Framing a second floor apartment entrance, this mature grape vine’s fruit are turning purple in mid August. I blogged earlier about the elderly woman who takes care of this garden. I have not seen her since she told me, “I like flowers, but I also like flower lovers.” She also mentioned how much she enjoyed [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Nakano’
21 Aug
Sunflowers
On a small street that connects my apartment to the station, I have noticed these tall sunflowers suddenly appear. They are growing in the tiny public space between a residential concrete block wall and the narrow street. The sunflowers occupy less space than the red JP mail box they stand over. Juxtaposed with the traffic [...]
9 Jul
Animal garden ornaments
What do you think of animals as garden ornaments? It seems that the desire to populate urban areas with animals goes hand-in-hand with cultivating plants. Does it add to urban life or detract?
A sustainability entrepreneur friend recently told me how much he dislikes the “clutter” and bad taste of old ladies using styrofoam planters for [...]
25 Jun
Growing rice on small street in plastic buckets
One of my neighbors cultivates her entrance and the side of the street along her building. Recently she showed me that she is growing rice in three small plastic buckets. I am impressed with this small bit of urban farming, so evocative of Japan’s agriculture and scaled for the city.
Her small garden spans public and [...]
25 Apr
Bonsai collection on residence wall
While many residences and business have common and inexpensive plants in public space or along the line dividing public and private, it is also amazing to see valuable plant collections on display outside homes and businesses. As an American, I am simply amazed that these labors of love and time are not destroyed or stolen.
Here’s two views [...]
24 Apr
Flowers outside small businesses
Main streets and smaller shopping streets in Tokyo residential neighborhoods are full of small businesses. It is interesting to see that many of these small businesses have potted flowers outside, on the sidewalk or the shop entrance that are updated seasonally. Is it personal passion, business beautification, or both?
Above is a plumbing supply store. Below [...]
22 Apr
Maximizing floral impact
This small house on a typical Nakano side street is over-flowing with plant life. The owner is clearly maximizing space with hundreds of potted plants on the top, the inside and the outside of the cinderblock wall. Using every centimeter of space, the effect is dazzling from all angles. And somehow, there is still room [...]
20 Apr
A narrow green alley
What makes Tokyo residential districts very charming and perhaps surprising for foreigners are the narrow pedestrian walkways and small streets where pedestrians and bicyclists outnumber cars.
There’s something pre-modern and non-rational about the web of small Tokyo lanes, with unpredictable turns and numerous dead ends. The densely packed two and three story buildings almost touch, with [...]
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