At the end of the year

I visited Van Gogh Exhibition at the Kobe City Museum late November.

"Cafe Terrace at Night" (1888) is my favorite of Van Gogh's masterpieces.

The contrast of the deep blues of the starry night sky and the warm, yellow light of the cafe's gaslight 

is said to be Van Goch's innovative night scene without using black colors.

(Photography was allowed for five pieces of art while it was prohibited throughout the exhibition.)

The composition of the Ukiyo-e print "Night View of Saruwaka Town" by 歌川重弘 Shigehiro Utagawa
evokes connection to Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night".
The indigo sky with the bright full moon and the moonlit main street of the town 
which is depicted with clear perspective lines vanishing into distance
are thought to have influenced Van Gogh, a big fan and collector of Ukiyo-e.

Saruwaka Town was a theater district of Edo, the former name of Tokyo.

As the last show of the day is over, people are streaming out from the theaters into 

the moonlit street.

Image from this site

I turned my photos of café terrace at night into watercolor paintings with an app.

Outdoor seats remain vacant in the cold weather.

Inside the Grand Front Osaka, the Winter Prism Tree stands 11 meters tall 
beneath a 70-meter “veil of light” inspired by the northern lights. 

Every 15 minutes, the space shines in a colorful light  with shifting hues.

I prefer starry night sky as I am reminded that I'm a part of that awe-inspring universe

when staring into the indigo sky,

In the colder and darker time of mid-December, however, I  like city streets with light-ups.

Ginkgo trees are illuminated from Umeda to Namba, 4.4 km of Midosuji Boulevard. 

At 5:00 p.m. all the lights are lit up.

As is called "Midosuji Sculpture Street", 29 sculptures by renowned artists like Auguste Rodin 

are displayed on the sidewalks around Yodoya-bashi.

Any bronze artwork hasn't been damaged or stolen on that busy places so far - it's so Japanese.

It feels like time is speeding up with the year-end approaching so quickly.

2023 post about Mido-suji Illumination 

Night scenes from Sannomiya, Kobe and Umeda, Osaka.

Linked to Mosaic Monday