Memories from Japan, 2019

For those of you who attended the online EU Literature Festival and who might visit my blog, I decided to post some of my favorite pictures from Tokyo, and a few from Kyoto, taken during my residency at Youkobo Art Space in Suginami in April 2019, hosted by Mr and Mrs Murata. 

The thought of a world wide pandemic seemed impossible then, in the spring of 2019.  But here we are now, in the middle of a second wave of Covid-19, with new safety measures in Finland.

It feels so sad to know that Youkobo, like all other international artists' residencies, are now more or less empty, waiting for the pandemic to end. 

Here you can follow me on my journey in Japan, starting from Youkobo in Suginami:

Welcome party at the Youkobo residence, with Mr and Mrs Murata, Makiko Tsuji and Jaime Humphreys:

My inspiring, minimalistic room at Youkobo, with a balcony overlooking a small garden:

On my way to the nearest supermarket, I often took a walk to this beautiful park with a Shinto shrine.  The past and the present, maybe also the future, are seen through this torii gate surrounded by an urban environment: 

Hanami celebration with picnics in Tokyo's Ueno Park, small temples and shrines:

There is a prayer/wish in Swedish on the wooden plaque in the middle. We want to thank Japan for a wonderful journey, praying for a life of happiness and friendship:

The fox, Inari O-kami, Shinto god of fertility, tea, rice and sake, a symbol of cunning, intelligence and good fortune.  Inari might also be a trickster... In Finnish Lapland, we have the vast Inari Lake, but there are no foxes there...

Crowded streets in Tokyo, and a lonely figure in a metro station (unfortunately I don't have a picture of the Shibuya Crossing):

View from the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi, the vastness of Tokyo:

Takehiro Iikawa's pink cat at Mori:

Japanese Art Collective Mé, black ocean waves installation, Contact:

In Roppongi Metro Station I caught sight of these familiar figures:

Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomin characters, a poster at the Finnish Institute in Japan:

Today Tove Jansson's life is presented in Zaida Bergroth's film, Tove. It focuses on the years after WWII when Tove Jansson created the Moomintrolls, while concentrating on her other artistic work as a painter. Alma Pöysti plays the role of Tove. Tove is Finland's contender for the Best International Feature Oscar. 

Artist talk at the Feel Finland Festival at the Finnish institute, commemorating 100 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland. With interpreter Sayaka Iwai:

The traditional Finnish instrument kantele and the traditional Japanese koto go quite well together:

Dancing letkajenkka at the festival, with the institute's director Anna-Maria Wiljanen in the middle:

The institute's popular knitting club, with a reindeer watching over the results:

At Youkobo, I took daily walks to the lovely Zempukuji Park:

A cosy lane in Suginami, to me this street looked like a track for running:

School children's art at Zempukuji Street:

The nearest station in Suginami, I was so proud when I learnt to say the beautiful name: Nishi-Ogikubo: 

When the sakura was gone, beds of red Azalea were blooming in the Imperial Park:

Ginza is not my favorite district in Tokyo, but I had to see it because of the research I did for my novel,

The Diamond Path... 

Breakfast at Tiffany's? Diamonds are a girl's best friend? Diamonds are forever....  Diamonds, by Rihanna... Diamonds from Sierra Leone, by Kanye West...

De Beers Ginza Building, twisted steel and glass, by Jun Mitsui & Associates Architects. De Beers company was founded by Cecil Rhodes in South Africa in 1888. 

Japanese wasai paper in Ginza's nice Kyukyodo-shop:

No, I am not dreaming about a pair of Blahniks, but it was kind of fun to take this selfie at the Ginza Six department store:

A contrast to Ginza... In Kyoto, I visited the Ryoanji temple with its stone garden.

Sitting quietly

Doing doing

Spring comes

and the grass grows by itself...

Basho

There was a small Shinto shrine by the lake in the park, where tourists and Japanese school children met:

Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to visit that many temples in Kyoto, this one was near the station: 

Old and new architecture meet in Kyoto, the traditional and the modern, big and small:

A few examples of contemporary "wow" architecture in Kyoto and Tokyo. Kyoto Station by Hiroshi Hara (1997):

The National Art Center in Tokyo:

In Shinjuku:

Tokyo International Forum (Rafael Vinoly, 1996):

MOT, Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, by Takahiko Yanagisawa (1995)

A Finnish Marimekko canvas/tote bag... easy to spot anywhere:

After all the glass and steel, it was time for some kawaii, cute things:

Girl power in Kichijoji, on Buddha's birthday:

In April 2019, we were counting the days remaining to the opening of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, today cancelled because of Covid-19. It is uncertain if the games can be 

held in 2021...

Japanese design and aesthetics, in curtains, food products, clothes. In Kyoto and at the Sensoji temple in Tokyo, you can rent a kimono and dress up as a"geisha" for a day...

A gorgeous kimono at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum: 

Western brands can look so much nicer in Tokyo:

I must admit I was a bit curious about the use of face masks in Tokyo, never knowing that I was going to use one in Helsinki during the pandemic in 2020:

Carrying balloons to my grandchild on a tram in Helsinki, in October 2020:

My friends in Finland thought this "food" was real, as it looks so real:

A cosy small restaurant in Shinjuku:

A plate with cracks fixed with kintsugi gold, at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum:

In Finland, I seldom eat such lovely looking snacks, even quite ordinary fruits (and strawberry mochi), placed on a beautiful plate:

My last pictures from Tokyo, taken from the bus on my way to Narita. A robot guide at the hotel restaurant, taking us "back to the future":

Back home in Helsinki, the First of May celebration with people wearing their student caps. The red balloon makes me think of the Japanese flag: 

Thank you, EUNIC and the Finnish Institute in Japan, for a wonderful Literature Festival!  A New World, New Beginnings and Stranger than Fiction, themes that won't leave me alone...