I slept late for the first time since getting here. I know I needed it. I had breakfast, got my late post done for yesterday, and headed off to the bank to buy more yen. From there I hopped on the subway down to Ginza. I came up one block away from the Ando Cloisonne shop.
I've come to expect wonderful service in Tokyo, but it's still a delight. The people at Ando were super nice. I spent some time looking around the shop and marveling at the pieces on the shelves. Everything was beautiful, from little $30 trinkets to a huge vase (about 30" tall) that cost more than the combined income of everyone in my office. I'm not kidding. The staff were very helpful in answering my questions about the maker's mark on the vase I picked out. I have an older Ando vase at home, with a maker's mark in wire and enamel on the bottom. The one I bought has the Ando mark stamped into the metal rim at the bottom. The gentleman who was helping me said that vases with a stainless steel rim (like mine) are stamped with the maker's mark. On very expensive vases, they use a sterling silver rim that's stamped with the kanji "jun gin", which means "pure silver." He pulled a vase out of a showcase to show me. It was like nothing else in the store - ridiculously intricate, mostly wireless, and selling for the low, low price of 6,850,000 yen (that's $68,500 to you and me, bubba). You don't have to spend a lot to get something beautiful. My vase was over 100 times less, but it's a treasure. And by the way... they fixed me up so it's also duty-free.
While I was there, I asked if they knew of Watanabe Color Print Company. Turns out it's much easier to find if you do your search in Japanese. They found it right away on the web and printed out the map for me - the shop is five blocks away from theirs. They also wrote out the company name in Kanji so I would be able to read the sign. I ended up not needing that - the directions were spot on and there is lettering in English above the storefront. And it was a nice stroll, past all the shops, the men and women who were wearing very expensive and stylish clothes, and the occasional limosine letting out fashionable ladies in front of clothing shops. Needless to say, this is some of the most expensive real estate on the planet.
The Watanabe shop, while smaller and less opulent than Ando, is very nice. The walls were covered with framed prints, the showcases were full of loose prints (in "presentation folders" which are cut out in the front so you can see the print), and there were actually stacks of prints in different places in the store. The nice gentleman behind the counter looked vaguely familiar. Then I remembered an interview I had read on the web with one Shoichiro Watanabe, the grandson of the founder. There was a picture with the interview. So yes, I was shaking hands and talking with Mr. Watanabe himself. And I must say, he was absolutely gracious not only in answering questions and helping me pick out prints, but also in directing me to an exhibition of first-edition prints by Hasui Kawase near Tokyo Station. (He didn't have to mention that these prints were published by his grandfather!) He gave me a very nicely printed card with one of the prints on the front and the announcement about the exhibition, which ends tomorrow. Then not only did he draw me a map, he wrote out in Japanese, "I am looking for the Maruzen Company in the OAZO building. Can you help me find it?" So that's on the agenda. And he gave me his business card, catalogs, and an order form.
Even after encountering so many nice people here in Japan, Watanabe-san is at the top of the list. I'm sure I could have stayed in that shop all day and gorged myself on print after print, and I'm sure he would have let me, but I didn't want to take up all of his time. So I left after about 20 minutes. But not before I picked out two prints, one by Hasui Kawase, and the other by Shiro Kasamatsu. Both prominently feature cherry blossoms.
A less nice person might have drawn me a map and written out, "I'm a dumb gaijin. Would you please direct me to Kabuki-cho?" (notorious red-light district)
The bad news is, I didn't take my camera with me. I figured if I was going to Ginza, I didn't want to look like a schlub tourist. So I put on the best clothes I brought with me and strolled around like I belonged there. You can see a vase like the one I bought here. It's item 159, the blue one on the right. I'll steal some pictures of the prints off the web and put them below.
So... it's now 4:00 in the afternoon and I've already spent more today than my hotel will cost for two weeks. No problem - these expenditures were in the plans from day one. It's great to buy things on eBay, but going to the source, for me at least, is like going to Lourdes to buy holy water. Cloisonne and woodblock prints are the things that sparked my interest in Japan in the first place. To be able to actually come here and visit the companies that make them (and in the case of Mr. Watanabe, the people who make them), is like actually finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Easy night tonight - Rieko's taking a night off after dragging a gimpy Westerner all over Roppongi. Dinner was an udon bowl at a little place around the corner. Since I can't read the menu, I asked the lady inside to come outside while I pointed to the display of their dishes. I ended up with breaded pork and egg over rice. That's udon. Not precisely what I had in mind, but it was great. I'll spend the rest of the evening reading, taking care of email, and watching Japanese TV.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a gorgous day, so I'll check out that Hasui Kawase exhibition and then go to one or two of the Japanese gardens on my list. I'll be dressed like a schlub tourist, and that means comfortable walking shoes. And a camera around my neck. If we're lucky, you'll see cherry blossom pictures! And tomorrow evening, Rieko and I will go to a Japanese pub she knows in Shimbashi. We'll make it an early night, because we're planning to go to Senso-ji temple on Friday. That's the place with the huge red lantern you saw in the pictures on the Intro page.
Time for some reading, email, and a soccer match on TV. It's amazing what you can develop a taste for in a foreign country.
