• About

Larry Muffin At Home

~ Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Larry Muffin At Home

Tag Archives: Tokyo

Kojo-no-Tsuki (荒城の月)

23 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by larrymuffin in Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

art., Hakone, Japan, Jazz, lalique, life, Tokyo, train

The title is Japanese and means Ancient Moon. This is a jazz piece by Koichi Sugii and is part of  Japanese Jazz and Salon Music from 1936-1941. It was very popular in Japan and even the Emperor HiroHito would request it be played by the Imperial guard, old 78 rpm exist out there for those who might like to hear it. Koichi Sugii (1906-1942) was a Japanese bandleader, composer, arranger, conductor, singer, accordionist and recording artist. He skilfully bridged Eastern and Western styles, combining American orchestral jazz with Japanese pop and Chinese folk music to create a sophisticated and melodic hybrid with broad appeal.

Sugii was born in Tokyo in 1906. His mother sang traditional Japanese music while accompanying herself on the samisen, a three-stringed instrument. An early familiarity with his country’s native folk songs later inspired Sugii to arrange these melodies in jazz settings.

Sugii took piano lessons from a Canadian teacher, and became an ardent admirer of Western classical traditions, jazz, and film music. In 1930, after graduating from Tokyo Imperial University, he was hired by the Osaka merchant shipping company, which assigned him to Buenos Aires. In Argentina the young business executive became fascinated by musical trends, especially the tango. Convinced his true interests were in music, Sugii returned to Japan in 1932 and found work composing and recording for a film studio. In 1935 he joined Sakurai Kiyoshi’s Sakurai y Su Orquesta, a Latin-influenced band which specialized in tangos.

Those years prior to the Second World War were years of great development in Japan and the wealth people enjoyed brought luxury products to Japanese markets and a fascination with Western habits. The brother of the Emperor had a complete Lalique Museum built after a visit in France where he and his wife had René Lalique’s house dismantled and rebuilt in their museum. If you visit Tokyo you can see it, fascinating.

Capture d’écran 2020-06-23 à 18.14.02

This Art deco building built in 1933 is part of the The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. The museum is located in Minato ward, just east of Meguro Station. The Art Deco building interiors were designed by Henri Rapin and features decorative glass work by René Lalique. It was pure delight to visit it and showed how sophisticated Japanese society is and was then.

Another spectacular area is the open air museum in Hakone outside Tokyo is easily reach by train. Japanese trains are a dream, never seen anywhere anything like it. The  open air museum presents sculptures by Henri Moore, Constantin Brancusi, Barbara Hepworth, Rokusan Ogiwara, Kotaro Nakamura and Niki de Saint Phalle, 120 works in all, the green space was well thought out with trees, and shrubbery designed to bring peace and facilitate reflection for visitors, very much in the Shinto style.

There is more and another incredible find is the Lalique museum, yes more Lalique and  Le Train café restaurant, the actual train transported from France, it was in service until 2001 and was part of the Orient Express line. I was trying to imagine how do you transport a train car from Europe to Japan. You can have tea on board with all the actual dishes and linens, absolutely exquisite, very high quality. Again the train car is decorated by Lalique panels and is exquisite in terms of luxury. Reservations are a must.

caption

 

PRIDE

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by larrymuffin in PRIDE

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Charlottetown, Gay, Japan, LGBT, Parade, PEI, Tokyo

June was Pride month and in PEI PRIDE week is 20-27 July with the usual big parade, everyone joins in, it’s the thing to do.

IMG_0195.jpg

I was in the Parade here in Charlottetown last year and we had a lot of fun. Come and celebrate PRIDE in PEI,  www.pridepei.ca

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first pride parade on P.E.I. Pride P.E.I. is planning 12 days of events and learning opportunities for Islanders, beginning on Saturday, July 20.

The theme of this year’s parade is ‘shapes + forms’. The organization says love comes in many different shapes and forms. Inspiration for the theme comes from the vibrant spectrum of gender and sexual diversity visible in the province.

For something completely different here is PRIDE TOKYO. Japan has a lot of Festivals and Pride is another one. I love Tokyo, visited the city on 2 occasions for several days each time and travelled in Japan also. Very impressive place, just love it.

Reiwa era

29 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by larrymuffin in Japan

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Akihito, Heisei era, Imperial family, Naruhito, Reiwa era, Tokyo

I visited Japan twice and I remain impressed by this country. Going to Japan was like a dream, everything I saw was completely out of the ordinary and unexpected. I visited once when I lived in Beijing and a second time when I lived in Rome. So many happy memories from those trips. I remember once on the Official Day Reception at the Japanese Embassy in Rome telling the Ambassador about my trip and how impress I was with his country and its people.

The food, the cities, the train stations, bank machines, the hotels, the people, the historic sites, its television and the NHK news, the safety of the place and the overall attitudes of the people I encountered. From the day I arrived in Tokyo at the airport and how well organized and civilized it all was. Everything was so clean and so easy to use, despite not knowing how to read Japanese signs and knowing 10 words of the language.

Tokyo, a city of 39 million people, (greater Tokyo area) that is the entire population of Canada in one city. Despite that large number, it was extremely well organized and clean. Low noise level on the streets despite the traffic. I also visited, travelling by bullet train Shinkansen to Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Himeji Castle.

I always wanted to be posted to Japan but that did not happen.

On Wednesday 1 May the new Reiwa Era ( Beautiful Harmony in English) though the characters Rei and Wa means Fair Breeze, will start with the accession to the Chrysanthemum throne of Crown Prince Naruhito and the end of the Heisei Era under his father Emperor Akihito who is abdicating.  All calendars will start anew and officially everything will be counted as of 1 May 2019, first day and first year.

Naruhito will become the 126th Emperor of Japan in the oldest dynasty in the world, 2000 years, the first was Emperor Jimmu. The Imperial Family claims descent from  Amaterasu-ōmikami (天照大神/天照大御神/天照皇大神), the top deity of the Shinto religion. She is the goddess of the sun and the universe. The name Amaterasu means “shining in heaven”. The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is “the great august Kami (deity) who shines in the heaven”. According to the Kojiki which chronicles Japanese Mythology the Emperors of Japan are considered to be direct descendants of Amaterasu. The Emperor is also the Head of the Shinto religion in Japan.

 

 

Signing Off

02 Saturday Feb 2019

Posted by larrymuffin in Japan

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Charles Trenet, DOMO, French, Music, NHK, Song, Television, Tokyo

When I was posted to the Communist Paradise of the People’s Republic of China between 2004 and 2007, I use to watch a lot of Japanese television on NHK. I always liked the production value and watching the news no matter how dreadful the story it was always read calmly. No need to get excited it’s only the news, that’s Japan. A country I visited twice and simply loved it, so civilized. Not the case in China with its non-stop propaganda news, similar to what you could see in North Korea.

NHK, is Japan’s national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized acronym in Japanese, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers’ payments of a television license fee. It’s motto, まっすぐ、真剣。 (“Straightforward, earnest”)

At night the signing off music is the great French song of Charles Trenet, La Mer. Truly a classic song it there ever was one. The words are beautiful, it is a poem about the Sea describing its quality, a shepherdess watching over the crest of the wave which are white like sheep. Shepherdess of infinite azure. The Sea cradles my heart for life.

 

DOMOKUN.gif

DOMO Kun, the Official Mascot of NHK television

Fans of the Muffin

  • fix & köstlich
  • Richard's Left Bank
  • Willy Or Won't He
  • Storie & Archeostorie
  • ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020-23
  • ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2010-20.
  • Philippe Lagassé
  • Moving with Mitchell
  • Palliser Pass
  • Roijoyeux
  • Spo-Reflections
  • KREUZBERGED - BERLIN COMPANION
  • My Secret Journey
  • Routine Proceedings
  • The Historic England Blog
  • Larry Muffin At Home
  • Sailstrait
  • dennisnarratives
  • Prufrock's Dilemma
  • domanidave.wordpress.com/
  • theINFP
  • The Corporate Slave

Blog Stats

  • 130,903 hits

Birthplace of Canada

C1A 1A7, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Follow Larry Muffin At Home on WordPress.com

Archives

  • May 2023 (6)
  • April 2023 (7)
  • March 2023 (6)
  • February 2023 (8)
  • January 2023 (10)
  • December 2022 (13)
  • November 2022 (10)
  • October 2022 (15)
  • September 2022 (17)
  • August 2022 (10)
  • July 2022 (10)
  • June 2022 (13)
  • May 2022 (11)
  • April 2022 (11)
  • March 2022 (14)
  • February 2022 (9)
  • January 2022 (14)
  • December 2021 (17)
  • November 2021 (12)
  • October 2021 (12)
  • September 2021 (13)
  • August 2021 (10)
  • July 2021 (13)
  • June 2021 (12)
  • May 2021 (12)
  • April 2021 (15)
  • March 2021 (12)
  • February 2021 (11)
  • January 2021 (8)
  • December 2020 (22)
  • November 2020 (16)
  • October 2020 (17)
  • September 2020 (13)
  • August 2020 (17)
  • July 2020 (16)
  • June 2020 (23)
  • May 2020 (24)
  • April 2020 (23)
  • March 2020 (28)
  • February 2020 (20)
  • January 2020 (12)
  • December 2019 (17)
  • November 2019 (15)
  • October 2019 (18)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (9)
  • July 2019 (10)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • April 2019 (12)
  • March 2019 (8)
  • February 2019 (7)
  • January 2019 (9)
  • December 2018 (15)
  • November 2018 (6)
  • October 2018 (7)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (7)
  • June 2018 (6)
  • May 2018 (10)
  • April 2018 (7)
  • March 2018 (7)
  • February 2018 (5)
  • January 2018 (11)
  • December 2017 (19)
  • November 2017 (13)
  • October 2017 (20)
  • September 2017 (12)
  • August 2017 (11)
  • July 2017 (24)
  • June 2017 (17)
  • May 2017 (24)
  • April 2017 (23)
  • March 2017 (21)
  • February 2017 (22)
  • January 2017 (23)
  • December 2016 (19)
  • November 2016 (21)
  • October 2016 (25)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (15)
  • July 2016 (13)
  • June 2016 (13)
  • May 2016 (8)
  • April 2016 (21)
  • March 2016 (17)
  • February 2016 (30)
  • January 2016 (23)
  • December 2015 (36)
  • November 2015 (23)
  • October 2015 (26)
  • September 2015 (22)
  • August 2015 (15)
  • July 2015 (21)
  • June 2015 (27)
  • May 2015 (17)
  • April 2015 (16)
  • March 2015 (15)
  • February 2015 (12)
  • January 2015 (21)
  • December 2014 (4)

Blog Stats

  • 130,903 hits

Blog at WordPress.com.

fix & köstlich

lecker Essen in 30 Minuten

Richard's Left Bank

Books, whimsey & political satire (views of news from those that snooze)

Willy Or Won't He

So Many Years of Experience But Still Making Mistakes!

Storie & Archeostorie

Notiziario di storia, arte e archeologia (©2010-)

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020-23

ROME - THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2010-20.

ROME – THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

Philippe Lagassé

In Defence of Westminster

Moving with Mitchell

Jerry and I get around. In 2011, we moved from the USA to Spain. We now live near Málaga. Jerry y yo nos movemos. En 2011, nos mudamos de EEUU a España. Ahora vivimos cerca de Málaga.

Palliser Pass

Stories, Excerpts, Backroads

Roijoyeux

... Soyons... Joyeux !!!

Spo-Reflections

To live is to battle with trolls in the vaults of heart and brain. To write; this is to sit in judgment over one's Self. Henrik Ibsen

KREUZBERGED - BERLIN COMPANION

Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know About Berlin

My Secret Journey

The road I have traveled to get to where I am today.

Routine Proceedings

The adventures of a Press Gallery journalist

The Historic England Blog

Larry Muffin At Home

Remembering that life is a comedy and the world is a small town.

Sailstrait

Telling the stories of the history of the port of Charlottetown and the marine heritage of Northumberland Strait on Canada's East Coast. Winner of the Heritage Award from the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation and a Heritage Preservation Award from the City of Charlottetown

dennisnarratives

Stories in words and pictures

Prufrock's Dilemma

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”/Let us go and make our visit.

domanidave.wordpress.com/

Procrastination is the sincerest form of optimism

theINFP

I aim to bring delight to others by sharing my creative endeavours

The Corporate Slave

A mix of corporate and private life experiences

  • Follow Following
    • Larry Muffin At Home
    • Join 551 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Larry Muffin At Home
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...