July 11th, 2017: Playgrounds

[xoxoxoBruce]

Looked at American playgrounds lately? Have you noticed they don’t look like you remember from your youth?
Did you notice the kids don’t have many bandages, missing teeth, arm slings, or hurt feelings?
A very expensive revolution in our playgrounds has demanded soft surfaces, rounded edges, low heights, and
no taunting, ridiculing, or insulting.
Yo mama is hardly ever heard.

Not so in Japan. They believe in durable concrete which just gets a coat of paint(lead based?) every few years.
A fall from any height is guaranteed to be arrested, as it always has, by the Earth.
Tradition.

Ever since Kito Fujio quit his job as an office worker to become a freelance photographer, he has been exploring every possible nook and corner around Japan looking for unusual playground equipments. Those little games and rides on rooftops of department stores that keep children entertained while their parents shop are interesting, but what really drew him were the giant cement-molded play equipment that dots playgrounds around the country.

Kito Fujio visited these playgrounds in the dead of night when no one was around, and with dramatic and cinematic lightning, created these captivating images. A lot of this concrete equipment is molded after animals that children are familiar with. Others take the form of robots, household appliances and or even abstract shapes. Most of these straddle the fine line between artistic sculptures and functional play tools.

link