Still In Japan

Exibition

2006-02-02T22:17:00.000+09:00

Sitll in Japan became Stillin'Japan, as we came back home,
to Poland. Now we would like to share with anbyody who might be interested
with what we have stolen from there: our impressions, experiences and picures of
cource. Feel welcomed in February in Chlodna 25 club in Warsaw i Poland
PS: Sorry that we forgot to tell we left Japan, but we're comming back soon;)
http://www.urushi-pro.jp/stillinjapan
mail us: stillinjapan@urushi-pro.jp

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The biggest calleydoscope in the World. EXPO in Aichi

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up!

Villagers'

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...
July and August I spent on traveling here and there. Within that time I visited some villages in different parts of Japan, like Hida, Aizukougen, Hinoemata...etc.
Here you can see, mainly in the open air museums, how the village life looked like long time ago.
The traditional architecture, arts&crafts so different from the image of gorgeous shrines of Kyoto or Nara for example.
The life-style, the way it is presented, makes you think, how close to nature the life was in the past. Using natural sources, in accordance with the climate, in harmony with the surroundings, organized in the rhythm of changing seasons.
Cultivating the rice in Spring and Summer and making washi(Japanese paper)
or weaving and dying for instance in the Winter.
Making wooden&paper hauses aproprite for humid and hot Summer.
Using the abundance of wood for beautiful crafts, learning to use its best features.
Wasting nothing - drying the food, using the rice straw to warm up in the Winter.

Years made the learn how to use the nature's gifts in the best way.

Little to look for in the Nowaday picture of Japan, covered with glass and cement.

But there are still places where people live in an order resembling the traditional way.

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sudare - a bamboo blind to protect from the sun

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pumpkin and soya seeds for a snack

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wood and lacquer (URUSHI) crafts

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fruits made of fabrics

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Aizukougen - a moutain village in Fukushima-ken(prefecture). Actually It's a kind of a museum

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uchimizu - splitting water to make Japanese summer cooler - in a traditional way

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Hida - A village in the moutains, near Takayama in Gifu-ken

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a theater for the performance in the village during matsuri

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gasshou tsukuri - an enormous house, mentioned in the posts from Izu hanto, Shimoda

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the cosy livingroom

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the dryer at the attic

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the loom inside the house

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butsudan - the buddhist altar in a house

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the hut

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the dyer's -herbs used for dying fabrics

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sleeping and dreaming

Hanabi Taikai!

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is it alife?

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waaa!!!1

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a big hanabi taikai ( fire works event ) at the racecourse

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bim!

Summertime - Time for Fun

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This is the time in Japan, when festivals, Matsuri, are organized in every town, every little village, every shrine. The tradition is very very long and can be tracked back till the early times. Earliest Matturi were organized as sacred rites of farming people to ensure a good rice harvest for example and to pray for health and wealth... as every where else in the world.
Still it is a religious event and most of the rites are behind the closed doors. What you can take part in is the procession of mikoshi - portable shrines- in which kami -the god - is paraded around the village - and dashi - wagons prepared by the community of a neighbourhood, pulled by the people wearing yukata(on the foto).
The dashi is the pride of a neighbourhood. A lot of care is taken to prepare a representative wagon. At the begining of the festa, and several times during it, the dashi from all the town or village meet, and are compared. At Matsuri in Kawagoe, for example, they are pretending to quarell.
On every dashi, there are musicians playing traditional instruments, like taiko(drum) shakuhachi (flute) etc... to make the music for the event.
All the sleepy little towns come to life at the Matsuri. People wear traditional clothes, like yukata in the summer. Every one comes to the streets, meets friends and family and enjoy this time together. They eat food from the yatai - open air stands serving takoyaki ( balls with octopus;)),
okonmiyaki ('fry it as you like'), sausages (that's not that traditional), banaba in chocolate (obscure look ) kakemizu (ice withe a juice ), yakitori ( grilled chicken), yakisoba(fried noodles)...etc.. I konw I'm not the kitchen expert, but everything is really delicious;)
In the evening, after few, or more than a few cups of beer or sake... everybody looks up to the sky, for beautiful sparkling flowers - The hanabi (literaly fire flowers) - fire works
Here are some fotos from Festival in Motegi - a village in the moutains- I have take part in.
Pulling the Dashi at the noon heat was... was hard ;)

the sun at noon

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the dashi-a wagon pull by young people wearing traditional clothes
yukata with summer modification:
rolled sleeves, the robe stuck into the sash
to be cool

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hot noon

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the details of the dashi: the masterpieces of craftsmanship: peony a lion

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sisi-dashi detail

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japanese pine tree

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turtle horse

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dragons

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dashi - detail

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omikoshi

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getting ready

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osmiornica

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tako yaki - kulka z osmiornica

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starszyzna

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having a rest? girls in sarashina (the under wear)

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dashi

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gaki

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children carying the mini omikoshi

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when it gets dark

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...

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on the dashi

Noh men

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a kuku! After a long absence....

but that's the internet suplier's fault. I've been working very hard...
And were have it brought me?
To an old sake magazine, when where an old guy
stores his collection of Noh masks. The masks which he does himself.
Noh mask is a representation of a super natural power, god or kami,
or exreme emotions, like grieve, hatred, jelaousy,
that rule people's hearth thus push them into insane...
(mind Darth Vader!;))-of cource I am not beeing seroiuos now..
but
this was a close encouter with humans nature, one might say.

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people are strange when you' re a stranger. We meet different people in our life...
that's of cource a joke.

but look around, sometimes things are in the way we see them...

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fear

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hanya

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fell down

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not a laugh

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tengu

Red vision

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a girl meets boy

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a hatter

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stairway

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hey mr dj

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red poetry

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in&out

this is not a photo shop magic - it's a genuine foto.
recently I'm doing some foto 'party reports' in the night clubs in the town.
to see like that you have to open youre eyes very wide for a very short time.

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dress

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a girl like me

by nori-sa

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yo!

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play

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just watching

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with a bit of yellow

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red rest

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a smile

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2 fingers

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a gilrl in the hat

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phoenix

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hey

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azuma

Okinawa City - Mad Max City

2005-06-15T23:40:00.000+09:00

Can you imagine city without people on streets on Sunday evening? Only closed reataurants, only huge cockroaches, and definately too many barber shops. There was only one quite alive street... but everybody were big and bold ....
Well, actually there shouldn't be city here, but US Army built one of it's bigest base in this part of the world... so Okinawan people started barber's buisnesses... and some other to...

Welcome!

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Well....

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As you can see there was really nobody on the streets... Uso ja nai!

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Not that old CDs and records shop'69... vis-a-vis car parking guys where playing guitars...Unbelieveble in other parts of Japan? I think so.

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Live Bar, Web Space - for those who miss really a lot?

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Why American acoustic are so special?? Or what have they done?! ;)

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Always different, or always the same? What can be American soldiers likes and dislikes...?

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No memories... only memory?

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Fot those guys who cannot walk home even from base gate...

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No comments...

Get to the carrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..............

2005-06-10T10:57:00.000+09:00

I love cars - A car and Car audio equipment event in Fukushima - 28.05.2005

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a matter of interest

is it the car?...

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brum...

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nice cars

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high technology&design

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you can drive, listen and watch

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an alternative for car radio

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with all that equipment..