kyudo and clubbing
The journal is long overdue. But I don’t really care. I’ve been busy and a little sick.
On Monday I finally spent some time in the darkroom. It was amazing. I mean, call me nerdy or whatever the hell you want, but I had a blast in there. I threw some Armin Van Buuren into the CD Player, turned the lights off, and it was heaven. The smell. Amazing.
And as I printed them and took them from tray to tray. The photos appeared. It was heaven. And I also learned how to use color filters to up the contrast. I’ll be back in there again sometime.
On Wednesday I decided that I would bust out and do some hardcore sight-seeing, culture hopping. So I went down to the Meiji Temple Complex in the morning. Boy, was I in for a treat.
First I went to a Kyudo Tournament. Kyudo is the Japanese traditional martial art of Archery. I guess it’s a martial art, I don’t really care. It was amazing to watch regardless. There is so much grace and eloquence in this sport. The contestants would slide across the waxed floor towards the open side of the dojo. Every movement was calculated and so fluid that it was like watching a dance.
Plus, many of the contestants spread across the ages. There were some who looked like they could pass for 15, and some who were older than my grandparents. And the best thing about it was that this 15 year old looking girl totally kicked ass. The boys are apparently really hard to use, and this girl hit the target 3 out of 4 times. Many people were lucky to hit it even once. One woman managed to hit it 4 times.
After Kyudo I moved on back to the Meiji Shrine where I was treated with Japanese classical music. The concert featured the Koto, a Japanese zitar, and a Japanese guitar thing which I will name later. Apparently both concerts featured really well known musicians. It didn’t matter though, the music was amazing regardless. I think I want to buy a CD with Koto music.
I had a few hours to kill, so I hung around the Harajuku district. The main thing about this place, is that it is so strange. The people are just weird. Costume play, the whacky hairstyles and the even whackier clothes. Which is why I love just standing on the corner and watching. I took some shots with my Leica, but the main point was to stand and observe. I will do that again sometime.
In the evening I headed out to a place called Club Vanilla. Paul Oakenfold was supposed to spin. Yay for seeing an international DJ. But alas, as soon as I got there, it turns out that Oakenfold cancelled. That cunt. But it’s all good. We were inside anyways so we decided to party away. (couldn’t take pics inside though).
Whatever they were spinning was good. The drinks were cheap. But then when the crowd started rolling in it began to get wild. People jumping, yelling. It sounded like being at a soccer game. Now this was cool. For like 10 minutes.
But it went on for literally 6 hours. I swear. I think it’s because these people don’t know how to move to electronic music. So instead they just jump around and scream and pretend they’re at a soccer game. It was like a huge mosh pit. Annoying. Thank goodness the drinks were strong and the speakers loud. I ran into some Indonesians as well.
So at around 5.30 in the morning when the trains start running we leave and I get on my train home. I get home at around 7 in the morning and pass out. Successful evening if you ask me. And a few more things coming up in the days ahead.
On Monday I finally spent some time in the darkroom. It was amazing. I mean, call me nerdy or whatever the hell you want, but I had a blast in there. I threw some Armin Van Buuren into the CD Player, turned the lights off, and it was heaven. The smell. Amazing.
And as I printed them and took them from tray to tray. The photos appeared. It was heaven. And I also learned how to use color filters to up the contrast. I’ll be back in there again sometime.
On Wednesday I decided that I would bust out and do some hardcore sight-seeing, culture hopping. So I went down to the Meiji Temple Complex in the morning. Boy, was I in for a treat.
First I went to a Kyudo Tournament. Kyudo is the Japanese traditional martial art of Archery. I guess it’s a martial art, I don’t really care. It was amazing to watch regardless. There is so much grace and eloquence in this sport. The contestants would slide across the waxed floor towards the open side of the dojo. Every movement was calculated and so fluid that it was like watching a dance.
Plus, many of the contestants spread across the ages. There were some who looked like they could pass for 15, and some who were older than my grandparents. And the best thing about it was that this 15 year old looking girl totally kicked ass. The boys are apparently really hard to use, and this girl hit the target 3 out of 4 times. Many people were lucky to hit it even once. One woman managed to hit it 4 times.
After Kyudo I moved on back to the Meiji Shrine where I was treated with Japanese classical music. The concert featured the Koto, a Japanese zitar, and a Japanese guitar thing which I will name later. Apparently both concerts featured really well known musicians. It didn’t matter though, the music was amazing regardless. I think I want to buy a CD with Koto music.
I had a few hours to kill, so I hung around the Harajuku district. The main thing about this place, is that it is so strange. The people are just weird. Costume play, the whacky hairstyles and the even whackier clothes. Which is why I love just standing on the corner and watching. I took some shots with my Leica, but the main point was to stand and observe. I will do that again sometime.
In the evening I headed out to a place called Club Vanilla. Paul Oakenfold was supposed to spin. Yay for seeing an international DJ. But alas, as soon as I got there, it turns out that Oakenfold cancelled. That cunt. But it’s all good. We were inside anyways so we decided to party away. (couldn’t take pics inside though).
Whatever they were spinning was good. The drinks were cheap. But then when the crowd started rolling in it began to get wild. People jumping, yelling. It sounded like being at a soccer game. Now this was cool. For like 10 minutes.
But it went on for literally 6 hours. I swear. I think it’s because these people don’t know how to move to electronic music. So instead they just jump around and scream and pretend they’re at a soccer game. It was like a huge mosh pit. Annoying. Thank goodness the drinks were strong and the speakers loud. I ran into some Indonesians as well.
So at around 5.30 in the morning when the trains start running we leave and I get on my train home. I get home at around 7 in the morning and pass out. Successful evening if you ask me. And a few more things coming up in the days ahead.
posted by Piotr Jakubowski at 9:14 AM
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