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

Happy holidays!

With only ten days left this year, I’d like to thank you all for encouraging and inspiring me 
in the blogsphere throughout the year.

I also hope you spending this special time of year in a relaxed way enjoying what you like to do.

It's gotten quite chilly these days after five months of summer

and only one month of autumn.

Ginkgo leaves are still beautiful even in the late-December.

Dec. 16th

My husband and I are having the secular Christmas only between two of us
and celebrating the New Year with all the family members. 

Origami ornaments for Christmas by M

                                                  

December is the most eventful month in my family.

My son, the eldest and the youngest grandchild F and M, were born in December.

S completed Kobe Full Marathon in November

 Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!

Linked to Mosaic Monday

At the end of the year 2022

 "戦 tatakau or sen" was picked up as the Kanji, Chinese character, that describes

 the representative social mood of the year 2022 in Japan.

It means to compete to win or lose in wars or sports competition, like

 Russia's invasion of Ukraine, other international conflicts, and positively

the recent FIFA World Cup.

Another Kanji also meaning "tatakau", "闘 toh" would be more suitable for the battles

against many profound social problems.

"戦" was chosen for the second time following 2001 when September 11 terrorism attacks occurred.

I'd choose "想" as my personal Kanji this year, which means "to meditate, to comtemplate, 

to miss, to long for, or to recall."

The Christmas tree gets animated periodically.

When I walked in and around Grand Front Osaka, I was overwhelmed by 

so many people, but it was nice seeing them having their share of fun.

(Posts related to Grand Front Osaka including this one:here)

Lights warmed up my heart, and made me feel somber, too, to think of the people

 suffering without electricity and heat to survive in the frigid cold.

The brilliance of illuminations with energy-efficient LEDs generated by BDF 

looks symbolizing dazzling capabilities of human beings, but sadly in fact 

 there are equally dazzling incapabilities.

May Peace will prevail on earth in the New Year!

Your visits and comments throughout the year is appreciated from the bottom of my heart.

See you next year!

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Sparkling blue and champagne gold

At last winter is come! It came suddenly last week with intense cold spell. (News,here)

This time of year is usually mildly cold with colors getting muted gradually in natural world.

Some city streets, parks, gardens, and stations start sparkling with light-ups.

While I love faint flickering flame of candles, gorgeous illuminations have encouraged me 

to go out in the darker, colder time.

The photos are from Grand Front Osaka last year.

 Bokeh light is fantastic!

Outside was glowing champagne gold.

The warmth and brilliance of illuminations look symbolizing human miracles and wisdom

overcoming past disasters.

Vaccines for the new corona were developed and proved high protection with unprecedented speed.

In this slow-moving disaster (compared to earthquakes or the likes), 

political leaders' decision-making can be delayed till the patients become alarming level,

and some people's code of action can be loosened at times.

But nonetheless ordinary people would have saved themselves by voluntarily following 

the advice of experts in advance of the government's action without legal authorities... so far.

December is full of festivities in my families.

My eldest grandchild F and youngest M turned 10 and 3 respectively.

F's sister Y celebrated her 7th year of Shichi-Go-San as was written last  time.

The father of F and Y turned forty something.

Can you see M peeping through the window of a tent?

Wish you a sparkling Christmas 

and a New Year with the promises of a brighter tommorrow!

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Winter illuminations and reflections around JR Osaka Station

At this time of year when darkness falls so early in the less colorful part of the world,

I like to go out for winter illuminations. 

I strolled around JR Osaka Station feeling the warmth of the city’s hospitality.

(Old post: Night stroll at the Grand Front Osaka, 2013)

I am so thankful to electricity, light bulbs, and recent energy-saving LED lighting 

as I imagine how awfully dim the world was before electricity.

With so many serious problems arising as the civilization has come so far, 

people are concerned about the future world and generation

but these lighting made me feel hopeful that there must be brilliant creative minds

who will work enthusiastically to solve the daunting problems of the time in each era ahead.

Multi-storied passage ways connect the station and the South and North Buildings 

of the Grand Front Osaka Complex.

From the bridge passage-way connecting South and North Buildings.

A graceful, majestic Christmas tree changes its color from white to rose and blue

in the light reflected from the mirror-ball.

Now I moved to the Toki no Hiroba (Time & Space Plaza) of Osaka Station City.

Osaka Station City's landmark is a large glass roof that spans over the railway tracks.
Toki no Hiroba is right under the big glass roof.

Image via here

Multidimensional reflections are seen from the open space Toki no HIroba
overlooking the railway tracks.

The small Tsurun Tsurun Skate Rink is across from JR Osaka Station. 

The rink can operate in warm temperatures and consumes no electricity

because it is not made of ice but a type of plastic with wax coating 
which is 90% as slippery as ice. 

This post is my last one in 2016.

Many thanks for your kind comments, thoughts, inspiration, and encouragement
throughout the year.

See you in 2017!

Linked to

Friday Photo Journal
Weekend Reflections