8
Sep
Posted by palmsundae in Culture, Residences, Urban food, trees. Tagged: flower, bitter melon, summer, heat, rain, typhoon, name, goya, baby, record, ゴーヤー. Leave a Comment
Today’s mild typhoon is a welcome relief after more than six weeks of record-breaking heat and absolutely no rain in central Tokyo. I was getting worried about the street trees and all the “independent” plant life that survives in Tokyo without human care.
For some reason, the bitter melon I planted by seed in April only recently started climbing like crazy. Here’s an image of a baby bitter melon in the rain, with its flower still attached. Hope to eat some in a few weeks.
Did you know that Japanese typhoons are not given names like in the United States? Today’s typhoon is simply 10W.
6
Sep
Posted by palmsundae in Community, Residences, Walking and transit, public space, small business, small streets. Tagged: pedestrian, garden, sidewalk, love, rose, care, pot, beauty, Shinjuku, residential, shop, retail, name, table, Ni-chome, stool, label, former, begonia, remember. 1 Comment
This Shinjuku ni-chome sidewalk garden is exceptional in its size, care, and labeling. The gardener lives in a former shop in an old building on what is now a busy entertainment district. From the sidewalk, you can see what appears to be merchandise, t-shirts and a few dress shirts, in the front room open to the street.
The gardener and his wife are often visible in the inner room which is partly visible. This type of retail/residential architecture is very Tokyo mid-century, and there are examples in many neighborhoods of former shop owners living in these spaces, some with remnants of their former businesses.
What I love about this sidewalk garden is the gardener’s obvious care and attention to creating a display of many plants. Nearly all of the pots rests on stools or low tables, with the highest ones closest to the road and the lower ones facing pedestrians on the sidewalk.
I am also amazed that the plants are all labeled, even the most obvious ones such as “rose” (バラ). I asked the older man why he labeled them, and he said that people often ask him and he doesn’t always remember the plant name.
The other amazing thing about the garden is just how big it is. There is easily more than one hundred plants. In addition to cover five meters or more in front of his building and his neighbors, he also expanded to an equally large area across the street. He is often outside watering and taking care of the plants.
I admire this gardener’s love for plants, his colonizing public space, and adding beauty in a crowded neighborhood.
5
Sep
Posted by palmsundae in Temples and shrines, public space, small business, trees. Tagged: sidewalk, bonsai, shrine, Omotesando, shop, mobile, Meiji Jingu, trunk, scooter, luxury. Leave a Comment
Omotesando is Tokyo’s most exclusive shopping street, a zelkovia-lined street of international brands for sale in buildings designed by world-renowned architects (Dior, Ralph Lauren, Channel, Louis Vuitton, etc). Surpassing Ginza for shopping, Omotesando also has spiritual significance as the entrance to Meiji Jingu shrine.
Rushing to an appointment, I was stunned to see this mobile bonsai shop outside a construction site. It’s typical in Tokyo that cycles of renewal involve demolition, scraping, and rebuilding. More surprising is to see how this plant sales person has staked out valuable real estate for a shop that can be unloaded from the three-wheeled scooter’s back trunk.
The trunk itself is used as a display case, and the front of the scooter covered in a banner announcing that its owner is selling bonsai plants.
Both in terms of retail structure and goods, the incongruity could not be greater: mobile and monument, formal and informal, luxury and sidewalk, imported and indigenous, fashion and plants.
4
Sep
Posted by palmsundae in Culture, trees. Tagged: garden, summer, maple, color, heat, fall, red, sign, Nezu Museum, hottest. 1 Comment
It’s been Tokyo’s hottest summer on record. While officially summer is over, it’s still 35 celsius during the day and not much cooler at night. That’s why I was so surprised to see this red maple leaf at the Nezu Museum garden last Thursday. This sign of fall seems a cruel joke.
31
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Residences, Walking and transit, public space. Tagged: bamboo, Nakano, concrete, support, permeable, giant, Plant, park, greenery, bicycle, house, modern, night, privacy, simple, variety, mansion, hedge, disappear, opening. 1 Comment
I love this giant hedge framing a modern house in Nakano. It’s even more beautiful at night, which is when we discovered it on a walk through the neighborhood.
The house is mostly concrete with wood on the second floor balconies and some bamboo as a screen for the ground floor. I love how the hedge opens up to provide an entrance to the house (and a permeable parking space). The outer hedge is then echoed by a shorter inner hedge close to the ground floor windows. On the right side, there’s a small gap and room to park a few bicycles. It’s a great combination of privacy and opening, concrete structure and plant life.
I like how the gardener has used bamboo poles to train the hedge into an arch over the entrance. It’s a simple and elegant support.
Viewed from the side, the house disappears behind the thick greenery. Usually I am a fan of much greater plant variety, but this residential garden shows how much can be achieved with a single species.
30
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in public space, small business. Tagged: garden, sidewalk, store, pot, water, plants, pottery, Sendagaya, Shizen, ceramics. 1 Comment
I love these water plants outside of Shizen in Sendagaya. Shizen is a stylish pottery, homewares, and plant store on the ground floor, with a great restaurant with very reasonably priced lunch specials on the second floor, and a roof garden. A simple bowl with plants can really add visual impact to a central city sidewalk.
29
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Governments, Visionary. Tagged: neighbors, sidewalk, office, roof, space, shade, Shinjuku, workers, vertical, facade, Dead space, vine, ward, usable, smoking, innovative, shading, 新宿, 区役所, hard surface, resident, inspire, redesign. 1 Comment
A friend told me to check out this green “bus stop” between Kabukicho and Hanazono Shrine. This incredible vine providing shade for the sidewalk is no longer a bus stop, but is in front of Shinjuku’s ward office. As I’ve written before, the wards seem to be leading Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the national government in creating innovative green spaces on their properties.
What’s great about this sidewalk awning is that it requires minimal space and maintenance, yet impacts thousands of people coming to the ward office, or just passing by on this busy street. Two very kind city workers involved with green space took time out to talk with me about the sidewalk, facade, and roof greening.
The sidewalk awning is a combination of two hardy vines: nozenzakura (ノウゼンカズラ in Japanese or Campsis grandiflora in Latin) with orange flowers, which I have seen in my neighborhood blooming all summer.
The other vine is akebi (アケビ, also called Akebia in English), which flowers and fruits. Wikipedia says that it is frequently mentioned in Japanese literature and evokes images of pastoral landscapes; it’s also considered an invasive in New Zealand and parts of the United States. Here in the heart of Shinjuku, it’s a very attractive shade plant with the added bonus of having distinct seasons.
It was nice to see that parts of the facade have vertical plantings, although a simple full facade retrofit would modernize and make more attractive the 1960s building.
The city workers also showed off the roof garden, which has different areas including edibles, herbs, and water plants. It was sad that most of the usage seems to be a place for smokers to congregate. I wonder how they can make the space more attractive for non-smoking workers and neighbors.
It would be cool to see a complete redesign of the entire usable surface of the ward office to eliminate the dead space. Too much of the facade is monotonous concrete with minimal pattern, and too much of the plaza in front and along the side is hard surfaces. A redesign could capture the imagination of residents, retailers, and office owners.
29
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Residences, Urban food. Tagged: green curtain, green, balcony, garden, bonsai, rose, Saipan, Suntory, satoyama, 5bai Midori, railing, bitter melon, cucumber, summer, watermelon, Sinajina, 品品, maple, heat, vertical, sunflower, box, net, twine, pine, lemon, prune, winter, pork, corn, thyme, parsley, basil, abutilon, ミリオンベル, アズーロコンパ, watering, washing machine, ゴーヤー. 3 Comments
I took this photo a month ago, and our balcony garden is now even more lush. It’s amazing how much incredible heat and daily watering can increase bio-mass!
It’s amazing what you can fit in a sunny narrow space. I have six mini-watermelons ripening on the railing and green net, three Saipan lemons, two types of morning glory, the 5bai midori satoyama boxes bushing out, cucumbers still flowering and creating fast food, and some random flowers including mini-sunflowers, abutilon, and Suntory hybrids ミリオンベル (million bell) and アズーロコンパクト. Plus there’s basil, parsley, and thyme, all of which I put into my bolognese pasta lunch today.
The floor area is full with just enough room to walk through for watering. The vertical space is about half full with the net and some additional twine. I like how the old washing machine is nearly hidden by plants.
Some failures included corn, with tiny ears that formed and then turned brown. The rose which was so outrageously pumped up when purchased has hardly bloomed since. The incredible heat this month killed my first bonsai, a Japanese maple (もみじ) in a tiny pot.
Some surprises included the late growing bitter melon (ゴーヤー) now shooting up. I planted last year’s seed in April, and it hardly grew until about three weeks ago. Now it’s two meters tall, and perhaps will produce a few vegetables before typhoon season. Bitter melon tastes great with ground pork!
My friend Matthew, who now works at Sinajina, pruned my pine bonsai. Apparently now is the time to start thinking about shaping it and preparing it to look its most beautiful for the new year. I wonder how to keep my tiny garden green during winter.
28
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Culture, public space. Tagged: Koenji, street, festival, summer, dance, awaodori. Leave a Comment
Today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) is Koenji’s massive Awaodori street festival: 188 groups, 12,000 dancers, from the JR Koenji station to the Marunouchi Shin Koenji station. It’s one of Tokyo’s three largest summer festivals, and a lot of fun. A million people are expected.
TIP: Take the Marunouchi line to Shin Koenji station. Much less crowded so you can see dance better.
27
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Walking and transit, public space. Tagged: pedestrian, sidewalk, giant, full, bloom, Sendagaya, sunflowers, height, marginal, cheer. 3 Comments
These giant sidewalk sunflowers are in full bloom and towering over the pedestrians. I am amazed by their height, and the cheer they bring to this marginal space between the sidewalk and street in Sendagaya. They are much taller now than just a few weeks ago.
26
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in public space, trees. Tagged: landscape, summer, grass, Sendagaya, juxtaposition, lily, Taikukan, oak. Leave a Comment
Suddenly dozens of white lilies appeared below the oaks and above the long grasses in this planter bed in front of Taikukan in Sendagaya. I like the juxtaposition of the manicured oaks, the unmowed grasses, and the unexpected summer flowers.
25
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in public space. Tagged: city, green, cultivated, flowers, elevated, store, failure, summer, semi, wild, rail, convenience, organized, Tokyo-DIY-gardening, Shibuya Greening Project, Yoyogi, tracks, overpass, stewardship, anonymous. 2 Comments
I noticed this interesting semi-wild, semi-cultivated space alongside a busy Yoyogi road and in between two train tracks, an elevated overpass, and a convenience store. It shows you what minimal effort and Tokyo’s abundant rain can do to create a space that is lush and full of summer flowers. I like the mix of wildness and anonymous stewardship. The results are such a contrast with poorly organized city efforts like this Shibuya Greening Project, documented by Chris on Tokyo DIY Gardening, which seem doomed to rapid failure.
24
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Walking and transit, public space, trees. Tagged: pedestrian, path, corridor, Kabukicho, creek, Shinjuku Yuhodo Koen Shiki no Machi, 新宿遊歩道公園四季の道, San Chome, Hanazono Shrine, bars, Golden Gai. 3 Comments
There are many small creeks in Tokyo that have been turned into pedestrian paths. In my neighborhood, they are modestly landscaped. In Shinjuku, there’s Shinjuku Yuhodo Koen Shiki no Machi (新宿遊歩道公園四季の道), an amazing green corridor with mature trees between the department stores of San Chome, Hanazono Shrine, the packed bars of Golden Gai, and Kabukicho.
Oddly, my very detailed Tokyo City Atlas does not include the path’s name. It’s easy to miss it, but once inside it feels like a magical passageway, full of life during the day and at night. Green corridors take up minimal space, and are perhaps more useful than small parks since provide a path between places.
23
Aug
Posted by palmsundae in Culture, Visionary, small business, small streets. Tagged: garden, design, Aoyama, Florist, ikebana, cafe, bar, Kaza Hana, Yoshida Miho, Ishihara Kazuyuki, 石原和幸, Gardening World Cup, Chelsea Flower Show, hair salon, gold medal. 4 Comments
Leaving a meeting recently, I walked through some back streets of Aoyama, and came across this amazing sidewalk garden. The contrast between the potted plant garden and the slick glass building was intriguing. The aesthetics, density and plant selection made me realize quickly that this was not an amateur garden.
Inside this amazing vertical forest is Kaza Hana, a florist, garden design company, cafe and bar. The exterior merits further study for its vertical garden construction, its mix of Japanese garden plants and exotics, and masterful mix of color, texture, and form.
Completely enchanted, I decided to relax and enjoy lunch there as well. Inside, the jungle immersion theme continues, with plants everywhere, hanging sculptures, and a flower shop along one wall. I was fortunate to have a long chat with a flower instructor, Yoshida Miho, who later sent me her blog full of wonderful flower photos and a description of her work with plant therapy and “natural life design.”
Yoshida-san explained that Kaza Hana’s owner is a garden designer named Ishihara Kazuyuki (石原和幸). Ishihara-san has won three consecutive gold medals at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show. This fall he will also be showing his work at the 2010 Gardening World Cup this October in Nagasaki; you can see his profile and portfolio on their site. I believe Ishihara-san started as an ikebana designer.
Below are two more images from the shop, and also the intriguing sidewalk garden Ishihara-san designed for the hair salon across the street. I hope to meet Ishihara-san and learn more about Yoshida-san’s work, too.
Recent Comments