Japan and Korea On Fleek 2023 - In Summation

Let's look at some stuff we bought. Here's the crown jewel, our Yoshitoshi Ukiyo-e woodblock print

Daruma dolls for Dave, Crisilla, Ryan, Trish and Ben Currie who got me a Samsung holiday illustration job.

Wonderland T-shirt for Bartlett, Sansho seasoning, Traffic safety charm from shrine, Muji t shirts, we also got some black beans and dark dank miso from the Odagaki. Sad we didn't shop more. We didnt get a knife, we didn't get clothes or selvedge denim, No shi shi mai, no shichimi. I guess that's why theres a next time

Japan trip in summation: I'm humbled once again by the kindness we were shown, especially in Nose with Akira, Masami, and Mari. I can see how Steven can have a really fun time in Temma in Osaka and it makes me nostalgic for when I lived in Tokyo and also wish that standing bars were a big thing when I was there. The quality of life in Japan is the highest but then I also have to think if the average Japanese person is happy which then makes me think are we happy are any of us happy or are we all just ants with better or worse standards of living? Either way in either country I am lucky that I am not a salaryman. Leaving Japan really made me wonder what my life is for, why am i doing it, what am i even doing. What answer am I looking for? For the meaning of life? For an excuse to do what I want and be happy? As I said I know its not a fair comparison to look at your life on vacation and hold it up as an example of how your life could be, but I did this life, I did what Steven is doing and it was f'ing awesome. But I also didn't get to spend much time on my art. Let's not fool ourselves here though i'm a commercial artist, an illustrator in service to a client and or market forces. This vacation forced me to take a break and examine some things but I think I have more questions than I started with. Why can I not be happy. Does happiness look like living in Japan and discovering/learning/being frustrated by something new everyday? Can I have a moveable feast, a portable Japan that I carry in my heart in my daily life? In the least, this struggle means i'm alive and I can live with that.

ok on to the stuff I bought in Korea various kinds of seasoned seaweed

mak gook soo noodles, Korean cosmetics, Jen got a hand bag at AK plaza in seoul, We both inadvertently got the same color his and hers sunglasses from Radio Eyes at different times, some candies for kiddies and individual SPAMs for ryan and dave (who have been watching dubu, moving the car, house sitting, and watering our garden this whole time we owe them so much)

various ramens, ddukbokki sweet snacks (steven and all of us were like why tf does there have to be so much sugar on everything). Honey butter almonds, more candies for kiddies, macha, salt

dried squid drinking snack, more ramen and jjajangmyeon, dried filefish drinking snack, cookie sticks and sweets for us and kids

Korean brushes and water colors for dave and ryan

my dojang name stamp and ink

tanuki toy i bought from a gatcha capsule machine at the Korean rest stop, the wobble doll from the package jen said looks like me, a Chimaek (fried chicken and beer) t shirt jen said i should buy at the airport and maybe i'll sweeten to it more, hwacha ancient Korean arrow barrage fire cart model

tongs, Korean kitchesn scissors (Koreans cut everything with scissors so they make good scissors), Yut Nori sticks game set

we went coast to coast in Korea which isn't that far because you can drive from Incheon airport to Gangmun beach where we went in 3 hours or 4 hrs by public transport. On both trips we saw the city and we saw the countryside. We got slices of all kinds of life and were shown kindness. I'm glad I got to take bob to korea because I don't know if he ever would make that leap on his own because its a lot to deal with mentally and some really heavy stuff. He was born in this country and yet knew nothing about it, but now he does. As always it was nice going around Korea with my Korean family even if its my married into family it still makes it feel like I belong there a little more. Of course I know i'll never belong, Jen won't either but I think i'm ok with that. I've lived in Korea and been back many times but its bob's first time, he's got a lot to process. I guess seeing the crush of humanity in Korea shows me that everyone is struggling through life, time crushes on, people trying to get by crushes on, and when I look at this map and think there's a whole nation of Koreans, 51 million of them all trying to live, that makes me feel sad and glad at the same time. I'm hoping to take something away from this trip that I can keep close to my chest and I don't know what that is yet. I know I need to do some real gratitude examinations and take stock of what i'm grateful for in my actual non-vacation life. So dear reader the actual journey and metaphorical journey continue for me and I'll keep bringing it to you on this here blog eventually. Thanks for stopping by.  

Kansai On Fleek 2023 - Kyoto to Nowhere

I ran for the first time in weeks  this morning because of the book deadline and the heat and humidity of the Japanese summer didn't help. I only did 2. something miles and the route i took to the river was under construction so i never got to see the river

On our way to Kyoto. This was not the best day. Still some great stuff happened but we don't remember Kyoto be so full of tourists. It was also oppressively hot and humid because Kyoto is surrounded by mountains it turns it into a boiling pot. Immediately outside of Kyoto station you have a journey ahead of you to get anywhere cool which really sucks in the sun and heat. We were all really tired and Steven also had to huff it back to Osaka in the afternoon for work. 

woodblock print restoration at Art Yoshikiri

When I was a freshman at FIT in 2002 in Sal Catalano's class he showed us this book of Yoshitoshi's One hundred aspects of the moon. I was mesmorized and immediately went home and bought the same book. This is my book i've owned for 20s years and now we own one of the prints in this series

the woodblock print is at the framers so I don't have a photo of it but here it is in the book and an image i found online. it was 200,000 yen at Art Yoshikiri. Thanks to the weak yen that was $1,400 and not $3,000 like when the yen was strong when I lived in Japan in 2010. This basically the 2nd piece of art we've ever bought (the first was a Jean Gabriel Domergue lithograph in Paris for like $400). This has been a dream of mine for 20 yrs to own a Yoshitoshi and everytime i've been to Japan it hasn't happened and I was too poor when I lived there but now 20 yrs later I teach at FIT with Sal and now have a Yoshitoshi! I didn't like the experience of buying this though because of reading about the many many aspects of buying Ukiyo-e prints and things to watch out for and it made it intimidating. Next time I need to just chill out.

this is not the specific edition we got, ours is a late edition and they had several of this guy but we went with the crispest best quality print (which meant the most expensive). Kumasaka no Chohan was an outlaw-priest and leader of a band of robbers, so a badass.

Once you make it here in Arashiyama you have way less tourists or even the whole stretch to yourself

you never know what's over yonder

this woman maybe used to be a monk and now runs this not so trafficked outer Arashiyama soba/udon restaurant

Nishin soba, it's mackerel that has a sweet glaze on it cuz of the soysauce, mirin, and sugar it's simmered in and is a Kyoto classic. Also the iced noodles were very welcomed

Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple. Something like 8,000 stone statues for those who died without kin and children

thanks to social media you'll see stuff like these 2 girls dressed in quasi Loli attire taking turns shooting videos for their feeds all over Kyoto and Japan.

baffling, is this a dog barrier and if so it aint gonna do anything. Is the owner named Ina? There are boar problems all over Japan

sometimes you go up a magical pair of stairs and are rewarded and sometimes theres nothing special and that stings more when its like 95 and 95% humidity. At this point we were trying to go on this river hike past Arashiyama that would be like 2 hrs and Steven loves it but we were so hot and tired that we gave up on that. I saw that the woodblock print store that sells shin hanga prints was open until 5:30 so we could still make it in time. I think everyone was happy to high tail it back to Kyoto central. We had a grueling sweaty 40 min walking journy ahead of us to get back to the train. We walked very fast. We even took a taxi from Kyoto station. We got there aat 5:15 and they were already closed. I only needed 15 min to find a dream print by Kawase or Yoshida but I did'nt get that. I was so pissed

Bob really wanted to show steven how the British Bag store failed

after not having my size of famous japanese selvedge denim jeans at yet another Kapital store we went to river to drink beers and relax except I don't remember there being this many tourists. So I guess this is a Kite that lives up there and there were some circling around

at this point everyone was very tired and sweaty. Steven had gone back to Osaka after lunch. We tried to find somewhere to eat that wasn't full of tourists around the immediate area and they were all filled with tourists. We went to sukiya for $4 gyudon bowls. There were arguments. We went back to Osaka silent and picked up teriyaki burgers from Mcdonalds on the way home which we sadly ate and went to bed. This was our final day in Japan and we kinda flubbed it. 

this photo represents the sad aspect of our final day in Kyoto (delicious tho). We frustrated Steven cuz we didn't do his plan and he came to Kyoto for basically no reason, the weather was the real oppressor in all of this. We all fought and really all we have to show for it is my dream Ukiyo-e print but at the cost of bricking and entire day in Japan. Maybe it was cursed to be bricked anyway because we were all so tired. No one got what they wanted, maybe we didn't even know what we wanted except to not be walking in the sun in 95 degree weather. This day will haunt me.

at KIX airport with steven ready to go to Korea for 8 days. Everyone slept better I think and spirits were high as it is Bob and Steven's first time in Korea. For me that feeling good time would end soon enough when we had to deal with budget airline Peach Air's infuriating carry on weight restriction. 7kg is like almost nothing and that was the limit for carry on. We had to do a lot of shuffling around amongst the 4 of us and our checked luggage to make it work and we almost missed our flight. Except we didn't because they suck and don't list any info so the flight was delayed unbeknownst to anyone on our flight. Infuriating experience the whole way through. Also very patronizing and infantilizing on the flight. You need to really know what you're doing if you fly a budget airline especially Peach air.

A Honeymoon in Asia - Kyoto - Day 4

Our last day in Japan (besides going to the airport in the morning).

on the way to getting coffee at that lawson.  Did i mention how coffee in Japan is not that good?  I was so excited to try coffee done the Japanese way but I supposed you really have to go out of your way to get that or else you're gonna end up with convenience store coffee (because there aren't many coffee shops and the ones there are like tully's or doutor have tiny weak coffees).

we stayed at Kinoe Ryokan, it was $350 for the one night (prob because it was a week after cherry blossom season) and we did it cuz we should stay somewhere nice at least once.  It was a great location but like all hotels I feel like it doesn't matter that much because you just sleep there and leave.  When we first came they even cleaned our luggage wheels.

no thank you

they love egg salad in Japan and so do I.

and they love hot dogs and making monstrosities like this.

took the 45 min bus ride to Kinkakuji, the golden pavillion.  Ryoanji is walking distance from here but I gotta tell you honestly, it's such a time suck that if you're strapped for time I don't know if I would recommend going to this tourist heavy spot just to see this golden pavillion.  There isn't much else on the property.

i'm guessing chinglish.  Please wait for me here.  Feels Good.  Room for What

I love Ryoanji's zen garden.  

fire buckets

never saw this part before with these crazy trimmed trees.

the Yoshino cherry trees are gone now but these kind of tall weeping cherries were out in force.

either this is a sign of the breakdown of Japanese society or kids really like practicing their Kanji tables.

Japanese design is great, even this political poster.

Kitsune Udon at Tsurutontan in Soemoncho, Osaka

tororo, tempura, and curry set udon

the crush of humanity at the entrance of Shinsai Bashin shopping arcade.

Akira and Masako's parents took us out for Kushiage dinner at a place around the corner from their house.

we drank at their house and waited for Akira and Masami to finish their jazz work.  Their dad buys the huge whiskey and pours it into the more manageable bottle.  Once again Japanese people are too nice.  Everyone gave us presents.  Thanks again for everything Matsumura San tachi.