The Voyages of YA-GI-TA-NI 1983-2006
YAGITANI Ryōko
Last Updated 24 SEP. 2011
1983 July: London & T. E. sites
First time abroad, via Singapore. Staying B&B and YWCA, traveled around by myself in London, Oxford, Portsmouth, Dorchester by coach. Visited T. E. sites, including Clouds Hill and T. E.'s grave by bicycle from Moreton Station. Looked at English doctors (GP).Spots Marked: Everything.
Something Remembered: My horribly poor English (I could speak German better than English then.); After I went home, I would recalled each memory of this trip, day after day, for over a year.
1989 March: London, Manchester & Cambridge
To see the Lawrence of Arabia exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Also made a day visit to GRANADA STUDIOS TOUR in Manchester. Sat out plays, The Secret of Sherlock Holmes and Late Joys (traditional Victorian Music Hall) in West End.Spots Marked: heffers Booksellers, Cambridge
Something Remembered: Too cold everywhere; I was out of condition.
1990 June-July: London, Exeter & Ireland
Rented a car and took a day drive to Somerset from Exeter, accompanied by a Japanese friend, who had just been to the grave of Rupert Brooke in Greece. Met other friends in London.Joined a seven-day coach tour of Ireland from Dublin, with a pro-Japanese couple from LA, schoolmistresses (Quakers) from York and a French girl with her parents. (I was the only Japanese on the tour.) Stopped off at Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.
Spots Marked: Highclere Castle, Hampshire; the grave of Aubrey Herbert
Something Remembered: Meeting friends abroad is wonderful!; none of English speakers could pronounce my name; gloomy weather in Ireland; a little girl-beggar on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin.
1991 March: Manila, Philippines
Stayed at a friend's residence in Makati, Manila. Enjoyed playing tennis and meeting many Japanese representatives & habitants. Since then, revisited Manila three times (1992-93) and came to know a Philippino family.Spots Marked: Baguio City (1992 Dec.)
Something Remembered: My birthday lunch at the Manila Hotel (1991); HOT weather; a great gap between rich and poor; guards with guns; streetchildren.
1991 June: London, Southern England & Dublin
![[York St., Dublin]](imagejpg/yorkst.jpg){kind=small}
The most impressive one, since my father accompanied me and we took a drive in the South & West country using 8mm video. Visited Clouds Hill again and handed the Japanese version of Images of Lawrence to Mrs Knowles. Stayed at a B&B on Polstead Road, Oxford. After my father took a flight to Tōkyō, I went to Dublin alone and spent three days there. Visited York Street to find the house Bob Lawrence was born.Spots Marked: Rye; Sissinghurst Castle garden; the grave of Evelyn Waugh.
Something Remembered: Beautiful scenery of the country; one could be tired of beautiful scenery!; I decided NEVER to go abroad again with a non-English speaker.
1994 March: London & Oxford
This year's theme was Samuel Pepys, a 17th century diarist, and wandered around his sites in London. Paid a visit to the Oxford County Library and watched a T. E. video. Met a Japanese friend whose husband is an English barrister. Consulted a Japanese doctor.Spots Marked: The RAF Museum & YAOHAN Plaza (a Japanese supermarket, now called 'Oriental City'), Hendon; Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch.
Something Remembered: Oh, Doctor, your voice carries so well... While in the waiting room we could hear everything about your patient's condition!
1995 May: Los Angeles
![[TE statue]](imagejpg/009.jpg)
Attend the T. E. conference of at the Huntington Library, California with Ms HAMADA Sumiko (co-translator of Images of Lawrence) and met many notable Lawrencians including Philip O'Brien, Edwards Metcalf, Malcolm Brown, Janet Riesman, Cliff Irwin and Jack Duckworth. After HAMADA went back to Tōkyō alone, I enjoyed having tennis lessons and going to several Christian churches in Pasadena: the genesis of my church-going era.(photo: from Mr Metcalf's collection)Spots Marked: The Huntington Library; Phil's study (a treasure house!); Barnes & Noble, Pasadena; YAOHAN, Little Tōkyō.
Something Remembered: The BENIHANA restaurant is NOT a Japanese restaurant!!
2004 June: England, Wales, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Paris
Enjoyed (a touching) reunion in York with Mr & Mrs Jack Duckworth. Visited T. E.'s birthplace in North Wales and Shaw's Corner (Ayot St. Lawrence). Landed on Europe soil for the first time in my life!Visited many churches, attended many services including Masses in Latin -- London: Russian Orthodox Church, Holy Trinity Brompton, The London Oratory, Regent Hall, Westminster RC Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, William Booth College, Corpus Christi Church (Covent Garden). England: Chester Cathedral, St Albans Cathedral. Antwerp: De Kathedraal. Paris: Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Ste. Chapelle, Eglise St Julien le Pauvre, Eglise Saint Severin, etc., etc... Six years later, I found ALL of the digital images I took on this trip were disappeared. It broke my heart.
Spots Marked: See above.
Something Remembered: June brides at churchs on Saturday in June. London is for tourists, Paris for lovers. How awful the Japanese yen has declined against GBP & Euro!
2006 April: London
Only four nights stay in London. Enjoyed reunion again with Mr Jack Duckworth, visited Lawrence of Arabia Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum together (Sadly, this was the last I would see of Jack in life). Attended Easter service at All Saints Church, Margaret Street, London.Spots Marked:Easter Garden.
Something Remembered:Messiah on Good Friday at Royal Albert Hall. A solitary cell-like small London hotel room. British Airways' World Traveller Plus seat.
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