Monday, October 08, 2007
JAPAN
Hello Leonhard!
How are you doing? I 'm fine. I arrived at Yumi's house safely on Sunday 26th August. A few days later Yumi took me to some places.
We took a train at the nearest station to her house. It only took us 15 minutes to arrive at Kanazawa Station. KANAZAWA is the biggest city of Ishikawa prefecture where Yumi lives.
When I got out of the station I found a big red wooden gate which was a new symbol of the station. The gate was standed for Japanese drums.
We went to Omicho market at first. The market is called "Kanazawa Kitchen". Some narrow streets were lined with the shops such as clothes shops, fish shops and grocery stores.
Then we visited Oyama shrine which was dedicared Lord Toshiie Maeda. The entrance gate with stained grass window was designed by two Dutch men and it was completed in 1875.
We washed our hands as soon as we entered the shirine as it is a sacred place.
I found many wooden boards - "Ema" in Japanes. Ema are pictures of horses drawn on wood, the upper part of which has a roof, and presented to temples/shrines when making vows or when the prayers ad been answered. They are mostly used in praying for success in passing entrance exams of high school or university. I also found a statue of a man riding a horse. He was Toshiie Maeda (1538-1599).
As we were little tried of the long walk, we went to Starbucks Coffee to take a rest. We had a mango flappuccino which was really delicious.
Then we went to the Modern Japanese Literature Museum. We didn't enter it but had a look at it from outside. It was built as a school in 1891, so it is a pretty old building.
In front of the museum I found a statue of 3 men . I was told that they were great authors born in Kanazawa. 
There was also a beautiful park with a pond where I saw some carps!
After visiting this Modern Japanese Literature Museum we visited Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Compemporary Art which was just opened a few years ago in 2004 I was told.
I found some silver chairs in front of the museum and had a rest on one of them. It was very comfortable and I had great fun there watching this woman next
to me with her parasol.
Then Yumi showed me a Tea Ceremony Room which was very interesting since I have never been to something like that before. I'm used from home to have tea just in the kitchen and drink it from your baby-bottle, so I was very astonished to see that people in Japan have such an interesting tradition.
Yumi and I entered the "Modern Museum" and I found a clear cube there. I wondered a bit what this was... And suddenly it even started to move! Well, I found out then that it was an elevator!!!
An exhibition of wedding photos was held at at gallery there so I learnt about the Japanese style of wedding here. The brides and the grooms on the photos looked really happy and the brides were really beautiful. Is it true that you and the rest of the family attended 4 weddings since I started my journey?? Wow, Leonhard, I promise to come back home before you'll get married yourself ;)
I've got some news for you concerning this love & marriage things: Imagine I met a very cute doll-girl at another gallery!! Her name was Rika and she's 11 years old. I almost fell in love with her at first sight... But unfortunately we couldn't stay in the gallery with her... I think she was a Japanese Barbie!
I also found an interesting swimming pool here in Japan. It was very strange because people could stand/walk under the pool. It was called Leandro's swimming pool because it was designed by "Leandro Erlich". I read a bit in the leaflet and there they wrote "The layer of water covers a thick glass border while the pool below the glass is empty." Stange, strange. I waved the people under the pool which was funny.
Then I went to Turrel's room. I also got to read a leaflet (fortunately it was in English, I'm still very bad in reading Japanese letters... How about you, did you already learn how to read meanwhile?) and there they wrote "Through teh space of the cellin the audience could experience the sky in a peaceful environment." When I entered the room, the sky was gray and it was cloudy. 
I explored the wohle museum and a found a golden statue of a man called "A man measures a cloud". Then I went back to Turrel's room and this time it was raining and the floor was wet because the room doesn't have a roof.
Well, dear Leonhard, you see I made many new experiences during my stay in Japan. Now it is time for me to continue my journey and my next stop will be Hong Kong. I'm looking forward alot!
Good bye Japan and thanks for the nice time with Yumi!
Love, Felix
Hello Leonhard!
How are you doing? I 'm fine. I arrived at Yumi's house safely on Sunday 26th August. A few days later Yumi took me to some places.
We took a train at the nearest station to her house. It only took us 15 minutes to arrive at Kanazawa Station. KANAZAWA is the biggest city of Ishikawa prefecture where Yumi lives.
When I got out of the station I found a big red wooden gate which was a new symbol of the station. The gate was standed for Japanese drums.
We went to Omicho market at first. The market is called "Kanazawa Kitchen". Some narrow streets were lined with the shops such as clothes shops, fish shops and grocery stores.
Then we visited Oyama shrine which was dedicared Lord Toshiie Maeda. The entrance gate with stained grass window was designed by two Dutch men and it was completed in 1875.
We washed our hands as soon as we entered the shirine as it is a sacred place.
I found many wooden boards - "Ema" in Japanes. Ema are pictures of horses drawn on wood, the upper part of which has a roof, and presented to temples/shrines when making vows or when the prayers ad been answered. They are mostly used in praying for success in passing entrance exams of high school or university. I also found a statue of a man riding a horse. He was Toshiie Maeda (1538-1599).
As we were little tried of the long walk, we went to Starbucks Coffee to take a rest. We had a mango flappuccino which was really delicious.
Then we went to the Modern Japanese Literature Museum. We didn't enter it but had a look at it from outside. It was built as a school in 1891, so it is a pretty old building.
In front of the museum I found a statue of 3 men . I was told that they were great authors born in Kanazawa. 
There was also a beautiful park with a pond where I saw some carps!
After visiting this Modern Japanese Literature Museum we visited Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Compemporary Art which was just opened a few years ago in 2004 I was told.I found some silver chairs in front of the museum and had a rest on one of them. It was very comfortable and I had great fun there watching this woman next
to me with her parasol.
Then Yumi showed me a Tea Ceremony Room which was very interesting since I have never been to something like that before. I'm used from home to have tea just in the kitchen and drink it from your baby-bottle, so I was very astonished to see that people in Japan have such an interesting tradition.
Yumi and I entered the "Modern Museum" and I found a clear cube there. I wondered a bit what this was... And suddenly it even started to move! Well, I found out then that it was an elevator!!!
An exhibition of wedding photos was held at at gallery there so I learnt about the Japanese style of wedding here. The brides and the grooms on the photos looked really happy and the brides were really beautiful. Is it true that you and the rest of the family attended 4 weddings since I started my journey?? Wow, Leonhard, I promise to come back home before you'll get married yourself ;)
I've got some news for you concerning this love & marriage things: Imagine I met a very cute doll-girl at another gallery!! Her name was Rika and she's 11 years old. I almost fell in love with her at first sight... But unfortunately we couldn't stay in the gallery with her... I think she was a Japanese Barbie!
I also found an interesting swimming pool here in Japan. It was very strange because people could stand/walk under the pool. It was called Leandro's swimming pool because it was designed by "Leandro Erlich". I read a bit in the leaflet and there they wrote "The layer of water covers a thick glass border while the pool below the glass is empty." Stange, strange. I waved the people under the pool which was funny.
Then I went to Turrel's room. I also got to read a leaflet (fortunately it was in English, I'm still very bad in reading Japanese letters... How about you, did you already learn how to read meanwhile?) and there they wrote "Through teh space of the cellin the audience could experience the sky in a peaceful environment." When I entered the room, the sky was gray and it was cloudy. 
I explored the wohle museum and a found a golden statue of a man called "A man measures a cloud". Then I went back to Turrel's room and this time it was raining and the floor was wet because the room doesn't have a roof.
Well, dear Leonhard, you see I made many new experiences during my stay in Japan. Now it is time for me to continue my journey and my next stop will be Hong Kong. I'm looking forward alot!
Good bye Japan and thanks for the nice time with Yumi!
Love, Felix
