• A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

SUNSHINE+CLOUD’S TOTE BAG

I left for Hayama on a weekday morning with my children, who were on spring break. The roads were not congested, and as I drove, I saw the sadly no longer blooming cherry blossoms from the corner of my eye.

It was a short trip to see the Francis Bacon exhibition. Drawn into Bacon’s world, my oldest son examined the artworks closely, but the youngest found “Francis’s bacon” to be boring but that it was much more fun making booming stomps with his feet in the museum galleries. I carried his 17 kg body to refrain it from further stomping and hurried through the show in 30 minutes.

Museum visits with kids tend to be like this, so I was mentally prepared. But had I gotten more time in the gallery with the portraits, perhaps I could have understood more. Or maybe not. It’s a wonder how Bacon combines form and color the way he does.

It was good to see many works from the series in which Bacon drew over collages of photographs and newspaper clippings. He had even drawn on his friend and photographer Avdeon’s book.

Seeing Bacon’s perpetually cluttered studio, the oldest commented that it was messy like his.

The children quickly got hungry, so we made a stop at the nearby Sunshine + Cloud. There is a cafe on the premises that opens at 11:30. We got there a little early, so we walked around the shop. And lo and behold, a pretty pink-colored canvas tote bag. I could not resist picking it up as it was just like the color that Bacon had preferred.

When I’m out with my children, I can’t avoid having lots of things like water bottles, towels, and wet wipes for three—this was the perfect size for carrying all of that.

Plus, it came with subtle pockets, big and small, ideal for my car key, wallet, and phone. There would be less digging around the bottom of my bag for these small things.

And then suddenly, from the garden, there was a loud voice calling for me. There were killifish. It occurs to me then that the oldest no longer takes my hand. The younger will soon, too, let go. Wondering how much longer I will be able to go out with my sons like this, I was overcome with the desire to own this useful Bacon-pink tote bag.

So that one day, I can recall that on one fine spring day, after seeing Francis Bacon (or Francis’s bacon), we had hot dogs.

For Yuriko E, a stylist who works in Tokyo, her car is a special space that doubles as a room of her own. This series, written from the driver’s seat, delves on the precious things that  accompany her.

Written & Photographed by Yuriko E