Thursday, June 05, 2014

A day in the (research) life

 Changing trains at Shinjuku.

It's been a crazy few weeks around here. I finished another chapter draft (!), have been attending a string of lectures, am working on an upcoming research presentation, and have had a busy social calendar. Today was one of those days that makes research work more enjoyable- I got out and went to see some art. I headed out to the Fuchu City Museum for the morning to see the exhibition Modern Art of Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, and Changchun. The lovely museum is located out in the far-flung Musashino area of Tokyo- I had to take three trains and a bus to get there- but it was worth the trip. The exhibition featured works from the Bunten, a government-sponsored art exhibition which lasted from the early to mid twentieth century, and the later exhibitions in the Japanese colonies. Many of the works were lovely examples of modern painting; I especially enjoyed the architectural paintings and the images of women, as these seemingly expressed the most about the colonial era.
 
Entering the museum.
  
Museum lobby.
  
In the galleries.
  
The catalogue and flyer for the show.
  
After viewing the exhibition, I stopped for a quick lunch of seven vegetable soup and rice at Soup Stock Tokyo, a chain restaurant that is frequently found in train stations. It was perfect on this first day of rainy season.

Soupy.
  
Keio-sen back to central Tokyo.

After getting closer to home, I made a quick early afternoon stop for a latte, tiramisu, and some dissertation related reading.
  
Chocolate, coffee, and natural light make everything better.
  
Then it was back to the screen to work on my coming presentation for the remainder of the afternoon. 

 I should calculate how many hours a week I look at this screen.....

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