Tokyo Blog

While we’re dealing with videos, I want to share this one too. It’s one of the tracks by Kiiiiiii I’ve been listening to a bit latley. I thought this was the remix, but I don’t suppose it really matters. It’s the version I like, and it’s pretty crazy.

Finally, I’ve uploaded the videos of the Asakusa Hanabi Matsuri (Fireworks Festival). I had forgotten about them and left them languishing in iPhoto. These should give folks a good idea of what it’s like at the Summer festivals in Tokyo. Really enjoyable. You can still check out the photoset at flickr too, if you haven’t already.

I’ll embed the vids here too, so it’s easier for everyone.

Asakusa Hanabi Matsuri from Stephen Smith on Vimeo.

Asakusa Hanabi Matsuri from Stephen Smith on Vimeo.

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.

One thing I didn’t know about before coming to Japan, was just how many appliances, cars etc. are Japan only. The coolest of the bunch has to be the elongated bikes the bosouzoku wannabes and cool couples roll around on. I’ve managed to get a few pictures of bikes like these over the last few weeks.

You often see tiny girls in Shibuya tearing down side streets on bikes like this. It’s pretty amazing the way they handle them.

They’re definitely much larger than anything of this kind in the UK, and they’re often very loud, and sound maybe like some of them are extremely powerful, with a deep, slow-revving engine noise. Of course, people supe them up to no end, attching neons, mirrors and additional speakers, etc.

Actually, I really want one. I don’t have a Japanese driving license at the moment, but once I’ve been here a little longer, I’ve got to make it happen!

I mean, how cool is this red one, with someone’s tag scrawled on the front wing? Slightly reminiscent of Akira I would say. The whole fashion surrounding these bikes relates to the impression I get that somehow, Tokyo and motorbikes are inextricably linked.

I’m not a keen cyclist, but sometimes you’ve just got to get your bike from point A to point B. The problem was, point A was really, really far from point B. My journey took me past famous spots like Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya (I crossed the main crossing in front of Shibuya 109 on my mamachari!), and Meguro. Nice ride!

This is horrible, but just check out Nigo’s pink Bugatti Veyron (Nigo is the head-honcho at Japanese clothing label, Bape). Worst custom paint job ever! (Actually, or should we say thankfully, the car has not been repainted, but just covered in a vinyl wrap - phew.)

A food post was long overdue, I thought, and on that topic I have something to talk about. Having been in Tokyo for 7 months now, I was definitely beginning to tire of eating ramen, tenpura, donburi, etc. People abroad sometimes share the notion that everything you can eat in Japan is good for you. This is true to an extent, but most of the cheap, fast food, while better than a Mickey-D’s or a KFC, is still going to shorten your life if you eat it too often. Really good, healthy traditional Japanese dishes, you can make at home, or treat yourself to at one of Tokyo’s more expensive, formal eateries.

Unless of course you go to my new favourite restaurant chain, Ootoya. The food is excellent and cheap. What’s more it’s healthy! I usually go in of a weekend, normally on a Sunday to unwind. The interiors are laid back and tasteful (at least they are at the Okachimachi retaurant where I tend to go), and they play some cool jazz music. Water is free, like most places, and you get a complementary cup of tea for after your meal.

I tend to go for the yaki saba (grilled mackerel) and it’s as good as you could get anywhere. In fact, it’s the best cooked mackerel I’ve ever had, full stop. I also had another yaki sakana dish in the past, although I’m not sure what variety it was, but again, it was really good. I normally get the teishoku format (set meal), which you get on a tray accompanied by a bowl of rice, tsukemono (japanese pickles), and a bowl of miso soup. It has to be said, the miso is one of the best I’ve had in Japan, and I love miso soup, so that keeps me going back.

Finally they’re up. Head over to my flickr for a look at what the annual Hanabi in Asakusa was like this year. High points for me were the beautiful Kimonos and cool traditional outfits being sported by the locals, the choatic atmosphere, and the hugely spectacular hour-and-a-half long firework display.

I find myself in Ikebukuro a lot more now that I live out on the Seibu line, so everyday on my way from the train I see this advert on the station platform and it makes me smile. On the one side of this ad, you have the guys, suited and ready for action in what appears to be an aircraft hangar. Then, on the other side of the same ad you have the girls, in cheerleader outfits. I’m not saying anything.

I made it down to Ginza Graphic Gallery on Saturday afternoon and it was a real treat. Although there were a few pieces that I felt didn’t warrant being there (specifically a few photographic ads for Shiseido and one for Jack Daniels which was just a photo of Mickey Rourke and little else), there was some really original stuff on display along with some stunning Japanese package design. On the way out I pondered buying a set of 3 prints by a Japanese designer I forget the name of now. They would have looked great on my wall, but since I move out in T-minus 3 days, I want to assess my new living space before I start decking it out (actually I’m staying somewhere on a temporary basis for a month before renting another apartment - pics will follow).

Also, I’m snowed at the moment, but I’ll soon be uploading some photos of the annual fireworks display in Asakusa from Saturday night which were awesome. I was dog-tired after Saturday though: tramping around Ginza, then doing the same in Asakusa. Strictly standing room only and no mistake.

TIME magazine’s blog has a post right now, that allows you to submit questions for a forthcoming Haruki Murakami interview. Readers send in their questions, and Murakami will pick 10 from the list to answer. This is part of TIME.com’s famous “10 Questions” feature. The problem is thinking of a question good enough to put to the man himself. If I can come up with one, I’ll do it myself too.

After welching on the ‘World in Miniature’ exhibition and regretting it, I don’t want to miss the 2008 ADC Exhibition. Looks like it will be a good way to get a broad overview of the last 12 months in Japan’s world of visual communication, and there’s bound to be some inspiring graphics to oogle. Catch it at Ginza Graphic Gallery until the end of the month. Via TAB

I have to admit, I don’t understand everything (anything) on the Japanese Television News. I also don’t find many of the stories very relevant. When it comes to keeping abreast of developments in science, technology and the media I always get it on my desktop. Due to the existence of the internet, I find buying newspapers a bit wasteful, both in terms of money and trees. So, when I want to read up on Apple, or recent developments on the web, I open up msnbc.com’s Spectra Visual Newsreader. I’m no fan of the msnbc network, but I can’t help liking the Spectra Newsreader. It looks beautiful, feels futuristic, and is fun to interact with, and you learn stuff to boot. It’s now the first thing I do in the morning when I switch on my laptop.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

Last night I finally got around to watching perhaps the only film by Hayao Miyazaki I haven’t seen: Lupin III, Castle of Cagliostro. Whilst I was watching it I found lots of similarities to the amazing PSX game by IGA and his team at KCET, ‘Castlevania: The Symphony of the Night’.

Both my heroes in their own right, Miyazaki and IGA seem to have cross-pollenated. Seeing as the anime film was made in 1979 and the castlevania game in 1997, it’s obvious who borrowed from who.

The first of the similarities I noticed was the Castle of Cagliostro itself. It looks almost identical to the castle in the opening sequence of the Castlevania game, especially the tall tower with the connecting bridge and the four turrets on it’s corners. I thought this was likely to be a coincidence, but then later the film culminated in a scene where a gold and silver ring had to be taken to a clock tower in order for a secret passageway to a hidden treasure to be revealed.

This exact scenario takes place in the Castlevania game also! Both clocks also feature a goat’s head and strike 13 when the rings are used to activate the mechanism. In both the film and the game the hands of the clock come into alignment when the rings are used (in the film the Count of Cagliostro is crushed between the hour and the minute hands).

Just an interesting little known fact, I thought. I Googled it, but couldn’t find any articles about it on the web. If anyone else knows of any other similarities, please put them in the thread.

I finally found an English version of a Haruki Murakami book here in Tokyo. I was meaning to read this back when I was in the UK, but I’m glad I’ve only started now. It’s set in Tokyo (amongst other locations), so it’s nice to read a little bit about the city. So far, I’m really enjoying it. I like Murakami’s style of writing, but wonder what was lost in the translation. I’m sure Jay Rubin did an awesome job of rendering the book into English text, but an ambition of mine would be to read the original Japanese text one day.