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Tokyo Mosaic #18: Directions.
We already passed the mark of an urban planet: more people are living in cities than on the countryside. If change is to come, it must happen in cities. Yet the common tide is high, and inertia is strong. This episode concludes a chapter that saw Tokyo moving us, through an astonishing spiritual diversity, distinct…
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Tokyo Mosaic #17: Chameleon.
While some were right about Tokyo becoming a precious place to me, most were wrong about the specific reasons. The supposed heaven for manga freaks did nothing but make me go away. Ikebukuro was different. It’s not one of the famed neighborhoods, and from what I’ve heard it’s not all too well seen, with its…
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Tokyo Mosaic #15: Timeless Dance.
With new impulses and ideas flowing in these days, my webcomic gets another dimension to me. It reminds me to take one step after another, not leaving things out. Yesterday, my Japanese tandem partner asked me what my favorite travel was. Right now the answer would be Japan, but that’s a moment in time, and…
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Leipzig again.
Here we go again: Leipzig invites to its famous book fair, and I have joined friends at its ever growing manga section for this weekend to present our new yonkoma anthology. Part of the small book are 10 episodes of my Tokyo Mosaic series, which I was happy to see came out nice in print.…
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Tokyo Mosaic #14: Distant and familiar.
From the places I’ve seen in Tokyo, this neighborhood made me think most of a “Kiez”, which in Berlin doesn’t only mean the area where you live, but the places and corners where you feel at home. Laid-back atmospheres are contagious. If the cozy dinner chitchat in episode 12 made me think I should come …
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Tokyo Mosaic #13: Bustle and Peace.
When the sheer density of built space becomes overwhelming, it’s time to remember. It’s this density that makes the city so diverse at every step, in Ochanomizu or elsewhere. (tbc) *No matter how loud the noise around, focus on that piece of framed sky in the last, the Confucian temple. This is where it gets…
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Tokyo Mosaic #12: Faces.
One of my favorite remembrances of Tokyo is getting back home and being welcomed by unexpected guests at the dinner table. No matter how surreal some of our chitchat has been: that night, I really felt at home in Tokyo. This is where I decided that sooner or later, I’d have to come back to…
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Tokyo Mosaic #11: Sacrifice.
My friend surely doesn’t stick to Japanese conventions and ideals: The young, Capoeira loving mom traveled a lot and has already been living outside the country for a long time. But whenever I’m asking questions, she tries to explain, to clear things up from a local perspective. Time and time again I found Japanese storytelling…
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Tokyo Mosaic #10: Pacific Timeout.
A weekend excursion to the Pacific coast brought about some deep reflections on cultural expectations and values. Of course, some sake had helped to get and to keep our conversational flow going. Yet I had to wonder: What was the reason for this profoundly different conception of a worthwhile personal sacrifice, shining through the widow’s…
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