Highlights from the Tokyo: Art and Photography Exhibition at Oxford Uni’s Ashmolean

| 20th November 2021

Living in the UK and missing Japan? An afternoon at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University should fill that void. When you enter the Tokyo: Art and Photography Exhibition, a bright pink panel of cherry blossoms greets you, stretching along the floor and up the walls, creating the perfect Instagram backdrop.

Step inside and Japanese graphic art, woodblock prints, samurai armour and swords, as well as videos and contemporary photographs will stimulate your senses as you travel through time from the 17th century to the present.

Some works are elegant, capturing Tokyo’s traditions with style and grace. Others are fun and frivolous like this work below photographed by Shinoyama Kishin featuring Chim↑Pom. The title is Love is Over (2014). Guests from the wedding of group member Ellie march into Tokyo’s business district, climb on top of Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture, and start a demonstration. Is this art, love, politics, private or public? The message is ambiguous.


I can only show you a selection of the works on display at this exhibition but there is so much more to appreciate so please visit if you can. I was really looking forward to seeing the woodblock prints by Utagawa Hiroshige so I was delighted to see his ukiyo-e as soon as I entered and I’m thrilled to share them with you here.

Let me begin with Suruga Street featuring Mitsukoshi in 1856 on the left-hand side. This is Japan’s first and largest department store. It was originally called the Echigo-ya textile shop (è¶ŠćŸŒć±‹). Suruga Street is renowned for its excellent view of Mount Fuji which is located 80 kilometres away. Hiroshige uses Western linear perspective to portray this shopping scene.


Another, just as popular, woodblock print by Hiroshige is next in the display.  His Sudden Shower at Ohashi Bridge, Atake, 1857, is instantly recognizable thanks to the clever criss-crossing of grey lines seemingly scratching the scene as the townsfolk pull down their wickerwork hats to shield themselves from the pouring rain. Vincent van Gogh was so impressed by this print he copied it in oils.


If it’s beauty and drama that attracts you to art, you’ll fall in love with Hiroshige’s third woodblock print, The Drum Bridge at Yuhi Hill in Meguro. The glistening snow and snowflakes on the moonlit stone bridge are actually unprinted areas of paper that stand out thanks to the dark night and the cobalt blue river.


This stunning painting below in the style of the Toda School is by an anonymous painter but it’s a welcome and very attractive addition to the exhibition. This view of Edo portrays the Shogun’s castle at the back and the Sumida River in the middle. Samurai on horseback and simple folk wander around the city. The gold clouds are painted using traditional methods. Positioned at the top and the bottom they draw your eye towards the centre.


Fast forward to 1951 and Hayashi Tadahiko’s photographs provide real and hard-hitting documentation of Tokyo’s poverty in the post-war years. New housing developments, shops and entertainment venues crop up all over the city as Tokyoites try to forget the destruction of the past decade.


Turn the corner in the exhibition and you’re thrown back to the Edo period in a room dedicated to People. We’re reminded that Edo (old name for Tokyo) was populated with more than a million people in the 18th century and the artisans and merchants were dominated by warriors. This was a time for peace and the samurai were very appreciative of the arts. Their costumes represented aggression but their hearts were brimming with culture.


So many artists, writers and poets have expounded on the attractiveness and virtues of various Japanese women over the centuries. In Ito Shinsui’s Fireworks from his Second Collection of Modern Beauties a Japanese lady in kimono from the 1930s sits in a Western pose admiring the fireworks. Effortlessly elegant and relaxed, she enjoys a pastime most Japanese people relish. Like cherry blossoms, this summer tradition is a reminder of the fleeting nature of life.


Death Multi and Hollow Blue (both 2015) are by Murakami Takashi, one of the most famous pop artists in the world today. I certainly didn’t expect to see these two artistic endeavours and their morbid persuasion. His works are usually so exuberant, full of a certain joie de vivre. This sudden change of heart is representative of the rioters who spray paint the alleys and footpaths of Tokyo. Murakami says he has been influenced by natural catastrophes like the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and he has used the words “Death” and “Hollow” to symbolize harshness and emptiness and to remind us of human vulnerability.


Legendary photographer Moriyama Daido shares his slideshow and wallpaper at the end of the exhibition. Each grainy image he has taken over the last 50 years makes you stop and contemplate its meaning while you admire its appeal. He’s creative and dynamic as he provides thought-provoking visions of Tokyo and the people who live there, showing us characters and providing sounds that make this metropolis so compelling. “I just try to take as many photographs as possible to record the time in which I have lived” – Moriyama Daido.

But wait there’s more. Don’t leave the Ashmolean without checking out the gift shop. You won’t be disappointed. There’s the official Tokyo Art and Photography book, postcards, Suruga Street key rings, Tokyo Station tote bags, Tokyo magnets, Japan 2022 calendars, Hokusai diaries, Japanese boxed pencil sets, Japanese calligraphy washi sets, origami gold and silver necklaces, Liam Wong’s TO:KY:O art book, Nancy Singleton’s Japan The Cookbook and much, much more.


AND you can also buy a stunning Japanese woodblock print in the gift shop at a very reasonable price. . .

The Real Japan GIVEAWAY! Win a Private Online Japanese Tea Ceremony Experience + 2 Japan Guide books!

| 15th October 2021


THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED

October 2021 Giveaway! Brought to you by ‘The Real Japan’ and ‘Nagoya is not Boring’

PRIZES!

1x 1st Prize: A Private Online Japanese Tea Ceremony Experience with ‘Nagoya is not boring’ + Planning A Trip To Japan + How To Travel In Japan Without Speaking Japanese travel guides – worth ÂŁ35

2 x Runners up Prizes: Planning A Trip To Japan travel guide – worth ÂŁ14 each

Total prize value of ÂŁ63

Experience a modern variation of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony online called “Table Style Sado”. Get an introduction to this special part of the Japanese culture and bring a bit of Japan into your daily life.

‘Nagoya is not boring’ connects travelers to Japan with unique and authentic experiences and tours in Nagoya.

Competition ends midnight Friday 22 October, 2021


Review of ‘Tokyo Junkie’ by Robert Whiting

| 6th October 2021

Robert Whiting is a talented and fascinating writer addicted to Japan. He has lived and worked as a journalist in Tokyo on and off for more than fifty years. His memoir ‘Tokyo Junkie‘ begins in 1962 when Japan was transforming itself on a monumental scale in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. The pages in-between cover a plethora of captivating subjects relating to the capital and the colourful characters who live there, as well as his own experiences in the Land of the Rising Sun. His final thoughts dwell on the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 and the effects of Covid-19 on the Japanese people and the businesses that thrive on the streets and alleyways in Tokyo.

Whiting is a humble man, saying more than once he believes he lacks an understanding of the finer points of Japanese culture, for example tea ceremony, but this book proves he has an all-encompassing understanding of society, culture, politics, sport and religion in Japan. He writes on a variety of subjects including the prevalence of Shintoism and attitudes towards Christianity, giving examples of why Shintoism is so ingrained in everyday life. He describes the four seasons in Japan on page 206 with poetic charm and shares snippets of history to enthral the reader. On page 89, he explains: “The name Ochanomizu literally means “water for tea” and references the Kanda River from which water was extracted to make the shogun’s tea during the Edo period”. He also quotes haiku by Issa, the 18th-century poet, on page 25:

“ é…’ć„œăăźè¶ăȘă‚‰æ„ă‚ˆè§’ç”°ć· (If you’re a butterfly that likes to drink, come down here to the Sumida River).”

The above quote is one Whiting would appreciate more than most. He reveals he’s partial to a few drinks and he regularly makes an appearance at the Foreign Correspondence Club of Japan where he serves on the Board of Directors. He says BBC correspondent John Morris once described this place as “a waterfront sailors’ bar and a brothel” (pg. 321). However, Whiting points out the FCCJ is an ideal place for any writer, including himself, to source excellent writing opportunities and it’s the perfect club for networking with other journalists.

Whiting admits he finds himself drawn towards the “low end” of Tokyo when he’s not thinking of or writing about his favourite sport, baseball. He has always been intrigued by the sordid underbelly of city life and the seedy people who live, work and play there like the yakuza, gamblers and hostesses. He likes to write about illegitimate or quasi-criminal and fraudulent activities that lay just below the surface of polite society in Tokyo. This has landed him in trouble on more than one occasion. He almost became involved in dealing firearms with the yakuza and at times he has been afraid of being pushed in front of a train in a Tokyo subway station by a chinpira for offending a yakuza boss he mentioned in his other book ‘Tokyo Underworld‘!

Whiting’s love of Tokyo and the people who live there is ever-present in this book. He mentions everyone who has touched his heart and helped him when he needed it most, like the elderly lady who worked in the kiosk in front of Shibuya Station. She provided a bed and breakfast for him when he missed the last train home. Or Kazuhiko Kusaka-san who found him lodgings, acted as a rent guarantor, and escorted him around the temples, shrines and old-fashioned shops in his local area, helping him to assimilate into the Japanese way of life.

One minute Whiting is explaining sumo wrestling is a difficult sport with a long tradition and on the next page he’ll share a story about a romantic date like his involvement with a young girl called Chako, the daughter of an izakaya owner. But it’s his love for his wife Machiko that leaves the greatest impression. He writes about her with the utmost respect and fondness. He describes her as “educated, cultured and intelligent (pg. 195) . . . the beautiful, clear-eyed wife (pg. 369)” who refuses to move to New York because she wants to make it clear she’s interested in him and not his passport. His passion for Tokyo is also reiterated repeatedly. He loves “the honesty of the average Tokyo-ite (pg. 353) and he likes the way “Japan was a place where it simply wasn’t necessary to win every argument – or even argue at all, for that matter“ (pg. 287).

Whiting is a captivating writer. His style is void of unnecessary adverbs and superlative adjectives and he is direct, candid and sincere on every page. His descriptions of Tokyo make the reader want to move to this enticing capital or at least visit the city for an extended period. He says “I like the incredible energy, the activity, the politeness, the orderliness, the cleanliness, the efficiency, the trains that always arrive on time, the mix of neon lights, the charm, and the uniqueness of it all.” (pg. 77)

This book is like a multi-faceted diamond with each prism refracting a unique light on each subject at hand. In the past decade, many Westerners have visited Japan as tourists and it has become one of the world’s most popular destinations. Tokyo is now home to more than 500,000 foreigners. Many people strive to understand the real Japan. They give up realising there are so many layers to the culture and levels in society and it would take years to fully comprehend. In less than 400 pages, Whiting’s memoir provides the answers to the many questions that need answering in order to understand the Japanese and their customs. This is possible because he opened his heart to the Japanese people and their culture many years ago when he was stationed in Japan, unlike most of his fellow soldiers. This is a brilliant memoir, I highly recommend it, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Whiting’s books in the future.

Five Reasons Why You Should Eat at a Family Restaurant in Japan

| 15th September 2021


If you’re visiting Japan as a tourist or if you’re planning on living in Japan I would first and foremost encourage you to eat at more traditional Japanese restaurants. If that’s the case, why is this blog post all about the advantages of eating at a family restaurant?

Below are five good reasons why you shouldn’t miss out on the delights on offer at what the Japanese like to call famiresu (a shortened version of the words “family restaurant”). Some of the more well-known family restaurant chains are Gusto (ガă‚čト), Royal Host, Denny’s, Big Boy, Saizeriya, Joyfull, Coco’s and Jonathan’s. 


1. Family restaurants cater for just about everyone including large groups, families, individuals, couples, work colleagues and business associates

Family restaurants offer lots of spacious seating unlike more traditional yakitori restaurants and izakayas (Japanese-style taverns) and they cater for people of all ages. If you’re visiting Japan with young children, family restaurants are a great place to get a meal but don’t presume it’s okay for your kids to run riot. I’ve heard of situations where Westerners have been asked to leave because their children are extremely noisy. Even though family restaurants are ideal for big groups you won’t feel out of place if you dine here alone. The large tables are perfect for getting some work done on your PC while you grab a bite or if you just want to drink endless cups of coffee, a bottomless glass of melon soda or a healthy kale and banana green smoothie. Some people even hold business meetings in family restaurants so don’t be surprised if you see a couple of Japanese businessmen in suits having a serious chat over a cup of coffee at the table next to you.


2. Their menus are extensive with a lot of choices

All the menus I’ve seen at family restaurants are huge with loads of pictures showing you exactly what you can expect to eat. There’s always a variety of menus waiting for you on the table when you sit down and these menus can change at different times of the day, depending on when they’re serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Another huge bonus is that family restaurants offer a lot of Western or American-style food as well as Chinese, Italian, and French dishes and of course Japanese food. This is great if more than one person is dining. Your friend could eat a very Japanese dish like unadon (eel on rice) and you could order chicken with a garlic and soy sauce or a Neapolitan-style pizza capricciosa. The servings are also very generous.

If you love hamburger steaks, spaghetti and other pasta dishes, a juicy rib-eye and chips, surf and turf, a variety of salads, pancakes, toast, bacon and eggs, calamari, pizza, fried chicken, soups or cheesecake and chocolate cake then you’re in luck. Family restaurants do these dishes very well and there’s something to please everyone. You should note that franchises like Denny’s and Big Boy with restaurants in the US and around the world have menus that are only specific to Japan and the dishes are very different to what you can expect to find on the menu in your home country.

Not all family restaurants are the same. Some restaurants specialize in one dish in particular. Shabu-yo is famous for offering all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu (a hotpot dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water and served with dipping sauces) for just 1,699 yen per person. Saizeriya, on the other hand, offers a lot of Italian food. Saizeriya also has the reputation for being the cheapest family restaurant in Japan.

Shabu-shabu at Shabu-yo


3. The meals and drinks are cheap at family restaurants

Japan is famous for having a lot of Michelin star restaurants but dining out can get very expensive if you want to try the best Japan has to offer. If you can lower your expectations and you’re fine with a hearty meal that won’t break the bank you’ll love family restaurants. What if you’re craving Aussie beef? You can order a premium Aussie hamburger steak meal with demi-glace sauce for under 1,000 yen at Jonathan’s! You can also expect family restaurants to have daily specials and a “Happy Hour” with discounts on certain alcoholic drinks and meals.


4. Family restaurants definitely have the comfort factor

If you’ve lived in Japan for a few years you may have experienced a major or fairly major earthquake. If you’re in Japan for just a few days on a holiday, you could be jolted at any time in the middle of the day or night by these terrifying tremors. Without a doubt, it will leave you feeling disorientated and fearful. A visit to a local family restaurant can really help calm your nerves. Soft lighting, friendly staff in smart uniforms, comfortable booths to sit in, lots of delicious food on offer and the cheerful chatter of other patrons around you can be the perfect way to readjust. Family restaurants are also a great place to eat if you want to try a variety of Western food in one sitting, if you’re missing the tastes from back home or if you’re just feeling lonely.


5. Ordering is easy!

A lot of tourists are drawn to McDonalds, Burger King and other fast-food outlets like KFC when they visit Japan because of the language barrier and the fact their signs and menus look familiar but the staff here are just as unlikely to speak fluent English at these famous places. Family restaurants give you much more variety and all you have to do is point to the picture on the menu for the waitress to understand you! When you walk through the door, you will be greeted by a waiter who will guide you to your table. The menus are all written in Japanese and English. There’s usually a push button on the table for you to summon the waitress when you’re ready to order and some family restaurants have already installed touch panel menus in a variety of languages making the ordering process a breeze.

Saizeriya, Denny’s and Jonathan’s family restaurants in Japan. Photo by Satoko Kawasaki.

So, there you have it. Above are five very good reasons for eating at a family restaurant in Japan. I hope you decide to dine in one of these establishments when you’re in the Land of the Rising Sun. Believe it or not, eating at a family restaurant has become a popular tradition for many Japanese people and memories of eating there will stay in your mind long after you’ve left Japan.