Sakurayama Kaleidoscope Workshop

Last night Bojan, Sakane San and I went to my local cafe Sakurayama to make kaleidoscopes. Tomoko san has been teaching people to make kaleidoscopes for years, and she has a keen passion for collecting all types of which a selection is available for customers to play with.

We made simple ones consisting of a cardboard tube encompassing a mirrored triangular prism. At one end is the viewing hole and the other is a small plastic receptacle of a chosen arrangement of beads, sparkles and berries. The exterior is decorated with a napkin design of choice, carefully glued over the top of a heavily textured satin card. The end results were great and reiterated the  thrill and effectiveness of simple visual trickery.

Tomoko and Keiko where wonderful hosts: kind, caring, attentive and seemingly chuffed or the night’s proceedings. Once the hot beverages and cake came out we were well past our scheduled 9 pm end time, but the laughter and conversation was healthy and once Cezar and Ilya popped in, the room was buzzing. We all left not too long after as it was getting quite late and Bojan needed to catch a bus to Kyoto. Our odd group consisting of  Japanese, Serbian, Swedish, Russian and Australian nationalities, casually walked down to Otsuka station to bid Bojan and Sakane farewell.

I hope Tomoko San and Keiko San enjoyed themselves as much as we did because they, and along with Kazuya san, deserve all the happiness and fulfillment that comes their way. A memorable evening.

Hiroshige Ando Museum - Kuma Kengo

On this Christmas eve, B and I decided we would embark on a three hour journey to our professors most highly acclaimed building; The Hiroshige Ando Museum. Starting early and after a long night in front of the screen, we both nodded in and out of consciousness throughout the journey. Nonetheless, the weather was fresh and clear which provided us great views of a a snow capped mount Fuji and surrounding mountainous ranges when our eyes were open. This again immediately sparked my memories of the Annapurna region in Nepal.

It has become increasingly clearer to me just how significant my experience was in India and Nepal.

We finally reached the building in the small town of Bato. The approach to the museum is a key element of the Kuma's design. Set at the foot of a small mountain, the large opening draws you towards the base of the steps towards the towns Shinto shrine hidden in mountain woods. Kuma professed during a lecture last week that his intention was use the museum as a vessel to draw visitors to both the shrine and the exquisite artwork inside. We took various photographs of the exterior and entry foyer for at least two hours. We discussed the detailing, philosophy and play of light like two archi students do...tragic really...however this building really does deserve proper attention. The layering of timber and aluminum slats, large sheets of glass and the exposed steel members make for a highly layered, ephemeral and reflective structure overall. I was pleasantly surprised at how robust , and dare I say crude at times, the structure was up close despite its achieved appearance being relentlessly crisp. Hiroshige's Ukiyo prints were a pleasure to see and building fittingly took backstage where it was required in the modestly sized exhibition spaces. It was getting on mid afternoon so B and I decided to head to the gift shop...oh boy. I ended up buying up big on hand reproduced prints: four of Hiroshige and two of Hokusai. We sat down at the museum restaurant for a delicious buckwheat soba lunch and I went the whole nine yards by ordering the locally roasted specialty coffee as well (Saza Coffee). Damn it was good.

B and I then made our way up the mountain to the Shrine. At this point it was 4:30 and the sun was descending quickly behind the distant mountains. The yellow warmth draped over the roof of the museum and filtered through the tall trees further up the path. It genuinely felt great to be there and the thought of heading back to grey Tokyo was not so appealing. Nonetheless as night well and truly fell we heading to the bus stop and on the way I picked up the last sad looking Christmas cake from a local sweet shop (my desperate attempt to spark some festive spirit). I snoozed all the way back to Tokyo, cheerfully parted ways with B at Ueno and disappeared into the Yamanote line crowd.

double espresso onegaishimasu カフェ巣鴨桜宮

I am blessed as a coffee gargling Melbournian to have Cafe Sugamo Sakuramiya literally 2 minutes walk from my dorm. Run by the lovely Kazuya-San and Tomoko-San, the cafe is an intimate single room that embodies a long shared table made from single piece of lumber. The harmonous color scheme of sakura pinks, sand, DeStijl green and natural timbers is warm and homely. As you open the door you are met with the startling Victoria Arduino Two-Group Semi-automatic Venus Bar coffee machine finished is high polished copper, with accompanying coffee grinder. Oh boy is there no expense spared here. I almost fell over when I first entered. Kazuya-San is the commander of his pride and joy and see the care he takes for each cup and for the machine is evidence of  man in love. Ever since going to Italy, I hardly get milk coffee's anymore so double espresso is my usual order. I am no coffee connoisseur however the Mexican-Ethiopian bean blend is just superb as an espresso. The acidity is low and there is a slight fruity aftertaste. Tomoko-San makes friendly conversation with everybody and also takes great pride in serving her homemade waffles (cheese, ice-cream or maple syrup) or cheesecake. All of which are delicious. They gave me a present the other day I assume because of my frequent business and bringing a friend in a couple of times. Today I returned the favor by giving them one of my mothers beautiful oil paintings, The Billy on the Boil, which was accepted with great delight. Kazuya-San was by his lonesome today and he proceeded to tell me he and Tomoko-San had too much sake last night and he was hung over. Hilarious guy. I look forward to the next brew.

To get there take the Toden Arakawa line (single carriage tram line) from JR Otsuka Station (Yamanote Line). Get off at Koshinsuka station (5 minutes) and walk East for about 2 minutes and its on the right.