Photo dump

I know that the following type of post is the blog equivalent of Patty and Selma inflicting a holiday slide show on the family Simpson, but I like taking snaps. These pictures must be worth at least a couple of hundred words.

So yesterday, I got my culture on and attended an exhibition of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. In contrast to the western aesthetic, Japanese arrangements rarely feature flowers in full bloom: Ikebana is not about explosions of colourful flowers. In fact, the stems and leaves are equally - if not more - important than the actual flowers because so much of the beauty is supposed to come from the overall form, how the arrangement occupies space and where the eye is led.






There are lots of styles and schools and rules governing the practice, about which I know nothing. I just love how some of the arrangements feel like miniature gardens.



Technically, this is my first cherry blossom of the year, but I have decided not to do any more blossom watch - it's making me feel the passing of time too harshly.


A view of Buddha from the temple in Sugamo, and a serenity in which I am severely lacking these days. Whatever happened to Zen Patrick and all the 'think positive' carry on?



A bit of an only-in-Japan scene. Can you see what's going on here? The person living in this oldish house on a narrow street in downtown Tokyo doesn't have the room or drainage to have a washing machine indoors. So they just leave it fully plumbed on the doorstep! I'm telling you, space is a luxury in this city. I don't think this machine would last five minutes in Dublin. I mean some nasty, nasty Dubliners stole the freakin' sandbags put out by the local government to protect the city from a hurricane there a few months ago.





A view of Fuji from an early-morning train to Kyoto.


Here you can see where the name of the company comes from. (Mount Xerox is just to the South of Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture.)



I come from docker stock, so I have a genetic affinity for quays and loading bays. The cranes lined up on the horizon here put Dublin to shame. Even though the Japanese economy has slipped to number 3 in the world rankings, this caravan of proud metallic beasts is a reminder of how much stuff still gets traded through this port.







Last photo. I love the light quality in this snap. Can you guess whether it's dawn or dusk? Only for the fact that I took the picture, I'd get the answer wrong.