bunsakashitajapanpaintings

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View of Chumon (central gate) from Kagami pond, Todai-ji temple, Nara, Japan Gouache on 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn beta series sketchbook Sketched live on location from 10:15 AM to 11:31 AM Saturday November 16 2024

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After checking out my hotel early in the morning, I walked toward Sannomiya station to catch the Hanshin Rapid Express to Nara. "Sunset-Dori", the shopping street running along the station was very bright, busy and crowded last night. But now it was deserted at 8 AM. Yet unlike Fukuoka's Nakasu or Sapporo's Susukino, I didn't see any trashbags left outside to be collected or the accompanying noisy crows. It was magnificient, clean and beautiful in the november's cold morning air. This was my last view of Kobe and I knew I was going to miss this town. Taishū sakaba muni kōbesan'nomiya sankita-dōri-ten (Izakaya) (大衆酒場むに 神戸三宮 サンキタ通り店) Sunset Dori, Sannomiya, Kobe, Japan Acrylic 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook Thursday Nov 14 2024

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Teppan dōjō (鉄板道場) Kyoto, Japan Acrylic 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook Wed Nov 13 2024

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Japan sketch book walk Kansai 11/2024

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Breakfast for 700 yen ($5) in the basement of R&B Hotel Kobe Motomachi. Gouache on 8x10 Beta series Stillman & Birn sketchbook. Sketched live 7:45 AM to 8:33 AM. Friday November 15 2024

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On the last day in Kobe, I wanted to sketch a panoramic view of Sannomiya from the 10th floor of the hotel where my room was. So I pried open the large window and climbed outside with my sketchbook and paints. Immediately I realized why the window was made so difficult to operate. There was a couple of feet worth of walking space on the balcony right next to a railings big enough for a hippo to fall through 120 ft below ... I tried to sketch but my hands were shaking ... both from the freezing cold morning air and the fright of the height. After just a few minutes, I stopped and pulled back into safety. The View from the 10th floor R&B Hotel Kobe Motomachi Gouache/Acrylic 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook Sketched live in gouache and finished later with acrylic Friday November 15 2024

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Made it to Nara. Shika deers are everywhere and they are bold and smart. They just walked right into traffic and cars had to stop for them. I tried to get them to come posing for me but they quickly realized I am a cheap skate and will exploit them without feed. Nara park Gouache on 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook Sketched live on location from 3:02 PM to 3:48 PM Friday November 15 2024

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I spent the whole day in Osaka. It took about 45 minutes on the commuter express JR KOBE line to get from Kobe to Osaka. I wanted to visit places dear to me when I worked in Osaka many years ago. Here’s the first: Tsutenkaku tower Osaka, Japan Gouache on 8x10 beta series Stillman & Birn sketchbook Sketched live on location 9:37 AM to 10:46 AM Thursday November 14 2024

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I went to Kiyamachi-dori trying to do a last sketch of the day but it was starting to rain. The view was sweet and beautifully romantic as I remembered last time I was here 20 years ago but nowhere to sit down and sketch. I looked around and I couldn’t believe my own eyes. There was a standing bar table in the middle of the side walk under the shade of trees as if it’d been standing there for 20 years waiting for me to come back to sketch. So I took full advantage of it. It must’ve been quite an unusual sight for the locals to see a man standing motionless in the middle of the sidewalk against a tall table as if he’s having a drink in a bar. The manager of the host club across the street Yamamoto Nara san came over to inspect and it was all good. “Kiyamachidori channel”, gouache on 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn beta sketchbook. Sketched live on location from 2:59 PM to 3:52 PM Monday November 18 2024 — in Kiyamachi-Dori Street, Kyoto Japan.

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Sketching event with Urban Sketchers Kansai. We got 10 sketchers and despite the crowd we had a lot of fun. Gouache on 8x10x2 Stillman & Birm beta sketchbook. Sketched live from 10:21 AM to 11:53 AM Sunday November 17 2024

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Moving on to the second favorite place of mine in Osaka, I came to Osaka castle and the view from an outer turret was so stunning with a heavenly seating location. The place was swarmed with tourists. And I got to meet @doma.skl who came from Poland (although now residing in Germany) The moat outside Osaka castle Gouache on 8x10 Stillman & Birn beta sketchbook Sketched live from 12:11 PM to 1:15 PM Thursday November 14 2024

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I passed by this Nabe restaurant since first arriving in Nara, and I had promised myself to try before leaving town. On a rainy night, I was very surprised by the suspicious and hostile look of the staff as I entered. Even more bizarre that the clients were mostly foreigners yet the menu and decor were 100% Japanese. As I ordered a combo of oyster & pork Nabe I began to understand. The place was really catering to local clientele but due to the tourist boom they received foreigners who don't speak Japanese and required explanation which the staff weren't exactly enthusiastic about. The gaijins around me seemed proud that they were accepted and they tried to communicate in Japanese. A couple from Portugal was asking for "samui" drink and was friendly corrected by the staff as "tsumetai". I chatted with this couple who told me that they were aware of the selectivity of this restaurant. Up to that point I had seen Kyoto and Nara overrun with tourists but now I could see this was one of the consequences. Once realizing that I required no assistance the staff was wonderful. The Nabe tasted fantastic and quite reasonable. I was glad I made it the last dinner in Nara. Nara Sakagura Nabe なら酒蔵なべ Acrylic 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook Monday November 18 2024

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Seianmon Gate (南京町 西安門) Nankinmachi, corner of Motomachi Park Rd Kobe, Japan Acrylic 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook Monday November 11 2024

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Rainy night. View of Konishi Sakura Dori from the corner of Sanjo Dori Nara, Japan Acrylic 8x10x2 Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook Monday November 18 2024

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I never found out his name. He and his wife ran the hotel Cotton and in the beginning I had thought the man was rather cold and unfriendly. But then at the usual breakfast when I started going through his music sheet collection, he began to warm up. He used to be a Jazz drummer and he could improvise quite a bit with his drum set, and we had a good time together when finally I got to see the man smile. The Jazz Drummer Hotel Cotton 100% Nara, Japan Acrylic A5 Hahnemühle Sketchbook Tue Nov 19 2024

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On the last day in Kyoto I wanted to make it to Arashiyama to see the bamboo grove as the last thing even that it was getting dark so fast. So I caught a Taxi from Kiyamachi-dori. It was driven by a lady driver who had the nerve of a F1-racer and drove half an hour like one through the twisty residential streets of Kyoto. She pulled the car right off the entrance of the Bamboo Grove and said to me this was the best she could do knowing that I pretty much wouldn't be able to see anything. She didn't smile and didn't say a word the whole trip and yet she was all dedicated to the hopeless mission like the samurai Toshirō Mifune delivering the emperor's sword in the movie "Red Sun" (1971). I walked out in the rainy, dark and cold path full of tourists and saw the train coming:

Sanin Main Line (山陰本線) Train Eastbound coming

Nagatsuji-dori Street-Arashiyama (Kyoto) 長辻通-嵐山 (京都)

Acrylic

A5 Hahnemühle portrait sketchbook

Monday November 18 2024 5 PM

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Today’s sketch crawl with Urban Sketchers Tokyo (Group). We got the best view of Tokyo tower behind Zojoji temple. From Urban Sketchers Los Angeles, Shinji Isozaki and Yutaka Akita were present as myself. Despite the short notice, from Urban Sketchers Japan, Grover, Casey and Kendra joined in and we attracted lots of people. Beautiful day with the sun setting. I had a lot of fun. Thank you Urban sketchers Tokyo. Gouache sketch on 8x10 zeta series Stillman & Birn sketchbook from 2:45 PM to 3:35 PM Tuesday November 12 2024.