Better than Nature
The historic luxury hotel Hotel Chinzanso -Tokyo is set to transform its garden with a lunar display this autumn. Japan has long had a custom of admiring the full moon, called tsukimi. Japanese people consider the autumn moon to be the most beautiful, and with the onset of autumn, tsukimi festivals are held throughout the country to express appreciation for the moon and for a good harvest. The moon is also connected to love in Japanese culture. In fact, back in the Meiji period, writer Natsume Soseki translated ‘I love you’ to ‘tsuki ga kirei desu ne’ (The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?). The pink full moon of June, called the Strawberry Moon, is also said to be a symbol of love.
To celebrate the brilliant autumn moon, Hotel Chinzanso is now showcasing a mesmerizing Sea of Clouds installation at its lush garden. Japan’s mountainous regions are renowned for their beautiful cloud formations known as unkai or ‘sea of clouds.’ This natural phenomenon is where the top of the mountains are above the clouds, often appears in the early morning in spring and autumn. So that mountain top temples appear to be literally built in heaven. The good news is, you don’t need to venture out of the city to catch this spectacular sight, as Hotel Chinzanso is recreating this natural occurrence at its traditional Japanese garden. The hotel has one of the most beautiful gardens in the city, with its carefully cultivated flowers and other plant life making it worth a visit in any season. There’s a special sight to see in the garden, though, now that it’s moon-viewing season. With the Sea of Clouds installation, which is ongoing until November 11, the garden is looking even more breathtaking, as a full moon inside the hotel.
In the hotel’s huge central amphitheater they have created several floors of balconies and restaurants. Many of them face the central open space. The hotel floods the vast open area with manmade fog and they project the heavenly scene including a giant full moon on the mist. The impression is that your hotel stay or your restaurant visit is in heaven itself. While you don’t have to be staying at the hotel to enjoy the event, the garden is reserved for guests making use of the hotel facilities.
Measuring about 10 feet in diameter, the moon projection is huge, and can be seen every evening at 6.40, 7.40, 8.40 and 9.40 pm for about seven minutes per session. Because the screen is made of mist, differences in wind and humidity mean that no two nights’ projections are exactly the same, lending an organic feel to the installation and making each visit special. By adjusting some of these nozzles for a more upward angle, the hotel is able to create a taller wall of mist above the garden’s pond, which serves as a screen for a large, detailed projection of an image of the moon. The Sea of Clouds effect will be in place even when the “moon” isn’t out, though, so even if you arrive a little late, the atmosphere should still be quite lovely as you wait for it to come out again.
Moon struck mirth
What’s more useful, the sun or the moon?
The moon. Because the sun only shines during daytime, when it’s bright anyway, whereas the moon shines at night.
Neil Armstrong used to tell really bad jokes about walking on the Moon.
When nobody laughed he would follow up with, “Ah well. I guess you had to be there.”
Recently NASA found bones on the dark side of the moon.
Turns out, the cow never made it.
Canada’s starting a space program to send a spaceship to the moon.
They’re calling the spaceship Apollo-G.
September 30th Birthdays
1986 – Lacie Chabert, 1958 – Fran Drescher, 1965 – Monica Belucci, 1975 – Marion Cotillard
1928 – Elie Wiesel, 1861 – William Wrigley, 1969 – Eric Stoltz, 1992 – Ezra Miller