HIROSHIGE AND VAN GOGH

HIROSHIGE AND VAN GOGH
Read About Van Gogh's Secret Visit to Japan

WELCOME TO BLOGABOUTJAPAN

WELCOME TO BLOGABOUTJAPAN
IT WAS A SPECIAL TIME IN MY LIFETIME

APT WITH TATAMI MATS, a special time in my lifetime in Japan...

APT WITH TATAMI MATS, a special time in my lifetime in Japan...
Watercolor by R.L.Huffstutter

COMPARISONS IN ART

COMPARISONS IN ART
HIROSHIGE'S WORK ON LEFT, VAN GOGH'S ON RIGHT

YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW

YOKOHAMA PICTURE SHOW
Shot with my Petri in Yokohama 1962

RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962

RICE FIELD IN JAPAN 1962
I took this with my PETRI in Kanagawa Prefecture

Friday, February 27, 2009

ROOM WITH A VIEW: CHANNELING BACK TO YOKOHAMA 1962

THIS IS A ROOM WITH A VIEW. IT IS AN INDUSTRIAL VIEW. AS I GO BACK INTO TIME, THROUGH SOME INTENSE CHANNELING, I CAN SEE THE DETAILS OF WHERE THIS STRUCTURE ONCE STOOD. AS THE IMAGE FORMS WITHIN MY MIND, I EXPERIENCE A FAINT ELECTRICAL CURRENT WITHIN MY MIND, A VERY SENSITIVE FEELING; MY PULSE RACES. SUDDENLY, IT IS 1963 AND THERE IS A VACUUM SO INTENSE I BREAK INTO A COLD SWEAT. I WAS THAT CLOSE TO RETURNING AND REFRAINED. LET ME SAY THIS: THE SPOT NO LONGER EXISTS AS IT DID THEN. TODAY IT IS INSIDE OF A QUIET, UP-SCALE BAR AND LOUNGE WITH WIDE WINDOW VIEWS OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE RECONSTRUCTION AND PROGRESS DURING THE LAST FOUR DECADES. THERE ARE TWO FIGURES, A YOUNG COUPLE, THAT ARE SOMEWHAT GHOSTLIKE IN A CORNER. THEY ARE SMILING AND SIPPING WINE. THERE IS AN AURA AROUND THEM...

JAPAN 1961


JAPAN 1961
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter
NOT THE TYPICAL PICTURE SHOW AMERICANS LIKED...

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP...the movies were a big event for children between about 5 and 12; Saturday movies were cheap. They wasn't an economy back in 1949--you either had money or you didn't. Anyway, for one thin dime, I could escape the terrors of my Uncle's turkey pen for an afternoon at the Byam Theater in Fairmont. The movies were a thrill. I liked the cartoons, but it was the movie that I looked forward to. It was at the Byam Theater where I first saw The Sands of Iwo Jima. Forever a patriot afterwards. I will tell you this--I was terribly disappointed if the Three Stooges was playing. They were, in my six or seven year old opinion, totally ridiculous. No, it was not that I had no sense of humor. Felix was great; Mickey Mouse was okay. Porky was right good, but the essence of Saturdays was the featured movie. Let me see a Long Ranger movie at the old picture show just one more time; let me ride with the Cisco Kid and find the bad asses he always found. Who else do I want to see again? Hopalong was okay. He was a bit too finished for me. Okay, there were lots of gangster movies with everyone using Tommy guns. Us guys liked that kind of action. But it was the war movies, yes, the war movies with bodies scattered everywhere. We were eager to get home to the woods behind our neighborhood homes so we could play war and start killing Nazis and Japanese. We were sad that all the wars were over. "Shoot, we won't get to kill any enemies now that our dads and uncles have killed them all," whined my best buddy, Tim Duggins. We had no idea what war was about or how often they came around. It was not that we had not received some elementary education about wars. No, we knew all about the Redcoats and the war about the slaves; we knew about that war where mustard gas was sprayed in our grandfather's faces. We tried that one time with a jar of mustard and got in big trouble. Well, it was a bad idea; we knew nothing elementary about the First World War. Our teachers had not yet started the myth about The Arch Duke of Ferdinand being the one who started the first world war because it was a "shot heard around the world." No, we didn't favor the silly uniforms our guys wore in the First World War. The helmets were weird, odd, not at all cool like the U.S.Marine helmets in the Second World War. We laughed when we saw those leggings laced up. But that wasn't near as funny as the French helmets. There was a classic. Lots of them were lost in that war, another reason only a few were left for the second world war. Note how few of those archaic iron helmet are seen on the military channel's newsreel creations. Now I have strayed a long way from John Wayne. Let's see, I did not care for slapstick comedy, love stories or musicals. Musicals got better after I turned thirteen. I remember Shirley Jones in Everything is Okay in Oklahoma. Sexy was a word that was naughty. Damn and hell were bad words too. It was okay if they were said by John Wayne. So, there I was in Japan at nineteen. Talk about some easy duty. I didn't know how good I had it for awhile. Compared to what our troops in combat theaters of the Pacific Theater had to endure and compared to the Nazi stench that drifted throughout Europe, the service personnel in Japan had it good in the sixties. Where in the hell am I going to find any good movies in Japan? There was the base flick. Fairly good movies, but I can't recall any that I saw. There were other entertainments that drew my attention. Today, I look at the quaint cutout couple outside a Japanese Movie House in 1961 and chuckle. I was worried about the movies? I thought our dads and uncles had won all the wars. Youth is so naive. At least this youth was naive for many years. There was a storm brewing. We could feel its vibrations from within the hangar of our squadron. There was war and rumors of war. Security was gradually tightened. Naval Intelligence was beefed up. More than a few members of our squadron mysteriously disappeared after a visit from visitors from Washington D.C. The squadron was very Top Secret. I had decided, upon checking into the hangar when I arrived, to play the role of the three monkeys: Speak No Evil, See No Evil and Hear No Evil. It worked out well. It was not until years later that I discovered what was happening throughout the military in the Vietnam War. One thing leads to another. Things always lead back to places we have been and seen. And there finally comes a time, like now, when one asks what it all meant anyway? Evil still exists. Wars are still being won and lost. And cardboard cutouts and posters are still higly collectible items. We live in interesting times; we have lived in interesting times. May our children's children be able to enjoy an America that was as joyful as the one I grew up in during the 1950s. It was, no matter where one lived, a time of innocense and naivity. It was a time we remember as "good old days" just like they say in the picture shows.

READING THE MAINICHI DAILY NEWS IN 1963...RIGHT!

"It was one of many trips to the Hakone Lake and Atami area that I remember with a special fondness," stated Earl . Stonebridge. Earl's latest novel, Daughter of a Burma Soldier" is scheduled for publication in September. "Yes, it is a romance," Earl stated.

MOTOMATCHI CHARM


MOTOMATCHI CHARM
Originally uploaded by roberthuffstutter
A QUIET AND CHARMING JAPANESE INN IN THE MIDDLE OF YOKOHAMA'S MOTOMACHI DISTRICT, IT BECAME A HIDEAWAY FOR WEEKENDS OF CREATIVE ART. THE SMALL HOTEL WAS OWNED BY AN ELDERLY COUPLE. THEY WERE SOMEWHAT APREHENSIVE ABOUT MY INITIAL REGISTRATION, HOWEVER WE GREW TO BE RESPECTABLE FRIENDS WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT MY LIFESTYLE WAS QUIET AND DEDICATED TO TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH AND JAPANESE. ONE OF ITS CHARMS WAS THE TRADITIONAL HOT BATH. IN THE WINTER, THE SCENT OF CHARCOAL ON HIBACHI STOVES WAS FREQUENTLY ENJOYED. IT MUST HAVE HAVE BEEN A LOCAL CHARCOAL BECAUSE I HAVE YET TO EXPERIENCE THE EXACT SMAE AROMATIC SCENT THAT I REMEMBER SO INTENSELY. IF I RECALL, THE PRICE OF A ROOM FOR TWO WAS ABOUT 1000 YEN, A LITTLE LESS THAN THREE DOLLARS. AT THE TIME, THE DOLLAR WAS WORTH 360 YEN.

YAMASHITA PARK, YOKOHAMA 1963

MANY HOURS OF ROMANTIC CONVERSATION AND ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS WERE ENJOYED IN THIS PARK. THIS WAS TAKEN ONE EARLY DAWN WHEN I WAS ALONE. THE PARK WAS FULL OF LIFE IN ALL OF ITS CONVENTIONAL WAYS DURING WEEKENDS. STUDENTS WERE STUDYING THEIR ENGLISH AND I WAS A WILLING TUTOR. ONE VERY BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY SMILED AND TOLD ME THAT SHE LOVED MY SKETCHES. SHE TOLD ME THAT LEARNING ENGLISH WAS SO MUCH EASIER THAN LEARNING JAPANESE. "I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ENGLISH," SHE TOLD ME. I REPLIED THAT I WOULD TRY VERY HARD TO TEACH HER SOME ENGLISH IF SHE WOULD PROMISE TO TRY AND TEACH ME HOW TO SPEAK ENOUGH JAPANESE TO GET AROUND YOKOHAMA. OUR FRIENDSHIP BEGAN AND LATER, WE SHARED WINE AND COFFEE AT AN ESTABLISHMENT CALLED THE "WEIN COFFEE SHOP" SOMEWHERE NEAR THE MOTOMACHI AREA OF YOKOHAMA. AS TIME WENT BY, I LEARNED THAT HER FATHER WAS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN BURMA. SHE HAD NO MEMORY OF HIM. NEITHER OF US HAD ANY HARD FEELINGS ABOUT THE WAR THAT WAS ONLY SIXTEEN YEARS DISTANT FROM OUR PRESENCE. IT WAS A SUBJECT WE NEVER HAD TO DISCUSS AGAIN.

DAWN IS BREAKING IN YOKOHAMA: A SNAPSHOT FROM 1961

MANY MEMORIES OF JAPANESE FISHING BOATS FILL MY MIND WHENEVER I REFLECT ON THE JOYFUL TIME I SPENT IN THIS MOST UNIQUE NATION. ONE WHO FREQUENTLY TRAVELED BY MYSELF INTO ALL AREAS, I MUST COMMENT THAT NEVER, NOT ONCE, WAS I ASSAILED AS AN "UGLY AMERICAN" OR AN UNWELCOME GUEST. YOUNG AND NAIVE, I THOUGHT LITTLE ABOUT THIS ASPECT AT THE TIME. I ENJOYED THE PEOPLE WHO SPOKE TO ME WHILE I SKETCHED OR TOOK PHOTOS. I ENJOYED THE ATTENTION OF THE STUDENTS WHO WANTED TO PRACTICE THEIR ENGLISH WITH AMERICAN BOY-SAN (ME). I MUST THANK THE PEOPLE FOR THEIR POLITE AND FRIENDLY ATTITUDE. THEIR HOSPITALITY CREATED A LOVE FOR JAPAN THAT HAS EXISTED THROUGHOUT THE MANY DECADES SINCE THE SAD SAYONARA AT YOKOSUKA...

Memories of a Japanese fishing village. Back in the 1960s, one could journey down the coast that was passable and note all types of fishing boats and equipment. I was never met with any rudeness or impoliteness. I was always acknowledged with a smile and some curiosity. What was a young American doing wondering far off the beaten path, down into the sleepy fishing villages from centuries long passed? In retrospect, I realize how extremely polite the Japanese were. My memories of the time I spent are full of warmth. I wonder how many of those tiny villages remain? Someday, I might return, but in some respects, it is probably best that I don't; the memories of that tour are too valuable to return and realize that I have grown so much older while Japan has grown so much younger and so much more Western. One fact we must all face: in our memories, those we saw for the last time long ago will always remain young and beautiful. Returning to Japan would make me face a reality that I do not want to face, that time has passed and things shall never be the same.

A FAVORITE MOVIE AS A Y0UNG BOY



THERE ARE FEW MEN MY AGE WHO DID NOT PLAY WAR BACK IN THE LATE 1940s. We had dads, uncles and aunts, cousins and friends of the men and women who fought in World War Two. There were few women in combat at that time, but their pesence in combat was isolated; womens contributions in World War Two were volinimous: medical personnel, training, supplies, ferrying aircraft (fighters and bombers), so they did get in the picture. Our neighborhood games were mostly Japanese war games. We had no idea there would be more than enough wars to last. I think we figured the U.S. had won the war of wars and it was a matter of memory. So, we played war....and we shouted war slogans that make me ashamed as I recall them today. There is always the shame factor in the games we play. If we don't admit it, the media will unleash it. Since the time Jimmy Carter served his long four years as President, text books changed and we were suddenly the cause of all dearth and depression in all of the thrird world nations. But getting back to John Wayne and the Sands of Iwo Jima. We played war. It was always the Japanese we were fighting, never the Germans. And certainly not the Russians. Nobody but a few wise men like my Uncle Jim realized that Joe Stalin was a number one ass hole. Okay, maybe the top brass knew it. Yes, they did. Ike sure as hell knew it. Did us kids in the neighborhood know it. No, not until the Korean War began. So, John Wayne will forever be the eternal soldier and Marine fighting those.......Japanese. But strangely enough, most of us never felt any hatred for the Japanese. I believe it was because, in the end, they did the right thing, they really did surrender. It is so much different than the wars we have fought since. Of course,we have not dropped any atomic bombs on our enemies lately. Somehow, those two bombs made all of the Japanese realize we weren't joking. You know what I suddenly realized? Boys and girls just don't play war games anymore. But I do know some areas where they do. They call us the same names us boys called the Japanese...."You, blankety blank, blank blank. Scarry? It is not comforting, especially since the Homeland Security is going to do combat with hurricanes and acts of God. Acts of God? God, I hope Homeland Security does not declare war on God instead of the terrorists.

ONE DAY IN DECEMBER OF 1963

ONE OF MY MAIN REGRETS IN LIFE IS NOT BEING BORN WITH A CAMERA IN MY HAND. THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY EXPERIENCES I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE PRESERVED, SO MANY PEOPLE I WISH I HAD BETTER PHOTOS OF--SO MANY MOMENTS OF YOUTH THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PRESERVED WITH MORE DETAIL FOR WHATEVER PURPOSE. BUT LIFE, BEING TRANSIENT, WILL ONLY PERMIT SO MANY EXPERIENCES, SO MANY MOMENTS OF JOY...