No gardens or shrines or temples today (Friday) – it is a day of heavy duty teaching in the morning and of taking a closer look at the hub of Kyoto dusk life later in the day.
I mention men and women in the post title because throughout the day this topic has surfaced in one way or another. In general, the subject of gender relations in Japan is a difficult one to take on for any number of reasons. I certainly do not want to address it in this blog at this minute. But there are a few observations that can be made that do have elements of the men – women compartmentalization that takes place here. These I am willing to put forth, though with a strong warning that they are not meant to set the stage for any conclusive argument of any sort. They are random. Completely random.
So, I jotted down a few, just from this day. Interspersed are comments about food. Of course. Total of eight points. Not too bad.
1. This morning it took me more than 90 minutes to walk to Doshisha University where I was to lecture at 9 a.m.. Therefore I had to skip Rosie’s for breakfast (it opens at 8). But in passing it, I noticed that it was not really called Rosie’s. That name came from my imagination. It is called ‘Rose Café.” That sounds more genteel, but Rosie’s felt more appropriate and homey. Anyway, I am glad I didn’t ask the proprietress if her name was, by chance, Rosie. 2. After my lecture, I was to lead a discussion on the topics I’d covered in the presentation. Although the class had 50% men and 50% women, 75% of the hands raised (with questions or comments) were those of women students (I counted). Since this is the first semester ever of a Japanese graduate program in law (up until this April, law had always been exclusively an undergrad major), I had never worked with Japanese grad students before. For me, it was exciting to teach students who were more ambitious and serious about the field. My colleagues here have mixed personal reactions. Some see it as a great burden since they have to create an entire new curriculum. BTW, of the some 12 law profs that I have repeatedly worked with in Japan, only two are women. Interestingly, neither of the two have children. All of the men (as far as I know) have children. A reminder: there’s no science in this, just random observations.
3. I lost my esteemed translator for my work in the courts next week! The law professor who had kindly volunteered to go with me to the court and assist in interpreting got a message from none other than the super esteemed professor Guido Calabresi (from Yale Law School) announcing his imminent arrival here. If Guido Calbresi asks for your personal escort services you don’t say no. So rather than act as my lowly translator, my colleague is off to greener pastures in the next few days. Did he leave me stranded without an interpreter? Definitely not. He volunteered his wife. He told me –“she speaks better English than I do anyway.” I worried that this would be an utter burden for her. He told me – “of course not! She’ll be delighted!” I don’t quite believe him on this, but I accepted the offer nonetheless.
4. I caught this picture of a group of boys heading home from school (late in the day, of course). They were so full of pent-up energy that I thought surely they would demolish everything in sight as they made their way down the street. They banged or knocked or kicked every tempting item in sight. It was interesting walking a few steps behind. Eventually I passed them, but that’s only because they got waylaid by some grimy article of clothing which they found lying on the street. Imagine the possibilities! After stomping on it, tearing it apart, etc, there still remains rubbing each others’ faces in it, etc. Such creativity!
5. On the other hand, I also passed this group of preschool children where all the little girls and the little boys (some wearing pink caps) were docile and sweet through and through. Must be the age.
6. In the afternoon I went to the food market. I inserted a few photos here, but I could sum it up in this way: the market is 80 % fish products, 10% pickle varieties and 10% everything else.
7. In the dusk I spent a while in that part of Kyoto which may be interesting to stroll through but impossible to photograph. Its regulars hate the sight of cameras and often make a point of quickly disappearing behind closed doors if they see you poised and ready to shoot. It is the place where the last remaining Geisha women work their traditional craft. Everyone moves very rapidly and you never know when a photo moment will arise. I wont even admit to how long it took before I could take a photo that could even vaguely identify the subject. I do have a strategically good spot worked out for optimal observation purposes and will sell this information to anyone who asks. It is NOT in the guide books and it almost guarantees a Geisha sighting around 5:45 each evening.
With all respect toward cultural diversity, I cannot admit to being much of a fan of the institution of Geisha. To me, the offense is especially evident in the way the recipients of the Geisha services approach the matter. If you saw the black cars full of the business elite, arriving at these private Geisha houses, if you saw their faces, their confident manner, their evident sense of entitlement, you’d possibly react with similar revulsion toward the entire set-up. Nonetheless, being a first class Geisha is a skill and a craft and it can be beautifully executed – at least at the level of appearance. 8. Dinner at Tagato was too expensive. I am indeed frustrated with the prices here sometimes (am I on a negative roll or what?). Tagato (recommended by any number of newspaper articles on Kyoto) is a very innocuous place with the charming location of a tacky shopping passageway. I ordered the smaller of the two dinner sets and one beer and left with 5,000 fewer Yen on me. TOO EXPENSIVE!
Forgetting about the TOO EXPENSIVE price tag, I would have to say that the food was very good. It was a Kyoto Kaiseki meal – a many part arrangement, with soba, tempura, steamed rice, miso soup and pickles, the typical foods offered in these sets (but TOO EXPENSIVE). One interesting situation to find yourself in is where everyone around you is suddenly eating soba noodles at the same time. The slurping noise completely unsettles you because we so are not used to eating in this way. Japanese people slurp loudly and purposefully. It is a sign of noodle enjoyment. I COUL NOT do it. So ingrained is my resistance to it that I just could not slurp with abandon. But the slurping of others was so deafening that I am sure no one noticed my silent swallowing.
Dinner photos for foodie-type readers:
