Like
most people, we followed the river from the train station to the Ghibli
museum. It was a gentile, and almost pastoral route, with basket-laden
bicycles passing us on the narrow road, and trees throwing dappled shade
across the pavement.
We passed a wrought iron totoro in a hedge
with a sign in its teeth, and approached through a metal gate attended
by a security guard. The building looks surprisingly
small from this side. It's only from within that you can see it goes
down as well as up. Everything has been allowed to be overgrown with
ivy, and a certain tree spirit was waiting as if to take our tickets
behind a false foyer with the ubiquitous ivy pouring down the sloping
walls as if from above.
From this point on I'll swear myself to
secrecy, as I don't want to spoil it for any future visitors. Cameras
were not allowed, but I did this one sketch inside the 'high ceilinged
hall'. With thanks to my subjects for staying still for so long.
- Aki Oka at dusk -
- Tokyo seabus -
- Coffee sack umbrella -
On Saturday we went on a grand tour of central
Tokyo. We saw Kaminarimon (Lightning Gate) which is at the head of a
busy market full of fun touristy things and leads to a beautiful shrine.
I had a shot at wafting smoke over myself, but can't say for sure that it healed anything. Got smoke in my eyes waiting for Adrienne to take a picture. It was ridiculously hot, and as atmospheric as you could hope for.
We were taken on the seabus. I have no idea how we would have fared
without Kuni and Akemi to guide us, but it would not have been nearly as
rich and full a trip. Some of the sketches below are from the boat.
We ended up in an indoor craft street called Aki-Oka. Superb handmade
stuff of all descriptions, and we ended up in a coffee roasting shop.
The barrel is full of unroasted coffee beans, and is sporting an
umbrella made from a sack. The photo is of the street outside. Many of
the shops were beneath the skytrain.
