There are two common subjects in Canadian and Japanese everyday conversation: the weather and I’m Sorry. Sumimasen is the word I hear the most and probably the one I use the most here in Japan. Anything about the weather is a close second. I’m sorry that the weather has been so terrible back at home and the snow just doesn’t know that it has truly worn out its welcome, but here it is spring full-on! Cherry blossom time. The week when everyone here goes slightly pastel crazed and the cameras (including mine) just don’t stop and no one is sorry […]

If you mix up left and right like I often do, being confused about which way to go is a normal state of functioning. Here, everything is definitely mirror image to movement at home. Simple advice to avoid collisions – walk on the left side and before crossing the street, look to the right for oncoming traffic. But before even putting one foot outside this apartment building, I have to take several minutes on Google maps, just to figure out where I am going and how I will get there. Now, close to 3 months later, it is taking less […]

When I applied to come to Japan, I realized that given my interest in text and the beginnings of writing, it would be wise to understand a bit more about Japanese writing. Sometime last winter, I started studying calligraphy in Mikiko Simard’s weekly classes at the Canadian Japanese Cultural Centre in Montreal. Once I knew and shared with her the fact that I would be in Tokyo for six months, she encouraged me to send a work to this exhibition. I practiced and practiced writing the Kanji character for courage. It is above me, just slightly to the right. Two […]

Moon Three already! Monday in Japanese is moon day (getsu-yobi) and months are moons, January being month one, February, month two, etc. I forgot that Monday means moon’s day for the Moon Goddess and Tuesday, is named after the Norse god, Tyr.  The english word month comes from a combination of roots all leading to the moon as the measure of time. March always seems to be a time for confusion – the weather is unpredictable and the rising sap of spring adds craziness to the mixture.  In Tokyo, I live a lot in mystery, simply because I have little […]

One of the reasons I came to Japan was to experience the presence of nothingness in a culture where empty space has an integral part of the landscape, culture and philosophy. As soon as I really looked at a Japanese bill I laughed. Here was poetic evidence – nothingness right in the middle of everyday transactions. In an earlier blog entitled, Mishaps, A Full Moon Week, I relay my experience about posting an image of a Japanese bill on the internet and the photo editing program Photoshop refusing to edit my image of the money…..That was several weeks ago now […]

Friday early afternoon:   My friend Catherine is in an airplane probably somewhere over Alaska-Russia right now on her way to Tokyo. She left yesterday, Thursday and will arrive here later this Friday afternoon. Travelling east, you lose a day. You only get it back when you go home. There is a difference of 14 hours between Montreal and Tokyo. I say goodnight to Paul, he says good morning to me and it switches around later in the evening. It’s a strange way to live as a couple, like taking turns sleeping in a bed where touching isn’t possible. Skype […]

It is so interesting to find pockets in Japanese society where chaos reigns. With such a registration system, you would imagine bikes parked in their slots, but this is the third time I’ve been here, looking for a bike that is supposed to be mine to use. It has a small parking registration number sticker stuck to it somewhere. I’ve come twice now with one of the receptionists; he had to come back the second time, because the building is a giant maze and I couldn’t remember how to get here. Oh, it will be very difficult, he kept repeating. […]

It is almost a year ago now that I began preparing my application to the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for the residency in Tokyo. Even though I had been warned by several of the previous recipients of this grant, nothing could prepare me for the building I live in – Roppongi Hills Residence B, nor the opulence of the area. It is nothing like the residency in Paris where we lived like little artist-bees in a giant hive and every night the homeless slept on the front walkway.  Roppongi Hills Residence feels more like a hotel […]

The home of the polka-dot!

Un chameau sur le toit, Masashi had written on  a piece of paper along with the name of the place where I was to show up around 7pm – Higure and a drawing of a long road coming out of the north exit of Nipori Subway Station. There was the word, escalier and a long arrow pointing to a few lines drawn across the road  where I had to turn to the right and walk til I found Higure. Why hadn’t I asked Masashi more questions about what Higure would look like? I wondered as I hurried along a narrow […]