Inomoto the architect

Kevin had earlier mentioned this Buddhist monastery that had been designed by a Japanese architect.

Sophie, Kevin and I started walking to it. It was about an hour’s walk. We soon realised that we’d be walking on the main road, which had no paving. It was noisy and awkward avoiding the traffic. So we jumped in a taxi and, after an unexpected and unintended detour, we arrived at the monastery.

Very soon, we bumped into a friendly monk from Bhutan. He gave us an impromptu tour of the monastery. We three were mesmerised by these chimes, which sounded like some relaxing music.

After some selfies, we headed to the main building.

Kevin pointed out various architectural features. It was an interesting building, a fusion of Japanese design and Indian materials.

As we headed to the library, we saw a Japanese man sitting in the dining hall. We started talking to him. He (Inomoto) turned out to be a Japanese architect who worked with the original designer of the building. He said he received just three drawings from the original architect and had been expected to oversee the construction!

I asked Inomoto about the contrast between Japan and India. He said that sometimes Japan is stressful because of all the unwritten rules and etiquette. He illustrated the difficulty of navigating Japanese culture. For example, he said, a neighbour may tell you that your child’s piano playing is improving. That doesn’t mean they’re complimenting your child! Rather, the neighbour is saying that they can hear your child, which means the music is too loud! Therefore, instead of thanking them for appearing to compliment your child, you should apologise! Constantly reading between the lines must be stressful. And this is for someone who’s lived all his life in Japan!

In comparison, he said, India is much more relaxing. There’s a freedom and straightforwardness here that Japan doesn’t have.

Inomoto told us about the original design and showed us where, for practical reasons, he had to change the design. We asked about the melodic chimes. He said he’d ordered them from California!

In passing, Inomoto said that they were building a homestay/retreat for artists and whether we wanted to see it. Of course we did. The residence was about 20 minutes away. He called a car, which drove us there.

This new building was equally interesting. Inomoto gave us a guided tour of the whole building. The three buildings were arranged in a triangle. Three walls, one from each building, formed a triangular atrium. A roof was added to create an enclosed space.

There were so many subtle touches that added to the aesthetic. The rooms had wide clear glass windows that made you think you were outside. There was an indigo curtain, which I’d admired before Inomoto pointed it out. Things that seemed incidental had been deliberate elements of the design. Unsurprisingly, this reminded me of Japan. The simplicity of the outcome hid the amount of thought that had gone into the design.

There were Japanese baths, screens, paintings, and wooden furniture (made in India!).

Inomoto gave us some Indian tea. I’m not much of a tea drinker but this was delicious. It was Tulsi Original. Inomoto said it didn’t contain caffeine.

We returned to the monastery, where Inomoto showed us one last thing: the cinema!

Our original intention was to look around the monastery then chill out in the library. Now, we headed there. A woman asked us to sign in. She added that if we wanted to eat at the canteen with the other residents, we should tell the cook. Inomoto did that on our behalf and confirmed that the meal was mostly vegan.

After a brief visit to the library upstairs, we sat in the dining area, which was a nice relaxing place. I taught Sophie some origami, which she wanted to learn after seeing some earlier. We also flicked through two books on Japanese design and architecture.

This took us to dinner time. We had so far spent five hours at the monastery and the artists’ homestay!

Dinner was simple but very satisfying. We were all hungry. We all went back for second and third helpings! The paratha was so delicious you could eat it on its own!

During our meal, Inomoto came for his dinner. We asked him to join us. The Bhutanese monk also joined us. We asked him questions about reincarnation. Since we couldn’t speak Tibetan and his English wasn’t that good, Inomoto acted as translator.

By the time we finished, it was almost 9pm! We contemplated walking back (about an hour) but didn’t fancy it in the dark. Inomoto called us a taxi. When we asked the fare, we learnt that this was not a taxi but the car for monastery staff! Inomoto said we didn’t need to pay. He said he wanted to treat us to dinner but we had paid for that. So he treated us to a free taxi ride.

It had been an unbelievable day and completely different from what we had planned. We were so lucky to have bumped into Inomoto. He was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. We’d learnt so much from him.