Professor Ken Yabuno

Some moments are lost, never to be remembered again. Others are etched into memory, never to be forgotten. The moment I saw Professor Ken Yabuno was one of those moments. I am unsure, but I feel as though perhaps it was for him as well. I was waiting for my interview with the school director to decide my future for the next few years, when he walked in front of me. He looked a little like a very kind, Japanese Einstein. But then I looked into his eyes. I felt as though I was looking into a mirror, which is a strange feeling when the person is so physically different. His kind eyes held mine as he walked past. At first interested, then questioning. I think he might have been wondering, "Where were you?" I was later told the truth about his speech. At first, they were kind, and told me that he had only talked about the university. But then a student told me that he had talked about things they way I had talked about Hundertwasser just a few weeks before. And as he talked, he had sketched a vision of Karatsu Castle, which was complete when he had finished. What beautiful symbolism, for a school of students just beginning, whose students will someday be important members of this society. A reflection of his contemplation that the stars in the ceiling in the auditorium at the university are a reflection of each of the students below. I wonder if any of the students at this school realized the connection between them and the beautiful castle.

In Okuma Auditorium, the central skylight of the ceiling contains the sun and the moon, and the smaller lighting fixtures are all stars. This creates the image that students are being watched over by things which are sacred and eternal. I believe that the ceiling is a symbol that students themselves, not Okuma Shigenobu, are the main characters of Waseda.

-Professor Ken Yabuno


I am writing this post as a response to his article Thinking About the Past and Future Drawing Cities Which “Don’t Exist Today”. He had been in Madrid, and a hugely influential museum for him was the Prado, as it was for me. For different reasons, he believed it impossible to be an artist... A strong interest in architecture and cities. And we believe in the interconnected nature of the disciplines. There were more... There were in fact, so many references to my own inner experience in this short life, that I now understand why I felt as though I were looking in a mirror, or that I already knew the person who I had seen. Perhaps it is possible to see yourself in someone else because of their experiences or their thoughts being similar to your own, without ever even speaking to them. That must have been it, there is really no other explanation. My deepest interests are a little different, but their base is essentially the same. I believe our similarities lie in architecture, art, and the connection of the disciplines as being essential for true understanding of the world. My interest in green roofs and rooftop gardens must have begun long ago. There a was a period of sublime development that went unchecked in my mind. As a small child, I built stick houses on the beach, and never forgot that joy. But it wasn't then. Nor was it when I discovered Japanese art, and it's reflection in a possible future. And it wasn't when I made soap with herbs found on the roadside with my friend, and knew I would study elements of ethnobotany. Nor was it when I designed houses in high school, with courtyards, and pools coming into the master bedroom. But it was already quite developed when I volunteered for three months for Sustainable Monterey Bay, and designed apartment complexes for them, all having roof gardens, community spaces, and other passive design and sustainability elements, always working with nature. It could have been around the time when I first saw the Hunderwasser Haus, or when I discovered green building and passive design books at book stores in college... whenever it was, it forged a path into this time, this place, my present life with my passion for nature, buildings, people, and life. It is the river from which the source is a great desire to heal this Earth which we call home. If I ever have the chance, I would like to speak to Professor Yabuno. I would like to just sit, relaxed, over a cup of tea or a meal, and discuss life. The places where paths cross, where there is no time. The places inside our minds, and outside the walls. In the green, in the silver, in the blue, in the brown, in the rainbow. Begun 2012, Finished 2013

Festival of Art and Music

I somehow pulled through not being able to talk on Friday to singing onstage on Saturday.
Last week and the previous, I had a horrible cold, but I had put a lot of effort into translating the school song and memorizing it so that I could sing it in the Music and Art Festival on Saturday. I went to the doctor on Friday, he gave me medicine and the miracle of modern science laid its blessed hands upon my destiny. On Saturday I could talk!
I had also been working on a huge painting of my grandma and I, and for about a week, had not been able to paint her face. It eluded me. How to paint her face?? With what technique? What lighting? 15 minutes before leaving the house, I worked on her face, and was able to finish it.

My students were waiting at the event. We were to sing the Phonics ABC song that I composed and recorded for their lessons. Then I would sing the school song, and then I would do live painting to a song that Shinpei produced for me the night before, and to another song.

It was the fifth and sixth graders waiting there. They were so cute and excited. We went onstage and they sang. I felt bad because when they were done, they asked me what to do, and I didn't clearly know, so I suggested that they get off stage so the show could continue. I didn't tell them to bow, so I felt bad. I am wondering how I can apologize to them...

Anyway, the show moved on to me singing the school song. I had painted a painting for the song, since I didn't think I could sing it. The painting portrayed the elements of the song.

Finally, the last song came on. I was ready, Japanese paintbrush in hand, to do the watercolor. It was a nice live-paint session. This is the 3rd time that I have done live-painting, and it was really relaxing. I really love the song that Shinpei made. He used a voice sample of mine to make it. The second song was one that I recorded ad-lib in Kurume with a guy named Masato. He palyed the guitar and I sang, and we recorded it. I really love that song. It was so nice to paint to those pieces, and I got a lot of positive comments about the painting and about how it made people feel at peace. I was also told it had a healing effect. I am so glad that things worked out.

The rest of the festival lasted until 12 midnight. There were all sorts of musical performers. Rock bands, folk guitar, classical guitar with vocals, karaoke with no words cover songs, and more. There was a duo from another town who will have a play in a month. There was a guy from Takanabe who played the Jamisen, an okinawan instrument, and the flute. And finally, there was a Kagura performance. It was very beautiful.

Cheers to everyone and thank you Ogawa-san for putting together a great event!