My wife Paola has been teaching yoga in Tokyo for almost a year in our beautiful yoga studio. Recently we went on a first trial-run of a yoga weekend retreat. We got to know of the delightful hostess, Jude, who runs a fantastic bed and breakfast near the beach, close to Kurihama in the south western corner of Tokyo Bay. The NOBI BEACH CLUB.
Two students were eager to try out the experience and we got the train together to Keikyu Kurihama station (about 1 hour of out Tokyo).
There's a popular country park about thirty minutes walk from the B&B, that has a variety of attractions including a spectacular Godzilla statue.
Sunday Morning we had the first lesson at 9am. This included standing poses like Trikonasana and Parsvakonasana , and inverted poses like Sirsasana (headstand) and Adho Mukha Vriksasana (handstand) . After breakfast we had some free time to explore the countryside around Nobi.
The afternoon class focused more on stretching and twisting asanas and ended with pranayama (breath control). In the evening Mr G, organised a very tasty barbecue and we sat, laughed and talked around the fire.
On the Monday morning we got up good and early for a silent meditative walk along the beach to a suitable location on the boardwalk for Surya Namaskara ( The Sun Salutation ). We performed ten rounds of the sequence of forward and backward bends and stretches in the glorious morning sunlight before heading back to the B&B for the morning yoga class. This lesson was challenging, but the excellent eggs and bacon provided for breakfast were a good reward for our hard work.
We had some free time to enjoy walking along the beach and into the forest that starts right outside the house. We ended the weekend with a trip to Jude's favourite eatery: the Kalika, an excellent Nepalese restaurant overlooking the sea.
Paola runs lessons suitable for all levels. Private lessons for a minimum of two people are available. We are also planning many more yoga by the beach weekends starting in June 2010. For more details drop me an email or contact Paola directly from YogaSan
Friday, April 16, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Yamanote line suspended (Mar 23 2010)
Apologies for the spelling, this was from my cell phone earlier this evening. The JR Yamanote line, JR Shonan Shinjuku line and the Saikyo lines were all suspended. My normal trip home from Ebisu to Shibuya was somewhat delayed. After some deliberation I worked out the quickest route would be the one stop south on the Hibiya line to Naka-Meguro and one stop north again on the express Minatomirai line to Shibuya. It only took an extra 15 minutes, but I foolishly did not collect a free subway line ticket from the station staff offering them for the alternative routes, so it cost me 260 Yen. When I arrived at Shibuya the trains were still suspended. I look forward to details tomorrow of what happened.
Since there was no point entering Ebisu station I failed to get a photo of the new platform edge doors that have appeared after the long weekend. I'll try and take a shot tomorrow.
Update: it made the front page on the Japan Times printed edition today with a photo of some people being helped off a stuck train. The root cause was an obstacle hanging from overhead wires. More than 2,000 commuters were trapped on trains in the incident that lasted 90 minutes.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Transport Bookshop in Tokyo
Just come back from a trip to Nishiyama bookstore in Ikebukuro.
View Larger Map
If you are looking for a transport bookshop in Tokyo this is the place to go. It covers trains, planes, boats, trucks, buses and cars; plus some movies and war related books. Most of the books are secondhand and in English but there is a good collection of German and French language books and magazines on trains.
If Ian Allan is one of your favourite publishers, or the initials BNSF mean something to you, I don't think you will be disappointed.
The shop is well organised with almost all the books well ordered, though I was surprised to see a street atlas of a small town in England amongst all the railways books.
The one thing that is missing though, is books on Japanese railways. I found one slim booklet on the Light Rail systems of West Japan, and a couple of books of photos of Japanese trains with Japanese text, but that was it.
Only five minutes walk from Ikebukuro station this small shop is worth a visit if transport is your thing. But If you are looking for fiction or more general second handbooks then go just a couple of stops south on the Yamanote line to Blue Parrot books in Takadanobaba , or carry on further south to Ebisu to Good Day Books.
I'm sure there are more second hand English language bookshops in Tokyo, A search yields this list from American Airlines which includes a few I've not heard of. And if you'd rather shop online I discovered Infinity Books Japan , but it's not the same as browsing a dusty bookshelf looking for something unusual.
Anyone got any more bookshops to share?
View Larger Map
If you are looking for a transport bookshop in Tokyo this is the place to go. It covers trains, planes, boats, trucks, buses and cars; plus some movies and war related books. Most of the books are secondhand and in English but there is a good collection of German and French language books and magazines on trains.
If Ian Allan is one of your favourite publishers, or the initials BNSF mean something to you, I don't think you will be disappointed.
The shop is well organised with almost all the books well ordered, though I was surprised to see a street atlas of a small town in England amongst all the railways books.
The one thing that is missing though, is books on Japanese railways. I found one slim booklet on the Light Rail systems of West Japan, and a couple of books of photos of Japanese trains with Japanese text, but that was it.
Only five minutes walk from Ikebukuro station this small shop is worth a visit if transport is your thing. But If you are looking for fiction or more general second handbooks then go just a couple of stops south on the Yamanote line to Blue Parrot books in Takadanobaba , or carry on further south to Ebisu to Good Day Books.
I'm sure there are more second hand English language bookshops in Tokyo, A search yields this list from American Airlines which includes a few I've not heard of. And if you'd rather shop online I discovered Infinity Books Japan , but it's not the same as browsing a dusty bookshelf looking for something unusual.
Anyone got any more bookshops to share?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Frisk 'Hello Idea'
Update:
From YouTube, the video advert too :
Friday, January 01, 2010
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Tokyo Tech Party Dec 17 2009
It's been Christmas in Tokyo since November the first when Mitsukoshi turned on the lights on their Christmas tree. But now is the season for Christmas parties.
Coming up next week is the Tokyo’s Biggest Tech Party Ever .
It's happening on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 from 7pm until 10pm
At the Restaurant and lounge 57 Fifty Seven
B1F 4-2-35 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
(Google Maps here )
It's Free Entry!
There will be a cash bar, and "light food menu", (make of that what you will)
It will also be the first ever “Beers for Bytes” charity event. The money will be donated to Room to Read’s wireless computer lab projects in Nepal and Vietnam, as well as other developing nations.
Who's coming ?
Well, it could be anyone from these many Tokyo technology related groups :
Asiajin
Asiajin is a weblog focused on Asian startup companies, websites, and technology communities. Their mission is to provide timely articles about Asian Internet in English. It was started by Akky AKIMOTO and Shunichi ARAI in 2007.
Digital Eve Japan
Digital Eve Japan is an international organisation of women interested in computing, the internet and digital lifestyles and is based in Tokyo with members throughout Japan.
They host meetings, workshops and speakers to learn more about a variety of computing and net-related topics, as well as social events.
International Computer Association (Japan)
Established in 1970, the ICA (International Computer Association) has grown into one of Japan's largest, most influential organizations covering Information Technology and Business in Japan. The ICA provides a forum for information exchange, networking, and identification of business expansion opportunities with many of the key movers and shakers in Japan.
Tokyo 2.0
Tokyo 2.0 is a not-for-profit community event run by a steering committee of volunteers. It has hosted a number of very popular monthly events during the past two years.
Mobile Monday Tokyo
MoMo Tokyo is the leading networking organization supporting Tokyo’s mobile industry and has become a key gathering point for corporate managers, entrepreneurs, developers, analysts and the media in Japan.
Launched in Japan in September 2004, MobileMonday Tokyo hosts regular networking events that routinely attract 100-200 participants working within the wireless industry.
Tokyo HackerSpace
The Tokyo HackerSpace initiative was created from discussions at TokyoBarCamp 2009. It's a collective made up of programmers, engineers, IT administrators, artists, chefs, musicians, and people interested in geek culture. The goal of the group is to converge technology, arts, crafts, and music. If you are interested then please join the mailing list.
Tokyo PC Users Group
The Tokyo PC Users Group may sound like a club for users of Windows-based computers -- but, in fact, many of our members use Macs or various flavors of Linux as well as Windows. Nor is our focus limited only to personal computing. TPC is a club for technology enthusiasts of all sorts, from beginners to seasoned pros.
Tokyo OpenSolaris User Group
The Tokyo OpenSolaris Community is one of the largest communities in the world of OpenSolaris. And since Tokyo is a massively big city with connections around the world, we intend to grow globally. If you are interested in Japan or Japanese technology or if you ever come to Tokyo for business or pleasure, then please feel free to subscribe to our lists and talk with us and come to our events. English or Japanese is fine. We have many people who speak both languages quite well, and the more diversity the better. And you don't have to live in Tokyo to participate. We are an international community, and we expect to have members from all over the world.
Ninjava
Nin-Java , (NIhoN-Java) is an English speaking Java User Group based in Tokyo with over 200 members.
Tokyo Linux Users Group
On June 16, 1994 TLUG was born as the "LINUX" conference on TWICS, which was the only public access Internet Service Provider in Japan at that time. The atmosphere was exciting and friendly, and everyone began helping each other fix problems and learn about Linux. One of the early members commented, "It felt like we were all on the edge of this frontier and that together we were taming this networked, high-tech jungle. It was great!"
TLUG is a non-profit users group, whose members exchange information on the development and use of the Linux kernel and Free Software Foundation tools. Physical and online meetings are held in English and Japanese. All are welcome.
AppleCert
AppleCert group is a non-profit association for engineers focusing on Mac OS X and Apple technology integration. Our primary focus is to sustain a peer group of like-minded engineers to build their technical skills at an accelerated pace.
GreenITers
GreenITers are for people who want to “Green it !” the world we are living in via clean technology.
Mobile in Japan
The Mobile in Japan community is active both on the various groups and on the blogs.
So there could be hundreds of people showing up next week to meet, mingle and party.
I am sure a big majority of the people coming will be bringing their poken, so if you are going to be in Tokyo and want to meet some friendly techies, come on down.
RSVP by email by Sunday, December 13, 2009. There is also a
Facebook event to sign up on to where you can see who has already confirmed.
( This is also my entry to the December Japansoc, Blog Matsuri hosted by Dumb Otaku, on the subject of "Technology". )
Coming up next week is the Tokyo’s Biggest Tech Party Ever .
It's happening on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 from 7pm until 10pm
At the Restaurant and lounge 57 Fifty Seven
B1F 4-2-35 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
(Google Maps here )
It's Free Entry!
There will be a cash bar, and "light food menu", (make of that what you will)
It will also be the first ever “Beers for Bytes” charity event. The money will be donated to Room to Read’s wireless computer lab projects in Nepal and Vietnam, as well as other developing nations.
Who's coming ?
Well, it could be anyone from these many Tokyo technology related groups :
Asiajin is a weblog focused on Asian startup companies, websites, and technology communities. Their mission is to provide timely articles about Asian Internet in English. It was started by Akky AKIMOTO and Shunichi ARAI in 2007.
Digital Eve Japan is an international organisation of women interested in computing, the internet and digital lifestyles and is based in Tokyo with members throughout Japan.
They host meetings, workshops and speakers to learn more about a variety of computing and net-related topics, as well as social events.
Established in 1970, the ICA (International Computer Association) has grown into one of Japan's largest, most influential organizations covering Information Technology and Business in Japan. The ICA provides a forum for information exchange, networking, and identification of business expansion opportunities with many of the key movers and shakers in Japan.
Tokyo 2.0 is a not-for-profit community event run by a steering committee of volunteers. It has hosted a number of very popular monthly events during the past two years.
MoMo Tokyo is the leading networking organization supporting Tokyo’s mobile industry and has become a key gathering point for corporate managers, entrepreneurs, developers, analysts and the media in Japan.
Launched in Japan in September 2004, MobileMonday Tokyo hosts regular networking events that routinely attract 100-200 participants working within the wireless industry.
The Tokyo HackerSpace initiative was created from discussions at TokyoBarCamp 2009. It's a collective made up of programmers, engineers, IT administrators, artists, chefs, musicians, and people interested in geek culture. The goal of the group is to converge technology, arts, crafts, and music. If you are interested then please join the mailing list.
The Tokyo PC Users Group may sound like a club for users of Windows-based computers -- but, in fact, many of our members use Macs or various flavors of Linux as well as Windows. Nor is our focus limited only to personal computing. TPC is a club for technology enthusiasts of all sorts, from beginners to seasoned pros.
The Tokyo OpenSolaris Community is one of the largest communities in the world of OpenSolaris. And since Tokyo is a massively big city with connections around the world, we intend to grow globally. If you are interested in Japan or Japanese technology or if you ever come to Tokyo for business or pleasure, then please feel free to subscribe to our lists and talk with us and come to our events. English or Japanese is fine. We have many people who speak both languages quite well, and the more diversity the better. And you don't have to live in Tokyo to participate. We are an international community, and we expect to have members from all over the world.
Nin-Java , (NIhoN-Java) is an English speaking Java User Group based in Tokyo with over 200 members.
On June 16, 1994 TLUG was born as the "LINUX" conference on TWICS, which was the only public access Internet Service Provider in Japan at that time. The atmosphere was exciting and friendly, and everyone began helping each other fix problems and learn about Linux. One of the early members commented, "It felt like we were all on the edge of this frontier and that together we were taming this networked, high-tech jungle. It was great!"
TLUG is a non-profit users group, whose members exchange information on the development and use of the Linux kernel and Free Software Foundation tools. Physical and online meetings are held in English and Japanese. All are welcome.
AppleCert group is a non-profit association for engineers focusing on Mac OS X and Apple technology integration. Our primary focus is to sustain a peer group of like-minded engineers to build their technical skills at an accelerated pace.
GreenITers are for people who want to “Green it !” the world we are living in via clean technology.
The Mobile in Japan community is active both on the various groups and on the blogs.
So there could be hundreds of people showing up next week to meet, mingle and party.
I am sure a big majority of the people coming will be bringing their poken, so if you are going to be in Tokyo and want to meet some friendly techies, come on down.
RSVP by email by Sunday, December 13, 2009. There is also a
Facebook event to sign up on to where you can see who has already confirmed.
( This is also my entry to the December Japansoc, Blog Matsuri hosted by Dumb Otaku, on the subject of "Technology". )
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Geek Up Your Ass Gently
Update: considering they were playing by the side of the road in the middle of Shibuya the sound was pretty good and very very loud, which was what attracted my attention while walking through the station upstairs.
Their "First Debut" album is called Magical Vox Paranoia. "The best rock album of the year" they claim! It looked like they have a loyal fan base that were out in force to support the four lads. They had fliers which I have scanned for your delight :
There were a lot of people taking video and photos so I hope I can find some to share.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Windows 7 Advert
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Meet the Korean Government
I've not blogged much about Korea these days. It's been over two years now since we left, but I still have fond memories of the year we spent there. The launch of Windows 7 tomorrow reminds me of how I covered the launch of Windows Vista in Seoul. I won't be covering the launch of it's replacement in Tokyo. All I can say is, I hope the latest version works with the Korean websites.
So while Korea is a distant memory I still notice news items about the country. [And of course I can hardly forget North Korea which dominates the news at least once a week with some sort of crazy or interesting antics. Here is just one of the two examples in today's paper alone.]
So I was intrigued by the advert on the back page of the Economist this week : "Business Round table with the Government of South Korea". Restructuring South Korea's economy for a post-crisis world. Register now at www.economistconferences.com/kr09. Turns out it's only 1,990 USD and no onerous requirements. Sounds like a bargain to me. Go and heckle some of the ministers at the grand Hyatt Seoul on Nov 4th? Sadly I won't be able to make it. Perhaps we could put together some suggestions for those that do. What do you think?
So while Korea is a distant memory I still notice news items about the country. [And of course I can hardly forget North Korea which dominates the news at least once a week with some sort of crazy or interesting antics. Here is just one of the two examples in today's paper alone.]
So I was intrigued by the advert on the back page of the Economist this week : "Business Round table with the Government of South Korea". Restructuring South Korea's economy for a post-crisis world. Register now at www.economistconferences.com/kr09. Turns out it's only 1,990 USD and no onerous requirements. Sounds like a bargain to me. Go and heckle some of the ministers at the grand Hyatt Seoul on Nov 4th? Sadly I won't be able to make it. Perhaps we could put together some suggestions for those that do. What do you think?
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Ojarus, Strange performers. Ueno
These street performers at Ueno were quite amusing.
They've travelled widely in Europe too with their performance ojarus.com.
They've travelled widely in Europe too with their performance ojarus.com.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Typhoon rail disruption
Typhoon 18 (Melor) caused a lot of wind and rain last night peaking at 3am in Tokyo. The worst seems to be over now but I have never this many impacted rail lines on the status screen before.
Here's the latest view of the storm's progress from the Japan Meteorlogical Agency
Latest news from Yahoo
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Happy Sake Day
I just discovered that today, October 1st, is Sake Day or 'Nihonshu Hi' as it called here. There's a Publicity page in the Japan Times with three articles extolling the virture of the traditional brewed beverage. ( Update : The supplement is now available as a PDF from their website: Sake Day Special).
One of the items is from Timothy Sullivan of UrbanSake.com who was on my blog roll for a long time. He lives in the US and is one of only 17 Sake Samurai in the world. Probably the only other Gaijin Sake Samurai is John Gaunter of Sake-World.com whose sake course we went on last year. ( The pictures are on flickr.com but my account has expired and you can't see them at the moment! )
There's an article about Born a brewery in Sabae, Fukui prefecture. They offer a range of high quality brands available in many countries around the world. Also included is a piece from Yoshimore Tomi in California, owner of the Japanese restaurant Sushi Ran. He will be celebrating Sake Day with an outdoor kagamiwari :'sake-barrel breaking ceremony', which sounds like fun.
Where ever you are in the world, have a drop of decent Junmai Daiginjo and toast with me 'Sake Day'.
One of the items is from Timothy Sullivan of UrbanSake.com who was on my blog roll for a long time. He lives in the US and is one of only 17 Sake Samurai in the world. Probably the only other Gaijin Sake Samurai is John Gaunter of Sake-World.com whose sake course we went on last year. ( The pictures are on flickr.com but my account has expired and you can't see them at the moment! )
There's an article about Born a brewery in Sabae, Fukui prefecture. They offer a range of high quality brands available in many countries around the world. Also included is a piece from Yoshimore Tomi in California, owner of the Japanese restaurant Sushi Ran. He will be celebrating Sake Day with an outdoor kagamiwari :'sake-barrel breaking ceremony', which sounds like fun.
Where ever you are in the world, have a drop of decent Junmai Daiginjo and toast with me 'Sake Day'.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Delays on Inokashira Line
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Ebisu Advert II
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Ebisu Advert
Update: 04 Sep , they finally replaced it with something much less annoying.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Yamashirogumi in Shinjuku
Entertainment on Sunday was a brief trip to the Epson Epsite gallery in Shinjuku. Sadly Gallery 1, where the reptile and amphibian exhibition was on, was closed on a Sunday. Gallery with 2 with Yukikazu Ito's exhibition titled "The Rain, Asphalt", had, well, pictures of rain bouncing on to.. you guessed it, asphalt.
The first couple of photos were OK, but half way round the small gallery I was thinking, yes, OK, I've seen rain on the road.. The final shot was the kind the kind of out-take I would just delete, but he seemed to think it was worth while printing anyway.
The gallery acts as a showcase for Epson's range of printers and output devices. One gentleman was getting a photograph printed, which was a lot more presentable than some in the gallery. It's not clear if you have to pay for it, or they offer it as some kind of demonstration. I'm hoping to go back to see the Ryu Uchiyama's reptiles in Gallery 2 before it finishes on Aug 22nd.
Location : First floor Shinjuku Mitsui Building. Nearest station Nishi Shinjuku, or 10 minutes walk along the underpass from Shinjuku station. Entrance: free.
Outside in the plaza a large set had been contructed for the CAK festival. The Yamashirogumi group of percussion enthusiasts were formed in 1974 and play over eighty different types of folk music from around the world. We watched them playing some excellent xylophones.
There's a three minute recording I took from the afternoon on YouTube here along with some other videos other users have uploaded too.
The first couple of photos were OK, but half way round the small gallery I was thinking, yes, OK, I've seen rain on the road.. The final shot was the kind the kind of out-take I would just delete, but he seemed to think it was worth while printing anyway.
The gallery acts as a showcase for Epson's range of printers and output devices. One gentleman was getting a photograph printed, which was a lot more presentable than some in the gallery. It's not clear if you have to pay for it, or they offer it as some kind of demonstration. I'm hoping to go back to see the Ryu Uchiyama's reptiles in Gallery 2 before it finishes on Aug 22nd.
Location : First floor Shinjuku Mitsui Building. Nearest station Nishi Shinjuku, or 10 minutes walk along the underpass from Shinjuku station. Entrance: free.
Outside in the plaza a large set had been contructed for the CAK festival. The Yamashirogumi group of percussion enthusiasts were formed in 1974 and play over eighty different types of folk music from around the world. We watched them playing some excellent xylophones.
There's a three minute recording I took from the afternoon on YouTube here along with some other videos other users have uploaded too.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Visual Deception - Bunkamura Exhibition Tokyo
The exhibition currently running at the Bunkamura museum is titled Visual Deception. The theme is "Trompe-l’oeil", paintings that trick the eye. The first section holds 16th and 17th century examples: a flat canvas that looks like a marble relief; a young lad climbing out of the picture frame (An image used in some of the posters); a paper note nailed to some wood; a picture of a picture.
Moving on, Archimboldo's portrait of Vertumnus/Rudolf II depicted in vegetables is displayed in Japan for the first time.
One section is dedicated to Japanese works demonstrating similar effects, for example scrolls where the ties are painted on, rather than actual pieces of material.
Artists from the 20th century include Salvador Dali and MC Escher. Three of his works are displayed including the well known 'impossible building' Belvedere and Waterfall where the water wheel looks like it can run forever.
Another of my favorite artists is Rene Magritte. I visited an exhibition of his work in Seoul a few years ago. Here in Tokyo, three of his works are on show including Attempting the Impossible:
[He was a far more successful Belgian artist than a certain Antoine Wiertz described in the Economist as "perhaps the worst painter to have a government-funded museum all to himself" in an article relating the perils of governments supporting ventures that may, at the time, seem like a great idea, but turn out to be less enduringly popular.]
The exhibition concludes with some contemporary works including two tilt shift photos from a Japanese photographer, whose name I failed to make a note of and, since I was too stingy to buy the exhibition catalog, I now have no record of.
Location:
Bunkamura Museum,24-1, Dogenzaka 2-chome Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 03-3477-9111
Until : Sunday 16th Aug 2009
Opening Hours:
10:00 to 19:00. (Friday and Saturday until 21:00). (Admission up until 30 minutes before closing)
Access:
5 minutes walk from Shibuya Station
Admission:
Adults 1400 yen
Students 1000 yen
Children 700 yen.
Due to the huge demand for the exhibition we had to queue for 25 minutes on Sunday for a ticket. But if you plan ahead, tickets can be purchased online (in Japanese only) at Ticket Pia Lawson Ticket and e + (IPURASU). Or at Seven Eleven, Family Mart, Circle K, Sunkus, JTB and Tokyu Plaza Travel Center.
It was a crowded exhibition so be prepared to wait in line to admire the art works close up, but it's well worth the effort.
Moving on, Archimboldo's portrait of Vertumnus/Rudolf II depicted in vegetables is displayed in Japan for the first time.
One section is dedicated to Japanese works demonstrating similar effects, for example scrolls where the ties are painted on, rather than actual pieces of material.
Artists from the 20th century include Salvador Dali and MC Escher. Three of his works are displayed including the well known 'impossible building' Belvedere and Waterfall where the water wheel looks like it can run forever.
Another of my favorite artists is Rene Magritte. I visited an exhibition of his work in Seoul a few years ago. Here in Tokyo, three of his works are on show including Attempting the Impossible:
[He was a far more successful Belgian artist than a certain Antoine Wiertz described in the Economist as "perhaps the worst painter to have a government-funded museum all to himself" in an article relating the perils of governments supporting ventures that may, at the time, seem like a great idea, but turn out to be less enduringly popular.]
The exhibition concludes with some contemporary works including two tilt shift photos from a Japanese photographer, whose name I failed to make a note of and, since I was too stingy to buy the exhibition catalog, I now have no record of.
Location:
Bunkamura Museum,24-1, Dogenzaka 2-chome Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 03-3477-9111
Until : Sunday 16th Aug 2009
Opening Hours:
10:00 to 19:00. (Friday and Saturday until 21:00). (Admission up until 30 minutes before closing)
Access:
5 minutes walk from Shibuya Station
Admission:
Adults 1400 yen
Students 1000 yen
Children 700 yen.
Due to the huge demand for the exhibition we had to queue for 25 minutes on Sunday for a ticket. But if you plan ahead, tickets can be purchased online (in Japanese only) at Ticket Pia Lawson Ticket and e + (IPURASU). Or at Seven Eleven, Family Mart, Circle K, Sunkus, JTB and Tokyu Plaza Travel Center.
It was a crowded exhibition so be prepared to wait in line to admire the art works close up, but it's well worth the effort.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Neoteny - Contemporary Art Exhibition , Tokyo
I don't always like modern art, but the exhibition currently on at the Royal Museum in Ueno Tokyo showed some of the most interesting and intriguing pieces I've seen in a long time.
Image shamelessly copied from neoteny.jp.
From the mirrored sculpture of a six legged wolf by Konoike Tomoko at the start, to the small group of creatures made of bamboo (perhaps?) on the way out, I was enthralled.
The exhibition includes almost one hundred works from thirty three Japanese artists. The range of material and subjects was outstanding. Some of my favourites included :
"History of Rise and Fall" by Ikeda Manabu. This 2m by 2m canvas includes such an enormous amount of detail in the imaginary landscape I could have looked at it for hours and still discovered something new.
The huge canvas from Aida Makoto entitled Giant Salamander. If it hadn't been for the title, I might have missed the very large aquatic creature in the middle of the picture.
"Human Lesson, Dress 01", which is where the wolf's head in the poster comes from, (and yes, it is a dress.. kind of) and the Victorian looking instrument of torture entitled Fingerspanner both from Odani Motohiko.
A modern take on a classic Japanese style of painting from Yamaguchi Akira entitled Modern Times.
And many many more. I highly recommend it, but hurry, the exhibition ends on July 15th.
Location:
The Ueno Royal Museum ,Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007
TEL: 03-3833-4191 http://www.ueno-mori.org
Until : Wednesday, July 15 2009
Opening Hours:
10:00 to 18:00. Fridays until 20:00. (Admission up until 30 minutes before closing)
Access:
3 minutes walk from JR Ueno Station
Admission:
Adults 1200 yen
Students 1000 yen
More photos on the blog neoteny.jp blog
Image shamelessly copied from neoteny.jp.From the mirrored sculpture of a six legged wolf by Konoike Tomoko at the start, to the small group of creatures made of bamboo (perhaps?) on the way out, I was enthralled.
The exhibition includes almost one hundred works from thirty three Japanese artists. The range of material and subjects was outstanding. Some of my favourites included :
"History of Rise and Fall" by Ikeda Manabu. This 2m by 2m canvas includes such an enormous amount of detail in the imaginary landscape I could have looked at it for hours and still discovered something new.
The huge canvas from Aida Makoto entitled Giant Salamander. If it hadn't been for the title, I might have missed the very large aquatic creature in the middle of the picture.
"Human Lesson, Dress 01", which is where the wolf's head in the poster comes from, (and yes, it is a dress.. kind of) and the Victorian looking instrument of torture entitled Fingerspanner both from Odani Motohiko.
A modern take on a classic Japanese style of painting from Yamaguchi Akira entitled Modern Times.
And many many more. I highly recommend it, but hurry, the exhibition ends on July 15th.
Location:
The Ueno Royal Museum ,Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007
TEL: 03-3833-4191 http://www.ueno-mori.org
Until : Wednesday, July 15 2009
Opening Hours:
10:00 to 18:00. Fridays until 20:00. (Admission up until 30 minutes before closing)
Access:
3 minutes walk from JR Ueno Station
Admission:
Adults 1200 yen
Students 1000 yen
More photos on the blog neoteny.jp blog
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