Rice and Ramen

As many long-term residents of Japan do, I have a goal to visit all 47 prefectures of Japan. Just last week, together with my parents, who flew over from Chicago for a long weekend, I checked off No. 25: Fukuoka Prefecture. I'd never been to Fukuoka, which is on Japan's southerly island of Kyushu, before, but everyone I know who had visited had told me it was a great trip. It's capital, also called Fukuoka, has the distinction of being both Japan's youngest city and also the city with the fastest growing population, making it one of the only metropolitan areas outside of Tokyo with an increasing number of residents. A very dynamic place to visit; a vibrant city with an old, old history. WARNING: LOOOONG POST AHEAD. Friday morning my parents and I hop over on a flight from Haneda Airport to Fukuoka Airport, which is a fantastic 10 minutes away form the city center. Ten. Minutes. What I would do to have one of Tokyo's airports be that close! The weather was sunn...

A few weeks ago I got the best news: A museum was reopening in Tokyo. (OK, yes, I probably have gotten better news than that in my life, but this was still pretty good.) The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT)  had been closed for three years in order to renovate the building. And since I only moved to Tokyo just under two years ago, I had not yet gone! I promise, for me this was quite exhilarating. So this past Saturday I took myself all the way out to Kiba Park, where the museum is, on the other side of the city from my apartment. And after a full two hours in its current exhibit, "Weavers of Worlds: A Century of Flux in Japanese Modern/Contemporary Art," I just wandered around taking pictures of some of its better architectural features. Some architecture details: The museum was designed by Takahiko Yangisawa, who also worked on several other notable buildings, such as the MOA Museum in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture (1981); New National Theatre, Tokyo (1997); and To...

The second day of  my Naoshima adventure dawned clear and sunny, nary a snowflake in sight. Our guesthouse came with "breakfast," which was a piece of bread with margarine and jam and a soft-boiled egg. Fortunately the guesthouse's kitchen came with a toaster, so at least the bread wasn't plain, but "hearty" this meal was not.  After eating,  Troy  and I hopped back on our trusty bikes and pedaled off down the coast towards the Benesse House Museum. Troy kindly pedaled at a pace I was comfortable with, so even I was able to glance off to the side now and again and take in the sparkling blue water of the Seto Inland Sea.  The Benesse House Museum is basically what it sounds like--a combo hotel and museum, also designed by Tadao Ando. It's situated on an outcropping overlooking the water, with gorgeous views, but is mindbogglingly expensive. (Even during "off season," rooms are over $2,000 per NIGHT. Madness.) Fortunately, the museum is ...