Cultural
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Two haiku poems
Fallen Leaves with a rustling sound fallen leaves pursue and pass others on the ground Tatsuko The Scarecrow in the setting sun the scarecrow’s shadow leans out to the road alone Shoha
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City Walking – Glasgow School of Art Degree Show and MFA 2013
With the work rapidly continuing on the new GSA Design building by architect Steven Holl, it is a pleasure to walk from the area around the Master of Fine Art exhibition at the Glue Factory, next to the Firth and Forth Canal, down into the city centre and uphill again to Garnethill, take in the…
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Circling Connections: Peter Fischli / David Weiss and Alexander Calder
The tongue and cheek, playful search and questioning of meaning in life and art was a major theme in the development of art in the 20th century, accompanied by a desire, starting with the Surrealists, to really subvert and later skirt around any kind of categorising of artworks. I’ve been thinking about the ‘circus’ of…
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Night and Day Wanderin’ in Tokyo – some collected images
Day Cafe Tabacco – thankfully passing by this one. Heading towards Chiba Ken. Making some marks, looking out above rooftops, past a few scrapers and Honmonji Koen… Smiley Daikokuten god of fortune and prosperity suddenly pops up into view at Yurakucho station. On into Cafe Tonga, and an excellent Soya Cappuccino in truly tonga (pointy)…
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Tokyo and Toyama Washoku (Japanese Food) Excerpts
From the quirky dishes of the lively Izakayas in the East side of Tokyo to Toyama’s famous salty Black Ramen and fish for sushi and sashimi from the rough seas of the Toyama Gulf (Japan Sea). And the fantastic Gyouza button for service at Oushou…
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Danjuro Ichikawa – The World of Aragoto
A few days after a friend kindly let me know about this exhibition (and giving me a ticket!) I headed to Yurakucho and over to Hibiya Koen on a chilly damp day, and past the old pines and sparrow filled gardens down to the Hibiya Library Museum. Nice to revisit this area where I spent…
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Trip to Noto Hanto peninsula, Ishikawa Ken
The towering Niou guardians upon entering the thousand year old Myoujoji Temple (Nichiren Shu), on the West side of Noto. Sacred rocks and shinto shrine, brief stop on the road north towards Wajima.. Lunch stop restaurant had its own guardian, a slightly plump dragon with a chainsaw, sculpting a mushroom. Pic on right was the…
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Tokyo Art Exhibitions – MOT and David Lynch at LAFORET
During my show in Omotesando I was delighted to see David Lynch had an exhibtion on at the Laforet Department Store’s Gallery, just down the road at the Harajuku crossing. I popped in a few days later. The building’s quirky angled and funky interior design and disco colours were really 80’s and the general mood…
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Colours and shapes in the kitchen…
Enjoying some simple cooking in the last month or so with classic Japanese sauces – the black bream worked out really well baked in foil in a hot oven with bata shoyu (butter and soy sauce mix) and some veg. A wee side dish that was also quite nice was aubergine, carrot and sweet potato…