Asia, Day 16 | Japan, Day 8 + Epilogue
Oct. 19th, 2023 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sen_no_ongakuOur last full day in Japan starts with a visit to teamLab Planets, an interactive art installation. It's divided into two sections, "Water" and "Garden", and we're asked to take off our shoes and socks, since in the first section we'll literally be wading through ankle- to knee-deep water.
We begin by walking up a narrow, inclined, dimly lit corridor with water flowing downwards, which culminates in a column of water being lit from above, and it feels like a passage into another realm.
After the column of water is "The Infinite Crystal Universe", a mirror maze of dangling fiberglass rods lit from within by LEDs, with constantly changing patterns accompanied by ambient music. It's a dizzying, awesome experience, and it honestly feels kinda like being in somebody else's brain. G and J are a little overwhelmed, and so they try to hurry through and somehow end up (with E) in something of a secret room.
(Earlier that day I discovered the iPhone's ability to take panoramic photos, and I'm particularly pleased by the ones I took here.)
Next is "Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People", which is a room filled with cloudy water, on top of which koi are projected -- and when the koi bump into a person, they would burst into flowers and petals.
From there we enter what we call the "Katamari Room", filled with big inflated balls (like, maybe four feet in diameter), and lit with intensely colored, constantly shifting lighting. J & G have a blast rolling the balls around, darting in between them, and hiding, and I take a couple more panoramic photos.
The final exhibit in "Water" is a dome-shaped room with projections of flora dancing on the ceiling at dizzying speed. I lay down on the floor in the center and just stare up for a while to let it wash over me. (It reminds me of a similar piece at Artechouse in Washington, D.C.)
From there we proceed to the "Garden", the first part of which is a moss-covered landscape littered with metallic, ovoid objects, which we are encouraged to "gently push". It's charming, but it's not as transcendent as some of the parts of "Water".
Last is the "Floating Flower Garden", another mirror maze akin to "The Infinite Crystal Universe", only with walls of orchids hung from above that slowly bob up and down. It's quite peaceful and meditative. (I take one more panorama.)
The whole experience is stunning, one of the highlights of the trip, and we cap it off by having marvelous vegan ramen in their (very trippy) noodle space, where it's dark enough that the food comes with a small lamp.
After our standard early afternoon rest, we take a visit to AkeruE, an interactive science exhibit at the Panasonic Center. The main lobby has an activity where kids can color in a vehicle, which then gets scanned and turned into a 3-D model in a little racing game. AkeruE itself has large collection of neat little exhibits, including a small self-contained ecosystem, a painting that slowly shifts colors, a ferrofluid "sculpture", and a series of little robots that pass ping-ping balls in a circle.
It's a nice contrast to the profound assault on the senses of TeamLab, a gentle collection of small delights.
We have a pleasant dinner back at the hotel, and pack for our flight home.
__
On the day we fly out, once we get to the airport, E starts to experience...respiratory symptoms...and decides to mask up. We have a direct flight from Tokyo to Boston which will, thanks to dateline shenanigans, depart on Wednesday at 6:30pm, and arrive on Wednesday at 6:30pm. I spend much of the flight watching Tom Cruise movies, and I must report that Edge of Tomorrow is quite enjoyable, especially if you take pleasure in seeing Mr. Cruise die gruesomely and often.
BIL picks us up at Logan, and as soon as E gets home she tests herself for COVID, and is unambiguously positive (though somehow the rest of us escape unscathed.) Thankfully the worst of it for her clears up in a week and change, though it's rough to deal with as we're also recovering from jet lag that is as bad as it can get.
As soon as we can, we throw a slideshow party for friends, and share many of the treats we brought back from Asia, accompanied by a narration of our trip. It's a lovely capstone to an amazing few weeks.
We begin by walking up a narrow, inclined, dimly lit corridor with water flowing downwards, which culminates in a column of water being lit from above, and it feels like a passage into another realm.
After the column of water is "The Infinite Crystal Universe", a mirror maze of dangling fiberglass rods lit from within by LEDs, with constantly changing patterns accompanied by ambient music. It's a dizzying, awesome experience, and it honestly feels kinda like being in somebody else's brain. G and J are a little overwhelmed, and so they try to hurry through and somehow end up (with E) in something of a secret room.
(Earlier that day I discovered the iPhone's ability to take panoramic photos, and I'm particularly pleased by the ones I took here.)
Next is "Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People", which is a room filled with cloudy water, on top of which koi are projected -- and when the koi bump into a person, they would burst into flowers and petals.
From there we enter what we call the "Katamari Room", filled with big inflated balls (like, maybe four feet in diameter), and lit with intensely colored, constantly shifting lighting. J & G have a blast rolling the balls around, darting in between them, and hiding, and I take a couple more panoramic photos.
The final exhibit in "Water" is a dome-shaped room with projections of flora dancing on the ceiling at dizzying speed. I lay down on the floor in the center and just stare up for a while to let it wash over me. (It reminds me of a similar piece at Artechouse in Washington, D.C.)
From there we proceed to the "Garden", the first part of which is a moss-covered landscape littered with metallic, ovoid objects, which we are encouraged to "gently push". It's charming, but it's not as transcendent as some of the parts of "Water".
Last is the "Floating Flower Garden", another mirror maze akin to "The Infinite Crystal Universe", only with walls of orchids hung from above that slowly bob up and down. It's quite peaceful and meditative. (I take one more panorama.)
The whole experience is stunning, one of the highlights of the trip, and we cap it off by having marvelous vegan ramen in their (very trippy) noodle space, where it's dark enough that the food comes with a small lamp.
After our standard early afternoon rest, we take a visit to AkeruE, an interactive science exhibit at the Panasonic Center. The main lobby has an activity where kids can color in a vehicle, which then gets scanned and turned into a 3-D model in a little racing game. AkeruE itself has large collection of neat little exhibits, including a small self-contained ecosystem, a painting that slowly shifts colors, a ferrofluid "sculpture", and a series of little robots that pass ping-ping balls in a circle.
It's a nice contrast to the profound assault on the senses of TeamLab, a gentle collection of small delights.
We have a pleasant dinner back at the hotel, and pack for our flight home.
__
On the day we fly out, once we get to the airport, E starts to experience...respiratory symptoms...and decides to mask up. We have a direct flight from Tokyo to Boston which will, thanks to dateline shenanigans, depart on Wednesday at 6:30pm, and arrive on Wednesday at 6:30pm. I spend much of the flight watching Tom Cruise movies, and I must report that Edge of Tomorrow is quite enjoyable, especially if you take pleasure in seeing Mr. Cruise die gruesomely and often.
BIL picks us up at Logan, and as soon as E gets home she tests herself for COVID, and is unambiguously positive (though somehow the rest of us escape unscathed.) Thankfully the worst of it for her clears up in a week and change, though it's rough to deal with as we're also recovering from jet lag that is as bad as it can get.
As soon as we can, we throw a slideshow party for friends, and share many of the treats we brought back from Asia, accompanied by a narration of our trip. It's a lovely capstone to an amazing few weeks.
