NHK Drama "RYOMA-DEN 龍馬伝"

Currently running NHK's taiga drama series 2010! 大河ドラマ (taiga drama) is a weekly historical series, which is broadcasted on NHK one whole year long. One story each year. It's a fiction but try to produce as close as possible to the historical reality facts. 

"RYOMA-DEN" is based on a true legacy figure SAKAMOTO RYOMA (by Masaharu Fukuyama), who is also the father of the modern Imperial Japanese Navy.  

the drama image.... & ... the real image...

1983 "I am no brand." by MUJI 無地

The depth of Little Is Loud, Non-Existing Is Existing comes from the ideology of Zen. MUJI is exactly one of the product from such ideology:

~ Select quality material, eliminating procedures and simplify packaging ~ 3 core ideas reflected by MUJI from the miserable consciousness of japanese in the 80's. In the depressing bubble economy period, MUJI provided products to salary-man, inspiring the hope in life.

This stressful salary-man is taking a break from work. He thinks: "Come to think about it, the nature is generic.. including me.", "I should live on with NO BRAND. I don't need company name. I don't need department name. I don't need to be in a category. I can live as non-existence." 

Get it? It's a japanese philosophy... 

中野正貴 Masataka NAKANO

Masataka Nakano's TOKYO NOBODY is one of my favourite. He spent 20 years time to shoot Tokyo street scenes and managed it without anyone in the photo! A single precious moment of peace, without any of the 12.8million people in the photo. Not easy at all.

The Stumbling Blocks

"Here lived Alfred Neumann. Born 1912. Deported Auschwitz. Murdered 30.1.1943."

Often, one would see these little shining pieces of brass plaques being embedded in front of a residence in Hamburg. They are called "Stolpersteine". I was shocked when I found out that they are names of victims of Nazi Holocaust lived in that particular residence. And even more astonished to know that it was all done by an artist, Gunter Demnig, alone himself! Enormous energy and determinations must have extorted out of him. Further reads..

These 8 plaques lies next building to mine..

Alter Steinweg

Let's start off with where I am living, "Alter Steinweg", which means Old Stone-path. Named in the 17 Century. The old stone path was already been paved in the year 1386 and is said the first streets of Hamburg. Amused to have found this photo taken between 1900-1905. People bustled about "Alter Steinweg", at that time the main shopping area in town. And trams! of which its network was shut down in 1978.

How it looks today with the preserved stone path. Some buildings destroyed during the World War II bomb and were replaced with 70's style buildings. We are living in a 250 years old building which used to be Ministry of Economics and Labour.. very low ceiling.