| Monday 29th March |
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Emily and Sean went to Sendai alone on Shinkansen.(HK) |
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| Sunday 28th March |
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Kendo club tournament.
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Emily and Sean got 3rd price! |
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Party afterwards. Children enjoying karaokeand grown ups enjoying drinking sake.(HK) |
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| Saturday 27th March |
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Makoto Hasegawa and his work at "Iwate Contemporary artist"show at yorozu Memorial Art Museum. |
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katura-san, the curator who has been working at yorozu for 20years, is movein to libray in same town。(HK) |
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| Friday 26th March |
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School's Spring holliday started. (HK) |
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| Sunday 21st March - Five Star appartment block in Minami-sunamchi, Tokyo |
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Hey the cherry blossoms are out in Tokyo! |
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Back to Tokyo to set Kata`s sculptures in the showroom for the Five Star appartment block in Minami-sunamchi, Tokyo
This is not as I was told a Caesar Pelli building but a Caesar Pelli Associates Japan building.
The commission was originally for next year when the complex opens, but the Japanese architect decided he wanted one of Kata`s two sculptures in the showroom opening on 25th March this year.
So Kata had to get his skate on and rise to the added challenge of getting a sculpture designed for outside up two flights of stairs, and set under a low roof!
(bottom right) During a lull in the proceedings I found a quiet spot to write some notes for my review of the Henry Moore exhibition which has to be sent to the Japan Times by tomorrow lunch time! (KT)
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Having successfully finished setting our hasty retreat back to Iwate to pick the children up from their friend`s house was bugged by train complications - JR would not sell us a ticket for the over booked 5 or 6pm trains, so the 3 hour journey ended up taking 6 hours. |
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Got the excited children to bed just before midnight and set to writing the Henry Moore exhibition (living in the wilds of north Japan my English is slipping badly so always takes me a while to try and remember how to write properly! Difficult to try and describe an artist`s career, exhibition, a unique venue, and the concepts of 2 arts organisations - Hakone & the HM Foundation - and their relationship in only 900 words. Probably would have been wiser to sleep for a bit, but did not dare in case I did not wake up again. So no sleep and I made 2pm Monday deadline thanks to the children volunteering to get breakfast, wash up and play by themselves for the first day of their spring holiday. Kata - bless him organised lunch and endless cups of coffee
The arts editor seemed pleased - so maybe I was not as punch drunk as I felt. (KT)
PS. 24th March: for a copy of the article on line see
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fa20040324a1.htm
I have just discovered I made the mistake of saying Hakone Open-Air Museum was opened in 1979, instead of 1969.
Hopefully readers who can add will realise that as it is the 35th anniversary it must have been 1969!
I think I was so tired when I wrote it that although I thought I had checked all my facts and dates in several catalogues and on the internet the common sense of adding it up myself failed me! (KT)
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| Saturday 20th March - grafitti session - Kitchen Salvatore, Nagoya |
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Scribbling all over the walls of the new Kitchen Salvatore restaurant on the 12th floor of the Nagoya station building - Interior designer Shiomi san was so pleased with the one we did for them in Roppongi Hills that he wanted us to do it again - great to get paid to graffitti!! But rather off putting as a television crew doing a documentary on Salvatore were blocking the way all the time, and making everyone feel very self conscious - note my stiff stance in top far left photo!)
Salvatore himself (top right with Kata) was as cool as ever. As were interior designers Shiomi and Yamamoto (bottom left with Kata and I) despite tight deadlines - the restaurant opens on 31st March - they always achieve wonderful interiors in impossible time frames. Thankfully the TV crew disappeared to film a waiter staff training session and left us to it so the flow could get going and the job done.
NB The Salvatore Bros. restaurant in XEX Daikanyam, Tokyo has Kata`s sculpture at the entrance instead of grafitti inside. The food is great at all the Salvatore restaurants.
Then back to Tokyo in time for a night cap and some zany digital wallpaper at "Super Deluxe" . Check out Astrid Klein & Mark Dytham`s web site for more info on their Roppongi night spot and some amazing architecture/design
www.klein-dytham.com
(Klein Dytham architects are based in the same "Deluxe" office as Shiomi san) (KT)
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| Friday 19th March |
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| Thursday 18th March |
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We left for Tokyo first thing this morning. Lovely to have Kata`s mum here doing the children`s lunch boxes, etc. creating an oasis of calm while we rushed around getting ready.
(KT)
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Lord Nambu, Kata and I acted as the Iwate branch representatives at the British Embassy in Tokyo for an anniversary celebration of the "UK-Japan Green Alliance" project - which planted British oak trees in the care of Japan British Societies all over Japan 2 years ago. The Iwate branc oak is planted in front of the Ishigami no Oka Museum - the new museum building we invited UK architect Richard Murphy to design in collaboration with Morioka architects Wakamatsu & Roppongi (the previous building was one of the venues for the Iwate Art Festival UK98). Having the tree there not only celebrates the existing bilateral roots in the area, but acts as a positive symbol to encourage future exchanges.
The Welsh ecologist Nicol gave a fascinating talk in Japanese. It`s times like this that I wish my Japanese was better, Mr Nicol`s is perfect. But even I could appreciate his wonderful sense of humour, and the huge achievements he has made in fostering environmental awareness and realising positive action in Japan.
From left: the British Ambassador Sir Stephen Gomersall; the Chairman of the Iwate Japan British Society, Lord Nambu; C.W. Nicol; and me.
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Sir Stephen suggested we take the above photograph outside with my "Waves of Affinity" sculpture installation (left), but as it was pouring with rain we retreated back in doors, so Sir Stephen very thoughtfully dashed off to fetch my small "Okuri sen" sculpture from his private collection to put on the shelf behind us instead.
Then on to the see the surreal film "Naqoyqatsi - life as war" which was great for the first 20 minutes after which our brains switched off and it became moving wall paper.
Followed by a drink and a fun photography exhibiton "Lomo Arigato" by Damon Armstrong and Jimmy Mac who say "Lomography is photography on laughing gas". If you are in Tokyo & want to have a look it is on till April 6 at Sonoma Californian bar/restaurant, Kasumi Bldg., Dogenzaka 2-25 -17, Shibuya-ku; (03) 3462-7766. open 5 -11:30 p.m. (-4 a.m. on Sat. & Sun.)
(KT)
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| Wednesday 17th March - Finished Kata`s sculpture for Minami-sunamchi, Tokyo |
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Tosaka, the son of a sculptor friend, on his way home after staying for 2 days. We last saw him in 1991 when he was 8 years old and visiting his father working with us in Hamamatsu city. He has just finished his 4th year studying architecture and is up in north Japan to exhibit his maquette in a competition in Sendai. Saw photographs of his proposal to sort out the confusion around Ueno station in Tokyo - impressive (and a huge improvement on what is there, would be great if someone would commission him to realise it). (KT) |
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Kata`s sculpture at last finished and being sent off on the truck to Tokyo.
Kata then raced off to pick up his mother who came up by train from Sendai to hold the fort with the children while we are away for 4 days in Tokyo, Hakone, Nagoya, and Tokyo again. (KT) |
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| Tuesday 16th March - water, water everywhere... |
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Lent Tosaka our car to explore the hot spring area on his own while I helped Kata finish polishing his sculpture. The children decided playing with water looked fun so I tried the old Tom Sawyer trick of getting them to help polishing, but they stole my hose to wash their bicycles instead. (KT) |
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| Friday 12th March - New 512MB memory for G4 |
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A red day for Kata - yet more new memory for his computer which he claims is a bargain found on the internet - cheep at 9,500 yen. My trusty G3 is much more than I know how to deal with properly (and probably has more memory than I know what to do with). I reckon Apple Mac should sponsor us for all the promotion and custom Kata gives them. (KT) |
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| Thursday 11th March - 8th Kajima Sculpture Contest Exhibition of Award-winning Works |
| Went down to Tokyo for the opening of the Kajima Award-winning Works exhibition. Personally I thought all 40 of the selected maquettes were better than any of the 10 major prize winners, but I could be just a tad biased.
If you would like to see for yourself the exhibition is on from Friday, March 12th to Friday, March 26th, 2004
at the Atrium of Kajima KI Building
Akasaka, Tokyo
then tours to Osak from Saturday, April 3rd to Sunday, April 18th, 2004
Ast Hall
Izumi-otsu city, Osaka (KT)
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| My maquette was the first in the show (as you walk into the exhibition, and in the catalogue of award winning maquettes, not unfortunately the first prize winner who is commissioned to make the work full size). |
Okada kun (left) also from Iwate had also been selected for the maquette awards is shown here with his friend (right) Takeshi Kubo`s maquette. |
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| Sunday 7th March - Kendo tests |
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The children and I had our grade test for Kendo (the Japanese art of sword fighting which we started last summer): the grades go from 10 to 1 before you move up to the dan levels from 1 to 10. Sean was awarded grade 8, which is pretty impressive for an 8 year old beginner, Emily grade 6, and we were all completely gob smacked when I got grade 4! The children (who were beginning to think their mother is a bit of a stiff old twit who cannot even read and write Japanese fluently) were dead impressed with me. Sean reckons he and Emily are now Jedi knights and I am a Padwan. But even though we still have a long way to go before we can get parts as extras in samurai or Star Wars films, we are all feeling rather pleased with ourselves and each other!! (KT) |
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| Saturday 6th March - Skiing in a snow storm |
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The Kikuchi boys the Chiba family, their friends, and all 4 of us met up to go skiiing together at Appi. Murphy`s law it was the first real snow storm we have had this season. I bottled out of the first run (being the worst skier in the group). But they all assured me it was not as bad as it looked at the top and up I went in the Gondola to find it had worsened to almost zero visibility by the time we reached the top. But I managed not to kill anyone by running them over, and all the children are good enough now for me not to have to race to keep up with them to pick up the pieces.(KT) |
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Slap up feast at an "as much as you can eat buffet" in Appi Grand Hotel - not much more expensive than noodle soup in the cafe and a lot more quantity and fun. Boy can those Kikuchi boys eat - don`t think the hotel had bargained on this lot when they set the price! Us grown ups had made the foolish assumption that as the weather was getting so bad the children would not want to ski again so had a few beers with our lunch. Bullied back on to the slopes again all the adults were a bit shakey, except for me - a little Dutch courage did wonders for my skiing!! (KT) |
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| Friday 5th March「ピロリ菌発見」の巻 |
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Kata has been looking up the bugs in his tummy on the internet - don`t want to translate this one for you - if you are interested get out your Japanese dictionary (KT)
先月胃カメラの検査ついでに「ピロリ菌」（右）の検査もしてもらう。今日結果を聞いたら、なんとうじゃうじゃ居るというではないか。さっそく「ピロリ菌退治パック」（抗生剤二種と制酸剤：左）の一週間コースをスタート。除菌に成功すれば30年間悩まされていた胃潰瘍十二指腸潰瘍から永遠に解放される可能性90％。これまで胃痛の原因は、私が神経質で繊細な性格のせいだと思っていたのに...。(HK) |
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| Monday 4th March |
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Kata working on one of the two elements of his sculpture for the Five Star appartment block in Minami-sunamchi, Tokyo. If you would like to see the layout of the art works in this project have a look at the developer`s web site at:
http://www.fivestar-g.com
(KT)
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Space TRY asked us to write a press release for our joint exhibition at their gallery in May by tomorrow. I thought Kata was going to write it and I would translate it into English, but he told me last night we should do it the other way around! Hey ho another day at the computer instead of carving. (KT) |
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| Wednesday 3rd March - Hinna Matsuri - Girl`s Day/Doll Festival |
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Just the 4 of us for this year`s Girl`s Day/Doll Festival feast (mid week is a bit tricky for a children`s party). But Emily and Sean did not seem to mind having all the sweet goodies to themselves - with just an enormous amount of help from Daddy (what happened to this famous diet?!) (KT) |
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| Ist March - Kata`s Apple Mac love affair continues |
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I discovered that Apple was recalling my iBook/G3/700MHz for something wrong with the logic board in it. So I phones Apple Japan custommer service and they sent us delivery truck to pick this up next day. Within two days, iBook came back with new logic board on, so they told me. I do not know exactly what's wrong about, but Pretty impressed?! (HK) |
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