Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2008/03/07 Tokyo Opera City, NTT ICC, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku

With all of our official duties for the week done (and the symposium continuing in Japanese), Jennifer, Marja, Gary and I went for a leisurely sightseeing trip through Shinjuku. As we changed trains at Shinjuku station, I noticed a farmers market operating in an underground space.

DI_20080307_Shinjuku_station_market.jpg

A short ride on the Keio New Line saved us some walking to Tokyo Opera City. Gary and I looked over the plaza from the mezzanine level while Jennifer and Marja fought jet leg with some caffeine.

DI_20080307_Tokyo_Opera_City_plaza.jpg

We played with the toys at the NTT InterCommunications Center.

DI_20080307_NCC_ITT_display.jpg

Walking west, we crossed under a major freeway and through an urban residential neighbourhood. We didn’t see any kids out, but playground equipment in the park suggests they live nearby.

DI_20080307_Shinjuku_Centre_Park.jpg

On foot, approaching the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, we saw the sculptures in the moat.

DI_20080307_Tokyo_Metro_Gov_moat_sculpture.jpg

It’s free ride up to the observatory floor. Looking southeast, the shopping malls of Shinjuku beckon.

DI_20080307_Tokyo_Metro_Gov_view_southeast.jpg

Looking southwest, the skyscrapers subside into lower buildings.

DI_20080307_Tokyo_Metro_Gov_view_southwest.jpg

We just had a few minutes to wait for the next elevator car down.

DI_20080307_Tokyo_Metro_Gov_MT_GSM_JMW.jpg

In pursuit of an authentic Tokyo experience, we walked by a lot of fast food restaurants, and decided on a robata in an alley beside the railway tracks. We didn’t quite understand the menu — even in English — and had a great meal ordering a wide variety of small dishes.

DI_20080307_Shinjuku_robata.jpg

We didn’t choose the more exotic (and explicit) menu at the bar next door.

DI_20080307_Shinjuku_bar_menu.jpg

To complete the evening, we strolled through the nightclub area in Shinjuku. I again saw the men dressed in dresses sweeping the street, and they’re still a mystery.

DI_20080307_Shinjuku_sweepers.jpg

I had visited Shinjuku with Diana last August, and it’s still fun. It’s one of the busiest areas in Tokyo, and there’s lots of people out for the nightlife.

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • RSS on Coevolving

  • RSS on Media Queue

    • What to Do When It’s Too Late | David L. Hawk | 2024
      David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
    • 2021/06/17 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 2
      Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
    • 2021/06/16 Keekok Lee | Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1
      The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
    • 2021/02/02 To Understand This Era, You Need to Think in Systems | Zeynep Tufekci with Ezra Klein | New York Times
      In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
    • 2019/04/09 Art as a discipline of inquiry | Tim Ingold (web video)
      In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
    • 2019/10/16 | “Bubbles, Golden Ages, and Tech Revolutions” | Carlota Perez
      How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
  • RSS on Ing Brief

    • Introduction, “Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2”, edited by F. E. Emery (1981)
      The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
    • Introduction, “Systems Thinking: Selected Readings”, edited by F. E. Emery (1969)
      In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
    • Concerns with the way systems thinking is used in evaluation | Michael C. Jackson, OBE | 2023-02-27
      In a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
    • Quality Criteria for Action Research | Herr, Anderson (2015)
      How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
    • Western Union and the canton of Ticino, Switzerland
      After 90 minutes on phone and online chat with WesternUnion, the existence of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland is denied, so I can’t send money from Canada. TicinoTurismo should be unhappy. The IT developers at Western Union should be dissatisfied that customer support agents aren’t sending them legitimate bug reports I initially tried the […]
    • Aesthetics | Encyclopaedia Britannica | 15 edition
      Stephen C. Pepper was a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, on the entry for Aesthetics.
  • Meta

  • Translate

  • Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
    Theme modified from DevDmBootstrap4 by Danny Machal