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Apr
11
2011
Getting off the island
The first thing I think you need when planning to leave Japan, going westwards, by ferry is to match up the schedules for the ferry with the long-distance onward train whether that be Trans-Mongolian / Manchurian / Siberian, Baikal-Amur Mainline etc. This is because the trains west of Moscow are much more frequent, and therefore more flexible. ＊＊＊ However, don’t forget that European tickets are cheaper the earlier you buy them so try to get …
Apr
10
2011
I’m heading off again, so join me for another jaunt across the world without planes or a great deal of cash, exploring alternative travel with fewer environmental impacts.
I realise that in 2007 I didn’t go into a lot of detail about one of the trickier parts of complicated journeys involving several train and boat schedules across many countries…
The Planning
Hopefully this section will be useful to anyone trying to figure out how to choose the best route out of Japan via ferry and on through Asia by train. Unlike the UK, where taking the eurostar is the most obvious, regular and …
Mar
22
2011
March looks to be the hardest month on Masanobu Fukuoka’s seasonal cycle, and so, taking carrots as a pivot, I fell back on a fusion dish, some o-nigiri – adaptable to any season – and which is surprisingly hard to learn how to make, finally a slight cheat with carrot and coriander soup.
Soba
I’m indebted to Abel & Cole, the organic veg box company I used to get seasonal organic veg from in the UK for this recipe. They sent out each box with a recipe that correlated to the ingredients inside, and I managed to grab a handful of these …
Feb
06
2011
A small zine exhibition / market / festival is happening on February 19th in Ichigaya featuring zine artists who were selected in the 2010 bi-monthly illustration competition run by the Japanese magazine “Illustration”.
View Larger Map
Venue: Yamawaki Gallery
Date: Saturday 19th February 2011
Time: 1pm ~ 5pm
Web: The Choice, annual exhibition
…
Feb
06
2011
Re-posting this from last year!
Leading on from my last post, here are 3 recipes for seasonal Japanese food in February. The end of winter, before new vegetables are ready to harvest, is not traditionally the high point of the food calendar. However, the following three are tasty and full of variety in these dark evenings under the kotatsu.
Kinpira Gobo
Ingredients
Japanese Name
Price in Feb
2-3 Large ‘Greater Burdocks’
ゴボウ
¥210
6 Medium Carrots
ニンジン
¥137
1 Dried Chilli
トウガラシ
…
Jan
20
2011
This is a local festival / market that happens twice a year selling old kimonos, antiques, bric-a-brac, curios and Japanese festival food like yakisoba, yakiniku, as well as mochi, broth and Korean chijimi etc. Its not very big but its right on my doorstep twice a year and attracts a huge crowd. It also has a long and interesting history. It apparently has its origins as far back as 1578 when the Daimyo of Odawara (close to Mt. Fuji and Hakone), Hojo Ujimasa, decided to enliven the post town of Setagaya, which lay between Odawara and Edo. He created a …
Jan
11
2011
The Shoto Art Museum, a medium sized, expensive looking, prime real-estate located art museum run under city management in Shibuya Ward holds varyingly successful exhibitions that escape many people’s attention owing to their publicity strategy (or lack of one).
The Japanese website is a single page with the same navigation and design as the rest of this otherwise city-council website and consequently it’s hard to tell whether they are advertising an art exhibition or warning you about earthquake procedures. The English website doesn’t publish any information on the current exhibition and it’s exhibitions haven’t been publicised on Tokyo Art Beat for …
Jan
01
2011
Yes I know what a dreary name for a post, tragically so much of the damage being inflicted on our planet’s ecosystems is incredibly dreary, mundane, offensively dull… so I’ll continue.
New Years is the traditional time of celebration in Japan, so unlike Christmas there is an order events to be observed.
On New Year’s Eve you begin with Ō-sōji (big cleaning) and go through the house cleaning down things that you don’t get a chance to clean during the rest of the year and prepare the house to start afresh. One of the things on my list of jobs was …
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About
On a Floating Bridge is a website with information about 3 topics,
and surprising intersections between them. Please subscribe to the RSS if you are interested in Japan, Environmental Issues and Art.
The bridges between them weave my life together here in Tokyo.
Below are photos mostly from Japan and my overland journey from Bristol to Tokyo, plane free. I don't update them that often.
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