I've come full circle to my life in Tokyo: when I moved here last June the ajisai (hydrangeas) were already blooming, and here they are again...reminding me that Japanese rainy season is about to metaphorically punch us in the kidneys with endless rain and humidity. At least they look pretty.
Hakusan Shrine is known in Tokyo for having lovely hydrangeas. It's even one of the stops for the Bunkyo Ward Hydrangea Festival. The official festival, timed to coincide with peak blooming, isn't for another week or so but I was wisely advised to go as early in the season as I could, in order to avoid the worst of the crowds and camera-wielding middle-aged men.
Japan has so man varieties of hydrangea; many more than the typical pale blue spherical flowers I tend to associate the name with. Hydrangea fun fact: the pH of the soil affects the color of the flowers! So you could have two plants right next to each other with drastically different shades of pink, purple, or blue:
There was even a very peaceful-looking cat just taking a nap in the shade beneath the blooms:
The other main excursion I've had these past few weeks was Roppongi Art Night, a one-night ALL night art festival. This year's theme was "The City Dreams of Art." There were musical performances scheduled for 3 a.m., not that I was planning on being out quite that late. The festival was spread out all over the Roppongi area, though most of the installations and performances were clustered at one of three locations: Tokyo Midtown, The National Art Center, and Roppongi Hills. While I would generally conclude that I was only "whelmed" by the events (the large-scale installations were amazing; many of the smaller works of art didn't do much for me), the highlights were truly amazing:
A wall of photos that you could (theoretically) add your own face to:
A giant inflatable man-shaped balloon-thing:
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| PC, as always, Troy Stade |
An installation by Kengo Kita called "Hanging Colors," giant strips of cloth hung down the glass facade of The National Art Center
And another installation by the same artist called "Broken Flowers": it featured fractured images of flowers (mainly tulips) reflected and refracted in hundreds of cheap plastic hand mirrors and accompanied by music.
There was also a piece called "Public Power V Tokyo" by Twardzik Ching Chor Leng where you could rearrange a series of magnetic tubes and wires in order to create a "new artowork." Most people used it to trap themselves in amusing ways...
There were dozens of other small- and large-scale works of art from street puppet performances, pop-up galleries, calligraphy, painted cars, whisky-smelling and more. It was amazing to see the neighborhood lit-up, colorful, and bustling even at 10 p.m. (though Roppongi, which is a rather notable bar/nightlife area, is never REALLY quiet).
Also, in case anyone is interested, I recently had a book review published in the JT. The book in question is "Contemporary Japanese Architects: Profiles in Design" by Taro Igarashi.
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