Tokyo Blog

The Blue Hearts bursting out of the Shinjuku live houses and onto prime time TV in the 1980’s. I especially like the VHS tape glitches before they play.

These monks walk very slowly, exercising, or showcasing, their mastery of the zen principle of self control. Every next step is preceded by a quiet sounding of the small bell they carry in their right hand, the bowl in which they collect contributions gripped in their left. I’ve never seen anyone actually give a contribution to these buddhist monks. When I saw this one, I wanted to give him some money, but as so often in Tokyo, I found myself worrying about misunderstanding something and causing offense (how much do you give a takahatsu begging monk anyway?).

Intelligence: 8
Stamina: 7
Speed: 1
Resistance to Alcohol: 1
Sleeping Ability: 6
Combat Skill: 1
Voice Volume: 1
Magic Points: 9
Gold: 2

Looking from the window of the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line subway train on my daily commute to work I noticed this gloriously dated mural in Suehirochou station (which will spit you out in Akihabara, electric town should you take the main exit onto the street). I had to step off the train and get a picture of this retro masterpiece (above).

Train Through Tokyo II from Stephen Smith on Vimeo.

This is a video I shot during a train ride from the center of Tokyo to the airport (1hr 20mins or so away). It gives a good impression of the Tokyo cityscape, the buildings, logos and colours of the city rushing by. There’s also a few more videos from this series on my Vimeo.

This is a Japanese kid, featured also on Japanese TV, who wants to challenge the wildcard spot in the YouTube beatbox champs - and he think he just might do it. He’s even better than the godfather of noise: Rahzel!

With the grueling Japanese working day being what it is, every second of sleep counts. Here’s how to extend your rest period at the expense of having only 5 minutes in which to change out of your pyjamas, cook and eat breakfast, don your business apparel and get out the door, shoes on feet and briefcase in hand. This is from a recent Japanese TV show - enjoy the special techniques employed by the pros. Kakkoii!

Yes, Uniqlo’s retro game T-shirts have been out for a while but the preliminary selection didn’t contain anything I really wanted to buy. When I heard they were coming out, I decided I might get the Galaxian one, but the design wasn’t so great I thought. Nostalgic T-shirt lovers now have a load more to choose from though, in the form of Uniqlo’s second wave of game tees. If I could just direct your attention to the Hadouken long sleeve, and, see that Metallica inspired number? Ghosts and Goblins! (The print says ‘Makaimura’, which means demon world village as the Japanese title for the game.) Thank you Uniqlo, and thank you Japan! If you want one of these, let me know in the comments thread. I just might run a few on eBay for those not lucky enough to get to a Japanese Uniqlo store anytime soon.

I watched Okuribito last night. I don’t know why I hadn’t watched it before really considering all the hype - and I love Japanese cinema. It’s actually a hugely satisfying movie with a score by Joe Hisaishi, for which he delivers his masterpiece. I’m not going to go on at length about the poetic, philosophical and uniquely Japanese qualities of the movie, but just recommend it to everyone as a film you have got to see (before you die).

Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company are now planning a live action Ninja Scroll to accompany their existing anime adaptation of the epic Akira. He’s looking to get SMAP (a J-Pop all boy singing group) to act in the movie, so it’s looking positive in the sense that he actually wants to cast Japanese actors in the roles of actual Japanese people - seems obvious to most of us I guess, but not to Hollywood’s casting agents it would seem judging by the recently released Dragonball Evolution movie. I’m semi-positive about this, but it still baffles me how they are going to match the provocative, ultra-violent, psychedelic qualities of the 90’s original. Time will tell I guess.

I’ve been playing a new incarnation of an old favourite recently, the last in the series from SNK actually. Samurai Shodown V Special is the best in the entire series. You’ve got most of the best characters, plus many new ones, with additional special moves and additional techniques. In this game, you can go into Rage mode, or you can exchange your anger for ‘concentration’ by meditating in order to, at a certain time, go into Concentration One mode, where all of your enemy’s moves take place in slow motion, whereas everything you do is normal speed. This enables you to land about 10 strikes on him while he’s still drawing his sword, as well as move behind your enemy and slay him before he has time to turn around. There are many more cool features, too many to list, and it’s a pixel-art masterpiece - every frame of every sprite. As icing, Yuki and SNK Playmore added Suicides and Fatalities. If you know how, you should play it (but not if you want to be productive at any time in the near future). Oh, and get the uncensored version. That way you can see people getting sliced in half, beheaded or spraying fountains of blood.

And, on the very same day, I found this. A twisted, retro sci-fi first person shooter that seems to have been inspired by early David Lynch. Now this is worth checking out, just to hear square-head’s surreal monologues. The game is called Mondo Agency and it’s developed by a guy called Cactus. Unfortunately (for me), there’s only a PC build, and no Mac version. I ran it under Parallels but it ran pretty badly. I enjoyed watching the YouTube clips more.

After discovering some interesting independent games recently, I wanted to post about them here so people can have a look for themselves. This first game is a collaboration between distractionware and increpare, two game artists who have created an interactive narrative game for Mac and PC (and now Linux too). I don’t want to spoil anything, so just try it for yourself. It’s a dark affair, made to feel only more so by the dreary colour palette, haunting sound, and nostalgically low-res aesthetics. Games as art?

UPDATE: Don’t Look Back is also worth checking out on the distractionware site.

About time for another food post, and another ramen post at that - and not just any ramen. We had to wait in line for over an hour to get a seat at this place in Ouji in the northern part of Tokyo. It was worth it though. Insane portions and ridiculous slabs of pork in a broth that was beyond belief. No wonder it’s so famous. The place is called Fujimaru a.k.a. ‘Jiro’. I couldn’t finish mine and I felt like death for the entire evening, but that’s all part of the ramen experience!

As part of my continued effort to involve myself in as much of Japanese culture as possible (both traditional and contemporary), I went to my first baseball game last week! I went to a stadium near omotesando in the heart of Tokyo called Jingu Kyuu-Jou, home of the Yakult Swallows, where they took on the Chunichi Dragons from Nagoya - and lost. Still had a good time though. Between bouts of shouting and singing, I found time to snap a few photees, gobble a bowlful of steaming Udon, and knock back 4 draught beers. Especially for the occasion, I was sporting a Yakult Swallows jersey bearing the legendary Aoki’s name across the back - thanks Erica!

People who know their Samurai will know who this guy is. Famed for being a ferocious swordsman who fought with a long sword and an oar used for rowing, he most famously slayed Sasaki Kojiro in a duel of swords. Now, the studio behind the anime cutaways in Kill Bill vol.1 returns to tell the story, writing courtesy of Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell)! Can’t wait. Here’s the trailer for now.