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What is “Deep Kyoto”? ~ Some thoughts from Lonny Chick

September 25, 2015 By Michael Lambe

In recent months the Deep Kyoto Group on Facebook has really taken on a life of its own, with members sharing events, photos, info, opinions and even fun little quizzes! It really does feel like it has naturally grown into a vibrant community and a center of friendly discussion. One of our frequent contributors is Lonny Chick, who is perhaps better known on Twitter and Flickr as Rekishi no Tabi, and his photographs and posts on historical matters are always fascinating. A recent discussion about the kind of content we would like to see more of in our group, inspired Lonny to write a wonderful meditation on what “deep Kyoto” means to him personally. It was so beautifully written and so full of heartfelt love for this city that I thought it deserved a wider audience, and I am very glad to say he has given me permission to reproduce it here.

*          *           *

What is “Deep Kyoto”? What does it mean to you?

I don’t mean this in terms of the Facebook Group, which is a stellar community and I do truly enjoy the posts, but what is “deep Kyoto”?

I ask myself this question a lot, as Kyoto is a very special place that resonates deep in me. It is a destination that allows me to forget the burdens of work and daily life and all the associated stress that really sometimes drags me down both mentally and physically. It is in Kyoto that I can find an inner peace, refresh myself and find the resolve to re-don my samurai salaryman armor to fight in the workplace trenches another day.

So what then is my “Deep Kyoto”? I think the best way to answer that is with a list. In no particular order, here is a portion of that list.

A Quiet Sunday in Kyoto by Lonny Chick
A Quiet Sunday in Kyoto © Lonny Chick – Click to view original.

1. It’s the feeling of joy to see the owners and senior staff of one of my favorite obanzai restaurants, who go out of their way to make me and my wife feel special. It is all about the omotenashi (hospitality) and the relationship that has developed over a decade with these people. It is the fact that the okami-san eagerly WANTS to talk about Japanese history and traditional culture with me. It’s the special sake that they bring out for me to sample. It is the box of chirimenjako or special Kyoto pickles that the okami-san presses into our hands to take back to Tokyo. It’s the master preparing extra special goodies for us, unsolicited. Again, Kyoto-style omotenashi really goes a long way with me.

2. It is the taste of botan nabe (wild boar hot pot) cooked in an iribancha tea-based broth on a cold winter’s night. It’s pure Kyoto and pure delight!

3. It is the smile of recognition and greeting one gets when seeing a geiko or maiko on the street who actually remembers you.

4. It is the sound of a shamisen accompanied by a singer emitting from the open second story machiya window on a hot and sultry summer’s night.

5. It’s running into Kyotoite friends on the street at night by pure chance who are on their way to a bar and drag you along, only to find out you will be drinking with a stunning geiko.

6. It is the sound of “kon-chiki-chin” music of the Gion Matsuri during Yoi-yoiyama up through the big parade every July 17. It just helps set the mood.

7. It is the feeling of being revitalized while walking through the Kibune Shrine complex, especially after a rainfall, or during a light drizzle. Water and the dragon god go hand in hand.

8. It is the feeling of deep relaxation and satisfaction one gets when sitting on the veranda at Entokuin or Eikandō, nearly all alone and undisturbed, staring out into the garden and thinking of absolutely nothing for about an hour.

9. It’s the subtle smile and sideways glance one gets from a favorite Buddhist statue.

10. It’s the conversation one has about “what constitutes the best cup of tea” with an accomplished tea master while sipping whisky in a small Gion bar run by a charming semi-retired geiko, who also has a treasure chest full of great stories.

11. It is being told by the owner of an ancient restaurant to wait until all the dinner customers are gone so you can have nearly a free reign to go and photograph just about every nook and cranny of the historic building.

12. It’s being told by the owner of a restaurant, which you are visiting for the first time, to wait until the last lunch customer is gone so he can show you how hamo is prepared.

13. It is just browsing in an antique store and talking to the owner about the history of a piece when he suddenly invites you to an impromptu tea ceremony in his shop using 15th century utensils.

Akai-san Prepares a Bowl of Matcha © Lonny Chick. Click for original image, and story!
Akai-san Prepares a Bowl of Matcha © Lonny Chick. Click for original image, and story!

14. It is the wonderful old architecture that co-exists with some interesting new structures.

15. It is a stroll down Kiyamachi at night, holding hands with your loved one, admiring the sakura and soaking up the history of the area.

16. It is stopping to dally around the Tatsumibashi bridge and shrine around midnight, while on the way back to your hotel, just to admire a sudden snowfall and watch the area slowly get blanketed in white.

17. It is the old couple who owns a kissaten, set in an old machiya, who invites you to come back tomorrow to just hang out and watch the carrying of the mikoshi (portable shrine) from their place during the Gion Matsuri and to get tested on Kyoto history knowledge via the Kyoto Kentei books.

18. It’s the sound of thundering hooves and the sight of a mounted archer whiz pass you while firing arrows at targets on the grounds of the Shimogamo Shrine during the Aoi Matsuri.

19. It’s just walking up and down the narrow walkway in the Pontochō at dusk, trying to count the number of languages you hear spoken, catching a glimpse of a geiko or maiko, and wondering how the area must have looked during the Bakumatsu period. Pontochō is magical at dusk.

20. It’s the sudden sense of being overcome with awe and wonderment when you are led upstairs to the Sumiya’s second floor to see the beautiful settings where courtesans and geiko mingled with Edo period literati and elites.

This list can go on and on, but this is just a part of my “deep Kyoto”.

Honke Owariya with Sean Lotman

June 16, 2014 By Michael Lambe

2014-06-15 15.25.25 (Medium)
On Sunday Mewby and I had the pleasure of lunch with writer/photographer Sean Lotman. Sean’s wife manages the Honke Owariya soba noodle business, a family company which is pretty famous in Kyoto.  The business actually dates from 1465, though they “only” started making noodles Sean told me about 300 or 400 years ago, as they were originally a confectionary business.  They still make confectionary but it is the noodles that have made it famous. We met up with Sean at the main branch of Honke Owariya, a delightful old traditional Kyoto building for a stimulating lunch of hearty food and good conversation in beautiful surrounds. [Read more…]

The Ryōzen Kannon, Kyoto, 1958

March 23, 2014 By Michael Lambe

…suppose there are immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions of living beings who are undergoing various trials and suffering. If they hear of this Bodhisattva Perceiver of the Word’s Sounds and single-mindedly call his name, then at once he will perceive the sound of their voices and they will all gain deliverance from their trials. If someone, holding fast to the name of bodhisattva perceiver of the world’s sounds, should enter a great fire, the fire could not burn him. This would come about because of this bodhisattva’s authority and supernatural power. If one were washed away by a great flood and call upon his name, one would immediately find himself in a shallow place… — from the Lotus Sutra Chapter 25 translated by Burton Watson

Buddhist goddess of Mercy Statue in Kyoto, Japan on May 11, 1958, after the unveiling of a memorial to Allied dead of World War II on June 8.

“Some 50 colorfully-garbed Buddhist monks march from the Buddhist goddess of Mercy Statue in Kyoto, Japan on May 11, 1958, after the unveiling of a memorial to Allied dead of World War II on June 8. A white marble tablet, honoring more than 48,000 soldiers who died fighting against Japan, was uncovered in base of the 80-foot-high statue. The Buddha is dedicated to the more than one million Japanese who perished in the war.” (AP Photo)

I found the picture above in a collection of fascinating photographs showing life in 1950s Japan at The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/japan-in-the-1950s/100697/ It seemed like a timely discovery. [Read more…]

The Photographs of Jane Lawson

May 26, 2011 By Michael Lambe

Last year on Deep Kyoto we posted a short series of Kyoto-based photographer profiles. Each photographer  was challenged to choose just five of their own favorite pictures from Kyoto and tell us a little bit about why they chose them. It’s time to reboot that series! This month I’ve asked Australian foodie Jane Lawson to accept the challenge. Though Jane is not technically resident  in Kyoto, she has visited this city so many times over the last three decades that I figured I could bend the rules. Also, her pictures are fantastic! Jane says,

Ok, of course choosing just 5 of my favourite images was near impossible – I must admit to feeling somewhat unhealthily attached to all documented vision of my days wandering beautiful Kyoto. Each moment is special to me for one reason or another – I probably wouldn’t feel compelled to snap away at it otherwise. To make it easy on myself I decided to theme this selection in ode to my favourite season and the most magnificent Kyoto winter earlier this year. We don’t get much snow in Australia so it was an absolute treat to experience a particularly white winter – mother nature gave a rather generous sprinkling in 2011.

Winter Patterns

I shot winter patterns on busy Sanjo Dori but it could have been deep in a remote forest. The moody imagery and pattern takes me back to researching one of my books in Scandinavia. I love the contrast of black and white and the shadows of grey in between. [Read more…]

The Photographs of Chris McCooey

December 3, 2010 By Michael Lambe

 

Here’s this month’s addition to our ongoing series of profiles of Kyoto-based photographers. Each photographer chooses five of their own favorite pictures and tells us a little about what those pictures mean to them. This time I asked a former Kyoto resident, Chris McCooey. Before leaving Japan, Chris was the photographer for the excellent Time Out Shortlist Kyoto (which I have reviewed here). Chris says,

Having rediscovered the joy of photography early on during my time in Japan, I’ve amassed a large collection of images to choose from. I shot around 10,000 images for the Time Out Kyoto book alone! I began my selection process by simply scanning through small previews looking for images that stood out, even in a small size and for images that have always fascinated me. From those few hundred I narrowed things down by looking for strong elements of composition, light, color and/or contrast and impact. The final selections, for whatever reason, resonate with me. Your experience may differ, and that is part of the allure of photography. Like music, photographs touch each of us differently, with varying intensities that are completely independent of the ‘quality’ of an image.

Dancing with Fire

This image was shot at an event held at GAIA which may or may not still exist in eastern Kyoto city. I was fortunate to attend several events here, filled with music, dance, art, laughter and friendship. There I found a mix of foreigners and Japanese who seemed to share a love for a lifestyle more deeply rooted in personal growth and discovery than accumulation of goods and ladder climbing. [Read more…]

The Photographs of Jeffrey Friedl

October 7, 2010 By Michael Lambe

Here is the fifth in a continuing series of profiles of Kyoto-based photographers. Each photographer chooses five of their favorite pictures from around Kyoto and tells us a little about what those pictures mean to them. This time I asked local photo-blogger Jeffrey Friedl to contribute – and I am so glad that I did! Jeffrey’s pictures are breathtakingly beautiful! Jeffrey says…

Holy cow, it’s not easy too whittle an archive of 90,000 photos down to five! It would have been *so* much easier to come up with my top 500 best Kyoto photos… even 50 would have been difficult… five is just impossible. So, I thought about how to pick, and decided to abandon the idea of picking “good” photos (photos that could stand alone on their own photographic merits), and instead pick photos that illustrated a feeling or place I wanted to share. Even then I had hundreds… Some of my favorite or most popular photos I’ve ever taken didn’t make the cut. Making the selections was a brutal process.

1) “Serenity”

The garden at Sanzen-in Temple. [Read more…]

The Photographs of Frédéric Devos

September 3, 2010 By Michael Lambe

This is the fourth in a continuing series of profiles of Kyoto-based photographers. Each photographer chooses five of their favorite pictures from around Kyoto and tells us a little about what those pictures mean to them. So far the participants have each shown a unique and canny eye on the city they live in. Today’s participant, French traveler and photographer Frédéric Devos, is no exception. Here are his pictures and his thoughts on the same:

Maiko

[Read more…]

The Photographs of Ken Rodgers

August 16, 2010 By Michael Lambe

Did you spot the spider?

This is the third in an occasional series of profiles of Kyoto-based photographers. Each photographer chooses five of their favorite pictures from around Kyoto and tells us a little about what those pictures mean to them. Previously, we have featured Kyoto Journal‘s founder editor John Einarsen and associate editor Stewart Wachs. This time it’s the turn of KJ’s managing editor Ken Rodgers. Ken says…

Being invited to follow two superbly accomplished photographers, John Einarsen and Stewart Wachs, is quite a challenge. (Thanks, Michael!) Untrained in the darkroom arts, I hardly envisage myself as even a hobby shutterbug — but somehow, since starting to upload digital photos to iPhoto in 2005, I have accumulated over 16,000 images. Occasionally I get lucky, and fluke a shot that’s focused in the right places and reasonably composed (cropping sometimes helps…) [Read more…]

The Photographs of Stewart Wachs

July 15, 2010 By

This is the second in an occasional series of profiles of Kyoto-based photographers. Each photographer will choose five of their favorite pictures from around Kyoto and tell us a little about what those pictures mean to them. Last  week we featured Kyoto Journal‘s founder editor John Einarsen. This week’s photographer is KJ‘s associate editor Stewart Wachs. Stewart says…

Photography is my way of slowing down enough to utterly forget myself. When this occurs, pictures seem to offer themselves — a landscape, a building, a window or door, a face, a creature, a sky or a stone; anything imbued with spirit can beckon the lens and trigger my finger on the shutter. The photos that I take pale by comparison.

Back around ‘93, while my wife and I sat talking with Japanese friends in their rural Kyoto home, our daughter was playing outside. The sun was starting to set when all at once three silhouettes appeared on the shoji playing rock-scissors-paper, jan-ken-pon. That’s our girl in the middle.
[Read more…]

The Photographs of John Einarsen

July 7, 2010 By Michael Lambe

This is the first in a new, occasional series of profiles of Kyoto-based photographers. Each photographer will choose five of their favorite pictures from around Kyoto and tell us a little about what those pictures mean to them. To start us off, Kyoto Journal‘s John Einarsen was kind enough to send me some wonderful black and white images of Shinnyodo; a temple complex on Mount Yoshida. John says…

All these images are from a place near my house where I take walks to find quiet, think, engage with a new visitor, or share intimate conversation with friends (alive or passed on). It contains two temple complexes, Kurodani and Shinnyodo, a cemetery, two pagodas, two bells, dirt lanes, Buddhas and beautiful maple trees. A very special corner of Kyoto!

John Einarsen

John Einarsen is originally from Colorado. He fell in love with Kyoto on his first trip here and settled down here in the early 1980s. His photographs have been published in Kyoto: The Forest Within the Gate and in the new book Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto. He is also the founder editor of Kyoto Journal which he began with other poets and writers in 1986. From 2013-2015 he served as an advisor to the Japan Times and in 2013 received the Commissioner’s Award of the Japanese Cultural Affairs Agency. He lives near Kyoto’s Nanzenji temple.

Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto by John Dougill and John Einarsen was released by Tuttle Publishing on October 10th 2017. This is “the first comprehensive guide to Kyoto’s most important Zen garden and temple sites” and includes detailed introductions to over 50 Japanese temples and gardens with information on early morning meditation sessions, temple food offerings and special green tea sets along with other “insider” information. The book is available from amazon.com, amazon.co.jp, and amazon.co.uk.

“The exquisite photography of Einarsen evokes the beauty that is embodied within Zen’s philosophy, while Dougill describes the physical constructs that house the illusive yet enduring concepts.” —Judith Clancy, author of Kyoto Gardens and Kyoto City of Zen

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