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Dr
ROBERT ORGAN |
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MEMORIES OF JAPAN 2019 |
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The photographer of this project, Dr Robert Organ, has been
married for over 26 years to Kazuko Organ (nee Kobashi),
a Japanese lady from the city of Kurashiki in Japan. He has visited Japan over twenty
times. This project is a vignette of
Japan and was provided to Torfaen Museum for its ‘A Celebration of Pontypool
and Japan’ event in 2019 . It shows famous landmarks, such as Mount
Fuji, The Golden Temple at Kyoto, Himeji Castle, the peace statue in Nagasaki
and the snow monkeys bathing in the hot springs in the mountains near
Nagano. The Japanese love of gardens
is depicted. There are images of the
great stroll gardens of the Korakuen in Okayama, the
Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and the Kairakuen
in Mito as well as the gravel gardens in the Adachi Art Gallery in
Matsue. The latter, along with the
image of the ladies watering the street, allude to the Japanese trait for
refinement, attention to detail and cleanliness. Other traditional cultural aspects are
captured in a Noh Theatre performance, an unusually-coloured Buddhist statue,
the straw adornment on the temple, the wearing of decorative kimonos at a
graduation ceremony and a wedding costume.
Many of the pictures are typical tourist views but more intimate
images are included, such as the traditional dance lesson attended by Kazuko
and the cherry blossom celebrations, due to the unique access offered by
being part of a Japanese family.
Japanese food is renowned for its colourfulness and a glimpse of this
is seen in the bright red crab retail model which adorns one of Osaka’s most
famous crab eateries. Perhaps the love
of colour is subconsciously absorbed from viewing the coy which change and
glimmer like the colours in a kaleidoscope.
Click here or on “The
Memories of Japan 2019 gallery” on the left hand side of the screen to see
the photographs. |