The 1970 Expo was held in Osaka, Japan and some of my friends and I thought it would be exciting to go to Japan with the University of Hawaii Art and Architecture 471 course which involved taking a six week trip to Japan with a paper following the tour and daily instructions. Three weeks would be for travel and study from Tokyo, then heading south to Kyoto, Nara, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Matsuyama, Takamatsu and Osaka. After Osaka we would have three weeks to do whatever we wanted to.
Yahoo! Freedom to do whatever we wanted! The yen was 360 yen to a dollar! It's now about 79 yen to the dollar. Our little dollar would go a long, long way!
Nope. When I mentioned this trip to Mom, she said I needed to go. It cost only $600 and she felt it would be a good time for me to go and meet her parents and the rest of her family in Sendai for the first time. I would spend all of those three free weeks at my grandfather's temple.
My wings were clipped.
That was how it began and I will tell the story of those three weeks in Sendai in another post.
What I'd like to write about today is my HORRIBLE memory! I've been immersed in scanning old photos again. When I came across this old album from 42 years ago I decided to take it apart and scan the photos. Although I didn't label the photos like I do now, I kept a detailed travel journal and I still had the Art and Architecture itinerary.
What really unnerved me was how much I had totally forgotten of those first three weeks. I guess discovering my grandparents overwhelmed my memory capacity so the first part of the trip got shoved to the back of my brain.
I'd gone to the Ueno Park Zoo. Why don't I remember that at all?
I went to the Meiji Jinja (Shrine).
When I went to the same Meiji Jinja with Art, Mom, my brother, Dennis and Uncle T in 2008 I did NOT remember having been there before at all!
I'd forgotten I'd been to Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) in Kyoto.
I went back to Kinkaku-ji in 2008 with Mom, Dennis and Art. Art and I had also taken our children there in 1996.
I'd forgotten that I'd gone there in 1970 also.
I found this photo of me down at the right bottom corner at Himeji Castle.
I thought our 2010 trip with Mom and Auntie Grace was the first time I'd gone to Himeji Castle.
Good grief! I'd even been to Miyajima in 1970! How could I have forgotten? Maybe the rain had clouded out my memory.
In 1996, the kids loved it when we took them to see that famous torii. I wonder if it even looked familiar to me then.
This is the photo that shocked me. I'd been to see Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu.
I was just there with Art, Dennis and Mom in April of this year. I could swear it was the first time I'd been there. Nothing looked familiar.
I'm reading through my journal and it sounds almost like I'm reading about somebody else.
However, slowly, through the mist that shrouded my memories, I'm seeing the girl I was then. I was so young and had so much I needed to learn. I would meet Art the following year and then I began to grow up.
Yahoo! Freedom to do whatever we wanted! The yen was 360 yen to a dollar! It's now about 79 yen to the dollar. Our little dollar would go a long, long way!
Nope. When I mentioned this trip to Mom, she said I needed to go. It cost only $600 and she felt it would be a good time for me to go and meet her parents and the rest of her family in Sendai for the first time. I would spend all of those three free weeks at my grandfather's temple.
My wings were clipped.
That was how it began and I will tell the story of those three weeks in Sendai in another post.
What really unnerved me was how much I had totally forgotten of those first three weeks. I guess discovering my grandparents overwhelmed my memory capacity so the first part of the trip got shoved to the back of my brain.
I'd gone to the Ueno Park Zoo. Why don't I remember that at all?
I went to the Meiji Jinja (Shrine).
When I went to the same Meiji Jinja with Art, Mom, my brother, Dennis and Uncle T in 2008 I did NOT remember having been there before at all!
I'd forgotten I'd been to Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) in Kyoto.
I went back to Kinkaku-ji in 2008 with Mom, Dennis and Art. Art and I had also taken our children there in 1996.
I'd forgotten that I'd gone there in 1970 also.
I found this photo of me down at the right bottom corner at Himeji Castle.
I thought our 2010 trip with Mom and Auntie Grace was the first time I'd gone to Himeji Castle.
Good grief! I'd even been to Miyajima in 1970! How could I have forgotten? Maybe the rain had clouded out my memory.
In 1996, the kids loved it when we took them to see that famous torii. I wonder if it even looked familiar to me then.
This is the photo that shocked me. I'd been to see Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu.
I was just there with Art, Dennis and Mom in April of this year. I could swear it was the first time I'd been there. Nothing looked familiar.
I'm reading through my journal and it sounds almost like I'm reading about somebody else.
However, slowly, through the mist that shrouded my memories, I'm seeing the girl I was then. I was so young and had so much I needed to learn. I would meet Art the following year and then I began to grow up.
I wonder why you don't remember so many of these things, thats really odd, You have changed so little Kay, you were and are such a beauty, still nice and slim as well, you have had so many adventures, a very exciting life.The memories are in your noggin somewhere, hiding , they will come back when you need them maybe.
ReplyDeleteAwww... thank you, Laurie. I've sat here trying to bring back a glimmer of some of those places and it's like I just eradicated them from my memory banks. I remember only tiny glimmers of moments, but that's all. It was all very unnerving to see the photos, read the itinerary and journal which proved I'd been to those places.
DeleteKay, were you distracted by a cute boy or professor during your 3-week course? Sounds like meeting your Grandfather was pretty profound. I can remember stuff 38+ years back, but sometimes don't have the details correct. If you've been scrapbooking for this long, you have many scrapbooks in your mind! I DID take a biology class at one college, in '73, and made a B. I don't remember it at all. When I started nursing school in 2000, it was on the transcript and counted toward requirements. I enrolled in it, but don't remember being IN the class or lab. I was distracted by my fiance that year...class wasn't as much fun! DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteYou are closer to the truth than you can know. I was going through some romantic angst at the time. The following three weeks I spent in Sendai with a family I barely knew existed before also made a stronger impression. I remember that time very well!
DeleteThis is a very interesting discovery. It makes me anxious to read the coming story about your grandfather.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote my post for tomorrow but it's more about my grandmother. I should write about my grandfather too.
DeleteYou have so many adventures in your past, and who knows why you don't remember stuff from four decades ago? Maybe your memory banks are full and something had to give! You were so young then. It amazes me that 1970 was 42 years ago. Where did all the time go? :-)
ReplyDeleteIsn't it spooky? 42 years! Where DID they go?
DeleteOur memories are strange things. Maybe now that you have looked through your pictures some memories from those earlier visits will come back to you.
ReplyDeleteI've looked at photos from other photos and I could remember more. The first three weeks of this one, however, are a blur. On the other hand... interestingly... I just saw a friend who was on the same trip and she said the SAME thing. That was encouraging.
DeleteHow fun to look back and see the growth we have made personally-that's part of the importance of keeping a journal. i've been to Japan once to pick up my youngest son off his 2 year mission in Hiroshima and it's fun to see that I've seen many of this places in your blog: Mayijama, Himenji castle and Kyoto. It's a beautiful country! I went there in 2003. Maybe I should post my photos as that was before I blogged...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you were able to see so much of Japan. It really is a beautiful country.
DeleteDon't be too hard on yourself, 1970 was a long time ago. I wonder how much I remember about 1970. Ver little I would imagine.
ReplyDeleteI guess the thing that freaked me out was reading my journal, seeing the photos and not having it ring a bell someplace...somewhere in my foggy mind.
Deletehow cool you've been to all these places. my husband has seen Himeji castle when he visited Japan. i can't remember if he went inside or not though, maybe not. i'm glad i'm not the only one who has gaps in their memory. i seem to be unable to remember a lot these days. my past is a blur... hope all is well. have a great day~
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know I'm not the only one. Thank you for the reassurance.
DeleteAmazing that you did not remember being at those sights. I wonder why. But then, it was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteThat's what disconcerted me so much.
DeleteWonderful post. I think the Miyajima torii is featured in the film Sayonara. I assume you saw it. If not, worth looking at it just for the scenery although the actors are great too. (Who knows what memories will pop up).
ReplyDeleteThis has happened to me too. I have been places and forgotten them and then been there again and said, "I've never been here before" only to discover via a postcard or photo that I had. Thanks for sharing your lovely memory. Dianne
I did see the Marlon Brando movie. It was too sad though...
DeleteThe thing is Kay you have so many wonderful memories, it's hard for you to keep track of them all!
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice way to look at it. :-)
DeleteI was going thru all my photos, they could fill just one 20" x 20" box. I should scan these too one day. I spent a month in Japan in 1972 with my grandfather in Tokyo and don't have more than a handful of pictures. I didn't keep a journal either. I recall funny little tidbits like going to an American style market in Roppongi to look for mayonnaise so I could make our local mac salad for my step grandmother, going to the movies to watch "Mary, Queen of Scots" with their neighbor named Yoko Ono (same as "our" Yoko), learning ikebana with her (she taught a class and I was trying to learn). I don't recall a single temple except the one in Nikko and taking a long Sunday drive to see Mt Fuji. I do remember thinking 1000 yen was about $3.
ReplyDeleteKay, maybe you can recall things you did with your friends, more so than the tourist places you saw. My clothes back then were a mess. All homemade and weird. Maybe I should be grateful I didn't take many pictures. But you were so cute in your clothes with matching ribbons, and weren't there cute boys on the trip? I'm guessing that's why you don't recall much else lol Gee I would have died to go on that trip with the Art and Architecture class.
L. from W.
To be perfectly honest, I sewed all my clothes back then too. I think I had only one dress that I actually bought for the trip, but the rest I made myself. I was into matching ribbons AND matching colored gym shoes back in those days.
DeleteAnd to be even more honest... everyone was right. I was suffering from boy trouble back then. There was someone I was having an on and off relationship with for three years. My journal shows that I was totally preoccupied with thoughts of him.
I met Art the following year and my life changed. My memory is still not great though. That's why I have to keep journals and do photo albums.
At UH, I remember walking thru the Architecture portable classroom building on my way to my art studio class at George Hall, so longingly wishing I could enroll as a student. Back then, the classes were filled mostly with guys. How times have changed. I bet those classes are now at least half filled with women.
DeleteL. from w.
Ack!!!! I don't remember where George Hall was!!! I must have spent all my time at Hale Kahawai.
DeleteI also find this very interesting that you do not remember the specifics of this trip. I wonder if it was too overwhelming and you were dealing with a lot of culture shock. I think that you must have really had to sort through some cultural impact aspects of this trip when you were there and were not absorbing the details about the surroundings. I've read a lot about children of those who were from another country who have much internal work to do regarding their identity. I think this is what you must have been doing on this trip.
ReplyDeleteYour photos and your journal are evidence that you took the trip seriously and wished to fully document it. All of this might have taken precedence over building memories.
You are so very perceptive, Sally. Yes. It was definitely a cultural shock for me. There was a whole lot to process and my time with my mysterious distant family also occupied my mind. Although I documented everything, I haven't looked at these photos in decades.
DeleteI have forgotten so much from my youth, too, Kay. Meanwhile, my friend who grew up across the street from me can remember almost everything from those days. Now, I'm not knocking people who stay in their hometowns, marry, raise children, help their husbands run a farm, and stay involved in the community. Not at all. But their minds might not be as cluttered with career memories, which seem so important to us until we retire. Just a theory.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I'm glad you found these old photos and the memories are starting to resurface. They're not gone, just buried, I believe.
K
As you can see I'm back to my scanning project. It's starting to take up all my time again.
DeleteThis is so fascinating! Is it being adolescent and just not entirely mentally mature? When I went to Crater Lake in Oregon in the 80's and mentioned the excursion to my mother, she mentioned that we had been there when I was 14. I had no memory whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteBTW: You were so cute. And still are!
I was 20 and attained my 21st birthday when I visited Sendai after the university tour. I'm afraid lots of people guessed that my brain was on a guy who was not on the trip. It's true I guess. I also think the importance of the trip to Sendai crowded out everything else.
DeleteI do remember weird things like putting a lump of wasabi in my mouth in a Tokyo restaurant and nearly dying from it. I remember a certain Chinzan-so restaurant where I saw fireflies for the first time. They're all tiny little snippets. But places... temples... monuments... they're gone from my memory banks.
I've forgotten many things.
ReplyDeleteI've never forgotten visiting to each of those places, and never will.
I'd spent years absorbed in them, never imagining that I'd ever have the chance to visit.
I'm so thrilled to have been to each that I'd never forget. Ever!
I eve boast about having been to them - that is, if I ever find anyone who has even HEARD of those places!
I do remember a LOT of our glorious trip to Australia/New Zealand, but that was in 2005. It's really disconcerting to me that I can't recall those places.
DeleteI am -- and never cease to be -- amazed at your marvelous and beautifully documented adventures!!!! Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteAwww, Kay. You are too kind.
DeletePerhaps at that age, those things just weren't memorable to you. When I get with frinds from long ago, they remember things that I swear they are making up and vice versa. My brother often moans that we must have been raised by different families.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend named Joanne that I'm always accusing of making up things because I just can't remember. I doubt it though. This 1970 trip is proof of that.
DeleteI like to tell my friends, we're all in the same boat, rowing up the same river, using the same paddle. Lovely photos, must have been a great trip, and give yourself another ten years, from what I'm told the memory comes back like gangbusters but the short term is the problem ;)
ReplyDeleteToo funny! My short term is already a problem. Sheesh!
DeleteLook how you have stirred everyone up. I find I remember only those I see regularly. If I don't have contact with them, they fade away. The same with most things. Having the pictures handy and in my computer brings back many memories...most I am pleased to recall again....at last. LOL
ReplyDeleteI didn't really get people stirred up. Half the comments are mine. I'm going to be doing my scanning project and I wanted to talk to everybody before I immersed myself again.
DeleteIt really is great to have photos scanned. I call up old photos with the click of a finger. If I have nothing to write about, I just scan my files for a memory.
that is so funny.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't so funny when I was wracking my brains trying to remember.
DeleteBlessings.....
ReplyDeleteOh you were a cutie, still are. Great memories makes the heart sings.
Awww... thank you. You are very kind.
DeleteI think we all have gaps in our memories, but you are right - you have some BIG HOLES! Obviously it is the connection with people rather than places that holds a place in your head and your heart.
ReplyDeleteOh yes! Big holes indeed. Art was shocked when he saw where I'd been because I'd told him I hadn't been to those places.
Deletehow cool to see!
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha to you from Honolulu-Side
Comfort Spiral
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Would be cooler if I could remember it.
DeleteWonderful phtos of a lovely young girl! Thank you for sharing! I love to read your account of your trip to Japan!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Wil. Tomorrow, I'll write about the next three weeks that I do remember.
DeleteAre you sure that's you in the photos? :D
ReplyDeleteA great read, lovely photos and treasured memories. Thank you for sharing these Kay.
ReplyDeleteYou are a lucky person with close and loving family.
ReplyDeleteKeep all good memories!
And treasure the beautiful photos.
Thank you, Gunn. Yes, I really am grateful for my family.
Delete