Inside Kyoto: California Edition

I'm in California this week for Lonely Planet's Authors Week, which is being held in Oakland. I got in a few days early and headed up to Sacramento to meet some old friends. Then, I drove around Marin County and down to Big Sur. California sunshine is a nice break from the rainy season in Kyoto!

Here's a shot of Big Sur:


Another shot of Big Sur:


Here is a picture of me with some old and good friends. I've known the two guys in the pic since 9th grade:

Stop the Aquarium

As you may know, the Kyoto City Government and the Orix Corporation are planning to build a big new aquarium at Kyoto’s Umekoji-koen Park. As usual with such matters, the decision was made behind closed doors, with no input from the people. Once the decision was made, the plan was unveiled for the public. This is, needless to say, a mockery of democracy. Officials in Kyoto’s Chamber of Commerce believe that the aquarium will draw more Chinese visitors to the city. However, anyone who has visited Kiyomizu-dera or Heian-jingu recently knows these traditional Kyoto attractions are packed with Chinese tourists (and they seem – at least to my eyes – to enjoy these places). Furthermore, there are plenty of modern attractions in other parts of Japan and other parts of Asia to attract tourists who seek such things, but there is only ONE Kyoto. Furthermore, Kansai already has a first-class aquarium: the Kaiyukan in Osaka’s Tempozan area. There is no way that Kyoto’s aquarium will surpass the Kaiyukan, so that anyone from outside of Kyoto who wants to see an aquarium will still go to Osaka. In addition, the planned aquarium will feature dolphin shows, which will mean subjecting these animals to a life of cruel captivity (and something that will serve to remind foreign travelers of Japan’s notorious dolphin slaughter in the town of Taiji, only a few hours south of Kyoto). But, most importantly, the main objection to the planned aquarium is this: Kyoto is not a port town! Kyoto has nothing to do with the sea. If Kyoto really wants to celebrate fish, they should spend the money on building a small ayu (river fish) museum somewhere way up in the northern hills, where you can still find these fish. Instead of building aquariums to try to compete with other cities in Japan, Kyoto should celebrate its traditional culture, for this is its strongpoint. With the money that Kyoto spends on an aquarium, the city could build a first class museum of traditional Kyoto culture. Instead, the leaders of the city of Kyoto seem intent on destroying the city. Kyoto city leaders must stop looking inward and listening only to the same old opinions from their well-connected business associates. They ought to visit other world heritage cities to learn how these cities grow their economies by celebrating their culture and traditions. Unfortunately, it seems that Alex Kerr was right when he concluded that: “Kyoto hates Kyoto.”

Those interested in learning what they can do to stop the aquarium should check out this site:


http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~qzu03325/caring.html

Here’s a picture of Umekoji-koen as it appears today (picture courtesy of Michael Lambe):



水族館建設反対

ご存知かもしれませんが、京都市とオリックス不動産が梅小路公園に大きな新しい水族館の建設を計画しています。いつもの事ながら、この案件もまた他の意見を取り入れずに内輪だけで決定されました。決定されてからはじめて一般に公表されたのです。これでは民主主義といっても形ばかりです。京都商工会議所の職員によると、水族館を建設することによって京都を訪れる中国からの観光客数が増えるとのこと。でも、清水寺や平安神宮に最近行かれた方ならお分かりのように、京都の伝統的観光名所は中国人観光客で一杯です。（そして、少なくとも私には彼らがそれを楽しんでいるように見えます。）日本の他の地域や他のアジア諸国には、水族館のような近代的観光名所で観光客を惹きつけている都市はたくさんありますが、京都のような古都は無二の存在です。また、関西には既に大阪の天保山に海遊館という立派な水族館があります。今度京都に新しく建設される水族館があの海遊館を超えるとは思えません。結果、京都を訪れる観光客で水族館に行きたい観光客はやはりまた大阪に行くことになると思うのです。更に付け加えると、この計画されている水族館はイルカのショーを呼び物にしようとしています。これはイルカたちが過酷な監禁状態での生活を強いられることを意味します。（これにより外国人観光客は京都からそう遠くない太地町で行われているイルカの虐殺を連想するでしょう。）しかし、これが最も重要な事なのですが、水族館建設計画に反対する一番の理由は、京都は港町ではない！という事です。京都にとって海は無関係です。もし京都市がどうしても魚を呼び物にしたいのであれば、今でも鮎が生息する京都北部のどこかに小さな鮎（川魚）の博物館を建設したりする為に予算を使えば良いのです。水族館を建設して他の都市と競おうとするのではなく、京都は最大の武器である伝統文化を宣伝材料にするべきです。京都市は水族館建設の予算で一級クラスの伝統文化博物館を建設することだって出来るのに、議会の役員の方々の選択は逆に京都を衰退させようとしている選択かのように思えてしまいます。京都市議会の役員の方々には、古い体質の昔から繋がりのある内輪の声しか聞こうとしない姿勢をやめて頂きたいです。彼らには是非他の世界遺産都市に出向いてもらい、伝統的文化を世界に宣伝することで経済成長を成し遂げている都市の姿を見て学んできてもらいたいです。残念ながら、Alex Kerr氏が結論付けたように「京都は京都が嫌い」というのが正しいように思えてなりません。

水族館建設反対に興味のある方は是非こちらを見てみて下さい。
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~qzu03325/caring.html

現在の梅小路公園の写真はこれです:


Stop the Aquarium

Entoku-in

This morning, I was invited to a tea ceremony at Entoku-in Temple. The head monk served us tea and explained the history and artworks of the temple, as well as this fabulous garden:

Mount Misen via Somon-no-Taki Route

This past weekend, I went on a backpacking trip with my friend Mike Barr. We climbed Mt Misen, in the Omine-san Range in Nara-ken. We climbed via the incredible Somon-no-Taki Route. This route is a hiking route, but it feels more like a rock climbing route at times - there are lots of ladders, chains and other climbing aids. We stayed in a hut one night and climbed the mountain the next morning. Here are some pics..

This is a beautiful pool at the bottom of the route:


Here's a shot of me climbing a ladder on the buttress:


Here's Mike making his way up the buttress:


Here's another shot of the buttress section. You actually have to climb over this section with major drops on either side:


Here are the eponymous Somon-no-Taki falls:


Mike carried an incredible amount up the mountain. He even packed along a hardcover version of one of the books of Eric Shipton. Here's Mike reading a favorite passage:


Here's Mike making his way up one of the ladders:


Here's another shot of Mike on the trail:


Here's a pic of the water on the Misen-gawa River:

Nata-dera Temple in Ishikawa

While I was up in Ishikawa-ken recently, I visited a temple called Nata-dera. This temple is built around and in some very strange rock formations. It's a little bit like the Cappadocia or the Guilin of Japan.

Here's a picture of the famous rocks:


Here's a picture of the pond taken from on top of the rocks. The new green of spring was looking very good.