tokyo wonderland 07: the latest trend of gardening in tokyo

gardening has become really popular in recent years all over japan, and tokyo is no exception. regardless of limited amount of land availability, tokyo urbanites do all kinds of things to create charming urban gardens.

the other day i spotted the latest trend of gardening in tokyo while i was cycling to west. i discovered that gardening had evolved from a mere hobby to a way of expression. people today seemed to be not only enjoying gardening but expressing their whatsoever. for example, this barber shop successfully exemplified how barber shops should garden by its unique expression.

how do you garden?

tokyo wonderland 06: abandoned US army in fuchu

last sunday, i made a good long cycling to fuchu city in tokyo in order to check out an abandoned US army facility, or haikyo. in japan, there are plenty of haikyos around, but i think its rare to have such an army haikyo preserved (or just left).

although this area looks really cool, its not allowed to enter. probably ordinary haikyos are not welcoming any visitors but everybody just visits them. 

in this case, its too risky to intrude there as there might be a risk to be captured by american army (not by police):o 

the reason why ive got interested in this place is because ive read about the two parabolic antenna (on the picture below) in a magazine. im not sure what sort of signals they can receive. if the owner wants to continue watching japanese TV programmes, probably NHK should inform the owner that it is needed to change antenna to receive digital TV signals. 

they might be very useful if the owner want to follow the latest trends in the evil neighbor or wherever. who knows. 

whats funny about this place is that even local people dont get close to this place, regardless of its coolness. one of my colleagues is from this area but she has told me that she has never seen this haikyo from this distance, as it is dangerous.
however, according to the sign board hanged on the fence, this area is not dangerous.
it is just "bit dangerous." and the reason of its "bit danger" is because of flashers and gropers, not rapists or murderers. what a peaceful country japan is:P

tokyo wonderland 05: whats in front of "front of the market" station

the tsukiji fish market is one of the highlights of tourism in tokyo. although ive never been to see the famous bidding as im terrible at waking up in the early morning, i believe its something worthy to check in this megalopolis.

however, its been discussed that the fish market will be relocated from tsukiji to toyosu for some years. today i read a report that the budget bill for the relocation was passed through the tokyo local government. this news really made me determine to go to see the bidding asap. at least i should start trying.

although the budget bill went though the local authority, there are still many groups that are opposing to the relocation. and there are also some people who are agree to relocate the market from tsukiji, but to somewhere else like harumi. 

as for me, i havent been so interested in this topic like what will happen to the fish market itself whether it will stay in tsukiji or be relocated to toyosu, or harumi. i know next to nothing about the issue. however, when i was cycling the other day to check the front line of tokyo's defense forces, i found something crystal clear. there is already a station called "Shijo-Mae(市場前）" meaning "front of the market" built in toyosu where the market is planned to be relocated. 

but what in front of this station are a massive construction site, a huge field without any trace of construction, and two bridges that are not even connected to any other roads. there is even no concrete building around there, let alone any markets lol

lets see what will be built in front of the "front of the market" station :)

tokyo wonderland 04: how tokyo defends itself from the evil neighbour

its been a while since the young techno-haired dude has become the ruler of our evil neighbor land. and lately, apparently, this evil neighbor is now undertaking a missile launch (or a satellite launch? if what it is saying is correct :S ). dull politicians of my nation are probably discussing what they should do if it launches or hopefully how they can prevent from its launching. right wing people are always claiming that japan should militarize in order to possess the deterrent capabilities. as for me, i dont know much about military issues and havent even worried about this evil nation that much. therefore, i always thought that this dull nation would never ever prepare for anything.

however, while i was cycling in tokyo the other day, i came to realize that tokyo is aware of the threat and therefore has equipped a great military super hero for itself.

i dont know much about this robot (or some might argue that this mobile suit gundam is not a robot). however, judging from its macho appearance, im confident that it is strong enough to maintain the peace in japan, and probably that in even the universe.

Sunday bake shop Hatsudai, who said Japanese are workaholics

it is often said that japanese are workaholics, and it is often very true. even i sometimes work like stereotypical japanese do. and i believe there are millions of people who are working not to betray the expectation of non-japanese images how japanese should work. millions of people are working day and night, weekdays and weekends.

today while i was wondering around the area i live, i found a shop exemplifying the antithesis of the formula. it is Sunday Bake Shop, an bakery opens only on sundays... a day a week, 4days a month, 50days a year!! what a beautiful way of living!!

if you know me personally, it might be easy to imagine that i went in without the slightest hesitation just like water down the drain. as i was checking what i should buy, friendly shop keepers explained what they had. actually, when i discovered the shop, i became very jealous of the way they worked but when i was surrounded with the wonderful smell of baking, my ugly sense of jealous vanished and what i felt was why i didnt come here earlier time of the day. they only had berry muffins that looked too healthy to be good cakes. but how could i fight against cakes in a bakery? i gave in in an instant and got one with a huge smile on my face.

needless to say, the muffin was heavenly.

tokyo after quake 4, one year has past

its been a year since the quake hit japan.

some might feel its already a year, and some might feel its still a year.

many citizens in this country has been thinking what they can do ever since, but its rather doubtful whether they could actually do what they have been thinking.

as for me, i feel its already a year since the quake.

already as long as a year has passed yet i still cannot figure out the answer ive been questioning to myself. what can i do, what should i do, what do i want to do, and what do i have to do? where? how? and for whom? i still dont have any clue even after a year.

today, tens of thousands of people gathered at hibiya park for the one year memorial and prayed for the victims. those who are left cannot waste this devastating casualty. we are responsible for designing better future for them.

while i was listening to speakers of the event, i got jealous as they knew the answers and they could actually make some actions.

in order to take that responsibility by myself as well, it is definitely needed to get my answers this year.

say do you remember niihaomaa in china 04: Thames Town, an interpretation of britain in shanghai

in big cities in china, it seems it has been getting remarkably popular to plan cities that are imitating images of cities of the West. during my stay in shanghai, a chinese friend of mine took me to one of them, the Thames Town. it is one of newly developed areas of 1city9towns initiatives by shanghai's planning commission from 2001 to accommodate about 10000 people. it is named after the Thames river and is inspired by british architectures and city design.

when i got to the thames town, i was surprised to see its unique function as a town. usually cities or towns function as places to live and work, and that generate some sort of vibe and energy. this is even more applicable in the case of cities in china, that people play games, cook, meet, eat and do whatever they want. however, in the case of the thames town, there were really nobody. although all the built environment were nicely furnished, nothing lively was going on. due to its emptiness, some articles i found even described it as "ghost town."

instead, it was used as a massive studio for brides and grooms. there were tens of couples making photo shoots everywhere around the town.

when i saw them photo shooting, i came to recall that chinese couple-friends of mine told me that it was really popular to take photo shoots at this sort of studios to make pre-wedding photo albums. when i heard the story and saw their albums, i really couldnt grasp the concept at all, because i couldnt imagine there would be this massive studio-like-towns in many big cities in china, and because nothing like this is happening in japan. obviously china offered me much more than i expected. seeing this town somehow made me re-realize that cities and towns have much more potentials than just offering accommodation and jobs.

the other finding about this area that interested me was its interpretation. it looked much like a british city or at least european city. this is what many of japanese developers should learn, since many of european-inspired towns in japan cannot really offer a bit of their originals.