Fukuoka airport prepared me for the rest of my trip. Even
though the custom's officers wanted to search my bag (quite thoroughly), they
bowed, smiled, apologized and curtsied to the point where I ended up thanking
them for the inconvenience. The palpable couth and sophistication in this magical
society enveloped and captured me again for the next 5 days.
After a night at a business hotel, some stuttering, quickly improving Japanese at the ticket office, with tickets in hand I boarded the
punctual limited express to Nagasaki. I resorted to my old trick of resting a
cup of tea on the windowsill and not a drop was spilled in the entire journey:
just checking the quality control! Gurecki was there to meet me and we walked,
trammed and sauntered our way through to his quite majestic new home and
venture, The Class, an angular white post-modern combined business and home
settled quite snugly in an ancient neighbourhood on the gentle slope leading to
Nagasaki Temple Town. It quite delicately wedges its way onto its reverse battleaxe block and cleverly makes use of nearly all available space while leaving the occupants with a great sense of space, light and privacy: quite a neat trick in a downtown Japanese city suburb! Although I had seen pictures, my first impression and
subsequent tour confirmed that this was, indeed, a beautifully designed
architectural gem for both living and working. We enjoyed each other's company
immensely for the next four days, splitting our time quite amicably between
Nagasaki and "big sister" Fukuoka.
My host was teaching a few classes on the first afternoon,
so after guiding me around the general area and pointing out some possible
places of interest, he left me to explore. The restored Dejima island was a gem
to anyone who knows the history of the circa 1600 Dutch traders confined to
this island bolt-hole and/or readers of the wondrous historical fiction novel
"The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" (the dexterous imaginings of
the brilliant David Mitchell). I wandered the buildings and exhibitions and was
transported back to that period by some subtle and high quality inclusions…just
so Japanese (by that I usually mean spare, no fuss, top quality, minimalist and
thought provoking). The Dejima wharf area (which must be abuzz in summer) led
me naturally to the commanding Nagasaki Art Museum, which appears as a glass
galleon docked on the harbor. It is a quite stunning two block piece with a
glass bridge linking the buildings spanning a small canal (it is also designed by "The Class"'s architect!). Its soaring vaults
of triple height allow floods of natural light and curators carte blanche to
display works creatively. The highlights were a surprising quartet on the back
wall: two majestic Picassos from the 20s, a detailed Dali and a brooding Miro.
We had a few interesting sojourns as Gurecki guided me
around the city. A visit to his father-in-law's gravesite was preceded by us
both being invited to share some traditional "omochi" (rice cake) pounding. Here's me and Gurecki! We dined in and I was served traditional Japanese breakfast one day and
Gurecki's famous breakfast burritos the next. We wandered the river, past the famous and photogenic "Spectacle Bridge" all the way up to the famous Okunchi temple and the Shinto shrine beyond. We were entertained by a supremely knowledgeable and articulate man on the history of Nagasaki and the entry of foreigners into Japan's closed society: even Gurecki learned some gold! We spent an afternoon soaking at
an "onsen" high on the mountain. The outdoor wet-edge pool was a
touch surreal: as we sat, soaked and chatted, we overlooked the back part of
the city far below and ground zero where the bomb detonated less than 70
years ago to obliterate this picturesque city.
Our trip to Fukuoka gave me another chance to survey the
countryside of this delightful southern tip of the main islands. Birds huddled
together in their hundreds on calm waters, fishing boats bobbed and farmers
tilled away on frozen fields. We were joined by Himiko and her mother and we
had an Orient Express moment in our semi divided enclave with table and reading
lamp. After checking in to our functional little hotel after a bus ride from
the station, we lunched together then split up to further explore. Fukuoka
impressed as a bustling small city, typically overloaded with gigantic department
stores spilling over with designer and brand name boutique outlets. I had to do
quite a search the next day before I discovered an artisan style jewelry store
to buy something for Cass. We browsed in an old fashioned
speaker/turntable/vinyl record store then spent some time in a generously
stocked bookstore with an incredible array of English titles of all genres.
After a few hours sipping some beers in a cozy bar we again
met up with the girls for a yakitori dinner before sliding away after that to
enjoy a few more beers and a real catch up. We discussed all the world's
problems and, as always, solved many of them: if only we could remember those
solutions the next day we'd be Koffi Annan and Ban Ki Moon! The Japanese
"snack" culture is still alive and well: I didn't see any change in
scenery from my early days in Tokyo and Nagano back in '86….very comforting. By
this time my Japanese was just starting to click into gear again….shame I only
had one more day! We ended up wandering into a wine bar/karaoke joint that we
at first thought was someone's living room. It was homely! Gurecki shattered a
few Stones hits with a loud, local gentleman and I consoled a small group of workers
who were "emotional" late in the night as they were on a last night
out together after working together for a decade or more. We had a ball!
After some killer ramen (people line up down the street for
it) and another wander and look here and there, I farewelled the departing
Gurecki/Obayashi clan as they trained back to Nagasaki. That evening I shopped
for my sweetheart and eventually found what I was looking for. On my travels I
stumbled across quite magical scenes in the parks and malls surrounding the big
department stores. Here's a Santa train and also a sea of lights. During my
short trip I ate my fill of sushi, sashimi, yakitori, ramen, sukiyaki,
okonomiyaki etc. and caught up with my freshly blooming mate Mark, who is finally
crawling out from under the psychological yoke of our old (for him) shared
workplace. He reckons it takes about 6 months to shake off all the baggage: we'd
better prepare!
Christmas Day was weird, weird, weird! I flew out of Japan
in the morning and arrived in Taipei midafternoon before having a Christmas
meal of 7/11 noodles on the street! This was the beginning of a week and a half
back in Taipei without my darling: it was interesting, but a story I'll share
another time. Pictures will follow soon.