October 17-18: More wanderings around

October 17, 2008.

We visit the Ghibli Museum. This place is so popular that you have to book your ticket a month in advance if you want to go during the weekends. It was packed with school children and once again we were not allowed to take photos so I only have this photo from the outside while standing in the queue.



It is a museum dedicated to the works of Hayao Miyazaki and is a very wonderful place. He is sometimes described as the Walt Disney of the East and if you know his work you might agree (He made Howl's Moving Castle).

October 18, 2008.

We made our way to Roppongi Hills to check out the towers and buildings there.



The 21-21 Design site here has Japan's tallest building, a Tadao Ando and Issey Miyaki building and some cool sculptures.

Here is the Ando/Miyake Building.







This is the building that had a really interesting sculpture in it's foreground.





This sculpture reminds me of what the inside of aeroplane skins must look like.



Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. Japans tallest building. We got to go up to the observation deck and check out Tokyo from above.



There is this huge spider sculpture in the forecourt.







At the end of the night Naomi and I didn't really feel like going home so we went to check out a bookstore in Shibuya. The place was packed with teenagers just chilling out and riding hotted up motorcycles and cars. There was this amazing energy around the place that you only get around football stadiums and new years eve parties without the threat of any violence. I was told by a mate that this is the norm here on Saturday nights.

Around Tokyo: The cow parade

While walking around Tokyo we noticed these painted cows. They have an exhibition on at the moment where artists are given a few basic cow designs and they are to do with it what they please. Most chose to paint their cows but some got a little bit clever and came up with little scenarios or just mutilated their cow models into something not quit a cow. Delightful.

October 15-16: visiting the local architecture

We spent these days checking out the architecture around Tokyo.

October 15, 2008.
Getting off at Shimbashi station and walking North we checked out these buildings below.

On the way we saw a Godzilla statue. Don't know what it was for. Maybe Godzilla stomped this place in one of the movies.



We paid a visit to the Tokyo Imperial Hotel foyer. The original hotel was one of Frank Lloyd Wrights' most famous japanese buildings but unfortunately time took it's toll and the building was demolished. The foyer has a few Wright touches such as furniture and so on but the original building is gone. The pool and some other items exist in Nagoya at a museum. It was still cool to visit though.



Tokyo internationa Forum designed by Rafael Vinoly.

This building has a massive glass atrium on one side and solid structure on the other. The space in between is a public throughfare with trees and seats.

The solid structure has floors cantilevering over the public throughfare with different functions on them. As you got higher up the building the cantilever became more pronounced so that the structure on the left felt like it was leaning in while the atrium felt like it was a glowing crystal with the light from the sky filtering through. It was a very good effect. Made me want to walk towards the light. Good thing too since this was the entry atrium. Subtle sort of psychology on the architects part.







When you did look at the floors on the other side you saw the function through the glass, like a cafe or an office, and could then move that way with purpose, like wanting a coffee.





October 16, 2008.
We decided to make the pilgrimage to the Yokohama International Passanger Terminal. Which architecture student doesn't when in Tokyo?

On the way we had a look at Airspace Tokyo designed by Thom Faulders Architects. Great little residential building.

First though, a stop at a 100 yen store. Everything must go! (This building is in such a quiet part of the Tokyo suburbs that the shopping street doesn't even have footpaths. Still has big garbage trucks driving up and down here though. Yes, up and down. This road is two way!).









The screen is constructed with sheets of laser cut Acrylic-metal composite. It is in reference to the trees that once existed on this site and the balance between the openings and closed bits are driven by the floor plan program behind, for example, the living rooms have more layers at the lower levels to act as screening and more openings higher up for light.





Getting off at Sakuragicho station just on the outskirts of Yokohama we caught a cab to the port. The locals call it Osanbashi Pier so saying Yokohama passanger terminal only gets you a blank look and a questioning "Ehh!?"







Part landscape garden, part building it was the best thing I have seen built. Equal to the opera house and possibly even better as the interior was also designed by the Architects (Foreign Office Architects) unlike the Opera house.







The origami ceiling.





We waited till nightfall to see the building through all it's phases. It was gorgeous all the way through.







Then we got a phone call from Tomita Hideo and his wife, Yoko. They were people we had contacted for a home stay from the Japan Cycling web site. We decided not to stay with them but we wanted to meet them anyway. They invited us for dinner and we had one of the loveliest nights with them swapping cycling stories and our japan observations. Cheers Tomita's. Good times.

October 12-14: Hanging out in Tokyo Town

Hanging out at the Tokyo Imperial Garden and various bookstores (even though we can't read the various Kana or Kanji).

Sitting by the window in an expensive cafe and only ordering water. Don't tell anyone.



Sitting under these cool trees. The grass is like carpet and no rubbish anywhere (also no rubbish bins. I'm pretty sure that's how Japan maintains such a high employment statistic, countless people cleaning up after countless other people).



Just watching people. The road was closed to cars and this baby took time out to sit in the middle.



Practicing the old pan shot of all the cyclists.





The 13th and 14th was filled up with errand like things. We had to organise our bicycles to send home and so on. I was looking longingly at the cyclists in the park wishing I could chase them around on my bicycle. Oh well.

October 7-11: Yakushima Island and then back to Tokyo

We rode the bullet train down south to see the magical forests at Yakushima Island. This is an island with 5000 year old trees. It has beautiful gardens and wonderful bush walks. Unfortunately only the 2000 year old trees are the easily accessible ones. The really old trees need you to pay a physical price to see them. You have to hike to the top of the mountains and possibly spend the night up there in one of the wettest places on earth.

The first stop on our trip was Kagoshima. A town down south of Kyushu. We did not stay here long but it was an easy going town with a sort of pacific-island feel to the climate and not as busy as other parts of Japan.



We caught a ferry from Kagoshima further south to the island with the old trees. Because of some people who will go nameless (someone deep in the throws of pregnancy) we will do the easy walks and only see the younger trees.







This is only a 2600 year old tree. Naomi wanted to hug it. She did.



Rivers and bridges.





Our shadow on the river bed below.



On the 9th of October we went in search of a real geo-thermally heated onsen. The road was a very empty affair. Nothing drove past us as we walked from the main road inland of the island down to the shore.



What greeted us was a wonderful public bath built by the locals over some time. At first it consisted of stacked rocks around a naturally heated vent on the edge of the island. Then they concreted it and created these rock pools. At high tide the whole thing is under water.
The sea water mixes with the hot water and it is just bearable to get into. I think it sits at around 40 or 50 degrees because I couldn't get in. It felt like being cooked.





Then we rode the ferry back to Kagoshima. It is a city that lives in the shadow of this active volcano. The locals sometime get ash showers and their clothes are kept inside to dry because sometimes it can get covered in ash.



Then the move towards Tokyo. Bikes on a train again.