Moshi-Moshi Japan
By Angelika Taschen
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The next morning we had an appointment at the offices of Kengo Kuma. At his office a perfectly-counted number of green tea-cups were already waiting for us. Satomi-San was trying his very best to catch up the time since we left the hotel a tiny bit late and we had to pick up Mai. I did not count how many street lamps we almost hit, but I was totally wet arriving at Kengo Kuma's place. Seeing all his new projects, I was immediately completely enthusiastic. I loved the residential house he calls "Lotus House", which will be finished in May and will be photographed for the book. Also his house for Mr. Nezu looks fantastic, but I am afraid we will have too many buildings by Kengo Kuma (don't you love the name, how it bubbles in the mouth?) in the book, since I also want to show his "Plastic House" as well as the "Bamboo House" right at the sea.
The next day I took the Shinkansen to Kyoto where Junichi-San was waiting to accommodate us in one of the five traditional Japanese Houses of the Iori Foundation. The Iori Foundation rents out traditional houses to cultivated tourists in order to preserve them. We stayed in the one right on the river and I slept my very first night in a typical Japanese "bed" on the floor (unfortunately not very well). Reto tried to make phone calls to make appointments to visit some of the houses we wanted to photograph for the book. We especially wanted to go and look at the Tawaraya Inn in Kyoto, which is one of my very favourites since I saw photographs of it. I would have loved to stay there too but it is not that easy in Kyoto. You cannot just walk in and say hello, could we have a look and maybe dinner. It takes many phone calls from the right people to get permission to visit and later to shoot the Inn. But as you will see, it was worth the effort.
The next day we were a little bit more lucky when we visited an Imperial Villa in the hills of Kyoto called "Yoshida Sanso", where you can also stay over night. The daughter of the owner was a very nice person and she told me that her brother owned a restaurant in New York, which is my all-time favorite restaurant in New York, it is sooo beautiful and the food is sooo delicious. We instantly became friends. We spent a beautiful afternoon, drinking the best green tea in the nicest cups and reading handwritten poems (more looking at them since my Japanese is not that advanced).
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
The next morning we had an appointment at the offices of Kengo Kuma. At his office a perfectly-counted number of green tea-cups were already waiting for us. Satomi-San was trying his very best to catch up the time since we left the hotel a tiny bit late and we had to pick up Mai. I did not count how many street lamps we almost hit, but I was totally wet arriving at Kengo Kuma's place. Seeing all his new projects, I was immediately completely enthusiastic. I loved the residential house he calls "Lotus House", which will be finished in May and will be photographed for the book. Also his house for Mr. Nezu looks fantastic, but I am afraid we will have too many buildings by Kengo Kuma (don't you love the name, how it bubbles in the mouth?) in the book, since I also want to show his "Plastic House" as well as the "Bamboo House" right at the sea.
The next day I took the Shinkansen to Kyoto where Junichi-San was waiting to accommodate us in one of the five traditional Japanese Houses of the Iori Foundation. The Iori Foundation rents out traditional houses to cultivated tourists in order to preserve them. We stayed in the one right on the river and I slept my very first night in a typical Japanese "bed" on the floor (unfortunately not very well). Reto tried to make phone calls to make appointments to visit some of the houses we wanted to photograph for the book. We especially wanted to go and look at the Tawaraya Inn in Kyoto, which is one of my very favourites since I saw photographs of it. I would have loved to stay there too but it is not that easy in Kyoto. You cannot just walk in and say hello, could we have a look and maybe dinner. It takes many phone calls from the right people to get permission to visit and later to shoot the Inn. But as you will see, it was worth the effort.
The next day we were a little bit more lucky when we visited an Imperial Villa in the hills of Kyoto called "Yoshida Sanso", where you can also stay over night. The daughter of the owner was a very nice person and she told me that her brother owned a restaurant in New York, which is my all-time favorite restaurant in New York, it is sooo beautiful and the food is sooo delicious. We instantly became friends. We spent a beautiful afternoon, drinking the best green tea in the nicest cups and reading handwritten poems (more looking at them since my Japanese is not that advanced).
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Living in Japan
Hardcover, 26 x 30.2 cm (10.2 x 11.9 in.), 200 pages
$ 29.99
$ 29.99
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