12/3 - Art and Technology

Monday we travelled into Ueno to see the last day of an exhibition at which Mari's work was included, as well as to Akihabara - the famous "electric town" - where all things electronic and game related can be found.

We were to meet Mari at 10am at Tokyu - one of the best known department stores in Kichijoji. Think something like David Jones. Arriving just before 10 we found the store not yet open but were encouraged (along with other waiting customers) by a floor manager to go inside and wait by the lift area to stay warm (on special seats brought out each day for that purpose). Now Grant wanted to go to the toilet, and we knew where they were on the other side of the floor we were waiting on. Setting off with the kids in tow Maria was almost immediately acosted by one of the greeting/floor staff who came dashing after her (this young woman would not have been put to shame by Audrey Hepburn in her French finest - tailored uniform, cute hat, etc.). Flustered she told Maria the store was not yet open and to please wait. 2 minutes later the opening chime sounded and all was well.

Now, to provide context, Mari is a very talented porcelain artist who has taught classes in her home since before we knew her. I believe her students mainly do china cups and such, but Mari seems to try many medium.

So, it was into Euno (by train of course) which is one of the famous districts closer into the centre of Tokyo. Famous for its various museums and famous for its markets.

Mari had 2 pieces on display as part of an exhibition by what must have been 100-odd artists. One was an extremely beautiful tripartite of a young girl with flowers; the other being of her Alaskan Malamut "Taro" who died a year or 2 ago and who is still a dominant aspect in her life. Other exhibited pieces ranged from sculpures in wood and stone through paintings, and even minor installations.

Then it was lunch - we went to a Tabihodai (all you can eat retaurant) with a difference. While occupying the 4th floor of a department store building it had a very traditional presentation, and a great variety all sorts of traditional food, right through to desserts and drinks: all in a very nice setting and for a very reasonable price (1800 yen for an adult).

After lunch we took a walk back towards the eki (station) to check-out one of Tokyo's most famous and longest running (it was the first to reopen after the end of WW2) markets. We found it an interesting juxstaposition of traditional items, food, mobile phone stores, and clothes shops. However what ,os impressed the kids was the "ferris wheel" carpark we passed on the way. A multi-story concrete building without façade it had three low garage-like entrances, in front of each of which were car sized turntables. Attendants at the end of the street conduted customers into one of these driveways/garages. The customer would hop out and a circular kind of lift (like a frris wheel) would take the car up somewhere inside the building. When it is time for the customer to get their car back it is lowered by the same mechanism into the confined space. The car is then reversed out onto the turntable, which spins the car around, and the customer is able to drive off. Anyway, the kids wanted to stay and watch more cars arrive and leave, till we had to drag them away.

After that it was off to Akihabara - always worth a visit if you have even the slightest interest in things electronic (cameras, phones, TVs, etc.), or games. The latest bleeding edge technology is available at quite exceptional prices; while the sheer atmosphere of the place has to be seen to be believed. Also, for game fanatics, this is the mecca - where new systems go on sale first and all the game and anime related pariphenalia can be found. As examples of bargains (for those in know about games, we saw Nintendo's Wii for 10,000 Yen and the new PS3 with 20 gig drive for under 50,000 Yen). Anyway, we did a bit of back-street shopping for the very cheap and specialised electronics, as well as visiting Yodobashi Camera. Yodabashi Camera is a massive (multi-story) electronic store and very famous for its selection and prices. Despite having visited Akihabara many times while living here 11+ years ago I'd never visited this store...what a mistake. I'm going to be checking out the prices of some of the cameras back in oz (if they're even available there yet), as I'm sure I saw some great bargains.

By the time we left Akihabara it was around 5:30 and the first waves (really the "bludging" early leavers) of workers were starting to return home. As such the trains were rather busy...we travelled further into Tokyo so we could catch our train from the start and hence get a seat. However we elected to catch an Express (only stop at major stations) instead to minimise the travel time - so we stood packed in like sardines. The kids handled it very well, and this catching a busy/packed train was one of the experiences I'd planned on giving the kids anyway.

Back in Kichijoji we accompanied Mari to her place where we used her laptop to make our first big post on the blog. We aslo met Mari's mum and her partner "Mr" - another set of old friends that it was so great to see again. We were so tired that Mari gave us a lift home.