Welcome to Kuma in Japan

Hey you, whoever you are!

This blog is the result of a series of wonderful experiences I had during the 10 months I spent in Japan and at Kyoto University on exchange. Please enjoy the stories and pictures, and feel free to contact me at bjorn(dot)utgard (at) gmail(dot)com

Hugs,

Bjørn

Back in Norway

After more than 40 hours of travelling I finally made it home to Norway and my parents place in the middle of June. The route was Kyoto -(nightbus) - Tokyo - (plane) - Paris - (plane) - Oslo - (nighttrain) - Inderøy. Apart from being an exhausting travel, it was also a nice time to think about the many nice experiences that Japan has given me. The temples, the mountains, the contrasts, the people...

Now that this experience has come to an end, I would like to thank you all for checking in on my blog and showing interest in it. If it has in any way inspired you, to visit Japan or to simply go out and take part in the adventures of life, I am satisfied!

This summer I'm having a summer internship at a Norwegian software company, Powel, where I am busy investigating how to make accurate and fully integrated wind power forecasts for electricity companies. It is actually really interesting, be sure to check out the company if you wanna have a cool job in a good company!:) In August, I will start the last year of studies. It will mainly consist of working on my thesis, which I will do in cooperation with DNV Research. The topic will be qualification of new technology for CO2 capture and storage, and from January Iwill be based at their head quarters in Oslo. I'm really excited about it, as the topic seems interesting and it is also a really interesting company. Then, from next summer, I'll finally be ready for an adventurous career... Who knows what will happen??

I'll keep this blog open, so the stories and information will still be available.

Please let me know if you are coming to Norway (contacts in profile), and hope to see you sometime!

Bjørn

Hot-water river

Japan is a hot spot placed on the junction of two tectonic plates. The numerous volcanoes and frequent earth quakes are obvious pieces of evidence of this. The place on this picture, Kawa-ju, is of the more subtle kind of evidence. It may look like a normal river, but when you get your body into it, you notice that something doesn't match your usual image of a river. Kawa is japanese for river, and ju is hot water; the water is actually hot! Just sit down on the river bank, just on the water's edge, dig yourself a little pond and pretty soon you'll have your own little hot pot! The water that siffles up through the river bed is really hot, so you better make sure some colder water from the river is passing through the pond to regulate the temperature.

Of the many amazing experiences Japan has given me, this is definitely on the top-5! Highly recommended! 

Help! I'm leaving soon!

Yes, it is true! I'm leaving Japan in less than a week! Phew, these 10 months went quickly.. Luckily, I have gotten to experience a lot of nice things here, a few of which you can see on this blog. I am too busy packing and getting matters settled before leaving to even get started with reflecting upon the experiences the time in the land of the sun. However, I'll take the opportunity of doing this as I go on posting more pictures and experiences from Japan after I go back to Norway in the end of next week. In other words, keep checkin in!

Oh, if you are qurious about the picture, I just shot it this afternoon. In the foreground is a sign alarming car drivers and other traficants that children may be crossing the street, as there is a kindergarden, the gate of which you can see in the background. This is a typical of vivid and humorous signs found many places in Japan; colourful and usually in a 'comic book style'. Funny!:) 

Fushimi Inari Taisha

The torii (gate) has a special role in Shintoism, usually marking the entrance to the holy grounds of shinto shrines. Quoting Wikipedia: "As hinted by the kanji (鳥 tori: bird; 居 i: place), a torii is designed for birds to rest. This is because in Shintoism, birds are considered messengers of the gods."

The Fushimi Inari Taisha (or shrine) in the south-eastern outskirts of Kyoto, is world famous for its thousands of torii. From you enter at one end, you can stroll something like 6-10 km before you have gone through them all. It's a cool experience, and the view from the hill the path climbs, you get a good view of southern Kyoto. Yet another great sight in the cultural captial of Japan. 

The crew on the summit

 

The crater

Mt. Fuji is actually a vulcano! The center of the mountain is thus not the tallest point, it is actually on the rim of the crater, in the middle of this photo. There is a weather station built on the tallest point, kinda strange to have a building there, but then, this IS Japan... (they seem to like building things pretty much anywhere someone has an idea to build something..) 

Viewing westwards from the tallest point in Japan

The shadow of the mountain at around 5 in the morning, seen from the tallest point ot Mt. Fuji. 

YUHUU!

 

Sunrise at 3700+ meters

The first glimpse of the sun came just as we made it to the edge of the summit of Mt. Fuji. The sun rising above the sea of clouds, punctuaded by hills scattered about, made up a view so magnificent it made us for a moment forget about the exhausted feel of our bodies from the 5,5 hours hike. Before the hike I had read somewhere that the oxygen content in the air at this elevation is about 62% of the content at sea level; now I know what this makes you feel like.. Tired from the night-long hike, it was a real struggle breathing up there. And a terrible headache soon came along as well, felt like the heart was inside my head beating out towards the skull a couple of times per second.

But as you can imagine, it is a special feeling of standing atop the tallest mountain in Japan, getting the first glimpse of sunlight of the new day earlier than anywhere else in the world. =) 

Just before sunrise, just below the summit

 

3200 meters, 570 to go

 

Into the clear black night, just before the hike

 

The team just before taking off at 22:45

 

Fuji-san

Hey folks, sorry for the long silence! Here is an introductory picture for the biggest of the latest weeks' adventure: Climbing Mt. Fuji, Japan's tallest mountain rising 3776 meters from the nearby Pacific ocean. Along with my four mates visiting from Norway, we set out for what was to prove a challenging climb..

Saturday morning we set out in a rented car from Kyoto, keeping sure to stay on the right side of the road, which actually is the left side. In other words, the left side is the right side, while the right side is the wrong side.. Sounds confusing, but once you're on the road, pretty much the only problem is not to turn on the wind shield wipers when you're really trying to turn on the blinkers! (The set-up is opposite of what we are used to in the right-hand driving part of the world.)

The picture above features our Toyota Voxy 8-seater parked in the parking lot at 2000 meters, with the giant rising behind. (to be continued...) 

Nature's cycle

Along the hike in Kyushu, we came across this decaying log. In my eyes, it is both a cool motive for a picture and an image of nature's effective cycling of energy and matter. The energy from the sun, once harvested through the photosynthesis of the parent tree's clorophyl leaves, combined with the nutrients drawn from the soil, and water brought inland by rainy clouds, is not lost although the branch died. Rather, it is cycled back to earth, in a virtuous, continuos cycle, making the energy and nutrients available for new generations of plant and animal life..

A question that has been maturing in me for a while is How can we make our civilized society work as efficiently as nature and its ecosystems? What do we have to do to make our economy work according to ecological principles? How can we design industrial systems that mimic the dynamics of ecological systems?

I recently read the book "Eco-economy," written by the Director of the Earth Policy Institute, Lester R. Brown. The evidence of world-wide environmental problems provided in this book is quite shocking. Of course, I have heard about most of the problems mentioned, like ground-water depletion, contamination of drinking water, extinction of species, climate change and so on, but to see them all put together like this book does is quite shocking. The feeling of urgency is strong, and rather than becoming apathetic by the sheer vastness of the wall of problems, I feel the spirit to do something about it stronger than ever.

Brown is not alone in outlining the need for a brand new economic system, one in which we don't use the earth's resources in an unsustainable way. The academic field of Environmental Economy has been established over the last couple of decades, offering more and more refined tools for the neede restructuring. I'm taking in some of this knowledge through a course on Environmental Economics here at Kyoto University this semester. Industrial ecology is another rather new academic field that has been established over the latter decades, to make our industrial systems work according to ecological principles, as mentioned above.

The most important message is this: We all have a role to play in this transformation; without our good intention and our intelligent behaviour it won't be possible! 

Bushland

By the end of the first day, we made it to the top of the peak in the middle of this picture, which at 1789 m is the second highest peak in Kyushu. 

An occational colorful spot

As the previous pictures have shown, the landscape is largely beige/brown this time of year. These flowers pleasantly broke the pattern here and there. 

Hiker 1

 

Lord of the Rings?

The landscape reminded us of scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

Soily Ice Crystals

 

Black, icy soil

As mentioned before, the soil in the area was really black, probably as black as soil can be. What was also intersting was that there were lots of ice-crystals in the soil, proof of rather low temperatures in the soil. The air temperature was just above zero in the night time, and around 10 degrees in the day, so it appears that the soil is able to maintain the temperature quite well. Of course, I am no geologist or soil scientist, but it could be that this particular kind of soil has a relatively high heat capacity (a measure of the energy a mass unit of a material takes to change its temperature by one degree.) Any ideas? 

Hiking buddies

On this picture, Carlo and I had just reached the top of the first 90-minutes-or-so climb. The landscape folded out before us, in a grassy-bushy plateu. 

Along the path

This picture shows the two geological phenomena I mentioned below; black earth and erosion scars in the hillside. Here we are almost getting to the top of the first climb... Keep checkin in to see how it looks like up there!;) 

Erosive challenges

As this picture shows, the "erosion rift" is deep enough to add some entertaining challenge for the "adventurous." 

Erosion scars

It is perhaps no surprise that this looks like a dried-out river; there must be some heavy rains falling on these mountains to create the seasonal rivers needed to make erosive scars like this one. Lesson learnt: trees are handy! 

Soil layering

The soil we walked on was black or dark brown, with some open patches like this revealing information about the formation of the earth for the trained geologist. I not particularly trained in this field, but it seems to me that the color of the earth is evidence of the volcanic activity in the area (pics of this activity to follow). 

The first climb

The first bit of the hike went through a dense forrest. 

The way to the top...

Sign posts can be quite helpful, if you can understand what is written on them, that is! The Japanese language uses three different alphabets (sets of characters), none of which come even close to resemble any alphabet known in the west, so it can be quite troublesome to find the way sometimes. Two of the alphabets only consist of some 45-50 signs, so I have managed to learn them sufficiently, but the third, which is used for most names of places, derives from thousands of chinese characters... So guessing is part of the fun when hiking in Japan! Having a guide book and map with the names of places in both "Romanji" (Japanese with latin characters) and Kana (Japanese characters) is, needless to say, a must!

On the picture, Carlo seems to be gaining parts of this insight... 

Starting point

After disembarking in Beppu early in the morning, we got on a bus for the inlands of Northern Kyushu. Our target was the starting point of a 2-day hike in the Lonely Planet's "Hiking in Japan", which would take us to the three tallest peaks of the island, the tallest at 1791m. The weather at the outset was quite okay, partially cloudy and winds, strong winds... 

Evening sun from the ship to Kyushu

 

BEST Greenlander reunion in Japan

Lyngby, Denmark, August 2002: 20 students from 20 European countries meet eachother for the first time. Welcoming them all are the 10-15 local students in the local BEST group at DTU (Technical University of Denmark) have been working for the last year to prepare for what was to become a Summer Course of legendary proportions; Let's go to Greenland to survey the geology of the world's largest island!Needless to say, spending two weeks with great people from all over Europe in a unique place like Greenland was an incredible experience (see Vilius' hompage for pictures).

The friendships that were forged during those days seem to have gained significant strength from the conditions in which they were made possible. At least that is a feeling I get when I from time to time get a chance to bridge the geographic separation and catch up with these friends.This is what happened a couple of weeks ago, as Carlo, the Italian member of the team of Greenlanders, came to visit me here in Japan, which according to Carlo seemed to him "the most different culture i ever met so far."

While the first few days of the visit were packed with the standard temple-and-electronics-tourist-program, it was the trip to Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands, that was the most genuine experience. On the picture above, we're on the over-night ship from Osaka to Beppu, Northern Kyushu's main port. Accounts of the rest of the adventure will follow shortly! 

Food inferno

A favourite Sunday activity in Kyoto is to wander along the rivers that run through the city. Some people just find a place to sit down and watch the day pass, while others find some entertaining activity. One of these activities is to feed the many birds - ducks, doves, crows, seagulls, and... FALCONS! These birds are huge predators, so it seems funny to me that they are so excited about the bread that these people throw out to them.. It is much easier to understand the fear these birds impose on the other birds, at least the doves. The ducks seemed to care less; they focused on eating the bread before anyone else!

The picture is actually two photos put on top of eachother, so the birds are the same, they just moved a bit. Cool though, huh? :) 

Study-buddies gone salary-men

These days some of my study-mates here at Kyoto University are finishing their time at the University, and from next tuesday, they will be spread out in Japan to take on new challenges in their careers.

"Job hunting" is a buzz-word these days in the university. Since the middle of February, the 1st year Master students, dressed in the standard black suit, white shirt and tie (and no smile, mind you, smiling is a sign to the company that you are not serious enough) have been tirelessly hunting for their job which they will start April next year. To me it sounds a bit strange that you get a job a full year before you finish your education; what will then be your motivation to finish off your studies in style? It sounds even stranger to me that you'd want to tie yourself to a company this early, when the last year of your studies can have such a major impact on your professional interests. Let there be no doubt; I am not jugding this way of doing it as bad, I just can't understand the reasoning behind it! Hmmm... okay, maybe I can, if I try.. Let's see!:)

It is a common understanding that the Japanese culture values security highly. Many Japanese students and other young people dream about working for a good company, to be good of a good organisation. (In other countries, such as China, a more common dream, I have heard, is to dream about starting/owning your own firm.) For what I can see, it matters a great deal for the Japanese to feel that they belong to a social group. Okay, this matters to all people, but it is my feeling that it especially much to Japanese. So, making a decision about your future so early could perhaps be to get this need for security met, so that they don't have to worry about it.

Another theory, off the top of my head right now, is that the challenge of getting into a Master course in Kyoto University is so difficult, that the companies don't need to wait till closer to you finish to evaluate your qualifications. On the other hand, I find that you develop alot the last year, and a candidate that didn't make it one year ahead might end up being the best candidate a year after, due to the personal development the last year of the studies. I mean, you don't see football clubs go out and buy new players a YEAR in advance, do you?

Okay, I'm gonna leave my amateurish attempt at social anthropology (any alternative ideas or explanations or comments are welcome!), and rather say that the mates on the picture are Koji on my right and Yusuke on my left. Koji is going to work for the consumer goods marketing company P&G in Kobe and Yusuke is gonna work for Osaka Gas, which handles the import and distribution of natural gas in the Kansai area. It's sad that new friends are leaving the lab, but cool that we can keep in touch and meet again in the future!

Thanks for the good times, Koji, Yusuke, Shuhei, Matsuhiro and Naoko! All the best of luck in the future, and see you again! Gambatte, ne! 

Beauty and the beast

Isn't it beautiful??:) 

Sakura apetizer

Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom, and the word is on everybody's lips these days. The magnificent display of thousands of cherry trees blooming all at the same time make this time of year THE single most popular touring time of Japan. Although the cherry blossoming hasn't quite started yet, this last weekend offered an appetizer as the plum groves came in bloom. (As seemingly with everything in Japan, there is a more or less precise forecast saying it will start next wednesday, around 2:30 in the afternoon. (Okay, the precise time of day was a joke.;))

Hotels are also filling up, and just in one week the number of foreigners in the streets of Kyoto will have exploded. So while I await the arrival of my parents, who are coming to visit me on the 6th of April, I'll amuse myself observing Gaijins (foreigners) "Lost in Translation". I can imagine them: "Excuse me, could you please tell me the way to the Sakura?" =D

The picture is taken at Kitano Tenman-gu, yet another of the many places of worship in Kyoto. I'll post another pic tomorrow and tell you the story why they built the shrine. Till then, please enjoy the Sakura apetizer! 

Research buddies

Kanako Ishikawa is a researcher at the laboratory I'm working at. Really cool colleague!:) 

Just cruisin'

On our way from Otsu, the capital of Shiga prefecture, home of Japans greatest lake, Lake Biwa. This is actually the fresh water supply of some 14 million people (not 10 as I wrote before) in the area! We are heading off to do samples, enjoying the perfect day as well, of coruse. Go across the hills and you are in Kyoto. 

Algae sampling

On this picture, algae captured with the net are sampled. 

Current measuring

Here, we have just left a high-tech device anchored up at the bottom of the lake to measure the currents of the lake, so as to understand the physical fluctuations of the lake. I can't remember the actual name of the device, but I can hardly imagine any of you reading it would have known what it was if I told you... For your comfort; I have no idea how it works myself, either!;) 

Keeping order in the samples

The crew varied from day to day, but we were at least 6 ppl, and everybody had their predefined tasks, making the sampling an efficiently flowing teamwork. Here, Fukagae is putting the water samples in small bottles for cataloguing. 

Water sampling

Here we're doing water sampling at various depths. The canister is kinda cool. There is a lid on each end, connected to eachother through the cylinder, effectively sealing the canister/cylinder. The lids are kept open by connecting two strings from them to a splint that runs parallel to the length of the cylinder. When the cylinder is at the wanted depth, this splint is pulled out of the hoops of the cords, thus closing the canister and trapping the water inside without mixing it with the water outside it on its way back up. Cool!=)

The water sampling is done to see what kind of tiny organisms live at various depths and spots in the lake. There are six different kinds of phytoplanctons whose populations are assessed based on the sampled water. This information, held together with water depths, transperacy and temperature can then be used to analyse the development of the ecosystem of the lake. 

Cruising on Biwa-ko

This week was field trip week. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I went with the crew from the Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute to take samples of various kinds for the ongoing research projects. The picture shows Professor Michio Kumagai (Kumagai means something like "Bear valley", so our laboratory is something of a bears' laboratory at the moment..) and me, and Mr Fukagae, a guy from the crew, on the left. This day was quite windy, so although spring inevitably is arriving these days, it was quite chilly out on the lake. Michio is the professor who offered me the internship, and as it turns out, we have a very good mutual understanding, laying out the foundation for many nice and enhancing discussions about science and life (in the broad sense of 'life', not least since what we are studying is indeed life, that is, the broad variety of life forms and systems making out the ecosystems of earth in general and lake Biwa in specific.)

More on the field trips above. 

Spring is back, and so am I!

Hey everybody! I finally heard your crying for more stories from Japan, so here I am, back with more!

The picture shows the view from the top of the bypass across the mountains separating Kyoto from the Biwa-ko, Japan's largest lake. I went accross this mountain by bike yesterday: 40 minutes up, 6 minutes down...=D The city that can be spotted by the lake is Otsu. At one time, Otsu was actually intended to be the capital of Japan, but it only held that status for about a year or so until the guy with the idea died. (Some sort of king, or shogun or something like that.) By the way, the two closest cities to Otsu, Nara and Kyoto also were capitals of Japan at some time; Kyoto for more than a millennium, Nara for a decade or two. For me, usually living in Trondheim, Norway, living in a previous (and as some would claim, more righteous) capital is a concept I am quite accustomed to. (Trondheim was the capital of Norway in the 'good old times'.)

Back to Otsu! Through the cooperation partners of NTNU (my Norwegian uni) I got myself an internship at the Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute for a month. They are reseraching and monitoring the wellbeing of the lake, which in addition to all the recreational services it offers to the people also is the fresh water source for some 10 million people. Lately, they have measured increased average yearly temperatures in the lake, and there are also signs that the oxygen-level in the lake are falling in the deeper levels of the lake. This again can lead to more phosphorus in the lake, as the oxygen is needed to bind it in insolluble particles with iron. This phosphate is great food for phytoplankton/algae (including poisenous ones). Of course the algae doesn't pass by such a plentiful serving without eating as much of it as possible. That means that the population of these organisms, floating around in the water surface, increases. Then, the aqueous plants that grow a bit further down in the water and are rooted on the bottom gets less sunlight, so this population decreases. With this, the sediments at the bottom are not held on to as well, and the water gets even more fed with phosphorus, re-enforcing the change.Basically, what we are talking about is ecosystem regime shift and ecosystem management. These ecosystems have evolved over millions of years, and with them, innumerous different feedback mechanisms that help keep the system stabile. Then, as humans (and other factors) influence the ecosystems, they gradually loose resilience, that is, the ability to cope with changing ecosystem conditions, such as temperature. An example that is perhaps more known is the desertification of grassland.Okay, there is, needless to say, very much to say about this matter. For more reading, I recommend the web site www.GreenFacts.org. In addition to the extensive explanation of Ecosystem Change that you can find in the left menu, there is loads of scientifically proven (and reviewed) information about various important issues concerning the loads of our society upon nature.

I'll close off this entry before it get's too long, by assuring you that spring is nice in Japan, that I am having a good time, and that you are all very much welcome to pay me a visit before I head home in the middle of June.

All the best, and cheers to an intelligent and collaborative struggle for a sustainable future! 

Festival time = food time

Hey folks! I finally managed to cut myself some slack from the heavy load of project work that has been chained to my leg for the latest weeks. And what is better then, than offering you all a "dericious" treat?

It isn't food everything that looks like food. Well in Japan, it seems like everything that doesn't look like food IS food!! Okay, perhaps something of an overstatement, but closing your eyes does seem like a good idea when you are eating some of the traditional Japanese dishes. Luckily it feels much better when you get it past the threshold of your mouth; Japanese food is really good!

I captured the pictures above last weekend, as the festival Setsubun was held in the Yoshida shrine next to the University. People allegedly throw soy beans out of their house, while saying "O ni wa soto, fuku wa uchi". Literarily it means "Devil outside, happiness inside". I didn't happen to see much of this activity, but people did seem to eat a lot and have fun, so I guess they already had thrown their beans (since they seemed happy, I mean...)

I'll be back later to show you the ultimate event of the festival... In the meanwhile, in an attempt to spur some interactiveness, I am launching the quiz of the day: Who can name the most of the dishes in the picture above? :) 

Working....

It's been a while since the last post, so I figured I'd illustrate why. Got two projects to finalize within a few days, so it has been some looong days.. But since there is a festival going on at the nearby shrine these days, I'm gonna sneak out and catch some impressions for you! Stay tuned! And feel free to tell me what you're up these days by leaving a comment. Just push the "Comments" link! :) 

Meditation again, this time with a scientific touch

Browsing around on various internet sites searching for references for the report on Distributed Generation technologies, I bumped into this site. A group of Harvard, Yale and MiT researchers has shown that there is indeed a physical effect of meditation. "People who meditate grow bigger brains than those who don't!"

In their tests, they scanned the brains of 20 experienced meditators while they were meditating, and 15 non-meditators who simply relaxed and thought about whatever they wanted. The results showed that the meditation increased the thickness in parts of the brain that deal with attention and processing sensory input. Moreover, the increase in thickness depended on the depth of meditation, which they measured by the slowing of the breathing.

The article also gives a short and concise description of Buddhist "insight meditation," which focuses on whatever is there, like noise or body sensations. "The goal is to pay attention to sensory experience, rather than to your thoughts about the sensory experience."

What in fact that this growth of the brain leads to is yet to be shown scientifically. However, the effect on well-being is observable to the meditator. An example from the article:

"Facing an important deadline, people tend to worry about what will happen if they miss it, or if the end product will be good enough to suit the boss. You can drive yourself crazy with unproductive "what if" worry. "If, instead, you focus on the present moment, on what needs to be done and what is happening right now, then much of the feeling of stress goes away," Lazar says. "Feelings become less obstructive and more motivational."

So now I am focusing on the fact that I need to finish two reports within a few days, and the work I have to do! What if I can't manage? Who cares, I know I can!:)

Ginkakuji temple

It struck me that I have been blogging my experiences here in Kyoto for almost three months without writing about any of the great temples in Kyoto. Kyoto must be the number one temple city in the world, with its more than 2000 temples and shrines. So I guess we should get started... first out is Ginkakuji, which is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list.

Quoting the folder from the temple: "Ginkakuji temple, a Zen temple, was established in 1482 by Ahsikaga yoshimasa, the eight Muromachi Shogunate. Yoshimasa, following Kinkakuji Temple Kitayama den built his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, built villa Higashiyama den to spend his retired life. Ginkakuji is the common name, and formally it was called Higashiyama Jishooji, taking after Yoshimasa's posthumous title after his death. Higashiyama den is the place where Higashiyama culture formed mainly by Yoshimasa started, and is the start of modern life style of the Japanese. Even now, the combination of Higashiyama culture and Zen culture can be seen here."

Okay, that was perhaps of limited value to a westerner who doesn't really know much about ancient Japanese culture... But I can say that sand and stones in combination with moss covered gardens, carp-ponds and pine trees seem to be part of the obligatory content of a Japanese temple garden. As for the temple buildings, they contain very little of interest. There are paintings on the paper walls, tatami (straw) mats on the floors, and usually wide open "walls" allowing unihindered view to the garden. I am unaware of the significance of the sand and stones and the patterns that the priests make in them, but I think the word 'harmony' is central. Feel free to add any information, folks! Perhaps the next temple visit will enlighten me? 

Care for the nature!

And while we're at it...

...how about this example of "tree-manicure"? Say what you want; they do care for the beauty of their trees! And I guess you'd have to be blind not to see the 12 markers they put out to warn you that you might get hit by branches if you get closer... The green truck they're using is also kinda "cute" compared to its big brothers in Norway... hehe ;) (Thou shalt be responsible for thy own entertainment!)
The building in the back, by the way, is the main building of the Kyoto University main campus. 

And then the sun came out...

 

Bench left alone

 

White January

This rose is probably just as surprised by the snowfall as most Japanese. I took the picture outside my lab a few minutes ago; some more will follow! 

Daimonji yama - the GREATness of trekking

It is project time here at Kyoto Daigaku (university) at the moment, so people are working late hours every day. Some peopl even work throughout the night, although I am not at all sure about the efficiency of the work. It seems like, and I have heard others saying it as well, that the Japanese socialise more than westerners at the workplace. So they may stay a bit more hours in the office working, but it is questionable if they get more done... While i am writing this, for example, two of my lab mates have been conversing (about what i don't know, but their projects, I am sure it isn't) for more than an hour.

I guess this does sound familiar for anyone who has had exams or project periods; you really love to do other things that can make you forget about your own "misery". In an attempt to do this in a healthy way, I went hiking to the top of the nearby Daimonji yama (yama= mountain). There is a large clearance in the forest on this, giving the best viewing spot of the Kyoto area. In august there is a festival, in which something like 10 tons of wood is burned off in almost a hundred seperate bonfires in a certain pattern. The pattern is of the kanji (jap. sign) dai, great. The legend is that Ashikaga Yoshimasa, a local king in the Muromachi period (1330 to 1574), started the cermony as a memorial of a son who died. Fires are lit on five mountains surrounding Kyoto to guide the souls of the departed to their final resting place. The "dai" on Daimonji yama is the largest of the five, stretching something like 90m from side to side, and 160m from top to bottom.The hike up took about 25 minutes, and I had the pleasure of meeting this Japanese woman, Yasuki, and her daughter. She works for the Kyoto Journal, an English quarterly magazine. They would definitely classify as internationlly competent Japanese; most Japanese have not traveled much abroad, and find foreigners (especially huge Norwegians..;) incredibly exotic. (It is quite normal for me to feel almost like an animal in the zoo the way some people are looking at me... hehe:) The Japanese people I meet are really friendly and nice, but it is certainly nice to meet someone who at least have a slight chance of understanding you!

The moral of the day is thus: get up, turn off the computer, get out and do something! Your paper doesn't get that much better from pushing yourself to sit in front of the computer "till you crash." Before you know it, you meet nice people that make you smile! And few things beat the feeling after a nice and hot shower in the evening. :) 

Meditation again

The other day, I was listening to the latest album of the Icelandig group Sigurd Rós, named "Takk..." If you have never heard anything by Sigurd Rós, I strongly suggest you do; their sound is unique. (Send me an email at utgard(a)stud.ntnu.no and I'll send you a track.)

As i was listening to it, my mind drifted into an alternative state of mind. Emotions started floating around in my head, very abstract emotions. They were not linked to people or places or any material things. It was like I was wandering through an abstract painting. I wasn't thinking anything particular, but there were obviously lots of neural activity going on inside. In a way it felt like I got closer to myself, as if bits and pieces of the emotional, spiritual history of my life was coming back to me, forming a huge mosaic, which I could only view from a distance. The detail of each of the little bits were out of sight, but they all added up to a greater, abstract picture. Inhaling the impression of this mosaic, as I walked through this abstract, spiritual world, I slowly started observing how the path forward could evolve. Okay, I don't believe there is a certain pre-defined path laying in front of you; you choose your own path as you go along. However, the choices you make are influenced by the experiences so far. Visualising this mosaic of spiritual bits and pieces helped discovering patterns and direction, aiding the choice of path forward.

I am the only artist of this mosaic. It has only one manager, it's me. But what part of me is it that manages it? This all is going on partially in the subconsciousness, so it can not be the thinking part of me alone, that is, it can not be the mind alone. There must be some other parts of the soul that give steering signals to the creation of this mosaic. Perhaps this is linked to what I read once, about the different levels of the soul, in a book about meditation. It said that the human being has several layers, I guess sort of like an onion. The body is the outer shell, and it has physical needs that needs such as food and water. The thinking, rational part is the second layer. Then the emotional level, then one ore two partially and totally sub-conscious levels, that is the inner soul. I don't have the book here at the moment, so I can't give the details of it, but I find this perspective interesting. Particularly linking it to Mazlow's pyramid of human needs is interesting.

This time it was an album by Sigurd Rós. Other times it has been other music. Other times a movie. And a weekend trip into the wild really does it too. I guess there are many forms of such spiritual catalysts, and what works for one may not work for another. The point is that this venture into myself was incredibly nice, and if I in any way managed to inspire you to explore this for yourself, I will feel like I accomplished something today!

Best wishes, Bjørn

Happy New Year - Back in Japan

Hey folks! The Christmas and New Year vacation back home in Norway has come to an end, and I am jetlagged back in Kyoto. My mind is still not completely present, but I bet it will be during this weekend.
The picture shows the view from the train from KIX (Kansai International Airport) on the southern outskirts of Osaka to Kyoto. The weather is foggy and rainy, but luckily not that cold. Due to relatively high humidity, Kyoto usually feels colder than other places with the same temperature. This was the case the last two weeks before Christmas, when temperatures around zero felt much colder than they do back home in Trondheim. Now it is around 6-8 degrees, so it is ok.
The train ride really shows the visitor how the incredible growth since WWII must have happened largely lacking coordination and urban planning; buildings of all sorts mix in seemingly unplanned ways, power cords dominate the view, chaotic street layouts and so on. It seems that you were allowed to do pretty much whatever you wanted to. My architecture study mates tell me that urban planning is a non-existing discipline in Japan. Now that's a conclusion non-scholars would easily agree upon! 

Sake factory visit

Last weekend, I had a chance to visit a sake brewery in the famous Sake-district Fushimi in the south of Kyoto. Sake is a very popular drink in Japan, drunk by young and old, boys and girls. It appeares to have some kind of religious attributes to it, as I have heard that it is concidered holy. The profile of alcohol seems to be a bit different here than in Norway and Europe; even children can drink small amounts of sake when it is part of quasi-religious events. If anyone knows more about this, please feel free to comment! :)

There are several different types of Sake. Some are enjoyed chilled, some are better enjoyed warm. Really nice, actually! 

Japanese Creativity: Ski jumping PAIRS

Going into a Kyoto media shop the other day, I could not help it; I HAD to take a picture of this incredibly strange creation of an animated film! Check it out! They actually created this idea of regular nordic ski jumping in PAIRS! So they jump like normally, but with another guy that is bowled like a bowling ball, tossed like a javelin, or even shot out like a space shuttle! All this with super-enthustiastic commentary like in TV sport shows... REALLY strange! I was paralyzed with this incredibly absurd invention, and couldn't leave the screen showing it for ten minutes... The best quote came when the ski-jumper, now in steady orbit around the earth (like a space rocket), after being shot out from the jump, lets go of a smaller ski-jumper that has been hanging on to his side, in classic Japenglish says "Bai-bai mai tanku" (like the smaller ski jumper was the fuel tank of the space rocket...)

Only in Japan... 

View of the temple (story below)

 

Meditation

A couple of weeks ago, I was going sightseeing with a friend from Norway who is here to study how to teach religion without becoming a missionary. Very different from my own studies, but quite interesting in a time where understanding of different religions and respect for different beliefs becomes increasingly important.Originally, the plan for meeting up this day was going to a market place to check out the local produce. However, as Cato, my friend, had an appointment with the only non-Japanese monk who is in charge of a temple in Japan, the day would prove to be much more interesting!

In 1969, Thomas came from the United States to Japan as a young student, searching for a mission in life. Originally planning to stay a year only, he was so captured by the power of Shintoism and Buddhism and meditation, he decided to join a monastery where he was taught the art of meditation and became a monk. He was raised as a catholic, which proved very helpful as it means he knows very well the Christianity from which our western society has gotten much of our spiritual heritage. In other words, he understands the thoughts we carry with us. Sitting on the temple's patio, overlooking the beautifully peaceful stone garden, he gave us a lecture on the basics of meditation.

Knowing little or nothing about Buddhism and Shintoism, and their teachings on meditation, I felt a bit like a five-year old in a driving school. But as the conversation went on, it was amazing to learn that some of the things he explained were quite similar to thoughts that I have had on my own. Thomas told us about the mind and how it has total control of us, and the way it makes us most of the time reacting instead of acting. When something happens around us, our mind interprets it and decides a reaction to it before we even know it. Meditation can help us understand our own mind, and watch it, so that when it is doing something, we can take active control of it. This may be a bit difficult to understand, so let’s take the example of anger. Anger is some times needed for our survival, but most of the time, angry feelings are negative. They can make us do stupid things against our environment (people, animals, nature), and cause a lot of negative feelings that influence our well-being. Anger is created in our mind, so if we can observe our mind, we can catch it and deal with it before it causes damage. Meditation is thus a tool for well-being that everybody could benefit from, no matter what one believes in.

Nobody else but yourself can take charge of your own spirituality. Personally, I found the lessons about meditation from Shintoism and Buddhism much more interesting and helpful than some of the non-flexible readings of Christianity I have been exposed to. Here, doubt and questioning is encouraged.

If you are trying to find out what and who you really are, what your life is about and how you can be the best you can be, you first thing you need is not someone to tell you absolute truths and stories about something that supposedly happened in a garden somewhere. Okay, those stories are interesting too, but not the main thing!

Thomas’ suggestions for further studies, the first being the best:
"The Science of Enlightenment" and "Break Through Pain" by Shinzen Young
"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle
"A Gradual Awakening" by Stephen Levine
"Everyday Zen" by Charlotte Joko Beck
"Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki
"The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh

Riots in the streets... or maybe not

 

Demonstration a la Japonaise

Okay, guess who's in town? He's a very famous guy... Yup, it's Bush, our beloved George W. or "Dubbayu" as I like to call him. He came here last week, although his advisers over at the White House were sceptical to Japanese prime minister Koizumi's decision to host his close ally in Kyoto, as they could really do without more headlines containing "Bush" and Kyoto in the same sentence. (If you, dear reader at this point feel even a slight confusion at this point, I suggest reading abit about the Kyoto Protocol and Dubbayu's record on the topic...)

Although I would gladly have offered Dubbayu many rational and reasonable views and advice, given a suitable opportunity, I had no plan on taking part in the demonstrations that were launched during his visit. But even if I had tried to take part, I suspect my attention would have been attracted by the odd scene that played itself out in the streets of Kyoto. Forget pretty much everything that comes to mind when you hear the word "demonstration," left alone banners and slogans. The hundred-ish peaceful demonstrators were firmly outnumbered by armed anti-rebellion police men, who in a strange fashion formed a wall along the demonstrators to lead them on the before-agreed track. You could really tell that these policemen were really not used to this task. Japanese people, it seems, are very afraid of making mistakes, and the nervousness in the eyes of these policemen was evident. For what, I don't know, because I can't imagine how these demonstrators, among whom many were 50 yrs or older, could have caused any kind of trouble.

Then, when the demonstration was over, a handful of the most "active" demonstrators wanted to cross the river on a step-stone path across. The police men who had lined up on the other side of the river somehow decided they would not allow this. After about ten minutes in a deadlock, where about ten of each side were discussing the matter, the demonstrators had to retreat. Other than a loss of face for the "agressors", this blocking from the police men's side had no real effect, as the demonstrators could simply go up to the road and cross the river on the bridge. instead. VERY smart police men indeed! In the military we were told it was better just to strictly follow orders and not think. Well, some times, it seems like the whole country is built around this concept! Someday, when I become more culturally fluent, and thus less in danger of making over-biased conclusions, I might write something about this here...

And Dubbayu? Well, of course he was never spotted, although I tried my best to find him, asking any police man I came across "Bush-san wa doko desu ka?" The policemen's total lack of anything near an ironic sense of humour actually made me forget about the disappointment of not finding him! :)

Tokyo Motor Show

Lab(o) welcome party

A f few weeks ago, we had a lab welcome party for new students at the Energy Economics Laboratory. We cooked Giosa (a bit like the russian pilmenid or ravioli) together and had a great party, not ending till we had sung our favourite songs at the local karaoke place! All I can say is that I have been lucky with my labmates! :)