Classroom Kyoto Day 2

Again, hard to get out of bed, but I remembered how great the day before had ended up being, so I pushed through. Also did more studying on the train, but this time no delays and I got to sit down! This is very important when your train ride is pretty much an hour or more long.

Today was for Manga: A Cultural History class and was amazing. The day before could have been done alone, but today we had an awesome opportunity as a class to hold a class in a room that more people are not allowed access to and meet with a manga/anime artist and researcher who works at the museum, called Yasunori Oya. He was such a fun and nice guy. We started off by saying our names, majors, where we were from, and favorite anime and manga series. When a majority of us gave our introductions in Japanese, he was surprised and so excited. He would also sometimes laugh and clap or excitedly agree at certain series. I admitted that I do not have a lot of manga experience but that one of my favorite American comics is Witchblade and then he was saying he just saw a copy of it and my teacher said he also almost brought it to show today but gave up because there were just too many things he wanted to show us.

Then our teacher did as he usually does and went over time...but this time there was no bell to stop him. So many of us thought we'd do the Manga Museum in the morning and then more sightseeing afterwards, but most of us spent the entire day at the museum (which was awesome). He talked of his research and what got him into Japan. We learned about Transformers, Voltron, how America and Japan have interacted through anime, how merchandise plays along with animation, and more. His current research is how skin color and ethnicities are portrayed in manga and how that translates when turned into anime, primarily in the mega series One Piece.

Then we say a kamishibai performance. Kamishibai is a Japanese performance art that is one of the many influences of manga. This performer had so much energy and welcomed people from all the different countries. First there was a fun quiz show, even incorporating Japanese/English puns. Kamishibai is performed in a way that the performer is narrator, prop-master, and all the voice actors all at once. She told the story, said the dialogue, made comments, had audience participate by laughing for the protagonist, and would slowly and quickly change slides of pictures in a presentation box. Much like the way manga is read, she stood on the audience's left and pulled the paper out that way so that we "read" the pictures right to left, scenes unfolding in that direction. It was a lot of fun.

Then we had a lunch break. The famous and ancient soba place we headed to was packed, so we ate at the museum's cafe which turned out to be super neat because many of the artists who have visited the museum had drawn on the walls and even ceiling of the cafe. I had a don (bowl of rice with toppings) while enjoying friends' conversations and this amazing unique art around us.

Then we returned and heard Oya talk about how performance art like kamishibai and kabuki have influenced manga, anime, and film. Particularly the concept of kamite and shimote, the right side of the screen/page/stage versus the left. Strong, important characters are on the right while weaker, less important are on the left. If you watch, many shows, movies, anime, and manga incorporate this even into fight scenes. You may think someone is going to win, but they don't. Watch again and you'll see they were on the left. If they want to win and get stronger, they have to make their way to the right. It was very fascinating.

Then, we all were able to talk with him and our professor. Oya called someone on his walk-talkie-phone-I-don't-know-what-it-was-thing to bring the Witchblade they have. Turned out he was mixed up but what they brought was still really cool. It is a relatively new edition of Scarlet Witch, set in Kyoto, with Japanese on the cover. A gorgeous cover of a red pagoda in white snow, with Scarlet Witch walking through it. It was so cool. A friend (the birthday one) worked up the courage to discuss interning at the museum with Oya and everyone was so proud of her and she was happy she did because they are looking for people and it is very likely she can work there (our professor also showed Oya some of her works she submitted throughout the semester and he loved them).

Next, we explored the museum. There were people just sitting and reading manga from the floor-to-ceiling, hall-length bookshelves filled with manga. There were examples of the history of manga (a lot of which we had learned in class) as well as the flow of economics in the industry. There was also several rooms for a special exhibit of Ishigawa's works and I LOVED HER WORK. Photos were not allowed, except for in the very front gift shop area. Oh I loved it so much. It had her early works to her newer ones, so we got to see her artistic progression. She started with ballet scenery and flowing women, blocky noses, and drew men the same way she drew women. She evolved and started using new body shapes, mediums, settings, and so on. Incorporating Greek legends and styles or more modern styles. She wrote a manga based off of Prince Shotoku but portrayed him as an androgynous individual who was attracted to men - gorgeous. The art was compared to the Czech art nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha and I wholeheartedly agree, as well as Swedish Jon Bauer. I almost got the $35 art sample book of her work, but it was a bit expensive for a single book and didn't even include all the work on display. Oh but I loved it so much.

Then, I had to hurry home as the museum was soon closing, it was raining, and I had to make it to dinner. I grabbed a delicious snack from a bakery at the station (finally - I've wanted to bite into those delicious smells all semester) as well as stopped by the Miya-tan booth (with Nishinomiya's mascot). Even saw a new batch of babies in the swallow nest at the station I frequent. Also, on the long train ride home, I saw beautiful mist and fog rolling over the green mountain ranges. Misty mountains, oh how I love you.

I had warned my host parent's I'd be late, but they had been eating slow because we had yakiniku so I ended up being able to eat with them (though they were almost done). It was fun and delicious. I love yakiniku, grilled the vegetables and meat at the table, then swishing the meat in this delicious sauce on our plate. Mmmmmm.

Another night of good sleep due to a filled day. It was a wonderful experience, but I had to prepare for...Finals!!!

So although I haven't really hit the must-see places in Kyoto yet, I rather enjoyed Kyoto and am excited to explore it more this coming weekend/week.

More blogs to come!