{"id":836,"date":"2008-06-13T11:20:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-13T02:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-06-13\/836"},"modified":"2008-06-13T11:20:00","modified_gmt":"2008-06-13T02:20:00","slug":"kanazawa-station-modern-interpretation-of-traditional-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-06-13\/836","title":{"rendered":"Kanazawa Station: Modern Interpretation of Traditional Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 31 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nKanazawa Station<\/span>\nthe quintessential shot that everyone gets\n( but it requires good timing, because you have to stand in the middle of a large<\/span> intersection<\/a> to do so )<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Last March, Fumie and I traveled to the city of Kanazawa to see Kousuke Atari<\/a> in concert, and while\nphotography is not allowed during the concert, Japan always offers plenty\nto enjoy in that respect. I've already posted about Kanazawa's Kenrokuen Gardens<\/a>, and\nsome hotel-lobby wedding-party shots<\/a> I took.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Today, I'll post about the geometrically-rich entrance atrium of Kanazawa's JR (Japan Railway) station, one scene from which\nwas the lead photo of my embarrassment of riches<\/a> post some time ago.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nModern Traditional<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The main feature when viewed from the front is a strongly<\/span> modern\n(postmodern?) interpretation of a traditional<\/span> Shinto shrine gate. Compare\nto the gate at the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima (here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>), or to the more\nrecent (decidedly modern at only ~80 years old) gate at the Heian Shrine (here<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 22 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 125 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nMassive Leg<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Reading now on Wikipedia, I see that<\/span> this gate is referred to as the\n“Drum Gate”, since each leg looks like a kotsuzumi<\/a> drum (one whose\nheads are bound with cords that can be squeezed to change the pitch as one\nplays, as can be seen in this recent post about Noh\nTheater<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

Between the gate and the building proper is a huge<\/span> glass-covered atrium\n(that's actually covered by some kind of plastic, if the wonky effect it\nhad on my camera's polarizing filter is to be understood).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nAtrium Enclosure<\/span>\nmakes me want a wider angle lens\n<\/div>\n\n

Within the atrium – called the “Hospitality Dome” in Japanese\n– is a little<\/span> stream, benches, etc., all in a style<\/span> that mixes\n“modern” and “comfortable” in a way<\/span> I would<\/span> not have thought possible. I\ndon't<\/span> care for “modern” architecture, and even less so for “modern art”,\nbut this was a very<\/span> enjoyable space, both visually and in general ambiance.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 55 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nthese guys appear to be\nOld Friends<\/span>\nIt wouldn't surprise me in the least if they all used to be station security guards together, and the guy sitting has retired but still comes to visit for hours on end.<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n“River”<\/span>\nI bet kids play in here a lot\n<\/div>\n\n

The little “river” flows from just behind the gate, past a bunch<\/span> of\nbenches, under a walkway,<\/span> then flows over a waterfall<\/span> down to a pool<\/span> two\nlevels below ground.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 17 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/3.2, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nFlow<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

In this respect – art and architecture meshing on multiple levels\n– Kanazawa Station is somewhat similar to Kyoto Station<\/a>. Kyoto\nStation is much<\/i> larger on every scale, and much more fun to explore,\nbut I've got to say that the esthetic sense of Kanazawa Station –\npresenting “old” in a new<\/span> but somehow familiar and unified way – was\nreally nice.<\/p>\n\n

In the first two shots of this post, you perhaps noticed that the clock\nsmack center in the front of the station is the answer to the What Am I?<\/a> quiz from last\nweek. Here's a closer<\/span> view...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 @ 26 mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 125 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nClock<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The same display was on either side, so it also faced the atrium\/station\nas well. Sometimes the time was replaced with the temperature or a message,<\/span>\nso perhaps the answer to the quiz is really “message board”. I would<\/span> have\naccepted “clock”, but no one even came close, so this week's bevy of\nfabulous prizes go unawarded.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>5000 sec, f<\/span>\/1.8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n“Welcome to Kanazawa”<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last March, Fumie and I traveled to the city of Kanazawa to see Kousuke Atari in concert, and while photography is not allowed during the concert, Japan always offers plenty to enjoy in that respect. I've already posted about Kanazawa's Kenrokuen Gardens, and some hotel-lobby wedding-party shots I took.<\/p>

Today, I'll post about the geometrically-rich entrance atrium of Kanazawa's JR (Japan Railway) station, one scene from which was the lead photo of my embarrassment of riches post some time ago.<\/p>

The main feature when viewed from the front is a strongly modern (postmodern?) interpretation of a traditional Shinto shrine gate. [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}