"The Sound of a Frog, Jumping Into an Old Pond"

Thus goes poet Basho's famous haiku, which is carved into a monument found at Kiyosumi Garden - today's destination. Actually, we headed out for the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (a.k.a. MOT) this morning and took in a fascinating exhibition from the Cartier Fondation (their spelling, not ours). Great space and eclectic pieces. Some were so contemporary they were even annoying. You know how it goes. (If you haven't figured it out, this is Pete writing, by the way.) It was a nice way to spend an otherwise dreary (weather-wise) Sunday morning.

Some favorite pieces in the show included works by Liza Lou, Erina Matsui, Beaurin Domercq, Tony Oursler, Nan Goldin, Rinko Kawauchi, and Sarah Sze. One of the coolest pieces was the work featured on the poster by Ron Mueck- it is hard to see in the photo but it was an enormous, remarkably life-like sculpture of a woman in bed (called "In Bed"). It was freakishly realistic with hair, veins and eyes that looked like they would blink at any moment.

On our way back to the subway station, we decided to take a detour and check out Kiyosumi Garden, and we're glad we did. The sky began to clear as we walked through the front gate. The garden is said to be the former residence of Edo period business muckety-muck Kinokuniya Bunzaemon, and was later the personal playground of Mitsubishi founder Iwazaki Yataro. Suffice it to say, the garden is first rate and purports to be one of nine "Gardens of Tokyo," the remaining eight of which we are now, officially, in search of. Here are some of our pictures and links to a few more.