tokyo office

after milano craziness, I woke up in tokyo, at casa ochelen arioka, tucked away in one of meguro's pockets of downtown countryside.

breakfast, waving off pieter and kana to long working days at their offices, a couple of hours of drawing work, a lunch, then later a walk for a coffee, some more drawing, a late night dinner with kana or pieter or both, and some beers. a simple routine. somehow similar to the one of the japanese women that passed in front of the living room window every day.


street level view


helicopter view - the upper pink roof in the center is casa ochelen arioka

like a lot of tokyoites pieter and kana live in a neighborhood chockful of lowrise, detached homes along small irregular alleyways. people here live very closely together - living spaces are compact, strips of gardens between the houses extremely narrow, sounds seem to come from everywhere and always surprisingly nearby - yet perimeter walls and shutter systems offer an enjoyable level of privacy and comfort. life can be quiet and simple and small and green, just around the corner from tokyo's biggest expressways and busiest subway hubs.




zooming out - yamate dori, meguro river and yamanote line as the main arteries come to view


arioka family on a sunday visit


tokyo bay revisited