…when noriko wakes me up by raising the blinds and getting up, i assume it’s some reasonable getting-up hour. like surely post-6am. i turn on my phone. it’s 4:30am. DAMMIT, NORIKO!!! WHY?? she returns and gets back in bed. seems she just had to go to the bathroom. but now i am unable to get back to sleep. at 6am, i finally give up and turn on the phone to chat with folks in the states, where it is early evening.
once i’m up and moving, the plan for the day is simple: visit the borderless installation in odaiba (which apparently nas and swizz beatz beat me to). it takes three train lines (two transfers) to get to odaiba, which is home to an awesome ferris wheel that i bet gives you an amazing view of tokyo. too bad i’ll never be able to verify that. i enjoy ferris wheels from a ground-based photography standpoint only. behold:
so kawaii desu!
the route to the exhibit is easy peasy and passes me through some kind of toyota motors museum and showroom that people apparently come to visit. at the exhibit, i stash my stuff in a locker so i can partake fully in the climbing and jumping and what-have-you that is on offer. there are plenty of other attendees but no wait on this random thursday, as anticipated, so after a brief spiel, the doors are opened, and my group is let in…
:::WORMHOLE:::
how long was i in there? i am dazed, tired, and cranky when i finally see myself out. first, the bad:
- that’s gotta be the biggest insurance nightmare this side of the far east. it’s black dark in there, there’s a lot of plate glass and mirrors to walk into, many areas include faux rocky landscapes covered in the same velvet-y material as the wall installations (which is to say, if you’re not in sneakers, like i wasn’t, you will slide, like i did), and then they add physical activities like swing-y paths to traverse and close-together poles with lights on them to climb. you can’t tell me somebody doesn’t get injured in there EVERY DAY. there were a couple times i saw japanese paramedics flash before my eyes and thought, “if they knew how old i was, they would not be letting me do this shit. i could break a damn hip!”
- other than occasional arrows to get you to the upstairs “athletic” area, there are no directions. and the exhibit is purposely designed to wend you about through meandering interconnected spaces filled with detours and mirrors. inconspicuous unlabeled doorways with gauzy curtains lead to what often feel like entirely different worlds and then shoot you out a different exit into another dark passage, completely disabling any shot at orienting yourself in the place. there is no map and no signage. okay, i get it–they want folks to explore. but i paid like $30 for this, and even after all the time i spent, i still missed a thing or three because i just couldn’t find it all. it took me, like, six frustrating laps before i could find my way back down from the second floor. not to mention how much guidance i had to solicit to find the damn floating lanterns display, which was the final thing i wanted to see. i was NOT leaving without seeing those damn lanterns. i felt like i had been dropped off in the desert with no compass or supplies. during the lantern search, i accidentally found the “memory of topography” exhibit, a sea of waist-high disks on stalks all emblazoned in lovely projected images and waving about you like a field of flowers as you traverse them. i stalked through it like it was a parking lot. by the time i found the lanterns, i was emaciated and broken. i gazed upon them with the worn wonder of a man in a desert dying beneath a miraculous meteor shower. x__x
- and finally, this is a general tokyo complaint more so than a museum-specific one, but: why is it that, of the 999,999 vending machines that dot the landscape here–from street corners to subway stations to this museum–not ONE has A SINGLE CRUMB of food in it??? after
seeminglyactual hours of wandering lost in the borderless space, i was famished. i did find a couple of lounge areas, but, as per usual, the vending machines ONLY offered beverages. gaaahhh!!
okay. now for the good:
i found the “crystal forest” exhibit pretty early on, and i could have happily sat in there for hours. it was gorgeous, transporting, and kept offering something new and unexpected. it was definitely my favorite part. here’s some video i took: click for video! wow!- the “forest of resonating lamps” was obviously stunning to see and experience. it’s very popular. one has to wait in line to be let in in groups of, like, 20, and you only get to spend about five minutes. i suppose, if you weren’t a shell of the person you had been before entering the building, you could just go through the line again if you wanted to go back in. any-hoo, here are a few pics:
- there was a room in the kiddie area where hordes of little walking elves, maybe three inches in height, were projected on the walls and tables. there were other things in their environment, too…little ladders, butterflies, cows, bouncing smiley-face balls…and all of it would react to you. put your hand on the wall or table, and balls would bounce off of you, elves would run up your hand, cows would bump into you. magnetic shapes on the walls–houses, trees, clouds–would leave an imprint of light where placed, and these, too, would interact with the projections. it was really delightful. i’d have stayed to play longer had i a child decoy to use.
- and my final favorite part was also in the children’s zone. there was an area with white papers that had outlines of butterflies, lizards, frogs, and birds. you could kneel at the low tables and color these with crayons so deliciously rich in pigment and texture that i wanted to shove a handful into my pocket. (i didn’t.) when you finished, you would deliver your drawing to be scanned, and what you drew would be actualized–a new creature added to the “borderless world.” i handed my page in and walked away, thinking that it was being added to the long queue of other creatures to be generated and would go on to live out its life without my ever seeing it. the girl at the scanner called me back and executed the oh-so-elegant japanese “this way” gesture toward the floor. 😮 …there was my little butterfly! flapping its wings, leaving a wake of colorful dust behind it from the effort. 😮 “very pretty,” the girl said, watching my butterfly, which i had drawn small and dainty rather than filling in the huge wing allowance granted on the page, “kawaii.” i was enraptured! i wanted to shove aside the people casting shadows over my little one’s focused progress across the floor. she really was lovely, her colors vibrant against the darkness that consumed the rest of us. i followed her for the full less-than-a-minute span of her brief wondrous life. and then…well, it’s too soon to talk about it. see for yourself: click for video… 😦
after it was all said and done, i crawled, in weakened desperation, into the Wendy’s First Kitchen that was the only eatery in sight. (who knew Wendy’s comes from Japan?) i passed on the spaghetti (!) and alcohol (!!) they had on offer and opted for nuggets and fries so, if nothing else, i could compare them to these same items in the states. both were meh, so at least they’re keeping the brand consistent.
my greedy ass stopped in the subway station’s NewDays, too, and used my Pasmo to buy another of this AMAZING pre-packaged chocolate-chip pastry they sell. they even had a microwave, so i heated it up and then proceeded to commit a cultural infraction: i walked to my train eating. it didn’t dawn on me that this is frowned upon until i had gotten all the way to the platform. hell…that’s two known infractions now (i stepped onto the dressing room platform in shoes yesterday). on some level, i felt like a third infraction might find me ejected so i made a note to be more vigilant going forward.
the greed i exhibited came home to roost when i reached my final train stop. i tried to tap out with my Pasmo at the exit, and the gates slammed closed ahead of me. INSUFFICIENT FARE flashed in red on the screen. crap. i walked back into the station and found no card machine like the one i had bought the Pasmo from in the first place. on inquiry in a ticket office, i was directed to the Fare Adjustment machines. it took a little doing, but i figured out how to deposit the shortage and get my card cleared. back in business–and a good lesson learned.
i stopped on the way home to get food and a Red Bull. i was DETERMINED to stay up late enough to sleep a full night this go ’round…
…TO BE CONTINUED…
borderless babies
One Month in . . . 