A night out

Down in Ebisu it's Jazz night in a local bar - and Anna is the main act - well she's the only act.

She was in Tehran when I was there but we figured we had only met about once. She remembered my nose tho'! The lack of hair is from alopecia

Two of my flatmates from Tehran days - Paul in the back and Grae (who I stayed with) in the front. They are both longtime Tokyo residents and English teachers

And because I've never known a jazz singer before I took a couple of clips

another day, another park

This was Asakusa - another heavily tourist-patronised area - which means lots of shops.

I found some great 'tabi' shoes - they have a split for the big toe - and then with a separate 'wrap' for the calf they turn into boots - the perfect way to complete my ninja outfit. Now I just need some cold weather so I can actually wear it.

I always like it when I see women getting some public recognition - look at that lovely face

more in the park

knowing nothing I was intrigued by the halo on the statue above
here at the entrance, after washing hands, one throws money into the big box and then pulls on the rope to hit the gong, then I forgot the last bit which was to clap my hands - does that mean my prayers get ignored?
Ueno Park has quite a few homeless guys - apparently it is not so easy help them as they find great shame in admitting their plight. But with the elctions coming I think this was about someone making promises.

Omn a hot day the trees and their shade were bliss

My favourite image

A change of scene

Headed for Ueno Park to see some trees and temples.

The big pond with lotus plants that were HUGE

and of course - the pedal boats

Back to school

After a lovely 7 day quarantine post Japan I started back at school last Wednesday - we had our last summer 'camp' that ran for 3 days for parents - all 5 of them. I was pretty anxious about it - not being sure what their English would be like and trying to taper a program to suit. We kept it low key and I took it as a plus when they asked if we would schedule another in winter break - bless their cotton socks!

Officially the new term kicks off tomorrow.

I've had a quiet weekend trying to catch up with emails and keep up the Korean study - I found I forgot a lot just by being away 10 days.

I've been having a problem with posting photos from the latter part of Japan - I'll have a nother try now...

Shinjuku scenery

The trek to find the Nikon Salon (as they call their galleries) was thru' the CBD part of Shinjuku.

Tokyo's version of the gherkin?

The 'salon' was on the 28th Floor so it was a good way to get some more shots form higher up
You can just see a bit of Shinjuku Station in the foreground.
Click on the one above to see the daycare playground
and here is a cemetary?. Lots of the buildings had the 'stepped back' look on the upper levels. It had started with some being specifically to comply with building envelope restrictions (to allow for a certain amount of sunlight) - but the look had caught on and many were like that purely for aesthetics.

Small but perfectly formed

Going to a museum or a gallery is a bit like a lucky dip. This one, the Hara Museum, was away from the hub of Tokyo and a long walk form the station with few signposts. But it was in a lovely neighbourhood, down this quiet leafy street, Burmese Embassy at the end and reeked of money. I saw a Testarossa parked in someone's garage.

The building was built in the 30's by Watanabe and it had a glorious collection. Couldn't take photos inside but there were pieces by Yves Klein, Christian Boltanski, Gilbert & George, Ai WeiWei as well as some other newer works and a stunning video/computer generated imagery by Cao Fei of an idealised city - actually I should google it to see if there is more to be seen. It was called 'RMB City: A Second Life City Planning' I think - or something similar.
Outside there was this by Sol Lewitt

and this by Kimiyo Mishima

and this by Minami Tada

and I forgot who did this one....

Photos and people

Today, after being woken by another aftershock, I visited The Tokyo Metropoliotan Museum of Photography. This large images outside the entrance were impressive - the top one is a famous Robert Capa shot.

And then on to Shibuya - the guidebook described it as 'ground zero for youth culture'.

Coming out of the station into Shibuya Crossing the first encounter is with Hachiko - famous for his daily station visits that continued a further 10 years after his owner had died.

He had a very worn look from so much stroking.

More images...

and a couple of movies from Shibuya Crossing. It was heaving with people and noise.

Ai Wei Wei

The show at the Mori Art Museum was an Ai Wei Wei retrospective - he's Chinese - also designed the 'Birds Nest' stadium for Beijing Olympics .

This was called Snake Ceiling - a simple click (or double click) on the image should enlarge it.

A series of eclipses...

Photos on the floor - very effective

And he even designed this chandelier for the museum

More art and architecture

This was the National Art Centre. I forked out $25 for a Lalique exhibition that was a bit underwhelming. The building was interesting. The permanent collections pretty naff - art society style !

Note their version of the Eiffel Tower. You'll see it again shortly

Outsude the Mori Art Museum - a Louise Bourgeois work

The actual museum is on the 52nd floor and I was advised to go at night (thanks Sue) so I could then get my Tokyo-by-night shots