Tokyo Blog, Tokyo Story
The blog of Stephen David Smith, Tokyo, Japan 2012
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Oric 1
When I was in England over Christmas, I saw some old photographs that reminded me of a computer my parents bought me when I was younger. It was the mid to late 80′s and I was probably around 9 or 10 years old when I got my first computer, this Oric 1 you can see above the text. Compared to all the breeze-block fashioned personal computers of the time, I think this was a design icon. Smaller and thinner than its counterparts and packing the same sound card as the one found in the Atari ST.
The computer used to be kept on a drawer that slid out from the video cabinet beneath the TV. In order to use it you had to squat or kneel in front of it. I used to play Hunchback or Zorgon’s Revenge when no-one was using the TV, or try to program it by guessing at the syntax. Zorgon’s Revenge used to give me the creeps in much the same way as Quo Vadis and Jet Set Willy. The games themselves were very surreal, and when you mixed this with the garish graphics and garbled, contorted sound there was something disturbing about it. A bit like the old Vectrex at my nan’s house.
I experimented with many of the early personal computers during the 80′s. My friends all had a different one: an Acorn Electron, a VIC 20, an Acorn BBC, a Dragon 64, an Amstrad, Commodore 64. They all sucked, but without them I probably wouldn’t be where I am now, so I have a right to be sentimental.
Fliqlo
I’ve been using this retro flip style clock for my Mac recently. You can get yourself one over at 9031.com. I’m liking their retro site with the floppies etc. To install (if you use Mac), drag the .saver file out of the disk image and directly into the screen saver pref pane.
It’s certainly very useful to be shown what time it is full-screen whenever you’re not using your computer, but I’m still looking for a screensaver that just says the words “GO TO BED”.
Tokyo Story is Changing
Maybe not soon, but Tokyo story has to change. I really love how it looks now, but there’s little scope for it to grow. For example, I want to add more categories but at the moment this will destroy the arrangement at the bottom of the page. Also, as permanent new items need to be added towards the top of the page, I will need more pixelspace in which to plant them. Right now there’s nowhere for them to go, so I need to address that also. I would like to maybe monetise the site to pay for the increasing hosting costs too, which would require some space at the top.
You’ll notice I’ve already updated the site for 2009, but expect bigger changes to follow as the Tokyo Story Blog expands to include new features. I want to do some ‘programmes’, a series of posts relating to a certain subject. I also want to put together a radio podcast or mixtape. There’s some ventures of my own and those of friends starting up soon for which I’ll want to reserve some space too, so stay tuned.
Extended Play!
I’m now the very proud owner of a work visa for Japan. When I originally came here on January 15th 2008, I entered Japan on a working holiday visa for 1 year. The term of this visa, therefore, was due to expire in January 2009 (about now), so I was sailing pretty close to the wind getting it switched. The rules state, that a British national with a working holiday visa cannot change their visa status. So, when I first entered the immigration office in Shinagawa hoping to do just that, I was massively deflated. Then, after me utilising my best Japanese, and saying ‘Sorry’ and ‘I am being rude’ and ‘If you would be so kind’ many times throughout our exchange, the lady at the counter gave me the forms to apply for a certificate of eligibility. A certificate of eligibility is usually the first step in acquiring a visa to stay and work in Japan. I filled in the forms using the info my boss had given me, and took them to a different counter on another floor. To my dismay, I was greeted with another “You’re a British working holiday visa holder, so you can’t change your status”, but after checking my application she said that my application will be filed for approval, but I may not have enough time left for the process to complete. I had to await the certificate of eligibility in the mail, and hope that it comes in time. I also had to return the following day with my degree certificates which I hadn’t bought with me that day.
When I came back to Tokyo after my Christmas break I had an undeliverable item notification waiting for me from the Japanese postal service. The notification told me that the letter had been sent from the immigration office! So I piled down to the local post office with the slip of paper and collected my letter. That was the day I got my certificate of eligibility. Then, the next hurdle presented itself to me: it said I had to use the certificate to get a visa in a Japanese embassy in a country other than Japan. I had to leave again. I also spoke to a friend who confirmed that this was true, and advised me not to waste my time taking the certificate to immigration, as it I would not be able to get a visa from there. I wanted to try anyway, so I did return to the immigration office in Shinagawa, and I took my certificate of eligibility with me. It was the first day of business of the new year, 5th January, so the place was total pandemonium. Never the less, after a three hour wait and 4 counter visits, I proved my friend wrong. I got a visa to live and work in Japan. Then I had a load of Japanese food and got drunk with my friends.
Back in Tokyo for 2009
What a crazy last few days that was. I’m struggling to stay awake as I write this post as it’s now after 6pm Tokyo time on Friday 2nd January 2009, and I haven’t slept properly since New Year’s Eve. In fact, I’ve been traveling for most of the last 24 hours with a nasty hangover and an even nastier cold. I was completely blocked up when I got on the plane which resulted in massive pressure building up in the tubes of my head and now my ears are blocked too. Just to top it off, I got my UK mobile phone nicked during the festivities of New Year’s Eve which I spent on the streets of London, something I won’t be doing again.
Anyway, it’s nice to get back to Tokyo and get set up ready to attack the coming year. I’ve got loads of exciting work coming up in the first quarter of this year, and I’ll be launching a major new flash site over the next week or so, so look out for that. Once I get some sleep and a bowl of rice I’ll be OK.
Coming Home
So here I am on a flight out of Tokyo, heading back to the UK for Christmas and New Year’s. I’ll be catching up with old colleagues and old friends, and seeing my family of course. It’s been an amazing year in Tokyo and I’ll be back January 2nd to tie up a few loose ends and meet some prospective clients before heading to Kores. Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thanks for reading Tokyo Story!
UPDATE: I just watched The Mongol starring Tadanobu Asano on the plane. It’s a really good movie.
View From the Balcony: Kotobuki, Kuramae
Here’s how it looks when I stand on my balcony (at night), in my new neighbourhood of Kotobuki. I’ve only had chance to have a short look around, but already I can tell this area is going to be so much better than Shinagawa (which I can’t recommend at all; too boring and no atmosphere). Already I’ve found an old paper merchant, a german beer bar, a small shrine nestled between old buildings, and a retro camera shop, and that’s just on my street! A little farther afield, and you’ve got a traditional Japanese toy shop, an incredibly old-looking bookstore, and lots of shops specialising in the model robot kits you can get over here. There are several toy companies on my street, and you can see the Bandai headquarters from my balcony, so it would seem, unbeknown to me, that I’ve moved into the area of Tokyo specialising in toys. Christmas shopping is going to be much easier, but I’ll have to take less clothes with me when I return to the UK for the holidays. I fly back to Japan on New Year’s Day. I thought it would be a nice idea to be sipping champagne at 30,000ft on a Virgin Atlantic flight to Tokyo on the first day of 2009. Time will tell if I’m right or not, got to watch I don’t get into too much of a mess welcoming in the new year.
Links.net Japan
I’d like to put up this link to Justin Hall’s site about his time in Japan. The site might look a bit dated now, but his style is interesting. The site is a sprawling mass of interlinked pages, which means you have to explore the site in a very non-linear way. Some content you might never get to see unless you take a certain ‘route’ through the hypertext. This guy was documenting his life online before blogs even existed, and his writings about Tokyo and Japan were one of the things that inspired me to go to Tokyo in the first place. The other major influence of course being Jean Snow.
H&M Report
I finally managed to get inside the new H&M store in Tokyo’s famous, upmarket shopping district of Ginza. It was a weekday evening, so I was confident I would be able to get in. However, come on a Saturday and you will still queue 150 metres down the street. No exaggeration.
Despite the fact that there was no queue, the shop was packed. The first thing to strike me was the floor plan near the elevator. Three floors of women’s clothes, with only the basement dedicated to men. I was on the ground floor (which is known as the 1st floor in Japan), and had already seen the women’s clothes on display when I came in, and I was already thinking that it was, as I feared, going to be very different from H&M in the UK. I already expected this to be the case based on my shopping experiences in H&M stores in Barcelona and Lille, both of which were quite different from each other. I went down to the basement level and looked through the racks for a bit, but nothing really jumped out at me. H&M in the UK is definitely more adventurous than it’s Japanese counterpart. In Japan, H&M is more like Gap. No bright colours, no design prints, and a muted palette. Most of the stuff is either black or grey, and verges on smart-casual. Last time I was in the UK H&M stores, it was more like a cyberpunk 80′s revival. The two couldn’t have been more different. Zannen.
An Interview With Me
I did an interview for the web designer review site Spicy Web Designers. I haven’t got much else to say, I just wanted to share the link. Thanks for reading!
What the Hell Happenned While I was Away?
When I left the UK economy looked like it might be on the verge of recession. In fact, there was talk of a global recession in the not too distant future. I didn’t realise how much this was going to affect me though. The pound against the yen is my biggest woe. When I arrived in Tokyo, it was up at 215 yen to the pound. Now it’s plummeted to 174 yen to the pound! This is crazy! It’s bad for me, because I sometimes get paid in pounds and then move it all to my Japanese bank accounts. Looks like I might need to put my prices up. Down with Labour.
UPDATE: I know it’s not necessarily the fault of the Labour government and that there is a bigger picture, but I just like to dig them at any opportunity because I don’t like them.
H&M in Ginza
I know H&M have been in Tokyo for over a week now, but I didn’t bother to post about it before, because I hadn’t been there to get any pics at that time. However, I was in Ginza on Saturday, and got a shot of the frontage. The crazy thing is, they’re still queuing up the street to get in. Police and security are controlling the crowds. Maybe the Rei Kawakubo gear dropped already?
Shinagawa on flickr
They’re not particularly exciting, but I took some pictures the other day when I was out and about in Shinagawa. I took a trip to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, that just so happens to be in Shinagawa, inquiring about how to start a company in Tokyo. It turns out that people with working holiday visas have a hard time changing their visa status at all, but some Japanese companies hold enough sway over the authorities to make it happen for you. The other interesting point, is that you can’t join a company like this, or even change your visa status at all, after you have less than 4 months left on your working holiday. It just so happens I have 5 months and 5 days left on mine as of writing this post, and I sign a contract of employment on Friday! Phew. Extended play.
Now Broadcasting from Shinagawa
I’ve moved again, this time to Shinagawa. What you see above is the view from my balcony. Could you believe I’m on the ground floor? The reason it feels elevated from this persective, is because my apartment block is situated on top of a hill, and the ground drops way steeply at the back of the apartment, where the balcony is. The neighbourhood always seemed like a business district to me, but with expensive restaurants and shops to cater for those clocking out. It wasn’t a place I ever came to often. I only came here once before to see Kage Hinata ni Saku at the Prince Cinema. I’ve had a good look around now, but have found only skyscrapers and hotels, the odd expensive restaurant, and high class shopping arcades. Where’s the sushi? Where are the izakayas? It’s a fashionable district for sure, and I’m glad to be exploring a different are of Tokyo, but there will always be a place in my heart for Taito-ku, and the areas of Ueno, Okachimachi, Asakusa, Minowa, Iriya, Yanaka and Nezu. By far the most atmospheric towns in Tokyo.
It’s not a big deal though. Meguro, Gotanda and Ebisu are still only a stone’s throw away.
Korakuen on flickr
Every now and again, I do something ‘touristy’ in Tokyo. I certainly didn’t get round to see everything when I was here in 2003, and I’ve still got loads of stuff to see. So, on a steaming hot Saturday afternoon armed with a bento and my camera, I went to somewhere I’ve been wanting to go for ages: Korakuen.
