Autumn (Tokyo Studio)

hakuro7of15

[click on image to play]

Another stand of Suzuki, but this time it is one amongst several growing in the cracks between the stones of the railway track embankment at Takadanobaba station. The plants happily sway along with the sounds of the trains and the tunes of the station. Every railway station in Tokyo has its own musical phrases aurally informing the passengers of the current station. Gail Priest, who made an audio work (featuring Takadanobaba in one chapter) for the current exhibition at Tokyo Wonder Site, told me that Takadanobaba station plays the theme song of Mighty Atom (aka Astro Boy). Looking further into this, it turns out that Osamu Tezuka chose Takadanobaba as the location of the Science ministry where Might Atom was created (on April 23, 2003).

Along the back streets of the station around 14 Chome are some more discrete banners of Mighty Atom and other Osamu Tezuka characters. There are also some unexpected finds of the garden variety. Like the proud field of blooming flowers outside a modest residential house. And almost diagonally opposite is an extremely well-organised and productive vegetable garden. The climbing beans at the front are almost finished, but the corns are looking fit and ready. The grape/ cherry tomatoes vines are heavy with ripe sweet fruits, and the curbits are gathering force. Whose amazing work is this? Is this a communal garden? Or perhaps someone being very opportunistic on an empty plot of land waiting to be sold?