Sugoi! Japanese fireworks in July

Bam! Bam! Bam! Who doesn't like a good fireworks show?! Or hanabi, as it is called in Japan. The Japanese know their hanabi, real artisans are at work here. From hearts, smileys and all kinds of 'fire flowers' the professionals know what they're doing and keep innovating their art. As most fireworks in Japan take place during the hottest period of the year, August, I was lucky to find two firework shows in the Kansai area that took place in July. On the 22nd, a festival was organized in Ashiya, Osaka.
Because the Japanese won't only lit a few fire crackers, you can easily spend a good part of the day celebrating the matsuri with food stalls, little games and short performances from dancers, singers and even theater shows. Unfortunately the 22nd it was dreary weather. Not the kind of festival weather everyone had hoped for. Although my head was spinning with all the amazingly beautiful yukata (unlined summer kimono) I saw, there was no way to take pictures in the rain. So it was wonderful luck when the rain stopped at the start of the fireworks show!

A good thing I had bought a ¥ 2000 ticket for a seat that I could 'reserve' before walking around the festival grounds. In Japan is not strange to come early at an event and 'reserve' yourself (and your friends!) a good seat by placing personal items on a chair and come back hours later. These items could be fans, drinks, magazines, towels or even a handbag. No one will touch your stuff and your seat is there for you, and your personal belongings, when you get back. There's a positive side and maybe a negative side to this 'reserving' system that everyone respects. The best part of course is that everyone leaves your stuff alone (I ❤ Japan!).

It seemed me and my friends had claimed some great seats, and we could see the show perfectly. The fireworks were lit from the water, in the bay. Many people had taken their place on the beach on blankets and we had seats at the edge of the beach, a little elevated, with free sight on the spectacle. The most spectacular thing was an all-red fireworks piece with a lot of hearts in it after which someone asked his girlfriend to marry him. And she said yes! Aaaaaah, romantic!
After this, the organization took the time to educate the public a little bit with hanabi bingo. Every time just one arrow was shot in the air which you could find on your bingo card. With each new shot it was told what kind of firework you had just seen. But then the real fireworks started and it was amazing! Next year I should maybe plan to visit Japan in August to see more firework shows!

And what could be more festive on your birthday than to see a fireworks show? Osaka obliged and organized another festival on July 25th on the Okawa river. This 'matsuri' was even more extensive. Lots of boats were navigating the river by motor or by oarsmen. Many of the boats sported dancers, singers, musicians and other performers, some even traditional treasures. And all clapped the same simple rhythm to each other and to the people on the bridges: clap clap, clap clap, clap clap.... clap! It all contributed to very festive mood with a lot of calling out and merriment.
The river banks were lined by many yatai (food stands) with all kinds of junk food: karaage, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, Wiener wursten, frozen bananas, cream puffs and some even had fresh fruit or cucumbers. All the traditional Japanese festival food was there and also the little games for kids to play. To my excitement many girls came in the colourful summer dress of Japan, a yukata. It seems Osaka is trying to encourage visitors and inhabitants of Osaka to wear yukata and kimono more often, to enhance the attractiveness of the city. Well, it works for me!

ART Osaka: 50 galleries and me, up in the clouds

Earlier this year I visited ART Kyoto and this weekend it was Osaka's turn to bring together 50 galleries form all over Japan, i.e. Kanazawa, Gifu, Hokkaido, Nagoya, Tokyo and of course the  Kansai region. And some international flavour was added by art galleries from abroad, like Taiwan, Korea and China. With these great art events I'm attending these months I'm discovering a whole new world of contemporary art that was unknown to me before and I can't get enough of it!

Where in Kyoto Hotel Monterey was one of the locations for the fair, in Osaka Hotel Granvia's 26th floor was the main location for this event. Though the 26th floor is not a place I normally care to spend my time, (I get nauseous on speedy lifts), one apparently has to endure all kinds of hardships to enjoy art! But it was worth it, I had such a wonderful time! And once traveled with the speed of light, you are actually (almost) up in the clouds. Not only by seeing all this great art brought together, but also by the spectacular view! This event can only be a winner, with a location like this. And true, using hotel rooms is not the most practical choice, because it can get crowded very easy in the small rooms. More so when a gallery chooses to even use the bathroom to exhibit work. But I still like the quirkiness of it, the intimate atmosphere it creates and the fun. Visitors and gallery owners are literally brought closer together!

For instance I had such an interesting chat with artist Makoto Morimura about his 'Butterfly girls' project. In Japan a type of bar called 'host club' (or host bar/cabaret club) is well known here, but not so common in Europe. These bars have a rather steep entrance fee and high prices for their drinks. On the other hand you get to talk to beautiful girls, entertaining you and having drinks together, but no sex is involved. This type of entertainment reminds me strongly of the traditional geisha, only a contemporary adaptation. For his project, the artist picks up the flyers of these shot bars and cuts out the girls. From these tiny pieces of paper he folds traditional origami butterflies, since these girls are also known as 'butterflies of the night'. That brings the concept full circle I think. He warned me I should obtain a piece of his work now, before he get's famous and his work really expensive!

Furthermore, I found the work of Hiroshi Shinno just absolutely stunning. He makes fantasy insect creatures mixed with elements of plants and flowers with acryl on synthetic resin. The picture I took is not so great, but I love his bigger pieces anyway. Please have a look at his website, because his work is gorgeous. Other pieces of interest were by Ryoko Takahashi, who works with human hair. The sculpture of the girl in grey is by Jingab Jeong, the small sculptured clothes on the window by Nakanishi Yuki.

This year was the 10th anniversary of ART Osaka, and I hope they will continue to bring great art together for a long time to come.

Milky Way on water: 50.000 LED lights on the Okawa river in Osaka

It was just pure luck I found this festival just in time to watch and even participate. A beautiful picture of lasts years spectacle in Osaka caught my eye just one day before the event. It made me think of the Panasonic LED 'fireflies' released in the Sumida river in Tokyo just a few months before. I wished then I could have seen the spectacle, so am I happy to have found this opportunity! So I rushed my behind on the Special Rapid Service to Osaka this Saturday.

Arriving there I watched 50,000 blue lights make a dreamlike landscape on the Okawa River. The blue lights even have a fairy tale name and are called inori-boshi (prayer star). Plus they all have a wish attached to them, which were written on paper strips people could buy at different shops in Osaka in the weeks previous to the event. Wishes are made for happiness, money or health, but also condolences for lost loved ones or people suffering in the Tohoku area. With this man-made Milky Way of lights, the star festival is celebrated, or “Heisei, the Legend of Osaka Amanogawa”.

Thousands of people visited the riverside to enjoy the one-night-only Milky Way. Most of the lights were gathered beforehand and released from small boats, by the organization. A little haphazard and a tad disorganized, it all contributed to the charm of the evening. Visitors could also embark one of the tourist boats (for 2000 yen) and get a 'wish star' to release in the river themselves. The embarking on different boats brought about quite some confusion, certainly for one who doesn't speak Japanese! But a friendly attendant is never far away, so it all worked out well in the end and I did not miss my boat (I'm on a boat!). I would have preferred to enter a open boat though, but that's probably for another life time, when I do speak Japanese and understand what the heck is happening. :)

All of this does not occur without thinking of the environment I'm relieved to report. The wishes are written on paper strips made of papyrus. This paper is made mainly from reeds which grow in Lake Biwa, north of Kyoto. Releasing these papyrus strips in the river helps to purify the water is what I understand. Even only one paper strip will purify approximately 54 liters of water! Of course the LED lights, that have a low electricity consumption, are gathered after the festival and reused. Hurray for Osaka's Milky Way Festival!

Here's a link to the article about the event in Tokyo.

The 41st Nihon-Kogeikai: the very best traditional Japanese arts & crafts of the Kinki region

This is a very unusual post in the sense that I do not have any pictures for you, only a poster (front and back) that's not even my own design. My defense is that this exposition is too amazing to miss and it was not allowed to take pictures, understandably maybe.

Anyway, this exposition is still two more days held at the department store Isetan Mitsukoshi in Osaka. The Nihon-Kogeikai (or Kogeiten) is a traveling exhibition of the very best traditional art & craft works of the Kansai region (or Kinki region, which is the same). Every item on display won prices earlier in another 'competetion' of a sort. That could be regionally or nationally, but all works are Japanese arts & crafts and belong to one of the following disciplines: woods & bamboo craft, ceramics, lacquer ware, textiles (kimono a.o.), dolls, glass, metal ware or 'miscellaneous'. The most exquisite of these art pieces were collected together to star at this 41th expo. Each of the 5 days of the exhibition a master in one of the art & craft forms will give a presentation, today a bamboo master is taking the stage. Even is you do not understand Japanese, go see the best the Kansai region has to offer, you will not regret it!

Every prefecture in Japan has it's own regional exhibition with the best works in the traditional arts. From these regional winners the best are hand picked to continue to the 'Nitten' exhibition. A national 'competition' for the very, very, very best in arts & crafts of Japanese traditional handwork. The Nitten is also a traveling exhibition. Unfortunately for me it has already visited these region's for this year exhibition, but I'm rooting for nest time I visit Japan.

Midosuji Festa, 10th anniversary of Osaka's Street Fair

Osaka celebrated it's rich culture this week with a 10th anniversary party of the Midosuji Open Festa, known in short today as the Midosuji Festa. The aim of the organization of this very busy street fair is to attract more visitors to Osaka as a whole and to the Midosuji Avenue and Minami neighbourhood in particular. An 'urban regeneration' is what they call it. Minami and Midosuji though are very different neighborhoods. Midosuji Avenue represents the high end visitor with all the big brands and their flag ship stores like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Cartier, Hermès and Dior. Minami attracts a younger, more urban public. There you'll find the new trends, or shops for all kinds of subcultures, but also clubs, small restaurants and izakaya.

But maybe when it comes to open air street fun, like music, dance, art, fashion and sports, the public is not so different! Last year the Festa was flooded with 370,000 visitors. I would not be surprised if the Midosuji Festa 2012 attracted even more. The Festa sure could count on the weather for support, it was a great 21 °C, a prefect day for a street fair. The downside of these perfect conditions, not surprisingly, are the huge numbers of visitors. All dance, sports and music performances were on street level, not on a podium. That way everyone crowds around, so if you're not on the front row, tough. If you have a preference to see something, try to find a spot beforehand and stick with it. It would give you the chance to then see all the dance performances, or all sports performances for instance. Because those are all held continuously through the day, by different groups.

I would recommend the dance groups. They are always so very energetic, happy and colourful! The groups consist mostly of very young dancers to sometimes quit old and they are with many. Several play their own (small) instruments or shout out yells to the music. See at least a show or three, you're in for a superb spectacle. The sports performances differed greatly, but all had their own appeal. Some funny (basketball), some exiting (tae kwon do), and some awe inspiring (karate). If you like to take it low-key, watch a fashion show, or go to the 'beauty salon' where you can have your hair or nails done. Why not?! All in all, the day had a very positive and happy vibe.

My new hero Ikko Tanaka, graphic designer, art director and artist

I found a small flyer a few weeks ago that sprang to my immediate attention, announcing the exhibition of Ikko Tanaka. My heart pounded just a little harder. Isn't the image (top left) utterly powerful and clever? Well, it is exactly what I love about graphic design. The power of it, the simplicity, the boldness and a trace of humor even. Based on this one image I knew I was an instant fan of Ikko's work. Googling being the first step to learn more, I found out that this year, unfortunately, is the 10th anniversary of Ikko's death in 2002. Sadly he died too young and sudden, but left a vast amount of amazing graphic art for everyone to relish.

Ikko left 120.000 works to the 'DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion' after his death. For the exhibition 163 of the 550 posters he created in the years between 1950 and 1970 were chosen. Spanning 20 of the 50 years Tanaka has had an active part in establishing Japanese design in and outside Japan. Raised in ancient Nara and later living in Kyoto, the traditions and rich culture of his surroundings had a great effect on Tanaka's work. Mixing traditional aesthetics with contemporary elements was one of his trades, along with his view on typography and new ways of printing.

Ikko was allied to gallery 'ddd' where the exhibition was held. He designed their corporate identity (seen bottom left, which shows the brochure for gallery 'ddd' in Osaka and sister gallery 'ggg' in Tokyo). Gallery ddd has a small, but very pleasant exhibition space, a library, and exhibition books for sale at the reception. For instance the two books with the collected works of Ikko Tanaka. His early works, from 1935-1979 and his later works from 1980-2002. Respectively showing 163 and 150 of his works in full colour, English copy.

Galleries, or museums, focusing on graphic design are sparse in the world, so 'ddd' and 'ggg' should be cherished. Over the last 25 years they brought the world a 100 unique exhibitions with Japanese and international graphic artists alike. A book was published with an overview of those 100 showing an exemplary work from each of the artists. Names like Paul Rand, Kazumasa Nagai, Saul Bass, Bruno Munari, Katsumi Asaba, Makoto Nakamura, K2, Studio Dumbar (Dutch), Paul Davis, Ryohei Kojima, Paula Scher, John Maeda, Neville Brody, and Raymond Savignac are amongst them. An impressive line up, Tanaka not the least amongst his peers.

I would like to thank the staff of Gallery ddd for their friendliness and providing me with two wonderful books for this article. I am very grateful, どうもありがとうございました.

Poster design for this exhibition by Kazumasa Nagai.

Yayoi Kusamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Just turned 83 years old in March of this year, Yayoi Kusama must have been working like a mad woman the last few years to get the work for this exhibition ready. And it's worth a visit. If you're quick, you can still catch her at the National Museum of Art in Osaka till April 8th 2012. The exhibition is called Eternity of Eternal Eternity, a world premiere for some of her works.

Kusama represents contemporary Japan with a wide variety of media, what she has been doing since her early teens. That is over 70 years now! An impressive and renowned international career not only in painting, but she is specially famous for her sensual performances, light installations and expressive sculptures using patterns and repetition as a recurring theme.

A big fan of patterns and repetition myself I was absolutely floating on a tiny cloud of happiness after visiting the museum. Lucky for me, my favorite part of the exhibition I was able to capture. Like the polka dot tulips, the famous yellow Pumpkin and of course the 'mushroom' sculptures already welcoming you outside the museum. The paintings were of boundary to photograph. They do not speak to me as her other work does, but the energy they radiate is impressive. What absolutely did grab me was an environmental installation, like the ones she is famous for. A mirrored room, hung full of glowing lights, changing colour to infinity. Because it was rather busy each time a group of 10 people was aloud in the box, with the door closed. But in 10 seconds maximum you had to be out again. Last in, first out (me). Even with in this very short time span it was mesmerizing and exciting to be enveloped by her work. So much I was tempted to get in line again, only the queue just got longer. So instead I enjoyed the rest of the works and floated outside with a big smile on my face.

Link to the National Museum of Art, Osaka.

Bonsai in Japan, the best of the very best

This weekend, I have been told, Japan showed the best of the very best Bonsai trees at the Shohin Bonsai Fair (Shunga-ten or 春雅展). It is a yearly exhibition, held in Osaka at the end of March in the Mizu no Yakata dome.

As I was seeing quite some trees without leaves, I tried to investigate why the 'All Japan Shohin-Bonsai Association' (AJSBA) chose to exhibit such exquisite specimen not a little later in the year, when all the trees would have their leafs? The very kind Mr. Simmons, bonsai student and whom I met at the Fair, was happy and patient to give me a quick masterclass at the premises (my gratitude Mr. Simmons!).
So why March? Well, that one was the easiest; all deciduous trees should be exhibited without their leafs, because at that moment their form, the stalk and the branches, can be appreciated at their best. Which would be less easy if the trees are shown with their full foliage.

Another thing I learned is that bonsai have three 'classes'. These Shohin trees fall in the middle class and are 20 centimeters high. Sometimes they are 25 cm high, but these trees are only accepted if they are from a very high quality. The smallest group is called Mame Bonsai and these trees are not bigger than 12 centimeters. The biggest class of bonsai is called Chuhin.

The next thing that made me curious were the white 'dead' branches I saw protruding from the pine trees exhibited. You see an example of this at the bottom picture in the middle. These white parts are called shari (if the stem of the tree is intended) or jin (if the branches are intended). Shari and jin depict the bones of Buddha and make the tree seem very old. Because that's what's it all about for the bonsai grower and viewer of this art form.
Another sign that a tree is (or seems) very old is moss on the bed of the container and specially on the base of the tree (nebari) and the bark. Also, a crackled and grayish bark on the stem is of high value. And all this comes with decades of preening and patience, a few generations of patience even. Some of the trees at this exhibition were over a hundred years old and are passed on from grandfather to father to son.

Most of the trees did not have any wire showing, or other devices to keep the branches in place. This means that most of the trees were 'finished'. So the stem and all the branches of these trees have their perfect form and are 'only' to be contained this way. But that sounds easier said than done. Even keeping a tree in it's intended shape after it's finished is hard work an needs constant attention. I might add that some trees did show wire and thus had not yet reached their intended form. This is something that can also be appreciated as part of the art form. An art that is now a thousand years old already.

Since taking pictures is strictly prohibited, you should actually try and take a look yourself. The proud grower, in the picture, was very friendly and let me take a photo of his bonsai trees, and no doubt decades of hard work. His name is Hidehiko Nitta (ありがとうNitta san!). Also want to 'meet and great' and enjoy the best bonsai Japan has to offer? Maybe see you next year!