The painted doll sitting opposite me on one of countless train rides in Japan was wearing the most extraordinary black kimono. It was finished with gold embroiderey and lined with violet which set off the hair ornament she wore of the same colour.
	Maruzen is a Japanese bookshop chain. The English language texts are up the top in the Kyoto location - this is a place I spent many hours scouring the shelves to read up on the Japanese classics such as Abé's Woman of The Dunes, also Murasaki's Genji Monogatari and much besides.

My first trip to Japan brought to my attention the degree to which I take "the way things are" for granted. Even when I was convinced I understood what was happening around me, Japan would surprise me again and again. Several months of living in that marvellous country have opened my eyes to new ways of doing things, and forced me to re-examine much which I thought I knew. The joys of travel!

Production notes:

This animation was built from "off cuts" taken from earlier shots of my Artificial Life creations. Much of the animation proceeds from behind a veil of soft, white noise - sand.

Alan Dorin
Nov 2002.