Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Nezu Museum


Hi Hi sisters ...... Sorry for the long absence and thank you for your interest in chanoyu. To see the finest in tea aesthetics, you can visit Tokyo Nezu Museum. It was founded by the industrialist and president of Tobu Railway, Nezu Kaichiro Sr. (1860-1940), an avid chanoyu practitioner. In addition to its world famous ancient Chinese bronzes, calligraphy, paintings; Nezu Museum houses a fine collection of tea aesthetics like thirteenth century Chinese celadon flower vases, Japanese Ashiya type tea kettles and Seto tea caddies and incense containers, to Korean ido tea bowls.

Situated in the chic Aoyama district where you can find international fashion names here. The architecture and interior design of these stores are attractions themselves.


Look at the bubble building of Prada, the interior is all white, modern and curved, wonder how it feels like to work in there all day? hip and dizzy?

Then, the Cartier building at the corner. Hehe, I think you have to show your bank book before entering, that explains why I only have a picture from the outside

The adorable Dior Boutique. Imagine Audrey Hepburn peeking through the window admiring the beautiful dresses inside @@

Nezu Museum was re-opened in Oct 2009 after major re-design by world famous architect Kuma Kengo. He tried to create an experience of wa - Japanese harmony in relation to its exhibits. The visitors are separated from the bustling commercial world by this high wall of bamboo and the soothing sound of dripping water.

The museum offers the latest in technology yet the feel is country and warm.
The many Chinese stone sculptures
Extensive use of glass bringing the beautiful Japanese garden in.
Since this used to be the private residence of Nezu san, it has an expansive Japanese garden with ponds and tea houses, even a Tori gate!
An old teahouse hidden up in the hill.
A boathouse in the pond. The rain was pouring so hard that day. Hehe, we were both standing on this narrow slippery bridge, me holding the umbrella so hubby could take this shot. A real collaborative effort :)
The winding creek in fall color
Another old teahouse with a moss covered stone lantern.
It was very dark by now and the museum was about to close. We got lost in the dark since the garden is so big and hilly, and covered with thick foliage. By the time we returned to the museum building, we were shivering and soaking wet (my poor new black suede boots!) but were very happy that we visited here :)

10 comments:

Yee said...

Wow, what an experience m'lady!!
You and your hubby sure are spending your time there very wisely, collecting all the precious memories of Japan .....
Thanks for sharing :)
Me .. have to go to Burma again on the 17th. Feb. Family thing again.

love,
Y.

gosijo said...

How lucky we are to have you share your discoveries with us! Kumawoyo, Jaime-san.

Your last picture in the fading light is particularly striking.

Hydee Pole Photography said...

Hello Jaime!
Thanks for sharing your experience.. I truly love Japanese gardens. So relaxing to look at.
Nevermind the shoes, the experience must be worth it. I'm working on wearing the right shoes for the right trip. If in doubt take two :-)
Love,
hyds

jaime said...

Hi Yee,

Thank you for reading. We do enjoy the experience. Have a safe trip home.

love ... jaime

jaime said...

Hi gosijo,

I am happy that you enjoy the pictures. It was so dark when hubby took the pictures, surprise that they actually look romantic :)

love .. .jaime

jaime said...

Hi Hyds,

Thanks for the advice. extra shoes, eh? yeah, it's really hard to walk on muddy hills in high heels boots :) You are right, I treasure spending the time with family in TOkyo.

love ... jaime

Yoko said...

Hi, Jamie

I was amazed at the beautiful photos you took. Those boutiques' buildings themselves are art.

To hear Nezu,first I thought it's located Nezu which has Nezu Shrine
I visited and enjoyed its local dances last summer. So there is a museum in Aoyama showing the collection and a garden of a mam called Nezu who loved chanoyu.


BTW I enjyoed reading and seeing your posting about "coming age". Though those young ladies are much younger and there are few things I can follow, I'm still interested in their coodination of kimono. I found there was a trend for this year. They wore traditional clothings but the pattan and hair style are new to me. The pastel color of kimono and no showing thier foreheads. They were as if characters coming out of the comic book.

There was one more interesting thing. I didn't know that it was common that any photographer could take photos of those ladies. Maybe it happened coz it's Tokyo, I think.

love Yoko

jaime said...

Dear yoko,

It's interesting that you mentioned Nezu Shrine. We actually visited there in the weekend! I enjoyed the tranquility very much.

Yeah, the young ladies have a very modern approach to kimono now. They turn it into a fashion, which I think it's the new generation's approach to continue the kimono tradition.

thanks for reading and your comment.
regards .... jaime

Al said...

Can you enter the garden without paying for the museum?

jaime said...

Hi al,

both the garden and cafe are behind the museum, so can;t enter separately. the admission to the museum is 1000yen. yeah, i heard a lot of tourists mentioned that the amount of exhibits in Japanese museums are not worth the admission price. i guess the reason is there are so many small museums here catering to a theme, the collection is quite specific.

If you like to visit Japanese gardens, I suggest going to the temples and shrines. Some of them are free but usually very crowded.