Last post from Megijima (Setouchi International Art Festival — it’s going on until October 31st!) :: Sea Gull’s Parking Lot by Takahito Kimura.

Kimura has placed a host of weathercocks near the fishing port. When the wind blows, they turn en masse, giving the invisible wind a visible form. The work brings the visitors’ attention to the natural phenomena that abound on the island.

These sea gull weathercocks were placed everywhere around the port. When I first saw it, I thought they were real… :) I love that concept of “giving the invisible wind a visible form” — so cool.

A couple other art work I saw…

Flower / Happy Snake by Jose de Guimaraes. These welcome signs are also placed at the Takamatsu port and the various islands hosting the festival, each is differently created by the artist.

and Megi House project by Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music: Led by landscape designer Kimio Tsuchiya, the project team has transformed the courtyard of an empty house into a stage that integrates internal and external space. Concerts and performances are planned during the festival. The main building will be used as the Fine Arts Department atelier and gallery.

Couldn’t take pictures inside of the house, but even the outside of the house was cool. Love the “Megi House” sign, too. (above)

Time to move on to next island! :)

Posted under Japanese, art

Continuing my posts from Megijima this week…

#37 :: Fukutake House 2010

Fukutake House is a project started by seven of Japan’s leading art galleries and the University of Tokyo’s University Museum at the “Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2006,” in response to a call from Soichiro Fukutake to create an art market in Echigo-Tsumari. At the following Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial in 2009, art galleries from China and Korea joined the call, and the total number of attendees more than doubled that of 2006. For the third opening of the Fukutake House, we are moving it to Megijima Island to give it a new try in a new location. This time, we plan not only to be joined by galleries from Asia, but also by galleries and art museums from throughout the whole world. We plan to open the Fukutake House at the former Megijima Elementary School and Preschool, which are currently not being used.

I loved this one personally, not only I could see lots of different art from art galleries all over the world (inside is strictly NO photography so no photos to share), but also…

all these typographic installation!! As soon as I saw it, I was in love :) Inside the school (yes, they took over Megijima Elementary School & Preschool, which was another awesome part of this project.), throughout the exhibition, these wooden letters are used for art work titles and indication of the different rooms etc… I loved it!

Posted under Japanese, art, typography

There are more posts from the Setouchi International Art Festival… it’s gonna take me 2 more weeks or so to write about all I saw… I hope you stay with me, I try to mix in some other posts, too :)

This week, I’m taking you all to the one of the islands in Seto Inland Sea, Megijima (Megi Island / 女木島)!

From the Takamatsu port — right in front of the Liminal Air art I posted last week — you take this ferry…

((If you are familiar with the story of Momotaro, Megijima is where Momotaro went to fight the Onis… also known as Onigashima))

From Takamatsu, it is 200 yen and 20 minutes away.

Calm and gorgeous Seto Inland Sea…

Hello, Megijima!

As you get out of the boat, you can’t help but notice this awesome installation… entitled “20th Century Recall -What is “TODAY” of Asia-” by Hagetaka Funjo.

Consisting of four sails on a grand piano, this installation resembles a ship at anchor. At times, music flows from the work to create a melody that resonates with the sound of the waves.

I didn’t get to listen to the music, but right next to the title card, there was a list of the songs that you could enjoy with the sound of the waves…

It reminded me of pirates…

You can sit here and be a part of the installation…

Very surreal… it was awesome…

Posted under Japanese, art

I’m going to start a new blog post series called “Souvenir From Japan” :) I bring back lots of stuff each time I visit there and I think it’s fun to share them here! As you know, that country has so much cool and fresh stuff… shopping in Japan is SO awesome. (New York, too, though!)

The first up is my Shibori Eco Bag. This is actually the first thing I bought in this trip. Found at Tokyo’s Tokyo store in Haneda airport. The shop is really cool, filled with lots of cool Japanese latest trends, books and souvenirs.

So this eco bag, it’s really small when nothing is in it.

It says it changes its shapes depending on what you put in it.

Like this :)

It is really light and just the right size to put little stuff when I go out to the grocery store or running errands… it’s also so small that you can put this in your bag and use it when you need it. And the best thing about it is that it looks so cute! This is a score for sure.

Comes in lots of different colors and there was other shibori pattern version as well.

Posted under Japanese

Next up is “PROM: Prosthetic Restoration of Our Memory” by Noboru Tsubaki. The mirrored building caught my eye immediately.

Tsubaki has cloaked the former Takamatsu Port Administration Office in mirror panels so that the structure merges with the surrounding scenery. The interior space houses a café and an exhibit designed to stir memories of the people who used to pass through this port. Various remnants of the building such as ferry timetables are presented in the form of a relief.

These title panels are placed for each work and also numbered — they have the Passport and you can collect stamps from each work you see. Kind of like a stamp rally. I wish I were there long enough so I could have joined the stamp rally… I’m sure kids would love that :)

Inside, there was a huge screen with changing objects… This used to be a Takamatsu Port Administration Office, I saw few things from the port office, it was all painted over in white…

Posted under Japanese, art

I think I saw this art work the most while I was there — “Liminal Air -core-” by Shinji Ohmaki. It was placed right by the Takamatsu station port, where all the ferries to the islands comes and goes.

The mirror surfaces of these pillars capture the changes that occur in light and color through the day, allowing us to see the outer world from a totally different perspective. The appearance of the pillars alters depending on the angle from which they are viewed or the time of day. They present individuals as seen through the eyes of others and, at the same time, serve as a gate to the world of Takamatsu.

It did look different each day and I quite enjoyed this area.

One weekend, there was a Bossa Nova Festival by the gate…

and other weekend, there was a Jazz Festival here, too…

Seto Inland Sea in the background, listening to live music here was such a treat. Really mellow, calm and nice time… sigh. Wish I could do this all the time… :)

Posted under Japanese, art

Here is another awesome timely event that I was really lucky to be able to see some of — Setouchi International Art Festival 2010. It’s going on until October 31st this year, on the seven islands of the Seto Inland Sea + Takamatsu! (where I grew up!)

I was really excited to see my hometown proudly hosting the art festival, the signs were everywhere in the city, people were so enthusiastic about the whole thing…

Love the view of Seto Inland Sea.

Blue and white, stripes were everywhere — very summery!

I will be posting lots of photos this week from the art festival!

Posted under Japanese, art, trip

I have a very exciting news to share… my letterpress work and my studio has been featured in this new Japanese book called “LETTERPRESS ~Select Designs from San Francisco and New York” — if you are in Japan, it’s going to come out this week on August 14th!!! ((If you are in outside of Japan, you should be able to pre-order from Amazon.com or it’ll be available at your nearest Kinokuniya or any Japanese book stores in 6 months or so, I heard))

I think I’m getting a copy soon, I will share some of the pages when it comes! The author, Miki-san is an amazing writer & person, I enjoyed meeting with her and showed her my work and my (new) space. She also took a lot of photos for the book, I can’t wait to see and read everything! She is covering a lot of amazing letterpress studios in SF and NY, I can’t even tell you how honored I am to be a part!!! Thank you so much!!!

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『LETTERPRESS ~Select Designs from San Francisco and New York』
Edited by Miki Usui (author) / PIE BOOKS / Y2310 / Size: A5 / Format: 210mm×148mm / Pages: 192 / Full color

Posted under Japanese, letterpress, studio news

Hi hi! I am back and so is my website :) I had such an awesome time in San Francisco and Japan, thanks to all my family and friends, I am totally refreshed, energized and ready to do anything! (I might be a bit off with the jet lag for a little while, though…)

I’ll be sharing a lot of stuff from my trip, please stay tuned!

(Picture is the Tokyo Tower view from Roppongi)

Posted under Japanese, trip

Another drink that we brought home from Japan and recently enjoyed — Ultra Cider. Yes, it’s the Ultraman cider. We saw a few designs all based on Ultraman, this design is based on Ultra Seven. So fun!

Posted under Japanese, design