To celebrate this week of holidays in Japan called Golden Week, allow me to share with you some new pictures of the Kyoto 205 Bus, which runs from Kyoto station to Kinkakuji, which means Golden Pavilion.

If this seems a bit random, let me explain that this number 205 is the number of pitches in the Tonal Plexus master tuning, the number of average JNDs in an octave, and the number of pitches which is central to my work. So, I always get a kick out of seeing things having this number emblazoned upon them.

Recently I found buses numbered 205 in both London and Helsinki, to which I have traveled and also have some personal connections. Searching just for fun online, I also happened across this bus in Kyoto, Japan …

and now I am pleased to have an actual connection there, as I will be building the next Tonal Plexus for the lovely person who sent me these rainy-day photos, composer and pianist Hitomi Shimizu, who lives in Kyoto, writes music for films and video games, and plays a one-of-a-kind 43-Tone reed organ tuned to the Harry Partch scale on C in a microtonal Japanese pop duo called SYZYGYS — check out her recordings on the Tzadik label!

Thanks Hitomi, and Happy Golden Week!

A bit of fun …

I was amused to find that there are major buses in both Helsinki and London with the route number 205, this being the number of pitches in the Tonal Plexus master tuning (the number of average JNDs in an octave, the number of pitches central to my work), and these two places being recent travel destinations of mine (although I was not in central London, but on the outskirts, in Walton in fact). Anyway, here they are for your enjoyment: the famous 205 bus of London, England and the perhaps lesser known but no less fantastic 205 bus of Helsinki, Finland!

Perhaps my next travel destination should be to Bangkok, Thailand, where (despite the current political turmoil) another couple of 205 buses are doing their daily rounds:

Or maybe Kyoto, Japan is the place to go, since according to this page in wikipedia, “many travellers stop at Saiin Station in order to take a the #205 city bus to Kinkakuji”.

Furthermore, perhaps I should try my luck in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where there are apparently exactly 205 buses in operation, a curious coincidence shared in France by the 205 RATP buses of the Paris suburbs!

At any rate, someday I do hope to find myself nearer to I-205, which connects Oregon and Washington, and the other I-205 which traverses a small part of northern California leading to the San Francisco Bay area.

Special thanks to composer and friend Juhani Nuorvala for the Helsinki photo and the kick which subsequently inspired this little burst of whimsy. It’s all in the numbers, folks!