Weeks 7/8

The past weeks were a little different, I was off for the new years period for a total of 7 days, which meant more time to explore, bot also more time to lie in bed and do nothing in particular. I'll go though the days rather quickly, and this should be a prototype of how my travelling posts will go when I finish my work entirely.

30th December  - Rural life around Fujisawa

I walked from Chogo to Ofuna, a route I usually get the train on. The walk was about 2 hours, and it was very interesting to see the semi-rural life on the fringes of the city.

The low, flat farmland is concentrated in the land around the rivers. Railways and rivers are basically parallel, and a walk from train station to river crossing is a fast gradient from 8 story flats and pachinko arcades to farmland, parks (baseball pitches placed strategically in high-risk floodlands), and rural shrines.

The walk ended up in Ofuna, with a view over another large (but less historic) giant buddha statue.

New Years Eve - Tokyo

Nightlife photography, for a number of reasons, is not my forte; but New Years eve was spent eating Nabemono at one of my european colleagues houses, before a brief train journey to the fringes of Tokyo Disney Resort to see the new years fireworks.

A couple of us then went into deepest Shibuya to get a taste of the nightlife.

In Japan, Christmas is couples night, and New Years is family night; which means the clubs and city centres were actually surprisingly full of people of european descent, Students, Expats, US Servicemen. The night finished with am uncharacteristically misguided walk back to the train station at 7 am.

2nd January - Tokyo

Shinbashi, Skyscraper city

Monday began with a scoot round Shinbashi, one of the many dense clusters of skyscrapers in Tokyo.

The real reason I dound myself in this area, however was to witness this beauty.

The Nakagin Capsule Tower

The icon of Metabolism - the famous late modernist 70's architecture movement, the Nakagin Capsule tower was finished in 1972 and designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa. Conceptually, the building is a system of tiny pod-like living spaces mounted around a double core of stairs and services.

And tiny they are. Cleary this building is to a large extent pioneering, but sadly,  it is in a state of disrepair and potential demolition.

Demolition was approved in 2007 by the required 80% of residents, and repairs were stated to be at around £50,000 per capsule. The hot water to the building was shut off in 2010. 

The building is clearly not without signifiant minor and major problems, including squalor, inefficient use of space, and oversight between capsules (seen here avoided by these unsightly window shades).

But I think we should aim to preserve the all of the most iconic architecture, from the greek classics to the most grotesque postmodernism and brutalism, as all serve as a look at the past and a significant cultural and physical stamp in time.

Ueno park, museum city

Ueno Park is a district to the north east of Tokyo, which houses a significant number of the most important museums (think South Kensington). My first stop, for reasons equally architectural and cultural, was Le Corbusier's Museum of Western Art.

Despite the monolithic exterior, in a way I am beginning to understand as quintessentialy Le Corbusier, is a rather sculptural and dramatic interior.

Yes, there are also paintings and stuff. Some of my favourites like Sisley and Ruisdael, some by Corbusier him self (is he seriously considered an artist?), and, this ones for you Granny, some of Monet's Water Lilies.

Another Corbusier tribute was the Chaise Longue in the cafe area.

The next stop was the Tokyo National Museum, a gigantic complex, the main gallery of which takes you through the highlights of Japanese style arts.

It was undergoing a period of New Years celebrations, and there was a parade with a person in a wooden mask politely 'kissing' people in the crowd (I got one!).

In line with my vague idea, and in sharp contrast to the western art I had been looking at just before, the Japanese art was not centred around our idea of traditional painting and sculpture.

The folding screens are a personal favourite, minimally adorned but with care and precision, these reflect a lot of what we see to day in the form of minimalism and the gestalt theories regarding negative space.

Painted straight from ink to paper, despite the lack of apparent complexity, there is no forgiveness in this method, as with the calligraphy, it is easy to put together roughly, but to get such expressive and representational pictures out of such a small amount of brush strokes I imagine would require years of mastery.

I have actually been doing a little calligraphy in my own time, and I am beginning to fully understand the difference between professional Japanese brush calligraphy and bad handwriting!

There were many other wares of interest:

Masterfully painted fans (which may or may not have actually been used as fans).

Some inspiring examples of Japanese craftsmanship.

The expressive armour of the samurai.

And Japanese portraits. 

As I have said before, there is an amazing difference between Japanese and Western styles. It is only later on, during the time of 'Dutch Studies' in the 18th century that the Japanese would begin to even think about painting the entirety of a sheet of paper. There are definitely examples of color and decorative flourish though, the Kimono on display (of which I didn't get a photograph) are wonderfully and expressively detailed and colourful. There is also an important difference in what is considered art, Japanese mediums of expression are very often everyday objects (or at least functional in some sense), whereas most western art, which was distinct from 'craft' for the vast majority of history, is individual paintings and sculptures, which are obtained, consumed and collected.

3rd January - Inamuragasaki

Tuesday, and to Inamuragasaki, another beachside location on the coast of the Sagami bay. I was greeted by a rather large hawk, who flew straight for me and my box of sushi, leaving me confused, and my dinner all over the floor.

I came here on the way to Kamakura, but was feeling lazy, and the mass of photographers here suggested my time was better spent walking down the beach in search of more sunset photographs, which I know are well received on this blog.

4th January - Roppongi and Shinjuku

Back to Tokyo, this time with a friend who wanted to see the exhibition at 21 design sight. In the meantime, I went to the Suntory Museum of art, part of the vast Tokyo Midtown complex.

There was an exhibition on the Akita Ranga style of art. Which, in contrast to Tuesdays explorations, is the 17th century influence and adaptation of the rangaku (Dutch studies) into Japanese art. The exhibition centred on  Odano Naotake and his peers, and we can see in this famous example, the adoption of fuller colour and accurate perspective into the Japanese tradition.

I was most surprised however, with this depiction of Shichirigahama, very familiar!!

After that, we went up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government tower, which is free to get up, for some views of Tokyo as the sun set.

And so concludes the end of this weeks festivities. This is a very special weekend, as my girlfriend will be coming, and so begins the start of the tour. Expect a lot more 'we', some re-visiting of special places, but most importantly, more adventures!