summer sightings

I had no luck seeing a summer blue Fuji, but this image of an August sunrise, from the blog Climb Fujiyama by gives you an idea about how magjestic a close up view would have been. I really like this blog. I get a buzz thinking about how the mountain looks like that today, on days when my checking matches a posting.

Just about everything is seasonal in Japan, from clothing to stationary, postcards, food treats and the wonderful wrapping cloths. The re-occuring images for late sticky summer where fireworks, dragonflies, fans, lanterns and Blue Fuji.

Fuji is of course everywhere- although the season on billoards seems to be always early or mid Spring.

No glimpse shinkansen

late blogging of an August 1st glimpses

The only chance I was thinking that I would get to see Fuji, on this August trip, was from the Shinkansen heading to Nagoya. I could see on the morning of my departure from the hazy view of Tokyo from Andre's balcony that it was not going to be a great Fuji viewing day. But I was still pretty surprised at how invisible the mountain was, as it is pretty in your face last time I took the train south.

I consoled myself with a shinkansen snack-

The cheese was indeed crunchy, like it had been freeze dried, and very salty. It would probably be really good with a glass of beer instead of a mid- morning snack.

Was I blind??

On my first trip to Tokyo, about five days after I saw Fuji for the first time, I went to meet Andre in his part of town- Ilabashi. We walked around and visited some temples, and he took me to his local Buddhist temple. I said some prayers there and on my way home to Sydney, three months later, it was the place I said my last prayers too. On both of those occasions I don't remember seeing a golden Fuji in front of the box where you chuck in your coins so I was completely surprised when I went to say my prayers on my first day in Tokyo, on this second trip, that I was facing a very large golden Fuji.

I had to take this image from afar as you are not allow to take photos in the temple.

Arrival #2- air Fuji

I have been going over in my mind whether it would be possible to see Fuji this trip. I considered a trip to the Five Lakes National Park, but knew I really wouldn’t have time. So I was beginning to settle on one possible sighting, cloud and humidity haze dependent, from the Shinkansen.

When I was last in Japan I asked people where their favourite view of Fuji was and a lot of them said from the plane. I had struggled quiet a bit with my fear of flying last year and so I ruled that view out. I couldn’t imagine myself taking a cheap Japanese flight to the south of the island.

I have been feeling fine though these last months and unusually for me was happy to sit near the window and even look out and take photos. As I was thinking about whether I should fly to Nagoya to get a chance to see Fuji, the Captain came on over the PA system and announced that Fuji was visible.

How I love this mountain. It was just so incredibly beautiful to watch the mountain come closer as we tracked towards Tokyo.

And then just disappears when we descended into the haze. It was amazing and I feel very satisfied with this view, so now I can relax and just concentrate on finishing my work for Aichi.

magnetic glimpse- enoshima

magnetic glimpse- enoshima, originally uploaded by raquelmonkey.

I have been spending the day editing out cars and people from the background video for a new work that I am going to show at Aichi Triennale. Watching all those cars disappear made me wonder whether I really should have been adding them in..

This is the first time I have blogged a video over from flickr it seems to have compressed a bit- I just tried to view it in full screen and that was better. click here to view at flickr

Any helpful advice bloggers? Lucas?

Install in Toyko Stories

Just got some install shots off TWS- the table got nicely stamped over time.

The top detail photo is of my Fuji siting at Oi Yacho Koen.

re-excitment

When I got back from Brisbane a package had arrived from Tokyo with the first six stamps I have made in the series- when I look at them them now, some of them I am happy with and some I think need a little tweaking.

As an aside the installation of the Asia collection at QAG is absolutely fantastic at the moment. Great Ai Wei Wei pieces rubbing up against ancient Chinese and Japanese pottery, an exquisite Japanese screen with large areas of gold leaf clouds with green pines framing a shinto shrine, and mostly pleasingly: turn of the century woodcuts, although non of Fuji. I did however buy a couple of books in the shop: the Hokusai you see above and a small book of meisen kimono patterns in 50's and 60's.

Reading the Hokusai and finishing the work I install at Uplands and Milani, has me excitedly looking forward to going back to Japan! hurrah! - but not long to go arh!

Stillness and movement- Sarah's soles

Bought at ABC Mart in Tokyo, Sarah's shoes are the largest men's size. She said a shop assistant ran from the Shinjuku store she was in, a couple of blocks and back to bring her the right size. I love the concentric circles round the sun.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa 神奈川沖浪裏 Kanagawa-oki nami-ura, certainly the most famous of Hokusai 36 views. I read somewhere that it's beauty is based on the balance of the movement of the waves against the stillness of Fuji. It's funny but I can't ever remember seeing Mt Fuji in the work until I saw in in Tokyo. Although this might be because I haven't really been much of a Nipponofile until going there and certainly wasn't interested in Fuji. I like the literal translation of the title suggested at Wikipedia, it seems to fit the image of Sarah's shoe well. "Off Kanagawa, the back (or underside) of a wave."

Enoshima (Kanagawa) waves where pretty low the times I was there but the water was still full of full body wet suited surfers. They where on sitting on their submerged boards, looking out to sea. From a distance I though they where flocks of cormorants.

Update:

After a very exciting weekend at the 7th printmaking symposium I got onto the blog printeresting, thanks to the beautiful Rebecca Mayo, they also have a little story about the Great Wave shoes.

Installation Photos?

Does anyone have some images from the show in Shibuya? or of the stamped postcards?

Here's my address is you want to send me one:

12 School Pde

Marrickville

NSW 2203

Australia

Look-a-likes

While at the sand onsen Takegawara in Beppu I saw a old fuzzy black and white postcard that pictured a light mountain shaped like Fuji-san with the city of Beppu at it’s base, with plumes of steam rising from the city. As the mountain was light in colour, I had assumed it was snow covered. But that didn’t really make sense because the taller mountains in the back ground where not snow covered. The shape of the mountain, plus the print in my room, made me think that it was a Fuji look-a-like.

On my way to Hololand mud onsen (which I recommend that you DO NOT visit) the bus turned a corner and I got the above view of a strangely barren hillside. It looked as though it was a field that had been harvested, but oddly only to the ridge. I can’t imagine what you would grow on such a steep hillside. Young bamboo for the local wicker-work?

Nori-mono for Fuji look-a-likes is as hard as trying to capture Fuji from a moving vehicle.