Wide canal packed with with boats, bridges, elevated highways, and a trace of pre-industrial Edo

この運河の景色は素敵ですね。戦後の建築の歴史が見えます。幅が広い運河は産業革命前の江戸時代を呼び起こします。自然な感じがします。都市は有機体だと思い出させてくれます。大きい都市はいつも少しずつが変わっていきます。芝浦一丁目で。

I love this canal view, the layers of visible history in buildings, and the wide water that evokes pre-industrial Edo life. Even the regrettable additions, like the elevated freeways, show how Tokyo constantly evolves not through great design but by continual addition to what was already there.

There is so much transportation infrastructure on this wide canal in Shibaura Ichome. I also love how the small post-war house at the corner has been built up over the years with additions, and then surrounded by a taller modernist office and more recent, larger buildings that are more about function than form. There’s something very calming about seeing this large expanse of water, and a view of how Tokyo became layered with new structures over time.

Tanuki says, Be a Good Neighbor

タヌキさんは仲よくしようと言っています。喧嘩より、どんなかたちでもいいから、愛情のほうがいいと思います。イラストは天才Luis Mendoさんのです。

Why fight over barren islands? Why dream of racial purity and long-gone patriarchy? Why resist the urge to get to know each other?

Another brilliant tanuki poster from Luis Mendo. In a time of rising conflict between Japan and its closest neighbors, tanuki offers his enormous balls as a physical bridge and shared space for international, inter-species, and multi-sexual dancing and frolicking.

It’s time for truth, reconciliation, and love!

Triple platanus tree canopy at Shinjuku gyoen

新宿御苑で三本のプラタヌスという木が一つの天蓋をつくっています。たくさんの年月を経て、それぞれ木はアンバランスになりましたが、一緒に大きいな丸い形を作っています。古い木には、時間と協調の効果が見えます。

These three Platanus trees form one giant canopy. I like how each one is unbalanced, but together over the decades they have created a single round form. With older trees, you can see the effects of time and cooperation.

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 of a residential home’s bonzai collection. I am taken by the gardener’s generosity and the public’s respect.