1967 - 1969 WAS SPENT IN TOYAMA PREFECTURE TEACHING SPOKEN ENGLISH IN TWO SCHOOLS.
ITS A WONDERFUL PREFECTURE, NORTHWEST OF TOKYO, BOARDING THE JAPAN SEA. IT HAS RICE GROWING PLAINS WITH WINDING RIVERS, AND RISES TO THE TOP OF THE "JAPAN ALPS", THE HIGHEST RANGE OF MOUNTAINS IN JAPAN. SOMEWHERE IN THIS PHOTO IS....
..THE APARTMENT BUILDING SURROUNDED BY RICE FIELDS, IN WHICH ....
...SHERRY SCOTT AND I LIVED. NO, WE DID NOT HAVE A DAUGHTER, BUT OUR NEIGHBORS, THE OHTA'S, DID: MAKI.
SOME RICE FIELDS STILL EXIST, BUT MOST OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS SUBURBAN HOUSING FOR THE CITY OF TOYAMA.
I ALSO TAUGHT IN TAKAOKA, AS DID INUJIMA-SENSEI, SO WE SHARED, FOR TWO YEARS, THE SAME COMMUTE ON LOCAL TRAINS PULLED BY STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. THE TRAIN RIDES HAVE STOPPED, BUT OUR FRIENDSHIP CONTINUES. I AM VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE HIM AND HIS WIFE, YASUKO-SAN, TAKE ME IN WHEN I VISIT TOYAMA.
THEY HAVE A TRADITIONAL HOUSE WITH GARDEN, ...
...TATAMI BED ROOM (NOTE THE SHINTO SHELF IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER), AND ...
...FABULOUS BREAKFASTS (AND DINNERS AS WELL!).
THEIR HOME IS IN THE HISTORIC AREA OF IWASE, THE PORT OF TOYAMA CITY.
THE 1878 MORIKE KITAMAE SHIPPING BUILDING WAS HEADQUARTERS FOR ONE OF THE MANY CARGO COMPANIES WHICH LINKED THE JAPAN SEA COAST PREFECTURES AS WELL AS JAPAN TO KOREA.
INUJIMA-SENSEI IS QUITE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE DISPLAYS, SUCH AS A MODEL OF ONE OF THE SHIPS.
LESS HISTORIC, BUT EQUALLY INTERESTING, ARE RESIDENTIAL FRONT YARDS, AND...
...AND SURVIVING COFFEE SHOPS.
THE PORT IS LINKED TO DOWNTOWN BY LITE RAIL...
...AS WELL AS BY A CANAL, MUCH OF WHICH HAS BEEN MADE INTO A LINEAR PARK.
AMONG NEWER BUILDINGS IS THE PREFECTURAL LIBRARY AND GLASS ART MUSEUM (KENGO KUMA, 2015), WITH CENTRAL ATRIUM LEADING TO ...
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....LIBRARY STACKS AND ON TOP....
...THE GLASS ART MUSEUM, WITH, GUESS WHOSE WORKS ON EXHIBIT? YUP, SEATTLE'S OWN DALE CHIHULY!
TO THE WEST OF TOYAMA CITY, IS THE PORT OF SHINMINATO, WITH A NEW HIGH BRIDGE...WHICH HAS ELEVATORS IN THE END TOWERS, AND AN ENCLOSED WALKWAY BELOW THE BRIDGE DECK.
THE CANALS WHICH RUN THROUGH THE TOWN ARE STILL ACTIVE WITH FISHING BOATS, AS WELL AS PLEASURE CRAFT.
THE TRADITIONAL PUBLIC BATHS LOST A LOT OF CUSTOMERS TO HOME TUBS, SO THEY HAVE REBRANDED THEMSELVES AS "HOT SPRINGS", WITH TUBS OF MANY TEMPERATURES. AND THIS ONE HAS GONE ON TO BE A MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY KITSCH AS WELL.
AND AFTER A BATH, ITS ALWAY GREAT TO FIND AN ESTABLISHMENT WHICH IS SURVIVING THE INVASION OF CHAIN RESTAURANTS, AND STILL LOOKS AND TASTES LIKE MOTHER'S HOME COOKING.
UP FROM THE JAPAN SEA COAST, ALONG THE SHOKAWA RIVER, ARE RICE GROWING AREAS WITH SMALLER TOWNS AMONG THEM.
IN FUKUMITSU IS KŌTOKU-JI TEMPLE, WHERE THE WOODBLOCK ARTIST SHIKO MUNAKATA (1903-1975) ESCAPED THE FIRE BOMBING OF TOKYO. HE SPENT HIS DAYS THERE PAINTING THE INTERIOR WALLS, AND PRODUCING WOODBLOCK PRINTS ABOUT THE AREA.
THE TEMPLE BECAME A CENTER OF FOLK CRAFT ACTIVITIES, ITS COURTYARD NOW FULL OF ITS POTTERY COLLECTION.
I PRESUME THE BELL IS STILL STUCK DAILY AT 5:00AM...
...AS IT WAS WHEN I RANG IT ONE DAY IN 1968.
ANOTHER TOWN, INAMI, IS KNOWN FOR ITS WOOD CARVERS, DESCENDANTS FROM THOSE BROUGHT IN TO DECORATE A TEMPLE, ZUISEN-JI, WHOSE FRONT STREET HAS MAINTAINED A SMALL TOWN CHARACTER.
FOUNDED IN 1390, REBUILT AFTER YET ANOTHER FIRE IN 1885, IT IS THE LARGEST PURELAND BUDDHIST TEMPLE IN THE TOYAMA REGION.
IT HAS SOME OF THE LARGEST METAL LANTERNS AS WELL.
THE MAIN ENTRY DOORS EXHIBIT THE DECORATIVE CARVINGS FOR WHICH THE TEMPLE, AND TOWN, ARE RENOWN.
FURTHER UP THE SHOKAWA IS GOKAYAMA, AND AREA OF HAMLETS, SUCH AS AINOKURA, FAMOUS FOR THEIR "GASSHO" ("PRAYING HANDS") THATCHED ROOFS.
MANY OF THE HOUSES ARE NOW B&B'S, SUCH AS MY FRIEND SHIGERU IKEHATA'S, "Minshuku YŪSUKE".
IN 1968 SHIGERU, A PHOTOGRAPHER IN TOYAMA CITY, CAME TO ASSIST HIS PARENTS WITH THE B&B, AND TELL GUESTS ABOUT THE FOLK CUSTOMS OF THE AREA.
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NOW HE AND HIS WIFE RUN THE B&B, AND THRY HAVE TURNED THE UPPER AREA, WHERE ORIGINALLY SILK WORMS WERE RAISED,...
...INTO A MUSEUM ABOUT THE PROCESS OF MAKING SILK THREADS.
AS USUAL THEY CAME OUT TO WAVE ME OFF AFTER A WAY TOO SHORT A VISIT.
