Travel to Japan – Rotary Group Study Goes to Japan, Article Seven
Tours TravelThe international organization known as Rotary promotes annual trips that everyone between the ages of 26 and 40, men and women, and from all backgrounds, should know about, because it’s a Rotary-funded, six-week shipboard study and anyone can apply to be in addition to this significant life experience. If you fall into this age group, you might enjoy the kind of experience described in my notes in this article. For more information about the program, visit http://www.Rotary.org and search for GSE (Group Study Exchange) and contact your local Rotary Club for more information.
Our adventures continued:
April 22 – Friday:
The best part about going to so many Rotary clubs is traveling around the prefecture (like our ‘state’) and seeing a lot from place to place, and we headed out today, Antonio, Harry and I with Kenji in his Land Rover. to the Rotary Club of Buzen West, which takes an hour’s drive and is located at about 1 o’clock (if the island is a clock) on the coast. We are in beautiful open country as we drive there – lakes and mountains and not as crowded as I thought Japan would be. But the Japanese think America looks like Los Angeles, and I’m afraid before this trip I thought all of Japan looked like Tokyo (Harry said that too). The Buzen Club reminds me of being in the old Japanese countryside, and we are served a very traditional (yet spicy) lunch of rice and curry (yum, we say). I spoke, and the questions show that men are curious about women in Rotary. Someone asked what happened after the Supreme Court’s decision to allow women into Rotary.
Nearby was the Tsuiki Japan Air Force Self-Defense Base, and Antonio was very excited to have the privilege of seeing what we saw there. We go into the base (creepy to think about the Japanese air raids), and get a rundown on the history of the base (it was occupied by the US for a period of time and then reverted back to the Japanese) and the guys of operations and types of aircraft that were at the base. We walked out onto the tarmac where three fighter jets had been brought out for us to look at: an F-1, F-2, and an F-16 (first time seeing a fighter up close, and I was interested to hear that Japanese and American collaborated on the most technologically advanced aircraft). A pilot from each of these aircraft was very kind in explaining his aircraft and its capabilities. One pilot said that he had a wife and two children, and that the plane was his “girlfriend.” It was funny to hear him say this. Antonio was surprised that the F-16 could take out 9 g; It sounded like a wild ride to me. The pilots were young and skinny, because Antonio said that helped them resist g-force, and they wore special suits to keep the pilots’ blood pumping as they flew in the sky. We were invited to the top of the control tower (apparently a rare opportunity) and were able to see the entire base, including many of the three aircraft types that had been introduced to us earlier. There were rows and rows of planes, like a movie set where everyone was ready to take off. I enjoyed the expansive coastline and lush mountains that we could see, and hoped that these planes would never be used. We stopped at the PX and then said goodbye to our gracious hosts. Kenji barbequed for us at his place later in the evening (Japanese style, which I now understand is everything sliced very thin), and invited some fun friends over, and I hated to miss out on the late-night fun, but I went to bed early.
April 23 – Saturday:
Hurrah! Today we are heading to Yufuin. I read about this before coming to Japan and I am delighted that our hosts included this “getaway”. California – and it’s amazing that when I visit here I think that we are at the same time “so different and so alike” in what we like and in what we do. It turns out that the people we have met in many of the different Rotary clubs have second (usually larger) homes in Yufuin. We’re heading to Kenji’s house, and the Tanakas will be awake because they have a house there too. It feels like hopping in my SUV and heading to a Tahoe retreat, only it’s the most famous hot springs in Japan.
First though, we stop at the wine shop, Kenji is a certified wine instructor that we learn, and he wants to serve us California wines for tonight’s party (lots of parties with our hosts), and he says, please don’t serve a sake party when he comes to America (he’s much more into California wines), he jokes gleefully. Ridge and Opus One are his favorites, and we leave the store with wine, chocolate, champagne, and leave because the other team members are waiting for us on the road. Yufuin is beyond Buzen, along the coast and then a steady rise in elevation into the mountains. There are big mountains here, and three hours later, if the island is a clock, it’s 3 o’clock on the dial. We reach the crest of the mountain and look out over the beautiful city of Yufuin, where everyone wants to go, says Kenji. It’s bigger than he thought, and as we drive down the main drag, it’s the Carmel/Aspen of Japan, fun little shops you’d love to rummage through with Japanese artifacts. Kenji has a favorite lunch spot in mind: the Sadonoya restaurant, and the rest of the team is there. We sit at a long table on the floor, and are brought hot charcoal pots to roast chicken and sprouts, with mulberry wine made in Yufuin (and beer). I offered to make this “America Buys Lunch,” but the five GSE hosts didn’t find out. I have spent $100 so far on this trip. There is a good feeling about Yufuin – rested and relaxed – very Japanese – I see the Japanese shapes in trees and flowers that are so characteristic of Japanese artwork. Lots to explore here. We walk through the narrow streets of the markets, surrounded by magnificent mountains, and stop at the Nurukawa hot springs for an afternoon bath – all hot springs are different and this one is small, where you can also stay if you are visiting . I’m happy that Teiko and Hiroshi have also joined us.
Kenji’s house is on top of the hill, and it’s a beautiful mountain house, like one we know. It’s a white stone field, with a porch in the front, and when you walk out on the porch, there’s a wonderful view of the mountain range. The girls stay here, and the boys in a house downstairs. Kenji has dinner reservations at 6:00 pm at a restaurant that’s not easy to get into in town called Kame-no-i, and it’s lovely, in a back room, in a garden, with about twenty of us. Mika Hyoguchi (Mika) – sorting, Finishing School Owner, Ryoichi Hanechi – sorting, Insurance, Masayuki Sugino – Senior Living Management, Tomoi Kondou – Real Estate and Bakery – and Takayuki Fujimoto, Architect – the GSE incoming committee are all over there. Conversation is lively, dinner is very Japanese, with dishes I’m not familiar with (including a small fish), and I’m surprised that champagne, beer, red wine, white wine, are all served at the same dinner.
Once again, you might think the evening ended here, but more was to come. Seiho Ryu joined us for dinner, a “father” of Kenji, and he is a very famous artist in Japan, try $100,000 for one of his paintings, and magnificent work. We went back to his house, and he signed a book of his painting for each of us, and visiting his house was a pleasure in itself. You entered the house (you took off your shoes, of course) and entered a large room (the kitchen and living room) with a large, heavy Japanese table and benches on one side and his artist’s studio on the other, but occupying the entire back of the house. His house were full-length windows that gave him a breathless view of the city below, a grand landscape of mountains, the foliage of the mountainside, and delicate bamboo trees on the far left, as if perched for flight. It was easy to understand how moved Mr. Dou was to paint, I would be too, with the magnificence of this majestic place on earth. He is well known for his delicate depiction of cherry blossoms and their trees, in color and stroke that says Japanese. I would love to have some of his work, only a small one is $10,000. We walked downstairs where three of his large paintings hung: one of vivid cherry blossoms, one of the view from his living room (this was the $100,000 one), and one of Mount Fuji, all in radical colors and gold leaf. . Kimiyoshi, Kenji’s friend, played the piano for us with all kinds of songs and we sang as best we could. It was 1:00 pm before we headed home, bowing many times and thanking Mr. Ryu.
This article is a series, so read on, and many days to come in our splendid adventure!