Tiwi Japanese Garden- Noboru & Hoshino

one balmy afternoon in the summer of ‘86, as was our usual wont in those days, we found ourselves hanging out at the Japanese Garden to pass the time, learning the chords of some folk songs to try to play them on the old acoustic guitar.

while we were singing, in the middle of doing a bit of the harmony part of Scarborough Fair in our best interpretation of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, out of the corner of my eye i saw a figure moving toward us. 

with a small book in hand, the first of the two men (who i could easily tell from looking at them were Japanese) approached us and asked us in halting English about what we knew about the garden while pointing to the Japanese tourist guidebook in his possession. 

i introduced myself and told them about the history of the garden — they were surprised at my Japanese name and at first thought that i was a descendant of a Japanese serviceman from WWII. so, i told them that i was the son of the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) who designed the Filipino-Japanese Friendship Garden, and when they asked for the whereabouts of my father since they were interested in meeting him, I brought them home with me to Basag to meet my father Akihiko, where they spent the entire afternoon conversing about various subjects over tea and sinapot. 

I would learn that Noboru and Hoshino were philanthropists who frequented the Philippines and were helping finance the scholarships of Filipino students in Baguio. I would also learn that it was also their first sojourn in Albay and traveled straight to Tiwi upon learning of the existence of the Japanese Garden from their guidebook issued by the tourism agency in Japan. 

When my father and mother went back to Japan a year later, they again met Noboru and Hoshino in Tokyo. The hosts entertained and treated the visitors from the Philippines to a side trip to Tokyo Disneyland among other things.

As for me, a month after my chance encounter with Noboru and Hoshino, i received a letter from Japan and inside was the photo below which shows 16-year-old me and my friends, Josel Cano and Jing Villanueva, trying to look cool and dandy in front of the camera.

The Inauguration of Tiwi Japanese Garden

This 1970s-era black & white photograph of the inauguration of Tiwi’s Japanese Garden shows then-Tigbi Barangay Captain Edgar “Etan” Competente and Mrs. Salvacion Climaco leading the traditional ribbon cutting ceremonies.

Also in the photo were some of the prime movers and supporters that played a part in the realization of the Filipino-Japanese Friendship Garden in the heart of Tiwi— Mrs. Patria C. Gutierrez, Mrs. Naomi C. Corral, Mrs. Caring Dalde, Rev. Fr. Francisco (Parish Priest), Dr. Tomas Madrilejos, Mr. Akihiko Shimizu, Mr. Gavino Consuelo, Mrs. Salvacion Templado, Mrs. Dading Competente, Mrs. Lydia Cruel, Mrs. Pilar Consuelo, Mrs. Lydia Rodriguez and Mr. Fred Cariño.

Built with local labor and designed by Akihiko Shimizu, a Japanese landscape artist who arrived in Tiwi in 1968, the Japanese Garden is styled after the traditional strolling gardens popular during Japan’s Edo Period (1603-1868).

Akihiko Shimizu was a ceramics technician and one of the pioneering members of the Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) in the Bicol Region, as well as the first of the continuous pipeline of JOCVs (now JICA) that were sent by the Japanese government to Tiwi through the years as ambassadors of Goodwill and Friendship with the mandate to share their knowledge and expertise with the people and their industries.

Naomi Climaco Corral (1992-1995) and Patria Competente Gutierrez (1996-2004), would both be elected and served as mayors of Tiwi decades after this picture was taken.

Vinegar Candy

It is hard to imagine especially for children that once upon a time, things as common and as ordinary nowadays as candy were luxuries. Unlike today, Tiwinhons with a sweet tooth during the early years of American colonization did not have very many opportunities to satisfy their sugar cravings.

So, what did they do? They improvised and made do with common, readily available household ingredients and a little help from some of their enterprising Home Economics school teachers, who would come up with novel ideas and turn them into recipes for their students to try later on.

Here is one of those recipes from a repository that I encountered while perusing some of my notes about the “Tiwi Society,” a group composed of proud and well-meaning Tiwinhons, circa 1900s.

Vinegar Candy

Ingredients- 2 tablespoonfuls of butter a cup of granulated sugar 1/2 cup vinegar

Method of Preparation:

Put the butter into a skillet; when it melts add the sugar and vinegar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, afterwards stir occasionally. Boil until, when tried in cold water the mixture will become brittle.

Turn the candy on to a battered platter to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, pull the candy until it is white. Hold the mass lightly with and pull with the tips of the fingers. Do not squeeze the candy in the hand. Cut the candy into small pieces using scissors. Arrange the pieces on a buttered plate or a banana leaf to cool.

Try them if you must. Will you be up to the challenge?

History of Tiwi Japanese Garden (first in a series)

In 1968, Akihiko Ando Shimizu, a Japanese ceramic technician from Toki City, Gifu Prefecture and a Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV), was assigned to Tiwi, Albay to provide technical assistance to local potters at the Tiwi Ceramics Pilot Plant. During his supervision of the construction of the kiln at the Tiwi Ceramics building, he saw a nearby vacant lot and the idea of a Japanese Garden came to his mind.

He then relayed his vision to Mayor Oriel C. Clutario and the good mayor was receptive of the idea, seeing its potential to become a lasting symbol of Filipino-Japanese Friendship in Tiwi. The good mayor, together with the Japanese volunteer, in turn met and consulted the Barangay Officials of Tigbi as well as other prominent citizens of the town and informed them of the proposed project, and the people ultimately responded with a collective effort to make the Japanese garden in the heart of Tiwi a reality.

Funds were sourced both from the local government as well as private contributions like donations and fundraising activites to purchase the necessary materials needed for the project.

Akihiko scoured Tiwi and its environs for plants that he deemed suitable for the garden, and the populace gladly contributed the plants that caught his fancy. He picked and chose the stone slabs from Bariis and Joroan and collected smaller stones and pebbles from the shores of Matalibong. Sacks of coral sands were also brought in from Corangon. Some of the larger rocks were taken from the riverbed in Nagas while some volcanic rocks were transported from the town of Santo Domingo, Albay.

Construction soon followed with the local government of Tiwi providing the logistics and manpower, and by the summer of 1969, work at the Tiwi Japanese Garden was finished.

The Japanese carps (Kois) and gouramis were purchased from Manila and donated by Akihiko, who personally transported them by plane (Air Manila) and bus from the capital to Tiwi.

Tigbi 1968

This was the view in 1968 that Akihiko Shimizu, a Japanese Peace Corps Volunteer, saw from the window of the Tiwi Ceramics building that sparked the idea of installing a Japanese Garden in the vacant lot beside it.

He then told Mayor Oriel C. Clutario about his vision and the good mayor was receptive of the idea. They in turn gathered the Barangay Officials of Tigbi as well as other prominent citizens of the town for the project and they responded with a collective effort to make the Japanese garden in the heart of Tiwi a reality.

When I was in high school, New Wave was in vogue especially in the cities. But in Tiwi, Slow Rock ruled, and my buddies loved the music of the German rock group, Scorpions. We learned how to play their songs on the acoustic guitar and sang our lungs out to Always Somewhere, No One Like You, In Trance, When the Smoke is Going Down, Still Loving You, and Rock You Like A Hurricane, just to name a few.

We decided to call our group "Basag 49ers" one summer night -- we would usually meet up at night at places like the premises of the Tiwi Rural Bank, at Queens Park, the Japanese Garden, and on most occasions on the sidewalks adjacent to the bridge along the national highway in Basag, to jam and pass the time like most teenagers would do at the time and stay out until the wee hours of the morning especially on weekends doing nothing but singing those high-pitched rock songs and tinkering with the old guitar.

I remember Awo (Emmanuel Canale) who could belt out those high notes like the lead singer Klaus Meine effortlessly while strumming his guitar. I remember a casual friend Aba (RIP) who sometimes joined us with his drum set fashioned out of nylon taffeta from old discarded umbrellas in tow. I remember the times when we would strain our eyes from trying to read the lyrics of songs from the list in "Songhits" magazines under the dim street lights.

And I remember the endless jokes and silly banter, as well as the occasional drinking sessions that we had but were kept under wraps because some of us didn't have a "lisensya" from our respective parents yet.

On September 6, 2007, which was more than a decade ago, I made a 2-hour drive to Pine Knob in Clarkston to attend the Detroit stop of the Scorpions Humanity Tour. I did it not only for a respite from the daily grind but also to relive the memories of my teenage years.

Here are two of the video clips from that concert which I stumbled upon while reviewing my archives of my old Gateway laptop this afternoon.

"Power, cheap power, not the kind politicians covet, is a must for national progress."

"Power, cheap power, not the kind politicians covet, is a must for national progress."

Not many people know that back in the early 70s the late Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino was already an advocate of geothermal energy. Yes, 46 years ago today on September 7, 1972, he wrote a three-part article on the subject in the Manila Times.

He wanted the government to harness "geothermal power" and called for the Commission of Volcanology (Comvol) after it successfully installed a "pilot experimental electric generator" in Cale, Tiwi, Albay to be placed under the aegis of the National Science and Development Board (now DOST).

The 2.5 kiloWatt turbine installed by the team of Comvol Chief Volcanologist Arturo Alcaraz caught the late senator's attention because of its potential to generate 500+ MWe.

Ninoy Aquino was fully aware about the Philippines' need to be "electrified" as evidenced by the constant brownouts in Metro Manila then. He averred that "electric power means lights for homes, schools and offices, and energy for farms, mills and factories" which will contribute to nation-building.

He also pointed out the pressing need because "it is even worse in the Visayas and Mindanao, more particularly in the deeper south where only the cities and a few of the bigger towns have electricity."

Thus, even during those times in the volatile days of the 1970s, Ninoy Aquino was still thinking of improving the quality of life of the Filipino people. He was far from the traitor and power-hungry politician that he was painted to be by the forces of the dictatorship years later. Alas, the declaration of Martial Law by President Ferdinand Marcos weeks later would put all of his ideas and plans in the freezer.

Among the places that were listed by Ninoy Aquino in the said article as promising for geothermal exploration and development were Mt. Malinao in Tiwi Albay, Mt. Makiling in Laguna, and Mt. Pinatubo in Zambales among others. The geothermal power plants in Tiwi and Makiling-Banahaw were realized and are part of what constitute as the Luzon Grid.

With the 1973 Global Oil Crisis taking its toll on the nation's energy situation, President Ferdinand Marcos embarked on an outside-funded nationwide energy exploration and electrification program and as they usually say, the rest is history.