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In September 2017, I travelled to Japan, for the first time. It was a half private half work related trip to a country that I had only „known“ through my Japanese roommates in the US and several books I read to recover from that experience („Darum nerven Japaner“, e.g.). Interestingly, I liked it much better than expected! It was far more calm and beautiful. There was none of the fearfully expected bustle. Take for example Tokyo’s Shibuya quarter, the one with that crazy pedestrian crossing. Only about two blocks away, the neighborhood is very calm. Narrow streets meander through a suburb like neighborhood, and no people under way! And suddenly, the ARD German TV headquarter is popping up here, located in a modest town house. It wears white tiles and somehow looks like a bathroom turned inside out.
So, I spent two days in Tokyo before I travelled on to Kyoto where the conference took place. Also on the Shinkansen, the „bullet train“, there was this tremendeous quietness, almost „loud“ again in its massiveness. I munched on my onigiri and finished my presentation for the next day. Kyoto was filled with the usual conference stuff and related social gatherings, including the mandatory karaoke bar singing contest! I will never forget the Japanese interpreation of Dschinghis Khan’s „Moskau“ which finally ended it: the Japanese quietness.
The Japan gallery is here.
