I visited the exhibition “Léonard Foujita Private on Works(only in Japanese)” at Meguro Museum Art. As the title, the exhibition focuses on his book works or private works such as book design or illustrations or post card to his friends. Many works were painted with pens and thin brushes, and the impression was simple with few colors because most of them art small works.

I like the masterpieces of artists, but I also like sketches to get glimpses of their everyday life like postcards to their family or friends. You need preparation and physical fitness to face to art works such as expressing the artist’ impulse rising in their lives, but there were more relaxed works at this exhibition.

One of my favourite was 5 illustrations called “la fleur aux mille pétales d’or”. The five Japanese women were drawn in each, one looks down, one looks far away, one looks straightforward etc. Precise line drawing captures the soft curves of women brilliantly, the color scheme of making use of the plain background and women who feel the strength of the core somewhere despite grief. And their Japanese hair and kimono seem to complement their beauty more. Also, his touch like a foreign pain like a Japanese painting is also mysterious. I was drawn into a wordless mysterious world.

As a one of picture book lovers, I am happy as long as many picture book of animals or plants titled “The most beautiful xxx” have been published recently in Japan. The charm is the plant illustration, it catches the veins faithfully and seems to draw vividly up to one of the hair growing on the leaves. For the insects, the detailed description of the captivating eyeballs or delicate touch that dramatically reproduces the iridescent beauty color. I am attracted to the mysterious beauty that appears in the microcosm.

Great museum for picture book lovers is “The Intermediatheque” where is near from Tokyo station Marunouchi exit. The feeling that the heavy and academic atmosphere is very nice as if I entered the university’s laboratory. I saw the current exhibition Special Exhibition“The Art of Natural Science in Sweden — Treasures from Uppsala University”.

It is anniversary year 2018: the 150th Anniversary of Japan–Sweden diplomatic relations. And this presents the world of Natural History which bloomed in 18th-century Sweden, as well as its connections with Japan.

Hawaii Island – Breakfast –
Hawaii Island – Climate –
Hawaii Island – Living Things –
Hawaii Island – Dolphins –
Hawaii Island – People –

I wrote the above blogs in series about my travel to Hawaii Island, today is the last one. It is about “Language”.

I often hear “Aloha!” and “Mahalo” at my hotel, restaurant or shops and the announcement on the plane of Hawaii Airlines. Here are worlds that I have known before I visit to Hawaii; Hawaii, Oahu, Waikiki, Aloha, Mahalo, Mana, Ohana, Kauai, Hula, Lei, Loco, Mahi-mahi, Ukulele. I only thought about they sound pretty, so I learned about it by this trip.

– The vowels are five: a, e, i, o, u
– The consonants are seven: h, k, l, m, n, p, w
– Symbol indicating stuttering called ʻokina : ” ‘ ”
– Symbol emphasize sound and pronounce it slightly longer called kahakō: ” ¯ ”

*The meaning becomes different if it’s with ʻokina or kahakō
ono → fish name
‘ono → yummy

kau → put
kāu → your

I continue where I left off last blog unexpectedly went long.

About how to read and understand the picture book “The Giving Tree” in English. The sentence that with interpretation “And tree was happy…. but not really”.

Mr. Kiichiro Honda who translated it before Haruki Murakami.
According to Mr. Honda (Here is my translation Japanese in English again, funny)
“The tree was happy… but is it really?” (something like that, I translated it directly)

And, here is Mr. Murakami’s
“And the tree was happy… no she can’t” (something like that, I translated it directly)

Mr. Murakami denied clearly, she wasn’t happy.

I am a graphic & digital designer but my major was English and American literature. I chose “The Great Gatsby” for my graduation thesis by the way.

I am asked by some people that is it possible to be a designer if you didn’t graduate at art or design school? I can say yes if you really want to be, yes you can. I thought it would be better if I studied design at school during my training period, but not I think every experiences are necessary. Go with the flow, and then you will find life is perfect.

Why I think so is reading and understanding literature provided important skills as a designer. At the literature department, I learned about ways of thinking from different perspectives by the steps such as reading books, researching authors, making era verifications, touching on psychology, philosophy, sociology, and write my own interpretation.

I’m good at imaging something basically but I like to read stories thinking from author’s or character’s standpoint, and imaging what “I” think about it objectively. I think it is fun point to read books is there is no correct answer.

And the objective viewpoint is a necessary skill as a designer. Designing something with three viewpoints is important for designer. Specifically, we design taking best balance of these three viewpoints: clients, clients’ clients (messages to whom, people who will receive the message), and the designers.

Atami (a pleasant seaside resort west of Tokyo in Shizuoka Prefecture) is famous as nice Onsen area, also it attracts attention as great architectures for architecture lovers.
I visited MOA art museum and Bruno Taut “Atami Villa” (official name is Kyu Hyuga Bettei).

First talking about Bruno Taut, he was a German architect and his style is categorized Expressionism. He was active as an avant-garde architect in Berlin. He was also active as a city planner by designing housing complexes. You can live his house still now but it is difficult to live there because it is very popular.

He went to the Soviet Union but he returned to Berlin after a few years, then he headed to Switzerland in order to escape persecution with the emergence of Nazi. He arrived in Japan after Turkey and European countries, invited by Japan International Architecture. He was raised in Europe where Japonism was a heyday. Perhaps his dream came true to come to his dream country Japan.

In 1930, he arrive in Tsuruga, Fukui prefecture and he had a fateful encounter in Kyoto. He met “Katsura Imperial Villa”. He expressed the villa “It makes me almost cry, it is so beautiful…” All his ideal design was there. He was the first person who introduced Katsura Imperial Villa to the world, he wrote about it some books. I have a lot about the villa but not this time.

I have a conscious desire to wear Kimono once a year, always someone had put my Kimono on because it is hard to wear it by myself. However, I decided to go to school to wear it by myself.

– I would like to wear it beautifully by myself
– I would like to learn about the way of moving
– I would like to learn about itself (history, cultural background, patterns, colors, types etc)

You would be able to wear it if you would like to just “wear” it, but it is not only that. Wearing Kimono also has the side of emotional effects. I was very impressed by my teacher’s spirit of wearing Kimono.