The Bells of old Tokyo

 

I discovered travel writing which is not about the description of the place but more through the eyes of the author and the journey he or she is taking.

My first book was Into the Mountains – which was the authors cathartic journey (after his younger brother died in a freak accident) on foot across the Himalayan mountains, starting from Pakistan and ending in Nepal. It was like walking with the author side by side hand in hand – understanding what is going through his mind. Like the author it was kind of letting go – everyday the author would visit a village then just work with them – if they are harvesting, he would join them – have whatever food is provided and move ahead to the next village or sometimes he will put up a tent & use his cooker and stove to make daal & rice. Living a mechanized life this would be an imaginary journey which I would take every day along with the author. It was not like any other book I had read.

The Bells of Japan is about Tokyo and it’s history through the bells of Japan. It mixes the present with the past. The author will visit various sites and talk about the present – what she sees & some bit of history she knows about that place. Then she would talk to a priests, famous writers, artists who has more in depth knowledge i.e facts and lace it with his experiences and what happened, if he was present or any of his ancestors have gone thru the times – lets say when the Shoguns were leaving Tokyo and how many of the things they held close to themselves were destroyed.

I wanted to read about Japan / history of Japan so I was looking for something which gives me a perspective. I was always fascinated by Japan – a country much maligned for their caste systems but known for their discipline / spiritual side. A country which rebuilt itself after it was almost destroyed in WW II. But I did not want to read about the facts of what happened in Japan which mostly you will get in Wikipedia or if you Google I am sure there will be enough material.

But a book like this is a kind of oral history, where the history is told by the people who experienced it and what they actually went through. What happened to the people of Tokyo when tons of bombs were dropped in Tokyo – many times more than Hiroshima. People living in bunkers and trying to save people or getting burnt in the process. Or how the bells & their removals symbolized an end of era or a change to a different Japan. It’s like visiting these places with the author and listening to the authors & painters who formed a view and was sharing it candidly with the author.

For me both these books were like reading meditation.