My Japan

Today I visited one of my favourite places in Vancouver - The Nitobe Memorial Garden on the University of British Columbia's campus.

I've always had an attraction to Japan.  It started as a kid when I flew Japan Air Lines a few times to Hawaii with my parents.  The attendants would give me cars to play with and I also was given playing cards.  To boot we flew on Boeing 747s between Los Angeles and Honolulu.  At that time, in the early 70s, the 747s were still newish planes.  I loved it.  In Hawaii we would sometimes eat at a Japanese restaurant near our hotel on Waikiki.  I remember the taste of the terikyaki beef I would eat.  Again, I loved it and, as a child, it impressed me.

Many years, in High School,  I read the novel Shōgun, by James Clavell.  It exposed me to a world that I found mysterious, orderly, aesthetic, clean, traditional, organized.  I agreed with the descriptions of those dirty Europeans and agreed with the Japanese disgust at those hairy bastards on their shore, wanting to contaminate their islands.  Then, in university, I took an elective course on the history of Japan.  To this day, it remains the one course that I have taken in all my schooling that has excited me, kept me up at night, marvelled me.  

Growing up in Montreal I had very little exposure to Japanese culture.  The one place where I would get a fix was at the Katsura Restaurant on Rue de la Montagne.  My first sushi and, again, that teriyaki taste from Hawaii.  When we moved to Vancouver in '92 I was exposed to all kinds of Japanese foods.  It quickly became one of my favourite cuisines and we have it at least once a week now.  I also took one semester of Japanese courses at UBC (all forgotten now) back in '92.

I remember sitting on the pier at Jericho Beach, watching the sun set and thinking that I was putting Canada to bed.  I'd stare west and imagine a future, the next day - Japan.  I was young and felt invigorated by the west, by the Pacific, by Asia.

And I still have yet to go to Japan...the closest I have gotten is Vancouver and these Nitobe Gardens on the westernmost point of the city.  Today I experienced that feeling of wonderment again, in that peaceful garden.  My Japan.  The place of aesthetics, of temples, of order, of tradition, of history, of confidence, of shyness.

I hope to visit those islands one day.