Otto's blog

Last week I visited the Gifu Museum of Fine Arts for the first time. It had just re-opened after renovations. My first surprise was that entry was free - nice! Then as I entered the main gallery, I was surprised to find that the lady at the entrance was an old student of mine! We chatted quietly - in English of course - for a while, then I entered the room & looked at the art. The highlights for me were prints by Gaugin & Munch.

Vocabulary
- enter = 入る (動詞) entrance = 入口 (名詞) entry = 入場 (名詞)

#アート #文化

Photo Exhibition in Gifu Park

7月

16日

#アート #文化

Horie`s Hobby

6月

21日

I sometimes get my hair cut* at this barbershop in Gifu. It`s retro-cool, & the barber, Mr. Masao Horie is a nice old fellow. And he`s talented! Not only does he cut my hair just the way I like it, he`s also good at photography. He told me it has been his hobby for 50 years. He has even had a book of his black & white photographs published*. I bought it. It`s good.

Grammar:
- * get/have + 目的語 + 過去分詞 = 主語が(目的語が) ～される

#伝統 #文化 #本 #芸術

Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya

5月

16日

This morning I was in Nagoya & I had some time to kill, so I visited the Tokugawa Museum. It has various objects such as old art, scrolls (巻子本) and weapons, especially samurai swords (刀) - lots of swords! Actually, I don`t know much about the Tokugawa period, or swords, or scrolls, so I felt a little ignorant. How about you? Are you interested in these kinds of old objects, & the Edo era? If so, please visit this museum.

Pronunciation:
- sword = ソード (not スォード / スワード)

#アート #文化

Konomiya Shrine Naked Festival

2月

22日

#文化

Chiune Sugihara Opera

1月

29日

On Sunday I saw an opera called 'Jindo no Sakura' at Gifu Seiryu Bunka Plaza. It`s about a Japanese official called Chiune Sugihara who helped Jews escape from Europe during World War 2. It`s a very moving story. A movie about him was made a couple of years ago (called 'Persona Non Grata' in English). I haven`t seen it but now I`d like to.

Two GifuTeragoya students were members of the opera cast. What talented people we have at our school! Well done, ladies!

Grammar:
- 「___」と言うの＿＿ = a ____ called "___"

#文化

Ununique

2月

16日

At the 2016 Nitten exhibition, I saw the painting on the left. Do you understand the joke? Originally, the monkeys represent "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil."

It`s a good idea, but not an original one. If you go to Naiki, near Ise Shrine (伊勢神宮), you can see the three monkeys in the photo on a shop`s roof ( 屋根). Please look for them next time you visit Naiki!

Vocabulary:
- originally (副詞) = 元々
- original (形容詞 ) = 独自

#アート #文化 #芸術

2016 Nitten Art Exhibition

2月

13日

Last Sunday I went to the Nitten exhibition of Japanese art in Nagoya. Afterwards, I bought a few postcards. It was hard to choose [チューズ]- there were lots of nice ones.

The exhibition is at The Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in Sakae, which is easy to get to by subway. However, if you want to go, please hurry - tomorrow is the last day!

Grammar:
- "easy to ___ (動詞)" = ___ やすい
- "hard/difficult to ____" = ____ 難い

#アート #文化 #芸術

Tsukuhae Art Exhibition

4月

28日

On Sunday I went to a couple of art exhibitions in Aichi Prefectural Art Museum ( http://www-art.aac.pref.aichi.jp/eng/exhibition.html ). One was by a woodblock (版画) artist called Tsukuhae. Well, I thought it was by an artist called Tsukuhae, but actually it was a magazine called Tsukuhae. It was begun by three students at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1914. The next year, one of the members died, so they stopped producing it.

Looking at their prints, I was inspired to make my own. When I read about the dead member, I was inspired to do it quickly...

Grammar:
- a magazine/city/restaurant called ___ = ___ というの雑誌/町/ レストラン

#アート #伝統 #文化 #芸術