Art and nature in Tokyo

Wow, over a month since I last put something up here. That's pretty shoddy. In my defense, I caught this cold that just would not go away. It would look like it was clearing up and then suddenly get worse again. It's been over four weeks now and I'm still not one hundred percent. This all meant that apart from work and sleep, not much has been going on in these parts of late.

I did go hiking with my friend and his wife a couple of weeks ago, and that was a lot of fun.





I definitely won't be earning a tour guide badge any time soon. I thought I was suggesting a nice, flat hike, but it turned out I mistook the course for another one I'd done ages ago, and it ended up being quite the vertical climb in parts. It was good to get some fresh air and to see a bit of nature. The bamboo forest was especially nice.

Then, I had a museum day yesterday. I went to the Paul Klee exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art. I'm actually not a big fan of his work, but I just love the piece that was used to advertise the exhibit. It's called 'Bluhendes'. (I think that means blossoming.)


I love the way he plays with geometric shapes to make them feel really organic. There seems to be this energy or force just waiting to push through the canvas, which I guess is where the blossoming idea might come from.

There were about one or two other works that I liked. In particular, Dad, I thought you'd be interested in the next one, called 'Prelude to Golgotha'. The one after it is called 'trauerende' (sadness, I think).



But, to be honest, apart from these few exceptions, his stuff just reminds me of the Quentin Blake illustrations from Roald Dahl books. (Not that that's a bad thing, just not something I'd go out of my way to see.)

Keeping with the arty theme, I hung out in Roppongi Hills today.




I love that complex. It's a great place for people watching, and it has some really interesting corporate art. Here is the Roppongi Hills Spider.



I hated it at first, but I've grown to like it over the years. I still refuse to stand under it, though, for fear that she's gonna drop those nasty eggs on me.


And here are some horsemen of the Apocalypse, or something.

In the background, you can see the sprinkler system giving people a cool place to sit. And believe me, we're in need of such places at the minute. It's hot! We seem to be hitting mid-thirties most days. Luckily though, the energy saving measures at work have worked really well, so we're able to have some air con on. The biggest reduction was when we disabled a bunch of lights in the building, so it is a bit darker than I'd like, especially where I sit. Still once you step outside, it's like opening an oven. I was in my hot yoga studio last night, and I got to tell ya, there didn't seem to be too much difference between the sauna-conditions in the main room and the feeling out and about in town. I must try and get a quick photo of the view from the studio one of these days. It'll not an easy thing to do, as they'll probably think I'm trying to grab some pervy shots of the other yoginis. But the night time view from the 11th floor in Ginza where the studio is located is pretty class.

This baking weather is particularly bad news for the plants.


As you can see, the sun even managed to bleach and dry me poor old hydrangea. Basically, we got no rain this rainy season in Tokyo. There are still some living flowers to be found in shaded nooks and crannies.



I know I go on a bit about flowers and greenery, but I guess something a bit natural becomes even more important to you when you are living smack in the middle of a mega metropolis. I think the Tokyo government does a pretty good job of providing parks and more natural spaces. I remember trying to convince an Irish friend who'd lived a few years in Tokyo that it was a pretty green city, but he just wasn't having it. (He has since changed his mind.) I mean, here is the snap I took sitting under a tree in Sangubashi.




It's not so bad, right? And this is just one of two major parks smack in the middle of downtown Shinjuku. It is a concrete jungle, but when you know where to look, there's always some little oasis nearby.