Day One of the Competition

The competition was a amazingly well run and a pure pleasure. It started on Saturday May 31 with a free carving in the morning. Here's what I carved sans the flowers.




"The Bear" now resides at the Toei Chainsaw Art Club. Please visit.

Around noon the carvers gathered to hear inspirational words from the mayor and other dignitaries of the area. They were my kind of speeches short but meaningful. I was given a copy of the speeches written in English. The one line I like stated we were to do our best in this competition, bring all of our skills and try to surpass them in this competition. It was a rather serious part of the comp.









Saturday Afternoon we carved funtional item that was auction off to support the event. I carved a dove chair and Ross carved a Buddha Bear Bench. I have no picture of the chair but here's Squirrel's bench.



and here is a funtional item from a gentlemen named Goro who is a famous Japanese print maker and a truly wonderful dude. It is wearable...



So by the end of the carving Day on Saturday I had figured out a few things. One strange saws in a strange land are awkward and require special attention. Two Japanese cedar is softer than any wood I have ever carved and if you sneeze while cutting it you will over cut your mark. Three I really like having an anouncer saying my name while I carve(Did I just type that?) Four Japanese carvers are hungery for a good competition and good comeradery. And finally, Brian Ruth can eat more raw fish than any one (thus he was nicknamed "the walrus" by Ross) and can performance carver like a crazy man.

Saturday was Brian's 50th B-day. He entertained the crowd by carving a crane while the Toei Tyko drummers played. A lone flute started playing. Then the drummers started banging and the first saw started. There were chips flying and drummers drumming.





Then what is this!!!



I know it hard to see but that's a saw in each hand. After carving with two saws for atleast fifteen minutes, he complete's the heron with a cut between the upper and lower beak. He drops the saw and starts drumming. Crazy. Happy Fiftieth Brian.

Here are some photo's from the party that night. Goro, Ross and another carver.

Japan Ichiban

Whew. After a returning home sick on June 5th and being trounced by jet lag, and a weeks worth of inquiries I am back.

First my travel experience in Japan was amazing. The people, culture, and food were overwhelmingly charming. I wanted to stay forever.

I had the good fortune of traveling with and hope to do so again with Ross Olson or The Flying Squirrel. Squirrel is a crazy great carver known for is ability to carve intense and whimsical gestures. As well as being a level headed wild man. You must visit his Studio in Hackensack, MN just around 10 miles south of Walker, MN. He is a true artist and can turn wood in to all sorts of cool. Here he is in Chiba our first night in Japan. He actually looked like that that night a big schmear in between the lights.

This trip was an adventure from the inception. Both Ross and I felt drawn to go but intellectually it made no sense. We would be embarking on this trip during a highly productive time. Being from Minnesota we only get a few months to carve in nice weather. But it was spring and things seem as if they would be fine so we booked our tickets and just decided to go.

Oops. I somehow got confused and booked in to Narita airport and not Nagoya airport. So we ended up five hours away from Toei the town we would be competing in. I decided we could just take trains to Toei but luckily for us the Toei Chainsaw Art Club arranged a ride for us with the incredible Mr. Karita. Who as a side note just won 1st place at a competition in Chetwynd, BC, Canada. He also took 2nd in Toei. here he is with his piece.

Karita is an awesome carver, great driver and he was a especially good at filling us in on the many Japanese customs and social graces that Ross and I would never have figure out on our own. Karita Ichiban Subarashi.

So from Narita airport Ross and I were given directions on how to get to Chiba and an awaiting hotel room. I realized early as many first time international travelers do the reality of culture shock. I find it amusing. I love the ackwardness of misunderstanding. So I relished it when the young lady that was quizzing me at the immigration desk looked like she regretted letting me in to the country when I could not answer as to the address I was staying at in Japan. I only knew I would be in the green house in Toei, Japan. Later outside I found out Toei is the word for "far". I know I look like a nut and I am sure that confirmed it for her. Her report probably read shifty american going to far away Japan to a green house. She seriously shuttered as she let me pass and I just snickered.

So we took an hour train ride to Chiba and checked in to the hotel. Ate some sushi and crashed.

The next morning wide awake 4am Chiba, Flying Squirrel, crows, ravens, breakfast and public art in no particular order.















After we enjoyed our first Japanese breakfast of a hamburger in the most wonderful brown sauce with a lightly cooked egg(what comes before sunnyside up?) on top complete with rice, miso soup, and a salad the big question was "Does Mr. Karita know we have two big suitcases and 2 small suit cases and what size car does he drive?" Looking around at the vehicles on the streets of Chiba most cars would fit four people very uncomfortably without any luggage or carving gear. hmmmmmmmmmm...........