A sad story from San Francisco about a merchant group opposing the redesign of a historic public space leading to a central transit station....
12 Mar 9:10 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

At the entrance to a public elementary school near our apartment is an enormous tree that I frequently pass by. On the other side of the en....
9 Mar 6:14 pm  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

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] 

I recently read Azby Brown’s book, Just Enough: Lessons in Living Green from Traditional Japan. Brown is an architect, professor, author,....
23 Feb 9:02 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

On the pedestrian path leading to the JR station, this plum tree began blooming last month and is still gorgeous. The tree is planted in so....
22 Feb 9:04 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

Amazing animations showing how smart growth can improve streetscapes across America by adding greenery, slowing auto traffic, and applying ....
13 Feb 9:04 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

This old sign for a shoe shop, offering repair and shoe-making, adds to the neighborly feel of Zoushigaya and the sense of long-time reside....
31 Jan 9:03 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] 

On our walk through Zoushigaya, we came across this mature yuzu tree, growing in the small space between the street and a residence. Yuzu i....
28 Jan 9:07 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

My friend Eri, a pianist and music teacher, invited me to go for a walk near her college in Zoushigaya. I wasn’t sure what to expect sinc....
27 Jan 9:03 am  from     [Profile] [Recent] 

The continuous flow of people in Tokyo’s largest stations (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Station, and Shinagawa) is a sensory overload of ....
23 Jan 12:53 am  from     [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] 

Portland, Oregon is redesigning its streetscapes to create hundreds of new sidewalk plantings that capture stormwater runoff. As you can se....
18 Jan 9:58 am  from     [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] 

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] 

Walking on a small street in Hiroo, in central Tokyo, we heard a strange noise and saw some people staring at a persimmon tree. On closer e....
22 Dec 9:01 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Many Tokyo train stations, and particularly Shinjuku station, are magnets for street musicians. Although not a “green space” in terms o....
20 Dec 9:04 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Leaving Nodai one December day, I was struck by the bright yellow color of this ginko tree, and how it dwarfs the small street. This is the....
18 Dec 11:06 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

This is a close-up of a small tree that has survived the disintegration of its styrofoam planter box and rooted itself into the ground. It ....
7 Dec 9:04 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

Less famous than spring cherry blossom viewing or fall maple viewing, the Aoyama ginkos draw a crowd to see the gorgeous double allée of g....
5 Dec 10:43 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

The Huffington Post published my article entitled “Biodiversity Remakes Tokyo.” I will become a regular blogger, so if you like the art....
3 Dec 11:35 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

My artist and product design friend Pierre Alex, whom I blogged about earlier, created this funny “anti-design” video about Tokyo’s mo....
3 Dec 9:12 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

I am not a big fan of the artificial tree or of Christmas. But Japanese love holidays, imported and national. I wonder whether the stations....
2 Dec 12:05 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

In front of Shinjuku’s Opera City, a high rise office tower with cultural facilities including theaters and a museum, four levels of sta....
23 Nov 9:12 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

I visited Odakyu’s Agris Seijo rental farm in Seijogakuenmae in Setagaya and was prepared to be charmed by a community vegetable farm bui....
22 Nov 10:54 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

The weather is turning very cold in Tokyo, the leaves are turning color and fall camelias are now in bloom. This bright pink “sazanka” ....
20 Nov 8:35 pm  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent] 

For an American, it is shocking to see how frequently all the Japanese transit lines advertise the lovely, and often seasonal places, they ....
19 Nov 9:01 am  from  Tokyo Green Space   [Profile] [Recent]