Tag Archives: 2009

Merry Christmas 2009

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Merry Christmas 2009

Today is Christmas Day, and this year I’m spending it in Japan. This morning I watched Tom & Jerry’s The Night Before Christmas and Disney’s A Christmas Carol while eating one of the two Christmas cakes from the fridge, played the fresh copy of Super Mario Bros. Wii for an hour, then went to Tokyo Midtown for the illuminations and the Christmas market. The picture you can see at the top of this post was taken there. I’m about to have dinner, but unfortunately it won’t include roast turkey this year. That’s OK, it’s been a pretty good day!

Merry Christmas and a prosperous and productive New Year from Tokyo Story!

+J and Uniqlo Tunes

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+J and Uniqlo Tunes

Some Uniqlo news now. I was in the newly expanded Ginza branch yesterday and had the good fortune to see the new +J line of clothing at the back of the new mens’ section. I tried on some of the outerwear, and I liked it very much. Although I didn’t buy anything (yet), I was taken by the fine tailoring and the details. This lead me inevitably back to the Japanese Uniqlo website where I saw the new Flash toy launched this Autumn – Uniqlo Tunes. It plays video in time with MP3′s, and you can even upload your own. As usual you have the option of integrating it into your blog. This new music toy joins a small collection of other Uniqlo Flash virals and microsites.

Aphex Twin at Summer Sonic

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Aphex Twin at Summer Sonic

Summer Sonic takes place this year in Tokyo, and on the bill is none other than my childhood hero Aphex Twin. I still think he’s one of the most enigmatic and uncompromising creatives in modern history. He never made anything for his fans or critics, only for himself, and thus his sound is pretty inaccessible, but I listen to it from time to time. Helps me think.

Tickets are a rip-off as usual, but if you want to see a truly rare performance from an artist responsible for shaping electronic music as we know it, break out your wallet.

Metropolis Calendar 2009

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Metropolis Calendar 2009

I just want to mention the Metropolis Calendar 2009. For those of you in Tokyo, you can get yours now, if you haven’t already. I got mine in January from the tourist information stand in Keisei Ueno Station (the line that you take to get to Narita Airport). The pic that you see above appears on the September spread of the calendar, and was taken by my good friend Trent McBride. Congratulations Trent!

Groovisions do the Tokyo Marathon

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Groovisions do the Tokyo Marathon

So, the Tokyo Marathon was yesterday. I cheered the runners as they passed through Ginza, and I also snapped this poster with the camera on my DSi which is instantly identifiable as the work of Groovisions. Now I’m looking at their poster it’s obvious that their style suits this event perfectly. Anyone familiar with their previous work in music videos and their infographics for MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Farming) in Japan, will know their clean isometric vectors and statistical-representation-esque visual style. I like it.

So here’s the video they did for MAFF whist on the subject:

Sapporo Chocolate Beer

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Sapporo Chocolate Beer

Returning to the topic of beer, here’s some breaking news: The Sapporo brewery of Japan will soon be releasing another limited special variety for 2009 – chocolate beer! The results from a collaboration between Sapporo and Royce, a Japanese chocolatier also operating out of Sapporo in the north of Japan. It looks like it’s going to be a stout much like the Yebisu Black Beer I sampled the other night. Can’t wait to try it. Review coming soon.

Tokyo Story is Changing

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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.