February 6, 2005 - Another Ando Blitz "The White Knuckler"
Asai's first drive Provisional driver magnet. Ando's "Crystal Chapel" Entry corridor	Tim and I accepted an invitation from our friends Asai-san and Ling-san (two of Tim’s fellow lab-mates) to go and see several Ando buildings in the region. They were renting a car for the day so we could save some time and cover a lot of ground. Well, there was one thing they hadn't told us: Asai-san had just gotten his license and this was to be his 3rd time driving with it. While there are rigorous written tests in Japanese driving school, there is not much actual time behind the wheel, AND, in the land of tight parking spaces, they don't teach parking skills!!! Our first stop of the day was about a 30-minute drive up a windy mountain road. Never mind the hairpin turns or oncoming traffic, or gaping 16” deep drainage gutters, snow was falling from the sky and the morning chill was slowly warming to hopefully melt any residual ice in the shady spots. Yikes. Asai-san was busy learning about the subtleties of slowing before accelerating into curves, and not over-correcting after completing them. We arrived in frigid temperatures to be led into a frigid concrete wedding chapel. The Rokko Oriental Hotel Crystal Chapel was decorated with white flowers and snow. The surrounding grounds cheapened the clean lines of chapel a bit with plastic decorations and English-style garden arches. Oh, well… the mountain scenery was stark and lovely.
Asai's reaction to his second time parking a car - centered on the line and sticking out two feet... Ando's "Church of Light"	After descending the mountain (to many cries of 'Yukurri!' or 'Slowly!'), we headed for downtown Osaka. Brilliant. Our chosen route... by high-speed, pay highway (about $4.00 for 20 minutes of driving.) Once in Osaka, we held our breath through several near misses and near sideswipes. We closed in our destination with the help of our talking GPS system. Although Mrs. GPS occasionally blacked out and would not communicate, we only had to circle the neighborhood 3 times to find the blessed Church of the Light. Upon our arrival, we met an American architecture school graduate (from Pennsylvania), who was waiting for the church to open. She had made a reservation in advance, which she said was mandatory, for a 4:00 entry. At 4:10, the church staff were all in a meeting and showed no signs of breaking up. After another 10 or 15 minutes, a young man came ‘round from another little building and asked if we had permission to enter the church. Well, we tagged along with the American and said, 'Yes.' His response in broken English: 'Well, the church is meeting about their year-end finances and I have no idea when they will finish. You can go into the chapel, but not the rest of the building.' Then he disappeared. He was gruff. Ando won the Pritzker Architecture Prize after designing this tiny church, so it draws a fair amount of traffic into this residential neighborhood... people who are not really interested in its religious purpose. While we wandered through the tiny church, Asai-san was told that he was not allowed to park anywhere nearby. He spent another 15 minutes winding through the neighborhoods looking for a place were he could practice his fledgling parking skills. He returned completely drained. I really felt for him. We decided that we did not have enough time to make it to our third destination as we had spent some time being lost and having trouble parking. We headed for home. But first, what day with friends would be complete without stopping for a meal??? We encouraged Asai-san to perform a 3-point turn and we stopped for dinner at a restaurant where he had worked for 3 years. After a meal of all-you-can-eat rice and pickled bits, along with 3” long breaded fish (heads and bones included), we were dropped off in at our front door. It was excellent service. We waved them on with goodbyes and shouts of “Gambate!” (Keep up the hard work!) It was a great day that could only be described as an adventure. Was it fun? Was it life-threatening? Was it worth it? - Of course!!!

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