June is mulberry season. Perfect for jam, cake, smoothies and snacking.

I added a whole lot of ginger to last year’s recipe. This batch packs a spicy punch.

Tokyo is definitely a ‘delicious city‘.

Late spring/early summer before the rainy season in Japan sees the fruiting of Mulberry – (Kuwa-no-mi (桑の実) in Japanese) – along a large stretch of the Tamagawa river.

Hidden beneath large broad leaves, juicy mulberries ripen out of sight – undisturbed except for the elderly and inquisitive children. I came across a grove of them walking through one of the expanses of parkland that open up a few kilometers out of the city center (exact location secret) and this year collected a kilogram for a rich chunky jam. A perfect morning stroll and afternoon activity. And a perfect excuse for tree climbing with the kids (not that one is needed).

In a city where going strawberry picking is an all-day, high-cost trip out to a neighbouring prefecture discovering a plentiful harvest down the road is magical and spirit-lifting.

Jam Recipe:
(1) Get some berries, wash them. Remove stalks if you like, but those in the know leave them for ‘bite’.
(2) Put them in a pot with some water, sugar and lemon juice, boil them (add a bit of gelatin powder if you like).
(3) When all feels right, stop boiling.
(4) Blend for smooth, leave as-in for chunky. Bottle.
Note: If this recipe is too vague for you [click here].

View a few more gratuitous berry shots on the Flickr set [here]

Tip: A good rule of thumb = when you see the elderly hunched over picking at the ground, foraging, or shaking trees, get in quick – (and pick their brains for cooking advice: they have the key knowledge).

This is the Japanese language version of a text we prepared for the LIMNO Collabora on stratification, nature, and landscapes. To be published soon.

図 ０１:東京フルーツ・レイヤー



図 ０２：東京フルーツ・パース

When combined with citrus, ashtrays, wire and gardening support rods form a system that fosters inter-species conviviality, and adds song and scent to the street.

Materials: Ashtray, Wire, Plastic Pole
Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo

(Originally posted on FIXES)

Creating a gravel carpark with your family land is a frugal way to turn it into income-producing space. Retaining a mature tree shows traces of attachment to history, and transforming part of it into a productive vegetable garden illustrates an active interest in the present.

Location: Minami-ku, Nagoya

Residential enthusiasm for gardening and attachment to place extends to repurposing the trees as posts – affixing small hangers and substantial brackets to increase the plant population. These adaptations that impinge on the living flesh of other plants evidences the ease at which the residents must regard their shared living space. I’m inspired by the construction of this plant-on-plant collage and wonder what lessons professional landscapers could learn from this example.

Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo
Materials: Brackets, Nails, Twist-ties

Tracks through the shrubbery that borders a newly constructed bus/taxi rotary in front of a suburban Tokyo train station illustrate the willingness of weary commuters to mold the organic infrastructure of their neighbourhoods for a quicker path to bath and bed.

Location: Akishima-shi, Tokyo

This circular planter in front of an apartment complex is constructed of traditional Japanese roofing tiles.

Light on the ground and easily dismantled yet with more presence and permanence than the usual plastic planter box.

I love the reuse of traditional housing materials in the grounds of one of the symbols of Japanese homogenous mass-produced housing. I wonder if the tiles came from a house that originally occupied the land (and if the owner now resides in one of the apartments).

The mix of the communal apartments and the remnants of the independent house brings history and melancholy to my morning walk.

Location: Nagoya
Materials: Roof Tiles