日本五日目 - Japan day 5

Day 5 - Imperial Palace Attempt 2, National Art Gallery and Shibuya


So I get what he means about the massive Shibuya crossing now - it's that one in Lost in Translation. Apparently there's a dog statue somewhere, but we didn't see it. He gets a bit weird if I don't know about something he does, but of course that can't go both ways =P

Anyhoo!  We went back to the palace.  It was about the same temperature but quite a bit more humid today - it's the first day where I was uncomfortable in my clothes, actually. I had to go into a public loo at one point to strip and towel off because I just felt rubbish.

So you can't actually go into the building... what is left is in use by the government. However the grounds are pretty extensive and there're lots of old walls of buildings that have since burnt down - that seems to be the history of the place, actually.  "Building built.  20 years later burned down.  New building. Moved capital. New building. Bombed"

Still I got some more pics. I also learned that there is more than one type of bamboo! Fun.




After that, we popped into the National Art museum in search of lunch but were shown out by the waiter. They were shutting and probably also didn't want us there for other reasons. *side eyes*

There was a special exhibition on around the work of a poet, Yoshimasu Gozo (1939 - )   It was lot of post-war modern stuff - mostly his notebooks, which were interesting, some videos, his cassette collection (his choice in poetry was VERY telling), his copper sheet work, doodles and finally photography... I'll type up the introduction to the exhibition for you:

This exhibition sets out to examine the relationship between the poet Yoshimasu Gozo (b. 1939) and the voice from a variety of angles. The gallery is divided into nine zones. The struture of the exhibition was inspired by Yoshimasu's ongoing interest in forms that gradually emerge in a space, such as a winnowing basket or the letter "U". Thus, a black silk curtain was chosen to create boundaries that may or may not exist. Though each zone is based on a particular genre (1. Diaries and Memos; 2. Photographs; 3. Copper Sheets;  4.Voice Notebooks, Etc;  5. Manuscripts;  6. gozoCine; 7 & 8. Dear Monster; 9. Collaborations), depending on your viewpoint, the boundary between them seems virtually non-existent. This signifies the profound link between genres in Yoshimasu's work. Though the zones are numbered, there are roundabout routes and flight lines, so please enjoy moving back and forth freely.

....yeah.... It was a bit pretentious at times, in the very least. But that is post-1940 prolific poets for you!

We looked at two other floors... There were some funny momments in the cubist sections.  But the traditional style paintings were huge, impressive and beautiful.

 Then we went to Shibuya to explore and experience some of the night life. Except one can't, really, because of train times and stuff. Also he doesn't enjoy clubbing and whatnot.

We did some window shopping - they have the most AMAZING Disney store I have EVER been to. I really want a lot of the stuff. I wish I could come back in September/October time - I bet they'd put out loads of cool Disney villains stuff!  So much stuff there that we simply don't get over here. :(

Then we went to a bar - I had forgotten what life in Britain was like before the smoking ban. It wasn't as bad as in British pubs, but seeing people light up and entering spaces that smell of stale smoke is both weird and not altogether pleasant.

We had a pizza -which wasn't actually that bad for 1000 yen. Really cheesy (Japan doesn't "get" cheese). The base was good (not sure why it tasted different but I liked it) and it went well with our drinks.

I began with a glass of plum wine "on the rocks" - the ice cubes were literally sizes of rocks. Well. Not quite literally. But to the point you couldn't actually drink the wine. I had to take the top few out! They filled the palm of my hand!  He had a Red Eye, which is a very light lager with tomato juice in, which I quite liked, so I had that as my second drink. Also cause Japanese beer is quite weak and not that hoppy, I didn't set off my hayfever!

And best of all, my grandmother emailed me pictures of 3 letters that arrived today from the DVLA - First acknowledging the email I'd sent and to ask me to fill in a form I'd already sent in,  the second to tell me they were satisfied that I was fit to drive and the third to issue me my replacement driving licence :D   SO HAPPY.


Here are pictures from Shibuya, more on my instagram here.