One of the foremost Western celebrities with a particular connection to Kyoto was British philosopher and entertainer, Alan Watts. He has appeared previously on this blog in a 4-part series extracted from his autobiography, but a 2012 biography sheds a different light on the man and adds some further insight into his attachment to Kyoto. In Zen Effects: The Life of Alan Watts (p.172-3), Monica Furlong writes…
During the years 1960-1965 Alan Watts visited Japan two or three times a year, escorting tourists to Kyoto. He was helped in the practical chores of tour guiding by Gary Snyder, who had extensive knowledge of the country; installed in his monastery, he sorted out accommodation and currency problems for Watts and gave him a welcome bolt-hole from the responsibility of looking after his charges. Snyder was by this time advanced enough in Zen studies to be able to discuss some of the things Watts was curious about, such as what went on in the silence of a Zen monastery, for example, and how the system was structured. Snyder introduced Watts to his roshi and to some of the head priests, and arranged for him to attend lectures at the monastery, as well as some of the ceremonies, which Watts enjoyed tremendously.
Snyder was not his only contact in the city, for Watts also knew Ruth Fuller Sasaki to whose daughter he had been married. She had taken over an unused subtemple in Daitoku-ji and was well established (see here). During the 1960s Watts gradually loosened up from the British reserve with which he had arrived in California. He took LSD with Timothy Leary and was influenced by the hippie movement. ‘I got to like him more and more, even though I realized he was getting naughtier and naughtier.’ says Snyder. Along with his womanising went an increasing use of alcohol, to the extent that he became an alcoholic.
Watts spoke only a little Japanese, enough to order taxis and order food, but he felt at home in Kyoto. He was fascinated by the tea ceremony and liked to browse shops for materials for ‘ink and brush meditation’. His favourite place was Teramachi with its array of small shops selling antiques, tea items, Buddhist goods and calligraphy accessories. On one of his visits, he came with his newly-wed third wife, Jane, and together they meditated on the forested slope behind Nanzen-ji. On another occasion they took LSD together, serving each other in sake cups in the manner of a sacrament.
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To read more about other celebrities connected with Kyoto, please see the following:
Edward Bramwell Clarke (pioneer of rugby)
Lafcadio Hearn (six stories)
(Charlie Chaplin’s visit to Kyoto is covered in Donald Richie’s The Honorable Visitors, p.105. David Kidd, William Gilbey and Harold Stewart are covered by Alex Kerr in a piece for Echoes, the WiK Anthology no. 2, page 55-62, published in 2017.)
To learn about the love of Steve Jobs for Kyoto, see here. For his love of woodblock prints, see here. For his love of Japanese ceramics, see here.
To read how Henry Stimson saved Kyoto from atomic destruction, see this BBC piece.
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