Wednesday January 17
Today was good, I organized everything, finally! (I said I unpacked, not put away) I found the grocery store, with the help of Mr.Mitsui, who is sort of like a doorman/apartment manager. I'm not sure what his title is but he sits in a small room in the lobby with a window that opens out. He seems very nice, he does not speak English nor does he read romaji. So I have decided that I would try to ask him something in Japanese everytime I go downstairs; today I managed to ask him where the supermarket is: Suupaamaketto wa doko desu ka? Relatively easy - better to start with an easy one. He was very helpful, even walked me to the store to make sure I didn't miss it.
The grocery store is to die for, I just walked up and down the aisle, looking at all the foods, all so very different than when I am used to and yes, very expensive. Ironically the most expensive item I bought was rice, at ¥1100 for a five pound bag. Bananas are cheap though. By the time I finished walking through, I had to put some stuff back because it was so heavy, so I guess I will have to make another trip. Actually it wasn't much different than walking through Woo Chee Chong's or Yaohans in San Diego.
I am also starting to get a lot of replies to all my letters I sent from San Diego. Today I heard from someone in Osaka, so this will give me an opportunity to visit that city. In addition I also heard from Kazuko Koike, the gallery owner who was in San Diego briefly - she seems much nicer and more accomodating than her mother in law. I also sent a quick fax to Yuko Shimizu's friend Kosei from CCAC - he had been sending me information via Yuko. He wrote back and said he would take me to some temples. Hopefully we could get together and see some stuff. Things are starting to firm up a bit. I also have a meeting on Friday with the Professor Onishi, the urushi instructor.
Tonite I attended a concert by Christopher Blasdel, who is quite the renowned shakahachi player. (yes this is the same Chris from International House). The concert was great, fantastic!!! It's a bit of traditional music but mostly contemporary with a bit of jazz fused in. Sort of New Age in some ways, which has been my music of choice lately. He had the chinese koto, piano, trumpet and a female voice as accompaniment in some of the numbers. The voice was amazing. At the reception afterwards I remarked to Chris how wonderful the concert was and how interesting the soprano is, and then he says, "Oh that is my wife, let me introduce you to her" (Chris is reputed to be gay and I got the impression myself and found it sort of odd - I almost said, "Your wife??" She was a very friendly person, her name is Mika Kimula. She apparently does solos once in a while too. What really struck me most was the facial expressions with the voice, it was very animated. I have to ask Chris what style of singing is, its obviously derived from Japanese singing but more operatic. Although it was totally different, it appealed to me in the same way that Philip Glass' Songs from the Trilogy does. I have always liked traditional Japanese music anyway so I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. There will be another one next week which I will also try to attend.
I sat next to Donald Richie, the writer of many Japanese books (books about Japan) and he is hosting a Yasushiro Ozu film festival at the Internional House, so I am very very pleased about being able to attend so many cultural events!!
The grocery store is to die for, I just walked up and down the aisle, looking at all the foods, all so very different than when I am used to and yes, very expensive. Ironically the most expensive item I bought was rice, at ¥1100 for a five pound bag. Bananas are cheap though. By the time I finished walking through, I had to put some stuff back because it was so heavy, so I guess I will have to make another trip. Actually it wasn't much different than walking through Woo Chee Chong's or Yaohans in San Diego.
I am also starting to get a lot of replies to all my letters I sent from San Diego. Today I heard from someone in Osaka, so this will give me an opportunity to visit that city. In addition I also heard from Kazuko Koike, the gallery owner who was in San Diego briefly - she seems much nicer and more accomodating than her mother in law. I also sent a quick fax to Yuko Shimizu's friend Kosei from CCAC - he had been sending me information via Yuko. He wrote back and said he would take me to some temples. Hopefully we could get together and see some stuff. Things are starting to firm up a bit. I also have a meeting on Friday with the Professor Onishi, the urushi instructor.
Tonite I attended a concert by Christopher Blasdel, who is quite the renowned shakahachi player. (yes this is the same Chris from International House). The concert was great, fantastic!!! It's a bit of traditional music but mostly contemporary with a bit of jazz fused in. Sort of New Age in some ways, which has been my music of choice lately. He had the chinese koto, piano, trumpet and a female voice as accompaniment in some of the numbers. The voice was amazing. At the reception afterwards I remarked to Chris how wonderful the concert was and how interesting the soprano is, and then he says, "Oh that is my wife, let me introduce you to her" (Chris is reputed to be gay and I got the impression myself and found it sort of odd - I almost said, "Your wife??" She was a very friendly person, her name is Mika Kimula. She apparently does solos once in a while too. What really struck me most was the facial expressions with the voice, it was very animated. I have to ask Chris what style of singing is, its obviously derived from Japanese singing but more operatic. Although it was totally different, it appealed to me in the same way that Philip Glass' Songs from the Trilogy does. I have always liked traditional Japanese music anyway so I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. There will be another one next week which I will also try to attend.
I sat next to Donald Richie, the writer of many Japanese books (books about Japan) and he is hosting a Yasushiro Ozu film festival at the Internional House, so I am very very pleased about being able to attend so many cultural events!!
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