Yuguin the minstrel

I met my good friend novelist Yuguin today. He gave me his short story, “Kiriko: An Extraction”. I was moved by it.

The ocean that Yuguin gazed at
With Kiriko the model girl
Was different from any other sea
But the breeze brought
The same smell of the sea

I have had many great conversations with Yuguin. Then I feel his power also as a painter.

The pain regarding beauty might come from our wish to possess it, to intimately connect with it and identify ourselves with it. The impossibility of doing it causes us misery but enables us to do these things.

On the last page:

Holding a guitar in his arms
Yuguin only sings a song with his voice of fish
“Clouds rise no end in the sky!
Waves seethe on end in the ocean!”

Bravo, Yuguin!

Self Confidence

Feeling confident is like a warm wave swelling inside you. There’s no need for analysing, giving proof or guarantee. You are a bearer of light.
This is how I feel when I take a photo.

DSCF7729

Mother

She is Kirsti. She is the mother who took care of me during the most important years of my life. She taught me kindness and most valuable things in life (especially humour). How lucky I am.

To be mother might be the greatest thing on planet. Congratulations! May this world be yours.

Mother © Jaakko

Meeting Araki

Araki Nobuyoshi and Jaakko Saari

I met Araki Nobuyoshi the other day. I told him about seeing his photos first time in Helsinki in his Kiasma exhibition. I had depression that time. He interrupted me, saying with excitement, “but your depression got cured (by my photo), didn’t it?” and bursted laughing. We all laughed. Because that was exactly what I was going to say.

His photos were huge shock for my virgin heart in early 2000’s. You know, especially Sentimental Journey. I just couldn’t stop crying after I first saw those. It was like life I somehow knew, it just happened to take place in Japan. Then, eventually,  after a decade I started taking photos too. This sounds so trite, I know, but Araki’s photos kind of opened door to my future and gave me the courage.

We talked about Bjork too, and he wondered if Bjork is famous in Finland. I happen to love her, and her Big Time Sensuality!!

Araki is like a huge ball of energy. God of photography. From my heart, I wish the grass is green under his feet and that his days are filled with joy.

Unconditional

Unconditional love.
Love of a grandma.
It may be the highest level of existence.

-Jaakko

Human

Tonight I watched again first episode of NHK スペチアル ヒューマン。I love this awfully beautiful but very scientifically accurate program.

https://www.nhk-ondemand.jp/goods/G2012036277SA000/?spg=P201200085700000

It is interesting notion that one of the key differences between homo sapiens and chimpanzees is that human mother needs help when delivering baby. This is due to the structural differences in female pelvis versus chimp.

I really recommend this documentary.

T-shirt design

takata42

My recent T-shirt design for Japanese elementary school.

つぎは

つぎは、
ニコニコ駅前
ニコニコ駅前でございます

Afternoons and Kara-age

Today I called my father in Finland. My mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and is in hospital, so my father lives alone now. Mother’s condition is getting worse.

This doesn’t happen so often, but tonight I feel wave of homesickness. So I took my tested cure for all sadness and loneliness, album of Crash Test Dummies, “God Shuffled His Feet” and listen it with my stereo. When I was bullied in school I listened this and it always managed to make me relax and feel soft. I got the CD actually from my sister’s boyfriend way back then and it soon became one of my favourites . There’s something about this sweet music that just works for me.

Tonight I cooked my speciality, Kara-age, a fried chicken in Japanese style. This food is also kind of my personal comfort food. (And this is likely my best dish.) It just heals the soul. And now my kitchen is still smelling like it has been used, which I like.

It’s strange really. I don’t feel that often homesick. So when it comes it really hits hard. However, it’s wrong to keep thinking the same thing over and over again, as it was said in Tarkovsky’s Nostalgia. Yes.. we must live in the present.