Getting To Know You
Trip Start
Nov 16, 2007
1
32
40
Trip End
Aug 2008
Tokyo,
Kanto,
Japan
Friday, June 20, 2008
A rainy next day brings me to Meguro, a leafy area south west of the Imperial Palace. First I visit the National Park for Nature Study which preserves one of the few remaining areas of natural Tokyo countryside. It only allows 300 visitors at any one time, so the marshy woods make a peaceful place for a stroll away from the hurly burly outside. Next, to the Matsuoka Art Gallery on the north side of the park. Based around the collection of a local entrepreneur, the focus lies with sculpture from around the world, and a small collection of impressionist paintings. An excellent, compact gallery
Meguro Nature Study
. Final stop in Meguro is the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The current exhibition is about Japanese tableware and especially how it changed to meet the demands of European markets in the late 19th/early 20th century. The highlight is the building itself though. Built in the 1920's as the palace of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, it takes its influence from the Prince's travels in Europe. Art deco with mirrored doors, inlaid floors and furniture; a beautiful building. After exploring the extensive grounds, I hole up in the coffee shop and write a journal entry, watching the rain fall.Following a prebreakfast practice at Tokyo University of Science, a beautiful sunny day greets a trip to Hatsudai near Shinjuku. Another couple of galleries set in the grand Tokyo Opera City complex. The Tokyo Opera City Gallery is similar to the Design Museum in London in terms of its size and scope. Coincidentally the current exhibition featured at the Design Museum. An excellent show on the design of F1 cars over the decades. Great timing. Upstairs is an exhibition of modern Japanese landscape painting focusing on mountain scenes from round Japan. The other main gallery in the Tokyo Opera City complex is the NTT InterCommunication Centre (ICC). It is a funny collection of ultra hi tech pieces demonstrating new ways of interacting with technology, from a machine that shows your effect on the Earth's gravitational field to a sound proof room demonstrating 'inversound'.
Meguro Nature Study
Cool stuff although pretty bonkers. After a bit more of a wander, it's back to Nakano and the second practice of the day.Back to Roppongi on Saturday to meet up with Noriko. We head to the MORI gallery in the Roppongi Hills complex. this amazing gallery sits on the 54th floor. Before going in, we stroll around the Sky Deck taking in the views over Tokyo's sprawling mass. The exhibition is a retrospective of the Turner prize, so lots of old friends and few new discoveries. Hirst's semi-cows, Whitebread's inverted houses and Perry's pots are all there, and the exhibition ends with last year's winner, Mark Wallinger's video showing a man in a bear suit trapped inside a German art gallery. A side exhibition shows the history of design in the BMW motorsports teams.
Out into the sunshine, Noriko and I head to the Mid-town area in Akasaka. The Suntory Gallery sits on the 2nd floor of a large mall. We wander round the exhibition showing a history of Japanese decorative wares, from ancient pottery to lacquerware and Kabuki costumes. The variety is striking, and a cabinet full of ornately decorated snuff boxes, combs and other items shows off the rich history. 'Galleried out', we head to a coffee shop and enjoy the early evening in the park outside.
On Sunday, I head to Akihibara searching for an electronic dictionary. On leaving the station, I enter an absolute maelstrom. Police, fire engines, helicopters overhead. Wandering round I find huge crowds gathered outside taped off areas
Meguro Teien Museum
. Down side streets, small taped off sections of pavement appear to host large pools of blood. Not having a clue what is going on, I head south and wander round the Nihombashi area. I later find out that 20 minutes before I got to Akihibara, a salary man unleashed his frustration with life on the shoppers, driving a van into a crowd and then stabbing indiscriminately.A quiet Monday, with practice in the evening is followed by another organising Tuesday. Back to Roppongi to collect the Chinese visa and then a mad dash to Shibuya to get the Mongolian visa application in. Afterwards I meet the first of my language exchange partners, Ai. We have lunch in Harajuku making heavy use of her electronic dictionary, then wander through Yoyogi-koen chatting. In the park lies the Meiji-jingu, a memorial shrine to several of the Meiji emperors. Heading our separate ways, I get back to Nakano for the second language exchange of the day. Chiemi lives in Nakano and speaks good English. With this and her passionate love of football, we don't get much Japanese spoken. Christiano Ronaldo, her favourite.
More organising Wednesday, with payment of the Mongolian visa. An almost unfathomable system if you don't read much Japanese. Then practice in the evening. Up early next morning and off with Ozawa-sensei to the Tokyo University of Science campus in Chiba prefecture. This is a good hour and a half from Nakano, but the practice has only 5 people so plenty of contact time
Meguro Teien Museum
. After some lunch with a couple of the students to help them practice English, I head back into town. Noriko and I go out for some dinner in the Midorigaoka area. Chanko, a stew traditionally eaten by sumo wrestlers.Up at the crack of dawn next day for morning practice in Iidabashi. A quiet day exploring near Nakano and then another practice in the evening. Absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. A lie in on Saturday morning and then over to Gibbo and Emi's for dinner. Emi prepares most of it, but Gibbo and I are tasked with folding the gyoza, a lengthy process making mini-pastys. Delicious. The following day is Sunday. In the dojo twice a month is a ladies practice mainly for local housewives that don't get a chance in the week. Ozawa-sensei invites me along. A nice relaxed practice for a Sunday afternoon.
