Doguya

In Nara city, in the small section called Naramachi is an antique store run by a man half deaf…. scream in the ear deaf. He also happens to have a deep knowledge of Japanese antiques, particularly of a certain kiln from a certain period. I have been in his “store” a number of times. I suspected, and seemed to have confirmed, his hearing is getting worse by the year. I went there with my wife this last Saturday. I have a great aunt who used to talk so loud I would become embarrassed and wish she would just be quiet, never daring to ask a question in public that I didn’t want all of Washington D.C., where she lived, to hear the answer to. I had a similar feeling this past Saturday. The difference was my wife was the one screaming out the questions in this very quiet salon type store.

Yayoi

Yayoi

Yayoi

The 3 pictures show the quality Mr. Kawase carries. I think this Yayoi piece could go into most museum’s collections. Price? Around one million five hundred thousand yen.

I can’t say a lot about this particular piece. The focus of our yelling match was actually 2 tea bowls, a 400 year old shelf from a Bizen kiln and a 1000 year old cooking vessel. I have pictures from the cooking vessel which I will post shortly.

It is inspiring to be able to handle, see, and HEAR about such works. I feel lucky to live so close to Nara City and Mr. Kawase’s store.

Gallery sitting

I have a show running through July 12 2008 at http://gallery-kohara.com/php/stock/stock.php?key=080613

This should be read as I spend my Sunday afternoons sitting in the gallery greeting customers or not, depending on how the intricate dance goes as they walk up the stairs and see my American mug staring back at them.

I would say I am a friendly person. I am able to carry on small talk and generally keep the conversation at a level that is comfortable for all. “Yes, they are all made from clay”, I have been in Japan 14 years” Yes, Japanese food is great” etc, etc.

Yesterday was my second Sunday. The first Sunday provided more fodder for thought. The stand-out couple immediately reminded me of the couples in vitamin catalogs I often get in the mail. Thin, tanned, running shorts and top, running shoes. Tipping the balance was they were holding hands. In 14 years probably the first couple in their 50s I have seen in Japan holding hands. Running interference was their son who was in his late 20s or 30s. At first it didn’t register what was going on. I kept on hearing the woman of the couple say, clearly, emphatically and a little loudly, “IT DOESN’T MATTER”. Curiosity piqued I listened in. It seems nothing her husband said could pass her test of being relevant. All this while they would nervously look at me from time to time.

Being at the gallery matters. Period. I haven’t moved much in the past week and a half of the show. Having said that ninety percent of stuff that has gone out the door has been moved when I have been there.

I do enjoy meeting the different people coming through. Most don’t come specifically to see me. Shigaraki is one of the big, traditional pottery towns so it gets a steady river of tourists. Yesterday was heavy rain off and on most of the day but there was still a steady flow of visitors to the gallery. I recently went to my first craft fair. It happened to also be the first of what might be an annual event in Nara park. I really enjoyed it. Meeting folks was much more of a hit and miss affair at the Nara event. Understandably people are nervous about getting tangled up in conversation with someone who may not speak Japanese. I have tried to come up with opening phrases that convey I can speak Japanese without being too obvious that that is the point. It is enjoyable to sit out in the sun and meet the other vendors.

Joint unglazed/glazed firing

I have started loading the first noborigama firing in a while. I will fire the first chamber with unglazed work and the second with 2 types of glazed work. This is the first time I have tried to do this combination. I am usually too exhausted to try to finesse a good firing out of the second chamber after working to get the first to finish.

I hope to give a more detailed description of what I am doing and my concerns in this series of posts. I will sometimes include photos, thereby saving a thousand words, but more often than not won’t.

So far I have cleaned out the kiln from the last firing. I gathered about 16.8 kilos of Japanese Red Pine ash. Having done some really rough calculations a while ago and come up with a ratio of 1:70 it looks like the last firing was about 1100 kilos of wood. This is much higher than most woods. The pine ash looks like soil, suprising the first time I saw it. The amount sounds low considering how tired I was.

I am giving the ash away. I already have stockpiled about 100 kilos of the stuff and instead of throwing it out I would rather give it away. If you want a kilo please send an email to togeii@yahoo.com and we can work out the details. I will only ask for shipping. I know it costs about 13 dollars to send a kilo to the U.S. In Japan I can send it chakubarai and you can pay shipping.

I have loaded the second chamber about 2/5 of the way up. Unfortunately I have a bunch of stuff made from clay that bloats if you look at it funny. I have loaded all that ware below the line marking the top of the exit flue. That is to say when the excitement really starts that is the stuff that will get the full force of the flames barreling past on their way out. The flame from red pine will come out the top of the chimney, a distance of 5 or so meters.

Ceramic site links

Here are a couple of links to sites I have found. Please see my site for links to Japanese Ceramic sites.

http://davidmorrisonpike.com/

This site has a wealth of information from around the world.

http://www.robertcomptonpottery.com/home.htm

Here is a site that has artists from around the world with a concentration on  U.S. and Western Europe people.

http://www.woodfiredceramics.net/

This is a site out of Australia. It has a lot of links and links to Australian ceramicists who wood fire.

http://www.sidestoke.com/

Here is a site that is a gallery but also has good photos of woodfiring.

http://www.anagama-west.com/oten_gallery_shop/

Dust up on the net.

I have recently finished  what could have been a nasty flame war. I would like to relate it in its entirety to get it out of my system. The forum I won’t name. The only reason I feel justified in posting this is mail was sent to me “off line”. I should note that the forum is moderated so even though I sent a few more posts these are the only one’s that got to the area where everyone can see them.

This is the start of my involvement.

quote

****writes: I’m aware of the situation in S Korea where very large numbers
> > of Vietnamese women are marrying Korean farmers who cannot find
> wives. Also, and only anecdotally, on recent visits to Shizuoka-ken I
> > encountered several groups of Filipina women (one of 15+ mothers), all
> > married to Japanese farmers, and all with one or more children.
>

????? writes -A major problem in many of these relationships is domestic violence.
In rural areas, the access to resources such as women’s counseling
centers and shelters is an issue, as well as the language barrier and
the lack of a social network of family and friends also are issues.
This is certainly not a “win-win’ situation for all women who enter
into these arrangements.

To which I replied

Mr. ????

I know this is your banner issue but I would like to see something more definite than a blanket accusation of

“A major problem in many of these relationships is domestic violence”

I don’t doubt that support is lacking in the country but I think painting the male half of the population as predisposed to abuse women with out some specific facts is a little over the top.

Sincerely,

Dave

davidmorrisonpike.com

To which Mr.????

replied

Mr. Pike wrote:> I don’t doubt that support is lacking in the country but I think painting
> the male half of the population as predisposed to abuse women with
> out some specific facts is a little over the top.I’m not sure why Mr. Pike came to the conclusion that I was claiming
that the male half of the population was “predisposed to abuse
women”.There has been much written about this issue, but once source in
particular is the excellent introduction to the English translation
of “Sandakan Brothel No. 8″ by Miyazaki Tomoko. The Japan Times has
also written about this issue* as well as domestic violence in
general. There are many sources of information on DV in Japan** — I
also have written a paper on sexual violence in both Japan and the
U.S. which I’d be glad to send to Mr. Pike or anyone else upon request.

To which I replied

Mr. ????,

You are right, I shouldn’t have come to the conclusion I did. That’s what I get for responding at 4:30 in the morning. I’m sorry if I offended you.

I would like some facts to support your statement below.

Mr. ????? wrote

A major problem in many of these relationships is domestic violence.

Mr. ????? wrote

“There has been much written about this issue,”

You are right.  There has been much written about most topics on this forum and most of the time facts are presented and arguments given. I don’t think it should be any different with the serious problem of domestic violence.

Sincerely,

Dave

davidmorrisonpike.com

Up to this point all exchanges had taken place for the general audience of the list to see.

After sending my apology I received this in my website email.

The post title was Regarding your comments on %%%%% list.

(off list)

I find your statements on %%%% quite disturbing, as it implies that those who stand up and speak out against male violence towards women

really have hidden tendencies towards misandry. Such statements only help silence discussion on an extremely important issue.

If you want to engage in a productive and meaningful debate, I welcome that. However, I’d appreciate it if you represent my positions accurately.

I hope your future comments will be less argumentative and more constructive in the future.

end of exchange. 

Ouch, ohh. My first comment is Mr. ??? seems like a first rate coward. I guess being raised in the wide open west of the U.S. makes me expect people to settle their differences with me out in the open, with words, not by presenting one face to most people and another to me in the back room.

Another point is I do think domestic violence is a major problem. I would guess by Mr. ???’s age, which I know, that I was doing performance art work in California against misogyny when he was still in grade school. Having said that I do think I and others should cap the shrillness and present facts, even for those things we feel strongly about.

Elementary school teachers.

I recently put up an interview on an expat interview site. See http://www.expatinterviews.com/

One of the questions was about what I think about the Japanese. I had an experience this morning that will illustrate my feelings better than my answer in the interview.

It snowed this morning, about 25 centimeters. This is the first snow of any import this year. My son, when putting on his big down jacket told me his teacher told him not to wear the removable hat. It is a hat that can be removed or attached by zipper. He then told me he couldn’t wear boots because the teacher told him he can only wear them on the coldest days. She told him on a day that was colder than today. While today isn’t the coldest day so far this year it is the snowiest and if there is any day he should wear his best gear it would be today. My children walk about three and a half kilometers through the mountains to school. My sons teacher drives to school. I insisted he wear proper clothes and that I would talk to the teacher.

We got to school and I went into the school yard. By chance his teacher came out of the school building so instead of relaying my “request” to the principal which I had imagined would be the case I told her directly. I speak pretty good Japanese and could if I wanted relay what I wanted to in a culturally appropriate way. That might take ten minutes or so. Instead I took what I believe is a better approach and told her  in a direct manner to relay any complaints about my son’s clothing directly to me. This took less than one minute. I can’t read her mind but I would bet money she was less than pleased at my request and even less pleased at my directness.

I think my way is more appropriate for a number of reasons. I don’t think I am pulling the “foreign card”. That is to say asking her to give me special treatment because I am a foreigner. I COULD relate the request in a way that would make her happier, notice I don’t say happy, but it would probably increase my gray hair count. I think it is, in a worst case scenario a lose/lose situation and in a better case scenario a not so bad though slightly amusing/very stressful situation with me being on either side of the equation depending on every ones mood. Do I feel I am completely in the right? In what I wanted to convey yes. I think the teacher should let the parents dress the children. I am not talking in extremes. There are some cases where the school has agency but this is not one of them. I always have to weigh if I am in the right on being direct. If I am not direct there have been cases that I have been mis-understood. Do I feel for the teacher? Yes, I can imagine it is very stressful for her and I can understand stress having lived here going on 14 years. I don’t think it is better that I say nothing and just let my son take her half baked advice.

This answers the interview question much better.

Links

I listen to the Girls Gone Geek podcast. http://girlsgonegeek.tv/ I guess it may seem strange to some for a 44 year old man to listen to it but I learn a lot from it almost every time. The reason I like their podcast is they give a basic overview of new things happening in the tech world in an easy to understand style.

The latest I have gleaned is a free HTML course. http://w3schools.com/default.asp

Here are a couple other links from the last podcast I listened to.

This is a free anti-ad ware or anti-spy ware, I haven’t looked close enough at this point to tell which.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

This is a free anti-virus program.

http://getprofitmax.com/avgantivirusfree

This is a free anti-spyware program.

http://www.fullreleases.com/NewMembers/pre_search.php?act=search&id=7031&search=avgantispyware

Wood for winter

   This is how I spend the first hour of each day. Splitting wood. Then some more splitting. I got this wood from about 15 minutes away, the remains of a clear cut on a couple of acres that I loaded and transported myself. It is mostly cypress with some ceder thrown in. Not the best for heating but great for the price. Free. I usually use the end cuts from a mill down the road. A bundle 3 meters long, and 1.5 meters in diameter. Cost? 500 yen. The wood is free, 500 yen covers transportation. For one winter usually 3 bundles will give you enough wood to luxuriate in 40 degree comfort throughout the house.  We use kerosene to heat our water and if we didn’t use a wood stove we would have to use it(kerosene) for our heating.  The price of kerosene has doubled in the last couple of years. It is now 88 yen per liter, about 1,600 yen per 18 liter can. Usually one can will last roughly one week. If you only use kerosene heaters you have to use one in each room you are in during the time you are in the room.  It seemed inefficient to me for the longest time. I have read statistics that Japan has the most efficient energy usage of the OECD countries. I would guess that is mainly due to the efficiency of the transportation sector. The contribution that not having central heating and “flash” water heaters shouldn’t be discounted. We don’t have a 100 or 200 liter reserve of hot water on tap. Instead if the hot water tap is turned on then in about 10 seconds out pours hot water.

In addition to getting the wood I have to cut or split it so I can use it. It takes about about 1 hour to split enough by hand to last one week. I have a hydraulic splitter but it is actually faster to split by hand and there is the extra benefit of getting “free” exercise. Another side benefit is I get to listen to my Ipod which isn’t possible if I have a small gas engine running next to me.

I got this wood not from the mill but from a clear cut site. I went to the mill and for the first time in 7 years was told there is a 6 bundle waiting list. With the price of heating oil so high all the locals have started taking advantage of a hidden treasure right down the road. I have always thought 500 yen for so much wood was a great deal. Ranks right up there with a 100 yen car wash that includes the gas station guy wiping the whole car down after which is available at a local gas station. Last year I ordered 4 bundles in the space of 2 months with no waiting list. In this area it is usually the job of the grandfathers and grandmothers to get, split and stack the wood for the bath. I don’t think any locals use wood for heating the house. It is exclusively used for heating the water for the bath. Frugality at its finest. I would venture a guess most of my neighbors are millionaires in land value. I would also guess the average savings in the bank per household to be in the 10,000,000 yen  range. 1$=108yen=92,500$ more or less. I say that because most things are paid for in cash. Two of my neighbors built big new Japanese style houses in the past 10 years, paid in cash. Still splitting wood by hand to save money. I really respect that attitude.

Back to splitting wood.

Kitano Elementary school, one more time

Well, the large person hasn’t sung, how’s that for trying to not offend anyone. The meetings have continued but some kind of corner seems to have been turned. I am talking about the 3 year saga on the local elementary school merger. Click the tag “school”  and read the other posts if you are interested in more. There have been countless meetings that ran late into the evening, about 35 at last count. Japanese style of consensus building. Watching from the sidelines has been  interesting sport.  For the longest time I have assumed that the goal of the merger instigators was to build consensus by fatigue. One more meeting wherein none of the questions from the previous meeting have been answered but will have the effect to wear down the will of those opposed a millimeter more. I still believe that is the overall strategy, with the tactics being varied every once in a while.

Lately, really in the eleventh hour I think, I am seeing something that I expected about a year or more back. A local farmer has lit the torch and is using Ockham’s blade. This person, a Mr. Ueda, has accomplished in the space of a month what couldn’t be done in 3 years. This isn’t to say my children will be going to the same school next school year. The jury is still out on that. It is also not saying that Mr. Ueda is going to get any credit for his mysterious movings about. A local politician has gallantly stepped in to take credit for that. I say mysterious because nobody seems to know exactly what he has been doing. Alchemic activism if you will.

There are many points in this that are  interesting to me. I am forever fascinated on how things are resolved in this country. I can’t understand the mechanics of having all those meetings. Was it as I thought  a tactic to wear everyone out? Was there a miscalculation on the part of the village mayor that led to the movement I am now seeing? There now seems to be a 50/50 chance the school won’t be merged. The reasons are many. The loss of the local Japan Agricultural Coop branch. The loss of the local Post Office branch office. The need to preserve some academic “competition” by having 2 schools.  The glaring contradiction of closing a school that was the site in October 2007 of a nation wide focus group that was studying the positive effects of having small schools and  small classes. Just to name a few. The total student population of Kitano is 35 students, that is from first grade to sixth grade. The usual single class size in a regular size school is 40 students. Not grade but single class within each year. In the fifth grade class at Kitano there are 6 students, in the second grade 6 students. A ratio that is great for the children.

I used to volunteer my time and teach English at Kitano. I went in one day to find the fifth grade teacher absent. I asked what would happen, who would teach the students for the day, assuming there would be a substitute. The principal told me the children would do review and work from their texts unsupervised for most of the day. During the course of the day the principal and the head teacher checked up on the class a couple of times. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I think it reflects well on the school system and the culture that the children were, and could be, trusted to live, that is cunduct their school day, in a responsible manner with out adult supervision.

Walking to Nara

I recently watched a video on google http://tiny.cc/KoJ9g   entitled Kintaro walks Japan. You can also see it in smaller, 6 minute chunks on youtube. I was impressed by “Kintaro’s” enthusiasm for meeting and interacting with the Japanese he met along his trip.

I have had an on again off again project to walk to Nara from my house. It is a distance of about 19 kilometers through the mountains.  After seeing the video I decided to have another go at it. I walked yesterday for 3 hours and finally made it. It really isn’t a far distance when looked at on paper. Doing it is a little more difficult. There are only 2 good places to take breaks, one at the 10 kilometer mark and again at the 16 kilometer mark.

As far as meeting and talking to Japanese, if that had been my goal, I failed miserably. I only met a very old woman waiting for a bus who eyed me a little suspiciously and 2 more women sitting in a truck waiting for a bus. They didn’t look like they wanted to talk to a guy in a white fake Mickey Mouse sweatshirt holding a plastic bag in which there was a bottle of water and a banana.