Seliger (2) -- The first and second day

After entering the site of Seliger 2010 International Youth Forum, the instructor took us into the woods behind the main stage. I was a bit scared because there were a lot of old graves. I asked her if we would sleep next to those graves (of course we didn’t do it). Then we walked and I realized an enormous number of people would camp there. I’ve never seen such a place packed with so many tents.

I don’t remember much about the first night. Probably I was so tired and it was very late on arrival at the site. I talked with 10 to 15 people in my group for a while but couldn’t remember many of their names. Then I put my luggage in my tent (shared with a Russian boy) and just slept in my sleeping bag.


The next morning, I woke up pretty early, maybe at 7 a.m. and walked around the site which was still quiet. After a while, suddenly I heard extremely loud music playing and everybody started to get ready for going near to the main stage. I was also told to go there but I didn’t understand what would be happening there. Then I saw thousands of participants gathered in front of the main stage for a morning assembly and a morning exercise which were scheduled everyday. I did a five-kilometer run during the first few days and then gave up doing it, because I did too much exercise everyday, especially swimming in the cold water of the lake which caused me to be sick. It was quite hard physically.

After the morning exercise, all the members of our group returned to our site and had Kasha for breakfast (I think I had it almost everyday). Then our instructor took us to the area with big tents and we took lectures there. In the tent, there was no chair for us and I saw almost all of the people in my section (Art and Design) had brought sitting pillows or travel mats. It was much fun and surprising for me that many of them were relaxing on the ground during a lecture.


In the night, our group members gathered at the main table in our site to have a meeting for self introduction. We sat down and passed a candle to each other, the person who had the candle was allowed to talk about himself/herself and the impression of the first day at Seliger. Probably I talked about not only self introduction but also personal stories -- what I feel in my daily life in Tokyo and what was tough for me to keep doing photography and graphic design there without going to an art school. I also said that every time I go abroad, I tried to switch my character into the one which is a bit more active. It was very nice to hear what everyone expected from the camp and about their personal background. Although I was still having trouble remembering everyone’s name and nickname, I realized that I became one of the group members and got ready to enjoy the opportunity at Seliger from that night.

Seliger 2010 (1)

I made my first visit to Russia ( I transited at the Sheremetyevo airport in 2003). This time I went there to participate in Seliger International Youth Forum 2010, as one of about 3000 participants from around the world. It took place at Lake Seliger, situated about 360 kilometers northwest of Moscow.

In the forum, each participant was counted off into a group and camped with other members for eight days. We slept in tents and cooked by ourselves. Everyday we took lectures, workshops and outdoor sport activities such as cycling, kayaking and climbing.

In this trip, I had a lot of surprises even before the forum. First I took an Aerofloat flight to Moscow and found that their airplane looked totally new. Food and other services were also nice. It was really a good flight. Then I landed at the Sheremetyevo airport in the evening and realized that the airport was also renewed completely. Probably it was Terminal D.

On the first night I stayed with other members of the Japanese group at a hotel near the airport. I trained at the gym in the hotel to have a good sleep, and bought a two-liter bottle of water to prepare for a six hours bus trip from Moscow to Lake Seliger.


On the next day, it was hot and the sunlight was so strong. We went to the airport again and waited for a bus arranged by the official committee of Seliger 2010. We were waiting for two hours. Then a craggy-faced driver and some young volunteers of the forum came up with an dilapidated old bus. They told us we had to wait for a few more hours because there was a traffic accident in the last bus. I was scared.

Almost all the time in the bus it was really hot, but I enjoyed the bus trip. We went through a heavy traffic jam in Moscow and then drove in unvarying landscapes of the suburbs. Once we stopped at a cafe for rest. It was almost 8 o'clock but so light outside. I got Russian breads for my supper and took some pictures of interesting plants and views from there.


After six hours in total on the bus, we got to Lake Seliger, the camp site. The opening ceremony was being held at the main stage with extremely loud music.
First we went through baggage checks (mainly for alcohol) and then an instructor and another member of my group took me to our camp site. My experience in Seliger 2010 started.

Japanese graphic designers from the 1950s to 1980s (2)

Ikko Tanaka (1930-2002)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikko_Tanaka
One of the most influential Japanese graphic designers in the Showa era. Received much influence from Rimpa, one of the Japanese traditional painting schools, but mixed the tradition with simple composition and very dynamic color combinations.



Kazumasa Nagai (1929- )
http://is.gd/6ZUnr (MoMA Collection website)
http://is.gd/6ZZTJ (Google Image Search website)
Probably one of the best Japanese graphic designers especially for iconography. Designed so many logos including the Sapporo Olympics, Tokyo Electric Power and Nissin Foods. Also famous for the series of his graphic art posters, "Life" in which he derived ideas from patterns of natural elements and symbolizing animals. Still continuing his long design career.



Yoshio Hayakawa (1917-2009)
http://www.momat.go.jp/english/artmuseum/Hayakawa_Yoshio/
http://is.gd/6ZZFh (MoMA Collection website)
Graphic designer and illustrator. Very famous for his drawings of women in bizarre colors.

Japanese graphic designers from the 1930s to 1970s (1)

Since last year, my interest toward Japanese graphic designers from the 1930s to 1970s has risen up again. It's very interesting to understand how these designers were influenced by foreign graphic design and then they developed their design styles in tune with Japanese culture. In addition, there was so much dialogue between such Japanese graphic designers and well-known foreign designers. Sometimes they talked at a design office, restaurant or bar. Their discussions were often featured in not only design magazines but also tabloids.

Here I listed some of the representative Japanese graphic designers from 1930s to 1970s in Japan.



Ayao Yamana (1897-1980)
http://is.gd/6zRfF (from Google Image Search website)
http://is.gd/6JRxU
Graphic designer and illustrator. Famous for art deco illustrations of ladies and his work for the advertising department of Shiseido.
http://www.shiseido.com/



Takashi Kono (1906-1999)
http://is.gd/6JQ8I (from Google Image Search website)



Hiromu Hara (1909-1986)
http://www.answers.com/topic/hiromu-hara-1
Taught printing as a college teacher for 20 years and then became a graphic designer. Made a big influence on book design, package design and using photographs as graphic design elements.



Yusaku Kamekura (1915-1997)
http://is.gd/6zTwO (from Google Image Search website)
Probably the most well-know designer in 20th century in Japan. Very famous for his work for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and Osaka Expo in 1970.

Reikin - gift money

Recently I've renewed the lease contract of my apartment which is valid for another two years. It was the first time for me to renew a lease, since every apartment I've lived in before I chose not to live in for a longer term. However Japan has a lot of peculiar customs in rental agreements. Those customs are hard to understand for me but more so for foreigners. Especially "reikin", gift money is considered as a big obstacle for almost all renters. You often need to pay one-month or two-months reikin*. Also some apartments demand no reikin. What are the differences among these reikin conditions?

*I've lived only in the Kanto region, so all customs I mention here are common only in this region.

Several websites explain details and backgrounds of "reikin", so here I will say what I've learned from my own grueling experiences to find a nice and inexpensive apartment in Tokyo. First, apartments demanding no reikin usually have some serious problems. Usually the building is too close to a busy road, highway or railway. Or it's very far from stations and/or stores. I don't recommend any apartments demanding both no reikin and a deposit (shikikin in Japanese). They will give you a lot of troubles.

On the other hand, many old apartments - I mean more than 20 years old - demand only one-month reikin. If you see old apartments demanding two-months reikin, the owners and/or agents are VERY confident to find renters soon. Surely some are worth it but others are possibly just bluffs. It's sometimes possible to negotiate with an owner or agent to ask for a discount on reikin.

If you are okay with old concrete apartments, I recommend buildings over 35 years old. They were built with a large amount of materials from 60s to early 70s - during the years of high economic growth in Japan. If you are looking for this type of apartment, I recommend condominiums or public housing, not buildings owned by a single owner. Also you need to check carefully all facilities -especially electric capacity, water pressure and quality.

Tokyo Jammin' magazine

Recently many arty magazines have been discontinued in Japan. A street culture magazine, "Tokyo Jammin'" is one of them. However it was discontinued in 2001 and existed for only one and a half years. Maybe the publisher had some business problems and now there's no possibility to come back.

When I found out about Tokyo Jammin', I was a university freshman and knew almost nothing about cultural scenes in Tokyo. At first, I thought the magazine was really strange. Every issue was quite thin and the designs were very different--rougher and more abstract than other cultural magazines by major publishers in Japan. However I was really impressed that Tokyo Jammin' had a variety of contents including abstract artworks, photos, texts and graphics. Besides, poets, painters, computer artists, designers, actors and musicians--so many artists were included in the magazine. Particularly I like Muddy Stone Axel's poetry. Also they featured a lot of restaurants and bars which were chosen from the dark corners of Tokyo. I think the magazine opened a door for me to see every face of the city.

I’ve kept some copies of the magazine in my bookshelf for almost 10 years and am still looking for their other issues. Maybe I will explore some used bookstores again this weekend.

Up and Down at Stations

Last month I took a flight from Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport) to Kagoshima in southern Japan with my roller bag.
It's always tough to pass through central Tokyo and get to the airport with such a heavy bag, if you use trains. Particularly during rush hours, it becomes like a nightmare.

Finding an elevator from/to a subway station is like a hunt for treasure. Most subway stations in Tokyo have at least one elevator. However many elevators are hidden inside buildings and have only a small sign for which you need to pay much attention to find. In addition, many stations have UP escalators but few DOWN ones. I'm really bummed at an entrance to a subway station with my big baggage when I find no down escalator there. They are like luxuries in this city.

Another trouble I've found is transferring between stations of different railroad companies. For example I really hate to transfer at Shinjuku Station. Especially when you transfer from Keio Line to JR Saikyo there, there's almost no way to avoid stairs.

For going to the airports, probably the best option is using buses which depart from local stations. However they cost about twice as much as using trains. I hope they have at least 30% less fees. Why is it still impossible after the expressway tolls were cut in Japan?

Some small atlases of Tokyo (in Japanese) have detailed maps of the major stations and mark elevators in them.