(picture from Yahoo!)

Bono meets Abe.

Bono gives Abe sunglasses.

Abe probably neglects to point out to Bono that Japanese people often eschew the wearing of sunglasses because they are inextricably associated with Yakuza in terms of image.

Interesting choice of gifts…Only recently have sunglasses started becoming popular here (thanks to luxury branding), but I doubt Abe will ever be seen sporting these special Red shades in public.

Cultural hint: don’t give him a black Mercedes either!

I read today that Kyoto City officials, “determined to preserve the rich heritage of the ancient capital, have decided to ban flashing neon signs and overbearing rooftop billboards. Starting next fiscal year, outdoor advertisements with blinking lights will be prohibited, along with roof signs, according to city officials.”

When you imagine Kyoto, you may tend to envision things like this:

(Kinkaku-ji, photo by tokyololas)

or maybe this:

(zen garden, Nanzen-ji, photo by tokyololas)

HOWEVER, the truth is, a lot of Kyoto is really quite ugly. Most of the temples are located around the edges of the city, but the central parts of the city are full of the same urban blight as every other city in Japan. In fact, when you exit Kyoto station and look in any direction, you may think you are in one of the ugliest cities you’ve ever seen.

In addition, the station itself (which reopened in its current incarnation in 1997) is the complete antithesis of anything tourists come to Kyoto to see, and many people dislike both the design and the hulking size of it. While I understand the criticism, I actually like the station because the enormity of it does a good job of dividing up the immense number of people who arrive and depart each day by offering all sorts of diversions (shopping, restaurants, cafes, etc) – if the station were smaller, or had less to offer travellers, it would be a logistical nightmare. Who wants to step off the shinkansen into a small, old station just so there is some pretense of “preserving heritage”? The station should be big and modern – it’s a city of almost a million and a half people that has close to 50 million tourists visit every year (yes, 50 million). Not only that, the station as entry point embodies the paradox of the juxtaposition of old and new that is everywhere in Japan.

The other reality is that the ugly neon signs, the tacky architecture in many parts of the city, and the very contemporary station are part of what makes all the guidebook destinations so stunningly beautiful. It’s the extreme contrast you are confronted by as you turn a corner or walk a block and find yourself so completely removed from all that is ugly and poorly planned, and you are transported into scenes that were planned a thousand years ago and still exist today: it is the iris in front of the golden pavillion, the meticulously raked zen garden, or the Autumn maple in front of a gate…