I spent much of the 1990's in Japan. My first trip was from April 1, 1989 to March 30, 1990. My second Japanese adventure was from January 15, 1991 to March 27, 1993. Then returned again sometime in the summer of 1994 until the Fall of 1995. And finally, from December 31, 1996 to November 1, 1997. In between, I finished my BA at Oklahoma State, I traveled around the world with a backpack, had a relationship fall apart in Oklahoma, lived in San Francisco for a year, and earned a dead woman's salary in Slovakia for 3 months. In the 90's after failure, boredom, or in need of a stabilizer before the next adventure, I always went back home. My home at that time, just happened to be in Japan and specifically Western Japan. These were my salad--or perhaps more accurately, sushi--days and I built enough memories for a lifetime.
During my last stint in Japan, I lived exclusively in Hiroshima--previously, I lived exclusively in Shimane Hamada on the Sea of Japan coast, and then I split my week between the two cities. The first year, I spend up north in Iwate--a country girl from Oklahoma ended up in the back water of Japan. During that final 3 year period, I was a notable figure in the expat community of Hiroshima. For a living, I taught English to everyone--if you could walk, then I had a lesson plan for you. My youngests were 3 year-olds and the oldest was in her 90s. But in my free time, when I wasn't cycling into town to enjoy coffee at the French cafe--Lutece or dinner at Mario's--the Italian restaurant; traipsing around the back streets from one night spot to the other until the wee hours of the morning; or running through riverbeds, up mountain sides, and through neighborhood streets in search of an elusive hare--I was writing for a small English language publication called the Outsider--backward R with a cute penguin as a logo.
I literally tripped over the publisher--Raymond Smith--in the bookstore one day. Foreigners, even at a dime a dozen in Hiroshima with the Ford Mazda factory, nearby Iwakuni US Marine Corp Air Station, and language schools, tended to stop and have a chat, especially if you had caused someone to land on the floor--me, always, me. Ray was embedded in Hiroshima and had started up a magazine and was need of a writer. I wasn't a writer but since he didn't have any money to pay one, my willingness to give it a try, was good enough.
I started out with a travel column called Trippin' Out. I also wrote several On the Couch with...interview articles. In all I probably wrote about 2 years until the magazine folded. But good news, I just discover that Outsider regrouped and is now Outsider Global Lounge & Book Store. Here is a write up from 2014 from a travel blog stating that it is a pretty decent place.
I never really wrote before I wrote for the Outsider but I haven't really stopped since. I can credit the Outsider for this article and all the others I have written over the years. And I haven't gotten paid for one yet!
Below is one of my articles published in April 1998. A Brush With Culture
I read in the newspaper several weeks ago that extreme procrastinators are more likely to suffer from depression than people who actually meet deadline or get things done, without running around in panic. If the research is accurate then all of us a Trippin' Out are in desperate need of a prescription for Prozac.
A recent Friday afternoon conversation over coffee went something like this:
Maria: When is the next deadline.
Marta: Day after tomorrow.
Akemi: Uhmm, I guess we had better go somewhere tomorrow so we can get our article written by Sunday.
Maria: Where are we going?
Akemi: I don't know, but we really should plan ahead a little better.
Marta: Ok, but let's think about that later.
Maria: I'm going to Kumano tonight to visit a friend, there's a brush factory there. How about Trippin Out there?
Kamano sounded as good as any other plan, and not just because there weren't any other plans. Maria assured us a trip to Kuman would be worth our while.
Ordering a second cup of coffee we worked out the logistics for the following morning. Maria decided to stay at her friend's house in Kumano for the night and Akemi and I would meet her there the next morning. Akema and I agreed to meet at Hiroshima Station Saturday morning at 10:00 and though there is a Dentetsu bus from Hiroshima Station to Kumano, Akemi opted to drive this time. Maria and I were visibly relieved when Akemi told us she got a new safe-driving-good-luck charm in January. Her old one had been rendered ineffective due to an accident she had a while back.
With the best laid plans of mice and women, we broke our huddle. Maria headed off to the bus center to catch her bus for Kumano, Akemi left to meet her sister, and I went to post the last of my Christmas cards! (hold your tongue!)
Saturday morning arrived and I found myself waiting at Hiroshima Station, alone. I had plenty of time to wonder if I had screwed up the plans somehow as I didn't' see hide nor hair of Akemi until close to 11:00. When she finally showed up, she explained how she had just come from a karaoke box where she had spent the night singing.
As I hopped in the car, Akemi was pulling out the map to find Kumano. "Hmmm, where's Kure," she asked, I looked over and said, "Isn't that it under your thumb?" With an embarrassed laugh, she said, "Oh, yeah, I guess I'm a little tired." Spying the new good luck charm, I was hoping it worked.
En route, we reviewed Maria's directions to her friend's house and realized we were lost. Fortunately, I had my PHS (cellular phone) with me and we were able to get a clear set of directions. We collected Maria and set off for Fudenosato Kobo, the brush museum which also serves as Kamano's culture center.
Kumano has been making calligraphy brushes for over 160 years and is responsible for about 90% of Japan's total production. The brushes are well known through Japan and have helped preserve the time-honored art of Japanese calligraphy known in Japan as shuji. The museum Y500 for adults/Y250 for children) first opened in 1994 to demonstrate the brush making process and how brushes are an integral part of Japanese life.
Looking around the museum, we found the main exhibits downstairs where they have the world's largest brush on display, among other things. I never thought I would have found looking at brushes interesting, but much to my surprise, I did. In fact it was so interesting, I was tempted to take one of the exhibits home with me, an extremely large brush with a sutra carved on the side. Akemi talked me out of it by saying I would be cursed if I stole a Buddhist text.
While Maria and I took our time looking over the other exhibits, Akemi spent her time keeping an eye on me. Finally we moved to the area where the resident craftsmen make brushes. I didn't have to watch the craftsman , or rather craftswoman, long before deciding I would never possess enough patience for the tedious work brush making involves. Soon the brushes on display distracted my attention and these were available for closer scrutiny...and even touching. For a tactile person, like myself, this was right up my alley. I enjoying feeling the different textures of the brushes on display. The peacock feather brush looked the most interesting but the swan feather brush was the nicest to touch. I "oohed" and "aahed" over the brushes a little longer before Maria and Akemi suggested we move on to the gift shop upstairs. Once upstairs we spotted a coffee and shop and coincidentally, I realized I needed a CUP OF COFFEE. I was certain sleepless Akemi shared my sentiments. As it is our sworn duty to gather accurate information on all coffee shops we encounter, naturally it was our concern for the readers which made us order up. Please note the coffee available at Kudenosato Kobo is both tasty and reasonably priced.
Over our coffee, we discussed our next stop in Kumano, Sakakiyama Shrine where the Fudezuka stone table is located. Akemi told us there is a path that connects Fudensoto Kobo to the shrine and is only about a 10 minute trek. So we drove about the same amount of time to get there.
When we arrived at the shrine we walked up to the Fudozuka stone tablet. This tablet was erected to comfort the souls of animals which have died so brushes could be made. I'm not clear how animals die so brushes can be make--I always thought it was just a matter of plucking out hair and feathers. Discomfort maybe but death? The tablet also serves as a place for old brushes to be given a proper burial. If you bring your brushes here, they will be burnt as a priest says a prayer of them.
Filled with plenty of food for thought, we climbed back into Akemi's car and headed back to Hiroshima. Subsequently, I procrastinated, for about a week, before committing pen to paper well past the deadline, and now understand why some people consider Prozac a wonder drug.
Note: On september 23rd the annual Brush Festival is held. Kamano comes alive with brush displays, food vendors, a calligraphy contest and a demonstration of calligraphy using the world largest brush. I wouldn't want to be the person responsible for cleaning that thing!!
By Marta Wiggins, Akemi Yoshida & Maria Sanford, published by Outsider Magazine.
I did a bit of fact checking on the Internet and found that I got it mostly right, just that it wasn't the soul of animals hurt in the brush making process that shrine comforts but rather, the soul of the brush that has served its purpose and is now ready to move on. Internet was growing in the 90's in the US but lagged behind in Japan, for much of the 90's Internet cost 10 cents a minute and it was only toward that the end that you could get a flat rate internet price to surf between the hours of like 2:00 and 5:00 in the morning. I had a lot of catching up to do, when I returned to the US, completely tech illiterate.
In Japan cell phones came in two flavors initially--PHS and Cellular--with the PHS being the weaker and cheaper of the two. In 1998 it was still a blossoming technology but miles ahead of the US. My cute little PHS fit neatly into my pocket at a time when US cell phones were these massive glove box sized creations.
CNN posted an article on Kumano brushes, I used their photo for my opening photo. But I wrote about Kumano first. Scoop.