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paper"},{"term":"wood"},{"term":"yabusame"},{"term":"yellow"},{"term":"yohga"},{"term":"yugen"},{"term":"zenga"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Fujiland"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":""},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/-\/2007?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=8"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/2007"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/-\/2007\/-\/2007?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=9\u0026max-results=8"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"14"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"8"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-7022725462207936317"},"published":{"$t":"2015-12-08T07:29:00.001-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-02-04T00:42:47.183-08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Culture and Technology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"love hotels"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Misty Keasler"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Natsuo Kirino"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"sex"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"BOOK REVIEW: LOVE HOTELS - PHOTOGRAPHS BY MISTY KEASLER"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\" trbidi=\"on\"\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-oDpqsPEUAhI\/Vmb0_3dzY2I\/AAAAAAAAOL0\/0hZD1EAiI7Y\/s1600\/mangahires.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-oDpqsPEUAhI\/Vmb0_3dzY2I\/AAAAAAAAOL0\/0hZD1EAiI7Y\/s320\/mangahires.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EIf you want to get a handle on Japanese society, you can always waste your time going to the nearest tourist office and picking up a load of brochures on cormorant fishing, Zen mediation, and flower arranging. A more surefire way to achieve an understanding of Japan, however, is to look at common aspects of social behavior that are unlikely to feature in tourist brochures. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne of the most revealing is Japan’s phenomenon of love hotels, the subject of a book of photography by the Texas-based photographer Misty Keasler, whose work has also appeared in prestigious magazines like \u003Ci\u003EHarpers\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Eand \u003Ci\u003ETime\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAlthough ‘explaining the Japanese’ does not seem to have been the driving force behind Keasler’s photographs of Japanese love hotel interiors, there is undoubtedly a lot we can learn from the surroundings that the Japanese choose for their most intimate moments. The most obvious fact is that under the influence of passion, people’s good taste apparently deserts them. Where or when else would you take pleasure in fluorescent pictures of whales and a sofa made in the shape of a giant condom? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis and other examples of Las-Vegas style excess – like a lobby with a Santa mannequin playing piano or a hallway with actual trees – might have a kitschy appeal that Westerners can at least understand. But what are we to make of the Hello Kitty SM room? Although SM is as much a time-honored tradition in the West as anywhere else, conflating it with a lovable children’s character seems peculiarly odd. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-_q2gs2Rlgho\/Vmb2evvwBII\/AAAAAAAAOMA\/GArDjfODzLM\/s1600\/Hello%2BK.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-_q2gs2Rlgho\/Vmb2evvwBII\/AAAAAAAAOMA\/GArDjfODzLM\/s400\/Hello%2BK.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAlthough Keasler is content to push the button with no comment on her choices (most of which are located in the Kansai area), the book also features a well-written introductory essay on love hotels by Natsuo Kirino, one of Japan’s top thriller writers, who is becoming increasingly well-known in the West through translations of novels like “Out.” \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“I think the real reason behind the development of the love hotel system in Japan can be found in the ie, or traditional family system,” she writes, explaining that the demi-monde of adultery, prostitution, and guilt free sexual liaisons – bread and butter to the love hotel business – is the flip side of the country’s rigid family system, which sees unwed mothers account for a mere 0.2 percent of all births. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“A dual system develops, in which a person’s emotions are divided into two separate spheres, public and private,” Kirino explains. The public sphere means maintaining one’s ‘official position’ as a father, husband, mother, or wife, while the private sphere is “a secret space set aside solely for sex.” \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe interesting point about love hotels is that they cater to this ‘private’ aspect in a very public way and give it clear and unambiguous forms. This means that anyone with a few thousand yen can, in effect, gain access to the nation’s sexual subconsciousness and capture it on film. The result is another PR disaster for Japan, as Keasler’s snaps reveal that sex in Japan is heavily reliant on titillating perversion. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“Did love hotels come about because the Japanese like sex so much?” Kirino asks rhetorically. “Not really. They lack the energy or physical stamina…when Japanese have sex they need a sense of unreality accompanying it. Rather than sex itself, Japanese love the sense of unreality accompanying it.” \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EExamples of the ‘unreality accompanying it’ include gynecological chairs, a bondage crucifix, a caged chamber with a potty training toy, a ‘Subway Room,’ equipped with everything you can expect to find on a train and ideal for acting out chikan fantasies, and a ‘School Room,’ complete with chalkboard, desks, uniform, and ….erm…manacles. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe picture that emerges is not a pretty one and suggests that male fantasy is the driving force. This is not surprising as it’s usually men who pick up the bill. But the result is that mainstream sexual activity in Japan, taking its cue from sex clubs and prostitution, is becoming something increasingly weird and unnatural. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe comedian Woody Allen once asked, “Is sex dirty?” before replying, “Only if it’s done right.” In Japan ‘doing it right’ involves the possibility of a woman being manacled on top of a Hello Kitty bedspread or being led into the ‘Alien Abduction Play Area.’ \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EC.B.Liddell\u003Cbr \/\u003E6th April, 2007\u003Cbr \/\u003EMetropolis\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7022725462207936317\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2015\/12\/book-review-love-hotels-photographs-by.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/7022725462207936317"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/7022725462207936317"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2015\/12\/book-review-love-hotels-photographs-by.html","title":"BOOK REVIEW: LOVE HOTELS - PHOTOGRAPHS BY MISTY KEASLER"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-oDpqsPEUAhI\/Vmb0_3dzY2I\/AAAAAAAAOL0\/0hZD1EAiI7Y\/s72-c\/mangahires.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-1534841191718308224"},"published":{"$t":"2015-04-15T03:42:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-02-04T01:53:21.588-08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Akira Kurosawa"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bernard Leach"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"book review"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Edvard Munch"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Frank Lloyd Wright"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Japanese Art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Japonisme"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Lionel Lambourne"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sergei Eisenstein"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Toulouse-Lautrec"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Japonisme: Cultural Crossings between Japan and the West"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\" trbidi=\"on\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-7a7s2OwzOhQ\/VS4-2Gz2mHI\/AAAAAAAALG8\/3h2BYB1uRn4\/s1600\/Japonisme%2BCover.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-7a7s2OwzOhQ\/VS4-2Gz2mHI\/AAAAAAAALG8\/3h2BYB1uRn4\/s400\/Japonisme%2BCover.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EJaponisme: Cultural Crossings Between Japan and the West\u003Cimg alt=\"\" border=\"0\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=alterright093-20\u0026amp;l=as2\u0026amp;o=1\u0026amp;a=0714847976\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" width=\"1\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eby Lionel Lambourne\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EPhaidon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E$44.07 on Amazon\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EThe great English potter Bernard Leach, who introduced Japanese pottery techniques to England, once expressed the utopian hope that the cultures of the East and West would one day merge together.  \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E“I believe in the interplay and marriage of the two complementary braches of human culture as the prelude to the unity and maturity of man,” he remarked near the end of his long life. But, if ever the cultures of the East and West were to merge into one, it would be something of a tragedy because, as this book shows, whenever things get stale in the West a fresh breeze from the East is cable of freshening things up, and \u003Ci\u003Evice versa\u003C\/i\u003E. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003ELavishly illustrated, “Japonisme” by Lionel Lambourne, the former head of paintings at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, is a wide-ranging and informative survey of the relationship between Western and Japanese culture since the 17th century, with the emphasis more on how Japan influenced the West than the other way round, which is, undoubtedly a much larger project. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003ELambourne’s erudition is evident throughout in the many connections, subtle or otherwise, that he highlights. Alongside the more obvious and well-documented Japanese influences, like that of \u003Ci\u003Eukiyo-e\u003C\/i\u003E on French Impressionism and the poster art of Toulouse-Lautrec, he also points out the lesser known connections, like Norwegian artist Edvard Munch’s use of the grain of the plank as background in his woodcuts, a technique he borrowed from Japanese woodcuts, and the influence of kabuki on the filmmaking of the legendary Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein.  \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EWith photos, illustrations, and artworks on practically every page, the reader is guaranteed to know instantly what Lambourne is writing about without spending hours googling for visual reference. This also makes the book a pleasure to return to again and again, and ideal for absent minded browsing. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EAs Japonisme was at its height in the late 19th century, most of the book naturally focuses on this period and the early 20th century, showing how Japanese influences provided inspiration in a wide range of fields, from interior design and fashion to gardening, architecture, and poetry. The influences, in several cases, are even shown to jump from category to category. For example, the renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was more influenced by the manga of Katsushika Hokusai than the buildings he saw. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E“Ever since I discovered the print, Japan has appealed to me as the most romantic, artistic, nature inspired country on the earth,” he gushed in his autobiography. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EAs Wright’s quote also demonstrates, there is a very real danger of a work like this turning into a hagiography, extolling Japan as a font of supreme truth and beauty, an idea that is quite ridiculous considering the Japanese themselves were busily engaged on an even more intense crash course in Westernization. Luckily Lambourne’s cool, measured tone does nothing to encourage such a view, and allows the reader to be impressed or not by the substance presented. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003ELike all fads, the late 19th-century enthusiasm for Japonisme soon reached a point of overkill, but the important point was that, after having made such a warm acquaintance with each other, both the West and Japan continued to maintain their distinct and unique characters. This allowed each to surprise, delight, and stimulate the other at subsequent meetings. Lambourne finishes by recounting the shock and impact of Kurosawa’s films on Western filmmaking in the post war period. But we all know the story doesn’t end there. As long as East is East and West is West, they will continue to serve as an occasional and potent inspiration to each other. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EC.B.Liddell\u003Cbr \/\u003EMetropolis\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E24th August, 2007\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/1534841191718308224\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2015\/04\/japonisme-cultural-crossings-between.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/1534841191718308224"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/1534841191718308224"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2015\/04\/japonisme-cultural-crossings-between.html","title":"Japonisme: Cultural Crossings between Japan and the West"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-7a7s2OwzOhQ\/VS4-2Gz2mHI\/AAAAAAAALG8\/3h2BYB1uRn4\/s72-c\/Japonisme%2BCover.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-1090779745467901749"},"published":{"$t":"2013-11-03T04:37:00.002-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-04-22T02:28:09.336-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Arata Isozaki"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"architecture"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"book review"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bruno Taut"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ise Jingu"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Japanization"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Katsura Imperial Villa"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Kenzo Tange"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"teikan style"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tokyo National Museum"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Book Review: \"Japan-ness in Architecture\" by Arata Isozaki"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\" trbidi=\"on\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-vi82qtYKYrQ\/UnZDbvLhiRI\/AAAAAAAAFGo\/uHd_f6tPE-U\/s1600\/japan-ness-in-architecture.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-vi82qtYKYrQ\/UnZDbvLhiRI\/AAAAAAAAFGo\/uHd_f6tPE-U\/s320\/japan-ness-in-architecture.jpg\" width=\"216\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EModern Japanese architecture seems to be rooted somewhere in the Space Age, but this informative book by Arata Isozaki, an important architect and writer on architecture, shows that to understand the present you often have to look at the very distant past. For example, the fact that buildings in Tokyo are constantly being knocked down and rebuilt every five minutes somehow makes more sense when you consider Ise Jingu, the nation’s most venerated shrine. Every twenty years, this 'holy of holies' – the Japanese equivalent of the Vatican – is ritually leveled with the ground as an identical building is reared up alongside it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003EAlthough you may often find yourself disagreeing with the writer's opinions, reading this scholarly tome will greatly enhance your understanding of all aspects of Japan's architecture, both ancient and modern.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;According to Isozaki, the main problem that Japanese architects have always faced has not been keeping the rain off people's heads, resisting earthquakes, or looking nice next to cherry trees, but instead successfully internalizing and 'Japanizing' foreign influences. \"Japanese history repeats this pattern over and over,\" Isozaki writes. \"First external pressure strikes Japan; triggered by it, social turmoil occurs and brings civil disturbance in its wake; and, finally, society is restabilized by a cultural Japanization.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003EIn the national struggle of a country that has forever been in the cultural and technological debt of foreigners to retain its sense of national identity and self worth, Japanese architects have worked harder than most. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAlthough the book's structure is not chronological or even logical, the picture that emerges is consistent and compelling, presenting a Japan that alternates time and again between periods of intense receptivity to foreign influences and periods where these influences are either assimilated or rejected. With his deep understanding of his own country’s architecture, Isozaki is able to point to many examples left in the architectural landscape, including the quintessentially 'Japanese' Ise Jingu shrine, which Isozaki shows has undergone several changes over the years in the attempt to make it seem as purely Japanese as possible. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe writer also identifies the characteristics on both sides of the main stylistic tension in historical Japanese architecture: indigenous Japanese vs. imported Chinese, and is not afraid to give reasons for these differences. For example, the use of the round, lacquered wooden pillar in Chinese design, as opposed to the square-shaped, lightly varnished or unvarnished wooden pillar in Japanese design, was caused by the scarcity of wood in Northern China, which was itself the result of the denudation of forests to provide the wood to bake the bricks to make the Great Wall of China. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOften these little snippets of information are more fascinating than some of the larger points Isozaki is endeavoring to make, like his belief that pursuing Japan-ness in architecture is somehow flawed and his assertion that globalization is eradicating the 'borderline' on which Japan-ness relies. He is particularly critical of the pre-war teikan style, a self-consciously nationalist but not unbecoming style promoted to counter the international modernist trend in architecture. Interestingly, for keen students of architecture, both styles can be studied relatively close together in Ueno Park, where the Tokyo National Museum's Honkan is the embodiment of the teikan, while the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan is an equally fine example of international modernism. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnother key thread in Isozaki's account of Japanese architecture concerns the refugee German Jewish architect Bruno Taut and his modernist appreciation of traditional Japanese structures like Ise Jingu and the Edo period Imperial villa at Katsura, Chiba. After a visit to Ise, Taut, who had fled Nazi Germany in 1933, enthused that \"Ise Jingu will become an ultimate destination of architectural pilgrimage, like the Acropolis.\" \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs in so many other fields, the appreciation of a pair of foreign eyes helped the Japanese to discover their own merits. The result was that Japanese architects gained the confidence to apply their own traditions to modernist architecture, culminating in post-war architectural masterpieces like Kenzo Tange's Olympic Gymnasium. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe fact that Isozaki, a generation younger than Tange, never conceived of anything as remotely impressive as this, seems to have left a note of bitterness that occasionally finds voice in an otherwise fascinating narrative. Touchy people these architects! \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EC.B.Liddell\u003Cbr \/\u003EMetropolis\u003Cbr \/\u003E4th May 2007\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/1090779745467901749\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2013\/11\/book-review-japan-ness-in-architecture.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/1090779745467901749"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/1090779745467901749"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2013\/11\/book-review-japan-ness-in-architecture.html","title":"Book Review: \"Japan-ness in Architecture\" by Arata Isozaki"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-vi82qtYKYrQ\/UnZDbvLhiRI\/AAAAAAAAFGo\/uHd_f6tPE-U\/s72-c\/japan-ness-in-architecture.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-4218811159704594231"},"published":{"$t":"2011-11-29T16:56:00.000-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2011-11-29T17:04:42.435-08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"aesthetics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Arthur Waley"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"book review"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Donald Richie"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"jimi"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Metropolis"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"yugen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Zen"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Book Review: \"A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics\" by Donald Richie"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-SIkIJnTSJJY\/TtV960DqOII\/AAAAAAAABqA\/-bYYF87h0SM\/s1600\/Richie.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" dda=\"true\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-SIkIJnTSJJY\/TtV960DqOII\/AAAAAAAABqA\/-bYYF87h0SM\/s200\/Richie.jpg\" width=\"138\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003ETHERE ARE TWO KINDS OF FOREIGNERS: The one who visits the holiest zen garden and sees nothing but a dirty pond, a bit of gravel, and some shrubs, and the other who finds infinite spiritual wonders in a small, misshapen clay tea cup. Most of us living in Japan exist between these two poles of stolid cynicism and excitable, awestruck reverence for Japanese culture.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EExactly where you lie on this continuum will determine how much you appreciate this small book by Donald Richie. The acknowledged don of resident gaijin writers in Japan, Richie first came to these shores in 1947 as a cub reporter for the US military publication \u003Cem\u003EPacific Stars and Stripes\u003C\/em\u003E. What is notable at the start is the way Richie attempts to set his book apart by (a) calling it a \"tractate,\" and (b) asserting that an exploration of Eastern aesthetics is not compatible with the ordered, logical, and analytical \"conventions of a Western discourse.\" While \"tractate\" is similar in definition to dissertation, its connotations call to mind the mysticism of the Hebrew Talmud and Neo-Platonic philosophy, something that seems borne out in Richie's declared intention to allow unspoken factors to \"guide his brush.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Most likely to succeed in defining Japanese aesthetics is a net of associations composed of listings or jottings, connected intuitively, that fills in a background and renders the subject visibly,\" he writes in the preface.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGiven Richie's age — 83 — one is tempted to think that he's employing these tricks to set up easier and more tolerant ground rules for what follows or, to put it more bluntly, giving himself an old man's license to ramble on. The incessant abstraction and definition of terms by words that are themselves undefined gives great stretches of the book a vague, misty character or, worse still, the feeling of reading a dictionary without the alphabetical organization. To be fair to Richie, he seems as much aware of this as anyone else.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"But such a subjective term as 'taste' (even under a rubric as generous as good-sense equals good-taste) needs to be codified,\" he writes at one point, apparently regretting his decision to turn his back on the certainties established by the \"conventions of a Western discourse.\" Luckily, he soon moves away from such wordism and throws in more actual examples. \"This is \u003Cem\u003Ejimi\u003C\/em\u003E, usually translated as simple 'good taste,' though it does have a pejorative edge. When a plainish kimono is worn in a group wearing brighter garments, a close friend might remark (with a smile): \"Isn’t that a little \u003Cem\u003Ejimi\u003C\/em\u003E?\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERead with patience and a degree of faith in the undoubted erudition of the writer, this little book eventually has much to say. As the above quote suggests, much in Japanese aesthetics is determined by social dynamics and one-upmanship. In one of the many small boxes that pepper the main text, Richie writes that \"[Japanese aesthetics] still serve to separate status and class.\" This is aesthetics as a line of defense against social turbulence and changes caused by economic forces. The salient features of Japanese culture—\u003Cem\u003Ewabi sabi\u003C\/em\u003E, \"less is more,\" Zenism, etc.—thus appear as attempts to constantly outflank and counter the gaudy flash and panache of the nouveau riche.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJapanese aesthetics are revealed as the product of this social competitiveness, of the desire to find yet more subtle shades of meaning and beauty than the next guy. This has often led to an effete pretentiousness and an overabundance of subtlety, as in the appositely named Arthur Waley's definition of the term \u003Cem\u003Eyugen\u003C\/em\u003E, quoted in the book: \"To watch the sun sink behind a flower-clad hill, to wander on and on in a huge forest with no thought of return, to stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that goes hidden by far-off islands… such are the gates of yugen.\" The kind of person who reads that and thinks, \"Great! Where can I buy some?\" then this book is for you. As for me, I enjoyed it for all the wrong reasons. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EC.B.Liddell\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003EMetropolis\u003C\/em\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003E28th December, 2007\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4218811159704594231\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/11\/book-review-tractate-on-japanese.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/4218811159704594231"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/4218811159704594231"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/11\/book-review-tractate-on-japanese.html","title":"Book Review: \"A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics\" by Donald Richie"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-SIkIJnTSJJY\/TtV960DqOII\/AAAAAAAABqA\/-bYYF87h0SM\/s72-c\/Richie.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-7817291482666764792"},"published":{"$t":"2011-09-20T18:47:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2011-09-20T18:53:33.780-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"exhibition"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hiroshi Teshigahara"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Kobo Abe"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"MoMA Saitama"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sogetsu Ikebana"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Exhibition: Hiroshi Teshigahara"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-93EHROw2Cwo\/TnlBzzyjpRI\/AAAAAAAABdU\/RFckJpdRpmM\/s1600\/hiroshiteshigahara.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"258\" rba=\"true\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-93EHROw2Cwo\/TnlBzzyjpRI\/AAAAAAAABdU\/RFckJpdRpmM\/s320\/hiroshiteshigahara.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003EHiroshi Teshigahara, who died in 2001, is chiefly remembered as the avant-garde film director who gave celluloid form to author Kobo Abe's surreal, Kafkaesque novel, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/youtu.be\/l_NRQ0tEx-Y\"\u003E\"The Woman in the Dunes\"\u003C\/a\u003E (1964). One of the things that made the movie so impressive was the life that Teshigahara gave to the sand. At times it seems to have a will of its own as the protagonist finds himself trapped with a mysterious woman.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis quality was no accident — it was intimately related to other aspects of Teshigahara's creativity, as a retrospective of his work at MOMA Saitama makes clear. In addition to his film work, Teshigahara was also a painter, calligrapher, potter and, most significantly, a member of an important ikebana dynasty. When Teshigahara's father — Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu School of ikebana — died in 1979, his filmmaker son succeeded him. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhile ikebana often has a rather prissy, rulebound image, Sogetsu holds that upon learning the rules, practitioners have the freedom to break them. Giving life to not just plants but also to rocks, scrap metal and other inanimate objects is the essence of the movement. A favorite material for Teshigahara was bamboo, with several impressive installations on site, including a lengthy bamboo tunnel by which visitors enter the exhibition. There are also fine examples of his pottery and photographs of some of his excellent past creations. In short, this exhibition shows why Teshigahara was the ideal director for Abe's great novel.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003EC.B.Liddell\u003Cbr \/\u003EJapan Times\u003Cbr \/\u003E16th August, 2007\u003C\/em\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7817291482666764792\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/09\/exhibition-hiroshi-teshigahara.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/7817291482666764792"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/7817291482666764792"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/09\/exhibition-hiroshi-teshigahara.html","title":"Exhibition: Hiroshi Teshigahara"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-93EHROw2Cwo\/TnlBzzyjpRI\/AAAAAAAABdU\/RFckJpdRpmM\/s72-c\/hiroshiteshigahara.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-3212150662170719517"},"published":{"$t":"2011-03-19T22:31:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-02-04T02:20:19.479-08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Interviews"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Japan Times"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Kamakura Museum of Modern Art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Naoya Hatakeyama"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Oya stone"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"People"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"sculpture"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Wakiro Sumi"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Interview: Wakiro Sumi"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\" trbidi=\"on\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-pRs7LPNcNvM\/TYWP5QPL4DI\/AAAAAAAABSQ\/k0NCMEn08Ec\/s1600\/Evidence+2006.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"640\" r6=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-pRs7LPNcNvM\/TYWP5QPL4DI\/AAAAAAAABSQ\/k0NCMEn08Ec\/s640\/Evidence+2006.jpg\" width=\"498\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;arial\u0026quot; , \u0026quot;helvetica\u0026quot; , sans-serif; font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003EEvidence, 2006\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E  \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Ch3 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EWakiro Sumi's works invite quiet contemplation\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMaybe it's just as well that the Kamakura Museum of Modern Art is as deserted as it is because the sculpture of Sumi Wakiro is art that whispers rather than shouts. At one of Tokyo's busier museums or galleries, with people's heads still abuzz with the screech of traffic, the blitz of advertising, and the hustle and bustle of the crowd, Sumi's art could quite easily be drowned out \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAs it is, before encountering it, I've enjoyed a calming walk through the streets of this charming old town, where rickshaws still ply their trade, and spent a relaxing half an hour in the cherry-clad gardens of the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine, where the museum is located. Relaxed, with my mind emptied, my mobile phone switched off, and with no other visitors to distract me, Sumi's sculptures have a chance work their delicate magic. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;verdana\u0026quot; , sans-serif;\"\u003E\"The point of my work is not to enjoy it through photographs,\" the 57-year-old artist later tells me. \"You need to look at it in the place. You need to be in the same atmosphere, just looking at my work face-to-face.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003EAs part of it's 11th \u003Cem\u003EArtists Today\u003C\/em\u003E series of exhibitions that aims to introduce active contemporary artists to the general public, the museum is showing Sumi's sculpture in the museum's lower galleries and courtyards, while displaying the cityscape photography of Naoya Hatakeyama on the upper floor. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhile Hatakeyama's photography of the deserted aspects of cities and architectural models brings a minimalist aesthetic to the Japanese urban environment, Sumi's sculpture creates its own unique sense of space by positioning itself between artistic categories. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;verdana\u0026quot; , sans-serif;\"\u003E\"My work is between painting and sculpture, figurative and abstract,\" the artist explains. \"I called my work sculpture but everybody thinks it's not sculpture because my technique is to make works looks like painting.\" \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003EAlthough this is a simplification, there is much in Sumi's sculpture to cause category confusion. \u003Cem\u003EKamakura Veil\u003C\/em\u003E (2006) is an excellent example of this. This presents the viewer with a 3m x 6.4m object that exists uneasily between its 2-D and 3-D characteristics. On a bright red board, the artist has brushed on a mixture of melted wax and paraffin, just as if he were painting. The wax, dribbling down, has hardened, creating a kind of abstract frieze of solidified droplets and rivulets that sometimes mask and veil the board, but sometimes translucently transmit the under color. Sumi raises additional questions by cutting a door through the center of the board, which leads to the beautifully textured Oya stone wall, and by having the right end of the wax surface – supported by hidden wires – peel away from the board. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe effect of this work is to gently exercise the mind without taxing it as one's attention focuses on the random patterns made by the wax before it solidified, and by taking in the delicate sensation of release that the peeling surface creates. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOther effects in Sumi's works are equally subtle. \u003Cem\u003EEvidence\u003C\/em\u003E (2006), with its slightly anthropomorphic and feminine mass of bronze is more obviously a work of 3-D sculpture, but by setting an upright fluorescent tube a discrete distance from the sculpture, Sumi delicately offsets the cozy one-to-one relationship between viewer and statue. We are now forced to bring the neon tube – an inconvenient third party – into the equation. I tried to do this by moving to the side, thus bringing the two elements closer together in my field of vision. But again Sumi has incorporated an element of 2-dimensionality into what is a 3-dimensional work. Only by looking at it face on, as with a picture, can you achieve a true sense of aesthetic balance. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is at this point that the artist’s intention becomes clear. Instead of switching uneasily between the two discrete and difficult to integrate elements, you reach a synthesis by focusing not on the objects, but on the void between them, and then by focusing on the light traveling through that space from the tube to the bronze. Encountering this work at a quiet, publicly funded art museum helps the viewer get the most from this work, so how does the artist feel about appearing in more trendy venues \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-family: \u0026quot;verdana\u0026quot; , sans-serif;\"\u003E\"Of course, if they want to exhibit this at the Mori museum, that's OK,\" Sumi responds. \"But my work is very quiet, so placing it in a simple and quiet place helps.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003EThe enjoyment of the subtlety of Sumi's sculpture takes time and patience, and is at odds with much of the sensory overload of modern life and contemporary art. But taking the trouble to listen to the whisper can also help you escape all the noise. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EC.B.Liddell\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Japan Times\u003Cbr \/\u003E8th March, 2007\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/3212150662170719517\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/03\/interview-wakiro-sumi.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/3212150662170719517"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/3212150662170719517"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/03\/interview-wakiro-sumi.html","title":"Interview: Wakiro Sumi"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-pRs7LPNcNvM\/TYWP5QPL4DI\/AAAAAAAABSQ\/k0NCMEn08Ec\/s72-c\/Evidence+2006.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-6124702839991312820"},"published":{"$t":"2011-01-20T03:22:00.000-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-05-21T23:49:08.359-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"atomic bomb"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bamiyan"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Buddhism"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hiroshima"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ikuo Hirayama"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Japan Times"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Maeda Seison"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"MoMAT"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Nihonga"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Picasso"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Silk Road"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UNESCO"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Xuanzang"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Exhibition: Ikuo Hirayama"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\" trbidi=\"on\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_SFhgk2FUcYg\/TTgap4e5RHI\/AAAAAAAABKY\/bVIsqD7dcVE\/s1600\/Holocaust+of+Hiroshima.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"560\" s5=\"true\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_SFhgk2FUcYg\/TTgap4e5RHI\/AAAAAAAABKY\/bVIsqD7dcVE\/s640\/Holocaust+of+Hiroshima.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003ETouch of silk: Ikuo Hirayama sought solace on the road\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EIkuo Hirayama clearly represents how the Japanese like to see and project themselves. His paintings, located in the strong traditions of Nihonga, are unmistakably Japanese, but also look outwards to the rest of the World, and express the spirit of peaceful cooperation and appreciation of our common World heritage that is a popular theme on Japanese TV travel programs. Furthermore, he has been noticed and honored abroad, most notably being made a UNESCO 'Goodwill Ambassador' in 1988.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EThis must be one reason the major retrospective of his paintings now on display at the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo is so well attended. Other reasons include his skill and application as an artist as well as the way the story of his career touches on the themes of redemption, regeneration, and respect for the past central to postwar Japan's sense of itself. This story dramatically opens with Hirayama, born in 1930, witnessing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as a junior high school student mobilized for the war effort. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EIn his autobiography he described the bombing, which he was lucky to survive, as \"the greatest mistake mankind ever made.\" Undeniably it had an enormous impact on him, but it was his inability to face it directly that shaped much of his artistic career.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EAfter graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku) in 1952, he became a disciple of the Nihonga painter Maeda Seison. During this period, like many other Nihonga painters responding to the threat of social chaos brought by the postwar period and criticism that Nihonga was out of touch with reality, Hirayama chose to paint scenes emphasizing the traditional aspects and order of everyday life. These early works, however, are not included in the exhibition as Hirayama's ultimate style lay in the opposite direction.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EIn 1959, while suffering illness caused by radiation from the A-bomb, he started to paint scenes based on Buddhist themes, like \u003Cem\u003EThe Transmission of Buddhism\u003C\/em\u003E (1959). According to Hirayama's autobiography, the appeal of Buddhist subject matter was that it gave him the freedom to paint symbolically, abstractly, or figuratively as he chose. This allowed him to develop his soft, luminous lyrical style, characterized by muted but glowing colors, unclear lines, and ambiguous forms.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003ECompared to the great canon of Christian art, Buddhism, in purely artistic terms, lags far behind. This is partly the result of an otherworldliness that puts little value on the world of sense and 'illusion,' and partly the effect of a stoicism that eschews passion and drama. Hirayama's Buddhist works, however, show the mark of the trip he made to Europe in the early 1960s to study Western religious art. \u003Cem\u003EFantasy of Nirvana\u003C\/em\u003E (1961) and \u003Cem\u003EThe Jetavana Monastery\u003C\/em\u003E (1981) have an element of the religious drama more typical of Christian Renaissance paintings.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EWhile Japan was in the throes of rampant modernization and materialism, Hirayama headed in the opposite direction, going back to the roots of Japanese culture and spirituality by tracing it to its sources in China and India, as Okakura Tenshin, one of the founders of the Nihonga movement, had done in the 19th century, when Japan faced the first onslaught of Westernization. This course led Hirayama to look for Japan in the wilds of central Asia, as he developed a fascination for the Silk Road and the 7th-century Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who spent 17 years traveling between Tang Dynasty China and India in search of Sanskrit sutras.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EThe works from Hirayama's extensive travels around Asia form the largest part of the exhibition. In the bleakness of the landscapes with their occasional ruins, there is a feeling of Hirayama starting to face up to the cataclysm he witnessed at Hiroshima. \u003Cem\u003EGlowing Ruins in Turkestan\u003C\/em\u003E (1970) shows Bamiyan, the famous Buddhist site destroyed by Genghis Khan, as a scene of desolation. Despite this, it is infused with a glow that seems to recognize and remember the history of the place and its people.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EThe paintings of the scenes along the Silk Road often have the sublimity and spirituality that comes naturally to the vast and the ancient. This reflects the fact that, in essence, spirituality is how far we can remove ourselves from the here and now. In visiting such vistas and painting these scenes, there is a palpable sense of Hirayama developing the perspective that will allow him to look once again at his own country and the unbearable sight of August 6th, 1945.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EIn \u003Cem\u003EThe Glorious Imperial Palace of Fujiwara-kyo\u003C\/em\u003E (1969) we see the grandeur and simplicity of his Silk Road paintings transposed to the detail of Japan, as the great golden city glows golden among the greenery, a vast living thing rather than an assemblage of the petty hopes, dreams, and irritations that make up any city.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003EThe eyes he developed in central Asia allowed him to finally paint what his art had been slowly moving towards for decades. \u003Cem\u003EThe Holocaust of Hiroshima \u003C\/em\u003E(1979) lacks the hysterics and shrill condemnation that can be seen in other artworks dealing with the atrocities of 20th-century warfare, like Picasso's \u003Cem\u003EGuernica\u003C\/em\u003E. In Hirayama's work, the red inferno fills six panels above a suggestion of the Hiroshima skyline. Painted in rich, soft waves of powdered pigment with occasional flecks of gold, it surprisingly becomes a thing of beauty, Riding the flames, Hirayama set Acalanatha, the Buddhust deity whose function is to destroy delusion. As well as representing the integrity of Japanese culture, Hirayama’s painting also show the maturity of post-war Japanese culture.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Japan Times\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003E27th September, 2007\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6124702839991312820\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/exhibition-ikuo-hirayama.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/6124702839991312820"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/6124702839991312820"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2011\/01\/exhibition-ikuo-hirayama.html","title":"Exhibition: Ikuo Hirayama"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_SFhgk2FUcYg\/TTgap4e5RHI\/AAAAAAAABKY\/bVIsqD7dcVE\/s72-c\/Holocaust+of+Hiroshima.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6680767306647564241.post-2825896021084508863"},"published":{"$t":"2010-04-03T08:15:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-04-03T08:18:36.018-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"2007"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"architecture"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Architecture Week"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"interview"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mikimoto Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sendai Mediatheque"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Taichung Opera House"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"TODs Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Toyo Ito"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tubism"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Interview: Toyo Ito"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_SFhgk2FUcYg\/S7dbYCki06I\/AAAAAAAAAwI\/sYLW5JtufdE\/s1600\/TODs+Aoyama.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"400\" nt=\"true\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_SFhgk2FUcYg\/S7dbYCki06I\/AAAAAAAAAwI\/sYLW5JtufdE\/s400\/TODs+Aoyama.jpg\" width=\"317\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EJapanese architect Toyo Ito is credited with influencing a generation of younger architects with his ideas about contemporary urban forms. While presenting some of his recent work at an exhibition at the Tokyo Opera City Gallery in 2006, he spoke with journalist Colin Liddell about his designs, his theories, and their origin.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cspan class=\"fullpost\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EColin Liddell: In all your buildings, you seem to be trying to get away from straight lines. Do you hate straight lines?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EToyo Ito: I don't hate straight lines, but I have liked curved lines since I was a child. It's a bit like my character. When I talk, when I think, it's not in straight lines. It's a bit curved, it's soft, and in a way it resembles my inner character.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELiddell: Sometimes innovative works of architecture draw unlikely comparisons. Norman Foster's recent building in London is now popularly known as the \"The Gherkin,\" and the Guggenheim Museum in New York is sometimes compared to a toilet. The models for your latest project, the Taichung Opera House, struck me as looking like large piece of cheese.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIto: When you look at a cheese, the holes in the cheese are all compartments. They don't go through. But in this building, it's the opposite. All the holes go through, like in a cave. There's a continuity. And if you think about the human body as well, from the mouth all the way down to the ass, there's a continuity. It's a cave.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELiddell: This way of looking at things recalls the ideas of the 1980s \"tubist\" movement that rejected the reduction of things to geometric forms and tried to perceive them as tubular systems involved in a process. Are you a tubist?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIto: I'm very aware of that movement, but in my case I'd prefer to put more emphasis on the tubes existing as part a network. I guess you could call me a neotubist. It's a bit like the human intestines, where there's an ambiguity between the inside and outside, and that inside\/ outside dichotomy is blurred, and that's what I'm interested in.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELiddell: I notice that most of the big architectural projects these days have to serve a multiplicity of functions to actually be successful. In the Taichung Opera House for example, you have a garden on the roof, different theaters, and office space, all squeezed in. Your breakthrough project, the Sendai Mediatheque is a multipurpose public cultural center that includes a library, art gallery, audio-visual library, film studio, and cafe. Your architectural style seems to be very good at making a building serve many different functions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIto: If you look at 20th century functionalism, where functions were clearly separate, there was a strict order between establishing all functions separately. Now in 21st century, it's more of a condition where living and working, playing and working, they are all intermingled. You play while you work, you do your living while you work. So, in this sort of confused condition of contemporary city life, I feel like I want to bring that into my architecture.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELiddell: This creates a condition of overlapping functions. That can also create stresses, conflicts, and confusion, can't it?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIto: Well I think there are people who might feel like that, but, personally, I am very interested in what I call a \"loose condition,\" and I have gained confidence in that concept ever since the Sendai Mediatheque. Traditional libraries have confined rooms where you do your reading and your research. With the Mediatheque we wanted to break that up. Instead of providing secluded rooms, we provide places, and the [individual] chooses whatever places he or she wishes. We also wanted different groups to share space. For example, old people might be in places where young people are, and therefore the old people look at the fashion of the young people and become more fashionable! Or mothers can look after their children and do other stuff as well because they are in the vicinity and they can share the same place. In that sense, giving places rather than rooms has become very meaningful for me.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELiddell: I would imagine that for this concept to work in practice, it would depend on everybody sharing quite similar values of correct behavior and basically being very respectful of each other.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIto: If we look back at the Sendai Mediatheque, there are, of course, homeless people who also come into the building, but, in general, there is a type of person who comes and shares the building. It becomes a little bit like looking at each other, and thereby also controlling who comes in. Whether that is good or bad is another thing, but these people create the atmosphere and character of the building. There's a Japanese saying that \"kind attracts kind.\" \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELiddell: You're also well known for your commercial buildings in Tokyo, like the TODs Building in Aoyama and the Mikimoto Building in Ginza. Both of these have very eye-catching surfaces, although they have the typical box-like shape of buildings in Tokyo. Does the high cost of land in Tokyo mean that architects can mainly express themselves through innovative surfaces rather than innovative structures which might not utilize the available space to the maximum? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIto: For TODs, as you say rightly, surface became our main focus for tackling the project. Yes, there have been a lot of projects in Tokyo where it has only been about surface, but we wanted to move towards creating surface out of structure, or allowing structural principles to become the surface. With the TODs building, the interior structure is the same as the outside. You can see that inside the shop, where the surface becomes part of the shop and changes its configuration. So the interior and the exterior experience of the surface is the same. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.architectureweek.com\/2007\/0110\/culture_1-1.html\"\u003EArchitecture Week\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cem\u003E10th January, 2007\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/feeds\/2825896021084508863\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2010\/04\/interview-toyo-ito.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/2825896021084508863"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6680767306647564241\/posts\/default\/2825896021084508863"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/fujiland-mag.blogspot.com\/2010\/04\/interview-toyo-ito.html","title":"Interview: Toyo Ito"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_SFhgk2FUcYg\/S7dbYCki06I\/AAAAAAAAAwI\/sYLW5JtufdE\/s72-c\/TODs+Aoyama.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});