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October 30, 2005
All Weather Bicycle
This year's Tokyo Cycle Show 2005 (November 3 - 5, Tokyo Big Site) features Shirouma Science's All Weather Bicycle. View larger image
50 Kg, 190 cm x 125 cm x 50 cm, 3 wheels, LED headlights, solar charged batteries, pedal powered, carbon fiber shell. 80,000 Yen. Aichi decals not included.
It is designed as a health promoting means of transportation for the older citizen who needs to go shopping, could use the exercise and may not enjoy bicycling in the rain. (It's a single passenger vehicle, with no room for a childs seat, or probably even a pooch basket.) Since it's classified as a bicycle, no license is required.
The photo(s) are from Asahi Shinbun, October 30, 2005. http://www.asahi.com/photonews/TKY200510290270.html
In the process of tracking this down, I came across a number of interesting Tokyo cycling sites.
- 東京自転車生活 (Tokyo Jitensha seikatsu / Tokyo Bicycle Life). http://jinx.oops.jp/blog/
- Messengers: The Story of Tokyo Express, a bicycle messenger company. (A TV show from 1999).
http://www.ponycanyon.co.jp/intl/new/right_messenger.html
- Media Diary / Waterbottle : a blog. http://www.media-diary.net/waterbottle/
Posted by sjc at 8:44 PM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2005
be here now
My last day in Tokyo began with a search for the Tokyo Digital Arts Festival 2005 - I had seen a report on it on NHK and decided to try and check it out. The most likely starting point (other than the various magazines which had no clue) was the Tokyo International Forum.
The forum itself had no information, but provided enough of a distraction to keep me busy otherwise, and yielded a fantastic bonus - the 相田みつを美術館 (Aida Mitsuo Museum). The site includes poetry and calligraphy exhibitions, several interactive displays, and the regulatory museum shops and cafes.
The museum's motto is "a place to spend 2 hours of your life," but it's clear that once there, you never really leave. The calligraphy sticks in your mind.
Links:
- The museum : http://www.mitsuo.or.jp/museum/
- The former museum : http://www.mitsuoaida.com/tr/
- Aida Mitsuo Essay : http://pweb.sophia.ac.jp/~britto/deekid/task17/rie17.html
- Tokyo Digital Arts Festival 2005 http://www.daf-tokyo.jp/index.html
Posted by sjc at 8:34 AM | Comments (0)