Tamabi campus at night

有名な多摩美のキャンパスを訪れました。夜の芝生はとてもきれいです。

 

有名な多摩美のキャンパスに訪れました。夜の芝生はとてもきれいです。

Attending a guest lecture by permaculture designer Cecilia Macaulay gave me a great chance to see one campus of the famous Tamabi art school. This was taken in November so perhaps the lawn and trees no longer so lush.

Endless summer lawn at Shinjuku Gyoen

新宿御苑の芝生は広いです。夏がまだまだ続きそうです。

 

Pine trees and lawn create a silent landscape

皇居の前に、黒松がたくさんあって、芝生は広いです。空っぽな感じがします。こんなに完璧な芝生を見ると、使われている有害な農薬のことを考えてしまいます。活気のない印象があります。

On the East Side of the Imperial Palace, there are hundreds of black pine trees in a vast field of lawn. Although the surrounding streets are full of cars, there’s an eery silence and emptiness in the park. Maybe it’s also the perfect quality of the lawn that also strikes me as life-less and full of harmful chemicals.

Interview in the Japan Times about Tokyo Green Space

Japan Timesという日本で一番大きい英語新聞に、Tokyo Green Space のインタビューが出ました。丸井の屋上の庭でインタビューが行われて、ちょうどその時、店員さんが芝生に掃除機をかけていました。都市生活と自然が完璧にミックスしてました。

The Japan Times, Japan’s largest English language newspaper, published an interview about Tokyo Green Space online and in print. The interview took place on Marui’s roof garden, and when we met there, a staff member was vacuuming the lawn. A perfect mix of city life and gardening. I hope you find the interview interesting.

Here’s the print version of the newspaper, where the blogroll interview is positioned on the “Techno Times” page. You can click to make it larger.

Shiny new Zen rock garden in highway rest stop. Bad taste unites the world.

改装したサービスステーションの中に、「禅」という岩石庭園があります。円形の芝生はちょっとおかしいですね。趣味の悪い物が世界をつなげています。

This highway rest stop outside Tokyo has apparently just remodeled. There’s a new stand-alone Starbucks, and a shiny mall environment with lots of food items for gifts, plus prepared foods for travelers. In the center of this temple of commerce sits a faux Zen garden, with raked pebbles, unusual stones, and, most oddly, circles of artificial lawn. I guess the designer thought they needed a splash of color.

Giving this pine tree a little off the top. Skilled pruning creates a living shape.

松の剪定するとき、たくさんの小さな松葉が落ちてたまります。明るいの冬の日、茶色の芝生の上に、松葉が積み重なりました。熟練した作業と道具がぴったりに生きているかたちを創造します。剪定するところを見て、できばえがさらに素敵に見えました。

I love how these traditional Japanese pines in Shinjuku Gyoen are so meticulously pruned. On this clear winter day, I love how you can see the pine needles accumulating against the brown lawn. Three ladders, red traffic safety cones, helmets, and no doubt some great pruning shears.