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Hitch hiking from shizuoaka to Kyoto, I got picked up by a couple who play traditional Japanese music. Their name is Ho-Tsu-Ma which is a Shintoist(?) ancient book of truths. Canah, the singer was doing guest vocals for a hard rock band named Kabuki, who's basist is the reincarnation of Oda Nobunaga and they took me to see the show in Nagoya. They also had a bird whose name i confused with lunch and who sang and played with me in the back seat and hopped and flew about and sat on their heads while the car zoomed along taking us to a place we created with each passing moment. They are really beautiful spirits, and showed me such generosity that I was truly humbled. You can find them at www.ho-tsu-ma.jp/ if you would like to hear their music. I'm listening right now, it is very good.
Kyoto is an ancient city and i finally understood why it was my guitars kept getting left behind by airport personnel. It made sense when i walked not twenty meters from my hostel to find an antique store with eight ancient classical guitars hanging from the ceiling. There i played the saddest guitar i have ever met and i felt terrible not keeping it company but i also met my love. She's an old Yamaha, all it says on the sticker is G-80, and she is so beautifully crafted and the sound that comes from her is so perfectly structured and each individual note hung in the air as though my desire would not let it go. I tuned her in front of the seven other jealous guitars (whom i later gave a try) and about twenty five violins floating on the ceiling, patrollling the ancient musical fortress from above. Trying to contain my excitement, as a possible tool for bargaining, i turned to the very old shopkeeper who'd been listening to me play and realized i would be a very bad person to cut the price even more than it was. The beautiful sad guitar was 6000 yen and this perfect yamaha was 9500 and i got a thick, soft leather case for her. Since i've had her, i've written two new songs and elaborated on my previous ones. I have a really funny song about a ninja now... its written in B sneaky. Just kidding, its written in E.
From kyoto, i did a beautiful bike trip into the mountains and saw a tiny farming village, a waterfall and an incredible temple named sanzenin. I also went to sanjusangendo, a temple with a 1000 boddhisattvas and 28 guardian statues and a temple on a hill that is famous though i forget its name. It has the famous 'love stone' but as i walked up to the steps, five employees put up barricades that said the love stone was closed. Kyoto is a beautiful city... biking and walking around is such an experience... there are these book stores where every littlest space is covered in ancient-looking books and these antique stores with the most gorgeous wooden carvings and furnishings. I want to become a carpenter/wood worker/carver/builder and if i can find an apprenticeship anywhere, i would like to do so in japan. The architecture is so balanced... although whoever designed kyoto station is a madman.
I left Kyoto, on instinct, though i left so much undiscovered. When i was in kansas i met a really great guy named eli (he herded sheep for a year(or so)) who recommended i meet this artist on shikoku named david titterington. His art is really inspirational and he has great perspective. davidtitterington.com. He took me to a park with these unbelievable thousand year trees and we talked of our personal philosphies. One thing he said that struck me was that these trees that lined the path were over a thousand years old... meaning the road was a thousand years old. The temple that the road led to was for the trees and cats live inside and actually we met a cat who was very independent yet totally friendly and cool. He reminded me of the boy from Lapuza, this crazy japanime. i would also recommend the adventures of shichiri and sen(maybe?) they are mind-blowingly good. Then we went to a public bath house where i saw many japanese penises and it was this really great place with hot tubs and saunas and outdoor hot tubs. The old guys who go there go every day because they believe it is good for the health. I believe them. Also they aren't so homophobic here and give each other back rubs and back scratches. on one of the baths there is a (oh oh oh i forget the name.... the racoon suit from mario 3... ah ah ah ah) and well anyways they have one of them on the outside bath. By the way TANUKI! tanuki suit. well yeah, there is a tanuki... and it was explained to me that what i thought were legs were testicles and this is where he gets his powers from. His enormous testicles. When the tanuki is standing, his testicles are so big they hang to the ground and apparently the reason he is around is simply because he makes people laugh. Umm...
I think i'm going to go. I know there are so many details unsaid but there is this secret zen garden that i was told to go and i need to find out how to find out where it is. I'm very soon to be in the phillipinnes where i'll be reunited with family and hopefully be very very warm.
Kyoto is an ancient city and i finally understood why it was my guitars kept getting left behind by airport personnel. It made sense when i walked not twenty meters from my hostel to find an antique store with eight ancient classical guitars hanging from the ceiling. There i played the saddest guitar i have ever met and i felt terrible not keeping it company but i also met my love. She's an old Yamaha, all it says on the sticker is G-80, and she is so beautifully crafted and the sound that comes from her is so perfectly structured and each individual note hung in the air as though my desire would not let it go. I tuned her in front of the seven other jealous guitars (whom i later gave a try) and about twenty five violins floating on the ceiling, patrollling the ancient musical fortress from above. Trying to contain my excitement, as a possible tool for bargaining, i turned to the very old shopkeeper who'd been listening to me play and realized i would be a very bad person to cut the price even more than it was. The beautiful sad guitar was 6000 yen and this perfect yamaha was 9500 and i got a thick, soft leather case for her. Since i've had her, i've written two new songs and elaborated on my previous ones. I have a really funny song about a ninja now... its written in B sneaky. Just kidding, its written in E.
From kyoto, i did a beautiful bike trip into the mountains and saw a tiny farming village, a waterfall and an incredible temple named sanzenin. I also went to sanjusangendo, a temple with a 1000 boddhisattvas and 28 guardian statues and a temple on a hill that is famous though i forget its name. It has the famous 'love stone' but as i walked up to the steps, five employees put up barricades that said the love stone was closed. Kyoto is a beautiful city... biking and walking around is such an experience... there are these book stores where every littlest space is covered in ancient-looking books and these antique stores with the most gorgeous wooden carvings and furnishings. I want to become a carpenter/wood worker/carver/builder and if i can find an apprenticeship anywhere, i would like to do so in japan. The architecture is so balanced... although whoever designed kyoto station is a madman.
I left Kyoto, on instinct, though i left so much undiscovered. When i was in kansas i met a really great guy named eli (he herded sheep for a year(or so)) who recommended i meet this artist on shikoku named david titterington. His art is really inspirational and he has great perspective. davidtitterington.com. He took me to a park with these unbelievable thousand year trees and we talked of our personal philosphies. One thing he said that struck me was that these trees that lined the path were over a thousand years old... meaning the road was a thousand years old. The temple that the road led to was for the trees and cats live inside and actually we met a cat who was very independent yet totally friendly and cool. He reminded me of the boy from Lapuza, this crazy japanime. i would also recommend the adventures of shichiri and sen(maybe?) they are mind-blowingly good. Then we went to a public bath house where i saw many japanese penises and it was this really great place with hot tubs and saunas and outdoor hot tubs. The old guys who go there go every day because they believe it is good for the health. I believe them. Also they aren't so homophobic here and give each other back rubs and back scratches. on one of the baths there is a (oh oh oh i forget the name.... the racoon suit from mario 3... ah ah ah ah) and well anyways they have one of them on the outside bath. By the way TANUKI! tanuki suit. well yeah, there is a tanuki... and it was explained to me that what i thought were legs were testicles and this is where he gets his powers from. His enormous testicles. When the tanuki is standing, his testicles are so big they hang to the ground and apparently the reason he is around is simply because he makes people laugh. Umm...
I think i'm going to go. I know there are so many details unsaid but there is this secret zen garden that i was told to go and i need to find out how to find out where it is. I'm very soon to be in the phillipinnes where i'll be reunited with family and hopefully be very very warm.