I went to visit the Meiji Gingu Shrine and its inner garden - Meiji Gingu Naiden.

Every time i go to japan i try squeeze in a visit to a traditional japanese shrine and garden as i love the atmosphere there. Timingly they were having a public wedding through the shrine area which was very interesting to watch. They also had a limited time museum showcasing the art, poems, clothing and furniture of late Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken.

The Music of Takemitsu such as the `Hika` we performed on the Tsunami Violin Concert Tour always reminds me of Japanese Gardens. Things that seem randomly put are infact very precicely put.

The air, the lighting , the building, the breathing of people, the pounding of the heart, creaking of wood, passing of wind, sound of water. All these elements combined with the sound from the instruments make a Kuukan (Space) - instead of a `performance`.

My aim in music is to create a Kuukan. Through the tour i wanted to deliver a warm space of Hope, Rememberance, and Joy and this was only made possible by the audiences of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch as well as the wonderful venues. We can`t thank every one enough through this tour.

In this blog i try to slip in a non music subject at the end of each post :P

Today i wanted to talk about a curry shop named `Kasei Curry` (Mars Curry) which is in Ikebukuro, Japan. The Curry shop is very unique in every way from its taste to the selection of meat it uses such as Kangaroo. I have always wanted to go to this curry shop because it was opened (Produced) by Kazu Ayabe - The creator behind one of my favourite series `Boku no Natsuyasumi`.

It is a series with fantastic Illustrations and atmosphere.

Photo is from: Meiji Gingu & Kasei Curry