Protected Flowers and Private Forests

   
For the first time in my life I saw flowers being protected from the sun or strong rain - by umbrellas.
"Only in a japanese garden..." I thought

What I forgot to mention in my last report is how absurd it seems that wherever you find nature in Tokyo, you have to pay... and I just heard of a German forest that might be sold to a private US or Japanese organization... we all might have to pay soon to go into a forest. The upside is, that that forest would look very clean and pretty. Alright.

Wim loved that stick holding the tree here....

A Sense of Place


A day later we had the pleasure to witness Wim's lecture:

A SENSE OF PLACE.

Wow. I loved it. Wim spoke about the importance of places and what they have to tell us... places talk... places have to do with identity... places have to do with us and we have to make sure that we don't neglect them... the places we come from... the places that have formed us... we have to defend PLACE..

(read the lecture here, as given at Princeton University in 2001)

Wim had 1200 students listening to him and I think the lecture was brilliant.

The next day it was pouring rain again. Wim gave an interview in a classroom of a elementary school.

Visiting Yasujiro Ozu

The day after that - perfect weather - and off we went into a shrine-area to look for the grave of Yasujiro Ozu
(The Japanese film director whom Wim greatly admires and whom he lists as his strongest influence - see also Tokyo Ga )

On the way we saw an old master preparing an arrow-shooting ceremony.
A bit later he was watching his pupils.

We found the grave and places a bottle of sake on it - the master apparently still likes it (I think that the monks who live there take and enjoy some of those little gifts... 8-)

Good bye from Tokyo!
Much love,
Wim and Donata.

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