These tulips are amazing, and I love how appear to fill the living room window from outside. I also love that I planted these and some winter lettuces in February, and I’ve gotten two different uses out of one flowerpot.
Wednesday I presented Tokyo Green Space at Pecha Kucha in Tokyo in front of almost 300 designers, artists and creative types. The biggest crowd pleaser was the photo of the still life of salary man in a flower bed.
I presented half in Japanese and half in English; it was good practice but a little nerve-testing to talk about my research in Japanese.
I was overwhelmed that so many friends came to the presentation, including Shu, Matthew, Katy, Izumi, Shinobu, Shige, Takako, Hagiwara, Mike (TM), Taka, Alban, Claudia, Umeki, Ben, Jesper, and Hannah. Many thanks to Mark Dytham, Astrid Klein and Tomoko for inviting me to participate!
Friday night outside Shinjuku station, I noticed a salary man lying unconscious in a flower bed. The two young women sitting next to him wondered what this foreigner was photographing. I mentioned that in the United States, it’s not safe to be passed out in public, but they laughed and said, “It’s OK.”
I marvel at the safety of Tokyo, the world’s largest city, where it is not uncommon to see well-dressed people passed out from inebriation on sidewalks, train platforms, and occasionally on top of plants. There seems something poetic almost about the juxtaposition of office worker, flower and soil. Like seeing early elementary school children riding the trains alone, seeing adults passed out in public makes me reflect on how rarely we can feel free, unguarded and safe in United States and European cities.
In both cases, Japanese hardly notice that these things are happening. It’s just normal and “OK.”
It is funny that I do not think of roses in fall. Yet in mid-October these Nadia red roses are still going strong. The white picket fence adds a certain Western charm to this bed.
Tokyo Green Space 