Strange Days, Indeed

There have been better days than today, but this one is up there for peculiarity (in a minor sort of way).

The morning ride was nice in spite of tiredness that became increasingly more obvious the more Kangaeroo rode. Not helping was having woken before 3 a.m. again and not being able to get back to sleep.

Sunrise was spectacular, but fleeting, and didn’t really make for the nicest of photos. Still, it is a wonderful time of the year in Tokyo.

Following a morning meeting, there was enough time left before work started to nick over to Costco to pick up some emergency supplies.

But it was surprise that resulted as Kangaeroo arrived to find that the store wouldn’t open for another hour.

Costco came at lunchtime instead.

Most of the afternoon was spent waiting to be given work and looking after the lovebird.

Cop A Gander At These Rippers Too...

  • Sunrise of the Year (So Far!)

    Mother Nature turned on an absolute bloody ripper of a morning with the sunrise of the year so far, at least as far as I am concerned. The skies were simply glorious as light broke through, blended with the clouds and created a mix of vibrant colors crossing the spectrum. And the clouds played their part, too, creating swirls in the skies that shaped an otherworldly ambience. It’s the second consecutive fantastic sunrise I’ve seen and was simply breathtaking. I spent a lot of the ride voicing my thanks to Mother Nature for such a stunning start to the day. The sunrise was uplifting, but not quite powerful enough to…

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    Willow Worlds

    Cricket is one of the few things I really miss about life in Australia, and stumbling across the Japan Cricket Association website recently led me down a rabbit hole centered around willow, an integral yet often unremembered part of life in my two countries. Come down the willow wormhole with me! Cricket is booming in Japan. Looking at the website, I was surprised to see how much the game of cricket has developed since I was last in touch with it in around 2007 or so. There are associations in every region of the country, 100 senior teams and about 15,000 players. There are three associations in the Kanto region…

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    メルボルンの音楽からトレス海峡の歴史まで:日本で楽しむオーストラリアの今週のYartz

    Australia in Japan–Sept. 11–17, 2026 今週は、オーストラリアのサウンドアート、ワイン、音楽、そして日豪の歴史をめぐる展示まで、全国でさまざまな催しがあります。 This week brings Australian sound art, wine, music and an exhibition exploring the history connecting Australia and Japan, with events spread across the country. 下呂 Art Discovery 2026 オーストラリアのメルボルンを拠点に活動するアーティスト・デュオ、マデライン・フリン+ティム・ハンフリーが、岐阜県下呂市で開催される「下呂 Art Discovery 2026」に参加します。 作品《風をいこさな 山とめる》は、森の中の「苔のみち」を舞台にしたサウンドインスタレーションです。風、水、鳥の声と、地元の子どもたちのわらべ唄をもとにした音楽が重なり、訪れる人に「聴くこと」を通して場所を体験させます。オーストラリア大使館も特別協力しています。 会場 南飛騨健康増進センター/森、萩原商店街、旧湯屋小学校、下呂温泉街など 会期 2026年9月11日〜11月8日 開館時間 火曜日休み。ただし祝日は開館します。 料金 作品鑑賞パスポートは前売2,000円、通常2,500円。高校生以下無料です。前売料金は9月10日まで。 予約 パスポートはWebket、じゃらん、遊び・体験などで購入できます。 アクセス JR下呂駅から公式無料シャトルバスが運行されます。車がない場合でも、シャトルバス、公式ツアー、JRと徒歩・レンタサイクルを利用して各会場を回ることができます。 下呂 Art Discovery 2026 オーストラリアのメルボルンを拠点に活動するアーティスト・デュオ、Madeleine Flynn & Tim Humphreyが、岐阜県下呂市で開催される「下呂 Art Discovery 2026」に参加します。 作品「If the mountain holds its breath」は、森の中の「苔のみち」を舞台にしたサウンドインスタレーションです。風、水、鳥の声と、地元の子どもたちのわらべ唄をもとにした音楽が重なり、訪れる人に「聴くこと」を通して場所を体験させます。オーストラリア大使館も特別協力しています。 Venue Minami-Hida Health Promotion Center / Forest, Hagiwara Shopping Street, Former Yuya Elementary School, Gero Onsen District and other locations Dates September 11–November 8, 2026 Opening hours Hours vary by venue. Closed Tuesdays except public holidays. Admission The Artwork Passport costs…

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    Ukiyo-e Meets The Aussie Bush

    浮世絵と豪州の自然が出会う時はマーガレット・プレストン展 浮世絵の技法でオーストラリアを描いた女性画家 How Japanese Ukiyo-e Helped Margaret Preston Paint Australia オーストラリア独自の美術を生み出そうとした画家、マーガレット・プレストン(1875–1963)。その革新的な作品を一堂に集めた大規模回顧展が、メルボルンのビクトリア国立美術館(NGV)で開催中だ。 How do you create an artistic identity for a country without simply copying Europe? For Australian modernist Margaret Preston (1875–1963), part of the answer lay in Japan. アデレード生まれのプレストンは、英国やヨーロッパで美術を学び、日本の浮世絵をはじめとするさまざまな芸術に影響を受けた。1919年にシドニーへ戻ると、ヨーロッパの伝統をなぞるのではなく、オーストラリアならではの視覚表現を追求するようになる。 Born in Adelaide, Preston studied art in Australia before travelling extensively through Britain and Europe. There she encountered modern artistic movements and developed a lasting interest in Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Returning to Sydney in 1919, she set out to develop a distinctly Australian visual language. その大きな手がかりとなったのが浮世絵だった。遠近法に頼りすぎず、平面的な色面を大胆に組み合わせ、画面の端でモチーフを思い切って切り取る。プレストンはこうした技法を木版画に取り入れ、オーストラリア固有の花々や鳥、シドニー湾の風景を鮮やかに表現した。日本の伝統的な版画技法が、ユーカリの葉やオーストラリアの野花を描くための新しい言葉になったのだ。 Ukiyo-e offered her a fresh way to see the world. Rather than relying on conventional Western perspective, Japanese prints often use flattened space, strong…

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    RIP to a Ripper Bloke, Bob Hawke

    Australia’s last man of the people to become prime minister is no longer. Robert James Lee “Bob” Hawke died earlier this week, just two days before his beloved Australian Labor Party is expected to re-take office in the May 18 federal election following six years of misrule by an incompetent Liberal–National Party coalition government. Hawke was 89. He was a popular prime minister whose time in office went from 1983 to 1991. He remains the longest-serving Labor prime minister in Australian history. Hawkey didn’t really have much to do with Japan during his time in office. Perhaps the closest project involving Japan was the disastrous Multifunction Polis proposal that sparked…