kazari special event

a note for japanophiles in melbourne (via ziguzagu):

an evening with the artist Evan Demas with Butoh performance by Yumi Umiumare has been specially organized for the NGV Artbeat members (younger group of NGV members) at Kazari Collector this Wednesday 3 June. With space still left we have been able to invite a small number of friends who may have a special interest.

$25 per head includes drinks, finger food, an informal talk with the artist and special intimate performance by Yumi Umiumare, Australia’s only Butoh dancer.

Please call 9510 2528 or info@kazari.com.au to RSVP 

Friends and partners are welcome.

Wednesday 6.30pm, 450 Malvern Rd, Prahran.

Evan Demas is a local installation artist and sculptor as well as an award winning Ikebana practitioner and recently assisted visiting Japanese Master Tetsunori Kawana construct the grand bamboo sculpture at the NGV. Click here for more info on Evan Demas

Visit Yumi Umiumare’s website here

hadaka no taisho horoki

paper collage hanabi by kiyoshi yamashita.

his story is heartbreaking and beautiful and i would like to find the documentary on his life, hadaka no taisho horoki.

in some ways this story reminds me of musician daniel johnson.

kiyoshi yamashita japanese site. images via asahi gallery.

momo's renkon burger

i am so very happy to post my second guest recipe, a delicious renkon burger recipe from kurashi arekore's momosan. renkon is lotus root, and you can buy it frozen in asian supermarkets, but momo said that fresh renkon is grown by local producers in nsw. i think we could also find it fresh down south here, if we investigated a little at farmers markets or asian grocers...please do see if you can find fresh (momo recommends only fresh!) and give the burgers a try - so delicious. the recipe is in downloadable PDF under the ii-ne-kore vegetarian japanese recipes on the left hand side there.

a very big thank you to momo. i think kurashi arekore blog is one of the most beautiful, lovely examples of 'murmurings about my life'.

ps - momo and friends visit wood spoon kitchen on smith street - a relatively new japanese place that i really want to get to soon. i like the sound of those corn butter parsley onigiri! and whilst we are on nice melbourne japanese places, kappaya cafe and lovely japanese wares store zakkaya as reviewed at the wonderful open blog are also absolute winners.

kappaya

wood spoon kitchen

patios of cordoba

if you remember the potted gardens of tokyo, maybe you will like the patios of cordoba? a lot more colour and brightness here perhaps than in tokyo pots, but for me a thrill of colour is a nice thing to see on a relatively bleak melbourne day.

the bbc produced 'around the world in 80 gardens' has been great to watch here on the abc. a wonderful episode on gardens of japan and china last week, and this week the mediterranean (including the courtyard gardens of cordoba). i really like the way monty the presenter maps the history and confluence of cultures over the beautiful gardens he shows.

these photos are from this flickr set.

artless

artless are a graphic design unit based in tokyo and lead by art director/designer shun kawakami. typography as art - so great. they blend monochrome graphics with bonsai, ikebana and calligraphy stylings in their art and also do loads of other projects like sound installations and most recently package design for issey miyake.

see this pingmag article for more.

a house named tofu

whatwedoissecret are wonderful. my favourite (japanese-focussed) architecture site.

this, i just could not resist to post as well. a house named tofu, say no more.

taichi abe @ keibunsha

taichi (actually i am not 100% sure of the reading of his first name - names are hard. please correct me if i am wrong!) abe's yakimono. the above picture is from the postcard series.

his yakimono is currently on show at the keibunsha gallery. 

and this is a beautiful japanese pottery blog.

friends' houses

oh my,  just got all excited to see ye rin mok's lovely photos of friends' houses via jeana sohn's blog. and very happy because i can tie it into japan a little, and hence a sneaky post:)

two of my current and ongoing mini-obsessions can be seen in the photos below:

macrame pot plant hangers (i have one from ebay in my living room, and i have the 70s how-to books, now i just need the rope and some knotting skills...)

that plant. the one that grows really well just bare roots in water, and in poor light. so it is often in offices here. i plundered my office plants of many stems and cuttings and now have them growing at home. and no one i know can agree on the name...

and the link to japan? the plants aside, it is the tenugui in the kitchen photo - i have the very same one. i got it from efish last time i was in kyoto. so great! i think ye rin mok is wonderful. 

an award!

big thanks hello sandwich for making ii-ne-kore part of the loveology awards! here are some blogs that i really enjoy and that have been meaning to pay homage to for a little while now. so i say hear hear to all that ebony mentioned, and...

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

(sorry, my fonts are all up the creek here, and am unable to fix them)

above 1st picture: at-swim-two-birds on building blocks

above 2nd picture (via +): sanne on junya ishigami

below 1st picture: #320 lovedphotographs.blogspot.com/

below 2nd picture: jollygoo's framed photography

post on truck furniture by uneenvie

it's all in the name (via +): anambitiousprojectcollapsing.blogspot.com/

japan in french: utchinomawali.blogspot.com

tumblr streams (via +, again!): pootee.tumblr.com/search/kumi

melbourne via paris: marie-ici.blogspot.com/

poetics in nature: jospittler.blogspot.com/

a month of creation: love-you-big.blogspot.com/

words and pictures: thehouseofmilk.blogspot.com/

melbourne all over: signsaysopen.blogspot.com/

my favourite quote (and a great applique cat jumper) 'i always feel intimidated around young hip kids. they sure wear great flats though. ha':jeanasohn.blogspot.com/

a very special guest recipe coming soon on ii-ne-kore: kurashi-arekore.blogspot.com/

and finally, i really want to make the chickpea salad on pia jane bijkerk's post, almost vegetarian

and a special extra mention, this flower artist looks very interesting, via spoon-tamago

paper love

papier laboです。

and the papier labo blog, it is wonderful. art of paper. letterpress, font and typography heaven. (this is where i found community garden zine.)

and as a strong believer in animal rights, i like this papier labo postcard collaboration with mike mills' 'humans' project. that link also has a nice summary of who papier labo are. and mike mills is just incredibly great all round.

and 8tokyo has some photos of inside their sendagaya shop.