A quick update on the burgeoning friendship with my landlord. The last we heard, I was asking your advice on the best way to thank her for the dolls and kimono gifts. I ended up buying her some jams from Harrods, baking her some scones and then taking them over to her that weekend. She seemed to like them a lot and has brought me freshly baked rolls twice since then. We also had another bread making session at her house the next week which was both awkward and fun.

Last week she invited me to what I understood as being a children's event. Before I go any further, I must pause here to mention that the reason my landlord possesses the previously mentioned electronic altar is because she belongs to a certain Buddhist sect which is apparently quite popular here in Japan. I don't have any problems with Buddhists and have always thought of them as being good people with either wavy hair (Richard Gere) or no hair at all (the Dalai Lama). Therefore when I found out (as we were walking through the doors) that the event we were going to was not for children themselves but rather an exhibition showing all the good that has been done for children by this Buddhist sect, I was interested if not a bit perplexed.

As we walked into the building I was immediately surrounded by a sea of pastel ladies who were gathered to view the exhibition. I also noticed that whoever had designed the interior of the building was fond of yellow to the point that I began to feel that I was traveling through a giant, ornately decorated banana. Porcelain figurines, gold leaf and curving staircases were everywhere. The grand showpiece however, was definitely the huge crystal chandelier in the shape of a sailboat which was suspended above our heads. The pastel ladies and I all gazed upwards and in my striped stocking and purple dress, I began to feel more like a Dr. Suess character than a person who was dressed appropriately for giant crystal sailboat appreciation. To be honest, I found all of the glitz to be a bit confusing. I'd always thought of the Buddhists (no matter what their affiliation) as being relatively non-materialist, down to earth sorts of people. People who liked to sit around drinking soup from wooden bowls. Or people who hire prostitutes for entirely altruistic reasons and then fall in love with them and take them to the opera in a helicopter. These sorts of Buddhists fit into my mental framework. I was beginning to see however, that there were a bunch of Buddhists out there that I'd not previously known of. Ones with electronic altars who loved frosted glass and pale yellow fluffy carpeting.

As for the "exhibition," it mainly consisted of several diagrams drawn in the cartoony style that the Japanese favor (one showing an actual poop leaving the digestive system of a small happy and I'm supposing, well fed child), interspersed with dozens of ceiling to floor length portraits of the leader of the sect (who I shall refer to as "A Certain Someone San"  and his wife who's hairstyle and expression were literally EXACTLY the same in each portrait and photo in the room from 1955 onwards. I began to wonder if she really even existed or if she was instead perhaps some sort of wax figure who had been created in emulation of the ideal respectable Japanese woman. Pastel suit with matching shoes and bag- Check. Frumpy hair-do (can be seen also on all female members of Japanese royal family as well as any woman politician in Japan) - Check. Gaze lingering in fawning manner upon husband. Double check. A Certain Someone San and his wife were everywhere. Here they were painted in oils and looking off towards Mr. Fuji, here were their profiles frosted into the glass of a large gilded mirror, and most impressively, here they were entirely in cross-stitch Wow.

Later when we met with my landlady's friends for lunch, they excitedly asked me what had been my favorite part of the exhibition. A brief silence ensued as I debated between the sailboat chandelier or the cross-stitch portrait. In the end I chose the latter and the ladies agreed with me that it was indeed something to be marveled at. This week it's my turn to teach my landlady something about my country and culture. I've decided that we'll be making peanut butter cookies.

Comments

[Denise]

It sounds like an interesting exhibition. Its a pitty that you couldnt get any photos.

[B]

I have an idea. Next time you are in Utah, invite her to visit and you can take her on a tour of Temple Square. Then you could take her to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum to see the two headed lamb (my personal favorite) and cap it off with lunch at the Lion House. After lunch you can walk around the grounds to watch at least ten differnt brides getting their photos taken. Tokyo is certainly not the only weird place. You're are just used to Utah.

[Sar]

Dear God.

[gleek]

hahaha, tokyo can be so random and weird! i love that you get to experience some of it and then tell us about it.

peanut butter cookies are a definite YES!

[kat]

I frickin' love that movie. Oh and yeah - weird exhibition. you are gonna miss tokes.