Arata Isozaki 1933 - 2022

Arata Isozaki 1933 - 2022

The famous Japanese architect Arata Isozaki passed away on December 28th, 2022.

Born in Oita, Kyushu, in 1933, he studied at Tokyo University and then worked under Kenzo Tange for a few years before opening his own office.

His earliest works seem heavily influenced by Brutalism and Metabolist styles, though his later works utilized many different styles. His works have been built all over Asia, Europe, and the USA.

He won the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Prize in 2019.

I quite like his work and have seen many of his buildings here in Western Japan.

The top photo is the Kitakyushu City Museum of Art 1972-74. I have visited it several times and will do a post on it soon. The second photo is from his hometown of Oita and was the Oita Prefectural Library which opened in 1966. After closing down it was converted into an arts centre called Art Plaza. I have 2 posts on it, one of the exterior, and a second of the interiors. The Art Plaza contains a gallery of Isozakis architectural drawings and models, so is worth a visit.

The third photo is part of the Kitakyushu International Conference Centre in Kokura, Adjacent to it is an earlier work, the West Japan General Exhibition Centre, a massive building and the photo above shows the structure that holds the roof up. The fourth photo is from the Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art in rural Okayama. Very unusual in that each of the three main buildings were designed in collaboration with artists who created the works within, including Isozaki's own wife. The three buildings I posted earlier are called Sun, Earth, and Moon. The fifth photo is part of the curved roof of the Yamaguchi Centre for Arts & Media. 

The sixth photo is also from Yamaguchi and is part of the very rural Akiyoshidai International Arts Village. I will do a full post on it soon, and I will also do a full post on the Kitakyushu City Central Library, pictured above. The final photo is the JR station at the onsen resort of Yufuin, one of Isozaki's smaller projects.

Saga Castle

Saga Castle

Saga Castle is not a well-known castle, but it is unusual in several respects. It is a flatland castle, hirajiro in Japanese.

It is surrounded by a very wide moat of 80 meters. One of the consequences of the widespread introduction of firearms in the 16th century was that moats became much wider.

Whereas most Japanese castles were built up on stone bases, Saga castle was surrounded by walls. The earthen ramparts were planted with trees so that in combination with stone walls it was impossible to view the castle's layout and fortifications from outside and so earned the nickname "submerged castle", shizumi-jo.

Originally a fortified village, the castle came under the control of the Nabeshima Clan in 1584 and they controlled it all the way through the Edo Period. In the early 17th century the castle was rebuilt and included a 5-storey keep, the base of which is pictured above.

In 1726 a major fire destroyed most of the buildings of the castle, including the keep. Most were quickly replaced except the keep which was never rebuilt.

In 1835 another fire destroyed most of the buildings which were once again rebuilt. The Shachinomon gate, pictured below, dates from this time. Incidentally, Saga Castle is where Hagakure, well known among samurai nerds as a "bible" of "bushido" was written,

In 1874, disgruntled samurai occupied the castle which was being used as local government offices. In the subsequent battle most of the buildings were once again destroyed. In 2001 reconstruction of the main palace of the castle was begun. Though only a third of its original size, the reconstructed palace is said to be the largest reconstructed wooden building in Japan and I will cover it in the next post.

Saga Manholes

Saga Manholes

While walking from Kurume to Saga on day 56 of my walk along the Kyushu pilgrimage I took snaps of any manhole covers I encountered. This first is of Yoshinogari Historical park which I passed by. It is a huge archeological site, claimed, without much evidence, as the site of the famed Queen Himiko's palace  town. There are dozens and dozens of reconstructed kofun era and Yayoi era buildings.

Before reaching Yoshinogari I walked through Miyaki, which is both a district and a town and therefore covers quite a large area. This first one seems to have daffodils.

The Miyaki Town website features photos of Lotus blossoms, so I am guessing that is what is on this second design. The town extends up into the mountains so I am guessing the observation deck is from there.

In Saga City, many of the manholes feature Mudskippers, the curious-looking fish that spend much of their time out of water in the mudflats of the Ariake Sea. Once eaten almost to extinction, they are now protected and have made a comeback.

The vast majority of manhole covers in Japan are for water and drainage, with a few electric, and as seen here a few for gas. Only bigger cities have mains gas, most of us use lpg tanks that arevdelivered.

Obviously, from the design, Saga City used gas for streetlighting, probably in the early Meiji era.

Ryuo-in Temple 60 Kyushu Pilgrimage

Ryuo-in Temple 60 Kyushu

Ryuo-in was established in 1965 and enshrines Fudo Myo, with this large, colorful statue of Fudo at the entrance on the main road which was the Nagasaki Kaido in historical times between Saga and Tosu.

The grounds are quite large and the structure on the right of the photo was for car safety rituals.

The large Inari shrine in the front of the grounds made it clear that this was a religious site, otherwise, the architecture did not....

Ryuo-in is a branch of the famous Naritasan temple up in Chiba....

The main hall looked like a 60's town hall or museum. Other Naritasan branches I had visited also had unusual architecture.

Just outside Kurume, the Naritasan Temple there is home to a Giant Kannon statue, and a few days before that I visited another branch of naritasan in northern Kumamoto.

Happy New Year of the Water Rabbit

Happy New Year of the Water Rabbit

Best wishes to everybody for the coming new year of the rabbit.

The Chinese, and hence, the Japanese dating system is based on the 12 zodiac animals, but also the 5 elements. The combination of the two creates a 60 year cycle.

The photo is of one of the hundreds of rabbits on Okunoshima, now most commonly known as Rabbit Island, though it has a darker and more interesting attraction on the island, the ruins of a WWII poison gas factory.

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Chirikuhachimangu

Chirikuhachimangu

Just a couple of hundred metres from a Hachiman Shrine adjacent to the Nanagi Fudoson Temple was the entrance to a much larger Hachiman shrine, Chirikuhachimangu. The torii, entrance gate, is in Hizen style, Hizen being the name of the former province that made Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. Also visible is the pair of Kadomatsu, the new years' decorations with bamboo centres.

A ceremony was underway when I arrived so I walked around quietly. It was Jan 5th, so not sure what ceremony it was.

The ornamentation on tye roof is now purely decorative. The cross-pieces are called chigi. If the ends are cut vertically, like here, it indicates that the main kami enshrined is male. A horizontal cut indicates female kami. The horizontal "log" pieces are called katsuogi. Both were used in early Japanese architecture to help weigh down the thatched roof.

This pair of komainu was somewhat unusual, with long, almost cylindrical bodies, not unlike others I had seen further south in Kumamoto.

Looking back from the shrine over Nagatoishi, with Kurume across the other side of the river. The shrine is in Saga, but Nagatoishi, which used to be mostly rice-paddies 50 years ago, is part of Fukuoka. The river mostly forms the boundary between the two prefectures, but the actual boundary is far more serpentine with horseshoe bends crossing over to each side of the river so that  sections of the opposite banks belong to the other  prefecture , suggesting that the river has been straightened quite dramatically in recent times.;

There are quite a few large camphor trees and numerous sub- shrines within the grounds. Hachiman shrines are the most common shrines in Japan nowadays but originally it was a north Kyushu cult that later spread to Nara and then Kyoto, then becoming so widespread after being adopted by the samurai. This shrine, however, is said to be one of a half dozen or so major hachiman shrines in north Kyushu that pre-date its national adoption.

I am curious as to the reason for the stance the horse statue is taking.

Nanagi Jizoson

Nanagi Jizoson

Not far from Dainichi-Ji I came upon a small temple with many visitors even though it was early in the morning. Apparently, yesterday was major festival day.

The temple is named after a Jizo carving, a relief carving rather than a full 3D statue. It is dated to the late 14th century and is the main "draw" of the temple.

It is said the carving used to be held at 2 temples said to be linked to the Heike Clan.

I was most intrigued by one altar filled with a massive array of different characters, most religious, but a few secular.

Immediately adjacent to the temple was a mall Hachiman Shrine built on the site of where a temple once stood.

Sunrise wallk to Dainichi-ji Temple 94 Kyushu Pilgrimage

 

Sunday January 5th 2014. Day 56 of my walk around  Kyushu on the Kyushu Pilgrimage. This will be the last day where I base myself in Kurume, an interesting town that I had never heard of before coming here but which has been my home away from home as I have explored the region.

As I am walking across the bridge to Nagatoishi on the north side of the river the sun comes up behind me.

 I find the first temple, Dainichi-ji, easily enough and it is yet another structure indistinguishable from a house. The ground floor is two open car parking spaces, the second containing some statues and the entrance to the stairs that I presume lead up to the “main hall”.

It was founded in 1985 and at that time was surrounded by rice paddies, though now it has become a suburb of Kurume. In 2010 it became temple 94 on the pilgrimage.

The honzon is Dainichi Nyorai, and there is also a Dainichi statue outside in the entrance area. Inside is said to be a Yakushi, Kobo Daishi, Fudo, and numerous other statues alongside the Dainichi.

There is no reason why a temple must conform to a pre-determined idea of what a temple should look like, but it is disappointing nonetheless. It is also a little too early in the morning to ring the bell and go in so I pay my respects to the statues at the entrance and head off.

Red Cliff Sekiheki

Red Cliff Sekiheki

Sekiheki is a large, colourful cliff almost 1k long on the south coast of Chiburi Island, Chiburijima.

Chiburijima is the southernmost, smallest, and least-popu lated of the 4 inhabited islands of the group of islands known as Oki off the coast of Shomane.

The Oki Islands are part of the Daisen-Oki National Park, and since 2013 have also been a UNESCO Global Geopark.

Geoparks tend to focus on the geology of a place and also tend to have a lot of signage and information boards explaining what you can see.

Sekiheki is a great spot to see the result of various volcanic activities 6 million years ago. The Oki islands themselves are a sunken caldera.

The sections of cliff that are red were formed from magma with a high concentration of iron-oxide.

The Oki Islands are one of my favorite three places in Japan and other posts from them can be found by clicking this link.