Field Notes

Carmen, the innkeeper Deceased

Francisco Valbuena Deceased

A local painter. He supported us, in every way, from the day we met until his last.

Vicente

The innkeeper's eldest son. He has looked after us ever since we first met, when he was fourteen, and does so still.

Andrés

Former director of the town’s "House of Culture." The central figure who gave full support to our exhibition in Campo.

Miguel (the former editor)

Former editor of El Mundo, one of Spain’s three major newspapers. He once featured us in a newspaper article.

Miguel (the French teacher)

Son of the late Francisco Valbuena. As if carrying on his father's path, he still paints today. Highly cultured, and someone we can always rely on.

Carmen (a relative of the family)

A relative of Carmen the innkeeper. She appears often in Sachiko's paintings, and of everyone we came to know there, she was the one we grew closest to.

Mr. Takahashi

A dependable friend who volunteers as a guide whenever a Japanese group visits the windmill hill in Campo.

The Mayor and Local Officials

An exhibition connected to the Crown Prince has already been held twice in this town (the second to mark the 150th anniversary of Japan–Spain friendship). Looking ahead, I picture a "Museum of La Mancha" — a fitting addition to this land tied to Don Quixote.

A Recommended Afternoon Drive

• Leave Campo → the Hill of the Virgin, where there is a small chapel, the ermita.
• Continue 13 km east to El Toboso, birthplace of Dulcinea, Don Quixote's beloved (population roughly 3,600).
• Double back west along the highway toward Alcázar, taking in the sweeping farmland along the way (stop the car now and then to enjoy it).
• From Alcázar, head to the hill with the four windmills (visible even from Campo itself) — the view to the northeast from the top is superb.
• After visiting, return to Campo de Criptana (about 8 km).

Recommended Bars

Bar Atila (Attila)

A memorable place we often visited with Carmen, the innkeeper. Named after Spain's legendary phantom horse. The bar snack orejas (pig's ears) are excellent.

Bar Andrés

A bar we've long relied on, well loved locally. It sits right next to Bar Los Molinos.

Advice on Food and Ordering

Chorizo

Buy a small one at the supermarket and eat it with bread — excellent.

Chuleta

A small grilled bone-in chop. Delicious.

Bocadillo

A filled bread roll — affordable, warm, and satisfying. The one filled with fried calamari is both the cheapest and the best.

A Note on Ordering Jamón (Cured Ham)

Do not order jamón the way you would an ordinary dish. Once, an enormous platter arrived that was hard to finish — the portion and presentation are difficult to judge in advance.

Getting Around, Safety, and Security

• Be thorough and careful about keeping track of your keys.
• Traffic rules can change, so stay alert (drunk driving is strictly forbidden).
• Foreigners, whether in a car or on foot, are easy targets — stay attentive at all times.

On Valbuena's "Dead Self-Portrait"

If my own paintings were ever to hang in a museum, then — on the very stage of the Spanish Don Quixote, as a work that deserves to be shown accurately and truthfully — the late Valbuena's "Dead Self-Portrait" should be there too. It is the image he painted of his own body after death, rendered with the terrible force of dead, decaying wood. I believe it may be the first work of its kind in the history of art, though it is now said to be lost.

"White," and the Difference Between Japanese and European Sensibility

One of the "walls" standing between my paintings and the local painters and audience there is the treatment of white. However many times I explain it, it is hard for them to grasp — to them, white seems to carry a strong sense of "print" or "blank paper."

The West

Parchment

Japan

Fine washi paper

Korea

Thick white leather

There is a real difference in formal philosophy here: white moves toward the sun (woodblock print, painting), while black moves down into the earth (etching, and the like).