"Akihabara" from Erica Ward's 2024 series, "Yamanote Bonsai"

Akihabara is the swirling epicenter of anime fan culture. Here the standard grays of Tokyo cityscape suddenly explode into primary colors and maid-pink billboards, with anime eyes smiling at you from every advertisement. The place name, Akihabara, means field of autumn leaves, and the main thoroughfare through this area lined with gingko trees.

The nerdy roots of Akihabara go back to when the district was the “electric town” of Tokyo, with a concentration of electronics and computer parts shops. Retro electronic parts stalls still remain in a market under the JR tracks, which I included in the trunk of the bonsai.

Ink, watercolor, on watercolor paper.
artwork size: 230 x 230 mm
frame size: 300 x 300mm (thickness: 21mm)
frame material: natural wood (simple grain type)
frame color: oak color (painted)
surface: acrylic sheet

About "Yamanote Bonsai":
Tokyo, like bonsai, is slowly but constantly changing. Just as the branches of a bonsai are trimmed and shaped, so are buildings torn down and others built. Even the familiar scenery of a station was once very different, and some day will yet be different again. Like bonsai, the city follows some path of conscious design, yet simultaneously grows with a life of its own.

In this series, “Yamanote Bonsai,” 30 ink and watercolor illustrations pair the 30 station areas of Tokyo’s Yamanote Line with bonsai, for you to enjoy the alluring aesthetics of both the sculpted trees and the city of Tokyo.

Each station or station area has its different appeals. In this series, some illustrations depict simply the station building itself, while others illustrate the “ekimae” station-front scene or nearby landmarks. To gather inspiration for this series, I walked the circuit of the Yamanote Line. This series encapsulates both the generally recognized parts of each area, but also some of the aspects I personally found memorable on my walks. Perhaps traveling through this series will stir up memories for you of familiar stations, and also lead to new discoveries of ones that are less familiar.

When we admire bonsai we appreciate their physical form, but also the moment in time when we are viewing them, for they will never be exactly the same again. With this metaphor of bonsai and the Yamanote stations, I hope viewers will be inspired to find the beauty in our everyday surroundings, and also stop to appreciate the beauty that is this City in this moment of Time.