un chien andalou de cádiz

if you are a film-buff or an art-lover, i’m sure you’ve seen or at least heard of the surrealist masterpiece “un chien andalou” directed by luis buñuel. and i guess, like me, you found the film too difficult to understand. among my favourite avant-garde films i prefer jean cocteau’s work to his. to tell you the truth, despite being always a film and art enthusiast, although i saw so many art films when i was a londoner, i had only known the film by its famous title for a long time. i had never watched it until one saturday afternoon when mr geek showed it to me at his home in hampstead. he and i spent weekends together at the time. and luckily, he happened to have a copy of its video.

when i visited andalucía of españa with mr geek back in late march of 2002, he wanted to show me around cádiz that once was his adopted home town. it was already an early summer’s day. some people enjoyed swimming; young girls splashing about along the seashore. we strolled down to the sunny beach and i saw a jack russell terrier jumping into the water to catch a ball the dog-owner had thrown. a real andalucían dog. he stopped running as if he struck a pose. i snapped a shot of the dog. it was an image that would forever be imprinted in my mind. and the dog has been in my mind since then, even if i hadn’t taken the photograph, which a tokyo band, rose-unlimited, asked me to use it for their cd album cover.

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i loved it in andalucía. i was enchanted by the beauty of alhambra and generalife in granada. picturesque ronda and foodie cádiz satisfied all my senses. and i now recall one episode. a pretty but wacky middle-aged spanish woman approached us as soon as we took seats of a long-distance bus from ronda. she, wearing her hair in two plaits and zany clothes like a sioux tribal woman, kept talking to mr geek en route to cádiz. she spoke perfect british english, though. her intriguing stories silenced both mr geek and me. “i went out with jimi when i lived in london, in the 60’s, you know” – that jimi hendrix. the legendary rocker. that’s what she said. all mr geek and i did was kept nodding “wow!” while her kookiness made us wonder if she was serious and real or nutty as an andalusian fruitcake.

what's happening in nara in march

“unless お水取り o-mizutori is finished, we won’t have mild weather yet” -- my mother always tells me so, just like other people in 関西 kansai (the southern-central region). 修二会 shunie, known as　お水取り, is the 2 week-long ceremony of fire and water that has been practiced by buddhist monks in 二月堂 nigatsu-do (hall) of 東大寺 todai-ji (temple) in 奈良 nara prefecture for more than 1200 years. it is said that spring comes to the region as the service is completed. お水取り, drawing sacred water, the climax of 修二会, takes place on march 12th every year.

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a year ago yesterday, when my daughter stayed with me, she and I visited 奈良. 奈良 was the capital of japan in the 8th century before 京都 kyoto. 大仏 daibutsu, the great buddha, is housed in 金堂 kon-do (hall) that lies the huge compound of 東大寺, which is now 奈良公園 (park). the park is also popular for deer roaming around and following tourists for 鹿せんべいshika senbei (deer biscuits). the temples in 奈良 feel quite ancient. they are indeed old. i liked it there because its atmosphere is less formal than 京都 – it’s quieter, more rural and relaxing, while its scale is grander.


once you enter 金堂, 大仏 will take you aback. it’s magnificent. the architecture of the wooden hall also will take you breath away if you are from countries where buildings are made of bricks or stone. it was her first time for shion, my daughter, to visit 奈良. i’d been there a few times before, but every time i look up at the giant buddha statue, the vast scale and the sense of eternity amaze me. our next destination after 大仏 was 二月堂. walking up and down the hills in the park covered with moss to 二月堂 was worth sweating. when reached the hilltop, we had a panorama of the peaceful city from 二月堂.

yesterday, i went to my mother’s home and spent the whole afternoon cleaning. i couldn’t ignore the clutter in her bedroom. she just can’t damp things like empty cardboard boxes and carrier bags. so there were tons everywhere in her flat being waiting to tidy up. my mother is hopeless believer in a “this one can be useful one day” -sort of thing. she didn’t allow me to even hoover her living room. i did throughout. because, she is most likely to get back home from her hospital some time this week, if her blood test turns out as best as it shows in the last few weeks.

after all, the cause of her disease was unfound. it was not caused by any virus, which is certain. we are relieved to hear that she is now out of danger, even though there is no further medication or treatment for her other than being in bed. when she is home, she is still a hepatitis patient, i will have to take care of her. i fact, i have an appointment with a hospital dietician this afternoon. obviously, she will be staying in bed at home longer than before. this must’ve been a good timing to dust her bedroom corners, it seems. i hope my mother will not mind me having done that.

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this year’s お水取り of 東大寺 is taking place in 二月堂 on 12th as usual. by midnight there will be tens of thousands of prayers to gather, or tourists just to say goodbye to the winter blues.

p.s.

thank you so much for your warm words and get-well-soon wishes for my mother!!

dreaming of jolly old england for yuletide

i am happy with another sunny sunday to enjoy japanese winter, though we’ve had a freezing morning: the temperature fell below zero overnight. i don’t mind the cold as long as the sky is blue.


i guess you, if in some christian country, are about to go frantic for christmas shopping (take it easy, everyone!!). i know how you feel right now. as for me, i’m not christian. i’m neither a kid anymore nor one of young twosomes in love (japanese christmas is adopted commercially and adapted exclusively for them!), so christmas is no big deal. still, i’d truly miss the english festive mood as soon as i turn the last page of my calendar. in fact, this december is no exception. i’ve begun to long for the festive mood of england i used to take it for granted. i wish i were back in london, my 3-time second home, just for yuletide.

staying in london for a week would be great even if its winter sky is gloomy, but spending a few days in the country would be fantastical. i had a chance to do that. exactly 5 years ago when shion, my daughter, flew from tokyo and stayed with me in london, mr dreamer took us to newbury in the west of the county of berkshire, where he was at the time taking care of his friend’s home while the entire family (except their furry little creatures) was away on holiday.

english countrysides feel so welcoming while the english winter is infamously bleak. and the house, converted by his friend, jonathan, himself from a grade 2 listed barn, is luxuriously but not ostentatiously decorated with english elegance by his wife, sue. it is as if the house embodies my favourite images of country life just like pictures from the glossy magazine “country living”. in their house, there were two pianos: mini-grand and upright. shion and mr dreamer amused themselves by playing the piano or a guitar in the music room, and i sat back by the fireplace in the lounge with a whiff of burning logs.

whatever we did or wherever we moved within the house, we were surrounded by the ambiance of classical englishness. it is, though, a typically modernised country estate with a barn-turned huge family house and a farm building-turned cottage for guests. several months later, i also had an opportunity to stay at the cottage. jonathan and sue had kindly put up mr dreamer and me for a little while before we moved together to buenos aires in the spring of 2004. (but my decision to quit work for the new life there was a big mistake, by the way.)

the house set in a tranquil rural setting was like a dream. i had such a lovely time there being under the apple blossom in the spring. but staying in the winter was more than that. it was quite an experience to me. i yielded to the sheer serenity as much as i could, looking at the misty meadows and woodlands adjacent to the newbury racecourse and a golf course. the only thing i regretted was i had no proper footgear. it wasn’t that easy to step into the meadow. i’d never trained myself to stomp on that soggy english ground. pity. that’s the downside of the english countryside, i’m afraid.


(i’ve learned that shuichi kato　加藤周一, my intellectual hero, passed away on friday. he was 89. he was japan’s leading critic and the greatest generalist crossing over many different cultural spheres. i ever sent him kind of a fan mail when he wrote on sarajevo in his column for a japanese daily. he wrote me back with his home address. that meant something special to me. so i wrote him again. may his soul rest in peace!)