice mix of bus sightseeing, nature walking, convenient store food, and practice as a pre-concert routine.

late-blooming sakura outside the castle

path and tree along the castle wall

Wakayama Castle

Gerbil Japanese

I spent the morning with Japanese.  How many hours, how must I spend them, to feel honest?  A lesson with Fukunari-sensei was quickly approaching and I had had a truncated week since the last lesson, due to our upcoming tour.  Kanji, reading practice, vocabulary, grammar–some additional offerings she had given me to push the hour count in the right direction.  I'm a gerbil in a wheel.  The goal seems elusive but I'm trying to go faster, all the same.  Someday, I'm going to get there.