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Albums: 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 We spent an ideal day at the Iwasaki's, beginning in the afternoon lasting into the evening. I couldn't have imagined a better welcome back to Tokyo. My suitcase was literally packed with presents. I felt like Santa Claus! Chiaki was certainly pleased. For the first time in seven years I enjoyed Christmas with family in Columbia, MO. It was a wonderful week of meeting friends, enjoying the snow, sitting by a warm fire and excellent food. The only missing part was Chiaki, but we had our moments thanks to video chat! A collection of photos from the finale of the fall semester at ITP. There are photos of class finals, such as Physical Computing and The Softness of Things. The last third of the album focuses on preparation for the Winter Show, and the Show itself. What a wonderful semester! Yogo made a business trip the states, and to our luck he found time to visit Konstantine and I. We had a great dinner out on the town, and the next evening we headed to Konstantine's parents place for another delicious meal! This is the first Thanksgiving I've spent in the states since 2000. I made good headway into making up for 7 years of missed turkey and pie. We all gathered at Jerry's in Tennessee and had a great time. Jean-Marc was extremely kind in organizing a trip up to Storm King for us in his Spatial Design course. Storm King is a sculpture park located an hour drive north of NYC. It is quite a spacious place. I enjoyed the numerous Calder sculptures, and conversation on the drive back. In early November Konst and I jumped into his new car and drove down to DC. He was off to see his wife at Georgetown, I went to visit Jessy who is attending Johns Hopkins. I had forgotten how landscaped a city DC is! It took hours, but I hand sewed a half glove, or whatever they're called. It has an outer layer of fur like mohair, and an inner layer of rayon. The rayon is for feel, and to serve as a fabric breadboard for electronics. For practice, I added an LED and battery. For a brief two days mom and dad came to visit. Driving two days from Missouri, dad brought a desk I designed and he labored to create over the past month. We had a wonderful time, and the desk is perfect! I gathered photos taken over a week in October. These photos focus mostly on two group projects, one in Introduction to Physical Computing (with Ramona and Syed), the other in Spatial Design (with Steve and Karen). The crowded room toward the end is pecha kucha at St. Martin's Church. For Despina's Softness class we were asked to make a network. Hmmm... Music anyone?! Shout out to Ithai, Kate, Petra and Thomas. During September and October Daniel Rozin was showing his work at Bitforms Gallery, Chelsea, NYC. It was the first time I had visited the gallery, which I learned is a great space for "bit" related works. Rozin's works were impressive. I particularly enjoyed his Snow Mirror, the first time I had seen it. Before flying back to New York, and after Simon's wedding, Chiaki and I enjoyed a quiet retreat to Kibune. Kibune is a short train ride from Kyoto, up into the mountains. It is famous for being able to dine literally on the river, a great way to cool down in the scorching summer. We had a delightfully relaxing time. Photos of Chiaki and I enjoying our time in Kibune. What a lovely wedding it was! The photos here were taken by Chiaki, I spent my time behind the podium being the master of ceremony. After the wedding we enjoyed a cruise around Kobe bay, after partying continued late into the evening! Before heading off to Simon's wedding in Kobe, I spent a few days in Tokyo. It was wonderful seeing Chiaki again. We were sure to check potential ceremony locations! Eric and Akiko were kind enough to invite me to a gathering of friends for a Sunday afternoon BBQ. We had a leasurily time enjoying Akiko's delicious food, taking our time chatting and playing with the dogs. A visit to the Socrates Sculpture Park and Noguchi Museum. Glimpses into my first few weeks in NYC. A few traipses into Manhattan, a failed apartment search, orientation at Tisch, and Konstantine who keeps me sane at our place in Brooklyn. 7月22日をもちまして、簡単ながら結婚パーティ(元婚約パーティ) を開きました。皆様のおかげでとても素敵な会になりました。カメラマンの UGA様(宇賀神朋子)がずっと頑張って下さり、素敵な瞬間をたくさん撮って 下さいました。このアルバムにはUGA様の写真が森沢山並んでいますので御覧下さいませ。 Toto has been surfing for 10 years, Yugen 2. This was my first day. We left at 2:30 am, and arrived at the beach before 5. We had an excellent time!!! I was able to stand, this time around. Chiaki and I made a brief trip to Hoshino Resort in Karuizawa. We enjoyed relaxing in the cool weather, listening to Yamashita Yosuke's jazz piano, and the wonderful hot spring. It was an excellent way to start our marriage (of course, the ceremony is yet to come!). To celebrate our marriage, and my departing to the US, Toto had us over to his house in Yokohama. Yugen, his wife Aya, Kubo and Nabeken joined us for the afternoon of excellent food, fun and games. Chiaki, Hiko, Jomu and I dawned our yukata (less formal than a kimono, for summer) and headed to the Sumida River. There we joined Natsuki, who organized a dinner and viewing of the fireworks from a yakatabune (pleasure boat). Needless to say, we had a wonderful time! On July, 22 Chiaki and I held a small party to celebrate our engagement. There were many people we wish we could have invited, but regretfully there was limited seating. We, and everyone we hope, had an excellent time. Preparation for the party lasted for a month: gathering the parts for Chiaki's kimono, preparing gifts, and so on. We enjoyed every moment! Wood, wood and more wood! We made our first trip to Mitake in 2007. While we took the climbing mat, this time no one laid a finger on any rock. I think we were all tired for one reason or another, and we just enjoyed being together, in nature, relaxing. The yakisoba and river chilled beer were particularly refreshing! Mr. Higashine convened another workshop on planting at Style's. This time I decided not to join, only participating in the cake consumption at the end of the event. To me it was a day to practice photography, and become acclimated to the Ricoh. The folks at Style's surprised Chiaki and I with a cake to celebrate our engagement, a birthday cake for Fujiwara, and a toast for all! We were flying high! After Style's we walked over to Fujiwara's office and enjoyed relaxing. Charleston is a beautiful city in South Carolina. Particularly enjoyable are the downtown streets lined with houses over three hundred years old. The city has a flavor of the US, before it was the US, and a style its own. Eliot and Heather made an excellent decision to hold their wedding in such a special place: Magnolia Plantation. For that week, with my parents, Jerry, Curt, and Willow, we rented a house a short walk from the beach. What an wonderful week it turned out to be ... Before heading South to Eliot's wedding, Chiaki and I stopped through New York City. I will catapult myself into the city in September, so I made it a point to visit New York University's ITP program offices in person. Chiaki and I slept through the streets of NYC, checking out new hotels in the area: Hotel Gansevoort, Gramercy Park Hotel, Hotel on Rivington, and Hotel QT. Thanks to our friends it was an amazing trip. Birthdays are made special by those close to you. Especially when they sprinkle you with cycling goods! Yogo and Mio were married on April, 7 2007. I was honored to attend their ceremony. Especially enjoyable was the MIO, a rendition put on by Mio's friends, comparing Mio to a mobile suit. There were a few hundred of us at the Hotel Okura, Akasaka! Asako Kubota and I worked for two years to design Chiaki's ring! I am so thankful to Kubo-chan for her excellent work and diligence. These are a few photos of the development process. Jichinsai (Ground Breaking Ceremony) This morning was the closing ceremony for the persimmon tree. A priest from the shrine came, and the ceremony involved pouring sake on the tree, reciting prayers (he did), and everyone offering a prayer. A table was prepared with offerings: rice, sake, fruit, vegetables. One by one we walked up to the table and received a branch from the priest which had a collar of sanctifying white paper. When it was my turn I followed the lead of Mr. Yoshida, turned to face the tree, bowed, placed the branch on the table, and stepped back. Slowly I bowed twice, and twice clapped my hands. I was surprised by the hollow sound they made. I clapped hard enough, or at least clapped hard with my heart, but not loud enough to wake even a mouse. Finally I bowed again, once to the tree and then toward the priest. My turn was over. At the end of the ceremony we toasted, and poured sake on the tree and surrounding grounds. Now the persimmon can peacefully move on to the other world... and our hearts can relax knowing we have done our part. Our move would not have been possible without the help of our friends, not only physically but emotionally. Saturday we were joined by six to help us pack. 80 boxes and 82 meters of packing bubble. We started at midday and finished in time for a late dinner. I had a task list and route set in mind, and all I did was move forward. No thinking, no retrospect, just go go go. Next time, I must remember to order smaller boxes for the books... The weather was absolutely beautiful. Fujiwara was one of the first to join us, as he did every other morning to photograph the process. I walked briskly to meet Hiko at 9:30 and rent the moving truck. The truck was a near new 2 ton job, with a gaping mouth waiting to swallow our stuff. I almost wish it had kept some of the boxes rather than regurgitating them into our now jam packed apartment. Eleven wonderful friends made the moving process speedy. We enjoyed a Moyan curry picnic in the garden under the tree, highlight by beer I uncovered in storage. We all climbed the tree, laughing and relaxing. The move was completed by 7 pm. Perched on the roof next door, I watched the workmen tree dance, chainsaw in hand. He grabbed onto a branch, leaning back in a position from which I was sure he would fall, bzzzzzzz, bzzzzzz, THUNK. All fifteen of us were mesmerized by their near dance like performance. Two younger workmen took turns in the tree while an older master watched on, giving advice on angles and places to cut. Three hours after starting our lovely persimmon tree was placed on a flatbed truck to be taken to storage. Three years from now we will uncover and remake it into something to remind us of this lovely tree which connected us all. Three years since Chiaki and I rented and renovated the first floor, the time for us to move has come. Regretfully, the plot of land we live on will be cleared, and an apartment building erected. I was aware of the de-greening and demolishing of beautiful antiquated houses in Tokyo, but I didn't think the reconstruction reaper would visit my door. We threw a massive party to commemorate the occasion. Everyone took a piece Kashiwagi home in their hearts. Fujiwara visited around 7 am this winter morning to capture the first warm, soft rays falling down on Kashiwagi. Tavern Globe was an excellent bar before it closed, catering to the actors of the Shakespeare theater before it closed. Everyone came to party at our house, once, before we moved. I sense a trend here... This year Linux Conference Australia was held in Sydney. Simon and I arrived on Sunday, rented cycles and enjoyed the week. I gave a talk on Thursday, attended the conference from Monday to Friday, then headed North with friends to the Hunter Valley before returning to Tokyo. As my camera ran out of power, the photos from the Hunter remain on Simon's camera... for now. We ended our New Year's celebrations watching Star Wars. The climbing group, renamed to the burning group due to a lack of climbing, gathered at Nabekatsu's place. We prepared all six Star Wars films, and started watching from Episode I. I fell asleep about IV, and we never made it to VI! Maybe next year... Greeting the New Year in Kusatsu A few days after 2007 stretched her arms to the morning sun, Kubo-chan, Chiaki and I headed to Kusatsu (an onsen town). We prepared a car with studless tires, as often the roads are covered with snow this time of year. There was some snow on the ground, but nothing significant! Particularly memorable was the full moon, and walking under it outside in our yukata. The next day we drove five hours to Mashiko to have a late lunch at Starnet. The gallery and shop were also wonderful!
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