Finally getting my first chance to write. Travel was remarkably easy this time, thanks to an empty seat beside me and a sleeping pill! I actually felt fresh and alert when I arrived.
My first two evening events went well. Lots of new people and interesting questions from the audience. Even sold 9 of my books. Doing a lecture via Ustream was a whole lot more challenging than I thought it might be. Harder to concentrate just drilling my gaze to a camera on the computer, rather than moving about an audience. But received good feedback, so maybe my awkwardness didn't come through for others.
Having arrived and with some free time, I set out to see the Imperial Palace (or what's left of it) and the surrounding gardens. There are many huge walls built in the 1600s that are foundations for castles and guard buildings and fortress walls, and hold back the moats and little lakes.
Close up, you can see the lines in these rocks which upon closer inspection are hand chisel marks. Yikes! That's a lot of manual labor - this section is about 11 feet tall, and probably 3 - 7 feet thick (wider at base).
It was super hot this day, and I could imagine how miserable it would be to wear full multi-layered kimono or samurai gear. This time of year the sound of cicada is almost deafening and has become a sound I most definitely associate with Japan in summer.
Here's one of the massive gates that are made out of huge blocks of cedar, from the large old growth trees that were once abundant. To give an idea of scale, the top of that inset door is about at my shoulder height. There's not much left of the palace, only the foundation. Apparently, there was a massive fire that swept through all of Edo (now Tokyo) in the 1800s that destroyed many of the palace buildings and it was never rebuilt. The Meiji Emperor moved the palace to a new location.
This is an entrance gate, which has stood solid for over 400 years, but recently damaged in the March earthquake. The new "Eiffel" style tower being built, shows a contrast in eras.
The moat went entirely around the compound, with walls this tall or taller, and about 18 guard houses originally. Kind of reminds me of medievel Europe.
Here's another guard house, this one overlooking a lake/moat on the other side, which was also the place the Shogun who had it built liked to watch the fireworks over the main city.
I amused myself noticing the fire extinguisher placed in the doorway (not sure if you can see it here), being as this was one of the only buildings remaining.
It's often a strange experience to wander about by myself, and not without challenges. Where to eat? Am I doing something possibly offensive? Memorizing foreign characters to get to the right place off the subway. Trying to remember a few key phrases of survival Japanese. I am motivated by the opportunity for adventure, and reinforced by the constant source of stimulation and things to see, as well as the overall safety and friendliness of Japanese people. I find that if I stop too long to study a map, I have someone come along who insists on helping me get to exactly where I'm wanting to go, even though that is impossible for me to explain to them!
Friday I had a day off, and went on another adventure...this time in torrential rain...but I'll get to posting that story and photos after my first day of sessions tomorrow.
Thanks for sharing the journey!
Daeryl
No comments:
Post a Comment