Tokyo, Day 1

origamiunicorn ♦ August 16, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

Edo-Tokyo Museum

My cousin had to work so I went off on my own. I was moving a little slowly. The heat was getting to me and I felt a little achy. I got a later start than I had planned, but I dragged myself out the door and took the train to the Edo-Tokyo museum.

It’s a large indoor museum with a mix of intricate scale models of old Tokyo and several life size replicas of both old buildings and more recent houses. One part of the exhibit is life size rooms from Japanese homes throughout the last century.

I have a particular love for models and miniatures, which is part of why I wanted to go to this museum. In the past I’ve worked on dollhouses and made dollhouse furniture, The detail of the models at the museum is so precise, down to the ridges in the tatami mats, that you feel like you are spying on someone else’s tiny world. When I get back home I’m going to look online for a model kit!

Edo buildings

Woodworking and screen detail

The artwork on the miniature screens is spectacular

A Japanese garden in miniature

My love for dollhouses is also the reason I enjoyed looking at the life size models of Tokyo homes through the years. These were like big dollhouses, again the feeling of looking into someone else’s world, just on a bigger scale.

Another exhibit that I loved was a set of woodblocks used to make a print. Ukiyo-e woodblock printing is one of my favorite genres of Japanese art. In the pictures below you can see the woodblocks used to layer different colors onto the paper.

The woodblock process

I would really like to make a woodblock print in the ukiyo-e style and I hoped that this trip would give my some creative ideas. Throughout the trip I tried to spend time just observing and absorbing. At times, I stopped and sketched some ideas on my iPad. Last winter I bought a kit with supplies to make a small ukiyo-e woodblock. Seeing the exhibit with the woodblocks made me feel inspired. This whole trip has made me feel inspired!

Before leaving, I bought a small umbrella at the museum shop hoping it would offer some respite from the sun beating down. After the museum I made my back to Ross’s apartment and took a much needed rest.For more information on ukiyo-e: https://www.artsy.net/gene/ukiyo-e

Dinner with a Friend

Later in the evening I went to Todai-mae train station to meet a friend in front of the Akamon gate at Tokyo University. The friend is the son of two of my dearest old friends. He is my oldest daughter’s age and working at Tokyo University for the summer. I’ve known him since he was a baby and had not seen him for several years.

We went out for dinner and walked around Tokyo stopping here and there for a beer or snack. It was an absolute joy to catch up with him in such an obscure location. He reminds me so much of my older daughter in his personality and view of the world. We had a lovely evening and then I made my way back to the apartment.