8 Travel


View of the Summer Solstice Garden


Detail of the Summer Solstice Garden


An ancient stone water basin on one of the paths


equinox sunrise and provide ideal venues for performances of celebration or worship. Te Enoura Observatory is an


extraordinary achievement, the result not only of Sugimoto’s rich imagination and dreams, but also his ability to get things done in this land where what is simple becomes complicated, and what is already complicated can get much, much more so. (Apparently his business associate architect Tomoyuki Sakakida steers projects through the bureaucratic minefields.) Nevertheless, abundant


potential


Tis stone water basin, used as one of the supports, comes through the top of the reception room table, and came originally from the Daikan-ji temple on Mt Koya


beyond. Tis beautiful lava-and-ash rock is found only in a small area near Utsunomiya to the north of Tokyo and was used by Frank Lloyd Wright to build the old, sadly-demolished Imperial Hotel. (At least you can now see the lobby,


reconstructed and


preserved, at the Meiji Mura near Nagoya.) At present this gallery is displaying a series of Sugimoto’s monochrome photographs of meditative ocean horizons framed in what looks like soft grey lead that serve as a prelude to a truly inspiring view over the Pacific Ocean itself from the far end balcony. To celebrate the mid-winter sunrise is a 70-metre long tunnel of CorTen steel – an alloy developed in America that weathers to look like rust but stabilises with a surface clean enough not to stain hands or shirts that might come in contact. Tis metal tube is much narrower than the summer gallery, and ends abruptly with a view to the ocean from a different angle of some 60 degrees or so, but no viewing balcony is provided here, and a simple stone tied with straw placed on the floor a few metres before the tunnel’s open end in mid-air provides a traditional Japanese warning to go no further. In most of the tunnel it is rather dark – and that is on a sunny day – except in one spot where a single overhead aperture admits light from above over an ancient stone- well set in the floor and containing chunks of glass that look like ice. One thinks of James Turrell’s explorations


ASIAN ART MARCH 2018


of time and space here, especially his framed views of the sky, and it is easy to imagine how this would all appear in rainfall, or – even though much rarer in this part of Japan – a winter snowfall. Next to this steel tube a stage has been constructed of optical glass that, even though supported by a cedar- wooden frame, seems to float in mid- air and as it too reflects the sky, seems to extend to the ocean beyond. Te stage is viewed from a fan-shaped construction of stepped-stone seating copied on a smaller scale from the famous Roman amphitheatre that can still be seen in Ferento, in the outskirts of Viterbo north of Rome. Here however, the area at the bottom of the stepped seating and before the glass stage – normally the realm of actors – has been used to make a small dry garden of two slabs of rock nestled in pebbles which bring to mind those at the Daitoku-ji complex of Zen temples in Kyoto. While these two solstice tubes


form the main bones of the site, it is the


abundance of details, each needing time to contemplate, that


THE TWO SOLSTICE TUBES FORM THE MAIN BONES OF THE SITE AND GUIDE YOU TO THE WINTER AND SUMMER SOLSTICE GARDENS


Te Teahouse, named ‘Uchoten’ (Listen to the Rain), has been built with dimensions the same as the famous Taian teahouse that was originally built in circa 1582-3


make roaming around the site such a delight. One soon realises that the permitted two hours is not nearly long enough to


even absorb the


history of the many components, let alone to sit quietly and get lost in flights of imagination, and we can only do our best in the time available. Te Tea Ceremony is central to understanding Japanese culture and a teahouse named ‘Uchoten’ (Listen to the Rain), has been built with dimensions the same as the famous Taian teahouse said to have been designed by Sen no Rikyu – that master of codifying the Tea Ceremony as art born of poverty – and has been constructed of local materials including a roof of old corrugated iron scavenged from a local barn. Tis building is aligned with the first rays of sunrise during the spring and autumn equinoxes so that the interior becomes briefly illuminated, while a glass step before the entrance would appear to glow. Sugimoto is intrigued by glass and its reaction with light almost as much as he is by stone and its play with water, and here we are reminded of the glass steps he designed


some years ago for the


Go-O Shrine on Naoshima Island, looking like those blocks of ice they deliver to the Ginza bars at nightfall, and descending into a subterranean cave like the burial-chamber of an ancient tumulus. Facing the Uchoten entrance – and


framing the equinox sunrises – a torii gate of huge stone slabs harkens to an


ancient form of those entrances to shrines that mark the portal between our world and that of the kami, while underfoot there is another great slab of stone – the lid of an old sarcophagus found near Nara and dating from the Tumulus period (250-538). Great stones abound, each with


their own history but grouped here at Enoura in various assemblages for the first time. A circular stage is centred by a round stone of a type used to support temple pillars, surrounded by radiations of paving stones recycled from the Kyoto tramway system, that in turn is surrounded by large stones once destined for the Edo Castle construction during the early 17th century. Tese basalt volcanic rocks are characterised by rows of holes made for splitting into manoeuvrable lumps and can still be seen here and there around the Northeast coast of Izu. As all the perfect ones were no doubt shipped to Edo at the time, it is presumed that those remaining are the mistakes: either of unsuitable shape or that fell off en route to the boat. Another


stone stage is


constructed with dimensions we see in a Noh stage of rocks excavated during the preparation of the site, approached by a massive bridge of a single, 23-ton slab of stone that Sugimoto found in Fukushima Prefecture – this is spectacularly cracked through from end to end like a bolt of lightning. Both of these stages are carefully located to catch the first rays of either a solstice or


remains for


further enrichment and enhancement of a visiting Enoura experience. Tese are early days but at the moment the site is restrained by limited access times during the day when the light is the least interesting, as well as ticket- buying hurdles – particularly if you do not have one of the four credit cards designated for payment. I would love to witness the solstice sunrise, both summer and winter, see masked dances on the glass stage with the lights of fishing boats in the distance, and the full moon over Sagami Bay on those warm nights of early autumn. Te site lends itself to what would surely be memorable events – Noh performances by firelight, Buto dance theatre, Shakuhachi concerts – and many other dramatic spectacles both ancient and modern in which Japan excels. Logistical objections abound, I know, but sweep these aside and just make it happen. Enoura will come alive. Tis is a place for night as well as day, to be seen under moonlight and stars, its beauty enhanced by shadows. • Odawara Art Foundation, 362-1 Enoura, Odawara Kanagawa-Ken, odawara-af.com. Entrance is limited to 30 people at a time with three entrance times daily during the warmer months from April to October, and two entrances daily for the rest of the year. Te facility is closed each Tuesday and Wednesday. Entrance is by reservation only through the foundation’s website. A shuttle bus operates from the Nebukawa Station on the JR Tokkaido Line. Alternatively, it is easy to get a taxi from Manazuru Station on the same line. Tere is parking at the observatory but it is advised to reserve a place in advance.


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