Marie Maruyama – No. 4

Here’s one of my favorite graduation works at the National Art Center last week, from the hands of Marie Maruyama (丸山麻莉枝) of the Japan Women’s Art University (日本女子美術大学), a series of what looks like cyborg animals but simple titled “No.4″. When I was young I was an avid reader of the cyberpunk sub-genre of Science Fiction, and I would have adored these back then! A ferret, a rabbit, a dog and mouse in a series of mix media sculptures. Well done Ms. Maruyama!

Parade of Kimono – University Graduation

In March, the traditional month for all university graduations in Japan, I happened to be in Tokyo’s Kudanshita district, just near the Budokan in the Kitamaru Koen. This was the big day for all students at Nihon Daigaku, the biggest university in Tokyo and in Japan with almost 70 000 undergraduate students. The graduation ceremony had ended and hundreds of the most wonderfully dressed young women paraded past me, of course I had to snap a few photos! The traditional graduation dress of women in Japan consist of the kimono over which a hakama is worn, the trouser like skirt also often worn by martial artists. It’s a gorgeous combination! To this form of kimono, it is common to wear boots of the 1920′s era rather than the more traditional sandals.