autumn tactics

After living in Japan for nearly four years, I’ve managed to collect a small number of acquaintences. Though I wouldn’t say that I have many people I can truly confide in, I do have a number of friends who I manage to see a couple times a year. Recently, I’ve been providing counsel for one of my friends who is a future furniture maker. Kurosawa-san is about to graduate from Tama Art college with her M.A., and for her final project she made a riding device that resembles something between a tricycle and a rowing machine.

This Christmas Pooh (Pooh-san) was a little out of season, but his Santa suit is all white, so I think it could pass for Nordic apparel. He was presented as a gift to my friend Mori-san, who also works in wood. Kurosawa-san’s production was large, but put together with impressive craftsmanship.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to take any MechE classes at UVa, and so my engineering support goes only as far as what I remember from AP physics and the fundamentals of Newtonian Law. But obviously this is far better than nothing, and a simple application of general force computation and material analysis can give an idea of what’s going to end up being the limiting factor in the system. I have to admit it was a lot of fun to apply the sort of practical knowledge that I seldom have a use for, especially to help someone out.

For her graduation project, Mori-san built an interior furniture set that is reconfigurable. All of the furniture is made from six-inch thick blocks which can be assembled in a large variety of patterns to make chairs and tables of varying size. The seats were surprisingly comfortable.

When I first met Kurosawa-san at a small art exhibition in Shibuya, I was captivated with her work. At that point she was showing a much smaller version of her final project, an earlier prototype on a toy scale. Even though she’s still a student, the craftsmanship of her work was quite impressive. Pretty much anyone who can express themselves artistically with a degree of refinement and talent inspires me, but that the subject matter of Kurosawa-san’s work was exceptionally pure and for children struck me all the more personally. She’s definitely the kind of person that I need to be around more, I think, as much for my study as my emotional health.

One of the other students, Asako-san, has a particular interest in Hindu culture, so she made a giant mandala which cast an beautiful shadow on the ground. Unsure of when we’d have a chance to meet again, I got Kurosawa-san to pose for a picture with me.

There’s so much I can do, if I can master the load of dark blankets that drag me down.