May 30, 2007
At the Mingeikan (Folk Craft Museum)
In Tokyo I went to the Mingeikan to check out an Edo-era banner exhibit. 90% of the work was made for boy’s day (or what is now known as children’s day in Japan – May 5). I was looking at the embroidery pretty closely and taking notes (gosh, I’m so geeky when it comes to stuff like this), and an elderly gentleman came over to talk to me. At first I thought he was a docent, but turns out he was the collector. All the pieces in the exhibit were his! He was so kind and knowledgeable… he even does all the repair work himself. We had a very patient and slow conversation in English where I learned a lot. He was so excited that a gaijin (foreigner) was interested in the work, but I was just so excited he was even there to talk to! I continually feel so lucky to be on this trip.
Posted by lastern at 04:42 AM | Comments (0)
Lean on me
Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa
Posted by lastern at 04:38 AM | Comments (1)
May 29, 2007
traveling photos
brief photo montage of some of my wandering from the past few days
Posted by annstew at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2007
andre the giant has a posse...
...in Japan too! i took this photo waiting at a crosswalk across the street from the Danish Embassy in Shibu-yu, Tokyo.
Posted by blakelys at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2007
tokyo is ________.
wanted to at least give you a visual update on time spent in tokyo. in a rush to get on a train. will fill you in on the blanks later.
Posted by afinelli at 07:30 PM | Comments (1)
May 26, 2007
BOOKS!
BOOKS In COLLEX
5/27 at collex SPEAKFOR a gallery in Shibu-yu, Tokyo
a show featuring limited edition/rare books by:
Herb Lubalin, Max Huber, Paul Rand, J.Muller-Brockmann, Wim Crouwel, Bruno Munari, & 亀倉雄策, etc. it was heavenly. thank you tokyo.
Posted by blakelys at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2007
capturing...
chuck-san as he captures...taken at the Itsukushima Shrine on Mijajima island (located in the Hiroshima Bay.) The shrine is believed to be constructed in the year 593; a very similar shrine to the current was built in 1168 during the Heian period. Painted in vermilion, the shrine is built on the water, on the border between Mountain Misen and the Seto Inland Sea.
Posted by blakelys at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2007
local flavor
Hiroshima is famous for its traditional Japanese Pancake (Okonomiyaki) which consists of eggs, cabbage, noodles, bacon, a thin dough, scallions, and worcester sauce. The combination might sound a little strange but it is tasty and fun to watch the cooks prepare on a hot griddle.
Posted by annstew at 06:15 PM | Comments (0)
hiroshima mon chagrin d'amour.
the day was heavy for most of us, as we visited hiroshima peace memorial park and museum, and the atomic bomb dome. i did not take any photographs or recordings, i made a conscience effort to do so-- i'm not exactly sure why, but it felt right to me. i will remember the feeling i had as i walked throughout the city without the reminder of a photograph. a haunting place, but new and full of life. i've never visited a place that so much had been taken from, perhaps it is my youth, but i just didn't know how to handle it. i learned so many detailed facts today, but the overall lesson was so familiar, war and destruction will never be a solution to any problem.
Posted by afinelli at 11:26 AM | Comments (1)
naoshima: an island for art or art for an island?
spent the last two days at naoshima island, the site of the benesse art site. we took a number of trains to uno and then finally a ferry to the island. this beautiful place has been home to locals well before it was claimed as an island for art. privileged art seekers drop in everyday, most take the ferry over as we did, as do a number of workers who come to the island daily for their jobs, mainly construction it seemed.
in the two days that we spent there, we saw most of the art the island had to offer, but not much beyond that. some of the work was interesting, and some even tried to integrate the community somewhat, like Tatsuo Miyajima's 'sea of time', which was part of the art house projects. even though this was the most engaging work to me, it did not reach beyond a single encounter with people.
perhaps this work is important to some, but it was not important to me. it left me wondering how important it was to the majority of the people that live on naoshima, and have lived there before it was turned into an exclusive art destination for those that keep art high and out of reach of so many.
maybe i'm being a bit too scathing in my review-- the island is beautiful, the people are charming, found some comfort and good food in a local cafe, and swimming was great even though the water was cold.
Posted by afinelli at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2007
retired weapons
found this calendar about retired weapons in a small book store/gallery. each month features a retired weapon generating new life in the form of flowers blooming from the weapon's opening. a fitting transition as we travel on/into hiroshima...
Posted by blakelys at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)
チンドン屋 chindonya
the other day, catherine, charles and i teamed up with a local chindonya band to promote our exhibition. the band leader filled me in on the history of chindonya, she recently graduated from shiga prefecture's school of human culture, where she wrote her thesis on chindonya bands. the name chindonya comes from the sounds that the drum that is played makes, 'chin' goes the little gong, 'don' goes the drum head.
this type of performance has been dated back to over 300 years-old; however, within the last 200 years the chindonya performance has been linked with advertising. a musical commercial of sorts, where signs were waved to bring business to a store. ever since television became popular the sight of a chindonya band has become a rare thing. yet, from my brief participation they seem like a great way to remind people of the past, as we received many nostalgic smiles. we mostly played traditional songs with the exception of a few american tunes, my favorite being 'you are my sunshine', made me smile lots and lots.
Posted by afinelli at 03:51 PM | Comments (1)
more things you don't see everyday
samurai warrior on bike
Posted by annstew at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
how bazaar
morning at the market in Kyoto
Posted by annstew at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
Never be surprised where you find yourself...
Yep, there are stars painted on my face and we are standing in front of Bambi and Thumper.
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May 19, 2007
work day
our first internatational installation collaboration in progress
Posted by annstew at 06:41 AM | Comments (0)
Priority Seating: Kyoto to Hikone
Posted by lastern at 05:41 AM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2007
searching for hasaka.
today catherine san and i visited an older couple who live in the hasaka area. we had become really intrigued by the history of the hasaka people. after the 1896 flood disaster which destroyed over 856 homes in the area, many people temporarily relocated and searched for work outside of the area.
Kondo san was born in canada in 1923 and returned to japan in 1930 to attend elementary school. even though his father would return every year as a salmon fisherman in vancouver. and though his brother now lives in toronto, he never returned to his birthplace. the hasaka area was once home to many people that would migrate to canada (which was referred to as America) yearly for work, out of this 'hasaka english' was born, an interesting dialect that appropriated many english words into japanese.
it was amazing to learn the history of one person, but also a region of people. the Kondo couple were beautiful people that reminded us of our own grandparents. my heart swelled a number of times listening to them, and just observing them. it is huge to realize that love is real. i will hold with me the image of them waving until we could no longer see one another.
Posted by afinelli at 03:37 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2007
kyoto.
Posted by afinelli at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)
Celebrity-san
Each day here seems to always bring something totally unexpected. Today we moved our status from local tourist attraction to national celebrities. Charles and I drove the velo-taxis around Hikone castle.
The owner of the taxi company told the local newspaper that would be driving the taxis. They came to do an interview which spread to the tv station which kept growing from there. In the end, there were 7 people taking our pictures as well as 2 video cameras. Since I am a little shy around cameras, it definitly was a little awkward for me. However, Charles worked it for the camera and got a prime movie star shot on the national news tonight. We are supposed to be featured in 4 newspapers as well as 3 tv shows. Update at 11:00.....
Posted by annstew at 10:55 AM | Comments (1)
Mr. Hiroshi
I had a delightful afternoon with the very generous Shibuya Hiroshi, a photographer in Hikone. His studio, which has been here for around 40 years, was filled with fantastic equipment. It hasn't changed much from 40 years ago.
I made this image of him, from then and now, because he has a show up right now that is compares his old photos of hikone to newer ones, documenting the change.
ありがと、宏さん
Posted by cameier at 06:35 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2007
on the lighter side....
sometimes, it is like this...
and sometimes, it is like this...
and sometimes...
Posted by cameier at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
another great day
I can't even begin to explain how amazing this trip has been and we still have so much more to see and do. I can't help to think how lucky we all are to be able to have a school trip like this. This morning we gave free english lessons outside the ACT station to anyone who passed by. It was great to talk with all of those who came by. Overall, I have been very impressed with how friendly and helpful all the locals are. Everyone is so patient with our mangled japanese. Today on the train to Kyoto is an excellent example of this. As I was working on brushing up on memorizing katakana (for those who don't know its one of the 3 written forms of japanese language), the man across from me was assisting with making sure I was writing correctly. Afterwards, he proceeded to glowingly try to explain that he was a musician and proudly showed Charles and I his flute with its ornately decorated case.
I also enjoyed our short visit to Kyoto. Its an interesting mix of new and old culture. It is a surreal experience to watch women dressed in traditional japanese kimonos window shopping at the latest trendy stores.
Posted by annstew at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
cotton candy (kyoto) elevator girl
kyoto department store (daimaru) elevator girl in cotton candy uniform. according to satoru these women work over 8 hours inside of the small elevator boxes.
Posted by blakelys at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
7th generation kyoto ceramics
sadashi took lindsay, finelli, & me into kyoto and we met one of his former UM students shinichi miyagawa. at his home we were treated to traditional green tea & sweets served on the family's porcelain tea cups and plates. we saw photos of his ceramic work (he's been exhibiting in tokyo & osaka) which can be viewed here: shinichi miyagawa
in the continue reading link below there are more photos of the family ceramics work studios.
these photos are of his family's ceramics studio that is over 6 generations old, shinichi will be the 7th...
Posted by blakelys at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)
Homework
Today in a market in Kyoto, Adrianne, Sara, and I were stopped by four junior high school students whose homework assignment was to find foreigners and practice their English. Unfortunately they stopped us while crossing the street; these girls were completely oblivious to the oncoming traffic, fascinated by our willingness to talk to them. I think they were surprised we knew some Japanese, and were thrilled by the Japanese on our business cards. We did some of our own questioning too, and apparently they all eat their vegetables…. Peace out!
Posted by lastern at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)
kyoto station
the current Kyoto Station opened in 1997 (commemorating Kyoto's 1,200-year anniversary) designed by the architect Hiroshi Hara; architecturally, it exhibits many futurist characteristics with an irregular cubic facade of plate glass over a steel frame. more photos in the continued reading link below.
Posted by blakelys at 06:20 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2007
furui/atarashii
today we met professor Hiromichi Hosoma who teaches in the school of human culture at the university of shiga prefecture. his PhD. is in zoology which amused us greatly when we learned that his dissertation was on human communication in elevators, really fascinating. now he studys local history through old postcards, he prepared an interesting lecture on his collection of hikone postcards. it was a great way to learn about the town's history and evolution.
prof. Hosoma then took us on an amazing bicycle tour of these parts of hikone. amazing and often horrifying to see the transformation of spaces over the last century. the tour made it clear how much the areas had changed, the disappearance of whole lakes, hillsides and other natural landscapes.
he is one of those people that knows so much about where they live and the history of that place. someone I could talk with for days.
Posted by afinelli at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
this is my usual medicine.
wanted to update you on some of the events that we are hosting at the act station. tomorrow, our english cafe will start up. we're serving coffee, tea and goodies to residents of hikone that want to stop in for some free english lessons. hoping to bring in all age groups, and also to practice our japanese. then, this friday and saturday we're holding cd exchange dance parties. thought it would be a great way to draw younger people to the area, as most locals are older people. like many depressed downtowns, younger hikone residents moved to suburbia to raise their families. plan to use both events to help promote our final exhibition at the end of our stay.
Posted by afinelli at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2007
to rely on someone.
we enjoyed our second tea ceremony with the residents of a local nursing home yesterday. this ceremony was quite different, more informal, more real and more meaningful to me. it was not held in an exclusive tea room, we did not wear traditional kimonos, we did not have a master make our tea--they were teachers and shop keepers once upon a time, people who shared stories and smiles with us for this hour.
i have much to say about my time at the nursing home, as most of you who know me could imagine. the interactions were all wonderful and the panel discussion was really interesting. japan may have some answers, but institutions everywhere have years to go. we learned that the japanese government has stopped building these facilities and have temporarily solved their problem by opening more adult day and short stay facilities. a short fix that will not last with more and more aging. this particular facility houses 100 people and has a waiting list of over 300. the discussion was frustrating as we were presented the bare essentials of the dialog through translation. the poetics of language is lost, the little phrases and words one would jot down do not come through. i believe it is frustrating to rely on others for anything; to hear what one is saying, to be dressed and bathed. i could go on and on, if you're interested in hearing more please feel free to email me. afinelli@umich.edu
Posted by afinelli at 09:43 PM | Comments (1)
to live
today's trip to the senior citizen's home was wonderful, and heavy. I enjoyed every conversation - and non-conversation that I encountered. The most profound part of the experience for me was when we discussed a country with a rapidly aging population. In Japan,many people who are aging and dying do so without the web of IVs, respirators, and other drawn-out treatments. Instead, they are given comfort. Family, food, care.
I think of my own grandfather who passed away last summer at the age of 86. I am quite sure that he would have preferred this to the hospital stays that he endured. He wanted to be at home. Thankfully, he did get to be there near the end, but maybe his suffering would have been much less.
Posted by cameier at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
traditional cuisine
…or more appropriately the texture. We have all enjoyed the daily culinary adventures but the majority of the cohort seems to be getting tired of food that is in block, curd, paste, or fish form.
Posted by annstew at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)
わかりません
Today we visited the retirement community. Definitely a challenging day emotionally and linguistically. I have enjoyed the pantomime game very much while being here as well as trying to capture the essence of what was being said. However, today I feel like I couldn’t get around the language barrier at all. I wish I could have comprehended what the residents were saying since I envision them having fascinating stories. Hopefully my comprehension skills will resurface tomorrow.
Posted by annstew at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2007
Today we discovered dumpling balls - a snack with a hot, toasty outside and red bean inside.
(The pans vibrate while they cook!)
Posted by avetter at 10:47 AM | Comments (1)
On a group trip like this, some things get aired...
Posted by avetter at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)
psychedelic combinations
taken outside a barbshop on the same street as the tobaya inn (hana-shobu avenue)
psychedelic tea combine in "old new town" hikone
Posted by blakelys at 05:21 AM | Comments (0)
Hard days labor
Catherine, Ann, Satoru, and Lindsay spent many hours on Saturday hand painting candles for a local shop. We seemed to be just as much a tourist attraction as the skilled craftsmen laquering boxes next to us.
We were paid in excellent coffee and free entrance to a fabulous woodblock exhibit of old advertisements, newspaper images, and the like. It is remarkable how much the handsome Japanese hero Peachy Boy resembles our fearless leader Satoru.
Posted by lastern at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2007
domo arigato.
just wanted to send a late-night shout out to Takahashi sensei and Inuzuka sensei for making this trip all that it has been and all that it will be. Satoru and Sadashi make an amazing team that not only get things started and finished, but have fun all throughout the process. the places we've seen and the experiences we've had, and it's only day five, well, it's really unbelievable. these things weren't just coinsidences and happenstance, these things take months and months of planning, it's clear to me how much work has gone into this trip, from administrative to making connections and more than i will know, so many thanks. i'm sure, like us, you miss the comforts of home and your families, but i want you and everyone else to know, that this adventure wouldn't be the same without the both of you.
Posted by afinelli at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
you can always go-- downtown.
today we moved from JCMU to the tobya inn in downtown hikone. it is quite beautiful and in a great location, right across from the act station. it finally feels like japan now, before it was a comfortable limbo between the west and east. goodbye dorm room, hello sleeping on the floor with buckwheat pillows. this will be great, i sincerely mean that. plus some of us have realized you can practically swim in the bath tub, what more could you want?
being closer to downtown is wonderful. much more time to wander about. window shopping with adrienne san, we stopped in a fabric/kimono/antique store, a goldmine of a place and met this lovely women.
Posted by afinelli at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
warning signs
Posted by blakelys at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)
ここ／あそこ (here/there)
it is true, cultures are greatly different and even opposite at times, it is this variety that makes them so exciting and wonderful; however, observing everyday life in hikone, some things aren't so different. people live their lives no matter where they are-- walking the dog, going to school with friends, etc.
Posted by afinelli at 12:41 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2007
shinsen (fresh)
with time to futher explore the city today and gather ideas, charles and i found ourselves lost and at peace in this secret little place. aside from an occasional train passing, there was silence. we could feel, hear and taste only the wind. after busy days and busy nights we felt fresh and renewed here.
Posted by afinelli at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
one step closer.
chatting with some of my fellow women while doing laundry this evening. many of us had our first experience using a traditional toilet (washiki) today while exploring town. we discussed our strategies while folding underwear and socks.
despite our hang-ups figuring things out, here’s a lucky note for us:
[…a number of medical benefits are attributed to the squat toilet. It has been suggested that the squatting strengthens the pelvic muscles of females, reducing the likelihood of incontinence.] (http://www.wikipedia.org/)
good to know.
Posted by afinelli at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)
super-sized
In a culture where everything is typically compresssed and compact (an example being the small cars) and where I often feel like the proportions of my height don't quite fit the surroundings, I finally found an example of super-sized scale.
Posted by annstew at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
...and do not forget Lake Biwa
It can be very relaxing after many hours are spent "waiting for translation."
Posted by cameier at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)
Where is the pawn shop?
Posted by charfair at 06:15 AM | Comments (0)
Lunch at Gusto
Gusto, similar in its atmosphere to Denny's in the United States, happened to have delicious (and free!) soy lattes. Yet much to my corn chowder's dismay, no black pepper could be found on the table.
Posted by lastern at 05:19 AM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2007
Act Station
First glimpses of Act Station - the site for our major project in Japan. Three stories of a vacant former pool hall building for use as studio/exhibition/performance venue focused on the declining downtown community of Hikone:
http://avetter.wordpress.com/
Posted by avetter at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
a day in the life.
a rainy, windy day in hikone. and though our adventures were cut short, the experiences of the day were as rich as ever.
act station in downtown hikone. the location will become a studio space and homebase for us in the weeks to come. when we return to hikone after our travels we will hold an exhibition at the station. quite a space.
a pachinko afternoon. everyone's chasing that damn american dream. much like slots in the states, pachinko has become an addictive routine for many.
a small town outside of hikone takes their recycling program to a higher ground. producing biodiesel from waste oil to power farming equipment and public transit. extraordinary efforts, but why is this not yet ordinary?
spent time with a charming rice farmer this afternoon. his family has been farming for years. he told us that he would love to take up painting when he retires. quite a warm soul, a gentle and strong man, a philosopher of the fields; as he spoke of the importance of uniting people and grass roots organizing. i will remember the kindness of him and his wife.
Posted by afinelli at 11:30 AM | Comments (1)
working on mastering the language
Posted by annstew at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)
Kimono Bridge
After traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Posted by cameier at 08:05 AM | Comments (1)
josei/dansei
josei/dansei (female/male) slippers at the Hikone Castle
Posted by blakelys at 03:19 AM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2007
ハリウッドムヴィスタル
Once again, despite pharmaceutical assistance, I find myself wide awake at 3:30 am.
Really, I don’t know where to begin. We’ve been in Japan for two days, yet they feel more like a week. Every day is chock full of wonderful things, but my experience is nebulous: a series of partial communications, frustrations, and awe for the enormous generosity of our predetermined and impromptu hosts. Language has lost its transparency -- it doesn’t carry ideas invisibly from person to person, but exists as disconnected objects alternately inert and magical depending on what happens when we say them, and on whether they bounce off our ears or (less likely) match up with a shape in our limited vocabulary. I feel like a child again, exasperated and excited.
Of course, we constantly try to communicate around language; we lavish it with gestures, finger-pointing, facial expressions, and onomatopoeia. Humor finds its way through the linguistic fog, and our hosts have shared lots of it -- another enormous generosity, as it makes me feel less guilty for their extraordinary patience.
Dressing up for the tea ceremony yesterday, two men spent about half an hour squeezing me in a samurai outfit while others in my class were kimono-ed by a professional dresser. Every few minutes my primary outfitter and fellow samurai sighed and wiped the sweat off his brow “あついですね” before continuing to tug, fold, and knot me. Then he slipped into the next room and dressed himself in five minutes (he’d be superman in the proverbial phonebooth of a world peopled by samurai like me).
Dressed to the nines in Edo costume, I felt compelled to solemnity in deference to tradition but was soon reminded that the cultural-historical fantasy extended only to the end of our sleeves. Just after my fellow samurai pulled his cellphone out of his ensemble to take a picture of us together, a tiny flatbed truck screeched to a halt beside us. Two teenage girls jumped out to see what was going on. In their exchanges with our host I could only make out the words ハリウッド (Hollywood) and ムヴィスタル (movie star). The girls ran over, handed their camera to a bystander, attracted other passers-by to also pose, jumped back into our group for these pictures, saw Satoru with camera and yelled “VIDEO!!!”, continued laughing and waving (they seemed always bouncing) for the cameras, and then jumped back in their truck yelling ARIGATOO!!!, waving goodbye, and then loudly, accidentally, killing re-starting and killing the engine before speeding off in a cloud of dust.
Posted by charfair at 04:50 PM | Comments (1)
Itadakimasu
Posted by avetter at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)
shinkokusuru mono ga arimasen.
lost myself at hikone castle.
Posted by afinelli at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
Bamboo
Even in Japan the real and the artificial coexist in harmony side by side. This is the fence of a private residence close to Hikone castle.
Posted by lastern at 08:10 AM | Comments (0)