Japan is an island, (I should say “islands” much the same as the state of Hawaii is made up of several islands.) Japan is a language and a culture, (again much the same as Hawaii.) Thus, Japan has its own unique designs and architecture. In this video, I have selected a few design/architecture statements that best describe this country.
In Japan, especially in the economic zones of its bigger cities, land is of utmost importance. Nearly 126 million people live in an area of 146,000 square miles. Where the Japanese have built, they have used every square inch industrially for housing, commerce, dining, and so on. For example, you will see a photo of a restaurant area called an izakaya, which means “to stay in a sake shop.” There, dozens of restaurants sit side by side on a road beneath an elevated subway line. The shops attract all kinds of admirers, (myself included,) who can enjoy the warm, casual, inviting atmosphere (with outdoor tables in sunny weather) and good food and drink. Yet, it’s not loud from the overhead trains, only from the customers having a celebration! A nice use of space.
There are many fine examples of Japan’s architectural designs in its city planning palette and I have selected only a few. Many are based on, if not offshoots from, Japan’s heritage of village life hundreds of years old. In my post a few weeks from now, I will show you the look of Japan’s past castles and palaces. Until then, sayonara.
NOTES ON THE LYRICS
“Together.. or Apart?” is song twenty from The Boarding House Mysteries series and references major players in the drama as they gather together, (with one notable missing person,) for the final reveal. In the song, Verses are written in the modern poetic style Minute Poem. A minute poem has three quatrains — the first line of every quatrain has eight syllables, and all other lines have four syllables. The rhyme scheme is aabb/ccdd/eeff. Ideally, the words put together make up a total of 60 syllables and should take one minute to read (60 syllables, one second per syllable, 60 seconds to a minute, minute poem!) This song is longer because I throw in a few other ideas to stretch it out.
Lyrics to “Together.. or Apart?“
Chorus 1: (see below)
Verse 1:
Who killed the blonde in two-oh-one?1
Hands, knifes, or gun?
Tony and Grace?
Burned down this place.2
Chorus 2: (see below)
Verse 2:
The Boarding House itself a loss.
Bernice is boss.3
Anson’s roomies,
Lurk enemies.
Chorus 3: (see below)
Verse 3:
Silvia’s big hopes and big dreams,
Smith’s police team,
Use IamDog.
Sees light in fog.4
Chorus 1:
Now we’re together, together forever
Now we’re together, together now.
[Repeat]
Chorus 2:
Sometimes you’re heaven, sometimes you’re hell.
Sometimes you’re heaven, sometimes you’re hell.
Oh yeh
[Repeat]
Chorus 3:
Mix of Chorus 1 and 2
Footnotes:
- In each quatrain or Verse, Line 1 has eight syllables. ↩︎
- The last word of this sentence, “place”, rhymes with the previous sentence’s last word “Grace.” This pattern continues throughout the poem: “aabb,” “ccdd,” and “eeff.” ↩︎
- In each quatrain/Verse, Lines 2, 3 and 4 have only four syllables. ↩︎
- Line 1 (8 syllables) + Lines 2, 3 and 4 (12 syllables) X 3 quatrains equals 60 syllables. If one syllable takes a second to pronounce, then you should finish the poem in 60 seconds, or a Minute Poem! An Intro, an Outro, Bridges and Choruses make the song more than twice that length. ↩︎