Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art.

The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art is located on the waterfront in Kobe, and was opened in 2002 as part of the post-earthquake reconstruction.

Designed by Tadao Ando, an architect I am coming to appreciate more and more. The Hyogo musuem is in many ways similar to the Fort Worth museum he built at around the same time.

I will post more later, but for now here are some of the spiral staircase between 2 of the 3 main buildings.

Aakeido. Japanese shopping arcades.

Kyoto City

Covered shopping arcades can be found in most Japanese towns. In the big cities, where most japanese now live, the arcades tend to be glitzy and are likely to have global brands such as McDonalds. In many ways they look like duty-free shopping areas in airports, and consumption as identity is prevalent.

Hakata, Fukuokoa City

In the smaller towns, that continue to depopulate, the arcades can often be like a ghost town, with few people and many shops closed permanently. They tend to be funkier and have stores that sell local products and household goods etc.

Motomachi, Kobe

Kochi City

Kokura, Kitakyushu.

Ohnomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture.