Wabi Sabi

  Above is the self-portrait that Yatora created for the first round of the art school exam.      This anime followed a high school boy's (named Yatora) journey to becoming an art student. Initially, he felt as if he was floating through life aimlessly, simply doing well in school and completing tasks because it made things easier for him in the long run. One of his class mates makes him assist with cleaning up the art club room after school, and he falls in love an art piece made be a girl the year above him. He decides that he wants to go to art school and works ceaselessly to get into Tokyo University of the Arts, as it is the only art school he would be able to afford. The school has a huge number of applicants and accepts less than 10 students into the program Yatora wants to get into, so he works incredibly hard in hopes of achieving his new dream. The art in this anime was strikingly beautiful as well.      This anime is known as a seinen, meani...

  わたしは　にびき　の　いぬを　かって　います。そのちの　いつは　さんさいです、そして　そのちの　いつは　じゅいちさいです。どちら　も　しんせつです。ゴデンドウロルです。かれらは　さんぽに　いく　の　が　だいすきです。かれらは　たくさん　の　おもちゃを　もって　います。かれらわ　そうぞうしい、でも　かれあは　みんなを　あいした　いる。すきなばしょわ　ミシガンしゅ　ほくぶです。かれらは　わたしのきいり　の　かぞくです。

    わたしは　デトロイト　から　きました。ふるい　まち　です、そして　ゆうめい　です。ひとびとは　やさあひ　ですです、でも　ひとびとは　 ちょくせつ　です。とても　たかい　たてものです。まちは　きれいです、でも　まちは　すこし　ろきゅ　して　います。ふるさとが　だいすき。よく　いく、そして　わたしは　わたしの　 訪問を　たのしんで　います。

       After translating the lyrics I learned that the song is a cryptic tale of a journey into the countryside. The two people who are traveling are huddling together for warmth. They are in what いちこ　あぼあさん calls ししゃ　の　くに　(the country of dead). The song ends with the two dumping dead bodies into a ravine. The songs has an ironically upbeat sound, so I had no idea that the lyrics were so grim.      I was unable to understand the majority of the words, but I did recognize some of the vocabulary and sentence structures that we had learned. I also recognized the reverence for the dead and the lost that I have seen come up in other Japanese media that I've read, watched, listened to, or studied. 

           This is one of my favorite mini documentaries as Katsuya Terada, the man that the documentary is one of my favorite modern Japanese artists. It contains narration by Katsuya Terada talking about his drawing process and how he views life. The shot composition is beautiful as is his art. It says a lot about creative expression, and I watch it when I need some inspiration.     Most of his dialogue was hard to understand, but his translated speech was about some key elements of his design philosophy. His own artistic motives and tendencies align with some significant design philosophies of Japan, like extreme respect for and inspiration from nature as well as acceptance and praise of certain imperfections know as Wabi Sabi (the name of my blog)

はらやすみ　の　ま、わたしは　たくさん　ねました。 ニューヨークに　いきました、そして　わたしは　わたし　の　きょうだいを　みました。 わたしは　おいしい 　の　たべもの　を　たべました。 あに　の　バンド　で　おんがくを　えんそう　しました。 たくさん　の　いりょいりょうひんてん　に　いきました。 りょこうは　みじかいですが、でも　わたし　わ　たのしい　じかんを　すごした。

The scene above is a typical scene of the Terrace House cast      The show is a remarkably low key reality TV show. The show just shows the relatively simple and drama free lives of some young attractive people living in a large, luxurious home. The show was not my cup of tea, but I watched it at the suggestion of some of my friends.      I was able to make out a lot of simple conversations elements when the characters made small talk: things like asking about each other's days and plans, simple greetings, and conversational devices like     すみません　and　あのう.

 あさは　コーヒー　オ　食べます、そして　あさ　は　おちゃを　たべます。 わたしは　ぜんぜん　あさごはんを　たべます。 わたしは　としょかんに　べんきょうします。 わたしは     ヂニング　ハルで　食べます、でも　 キャンパス 　の　レストラン わたしは　たいてい　まよなか　すぎ　に　ねます。