Kanazawa Trip, Episode 2: DT Suzuki Museum

We arrive at the Kanazawa station just before 11:00 am. The station is huge and crowded. Y. guides me towards the tourists’ corner, where they have the cultural passport that allows entrance to 17 cultural attractions, mostly museums and the one-day bus pass. We get the three-day option for the cultural passport and one day bus pass (since our hotel is nearby, we plan to come back to get a bus for the other day).

The station catches my eye immediately. It is so architecturally aesthetic and well organized that it makes Tokyo station look like a total mess. Located between the sea and mountains, Kanazawa already makes it presence known by the lower temperature. It is raining. A huge glass dome, supported by wooden beams, covers the roof, protecting from the rain. Inviting people in and out of the station is the large Tsuzumi gate, similar to the ones you find in front of shrines or temples, but multiple in size.  We take our first pictures in Kanazawa and head to bus station number 6, where we jump into the left loop bus and ride on it for DT Suzuki Museum.

The museum cherishes the work of DT Suzuki, the Japanese philosopher, monk and author of many books, who played a central role in making Shintoism and Buddhism available to the Western world, through his translations and original works. He was born in Kanazawa. There is a rich natural terrain surrounding the main building. Its architecture is simple, yet aesthetically pleasant, reflecting Buddhist perspective on life.

Designed by the Japanese architect, Yoshio Taniguchi, known for bringing together traditional Japanese elements with a modern perspective, the museum includes the Learning Space, a small reading section where one can sit down and read some of the works of DT Suzuki, the Mirror Garden and the Contemplating Space.

The simplicity of the environment generates a natural harmony, peacefulness. Thinking about it, “generates” is not a good word for it. It is too stiff, too artificial, too mechanic. The building doesn’t force anything on you, it is just there, and by being there, it provides you with the opportunity to be there too, to exist.

The entrance to the Learning Space, features a vase of flowers over a high table, two reading tables with four chairs besides each and a bookshelf, offering visitors a chance to read DT Suzuki’s works.  I can see that there are books in Japanese, English and some in German.

A little further into the room, there is a divided section, with two chairs a couple of meters apart, facing a wall window, with a view on nature. Rain droplets bounce on the ground, and a network of branches are intertwined beautifully.  A stone wall faces us from the distance. I could sit here for hours, thinking. But as other visitors join in, I make space for them and instead open a book, The training of the Zen Buddhist Monk. I read about “zendo”, meditation walls in Buddhist Monasteries and about the importance of reserving your energy, taking time to draw back and recharge. DT Suzuki explains that this was in fact the role of the tea houses in Japanese tradition, to sit down, get away from the world for some time and recollect your thoughts. These explanations make me understand the Zen philosophy better, as a unique product of the oriental mind.

We continue our journey into the Contemplating Space, a large room with open views of the outside, one of them facing the Mirror Garden. It’s a little cold to stay too long, but me and Y. sit down for a bit, sharing a smile.

We soon head out, walking through the garden, and getting a new view to the Mirror Garden, where we say goodbye to DT Suzuki’s museum and head Kanazawa Nakamura Memorial Museum, less than ten minutes away on food.

 

 

 

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