The Sanctity of a Museum Outing

May 1, 2025

Have you guys ever read American Gods? It wasn't really my cup of tea but a few things left an impression on me. I would say most notably for the purpose of this blog post is that roadside attractions are hot spots for gods in America. I see the comparison in some ways between roadside attractions and temples. They are constantly greeted by travelers who pay a small amount to see the marvels and are upkept by a few devoted. They often involve a history of great feats, important individuals, and are steeped in superstition.

But in America at least, most of these places are only accessible by car. They also tend to be a bit lackluster in general. In America I found my occasional quiet museums and conservatories and sights close around me. But in Japan my world has been vastly expanded to many historical garden, museums, old dusty shops of a particular niche, and much more.

My favorite thing to do on a day off is to put on a cute outfit (usually a kimono) and go to a little museum, bonus points if it's in the middle of nowhere. Today I put on a new shiny teal kimono with my seafood themed obi and went out to shokado garden and museum. In japanese it's 八幡市立松花堂庭園・美術館.

To be honest, despite what i said about Japan being more accessable, it was a total pain to get to. I had to take a train and a bus for a combined 50 min. Buses are cool but I'm always confused how to pay and how to hail them, it differs where you are and people get annoyed quickly when you don't know. Also the bus only came every 30 min and I missed one cause I realized I didn't have any change to get on.

But after 50 long minutes I was greeted by probably the highlight of my day. Right outside the bus stop was a vending machine for little handmade items that seemed to be made by a local art school maybe? I got a clam shaped fabric amulet, which I hung off of my obi. It was only ¥100!

The garden and museum was ¥1000 together, but you could enter either on separate tickets if you like. The garden was beautiful, the vibes were like the peak of picturesque japanese zen garden. Which makes sense because from what I understand it was owned by a well connected Buddhist monk in the Edo period. The azaleas were blooming, the koi were hungry as always, and there was even one of those bamboo fountains that makes a nice "plunk" sound as it tips over. There were 3 whole tea rooms in the garden, I'd like to go to one of the tea ceremonies they do there. You could also rent the garden for photoshoots, including cosplay and weddings! This meant I was using my time for a little peaceful walk as well as scoping out a potential engagement photo spot lol.

The museum outside of the garden was very small but still interesting. It was composed of two rooms, one with a display and video on the history of the owner and the estate. The other room held pieces of calligraphy and pottery, which the monk collected. A lot of them featured deer or lobsters. I'm not sure if that was part of the featured items or if he just really liked deer and lobster themed art. I really liked one vase (some tea ceremony thing for water I don't understand) that had beautifully designed lobsters for handles.

On the way home I wanted to do more, but I decided just to listen to disco music and appreciate the passing scenery en route. As a result I'm seized with the urge to find a disco club and dance my heart out.

I listened to a bald and the beautiful episode recently where Trixie and Katya briefly spoke about prayer. Trixie said something like "I don't necessarily think a god is listening, but it's a good way to center your thoughts and intentions". This wasn't a Buddhist shrine, and I'm not Buddhist at all anyways. But for me going out and exploring and taking the time to appreciate the art and environment that enriches me is a everyday pilgrimage.

Thanks for reading!