Bu dünya içinde kalıp başka bir gezegene mi seyahat etmek istiyorsunuz? Japonya’ya gidebilirsiniz. Aslında baktığınızda modern, gelişmiş, teknolojide öncü ama geleneklerine bağlı bir Asya ülkesi olarak size anlaşılır gelebilir ama her şey detaylarda gizli. Japonya’da kalacağınız birkaç günde oturduğunuz kafedeki tuzluktan sokaktan aldığınız kestane paketine, metroda kapıyı açmakla görevli devlet görevlisinden kadar her şeye dikkat edin; vazgeçilmez bir estetik duyarlılık, kusursuzluk...

Didem Doğan

Do you want to stay on earth but travel to a different planet? You can go to Japan! From the outside it may look like a technologically advanced, rich, modern but traditional Asian country, but everything is hidden in the details. When you are there pay attention to every thing you see, you will then realise that from the salt on the table to the chestnut package you buy on the street everything is in an aesthetic harmony; from the gate keeper on the subway to the cleaner every one moves with...

Didem Doğan

The most interesting and inspiring experience in Singapore has been the visit to these two museums. The Arts and Science Museum is the building with the shape of a white lotus flower looking at the sky, it’s situated by the river as an annex to Marina Bay Shopping Complex and can be reached by metro (exit Marina Bay). It houses exhibitions with specific themes: future, technology, science. When I’m visiting the Museum I have the chance to watch ‘Tourists & Spectres’, a short movie made by...

Didem Doğan

Most of you must have heard of the famous speed trains of Japan, those which approach the station like space ships. They are called Shinkansen, the speed trains which travel the around 450 kilometres between Tokyo and Kyoto in 2 to 2.5 hours. These trains which actually operate between Tokyo and Osaka stop in Kyoto. The tickets are hardly cheap, and you pay a lot more if you book a seat but if you don’t just as I didn’t, you can easily find a seat because they depart in every ten minutes....

Didem Doğan

This is a great route; the street extends in a straight line and October here is the month jacaranda trees bloom in purple, month that smells like the warm pre-summer happiness. And this route goes through the Soho neighbourhood that has the most elite and cleanest streets and villas, the inside of which one can only imagine.The Japanese Garden is a replica of those gardens in Japan that has no single unpleasant feature. On the morning that started off with a Japanese Garden tour, you will...

Didem Doğan

Paulista caddesi üzerinde ziyaret edebileceğiniz peş peşe birkaç mekan: Japon Evi Paulista 52’de bulunan Japon kültürünü tanıtma amacıyla hizmet veren bir kültür sanat mekanı. Dış cephesi ahşap bir platformla kaplı, hemen arkasındaki binanın tamamını kaplayan graffitide Oscar Niemeyer’ın yüzü bize bakıyor. Japon Evi’nde aromalar ve tatlar isimli bir sergiyi geziyoruz. Maki Ueda sakuraların, ilkbaharda açan kiraz ağaçlarının açtığı mevsimde dört farklı kokuyu minik cam tüplerin içinde bir...

Didem Doğan

A couple of public culture and art spaces on Paulista Avenue. We start by the Japan Houselocated on Paulista 52, an art space to promote the Japanese culture (the second biggest Japanese community outside Japan lives in São Paulo). The exterior front is covered with a wooden platform, the building just behind it is covered with a graffiti of Niemeyer’s face. During our visit the exhibition of ‘Aromas and Tastes’ includes Japanese plastic artist Maki Ueda’s work where she hangs little glass...

Didem Doğan

Yolculuk da bir yol mudur? Anı yakalamanın bir yolu olarak Haiku ustası Matsuo Basho’ya göre evet.“Günler ve aylar sonsuzluğun gezginleri, gelip geçen seneler gibi. Hayatlarını teknelerin üzerinde geçirenler, ya da geç yaşını hala atının yularını tutmuş yürüyenlerin yaşamları yolculuktur, yolculukları evleridir. Ve çoğu yaşamlarının sonu ile yolda karşılaşırlar.” Matsuo Basho’nun “Dar yoldan Derin Kuzey’e” adlı 17. yüzyıl Japonya’sında yaptığı yolculukları anlattığı seyahat günlüğü böyle...

Didem Doğan

Is journey one of the ways? For Matsuo Basho, the master of Haiku as a form of capturing the moment, it is.“The days and months are travellers of eternity, just like the years that come and go. For those who pass their lives afloat on boats, or face old age leading horses tight by the bridle, their journeying is life, their journeying is home. And many are the man of old who met their end upon the road.” thus begins the travel diaries of Matsuo Basho in “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”,...

Didem Doğan

The tallest pine trees I've ever seen in my life. The black roofs of the temples that appear as you walk into the forest are lined up one after another on the slopes of the mountains. The visual effect created by the temples integrated with the nature pattern around them, huge trees, and the sound of flowing waters magically engulfs me.Nikko is a wonderfully beautiful place located in the Tochigi region northeast of Tokyo, which you can reach with a two-hour train ride. Although most visitors...

Didem Doğan