March 11
Invited by a new Japanese friend, I went to a rememberance service in a english-speaking church today to commerate one year since a 9.0 scale earthquake triggered a massive tsunami and near nuclear meltdown. Over 15,000 people lost their lives and some 3,000 are still missing. I was moved just to be present in Japan today.
Later on we went to Hibuya Park where a remembrance gathering was happening – thousands of people were there. And as the clock ticked towards 2:46pm (the time the earthquake struck) the already subdued crowd just got quieter and quieter. The fountain in the park turned off. The speaker on stage was basicially whispering over the microphone. No-one was crying it seemed. But this deep stillness settled and the silence seemed to hold so much… At exactly 2:46pm a resonating gong signalled the start of a minutes silence accompanied by the click click click click of the press reporter’s camera.
We go on a whirlwind artist-led trip to the north tomorrow – leaving at 6am (nearly 3 now… oopps!) and arriving back the following day at 10pm or so… I feel ok about going, despite relative proximity to Fukushima (50 kms at the least) but not so happy about eating food from the region. So I have stocked up on snacks to take with me. I expect to feel powerless and uncomfortable as we see first-hand what remains of the devastation wrought by the tsunami.
Enjoying reflective shiny things…
For a while now I’ve been loving reflections and distortions – water acting like a mirror, mirrors acting like water. The pliable bendy nature of light and they way it distorts and transform the world around me (and sometimes me too) seems to speak to me about the materiality of the digital. I think it is to do with the corruption of information in the reflected image acting as a personal metaphor for the digital object. In particular I am thinking of Hito Steyerl’s concept of the degraded image – the pixelated surface a product of it’s process of exchange and resizing within the digital world. Like most urban centres (maybe more than most?) Tokyo is happily full of shiny reflective things. Here’s a short video I shot late last night somewhere in by Shibuya Station. I seem to be hanging out there a lot… Reflective surfaces will be making an entrance in a performance piece I think so this video essentially constitutes some outloud thinking.
From nuclear disaster to a cat cafe…
Tokyo is full of weird and wonderful experiences – one of which is the Hapi Neko or Cat Cafes. Here for a 1,000 yen (£8) for half an hour you can spend time stroking a bunch of cats in a cafe. You get a drink included in the price. There are rules – you have to use antibacterial wash on your hands and can’t pick up cats when they are sleeping. Being some cat lovers amongst us we were pretty excited about the prospect of this – but I wasn’t sure by the end whether the cats were as pleased to have visitors. One of the cats called Lela apparently had a taste for chai tea latte (good taste) and polished off the remnants of one of the other customers’ drinks. At the end Mimi the cat was not best pleased about saying goodbye.
This is pure speculation but I wonder if the fact that these cafe’s exist is also about escapism like the pachinko parlours appear to be. Apparently the typical tokyo living space is extremely small and many people live on their own in one room in a bed-sit style set up.
Mimi says ‘soyanara’
Living with Fukushima
Walking through the station plaza in Shibuya I stopped to watch this gentleman. In public places the Japanese are very quiet normally, very respectful and rarely even make eye contact. The contrast with this gentleman was obvious and despite the language barrier I was aware how upset and emotional he was – you can hear his voice breaking with it all. I was also completely puzzled because all the pictures were of cows in various states of neglect – and the only conclusion I could make was that he was an arch-vegetarian (again quite rare in Japan).
Later, Gen told me the sign above his head explains he is a farmer protesting against TEPCO the Japanese state power company widely held to have mishandled the Fukushima disaster. His farm is now a no-go zone and whilst some of his cattle were humanely put down others have been left to die. It is illegal for anyone to enter this no-go zone now without permission. He is campaigning for compensation as his livelihood has been destroyed. This Sunday it is 1 year since the Fukushima disaster on the 11 March 11 last year. March 11 has had an incredible impact on Japan and many people here are still reeling from the events – it has resulted in a real existential collective soul-searching. Even to a ginji (foreigner) there is a strange atmosphere in Tokyo at the moment.
Next week from the 12th to the 13th we are going on an artist-led tour of the North of Japan to look at some of the tsunmai affected areas. We won’t be going into the no-go zone though…
(Please forgive the quality of the footage – I have found it is less intrusive filming people on my mobile than camera).
Living with Fukushima
Tsukiji Fish Market…
This was an incredible experience at 5 o’clock in the morning… unbelievable performance art! The inspection of the giant sized tuna, the ringing of the bells, the tried and tested expertise of the auctioneer… Fascinating!! And tinged with an edge of sadness that these beautiful creatures are being so over-fished as to be endangered. Ironically, tuna are sent here frozen from all over the world to be auctioned. Watch the way the fish have their owner’s mark painted on when they have been sold. So stunningly beautiful… By 7 o’clock we were hungry and headed to the ‘mecca’ of sushi according to our japanese host Gen. Probably my most expensive breakfast ever at 3000 yen including an early morning beer (£24 yikes) but a truly incredible experience. This sushi chef trained for 20 years in the art of sushi and works in this minute restaurant just on the edge of Tokyo’s fish market. Puts 6 years studying art into perspective!!
ps. Can you tell I’m having the most amazing time here?! Feel completely blessed…
Top Sushi Chef at work…
