Category: Decorations

CategoriesArt Decorations Essay Kanagawa Light Night Photography Technology Yokohama

Transporting into the Future

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“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt The 2020s is the decade when so many of our favorite anime series and Hollywood blockbusters take place. While Ghost in the Shell (1995) depicted a neon-lit cyberpunk Tokyo, Her (2013) set in a techno-perfect Los Angels not in a distant future where a man can date his operating system. However, at far as we know, the very first year of the decade, 2020, is not what we expected. As we spent most of our time at home, we haven’t experienced anything 2020-ish. We expected a cyberpunk-themed car accelerating on the night highway leaving … Continue ReadingTransporting into the Future

CategoriesArt Decorations Kanagawa Photography Yokohama

Yokohama Triennale 2020

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“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche The Yokohama Triennale, first held back in 2001 and occurs once in every three years, is Japan’s one of the biggest art exhibitions. This year’s edition titled ‘Afterglow’ marks the first time the exhibition has been led by an artistic director from overseas. Raqs Media Collective, a collective of three artists based in New Delhi, India, directed this year’s edition. The following is a brief description of the concept of this year’s edition by the official page of the art event: The title of Yokohama Triennale 2020 is “AFTERGLOW,” a word chosen by Raqs … Continue ReadingYokohama Triennale 2020

CategoriesArchitecture Decorations Environment Essay Kanagawa Life Photography Skyscrapers Society Yokohama

Existential

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“There is scarcely any passion without struggle.” ― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays “The next year will be a wonderful year,” I told my friend, Wilson, when we parted at Shibuya station. Wilson is a good friend of mine, whom I met only a couple of weeks ago. He’s an Asian American and spent the last six years in Japan as an English teacher. That was December 29th, only three days away from the end of 2019. Personally, 2019 was a heavy year. Job change, struggle, love, and regrets. Like many other years, I have been through a lot. But the silver lining is that it … Continue ReadingExistential

CategoriesArchitecture Decorations Kobe Light Night Photography

Nankinmachi

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“I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.” ― Woody Allen Just like my home city, Yokohama, Kobe has its Chinatown, known as Nakinmachi. Interestingly, the closest JR station to the district is called Motomachi, and Yokohama also has a district whose name is Motomachi that is close to Yokohama’s Chinatown. Why are they so similar to each other? You can google it if you want. It was my first time in my life to visit the place, and Kobe’s Chinatown was cozy and very amusing. A great place to visit for your dinner or some Chinese snacks. … Continue ReadingNankinmachi

CategoriesArchitecture Decorations History Kyoto Photography

Nijo Castle

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“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” ― Winston S. Churchill Nijo Castle is a very well reserved sightseeing spot where Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu once resided. The castle is composed of various different areas, architectures, and towers. Inside the main castle, you can see how cleverly designed the architecture is with great details. Even though the entrance fee is a little more costly when compared with other Kyoto sightseeing spots, it’s one of the must-see spots.

CategoriesArchitecture Decorations History Kyoto Nature Photography

Kinkakuji Temple

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“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.” ― Bill Keane This is the highlight of my Kyoto trip. KInkakuji Temple is one of the hardest sightseeing spots you can ignore when visiting Kyoto. You can definitely be guaranteed to geta breathtaking photo of this gold leaf decorated temple. I walked around the surrounding lake and garden to take the temple from every angle. This place is somewhat magical and is really worth your visit!

CategoriesArchitecture Decorations History Kyoto Nature Photography

Unfortunately…

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“There are very few bad people. There are just a lot of people that are unlucky.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Yep, you’ve read the title… During my trip to Osaka, my friend told me Kyoto is only 30 minutes away from the city. Since I have already visited almost all major sightseeing spots of Osaka back in May, I thought why not visiting somewhere new, like Kyoto. As the title reads, my first destination of the city turned unfortunate. Kiyomizu-dera Temple should be a landmark sightseeing spot. It, however, was under renovation… But the visiting experience in the temple overall was great and refreshing. Even though … Continue ReadingUnfortunately…

CategoriesArchitecture Decorations Essay Inner GPS Kanagawa Life Light Night Photography Society Yokohama

My Little Rebellion Against the Norm

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“If you want to rebel, rebel from inside the system. That’s much more powerful than rebelling outside the system.” ― Marie Lu, Legend One night, my colleague asked me to go for a drink. At a bar, he kept telling me how awesome it is to interact with new people. And I agreed with that. One thing, however, divided us was that those whom we interact with are fundamentally different. He was only able to speak his native language, namely Japanese. So, those whom he interacted with were solely limited to the Japanese. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem, though, was that he tried to persuade me to … Continue ReadingMy Little Rebellion Against the Norm

CategoriesAnimals Art Decorations History Photography Tokyo

Cats Overload

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“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” ― Robert A. Heinlein To commemorate the 90th anniversary, the Hotel Meguro Gajoen held another cat exhibition. 29 different artists contributed to this project, and more than 3000 cat figures and art-pieces were collected. The Idols of the Cat Capital exhibit represents Japan’s fascination with cats over the Heian, Edo, Showa, and Heisei periods. The exhibit was on display only until May 19th. It was such a like-no-other experience to be surrounded by thousands of cats. Absolutely cats overload!

CategoriesDecorations Essay Fashion Photography Tokyo

Village Vanguard

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“If men liked shopping, they’d call it research.” ― Cynthia Nelms In the previous article, I posted photographs of Shimokitazawa during the night stroll in the city. Photos posted here were taken in a store in the city, called Village Vanguard Shimokitazawa, on the same day. Village Vanguard is a book chain running a business across Japan, especially in urban areas. What makes the chain stands out of the crowd is that not only does it sell books, but also sells anything that might be perceived as “cool” by youngsters. The keywords of the franchise are “subculture”, “acoustic”, “unplugged”, “analog”, “nature”, “American pop culture”, and “nostalgia”. When I was looking … Continue ReadingVillage Vanguard