Welcome to NOTEBOOK, a cultural guide to art, design and architecture along with a resource of local news and information in English giving a realistic view of Tokyo and further afield.
Surviving Tokyo in February means fighting through the cold weather. Yet this year the month was awarded the slow triumph of Japanese film making at the foreign box office. Older remnants of the city’s postwar architecture remain heavily in use despite further threat of demolition, while the dawn of Spring pictured in the photography of Asako Narahashi and experienced at Motoyu Kansuirō, a guest house along the banks of the Hayakawa in Hakone, gives hope for the months ahead: February is traditionally slow but holds the hope that life will speed up as cold weather falls away.
Revisiting February
02/27
An earthquake measuring 6.1 struck the east of Hokkaido last Saturday, as hot air balloons took off for the first time in four years that same day from Ojiya in Niigata. In the Chiba town of Katsuura, a display of 30,000 traditional miniature dolls celebrated Hinamatsuri or Girls’ Day this year, with dolls donated from all parts of the country. Meanwhile, with the 95th Academy Awards taking place in Hollywood in March, the film “Small, Slow but Steady” screened at the Berlin International Film Festival was named film of the year. This year's entry from Japan was Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume,” the director’s first animated feature in three years and the first Japanese animated film to compete for the award in 21 years, following Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” which clinched the Golden Bear in 2002.
02/24
A Japanese startup announced plans to launch a commercial space viewing balloon. The National Breakdance Championships took place at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo. A mysterious metal ball measuring 1 and-a-half meters in diameter washed up on a Pacific coast beach. And with such flotsam and jetsam in mind, attention was turning to a round of recent art exhibitions wither coming to an end or about to start, with exhibitions at Kiyoshi Hamada at RootK Contemporary, the group show “Track, dash, stroke” at Goya Curtain, Umico Niwa at Fig., Yohei Watanabe at Hagiwara Projects, Koheita Saito at Talion Gallery and Chinese artist Du Kun at Mizuma Art Gallery.
02/22
A team of Japanese scientists developed a new method for reducing abnormal amounts of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer’s. A Japanese newspaper poll last weekend shows that 72% of voters believed Japan should legalize same-sex marriages. In Tokyo, the Himiko, Hotaluna, and Emeraldas river cruisers travel a stretch of the river from Asakusa to Odaiba Seaside Park, all designed by Leiji Matsumoto (1938-2023), the manga artist known for “Space Battleship Yamato,” “Galaxy Express 999" and videos for Daft Punk who died last Monday aged 85.
02/20
Japan’s Immigration Services Agency announced its intention to “simplify” visas with a new system aimed at high-earners and graduates from some of the world’s top universities. Dozens of men gathered in the northern town of Misato for the traditional “Takeuchi” festival, while Xiang Xiang, the first giant panda born and raised at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in almost three decades was due to be sent to China as promised following a series of delays mostly due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The first giant pandas to Japan, Kang Kang and Lan Lan, arrived at the Zoo in 1972, the same year as the New Shimbashi Building was unveiled marking the start of an new type of building to greet the capitol and the Shimbashi JR station opposite.
02/17
For the first time in 35 years Japan recounted its islands, more than doubling the original count of almost 7,000 to just over 14,000. Japanese chipmaker Rapidus was said to be mulling plans to build a factory in Hokkaido and revive the country's semiconductor industry. The first ever SpoGOMI World Cup with its 'Sport' of collecting 'Rubbish' was set to take place in Tokyo this November. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan planned to invite his Ukrainian counterpart to the G7 meeting of foreign ministers in Germany, just prior to the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, EASTEAST_ art fair took place in Tokyo showcasing the best up-and-coming galleries and artists from all over the country.
02/15
Yakatabune river boats were being lined up to run on SUSTEO, a next-generation biodiesel fuel, pushing these floating dining halls towards being carbon-neutral. Activists were battling the Tokyo government to preserve Jingu Stadium, the world's fourth-oldest baseball ground, the 75 year-old Prince Chichibu Stadium, home to Japan’s Rugby Football Union and the iconic tree-lined avenue of the Meiji Jingu. Ice on Lake Nukabira erupted with mushroom-shaped ice during its annual freeze near the Hokkaido town of Kamishihoro and the Taushubetsu River Bridge, nicknamed 'The Phantom Bridge' due to the freezing weather. With the price of chocolate going up, some were looking for alternatives to this year’s Valentine’s Day. February 14th is also known for having two very different, well-established reasons: Niboshi-no-hi, or dried sardine day, and Fundoshi-no-hi, or 'loincloth day' of latter of which is more a test of endurance than an expression of love.
02/13
Japan would end its request for mask-wearing from March 13th onwards. Several members of a Tokyo-based investment consultancy were arrested for their plan to build a resort nicknamed Neverland on a deserted island bought using client funds. Chiba city was testing a new image-based AI chatbot to help residents dispose of rubbish more easily and ethically. And following the success of Netflix series Alice in Borderland, the director Shunsuke Sato, whose other films include Gantz (2010) Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011) Library Wars (2013) and Inuyashiki (2018) was set to release the latest installment in his “Kingdom” series set in feudal China, due to be hit cinemas in July.
02/10
Sapporo in Hokkaido was favorite to host the 2030 Winter Games despite the news of corruption related to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. Elsewhere in Hokkaido, sightseeing tours navigated the drift ice off the north coast. Japan waited for tourists to return and inbound revenue to skyrocket. Some parts of rural Japan were making use of their local culture while others couldn’t wait. The volcano on Sakurajima Island near Kyushu erupted Wednesday, its first eruption since 2018. And as snow descended on Tokyo, attention turned to photography and Spring, with Kazuo Yoshida showcasing his work at Cage, Wolfgang Tillmans at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo and Asako Narahashi with “Dawn of Spring” at PGI in Tokyo.
02/08
Female Ski Jumpers won a clean sweep of medals at the Ski Jumping World Cup in Germany, as doubles Tennis players secured victory in the Davis Cup playoffs. Trains ground to a halt with a suspicious package discovered at Ueno Station. And prior to the state visit by Philippine President Marcos, Japanese police visited the Philippine capital Manila returning two Japanese nationals suspected of organizing robberies in Tokyo that caused the loss of life. With games and border crossings in mind, Netflix drama Alice in Borderland took a precocious, curious young gamer sending him down a rabbit hole into a city bereft of people where he would play games to stay alive.
02/06
Kyoto’s transportation authority planned to abolish its One-Day Bus Pass at the end of March 2024 in a bid to ease congestion. The annual Sapporo Snow Festival continued until February 11th, while Japan planned to expand its offshore wind farms in a push for clean energy that would rival its dependance on nuclear power, coal-fired power stations and thermal energy. Close to Mt. Fuji in Hakone, the . The four storey building dates back to 1919 and is a short walk from Tonosawa, famed for its hot spring, and the Hakone-tozen train line to Tokyo.
02/03
Protesters braved the cold weather this week, gathering outside the Myanmar Embassy in Shinagawa on the 2nd anniversary of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat. In the north, the Tsugaru Fujimi-ko lake in Aomori prefecture completely frozen over, while the government eyed plans to establish zones throughout the country that make use of a growling list abandoned houses. Japan's oldest-ever professional Football player Kazuyoshi Miura headed to Portugal to play for U.D. Oliveirense while on loan from J-League team Yokohama FC. And with the day known for being setsubun or the last day of winter, YEBIZO MEETS hosted exhibitions by ECAL, the Swiss University of Art and Design from Lausanne, and Osamu Kanemura at MEM gallery in Ebisu.
02/01
4 Finnish men were rescued Tuesday morning after being stranded on a Niigata mountain. In Tokyo, a former Japanese soldier assaulted by colleagues sued her perpetrators as well as the Japanese government. The conveyer belt sushi restaurant chain Akindo Sushiro was considering legal action after prank videos made in several of its restaurants went viral on social media. And in employment news, average job availability in Japan for 2022 was said to have improved for the first time in 4 years. February the 3rd, also marked the official start of Setsubun ... the last day of winter and the day before the beginning of spring. It's a day when ehōmaki sushi rolls are eaten and the day soy beans are thrown in the air while shouting “oni-wa-soto, fuku-wa-uchi!” — Devils out! Fortune in!
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