By Tokyo’s standards, this residential yard is large. I love simplicity of the garden, viewed from the street: a long hedge, a bamboo fen....
25 Feb 9:02 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Unlike last week, I didn’t come up with an idea for a LOST bento until yesterday. Maybe the long weekend and all just stalled my brain. I ....
17 Feb 6:35 am  from  Aibento   [Profile] [Recent] 

Yebisu, or Ebisu, was our goal this night when our friend Lisa was still in bed having an awful cold that everyone in the guest house would ....
16 Feb 8:28 pm  from  Yonasu   [Profile] [Recent] 

After visiting Kenroku-en 兼六園 and Kairaku-en 偕楽園, we end the tour of Three Great Gardens of Japan for our Today’s Japan Photo ....
13 Feb 1:58 pm  from  alafista   [Profile] [Recent] 

Hakusai second attemptI moaned recently about the hakusai being under-par. Although it isn’t a cure-all, I was told to wrap himo (string....
12 Feb 8:52 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

After visiting the most beautiful Kenroku-en 兼六園, I thought it would be good to continue my Today’s Japan Photo series with the othe....
12 Feb 10:40 am  from  alafista   [Profile] [Recent] 

Famed architect Kuma Kengo’s new building, Tamagawa Takashimaya S+C Marronier Court, features cool roof gardens that jut out over the sid....
11 Feb 9:04 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

The red wood and roof ornaments stood out brilliantly against the trees in the background. The low f/stop on the lens did a great job here. ....
10 Feb 10:34 pm  from  Shibuya246   [Profile] [Recent] 

Recently I had the great fortune to meet Handa Mariko, President of the Parks and Recreation Foundation, at her office near Tokyo Tower. Sh....
10 Feb 9:03 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Apart from building magnificent castles, Japanese are also very good at landscaping and creating beautiful gardens. For Today’s Japan Phot....
9 Feb 9:38 am  from  alafista   [Profile] [Recent] 

Vending machines are everywhere in Tokyo: providing convenience, wasting energy, and masquerading as animate robots. I wonder if it was the....
30 Jan 9:08 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Old Tokyo neighborhoods like Zoushigaya are full of plant lovers who manage to create gardens where there is almost no space. This type of ....
29 Jan 9:02 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

My in-laws have been teaching ceramics in Tokyo for over 30 years. I recently helped them relaunch the website for their Shiho ceramic scho....
24 Jan 1:27 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

In 1485, Yoshimasa became a Zen Buddhist monk. After his death on January 27, 1490, the villa and gardens became a Buddhist temple comple....
24 Jan 12:01 pm  from  Alexandregervais   [Profile] [Recent] 

Tokyo’s mild winter is amazing. All these photos of winter flowers are from yesterday, January 20, 2010. Ranging from natural to forced, ....
21 Jan 12:08 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Japanese gardens are a living work of art in which the plants and trees are ever changing with the seasons. As they grow and mature, they....
19 Jan 8:38 am  from  Alexandregervais   [Profile] [Recent] 

Although I am now living in Tokyo, across the Pacific in San Francisco I have a public garden that extends onto the sidewalk. Last week I h....
17 Jan 11:33 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

On Thursday, the Imperial Palace hosted a formal New Year Poetry Reading, with this year’s theme being “light” (hikari). On this very....
16 Jan 10:55 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Hakusai first attemptEach subsequent attempt at growing hakusai (chinese cabbage) has ended up for the worse. The cabbages are splayed, in....
15 Jan 1:55 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

It was raining pretty bad on my second day in Tokyo but I managed to walk around Chiyoda-ku for about 4.5 hours before it got too cold.Thi....
14 Jan 10:36 am  from  Yonasu   [Profile] [Recent] 

The Huffington Post published the English version of my recent Newsweek Japan article. Entitled “Gardening for Strangers in Tokyo,” it ....
13 Jan 6:21 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Garden back in September A new sense of direction and purpose is what the garden needs (in addition to heaps more compost). The weather was ....
2 Jan 9:09 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

New Year’s Day in Tokyo, and there’s a bright blue sky and view of Mount Fuji from the balcony. The southern exposure and high floor ma....
1 Jan 11:14 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Ho Chi Minh City’s Park and Greenery Office reports a 50% loss of green space in the past 11 years. Blame is attributed to developers ig....
31 Dec 10:04 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Parsnips for Christmas Among the priority purchases whilst in England, were a couple of packs of parsnip seeds. Although it was way past the....
26 Dec 10:13 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

I have written on this research blog about vertical space being an underused resource in cities. Many walls could serve as gardens, habitat....
23 Dec 9:04 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Bright orange mushrooms contrast with a patch of green moss. ....
21 Dec 3:00 pm  from  The View from Japan   [Profile] [Recent] 

Reading about this weekend’s winter snowstorm in the US mid-Atlantic, I realize how mild and wonderful Tokyo winters are. December is the....
21 Dec 9:03 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

I have to say I’m quite a fan of these secret gardens you hear about, located on Tokyo rooftops. The one pictured above is not in Tokyo, ....
8 Dec 11:20 pm  from  Jeans Now   [Profile] [Recent] 

On a beautiful warm November day, I discovered Tokyo University’s Sanshiro-ike garden. I had a few moments before a meeting, and saw on t....
6 Dec 9:06 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent]