Here is a better report on what has been happening in my life lately. There are some necessary gaps in the report. It쳌fs pretty long. Sorry about that.
December 6
Got married
Getting married in Japan is like going out for donuts. You take a form to the counter in town hall and give it to a clerk. The clerk checks the accuracy of the information on the form and lets you wait for a while. Then she returns, hands the form back, and you are married. It쳌fs like going out for donuts because it is painless and you get something sweet n the end.
Went to Nikko
After the marriage we went to the train station to get the train to Nikko.I쳌fm not sure how we came to decide to go to Nikko but that was our honeymoon destination. Nikko is the local tourist attraction. It is the home to the Kanaya Hotel, the oldest Western hotel in Japan, and is the burial place of the first Tokugawa shogun. The Tokugawa dynasty ruled over Japan쳌fs longest peaceful era, over 300 years.
Then to Lake Chuzenji-ko
From Nikko we took a bus up to Lake Chuzenji-ko. The lake was formed as the result of a volcanic eruption about 12,000 years ago. It is a beautiful mountain lake, surrounded by high mountain peaks. Access is by the 55 Curves Road. And when they named it they were very accurate in their description. Going up the mountain you maneuver around 20 or so very sharp hairpin bends. At times you can look down the mountain and see several sections of the road below you. The view is spectacular. The mountains that make up the spine of Japan surround you and the valley that reaches to Nikko stretches away from the mountainside you are climbing. Near the top we found snow on the ground. My camera shutter was working hard. I was enchanted with the view, the snow, the sharp curves and climbing road, and, of course, my new wife.
We found the town of Chuzenji at the top of the road and left the bus. We walked down through the town to Kagen falls. The volcano created the dam and the water backed up to form a lake. It쳌fs only outlet was over the dam. That created a 97 meter waterfall. The Japanese have installed an elevator downstream of the waterfall and you can go down to the foot of the fall. My camera shutter was once again very busy.
After we got back to the top of the fall we explored a small gift shop and I took another few pictures. It occurred to me that I had taken a lot of pictures and that I should be near the end of my roll but I needn쳌ft have worried. THERE WAS NO FILM IN THE DAMN CAMERA! I claim that it was because I was not used to the camera and I stand by that defense.
Bath in volcanic hot springs
We stayed at the new Kanaya Hotel on Lake Chuzenji-ko and seemed to have the place to ourselves. There were four cars in the lot but we saw only one other group in the dining room. It is a modern luxury hotel with a small hot springs bath house. Wakana쳌fs father had given our stay there to us as a wedding gift. He had made the reservations. Now, those of you who know me personally know that I am not given to complaining, especially about gifts. But I have stayed at Holiday Inn and experienced more luxury than that room had to offer. To start with, the room had twin beds! This was our wedding night and her father had reserved a room with twin beds! 쳌gHmm,쳌h I thought, 쳌gWhat쳌fs he trying to tell me?쳌h
But it was comfortable and had the separate Japanese bathroom and toilet room.
A note about the Japanese bathrooms: I love them. They separate the toilet from the washing facilities except in the smaller hotel rooms. Toilets as a rule have seat warmers and washlets. A washlet is a gadget that cleans your backside, similar to a bidet but these have two adjustments, one for the backside and one for the women쳌fs, uh, frontside. And it sprays WARM water. The bath here at Wakana쳌fs home is a total cleaning area. The water drains into the floor so you enter the room to shower. If you want to take a bath there is a tub with electrically controlled hot water. You first clean yourself, either with the shower or by dipping water out of the tub. Soap is not allowed into the tub though there are certain oils and scents that sometimes are used. Once you are clean and rinsed you enter the tub and soak. It is so relaxing.
The Kanaya Hotel had a volcanic hot spring. We went down for a bath. We had to separate because there is a man쳌fs side and a woman쳌fs side. The preparation is the same, shower and clean then into the hot water. I was not prepared for the sulfur smell and the water was hotter than I expected but the outside pool was beautiful and it was so nice to relax under the stars with the steam rising all around. I guess during the day there is a view of the lake. Getting from the shower to the pool, wet and naked in the cold air, was a trial but I succeeded.
After our bath we went in for dinner. It was included in our package and we had a very elegant meal with champagne to celebrate our new marriage. We then went into the lobby where there was a fire in the fireplace. We sat together enjoying the look and smell of the fire and got one of the staff to take some picture for us.
---CENSORED---
Sorry, no details about our honeymoon night as if you expected any.
December 7
Back to Nikko
Next morning we took the hotel van down to Nikko. As with the hotel we had the vehicle to ourselves. The driver was quite interesting once we got him talking and willingly stopped the car so I could take pictures. (Yes, I had film in the camera.) He explained some features of the road and pointed out some of the landslide prevention dams constructed by the government. He talked about the history of the place and his job in constructing the landslide prevention dams. He pointed out waterfalls and views and explained the old road system. He was one of those guys with whom you would love to share a cup of coffee just to hear him talk. He had retired, gotten bored, and taken the job driving for the Kanaya Hotels.
He delivered us to the Old Kanaya Hotel and we wandered around touring that for a while. The hotel register includes such names as Albert Einstein and Helen Keller as well as members of the Japanese royal family and top businessmen of Japanese history. Einstein stayed in room 15.
Toured Toshu-go Shrine
From the Kanaya we walked up to the Toshu-go shrine. This had been founded before the beginning of the Tokugawa dynasty but Ieyasu Tokugawa had loved the area and expanded the shrine tremendously. It is now one of Japan쳌fs most famous shrines. The difficulty lies in describing it. Japanese shrines and temples range from pretty to beautiful but Toshu-go is in it쳌fs own class. As I explained it to Wakana, a beautiful woman is just that, beautiful. When you apply a little makeup and just the right outfit her beauty is enhanced. If you go on applying makeup and more clothes each item you add may have its own beauty but the overall effect when you finish is just plain gaudiness. That is Toshu-go. Wakana agrees.
There is no surface that is not carved and painted. That which is not painted is covered in gold leaf. The flat surfaces are painted with fantasy animals in bright colors. Red abounds, covering walls, floors, rails, gates, etc. It is the underlayment for all other colors and the old artisans let their imaginations run rampant. It is truly amazing. I cannot say it is bad taste because it may have been very tasteful in its time. But it certainly is gaudy.
One of the carvings has a direct impact on all of you out there wherever you live. I쳌fm sure you have each heard of the three monkeys who illustrate the adage Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil. That comes from the philosophy of the Shinto sect that built the shrine. There is a carving at Toshu-go that illustrates the philosophy using three monkeys and is the basis of our western illustration.
There is also a famous carving of a sleeping cat over one of the doors. It is famous because it is so lifelike it could be a real cat. I have to admit it does look pretty good.
In one hall there is a priest stationed to demonstrate the acoustic effects of the hall. On the ceiling is painted a huge dragon. The priest has a set of wooden clappers. He demonstrates that the sound of the clappers dies out quickly if made in any other spot in the room except under the dragon쳌fs mouth. The sound made there rings and rings, carrying on far longer than I have heard in any other hall.
On the far wall is a statue of the healing Buddha and the twelve gods that make up the twelve year cycle starting with the year of the mouse (I think) I was born in the year of the dragon and the god of my year looks especially fearsome with a green face and horrible grimace.
Back to Visit Wakana's best friend
We took a taxi back to the Kanaya Hotel, ate a late lunch and then wandered down through the town to catch the train. The streets are narrow and the shops crowd the sidewalk.
Note about food: I have never seen so many restaurants in any town as I have in all the towns and cities I have visited here. Japanese seem to focus on food and restaurants seem to make up a huge part of every street. There are many grocery stores as well. I used to worry that I would not be able to get through this visit without eating at least one fish dinner and I really don쳌ft like fish. However, I have not had a complaint about the food yet. It is high is fiber because they eat a lot of vegetables, low in cholesterol because they use little or no oil and eat little meat, and there is little in the way of sweets. The sweets they do eat are not as sweet as what we have in the USA.
Anyway, we visited Emiko and her husband at their beauty salon. Emiko has a license to design and make kimonos. She is very busy at the New Year and later for the annual 20 year old celebrations. In Japan there is a national holiday celebrating all young people who turn 20. This is in late January, Emiko will start working in her shop at 3:00 AM outfitting girls in their holiday kimonos. I was amazed to learn that the kimono is a very highly developed fashion style in Japan. It can cost thousands of dollars to put together a kimono. Wakana says her obi, the wide band that makes up the waist of the kimono, cost her mother $5000. Yes, that is DOLLARS!
December 8
Off to Utsonomiya to visit Wakana's university and favorite professor. Met a friend of hers who drove us to the shopping mall to shop for wedding rings. None could be found to fit me.
Apparently Wakana had not told the professor that she was married and he had no idea what to expect. He is a very respected professor of International Studies and has worked as a guest lecturer in the USA, England, Italy, and France. He was very surprised to see me and even more surprised to hear that I was Wakana쳌fs husband. We talked for a while and he presented Wakana with a copy of the professional journal in which her thesis had been published. We then met with some of the graduate students who worked with him. Wakana쳌fs friend Sachiko arrived to drive us to the shopping mall for dinner and to visit the jewelry store. The first jeweler listened attentively to Wakana and I could tell when Wakana got to the point of telling her that I was her husband and she needed a wedding band to fit me. The surprise and dismay was evident. The jeweler got out the ring sizes and worked at finding the fight size, 30! She told us we could get a ring to fit but it would take a month to adjust it. We got the same story at all the other jewelers we visited.
Sachiko took us to the train station but we stopped at an optical shop where Wakana insisted on buying me a new pair of glasses. It was her wedding gift to me.
December 9
Off to Tokyo with Wakana's brother to visit guitar shops, research my Haruo guitar, and secretly buy Wakana a laptop computer as a wedding gift.
Next day Wakana's brother, Fumito (pronounced who-mee-toh), arrived to drop off some stuff from his closed shop. He is storing it at his parent쳌fs house for the time being. Then he and I went to Tokyo in his van. I was worried about communication because he speaks little English but I took my little dictionary along and we had a great time. He had charged up his CD changer with 10 CDs ranging from Michael Franks Art Of Tea to Tom Waits Heart Of Saturday Night. He had James Taylor in there and Van Morrison, as well as some Japanese jazz musicians. We sang and talked about music all the way to Tokyo.
I also explained to him about Wakana쳌fs computer. When the house was burglarized and burned one of the things the thief took was her laptop. That hit her hard. She had used that computer through her graduate program and her thesis paper and all her research was in the hard drive. (Don쳌ft mention the importance of backup, she already got that message) On top of that the computer represented her ability to continue her education. After the fire that was gone. I wanted to get her a new laptop from one of the shops in Tokyo.
Fumito called his wife and she met us in Tokyo. She shopped for snowboard accessories for their daughter while Fumito and I wandered around the Kanda area of the city exploring guitar shops. Kanda is noted for music shops and bookstores. Man, did we ever see some wonderful guitars. In one we saw a battle scarred old Gibson with a $20,000 price tag. We saw Seagulls, Martins, Cats Eyes, Guilds, Epiphones, Yamahas, Mountains, Tokamines, Ibanez, and some with names I can쳌ft remember. Everywhere we went we asked about Haruo guitars and T. Haruo. The consensus on opinion is that he left Yamaha to build high end guitars. He moved to California to do this. Everyone was amazed when they heard that my Haruo had a Made In Japan label on it. Nobody could remember ever seeing a Haruo guitar though they all seemed to know about them.
After we left Kanda we headed to Akihibara, the center for Tokyo쳌fs electronics shopping. Tokako took me to a huge shop. We had to go to the 5th floor to find the computers and laoptops. I got a decent computer for just under $1000. They boxed it up and I carried it home.
Note on Reading: Here in Japan I am an illiterate. I cannot read the books, magazines, billboards or even the street signs. I cannot believe how dependent I am on my reading skills. I feel so helpless.
Fumito was supposed to drop me at a train station to get back to Nishinasuno. We seemed to drive forever. Finally he told me he had taken a wrong turn and needed to go back to where we started. I noted some familiar buildings but we kept driving. I asked him which station he planned to drop me at. He told me not to worry about it. Finally I realized he intended to drive me all the way home. This is not a light trip. It is about 150 kilometers to Nishinasuno. But he said he enjoyed driving and wouldn쳌ft let me ride the train. So I told him I would pay for gas, he was nearly empty, and I would pay for dinner. Filling the gas tank in Japan is no light decision. We filled up his Mitsubishi van and it cost $72! But the shinkansen would have been about $50-$60 so I didn쳌ft lose out on the deal.
December 10
Visited Wakana's maternal aunt and uncle then off to visit her paternal (eternal single) aunt. Dinner at Genghis Kahn BBQ.
Wakana쳌fs maternal grandfather was a professional photographer. He had the first and biggest studio in the region. Her uncle lives in the house now and keeps the studio. We visited over green tea and snacks and then went into the studio for family portraits. Then we were off to visit Aunt Sachiko, fresh from her trip to Austria. She is eternally single, to use Wakana쳌fs words, and seems to enjoy life tremendously. She is remarkably talented. She presented us with a set of glasses with floral designs etched into the surface. Each glass was unique. She had made them all. She has a china cabinet full of etched glassware that she has made. Also she has a set of pretty little parasols that she made by folding cigarette packaging. They are each about two inches across and have a lovely pattern made by the design on the wrappers. And they showed me a lovely still life featuring a wine bottle on beach sand with colored balls and starfish. When it was brought closer to me I saw that the still life was not a painted picture. Rather it was made of torn rice paper, each color and shade a different piece of paper. And she is a baker. We are eating home made bread.

That will do for now. More to come.