The Good Garden

It's rainy season here in Japan and things are growing like mad.

The other morning we woke to find an incredible kinugasa mushroom behind our house.


Also, we have a few ajisai (hydrangeas) growing behind the house.


In front of the house, my wife is growing an incredible garden. We've already enjoyed cucumbers, tomatoes and rosemary from the garden.

Inside Kyoto New Haven Edition

New Haven, Connecticut is a long way from Kyoto, Japan, but it's where I grew up (okay, I grew up in Hamden, next door, but I spent a lot of time in New Haven). Something is wrong with New Haven. There's no getting around it. People in other parts of the United States don't dream of someday moving to New Haven (unless they're 17 years old and applying to Yale University). Still, the city is lovable in its own peculiar way. New Haven is home to several monuments of American culture: Yankee Doodle, one of America's cheapest and coolest breakfast joints, Rudy's bar, which Steely Dan referenced in "Black Cow" (I don't care what anyone else says about it), and the Educated Burgher, where I consumed several hundred gallons of really bad coffee while I planned my escape.

But, real New Havenites will remember cultural monuments that go beyond even these classics. One of America's all-time greatest bars is the dreaded Anchor Bar (also known as The Wanker). In the nicotine-infused banquettes along the walls of the Anchor, we were served bottles of Schaefer beer by Dee - the Platonic form of gravel-voiced-bouffant-hairstyle-wearing-kind-hearted-old-waitress. We once asked Dee her opinion of New Haven. Her comment was terse and to the point: "New Haven sucks!" she said. Here is a fine painting of The Anchor by Connecticut artist Charles Santarpia.



But to get to the real heart of New Haven, it was necessary to take Dixwell Avenue and drive north toward Hamden. Here you would find the Monterey Cafe, the Unique Boutique, Church's Fried Chicken and liquor stores that would serve booze to young whiteboys from Hamden with fake IDs - Lamont's, Reliable Liquors and Basque's Liquor Cabinet. If you really kept your eyes peeled as you made your way past the storefront gospel churches and ads for menthol cigarettes, you'd spot the true epicenter of Old School New Haven Culture: The Disco Laundromat. I snapped a picture of it in 1989. I believe this is the only picture of the Disco Laundromat in existence.



If you took all the funkiness of that stretch of Dixwell Avenue and distilled it down into human form, you'd have the band Blind Justice. This band was a miracle that took place in New Haven in the late 80s and early 90s. During this time of crack wars and interracial strife, Blind Justice brought everyone together. Rocking funk-rap before the Chili Peppers blew up, this band was the best live act I've seen (and that includes Trouble Funk and the Grateful Dead). The lead singer, Kris Keyes, could magnetize a crowd and rock a mic unlike anyone I've ever seen - most New Havenites actually believed he was supernatural. We all assumed that they would go all the way. The fact that they didn't is proof that there is No Justice in the world. Their anthem was the song Checkmate. Check out the 1min 45sec point - note how black folks and white folks were digging it together. Then check out how they hit the groove at 1min 53sec. Another ripping jam was Carry the Load. Check it out when they hit the 2min mark. If you were in New Haven in 1990, you were probably there. And you probably wound up at The Anchor when it was all done.

Durian: Worth a Voyage to the East to Experience

I've been reading Alfred Russel Wallace's "The Malay Archipelago" recently. I think I'm feeling a little "homesick" for Borneo and Thailand. I came across one passage which Wallace wrote about the durian fruit, which is one of the most delicious things on earth. I don't think anyone has captured the taste of the durian better than Wallace. Here's what he wrote about the edible part of the durian:

"The five cells are satiny white within, and are each filled with an oval mass of cream-coloured pulp, imbedded in which are two or three seeds about the size of chestnuts. This pulp is the eatable part, and its consistency and flavour are indescribable. A rich butter-like custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, brown sherry, and other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy; yet one feels the want of more of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact to eat Durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience."

Here is a picture I took of durians for sale in Bangkok's Aw Tor Kor Market, one of the best places in the world to sample a durian:


Here is a picture of a durian ais kacang I ate recently in Singapore. An ais kacang is a Southeast Asian Italian ice. There is nothing finer on a hot day in the tropics. And adding durian cranks it up to 11.

Nishijin-Ori Workshop

Today, I visited a Nishijin-ori (Nishijin weaving) workshop with a friend of mine who oversees the production of kimono for Kyoto geisha. Nishijin is Kyoto's traditional weaving district. We visited a place with machine looms and a place where they still weave obi (kimono sashes) by hand (pictured here):

Murodo-daira at Tateyama

I went up to Murodo-daira Plateau at Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture recently on a research trip for Lonely Planet. I was amazed how much snow was left up there even in June.

Here is a picture of Mikurigaike Pond on the plateau.


Here's a picture of a raicho (ptarmigan) I saw on the plateau. This guy was banded and pretty tame.

Yuki-no-Otani

One of the most incredible sights in Japan is the Yuki-no-Otani, or Great Snow Valley, on the Kurobe-Tateyama Alpine Route in Toyama Prefecture. The snow piles up to 19 metres deep here. Even in June (when I was there), the snow is WAY overhead.

Look at the size of these two people in the Great Snow Valley.


The mother of all snowdrifts.

Kuranagi Onsen in Kurobe Gorge

I took the Kurobe-kyo Tetsudo (Kurobe Gorge Railway) into the Japan Alps in Toyama recently.

Here's a picture of the narrow-gauge railway.


Here's the view from the last station in the gorge.



I visited Kuranagi Onsen while I was in Kurobe Gorge. It's a fantastic onsen in an incredible location.

Here is a picture of the path to the onsen. It hugs the mountain wall. You can only reach the onsen by walking.


Here's another picture of the path.


Here is the reward.

Gokayama

The other day I visited the gassho-zukuri (thatch-roof) area of Gokayama in Toyama Prefecture.

Here is a picture of Suganuma, the smaller of the two villages in Gokayama.


Here's a picture of Ainokura in Gokyama.

Shirakawago

During my recent trip to Gifu-ken, I stopped by the lovely village of Shirakawago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its thatched-roof houses.

Kamikochi: The Heart of the Japan Alps

I spent a day and a night recently in Kamikochi, high in the heart of the Japan Alps. The weather wasn't very good, but a bad day in Kamikochi is better than a great day at the office. I walked 22 kilometers up and back a river to enjoy the scenery.



I suprised a Japanese macaque with two babies beside the trail. They were so close - I could just about have reached out and touched them.

Shinhodaka Onsen

I visited Shinhodaka Onsen in Gifu-ken in the Japan Alps the other day. I took the gondola and tramway to a point 2000 meters up and was happy to find a lot of snow left up there. Later on, I spent the night in a great riverside onsen ryokan.

Here's a view of the Japan Alps from the tramway. Note the amount of snow left on the mountains.



Here is a picture of the rotemburo (outside bath) at the ryokan I stayed in.



Here's a picture of the inside bath at the same ryokan. You can see Mt. Yari-ga-take from the bath on a clear day.

Takayama

I recently spent a couple of days in Takayama, near the Japan Alps. I was reminded what a pleasant little city it is.

Here is a picture of a canal in Takayama.


The local specialty is Hida-gyu (Hida beef) cooked on a hibachi at your table over a hoba leaf with miso. It's pretty tasty.