Sunday, February 28, 2010

A Walk around Kinuta & Okamoto (Part 4) / 砧と岡本の散歩 (パート4)

Back to my walk last weekend, I was heading down some stairs to the Okamoto Minka Park when I stumbled upon a small shrine on my way down.

散歩の話に戻ります。以前岡本民家公園に行く所で静嘉堂文庫美術館の裏に階段があって、降りる途中に小さなお寺がありました。




Hm, looks like I skipped out on walking up to this temple.

あれ、この階段登らなくてお寺に来ちゃったみたいですね。


Oh, I think this is where you're supposed to enter.

あっ、ここがお寺の本当の入り口ですね。


And finally, my goal - the Okamoto Minka Park, minka being the word for house or home. This is an old-style Japanese home. It has the thatched roof which you won't find in the city.

やっと目的地に着いたー岡本民家公園。ここで昔の民家がそのまま展示されてる場所です。


The house features an irori, an area in the living room where you can cook or grill food or heat water.

この民家の中に囲炉裏もあります。


As the Hina Festival is to be held soon, the park featured hina dolls from the Showa and Taisho eras.

ひな祭りがもうすぐなので、民家の中に昭和と大正時代のひな人形が飾れてました。


Hina Dolls from the Showa Era



Hina Dolls from the Taisho Era



























The third picture down is a kamado where people would cook their rice.

昔の家も大体かもどもありましたね。




This well really works too.

この井戸も使用出来ます。


A few other buildings.

他の建物。





The Outhouse / 便所

Old style toilet (only for display purposes) / 展示用なので使用禁止です。


And one last picture of the garden, as I leave this park and continue walking.

民家公園の庭の写真を撮って、この後また歩きだした。



Saturday, February 27, 2010

Japanese Microbrew Tour - Kumamoto Prefecture / 日本地ビールツアー ‐ 熊本県

A few weeks ago, Mikako and I walked around Ginza (again), to check out a building called the "Mezamashi Marche", a concept produced by the morning news/variety program "Mezamachi Television". The building featured food items from around the country. But because, the floors were divided into areas, we found it to be rather disappointing. And they didn't even carry microbrews of the different prefectures. Fortunately, in the same neighborhood, we came across the antenna shop for Kumamoto Prefecture and they certainly had a couple of craft beers. I picked up a Weizen and a Porter from Aso Farmland Brewery. Just love those porters and weizens. Both were delicious.

ちょっと前に美香子とまた銀座のブラブラ散歩した。今回の目的地は「めざましテレビ」がプロデュースした「めざましマルシエー」。8階建てのビルで全国の都道府県の名物が一ヵ所で買えるコンセプト。でもアリア違いで作られてるから中途半端な感じでしたね。地ビールも扱ってなかったし、つまらなかった。でも直ぐ近くに熊本県のアンテナーショップを発見。もちろん僕は熊本県の地ビール買いました。今回は阿蘇ビール園のヴァッゼンとポーターをゲット。や~ポーターとヴァッゼンの味がたまりません。両方は美味しかった。


Aso Beer - Weizen / 阿蘇ビール ‐ ヴァッゼン


Aso Beer - Porter / 阿蘇ビール ‐ ポーター


Still working my way through all the prefectures. I don't think I've passed the half-way mark yet.

まだまだ半分の都道府県の地ビールを飲んでません。この企画はまだまだつづく。

Friday, February 26, 2010

A Walk around Kinuta & Okamoto (Part 3) / 砧と岡本の散歩 (パート3)

As I was going in search of the Okamoto Minka Park, I stumbled across what looked like a nature trail. As the area was surrounded in green, I knew I had to explore.

岡本民家公園を探してる途中に自然に囲まれてる緑道ぽいのところを発見。行ってみるしかない。




Carp / 鯉


I then noticed some people walking up a steep hillside. I decided to follow them.

人が山道を登ってるの見て、ついて行くことにした。


I wonder where this path leads?

この道は何処に出るかな?


That was a nice little climb.

登って気持ちいい。

This is the first thing I came across at the top of the hill. It looks like one huge tombstone. Couldn't read any of the kanji though. Anyway, something else caught my eye as well.

登りきったら、このデッカイ墓みたいな物があった。漢字が読めなかったが、この近くにもっと興味あった建物があった。


Well, it doesn't look like a Japanese temple or shrine and I don't recall seeing a sign saying what this place is.

日本のお寺や神社には見えないですが、なんだったんだろう?


And this is where I found Setagaya Ward "100 Scenic Spots" No.73. This is the Okamoto Seikado Bunko Building which stands next to the Seikado Bunko Art Museum. As I already checked out the Setagaya Art Museum, I decided to skip the museum itself and only walked around the surroundings.

ここで世田谷区百景No.73を発見。これは静嘉堂文庫。隣に静嘉堂文庫美術館もありましたが、先は世田谷美術館に行ったから、周りだけ歩いてみた。




The sign says this is believed to be dated around the 12th century from China.











There is a garden that's open to the public located behind the Seikado Bunka Museum so of course I had to check that out as well.

静嘉堂文庫美術館の裏に素晴らしい庭園があって、一般公開してる為、行ってみた。




































Then I discovered a sign pointing my way to the Okamoto Minka Park, all I had to do was walk down a flight of stairs.

この周りを探索したら、岡本民家公園の表示してるサインを見つかった。長い階段を降りたら、すくそこってことでした。


And so my walk continues...

それで散歩がつづく。。。

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Walk around Kinuta & Okamoto (Part 2) / 砧と岡本の散歩 (パート2)

Continuing my introduction of the art pieces found outside of the Setagaya Art Museum.

世田谷美術館の野外彫刻の紹介のつづき。


Earthly Paradise (Sukeo Sato, 1983) / 桃源 (佐藤助雄、1983)


Memorial to Students Killed in the War [Voice of the Sea] (Shin Hongou, 1950) / 戦没学生記念像 「わだつみのこえ」 (本郷新、1950)


I, Earth (Ryokichi Mukai, 1987) / 吾、大地 (向井良吉、1987)


Form with Curvature : Wings of Phoenix (Kiichi Sumikawa, 1983) / そりのあるかたち:Wings of Phoenix (澄川喜一、1983)


Boy and Sea Bird (Toshio Yodoi, 1981) / 海と鳥と少年 (淀井敏夫、1981)

















A few more views of the Setagaya Art Museum. Afterwards, I went inside to check out the Shozo Uchii Exhibit and the permanent exhibit as well. Also featured inside the building is a community gallery. When I went, there was a children's art display, a bead display, and a couple of artists' paintings exhibits.

世田谷美術館の外側。野外彫刻を見たあと、内井昭藏の展示会を見に行きました。ビルの中に区民ギャラリーもありまして、行った時に区民の子供のアートとビーズアート等の展示会がありました。


I decided to walk around Kinuta Park a little more before heading off to Okamoto.

岡本に行く前にまだ砧公園を探索した。


San no Hashi / 三の橋





It's currently plum season in Tokyo.

現在は梅の季節です。

This piece was not part of the Setagaya Art Museum. I came across it near the Kid's Soccer Field.

こちらは世田谷美術館の物ではございません。少年サッカ場の近くにあった。


I continued my walk from Kinuta to Okamoto to go in search of the Okamoto Minka Park, where an old style Japanese house is on display. The weather was so nice that before getting there I took a short break by a river and read a book for half-hour.

砧から岡本を目指して、目的は岡本民家公園。日本の昔の民家が展示されてる公園です。天気が凄く良くて、どっかの川沿いで30分休んで本を読みました。


I wasn't exactly sure where the Okamoto Minka Park was so I just rambled until I saw some people walking up a trail along a steep hillside. I decided to check that area out as well and followed them and came across another one of Setagaya Ward's "100 Scenic Spots" which I will write about on my next post.

岡本民家公園の場所がはっきり分からなかったのでブラブラ歩いたら、人が山道な様な所を登ってるのを見て、僕も行ってみる事にした。上に到着したらまた世田谷区百景の場所を発見。それは次のネタで紹介します。

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

A Walk around Kinuta & Okamoto (Part 1) / 砧と岡本の散歩 (パート1)

When I worked in Aomonoyokocho, walking to work I would pass by the one temple that was listed as one of Shingawa Ward's "100 Scenic Spots". I figured if Shinagawa Ward has "100 Scenic Spots", so must Setagaya Ward (where I live) have them as well. I Googled "Setagaya Ward 100 Scenic Spots" and found that I had already been to a few of them such as Setagaya Park, Hanegi Park where they have the plum festival every year, the Setagaya Line, Todoroki Valley which I walked a couple of weeks ago, and more. I thought I would try to see as many of the "100 Scenic Spots" of Setagaya which is why I decided to walk around Kinuta and Okamoto. First its off to Kinuta where I decided to walk around the Kinuta Family Park and check out the Setagaya Art Museum.

職場ば青物横丁の時毎日通り過ぎる寺が品川区百景の一つのサインが書かれてる。品川区百景があれば、もしかて僕が住んでる世田谷区にも世田谷区百景があるんじゃないかなと思って、ネットで調べたらありました。以前も何ヶ所も見てた。世田谷公園(No.1)、世田谷線(No.4)、梅ヶ丘にある羽根木公園の梅と桜(No.17)、先々週散歩した等々力渓谷(No.95)等。これからも世田谷区百景を自分の目で見に行く。今回の散歩は砧ファミリーパーク(No.66)と岡本にある岡本民家公園(No.72)あと砧公園にある世田谷美術館も行く予定。

Before I found my way to Kinuta Family Park, I came across Enkoji Temple. Although this temple isn't considered one of the "100 Scenic Spots", it's still looked pretty scenic to me.

砧ファミリーパーク行く前に円光寺を発見。世田谷区百景に指定されてませんが、僕にとって結構美しいと思う。

Enkoji Temple / 円光寺


Kinuta Family Park was just a block or so away.

砧公園は直ぐ近くでした。


Map of Kinuta Park


More green in Tokyo / 東京の中の緑


The bridge was rather scenic but was closed to the public. Apparently it did not pass the safety standards.

この橋は奇麗ですが、安全の為渡る事は出来ません。

Just one area of Kinuta Park / 砧公園の一部


Setagaya Art Museum / 世田谷美術館


The featured artist at the Setagaya Art Museum was architect Shozo Uchii. But before checking out the museum, I checked all the art pieces that were displayed outside the museum.

世田谷美術館に「内井昭藏の思想と建築」が展示されてました。美術館に入る前に野外彫刻を拝見しました。














Not sure what these pieces represent and I couldn't find a title for them.

何でしょうかね?アーティストの名前と作品名が見つかりませんでした。


Horse and Cougar (Barry Flanagan, 1984) / 馬とクーガ(バリー・フラナガン、1984)


Flow A (Kazuo Kikuchi, 1978) / フローA (菊池一雄、1978)


Glimpse of Arcady (Anthony Caro, 1987) / 垣間見るアルカディア (アンソニー・カロ、1987)



Apricot (Yasutaka Funakoshi, 1984) / 杏 (船越保武、1984)


You Can See Forever (Takeshi Tsuchinai, 1986) / 遠くが見える (土谷武、1986)



Fortress with Red Rusted Wall (Haruhiko Yasuda, 1986) / 赤錆がある壁の砦 (安田晴彦、1986)

Crouching Woman (Yoshitatsu Yanagihara, around 1958) / しゃがむ女 (柳原義達、1958頃)


There's still more to see, but to be continued...

まだ紹介してない野外彫刻がありますが、つづく。。。