Art's getting fishy in Fukuoka....

Hello, Compendium readers!

WR here, writing from warm and lovely Kyushu.  I hope all you northern-hemispherites are enjoying the spring as much as I am.  For anyone living in Japan, it's especially important for us to embrace the mild beauty of this season.  Because we know what's coming.  1.)  Rainy season; a soppy, wet, mold-spawning realm of hell.  And then, 2.)  Japanese summer; Hell.  Just plain hell.

But for now, the morning breezes still hold a chill and the sunshine is warm on my all-too-pale winterized skin.  It's a pleasant time to get out in the world and see some sights...

... like an art museum or two!

Recently, I've been trying to visit more of the local cultural attractions here in Fukuoka.  I started with the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, located in central Fukuoka City.  It's a lovely, if small, museum at the top of the swanky Riverain shopping complex in the Nakasu-Kawabata area.  It focuses mainly on modern art from artists in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.

They generously allow visitors to take non-flash photography, so here are a few photos of some my favorite pieces from my leisurely stroll through the galleries.

This next one (below) needs a little explanation, I think.  There were two pieces in one corner of a gallery which were displayed as "found art."  They're retired molds for Buddhist sculptures, elevated on pikes so that visitors can duck inside and look up.  In the picture directly below, if you look closely, you can see the rough shape of a full-body, seated Buddha.  The other mold (not shown from the outside) is of a very large Buddha head.  That's the second picture below, taken from inside.

It was a strangely serene experience, standing inside the mold.  There was a faint herbal smell to it, and sounds from the outside took on an distant, echoey tone.

All in all, I highly recommend the Fukuoka Asian Art museum to local tourists.  And with a ticket price of only 200 yen (at the time of my visit, at least), it really can't be beat for a few hour's pleasant distraction.

In keeping with the art theme, let's flash-forward to today's visit: the Art Aquarium.  This installation, currently being shown at Hakata Station, is a combination of goldfish, aquarium design, and art.  While I think arguments could definitely be made that the fish are not being kept in the best of situations, what with the high stress environment (lights and music and a constant stream of people), I will say that the tanks were all meticulously clean and well-kept, and the fish seemed pretty healthy to me; a not-at-all-an-expert-in-fish outside observer.

So.  That aside, I thought the exhibition was gorgeous.  Stunningly so.  There was a shocking simplicity and organic beauty to it all, like watching a canvas paint itself before your eyes.  Here are a few of my favorite photos from my tour.

The triangle piece is a kaleidoscope, one of dozens installed into the tank.
Pretty darn magical, really.

A still from a short film, projected onto a screen
behind a long and flat tank.  Also magical.

That guy has my same camera!

Since pictures can't really capture the feeling of the place, I thought I'd upload a short video of the signature piece (the over-sized goldfish bowl from above). 

As you can tell, I'm really, reeeeeeally enjoying my new camera.  (Thanks, DW!  Hugs!  Kisses!)  I hope you enjoyed the the blog post this week and maybe it'll inspire you to go out and find some art in your own town, wherever that may be.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to feed the fish!
(The digital ones that live at the top of the blog page, not the ones in the photos.)

WR.

On Earthquakes and Barrel Openings.

Welcome back, readers!

That's right!  It's WR, again.  Things have been pretty good in Japan!  The weather has finally started to warm a bit, allowing for the much-awaited explosion of sakura (cherry blossom) celebrations everywhere. But, for this week's RowStein installment, I won't be writing about that.  For this post, I'll be looking back to a fantastic "Barrel Opening Festival" I went to a couple weeks ago.

Oh, right.  And that earthquake thing.  Let's get that out of the way first.

There it is.  The earthquake.  I'm one of the pale yellowy dots, in the upper middle-ish part of the southern island, SW of the red "X."  It was a 6.3 on the Richter scale, happening at 2:06 in the morning on March 14th.  And it scared the absolute CRAP out of me.  Though, to be honest, I'm not sure which scared me most; the actual shaking of my house or the banshee wail of my cell phone's emergency alarm.  There was a squealing siren sound, then a Japanese voice shouting, "Jishin desu, jishin desu!"  (It's an earthquake, it's an earthquake!)  Seriously.  That's a g#%@mn terrifying way to wake up.

It is pretty cool, though, that the P-wave triggered seismic alarm system gave me a few seconds warning, so that I could scramble to my "safe spot" just as the larger S-wave earthquake actually struck.  That's some impressive technology.  We're living in the future!  (O_o)

The earthquake wasn't a bad one, though, even if it creeped me out quite a bit. (I mean, I'm from the upper and middle Midwest.  Aside from the typically quiet "New Madrid" fault, we're about as far from any seismic activity as you can get.)  There were only a handful of injuries, minor damages, and no tsunami.  Whew.

Anyway.  Back to the topic at hand: The Oga Shozu Barrel Opening Festival!

So, as I've mentioned before, there's a sake brewery in my town.  It's called Oga Shozu.  Twice a year, they open their doors to the public and hold a sake festival inside the brewery grounds.  It's a great big party and and an excuse to try a variety of delicious, locally-crafted alcohol.

Approaching the brewery complex proper, I found that the typically drab alley had been decorated for the event with dozens and dozens of old Futsukaichi-area photographs.  It was cool to see the brewery (which has been in operation since the flippin' 1600's) take such pride in their community.

One of three photography displays.

One of my favorites: A very old Nishitetsu bus photo.

Here's the back-entrance to the brewery, which became the front-entrance for the festival.  The blue banner shows the name of the company, in stylized kanji.

Step right up for sake! 

Once inside, I paid an absurdly small fee (about $1.00, American) and got a commemorative sake cup (seen below).  Patrons walked between stalls, sampling dozens of different products made by the brewery.  Some were shochu (a harder liquor, popular in Kyushu) and some were Nihon-shu (what we Americans typically call sake).  My favorites were 1.) a yuzu-flavored Nihon-shu, an Asian citrus which has a tartness similar to a grapefruit, and 2.) this green, almost sludgy liquid which had a flavor that I can only describe as a sake bomb which exploded in an apple fritter.  Surprisingly delicious.

Here are some photo highlights from my walk around the festival.

I'll put you to good use, friend. 

Crowded, but friendly.

Inside the brewery building.

Other festival-goers
getting their sake on.

A brewery banner, with a
tank in the background.

A lovely day for drinking with strangers.
A lot of strangers.

Yeah.  Did I mention it was crowded?

Mochi-making display!
SPOILER ALERT: I ate some
and it was delicious.

Below, you'll see one of the more... interesting sake I tasted.  The bottle seems pretty cool, right?  The hornet on the label and all.  I figured, "Oh, okay.  It's strong.  It's got sting.  Like a hornet."  I reached out with my empty cup in both hands, the Japanese gesture for, "More alcohol please!"

The cool looking bottle, in all it's glory.

The vendor started to pour, then paused.  He asked me a question.  I said I didn't understand.  He asked me again, a little slower.  This time, I caught the words "allergy" and "danger."  I tilted my head in confusion, so he held up the bottle and shook it gently.

Five giant Asian hornet corpses swirled about in the liquor.  "Ah," I thought,  "So. The label is a bit more literal than I'd previously imagined."  But, with my cup already extended and my whole "I'm in another country, just go with it" attitude already engaged, I figured I might as well.  I raised my cup and downed my shochu, receiving approving grins from the row of vendors.

YOLO, as the kids say.

All in all, it was a great event.  It's always fun to get out and enjoy the nice spring weather in my lovely little Chikushino.  And, hey, if happens to align with the chance to take a bunch of shots with friendly, tipsy neighbors... all the better.

Thanks for reading, everyone!  Hope you have a wonderful week, wherever you are in the world.  And don't forget to feed the fish!

WR