From harems to Hiroshige

Had a delightful morning on Saturday. I arose early to a cooler, cloudier morning. So lacking was the scorching heat and humidity of previous days that I dispensed with my fan and left my parasol hanging on the hatstand. It has been so hot in Japan this past week that many passengers have swooned in the stuffy subways, forcing fellow passengers to dash ice-cold Thorpedo over their heads and slap them about with uchiwa fans in order to revive them.

I arrived at Ueno Park before the galleries opened in order to avoid the crowds. However, the crowds had the same idea, and were already forming queues at 9am. I wandered momentarily about the wooded parts of the park and enjoyed the refreshing shadows of the trees and the constant gnawing of cicadas upon the air.

First I visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art to see "Ottoman Treasures from the Topkapi Palace". There I admired many an opulent turban ornament, harem coin belt, jewelled swords and lanterns and beautiful gilded copies of the Koran. My eyes were agog at the amount of rubies and emeralds everywhere, as well as the bathing shoes that women of the harem used. Forerunners of platforms, these wooden sandals were precariously fitted with two extremely tall heels that elevated the wearer above the water (I suppose to be used during pre-bathing washing, along with their divinely elegant pouring bowls) and were decorated with mother of pearl and silver coins. There were also embroidered bath towels and exquisite make-up boxes and rosewater vessels. It was most fun to visualise the secret and sensual world of the harem and to ponder about the original owners who once used these objects in daily life.



Then I bent my steps towards the University of Fine Arts and Music for two exhibitions: "The Mural Art of Kotohira-gu Shrine" and "Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo". I have always admired the colours and fluidity of Ukiyo-e, so I was most overwhelmed to see a whole series of Hiroshige's woodblock prints all in one go. I happily squealed aloud at the above print, "Fox Lights at New Year's Eve". This fiery festival of foxes under a star-strewn sky rendered in the Ukiyo-e style is a pure delight. I have read that in Japanese folklore, foxes emit a fiery light while shape-shifting, and this light can lead travellers astray in the same manner as the enchanting will-o'-the-wisp. I enjoy the thought of a skulk of foxes, hidden behind tree-trunks and misleading wanderers with their mischievous flaming brushes!