Along the Ikegami line which is connected to Oimachi line where I lived, there is a station called Senzoku Ike which translates to Senzoku Pond. It is one of those random stations I wanted to try to explore.
#1 Strolling inside an Ukiyo-e Painting
Senzoku Pond洗足池 ★★★★☆ Address 2 Chome MinamisenzokuOta City, Tokyo 145-0063 Access 6 minute walk from Senzoku-Ike Station Price サイクルボート（大人2人＋幼児1人/30分600円） スワンボート（大人3人または大人2人＋子供2人/30分800円） ローボート（大人3人/30分400円）
よく浮世絵に描かれた景勝地の洗足池にいると浮世絵の中にいるような感じがする。
散歩したり、写真を撮ったり、サイクルボードに乗ったりするなどもできる。
今回そこで撮った映像を浮世絵のように面白く編集してみた。
This pond has a long history and was often the subject of traditional ukiyo-e paintings, going there is like being in an ukiyo-painting.
You can stroll there, take pictures and ride cycle boats.
I took several videos and edited them like ukiyo-e paintings this time.
Fuefuki Senzoku-ike Shop (たこ焼き笛吹 洗足池店)
★★★☆☆ Address 〒145-0064 Tokyo, Ota City, Kamiikedai, 2 Chome−31−2 清泉ハウス Access 1 minute from Senzoku Ike Station
I read that this Takoyaki place is good on the internet and indeed it was. It was filled with magazines it got featured on, it was a humble retro-looking place. It would be perfect if you takeaway from here and munch on while sitting on a bench overlooking the pond.
Another lesser known place I fancy. Shimotakaido. Its in the same ward I live in, Setagaya, but I still need to take the train for around 45 minutes to get there. It’s a peaceful place to spend a day especially with the 3 spots I will introduce, they are all within a minute walk from the station. You could catch a morning movie at Shimotakaido Cinema, have lunch at Sakahon Soba and get a haircut at Barber Sakota right after. 🌞
The interesting thing is that I got there by a train line called the Setagaya Line that is rather different from other lines. Firstly, you get on by tapping your card on the train itself rather than the gantry outside(except for the terminal stations). Next, it is smaller in size, like a tram or a bus and if you’re lucky it will travel backwards from where your seat is facing. Its weirdly fascinating to see the sceneries of Setagaya moving backwards haha. 🚃
DISCLAIMER* The opening times might be affected by the covid-19 pandemic.
The first place I would like to introduce is an independent cinema simply known as the Shimotakaido Cinema. The building itself is rather pure-looking and unlike a usual cinema, the interiors are a little old-fashioned and a little cute too😎
Firstly they bring in interesting foreign films that major cinemas do not carry and they also put on certain japanese cult classics from time to time. As you can see in my photos, it only cost a whopping 1000yen on the “cinema day” Doesn’t it have indie vibes? Anyway its a decent place. 🎥 Note that no food allowed though. 🍿
#2 Soba with Nostalgic vibes
Sakahon Soba Noodles さか本そば店
★★★☆☆ Address 4 Chome-45-16 Akatsutsumi, Setagaya City, Tokyo 156-0044 Access 1 minute from Shimotakaido Station
Hours
Mon-Sun: 9:00~21:00; closed on thursday
This was recommended by a writer of a magazine as well. It has a wide selection of soba and I got one with some mochi in it! I never had mochi back in my home country, even if it was Japanese cuisine, it wouldn’t be included in the menu. Thus, I took the chance and went for it~it was chewy and melting! 🍜
The shop owners are old and the place is old; but I like it all the same. In fact it is the nostalgic showa retro vibes that make it special. Note that there is no English menu, only go if you know some Japanese.
I was looking for haircut recommendations in Popeye magazine and most had astronomical prices. The most reasonable one I saw was Barber Sakota–they go only by reservation, no walk-in. If it’s just cutting, its 3000yen and an additional 1000yen for a wash. In an interview, the owner mentioned that if the customer left it up to him to decide the haircut, he would look at the customer’s shoes to decide what kind of person he is; to decide on his cut. 💈
The place had a cozy modern+mid century interior, I like the smell here more than most salons. My hair was cut by the disciple rather than the owner and it was intricate; the hair wash was great too! My scalp felt minty and fresh after the massage! 💆♂️
Wes Anderson’s new film The French Dispatch’s trailer came out a while back and it was spectacular. It brought me back to 2013 when I watched his film for the first time. The Grand Budapest Hotel. At that time the poster looked cute and I decided to casually give it a watch without much thought, a common tendency of mine.
At the end of the 2+ hours, I found myself quickly searching for the film’s art director on my smartphone. I was floored–I have never seen such visually detailed movie before, every frame was like a painting.
I think it started at around 10 minutes into a film where there was a scene with a shoe shine boy being so compositionally perfect despite being only shown for a second. I was hooked from that point on. In this article, I would like to talk about 3 points on why this film is a masterpiece, even though there are many others.
(TOP) The main characters of the film, Zero (left) and Gustave (right). (上) 映画の主人公、ゼロ（左）とグスタフ（右）
★ Outline / 概要 ★
It is a story centered around an extravagant hotel in Europe in the 1930s with the main characters, Gustave H, the concierge of the hotel and, Zero, his protégé and lobby boy. Gustave would soon be wrongly framed for a murder, driving him to go on adventures to escape and prove himself with the help of Zero throughout the film.
(Clockwise from the left) Passport, stamps and currency notes from the fictional country of Zubrowska (左から) 虚構の国「ズブロフカ」のパスポート、切手、紙幣
The film is brimming with many beautiful, intricate props that most people would not bat at eye at. However, a point that the audience should know to appreciate the film more is that every little prop is handmade to fit into this fictional world–Every advertisement, every piece of note in the background, every item.
(ABOVE) Several newspaper designs shown very briefly in the film (上) 新聞のデザイン
A great example to highlight this is the Newspaper. Even though the Newspaper only flashes for moments, every word in its articles are written by the director himself and laid out to reflect the world of that time. In fact, it went through over 40 revisions to reach its final state, its almost as if the 2 seconds of the film with the prop is a tale on its own.
(ABOVE) How a Mendl’s packaging opens up (上)「Mendl’s」というお菓子店のパッケージの開け方
Another prominent prop is the packaging for Mendl’s, a lovely sweet shop in the world of Zubrowka. Of course, it has nice lettering and a lovely shade of pink but the key is in the way it opens up. When you pull the ribbon, the box flips out dramatically on all 4 sides seamlessly to reveal the beloved dessert adorably standing in the middle. The fact that they considered even the movement of the prop reflects how seriously they take their prop-making.Re-creating the fictional universe to such intricacy is often said to be for the actors. It helps them immense in this illusion, it is kind of like how actors/actresses image background stories for the roles beyond the script to mould the character more realistically. A good example is the currency and the stamp used in the Grand Budapest, you have even the portrait of the imagined King of the fictional world and the country’s very own crest.
(ABOVE) Further beautiful examples of the Mendl’s brand identity seen in various scenes (上)「Mendl’s」のブランドアイデンティティーが見える様々なシーン
★ #2 Take your references seriously • 参考の緻密な再現 ★
(1)A comparison with a 1908 image of a Hotel in Cairo with similar inconsistencies in letter spacing.
タイトルの字間の少し不規則ところを1900年代カイロにあったホテルとの比較 (2)A group picture of the Grand Budapest Hotel staff with some employees taking a half-knee and some sitting with their legs slanted.
片膝についたり、斜めに座ったりしたなど職業によって姿勢をするグループ写真 (3)A beautiful painted background
水彩で塗られた背景
Everything seems natural or obvious in Wes’s fictional world but everything is researched, debated and designed.
For example in the masthead of the movie poster, you can see that the kerning (or spacing between alphabets) is off in some areas. You would think that it is a mistake but it is actually the genius of Wes. The team underwent intense research into the European hotels of that bygone era. An old steel hotel sign from the 1930s Cairo was especially picked out as it had many spacing errors blacksmiths often commit in the process of making the letterings with the tools then. They replicated these errors intentionally even if it might seem like a mistake on their part–there is soul in these things.
There are many other occurrences that seem natural initially but unique on a second look–Such as the very intentional half-knee pose when taking the photograph. I also love the painted backgrounds, very much like the hand-painted sets in old films and theatre. Usually they would seem cheesy in this day and age but they merge beautifully with the rest of film’s universe.
★ #3 The framing and blocking of things, characters and places • 物、人、場所の位置と大きさ ★
(ABOVE) The changes in aspect ratio according to the time period shown (上) 画面の縦横比は時代によって変わる
The physical design of the places and things are only the tip of the iceberg. Wes has also put in considerable effort in the arrangement and framing of these things.
The aspect ratio of each scene changes according to the time period that it reflects. In the beginning–supposedly the modern age–the standard 16:9 ratio we know of today is used. However, when the author recalls back to the 1968, the aspect ratio changes to the widescreen ratio 2.4:1 of the 50s and 60s. Furthermore, when the main character further recalls back to 1932, the 4:3 squarish ratio used by black and white films of that time is applied.
On a closer look, the positioning of the character is also linked to its development in the story. A disciple and lobby boy at the start, Zero mostly appears in the background while his teacher, Gustave is usually at the front, big and close to the camera. However this changes at the pivotal scene where Zero saves Gustave to which he said “we’re brothers” From that point on, they are equals and they began to be shown on equal levels and equal sizes. This is very similar to how they divide the stage in 9 sections in theatre for different uses.
Today, I only cited one of the many masterpieces of Wes Anderson because there is just too much to talk about. Every of his film has a soul, a time, a place and a feeling of its own. “Rushmore”–has a romance towards prestigious private schools and the plethora of extracurricular activities(even eccentric ones) “Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou”–has the fascination towards the deep sea and nautical culture. “Moonrise Kingdom”–has references to cartography and an adoration for the world of boy scouts. If you haven’t watched them, please do yourself a favour and immense yourself in the spectacular world of Wes Anderson.
今日、ウェス監督の映画の中の一つしか言及していないが、言えることはさらに無数にあるのです。彼の映画ごとに、独特な魂が潜んでいる－自分ならではの場所、時間、雰囲気など。 “Rushmore”– 風変わりな様々な部活動と豪華な私立学校へのロマン。“Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou”－航海のカルチャーと深海への冒険。“Moonrise Kingdom”–地図作成オタクとボーイスカウトのキャンプの世界。これらの映画は絶対に観る価値があります。
DISCLAIMER☞The writing and content have seem odd during the attempt to draw a parallel between my limited Japanese ability and English expressions. This is for my practice, let me know areas of improvements thanks. Special thanks to my Japanese teacher, Naoko.
Thanks to participating in the 50th anniversary of the Singapore Japanese Speech Contest, I got a free homestay to Japan. This time we visited an area which just opened up for homestay for the very first time, it is a fishing town called Obama in the Fukui Prefecture. It got some publicity for sharing a name with the former US president but it is much more than that.
They are closeby to Kyoto, the former capital, which is why they were once the emperor’s food supplier. It was also the port where travellers from Korea or China enter to visit japanese nobles. The people here are historically brilliant in their food and entertainment culture. They are experts in fishing, understanding the various species of fishes and their seasons. The local fish market1 has a wide variety of fresh seafood-striped, transparent, you name it. They are just caught nearby so you can eat them at the restaurant right beside without paying much transport cost. It has a kaisen don with 11 types of seafood all in one. They are also great at fermenting or preserving fish5. They were the start point of the Mackerel road or Saba Kaido(鯖街道) where they transport fishes further inland, this takes days thus requiring preservation expertise.
More than seafood, they also have farmlands and mountains for a variety of vegetable stock. People usually buy gifts for the nobles from here which is why they are also the biggest lacquered chopstick provider2 in Japan. This is accompanied with centuries old sake brewery3 and a japanese sweets shop4(they have one of the 3 shops in Japan that holds 2 of the highest accolade in the industry) Working side by side with the food culture to host travellers going to the capital, they also have a geishas6 to entertain people. What they have today are interesting music and point-based games that are rare to find elsewhere. My friend and I managed to experience all of these historic goodness in our short time here.
Besides the traditional food culture, we also saw a side of Obama that is forward-looking and evolving. Due to their pristine location, next to the Japan sea, they could carry out marine studies well. Thus, the Fukui Prefectural University1 has a campus here just for that. They continuously carry out research to better the understanding of marine livestock. A recent result of their study is feeding sake remnants to fish to make them tastier! Next I will like to talk about my host family4 , a young good-looking couple. They built their own house and its almost like its from a magazine. Its modern and has great wood, feels real good. They have a mini library(we call it that haha) with many books, boardgames, projector and even a hammock! I think they are redefining what an attractive lifestyle is for young couples in the countryside.
The husband runs a company3 that revitalizes barren land in the town to make them fertile again. This is a great initiative in a time where many leave the countryside for big city dreams. The countryside should not lose in cool places and Obama has a green cafe2 that is just that. They have vintage vibes and hanging plants, they also occasionally organise hipster sustainable Scandinavian-inspired pop-up markets outside the place. They are a couple of retro cafes around that has chimneys and cool drinks and all but green cafe’s owner is kind of obsess with plants. it shows. We were talking about Isamu Noguchi, nomad culture and other things, real interesting guy. Lastly, building something new on the existing rich food culture of Obama is a italian restaurant called La Verita5. The owner showed us cheese making and we got to eat raw cheese! I really love the texture , slightly chewy haha. We eat wagyu spaghetti as well.
Overall, it has been a great trip. Like many towns in the country across Japan, the population of young people are falling and leaving for saturated cities. It warms my heart however seeing the efforts the young people here make not just in preserving their edge in traditions but also in evolving and redefining their lifestyle to make it exciting for young people again. This ignited my thought about branding local communities and social problems in the flailing countryside.
