No Starving Artists???

This week's post is inspired by my last class on Saturdays. My two "boys" (as I call them; they are older than I am) are a high-level discussion class. They read an article each week, and then we discuss it. This week's article talked about starving artists and gentrification of artist communities. They said that this was a difficult topic to discuss, as Japan doesn't really have any staving artist communities, and the arts don't really revitalization areas over here. They found it hard to relate to the article.

I thought about this and wonder how true it really is. Although this is a largely metropolitan area filled with boring, multi-story, EIFS buildings, there are pockets of art and architecture here. From Roponggi Hills to the kids that hang out in Harajuku, there has to be an artist community somewhere in Tokyo....

Here are some Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired privacy screens at the entrance to the bathrooms at the neighboring Seibu train stop. The JR train stations often have large murals on their walls (the Hachioji station has a large ceramic tile mural that stretches the length of a main wall).

Here is a picture of my favorite buildings along my train ride to work. I pass many drab-looking buildings on my 40-minute ride, but this one stands out (please disregard the advertising banner though). It doesn't fit in with the others, but it is not terribly hideous. It stands out, but yet has a quaint air to itself (maybe it is the red brick... most "brick" buildings here seem to be smooth grey bricks with dark grout, leaving a tile-floor look).

On a different note, Bruce has been MIA. I found him seeking refuge from the chaos of IKEA this Sunday afternoon. Amongst the many screaming children and slow-moving shoppers, we found a few things to make the pad a little more "ours".

Also, congratulations to Trisha and Brian. Sorry I could not make it to the wedding this past weekend. My mother said you looked "beautiful", Trisha. It sounds like everyone had fun, and the dance floor was a bigger pull than talking to Aunty Jess on the phone in Japan. :)