of stones and statues : December 17 2024

in this edition of the nightwalker series, i decided to follow a pokemon go route and just be amazed at the views i could possibly get.
there are definitely many ways to get to a destination, but sometimes i wonder if those ways would cause me to trespass some private property.
for that reason alone, i usually stick to main roads; google maps can sometimes do that.
but following a route made by others is safer in the sense that others travelled the route so it is proven to be traversable.

now the first part of this nightwalk was definitely a new path to uguisudani station.
it was a familiar path at first until it turned right at a main road.
now at this point i was a bit skeptical, why would the route creator turn right?

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the route passed by apartment complexes and parks, and that was where i saw this statue.
it was near one of the entrances of nippori south park, a spacious park with lots of playground area and seasonal trees.
i'm pretty sure this sculpture was made of metal, that luster is definitely not stone.
it was of a naked woman who appears to be gracefully running or perhaps dancing, it was in a park so it could have been both; either way, those hips could never lie
well she was naked in front so i took a side view, the parts were rather exaggerated and had edges instead of smooth surfaces.
it actually reminded me of the cubism art form popularized by pablo picasso, but i am quite sure that that art form was only on 2d paintings, not really sure if it extends to 3d sculptures.

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and then i came to this, a jizo statue.
in buddhism, jizo are believed to be protectors of children, travelers, and the dead.
unsurprising, i found this statue near the entrance of one of the biggest cemeteries i know of, yanaka cemetery.
this one is definitely made of stone, sadly i have no idea when this was made, but japan have so many of these statues with that same shape that i do not even know if this can be called art.
religious stuff are so hard to classify especially when they are mass produced.

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i too am quite unsure of what this next statue is, i can see toddlers playing around some rounded rock.
i am also not sure whether that rock symbolizes the earth we live in, so this could probably mean that children should be allowed to play freely on this earth.
or could be some jar of food, and these children are having the time of their lives eating.
i don't know, i do tend to over interpret things.
what ever it could be, the statue is just so fitting for this one was in front of the international library of children's literature near ueno park.

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now in ueno park, there are lots of statues in here for sure.
and this one seems to be the tallest and mightiest, it was the statue of a prince after all.
based on the small text i found in the site, prince komatsu akihito was a member of the royal family and was an officer in the imperial japanese army.
he helped subdue rebellions during the meiji period and served as president of the japanese red cross society in his older years.

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and finally we are inside the ueno station's central exit atrium.
inside that large space was this statue which often serves as a marker for meeting up with people.
the text just says "wings statue", and i guess we all know what that meant.
there is no physical wings for sure, but that action of widespread arms, that face looking up to the sky, the naked body, that all mean freedom.
freedom means a lot of things and possibly this statue symbolizes all of those things.
it is a bit sad though that this statue was indoors, and what she is gazing at is just the ceiling instead of the actual sky.
but nonetheless, it is very pretty, yet often overlooked.

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the journey ended in a little over that 3 hours, catching pokemons while walking really does slow down your pace.
oh, and i did went to the grocery and went back home through the maze of tiny streets in tiny neighborhoods, that also slowed me down much.
nevertheless, it was a fulfilling nightwalk, this nightwalker is satisfied.

as always, AMPING KANUNAY!