Diplomats travel the globe representing their countries to the world. Pico Iyer travels to represent the world to his many readers. Whether from North Korea or Katmandu, Iyer’s writing describes the collision of cultures occurring in a world set into perpetual motion.
Tokyo has cleverly disguised its Sento as lavish temples and the only evidence of their true identity, and the naked bathing inside, comes from the steam rising above the tiled rooftops and the chrome smokestack. However, careful eyes can pick them out by the “hafu,” a curved wooden shape hanging over the entrance. “It symbolizes an entrance to paradise,” says Sento writer Shinobu Machida. There are only three other places where you can see such a shape: at the entrance to a temple, on a funeral car and outside a soapland (brothel).”
Japan has an overwhelming tradition of carpentry. It’s easy to notice that nature itself, and trees in particular, have a sacred place in Japanese cosmology. Shinto is one of Japan’s ancient religions, a ‘religion of the forest’ which places Heaven in Nature and in forests specifically. It is, along with Buddhism, the one of main religions of Japan.
Living legends are an endangered species. While new prodigies come out of the woodwork to surprise and inspire, the heroes of yesterday begin slowing down, gradually assuming their enshrined places history. One legend that continues to make history and inspire us all in the process is Tommy Guerrero.
Online gallery of
Japanese Contemporary Art
www.azito-art.com
The Ogasawara Islands of Tokyo Prefecture could be mistaken for a Japanese Garden of Eden, located far out amidst the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. The Islands were uninhabited until 1830, when they were first settled by Americans and Europeans who arrived from Hawaii, the US mainland and elsewhere. In 1861, they came under Japanese control and Japanese citizens began to immigrate. To this day, many people of mixed heritage reside here. Following World War II, the islands passed from Japanese to US control and back again.
Kiyoto Maruyama is one of two remaining “Penki-eshi” (Sento painters) in Tokyo. Today he is painting the back wall of Fujino-yu, but as we arrive he climbs down from the scaffolding, walks through the coffee cans and paint tins to sit down in front of us. His track pants and slip on canvas shoes are coated in a dense patina of blue and white paint and behind his seated silhouette, today’s wet, half-finished portrait of Mt. Fuji is drying in the afternoon sunlight.
“I started cooking when I started VEGE Shokudo” – said Yoyo calmly. Since she is involved with the Shiroto no ran, or ‘Amateur Riot’ movement, underneath the surface of her nonchalant confession lie many relevant questions: Why should we conform to eating food that is overpriced? Should nourishing and healthy food be a luxury? Where do our vegetables come from?