Jonelle Patrick's Blog, page 21
August 29, 2019
Jazz Age Paintings Of Beautiful Women And The Real Kimonos They Were Wearing
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If you love kimono – and especially if you love Taisho and Showa-age kimono – don’t miss this exhibition! Right now, the Yayoi-Yumeji Museum – where over 3,000 of artist/illustrator Takehisa Yumeji’s works are archived – is displaying the actual kimonos and accessories worn in his paintings, side by side.
I’m a huge fan of Taisho Era kimono (1912-1926), because they’re perfectly suited for hime-style wear, in which Japanese kimonos are worn with Western-style gloves, hats, shoes and other accessories. While Western jazz-age women were shedding their corsets and raising their hemlines, Japanese kimono designers entered into the roaring-20s spirit by shucking off traditional seasonal colors and designs in favor of brighter, more graphic fabrics, often with western motifs. Think roses instead of cherry blossoms!
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You can instantly tell that these are Taisho Era by the explosion of unusual color combinations
Artist/illustrator Takehisa Yumeji (1884- 1924) was one of the foremost painters of beautiful jazz age women (bijin-ga). The exhibition takes advantage of the fact that his wife was his chief model, and the museum owns all the kimonos she used when modeling for the paintings.
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He took a little artistic license, but not much!
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Obviously the very same kimono and accessories!
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I like the real kimono much better than the illustration, but maybe that’s just me
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So, so, cool
You still have a chance to catch this one through September 29th (2019), so if you haven’t seen it, GO.
Where: Yayoi-Yumeji Museum, 2-4-3 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
Open: Every day, closed Mondays
Hours: 10:00 – 17:00
Admission: Adults, ¥900; Children ¥400
(It was forbidden to take photos anywhere but the top floor, so the kimono/illustration photos are taken from the official museum catalog for this exhibition)
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After sighing over gorgeous kimonos, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
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For nine years, Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura thought his mother’s death was an accident. Then he gets a call, and his life begins to unravel. Because if it wasn’t an accident…what was it? Read more
August 28, 2019
The Tool For All Your Chrome-plated Outdoor Needs
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The must be the tool you’d need when pulling into the glamping spot in your pristine 4-wheel drive, to, I dunno…shovel a few more steaks onto the barbie? Return your cocktail garnishes to the earth from whence they came? Bury bodies above your pay grade?
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When not pondering outdoor tool use, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
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For nine years, Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura thought his mother’s death was an accident. Then he gets a call, and his life begins to unravel. Because if it wasn’t an accident…what was it? Read more
August 22, 2019
3-D Goldfish Art: Wait, Those Are PAINTINGS?
Doth my eyes deceive me?
Riusuke Fukahori paints 3-D goldfish so real you can’t believe they’re not wriggling. And I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but the exhibit of his work going on RIGHT NOW at the Hiratsuka Museum of Art is so astounding, that in real life, the fish look more real than in the photos.
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In case you doubt me, here’s one up close, and it STILL looks so real I was tempted to shake a few flakes of smelly fish food into the container!
His 3-D works use real buckets, bowls and other containers to hold the clear resin on which he paints the fish art.
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Paintings or sculpture? Hard to say!
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Excuse me, can we just see this ripply bit with the swimming goldfish and fallen leaves up close?
But how the heckin’ heck does he do it? According to the video showing at the exhibition, the fish are built up slice by slice, layer by layer, on paper-thin consecutive pours of clear resin. I watched him do it in the video, and I’m still UTTERLY boggled!
The main installation in this exhibit is a new work, the “shop” of an old-fashioned goldfish breeder…
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It’s a life-sized booth, with so many delightful details, I had to stand there with my mouth hanging open for a good thirty minutes
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I’d just been to the Edogawa Goldfish Festival and seen this REAL bucket of goldfish for sale…
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…so you can imagine how astounded I was by how lifelike this one is!
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I also recognized the trays of the ordinary goldfish children catch at summer festivals for pets…
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…and resonated with the owner’s messy desk, complete with odd toys and coffee dregs
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And of course I had to closely inspect the bags of fish awaiting pick-up by their new owners, which are joined by exotically realistic fantasy creatures never seen in any aquarium
But that’s not all!
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Fukahori also paints gorgeous goldfish on canvas, much larger than life
And because this exhibition is his life’s-work-to-date retrospective, nearly everything he’s painted is on display in the adjoining galleries (where photos are not permitted, so these are from the exhibition catalog).
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Starting with the piece that first made him famous…
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…we also see how he began to play with movement of both the fish and the container
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He started out using sake boxes as fishbowls…
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…but soon moved on to “found” containers that are utterly delightful
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From there, he moved into large-scale pieces, and put goldfish in ever-more-surprising (and delightful) places
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His most poignant work is the pieces he made for survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. This is one of them – a paintbrush bucket owned by Yuna Kimura, a little girl who was missing for six years before her father finally discovered her remains and was able to move on. Fukahori says he’d been suffering from the artists’ version of writers block for two years before the tsunami happened, but bringing comfort and hope again to the families that had lost children gave him renewed purpose and inspiration
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These pieces at the entrance led me to hope we could procure these delightful bed linens and t-shirts for ourselves, but sadly, they’re one-of-a-kind art too. The gift shop does have nice stuff with goldfish on it, though, so definitely check it out on your way out!
This isn’t my first Riusuke Fukahori rodeo – I’ve been jonesing for this giant show ever since being astounded by an earlier exhibit of his art in Yokohama a couple of years ago. He says that he wants to move on from goldfish and do something else now, so if you want to see this incredible stuff, now’s your chance. It’s still open until September 2, 2019. The museum where it’s showing is about an hour from Ebisu Station on the Shonan Shinjuku Line, then about a 20-minute walk from Hiratsuka Station to the venue. There are hundreds of pieces on display. Really, don’t miss this. IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Where: Hiratsuka Museum of Art, 1-3-3 Nishiyawata
Exhibition: July 7 – September 2 (2019)
Open: Every day, except closed Mondays and over the New Year’s holiday 12/29 – 1/3
Hours: 9:30-17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Admission: Adults, ¥900; Children ¥500
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When she can tear herself away from the fishies, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
“A genuinely gripping crime thriller which wrong-foots and perplexes the reader throughout, drawing us in emotionally . . . Highly recommended.” –Raven Crime Reads
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It’s been ten years since his mother never made it home, but now Detective Kenji Nakamura’s life is about to unravel…Read more
August 17, 2019
The Last Art Aquarium
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Art Aquarium, I’m going to miss you!
Yes, this is the last year they’re going to produce this eye-popping cross between goldfish and SFX, and they’re making up for the last few lackluster seasons by putting on the equivalent of a fireworks grand finale!
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Even though they’re once again recycling the fish-filled art pieces from the past few years…
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…they’re freshened everything up with new colors and arrangements…
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…so it feels way more festive
And they added one installation that put a crink in my neck, because I stared up at it for so long: Goldfish Ceiling!
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Each panel of this coffered ceiling showcased a different exotic breed of fish…
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…and the mirrored design multiplied each fish, so it looked like there were schools of them languidly waving their fins overhead
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Other unusual varieties are displayed like fine jewels in refreshed settings…
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…and a few pieces I hadn’t seen before added sparkle…
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…and entertaining fun-house illusions
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Old favorites are lit in theatrical new ways…
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…with different fish inside than before
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As always, it’s hard to decide which ever-changing color combo is my favorite…
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…but if you go, you won’t have to choose, because you can just stand there as long as you like, mesmerized by the glow
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The final installation is a live goldfish “kimono”
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And for those who only post weird art to their Instas, they’ve got your six with this neon goldfish bathtub WAT
Dates: August 6 – September 23 (2019)
Hours: 11:00 – 22:30
Admission: Adults: ¥1000, Children: ¥600*
You can buy tickets online or get them at the door – sometimes there’s a line (especially in the last few days before it closes) but usually you can just buy a ticket at the reception desk and walk right in.
* There are a few nights when admission is higher because of the entertainment. Check the “Night Aquarium” special events calendar for details
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After swimming with the fish, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
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It’s been ten years since his mother never made it home, but when Detective Kenji Nakamura gets a phone call saying her death wan’t an accident, his life begins to unravel…Read more
August 13, 2019
When The Gods Decide To Plant A Lotus Garden, They Don’t Mess Around
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It was construction as usual in the town of Gyoda, until an excavation for a new building hit a layer of lotus plants that had been dead for thousands of years. They didn’t think much of it, until the rain came, and the ancient lotus seeds began to sprout. When the plants bloomed, the flowers had fewer petals than modern lotus, and local botanists discovered it was a variety they thought was long-extinct!
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Well, WOO HOO, lucky for us, extinct no more. Thank you, gods of lotus propagation! Scientists believe the original seeds dated from 2,500-3,000 years ago
Now there’s a gigantic garden of these ancient lotus, sitting amid the rice fields
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First glimpse of the bounty to come
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And (Insta fans take note) the surrounding park makes a truly lovely backdrop
Kodaihasu-no-sato (as this garden is called) now has ponds upon ponds of these ancient lotus – 120,000 plants, at last count – plus 41 other varieties planted in banks of raised beds out front, for your viewing pleasure. And in case you think, eh, you seen one lotus you seen ’em all, these:
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From the nearby tower, you can get an amazing overview of the gardens
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This is the view from the observation deck
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And see how those zig-zagging wooden boardwalks go right out among the flowers? It’s photo-snapping paradise (unless, of course, you’re there with one of the inevitable guys in orange jackets. I didn’t actually see one this time, but a related killjoy of a cameraman wearing a bright white shirt rushed in and set up his tripod right in the middle of one of the other ponds, so I give him honorary orange jacket points for figuring way too prominently in the background of everybody else’s shots)
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And the exhibit inside the ground floor of the tower is stuffed with interesting lotus facts. Like, they not only bloom at sunrise and close up by noon, they bloom differently on each day! On the first day, they only open up a little (like the one sticking up above the leaves in this picture), on the second day, they open up wide (like the one at the bottom of the photo) and on the last day, they go all out and drop their petals, making way for the seed pods to raise their many-eyed heads
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The only downside is that you do need to get there early in the morning to see them at their best, but the consolation prize is that then you can spend plenty of time up in the tower afterwards admiring the rice field art
The Gyoda Ancient Lotus Garden (Kodaihasu-no-sato) is near the town of Gyoda, in Saitama prefecture, and because it’s way out in the country, it’s not super easy to get to. I have a long-suffering and equally flower-mad Japanese friend with a car, which made it easier. If you’d like to go, the next time you’re in Japan, there’s a map on my website, The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had.
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When she can manage to tear herself away from the pretty pink things, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
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For nine years, Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura thought his mother’s death was an accident. Then he gets a call, and his life begins to unravel. Because if it wasn’t an accident…what was it? Read more
August 7, 2019
If Only Japanese Rock Gardens Were Filled With Cooling Mist & Illuminations…
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Oh. Wait. At Tokyo Midtown this summer, they are!
On the lawn that hosts those amazing winter illuminations, they’ve constructed a wide wooden veranda enclosing a “rock garden,” complete with clouds of mist and a fireworks-themed lightshow. And the best part is, you can sit and dangle your feet for as long as you like, enjoying the cool and the entertainment for free!
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The illuminations twinkle to life, capturing all the colors of summer…
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…before bursting into “fireworks”…
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…in all the colors of the rainbow
And if you’re still not convinced this is the greatest summertime invention since popsicles…
But that’s not all! Next to the garden of blissful mist is a stand selling bento and drinks – including a sophisticated take on kakigori, that traditional summertime favorite – so you can picnic while enjoying the show.
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Sometimes adulting is not so bad
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You can also meet up with friends in the outdoor lounge, complete with this excellent take on the idea of “lawn chairs”
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Or get yourself a free token at the stand next to the stream, take off your shoes, and sip a cold one while dipping your toes in the fountain
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Tokyo Midtown Digital Art Garden
Dates: July 12 – August 25 (2019)
Hours: Illuminations are from 18:00 – 23:00, mist starts earlier, at 15:00
Admission: Free
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When not escaping the summer heat, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
Nine Years. Nine death anniversaries. Tomorrow will be the tenth. He always visits her grave early, to avoid crossing paths with her family. He always comes on the day he actually killed her…read more
August 4, 2019
Rice Field Art
In what has to be the weirdest creative medium next to the Seed Art Pavilion at the Minnesosta State Fair, Japanese farmers have taken to making large-scale art by planting some of their fields in different strains of rice. The only problem is, in order to even see what the picture is of, you have to look at it from really high above the field.
Fortunately, this one is next to the municipal tower in Gyoda, home of the Gyoda Hasu-en, where you can see acres and acres of lotus in bloom, grown from 2500-year-old seeds.
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This is the view from the other side of the tower’s observation deck
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These handsome guys…
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…are Japan’s top rugby players, who will be competing in the Rugby World Cup in September. The World Cup is in Japan this year, hence the rice portrait worthiness
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The fields clocking around to the rugby dude’s right spell out “Reiwa,” which is the name of the new imperial era that just began when the new emperor Naruhito ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne in May of 2019
But planting these suckers is harder than it looks. First of all, no weedy holes. I still can’t figure out how the gardeners and farmers of Japan manage to a) get everything to grow at the same rate/bloom all at once and b) how they manage to get perfect coverage without any bare spots. An easier question to answer is how they make the picture look right from the top of the tower. Like this:
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Who knew that farming would require Photoshop skillz?
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After coming down from the tower, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
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For nine years, Tokyo Detective Kenji Nakamura thought his mother’s death was an accident. Then he gets a call, and his life begins to unravel. Because if it wasn’t an accident…what was it? Read more
July 30, 2019
Floating Lanterns
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Candle-lit lanterns floating on a pond in the moonlight? Yes, please!
This Toro Nagashi lantern ceremony was at the Ueno temple that sits amid the nodding lotus heads of Shinobazu Pond, and it was lovely. What I didn’t know was that it signals the end of annual O-bon festivities, the three days in summer when the spirits of ancestors come back to check on the living (and to make sure the family graves are being kept up to snuff).
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As twilight was just beginning, this procession of flute-playing priests (accompanied by the one with the bell) made their way to the temple…
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…which was lit up with a festive wall of lanterns
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After the sutra-chanting and a short Buddhist ceremony, the musicians and priests solemnly made their way toward the water
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Soon, rafts of lanterns were drifting across the pond, sailed along by the evening breeze
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The Toro Nagashi ceremony isn’t an ancient one – it started in 1946, after the war, as a way to send the spirits back to the afterlife when their annual three-day visit was over
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Lanterns are felt to symbolize hope and peace, and although they are lit and launched to commemorate the departed, Toro Nagashi is a joyful ceremony, not a mournful one
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The candles stayed lit just about the same amount of time it took them to cross the wide pond, winking out as the reached the far shore
There are many Toro Nagashi ceremonies around Japan in mid-August, so if you do a search for “toro nagashi” plus the place you’ll be, you’ll probably find one., This one at the Shinobazu Pond is the earliest one in Tokyo, but the biggest is in Asakusa on August 10th, where the lanterns are launched into the river from the Sumida River Park (on the Asakusa side , not the Skytree side). At the Asakusa Toro Nagashi, you can also buy your own for ¥1500 and launch it along with the others.
Tips for photo-taking at the Shinobazu pond event: Only ceremony participants can get close to the priests launching lanterns from the dock behind the temple, but lanterns are also launched from the left end of the pond (with the temple at your back), the side opposite the zoo. There is no best place to take photos, but they tend to drift across the pond toward the zoo in the prevailing breeze. If you don’t have a camera with a long lens, the best place to glimpse them up close is on the boardwalk spanning the zoo end of the pond, where you can take snaps as they approach. You can freely roam around the pond and take pictures as they go by, though – it’s not so crowded that you can’t get a clear shot near the railing if you’re patient.
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When not chasing lanterns, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
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Nine years. Nine death anniversaries. Tomorrow will be the tenth. When Detective Kenji Nakamura’s phone rings with the news that his mother’s death wasn’t an accident, his life begins to unravel…read more
July 24, 2019
Japanese Fireworks: The Many-Splendored Fire Flowers Of Summer
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Fireworks happen all over Tokyo in the months of July and August, and if you haven’t been to see them yet, go. Last weekend I went to the Adachi Fireworks Festival (13,000 gorgeous explosions!) but they’re just the first in a parade of splendor, and the biggest is yet to come.
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The best thing about Japanese fireworks is that the entire show is like a grand finale, from the first boom & crackle to the last
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I took this photo with a half-second exposure, which shows you how many can blossom in the blink of an eye!
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The choreography is surprising and varied…
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…often inspring crowd-wide ahhhhs with unusual sequences like this one, the “fire flowers” blooming like the lilies that burst forth all over the countryside in July
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And the colors! Photos can’t come close to capturing the colors I’ve only seen in Japan. Not just blue, green, red and gold, but purple and magenta and orange and turquoise!
And even though this video is a pale thumbnail of the experience, imagine this snippet X 30-90 minutes, and you’ll get an inkling of what a Japanese fireworks show feels like:
For an overview of this summer’s offerings, Japanistry’s fireworks guide is a pretty good one, and if you’d like details on timing and maps to all the upcoming events around Tokyo, visit the Tokyo Cheapo July and August events pages.
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The Adachi show is my favorite fireworks festival because it’s easy to see the show from a wide sloped area on the riverbank – peoples’ heads aren’t in the way and you don’t have to get there three hours early to stake out a spot where you can see.
Tips for going to the Adachi Fireworks Festival
• The most enjoyable way to see these is to go an hour early (not so much to get a seat as to avoid the sardine-like crowds that make a ten-minute walk from Kita-senju Station into a thirty-minute one) and buy yourself some beers and yakitori (grilled skewered chicken) from the vendors that line the streets on the way to the riverbank.
• Bring something to sit on, because the ground is damp and you’ll get a wet butt otherwise. I bought my plastic mat from a ¥100 store.
• There are two bridges that cross the river in the viewing area. The fireworks appear in the sky above and beyond the left-most bridge (as you approach from Kita-senju station), so sitting on the far side of that bridge is ideal.
• When picking a spot on the riverbank, walk down the stairs toward the river and sit on the left side of the stairs (the side that’s closer to the fireworks). If you don’t, the people going up and down the stairs the whole night will partially block your view.
• If you don’t mind standing for the whole show, the area between the streets leading to the station and the levee (which you climb up and over to get a spot on the riverbank) has a great view of the show.
• Check the weather report before you go. If there’s even the smallest chance of rain, bring an umbrella. You do not want to be stuck in a wet crowd stampeding at a snail’s pace toward the station while it’s pouring rain.
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When not gazing at colorful explosions, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
Nine Years. Nine death anniversaries. Tomorrow will be the tenth. He always visits her grave early, to avoid crossing paths with her family. He always comes on the day he actually killed her…read more
July 20, 2019
Viva la Revolućion…Diva Style
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I’ve got to hand it to the fearless players of Takurazuka – they might be the only women in the world who regularly get up on stage and play the parts of men with iconic beards and legendary moustaches.
Their current musical production features everyone’s favorite Cuban revolotionary, who rocks the glam eye makeup a bit better than Honest Abe.
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When not applauding bearded ladies, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo
“A genuinely gripping crime thriller which wrong-foots and perplexes the reader throughout, drawing us in emotionally . . . Highly recommended.” –Raven Crime Reads
Nine Years. Nine death anniversaries. Tomorrow will be the tenth. He always comes early to avoid crossing paths with her family. He always comes on the day he actually killed her…read more
