A Tradition of Excellence, Temples & Modernism

The city of Kyoto has a rich cultural history preserved in their temple architecture. This combined with their excellence in modern architecture shows a trend of attention to spatial quality and detail.

A Culture of Escape

Overall, Japanese society is uniform and homogenous, one that tends to repress outliers and promote hard work. This combined with their intensely polite and reserved social persona breeds the necessity for outlets to relieve mental stress. Although these releases tend to be extreme, they are so pervasive that they have become socially acceptable. This includes chain-smoking, heavy drinking and a large appetite for gambling, anime, and sexual fetishism. Pachinko is one such diversion, a form of gambling that heavily contrasts the Japanese personality - imagine a mixture of slots and video games, and then add in blaring sound effects and flashing lights capable of causing 2nd degree burns on your retinas.

The Art of Calligraphy

I am amazed by the degree of artistry that goes into every character. An art that has been hundreds of years in formation, seems to be as pervasive in Kyoto as are its temples. Japanese Calligraphy has truly evolved into its own art form, one that reflects the care and attention that’s ingrained into Japanese culture.

An Asian Summer

In an attempt to better understand Eastern life, culture, and architecture I’m spending the summer traveling the expanse of Southeast Asia, a part of the world that both fascinates and excites. While I'm in Hong Kong at the moment, I started the journey in Kyoto, Japan and made my way through Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai, amongst others.

Although I planned to start posting earlier, I recently encountered a setback with the Great Chinese Firewall. For some reason China seems to think that my blog could be harmful to their people and even weaken the grip of their regime, which is honestly quite flattering. Otherwise, besides the internet filtering and the occasional military escort, communism in China seems to be greatly diluted by a strong love for capitalism.