Stop-an
Shi Hang
Theme: Kyoto – the ultimate edition of The Kyoto Guide
Time: 14:00, April 20, 2019
Location: One-Way Space Aegean Store
Guests: Scholar and writer
Shi Hang is a screenwriter and film critic
Kyoto is not what we think
A city with unearthed artifacts
Shi Hang: Brother Shi An first talked about when did you know that there was a place in Kyoto? When did you first visit this place?
Shibu-an: The first time I knew about Kyoto was when I read a book about the atomic bomb during World War II. The atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were intended to be dropped on Kyoto, which is a military-industrial city. But The Secretary of War, Mrs. Stimson, who has lived in Kyoto for many years, advises against doing so.
Later, I watched the movie Rashomon. The most famous location in Kyoto is Rashomon. If Rashomon is rebuilt, people from all over the world will come. I read another book, "Kyoto Guide" written by Tadao Umetsu, who is also a friend of the author of this book, and also talked about cultivating the Shurason Gate.
Then I read "The Ancient Capital" and talked a lot about the memories of Kyoto and the things that happened outside Kyoto. Then there is "Fine Snow", which begins with a description of cherry blossom viewing in Kyoto, where to go first, where to go later, and where to go at the end. This is what I read in the previous books, so I have an imaginary understanding of Kyoto.
I went to Kyoto for the first time in 1997 to hold an exhibition on nuclear medicine. When I arrived in Kyoto, I found that the impression I got from reading was completely different from what I had imagined. The first difference is the railway station, how can it be such a modern and fashionable railway station? As soon as I went, I felt that I had made the wrong stop, not kyoto where I was going. Then there are a lot of buildings in Kyoto, very bustling, completely commercial streets, beyond my imagination. I used to think of a city like artifacts, but it wasn't like that at all. I haven't completely reversed this impression until now.
Shi Hang: My impression of Kyoto did not come from novels, because I read very few novels, and my impressions of Japan were originally from movies. In 1988, he went to college and began watching some Akira Kurosawa movies. "I Have No Regrets about Youth" is about the real events of Kyoto University, the storm in which Professor Ryukawa was forced to leave his post in 1933. He was a liberal ideology, from the original campus to support and follow him, to the later crackdown on the uniform, and then to the post-war Longchuan was re-embraced and returned, until he became the principal.
I read novels differently from Brother Shinan, not more traditionally, I know that Kyoto is not even Yukio Mishima's Kinkaku-ji Temple, and it is after that. There are two very powerful people in Kyoto, for me it is "Kyodai Shuangbi", two people of contemporary Japanese popular literature, two otaku. One is Manjo Mushu, who wrote "Shikao" and "Kamogawa Hermo", so I think the Kamogawa river in Kyoto is the most important. "Kamagawa Holmo" has also been filmed. The campus around Kamogawa is clustered, and in the pen of Wancheng Muxue, in such a school near Kamogawa, their student clubs are raising puppies, competing between various schools, and doing a lot of crazy things.
Another writer of "Kyodai Shuangbi", named Noboru Morimi, writes about the world in which foxes, tengu, and humans are hooked together. He talked about the celebration of any season in Kyoto, which can be combined with its own anarchism and troublemaking colors, which is very interesting. Like the fire delivery party of Dawen Mountain, on August 16 every year, there are no neon lights on the skyline, no various signs, no outlines of various buildings, watching all the fires on the mountain form "big" characters, and the heroes of the campus below are busy doing one thing - can you add a little bit of the "big" word to the word "dog", this is their pursuit.
You must know that Kyoto University and the people of Kyoto are not separated from Germany, they are exactly the same. They have a sense of humor and the confidence to be funny. So every year at the opening and graduation ceremony of Kyoto University, all kinds of people dressed in strange costumes appear, and those people may not be seen for several years. So it's a look in Tokyo, and it's a look in Kyoto, and that's all seen in the text.
Again, both I like to buy old books with Shinan, kyoto's used bookstore is very important, there is a book called "Kyoto Ancient Bookstore Scenery", which talks about a lot of interesting places. At that time, I was concerned about a place called Yun Caotang, which was first qualified to be quite old, opened a shop in 1891, and Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren bought paintings there in Meiji 24. It's a good memory, but I only visited for one day and didn't go to a lot of important sights.
But to be honest with The Japanese attractions, you are more assured that you are not going now, and it will be ok to go after five years. As long as it's not on fire like Notre Dame cathedral, it's basically like that, and you don't have to worry about it changing it for you or making it look like another one.
After losing its status as a capital, Kyoto became more pure
Shinan: I just had a book that I didn't mention, and that is Yukio Mishima's Kinkaku-ji Temple. Kinkaku-ji Temple is also the first place for people from all over the world to go to Kyoto Chinese.
I've been to Kyoto more than 15 times before and after. I came here this time, but I won't go next time, and I will continue to eat it every time. From the ninety years to now it has been more than twenty years, constantly going, and not finishing. Most people go to Kyoto to start going to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple, Ginkaku-ji Temple, Ryoan-ji Temple, and then 33-room halls, gradually deepening. It's all my kind of cumulative, starting with the shallowest place.
Just now Shi Hang said that it doesn't matter if you go to these places every few years. I can testify to it myself. For example, there is a large Hanoi Villa in Arashiyama, I went to drink tea once in 1996 or 1997, and then I went again after 20 years, but the money for matcha rose a little, it turned out that I remembered 500 yen, now it is 800 yen, it is so much difference, nothing has changed. I have a deeper understanding of the Japanese tea ceremony, I think tea is not as good as before, but in fact, it is not particularly delicious, it is not the best tea.
Back to Kinkaku-ji Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple is everyone's favorite place to go and kyoto's business card. In fact, according to the author's line of thought of the book "Kyoto", Kinkaku-ji Temple should be the least worth visiting. Because Kinkaku-ji Temple was burned down by a monk in 1950, the existing ones were completely newly built. Kyoto was not bombed during World War II and was preserved, but the monk could not stand it, saying how could such a beautiful thing not die with the war, how could it exist? It burned out. So the current Kinkaku-ji Temple is very new, not a building built by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu seven hundred years ago. And if you look at Kinkaku-ji Temple, it was already charged before World War II, and you had to spend money to visit it, and it was already such a place at that time.
I think you need to know a city like Kyoto very deeply. If you take a cursory look, what you may see is the least important thing in the city. For example, the temples I just talked about only mention one name in this book, and none of them are very important in the history of Kyoto. What matters are other places where our tourists don't go or disappear. Looking at a city from a historical point of view is not the same as looking at it from the perspective of tourists.
Kyoto is not an ancient building like an unearthed artifact, as we might imagine. But from ancient times to the present, from tourism to commerce to industry, the whole city, we call it "Tolerance is great". To describe it in this sentence, the city is indeed vast and profound, and you need to look at it very carefully, for example, to see the things that are completely ignored by everyone in every alley, and you may be able to understand its true meaning.
I've always felt that Kyoto is particularly like a city in China that is no longer fully existent, the city we are staying in now. Kyoto used to be the capital, but after the Meiji Restoration lost its status as a capital, it became a cultural city. Many cities in Japanese history, such as Nara and Kamakura, lost their status as capitals and declined, but Kyoto became more pure after that.
Peiping from the 1920s to the 1940s was much like Kyoto, not the capital of the country, but a cultural symbol. It preserves the historical building for a long time.
We imagine an ancient should have walls, old very narrow streets, some old houses. But Kyoto is not like this, Kyoto you go to three or four to see the big road, very wide road. Why is it wide? Although Kyoto was not bombed during World War II, bombing had to be prevented. At that time, the Japanese were machiya, and they could only use this method to widen the street, so the street is very wide now.
Such a complicated idea is my association with Kyoto. This association is indeed more well-founded, because I have seen the city as it was. Although I have lost a large part of it when I see it, that look is not too far from our imagination of the ancient capital.
Kyoto's civilization is a complete ecology
Shi Hang: We just talked about Beiping, after the National Government set the capital nanjing, it has less weight, and the sense of worldliness can be more condensed. Kyoto is the same. During the Nara dynasty, the middle class and merchants did not develop. It is impossible to make a city look like a nobleman alone. So once Nara is no longer the capital, it is nothing, it is the shell of a capital, placed here like a silkworm. But when Kyoto is no longer the capital and the capital becomes Tokyo, the natural habits of citizens living in the middle of inheritance have gradually formed an ecology, ecology has formed culture, and culture has condensed civilization, which is a little stronger.
We also mention some of kyoto's history as we read the book. In 1177 AD, Kyoto caught fire for the first time. The fire was terrible, it only killed a few dozen people, but you feel like the city is ruined there. During that time, the people suddenly had a tendency, like the book mentioned that "the people only weigh horses and saddles, not cattle and carts." You can run on horseback, but you have to catch an ox cart. Slowly people become such a mentality, which is a very pragmatic mentality. But the city still thrives after the fire, just like our Tokyo Ichijin life.
I just talked about the fire delivery party on Mt. Ōmune on August 16 every year, and the Gion Festival. "Kyoto" author Hayaya Tatsuzaburo said that this Gion Festival is from the dynamic thinking of the summer citizens, because the Gion Festival is walking, but in the autumn when the Ōbunjiyama Fire Festival is sent, it is more static. This reflects the choice of citizens. There are traces of nobility in this, but unlike the Tang Dynasty, the nobles and commoners of the Tang Dynasty were in two places, because there was a curfew system and so on. But during the Song Dynasty, if you look at Tokyo's Bieliang Castle, it might be a barbershop, and next door might be a foreign house or a fat powder storehouse. Kyoto is also such a state of staggered teeth, and Kyoto's civilization has a complete ecology.
There are two points in this book that are particularly interesting: one is kyoto's alias "Mountain Purple Water Bright Place", not the mountain water show, "mountain purple water bright", very good, more than a tense outside the normal. It may only be at dusk, when the sky turns from yellow to black, and when it is almost black, the mountain may have a purple feeling, and it may also be under what kind of weather. Instead of being purple for 24 hours and all year round, it records an anomaly to form a "place where mountains and purple waters are bright", as good as the beauty of mountains and rivers. Yasujiro Ozu also said that the mountains around Kyoto are like red bean patches, and there is also a color, which may not arouse your appetite, but at least you have an impression visually.
There is also a navel stone in Kyoto at that time. We always say that a continent is the hinterland of a country or a city, and Kyoto is like a body, and a navel is recessed. There was also a raised thing, with a five-storied tower. At that time, the city was full of very low houses, and when people in Kyoto got up early, they saw it, and they lived with you in the area of Fucheng Gate, White Pagoda Temple, and Beihai, and you were happy to see the White Pagoda of Beihai, just like when the weather was good and the air was good, people saw the West Mountain in the Houhai. When you live in a low place and can see a high place, whether it is the Eiffel Tower or the West Hill, the five-storied tower, people will be happy for a while. Therefore, Hayaya Tatsuzaburo said that it is a pillar of life and a thought of the citizens of Kyoto.
So everything in Kyoto is kept very stable, and that's its coordinate system. But this book is like a mouse facing many coordinates, and you can't open it without this mouse. But click on, let me first explain that this book you don't think seems to be a wandering guide book. Not a raider book, not a painting focus, it puts the history of Japan, "looking at the ancient and modern in a flash, touching the four seas in a moment." Looking at it here, I think it can string together the history of Japan. Walking in Kyoto is like stepping on a minefield, and you don't know what famous spots to step on every step.
This book also allows you to see sentient beings, all kinds of daimyo, merchants, peddlers, pawns and even thieves, all kinds of people coming and going in and out of this. Just like some people especially love to go to the cemetery, the truth is that I can see the names of various people. I saw it all at once, and I activated my textbook, which may be such a state when I get to Kyoto.
Kyoto is a standard style, a life, a scene
Shi Hang: I can't tell the difference between a Kyoto native and a Tokyoite. First of all, I can't understand Japanese, I can't hear people's accents, Kansai and Kanto can't hear them. You say who looks like a Kyotoite and who looks like a Tokyoite, I can't see it with my naked eye. But I remember Yukio Mishima said that looking back at Kyoto people now, it is still different from Tokyo, saying that Kyoto women play umbrellas more than Tokyo, and Tokyo women play umbrellas, their faces are relatively clear, but Kyoto people are very dark, because the color of umbrellas is different, and it is different when they hit their faces, just that feeling. Whether they choose the appearance of the umbrella, and gait, grooming there are two trends, just like mainstream and non-mainstream, outdated and outdated, there is a message. But he said it was all good, bright and moving, dark and charming, and if Tokyo was universally moving, Kyoto was a feminine place. There are a lot of these in this book, giving us some reminders.
I think it's hard to summarize the main points of this book, but there is a sentence that I like very much, saying, "What the people think, the unexpected prosperity." The multitudes, the ordinary people, the lowly among sentient beings, those who have no right to speak, who do not speak much, who do not stand up to ten thousand sentences. I like this causal relationship. The princes and ministers of the emperor will not necessarily want to make this place prosperous, but when you have no time to take care of them for the time being, the people will build this place very well when you are not paying attention; when you are not paying attention, let everything have the nutrition of the city; when you are not paying attention, we have also passed it on for hundreds of years. Just when you don't pay attention, we are "unexpected prosperity".
We know that many cities' street signs are improving, I now feel pretty good, when you go to the street, you don't have to look carefully, you have more in mind is the movie you have seen "My Life", "Camel Shoko", the reality of everything is just foundation, the real facial features are stored in your memory. Have you read in the end, have you seen old photos, old movies, old illustrations, old prints, you have seen those things, then you are blessed, when you look at it is different. Otherwise, if you haven't seen it, look at the word library is the word library, see the mountain is the mountain, and see the water is the water.
"Kyoto" is not the book you are still walking in Kyoto today, look down and take a quick look, no, you are here for 5 minutes, you may have been hit by a car. Either you go a month before you go and look good, or you come back and look at it well in the month after you come back. It is this kind of thing, it is a kind of thing that slowly refreshes the heart, sneaks into the night with the wind, and moisturizes the fine and silent thing. Not to tell you directly, you go to this store to buy something, to get there to get a few cars, there is something good to buy, I have a menu here, you see I have this menu and the signature of the store manager and the chef, like Brother Shi'an's "Travel Diary" can have such an effect. This is the difference between the two books.
Zhi'an: Just now Brother Shi Hang said two words, and I will say something about these two words. One is "Mountain Purple Water Ming". In addition to Kyoto, there are some places called Little Kyoto in Japan, and I have probably been to more than ten small Kyotos. Why go to Little Kyoto? Going to Kyoto has a sense of oppression, a sense of cultural oppression, a sense of oppression of the crowd. Little Kyoto doesn't have this problem. Few others went, but I went by myself. "Little Kyoto" is not what you call it, it is a convention. What kind of city can be called Little Kyoto? It is the mountain purple water ming. I used to think that the houses were like Little Kyoto, because these places are indeed more complete in architecture than Kyoto in general. If you go to a small Kyoto, like Kurashiki, Kanazawa, including Kyushu, there is a small Kyoto, and Kamakura and Sawara near Tokyo are all small Kyoto, and you take a photo, and the background is more deep into the historical site than Kyoto.
But what is written in the book is not this, the house is not important, what is important is the mountain purple water Ming. This place must have water, there must be mountains, and mountains must be purple and clear. I have a feeling that Kyoto is not just a city, it is such a standard, or a style, a life, a situation. In Kyoto, it is more important that this is a life that once belonged to a period in Japanese history, and this life still exists.
The real weather of the city culture can not be swayed by people
Shinan: Japan is a little different from ours. China has hired a bunch of people to wear ancient clothes, it's performative; it's a continuation of their original life, it's a past life, and people do it themselves. For example, there are many small shops in Kyoto, especially those that sell traditional things, and you will feel that the shop was like this many years ago. However, Kyoto is a big city and has neon lights. When you go to Little Kyoto, some places don't even have power poles, and they are built outside the city and not inside, just for maintenance. These people are still living there, none of them are responsible for performing, and all of them are responsible for completing their original lives, which is a big difference.
The second Navel Stone mentioned by Shi Hang is the Hexagonal Hall in Kyoto. I am interested in japanese flower arrangement, and Rokkakudo is the headquarters of the Ikebaya school. I've been there twice, one is the Spring Flower Show and the other is the Autumn Flower Show. For four days at a time, the first two days were a batch of exhibits, and the last two days the front was withdrawn and replaced with a new one. This one exhibition contains two exhibitions. This exhibition is a must in the hanamichi, where people from all over the world come and foreigners wear kimonos. But when you leave this place and you go inside the city, the exhibition has nothing to do with the city.
I remember one time I was in Paris, just in time for the World Cup. I found out that the World Cup was held in Paris, but Paris had nothing to do with it. You may be talking about this when you are eating, and there may be a screen on the street for everyone to see. But that's it.
Kyoto is also such a city, everyone lives their own lives, and what a small number of people do has nothing to do with it for the vast majority of other people. Kyoto is a very atmospheric city, the word is relatively empty, but you feel that this city is not a city that anyone can change our things.
There are many festivals in Kyoto, and this time is very lively, but it does not affect you to walk casually into an alley, and the person's life is still like that. The city does have power, and culture cannot be swayed by people. Culture is about making me a little stronger and less influenced. If you can't let me go east, I will go east, and if you let me go west, I will go west, and cultured people will not listen to you. Culture is about giving myself a little support, but it doesn't drive me crazy or bluff.
I think Kyoto is a particularly cultured city. How literate is the city? All visitors have to be very attentive to see where it has culture, so it's not a very relaxing city. Just now Shi Hang said that Kyoto has its own life, and this life is a life founded by their merchants. Although Kyoto was no longer the capital, it didn't matter, this life continued to exist.
But now life in Kyoto can only be experienced in the deep alleys, because most of them are merchants who sell things to tourists. When I went to Japan, I felt that Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo, and even Nagoya were not particularly popular cities, because these cities were too touristy, and everyone had a sense of "serving tourism", and the characteristics of the city itself had to be found in depth. For example, when we go to places like Zhouzhuang and Wuzhen in China, I think you go here, strictly speaking, you are a tourist. Because we're all businesses, it's not quite like real life anymore. I think the real life of Kyoto still exists in its small alleys.
Finishing/Rain Station