There is no trace of what it used to be like during the Edo period. Over the Sumida River was the pleasure quarter Yoshiwara and a vast view of central Edo. This area is now known for an ohanami spot, for viewing cherry blossoms along the riverbank in Spring. Quite frankly, it is not the most scenic place any more. There is not even a luxurious condo nor anything else to take advantage of the waterfront location.
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The place is quite interesting by itself for once being a power station. The exhibit was, although rather small with 1 space installation and 3 works on paper, inspiring enough to keep people around for a good half hour at least.
It just happened that I am in the middle of reading "The Devil" now, by the Russian author whose anti-European attitudes can relate to some of what this contemporary exhibit seemed to have conveyed. The rise of democracy in Eastern Europe and what seems to me so confusing of the religious amalgamation in Russia, are just few of many topics, I'm sure, that both fascinate and pester thinkers in the discourse of Modernism.
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One thing that drew my attention at a gadget store in Shibuya the other day - This new mobile phone outfit has the shape of a cow, free-standing by itself, made of soft elastic material. How cute and silly. It is designed not for practicality but for catchy playfulness, so as are many other Japanese gadgets and industrial products.
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If in the future, a 6-month-old baby starts to wonder about on the street alone(!) by riding a robot like this, my determination to postpone any maternal responsibilities will only extend for ever. (I do not have children now.)
Such a use of mobility and technology combined for individual convenience keeps on developing, and I do not necessarily agree with it. But I must admit, seeing this walking robot I became excited at once - The iFoot (or Eye-Foot) by Toyota has been nominated for the 2005 Good Design Award and is also exhibited at the Aichi world exposition.
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This is why I kept saying that we were in the midst of the 3rd-generation Art Deco. The Paris Spring Collection 2005 was another example. Ooo well, the peak has passed now. Above is a shop window in Ginza, Tokyo, cited in the Japan Design Net.
Yukata was back in trend this summer, which was predictable given all the reviving kimono fashion had been around in the market for some time now. Thinking back further, I would even say that the vanguard for this second revival of 'Japanese art deco' had already been apparent by the time Takashi Murakami made his name internationally known circa 2000.
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Shannon region is not the most scenic area in the country according to some friends, but on the way through Limerick (where the picture was taken) to Dromineer I think I saw some interesting sites. The city of Limerick looked to me very much like suburban Massachusetts towns, where Scott and Shinji used to live near Brandies Univ. and perhaps also Worcester, to where Joe and Maurizio and I drove once to visit Louise at the museum. What was most different though, I thought, was the people not to mention their ways of living.
The main purpose of this trip to Ireland was to attend the wedding of Veronica and Oliver in Portroe. Nadine and I took many photographs during the long reception/dinner/dance (and so on so forth) which we will bring together and I will hopefully upload on the flickr's or kodak's web photo album later this week.
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...ahh(!) is over, and it still feels nice. Now that I am out of this place, having started a fresh, new month and a new cycle of life, I begin this blog to log my usual monologues. I will also upload recent gradutation photos and others from the past two years as I sort them in order, o-n-e by o-n-e...maybe.
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