Från ett Starbuckscafé i en korsning i stadsdelen Shibuya utspelade sig detta skådespel. Medan bilarna kör byggs folksamlingarna upp i väntan på grön gubbe, fler och fler, för att slutligen få strömma över i ett hav av svarthåriga huvuden som guppar upp och ner. Så blir det rött, bilarnas tur igen, och så börjar det om. Igen. och igen. Och igen. Det tog aldrig slut, och jag slutade aldrig att fascineras.

Evento terá exibição de 6 longas e presença dos diretores Paulo Betti e Francisco Ramalho Jr.

Tokyo - ipcdigital.com

Outubro promete ser o mês da cultura brasileira em Tokyo. A embaixada do Brasil está apoiando vários eventos, entre eles mostras de arte visual contemporânea, exposições de fotografia e shows de música popular. O cinema brasileiro também já tem espaço garantido. A 4ª edição do Festival Cinema Brasil 2008 está marcada para os dias 10 a 13 de outubro, no Omotesando Hills, um badalado centro comercial e cultural em Shibuya. Durante os quatro dias de evento, serão exibidos seis longas-metragens e seis curtas-metragens, além de videoclipes de bandas e de músicos brasileiros. O festival faz parte de calendário oficial de eventos do Ano do Intercâmbio Japão-Brasil. "É um festival que sempre procurou o caminho da integração cultural", afirma Edison Mineki, da Tupiniquim Entertainment, empresa que organiza a mostra. Mineki também explica que nesta edição espera que os cinco sentidos do público sejam estimulados. "Queremos que as pessoas tenham um verdadeiro contato com o Brasil neste festival, através da imagem e do som dos filmes e videoclipes, do contato com os brasileiros, e do cheiro e também do paladar da comida e bebida do nosso país", sugere ele. CONVIDADOS ESPECIAIS Este ano, estão confirmadas também as presenças de Paulo Betti, que dirigiu em parceria com Clóvis Bueno o filme Cafundó, e Francisco Ramalho Jr., diretor de Canta Maria. Os dois vão participar de um talk show com o público, marcado para o dia 10 de outubro, a partir das 20h. Os dois vão falar sobre seus respectivos filmes e também sobre cinema brasileiro. CAFÉ TIME Outra novidade é o Café Time. Todos os dias, às 15h, haverá uma sessão gratuita, com exibição de filmes de curta-metragem e videoclipes dos artistas BR6, Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Donato, Paula Lima, Yamandu Costa e Toquinho, Vanessa Falabella, Kabelo e Badi Assad. OS FILMES Os seis longas-metragens escolhidos para esta 4ª edição do festival são inéditos no Japão. São eles: Cafundó, de Clóvis Bueno e Paulo Betti, conta a história de João de Camargo (Lázaro Ramos), popular líder religioso, ex-escravo e tropeiro, que construiu a Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bom Jesus da Água Vermelha e ganhou fama de milagreiro. Canta Maria, de Francisco Ramalho Jr., baseado no romance "Os Desvalidados", de Francisco J. C. Dantas, se passa no Nordeste dos anos 30, e mostra a história de amor entre a jovem Maria, um amansador de cavalos e o rapaz que a salva de um ataque de cangaceiros. Cartola - Música para os Olhos, de Lírio Ferreira e Hilton Lacerda, é um documentário sobre um dos compositores e intérpretes mais importantes da música brasilera. O Cheiro do Ralo, de Heitor Dhalia, é uma comédia dramática que mostra o esquisito Lourenço, cujo prazer é explorar pessoas com dificuldades financeiras, mas que perde o rumo quando se apaixona por uma bunda. Quase Dois Irmãos, de Lúcia Murat, conta a história dos amigos Miguel e Jorge, que se reencontram num presídio no Rio de Janeiro. Um retrato da relação entre a classe média e a favela carioca. Se Eu Fosse Você, de Daniel Filho, mostra as confusões vividas por um casal que troca de papéis, interpretado pelos talentosos Tony Ramos e Glória Pires.

]]> http://seelemonsonline.wordpress.com/?p=348 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:37:45 +0000 seelemonsonline http://seelemonsonline.ca.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/shibuya-welcomes-me-in-her-womb/  

Random Observation/Comment #80: Techno clubs all sound the same, yet some places can charge $40 for the entrance fee while others only charge $20.  It seems like the only difference is the size of the place and the different lightshow techniques.  I wonder if they pay hot girls to cycle at the entrances to attract more people, or if their reputation just allows them to overcharge everyone. 

I promised RJ a fun time with squeaky-voiced Japanese girls from the start of the trip.  Unfortunately, our previous nights out had either been taste tests of all the cocktails in the bar, or drinking competitions between RJ and the bottom of the glass.  This was the night to stick to my promise – just three guys (plus a random Australian guy we met at the hostel) exploring what Shibuya nightlife has to offer. 

Chris was the designated drinking tour guide since he had been in Shibuya for the longest time out of the entire group (which is not difficult to do when no one else had ever been to Shibuya).  This privilege of choosing a bar in a bar-filled town comes with a lot of pressure and obligation to please your guests.  The choice of the bar and the events that follow for the night become your responsibility and will completely be used as judging criteria for your future employment in this field.  In some way, it’s like ordering the wine at an Italian restaurant – you order the wine for the table and you get the smallest portion with the sediment from the last few drops of the bottle.  It’s because you’re suggesting the wine to a large party so you’ve most probably already tried it.  Note to self: Don’t be the one that orders wine at an Italian restaurant.

Needless to say, Chris f#%ked up.  We left the decision to his guidance, and we wound up at sausage-fests and loud bars with rats.  To prove that the bar had cute girls and interesting conversation, Chris talked to girls and tried to introduce us.  It was a series of innocent conversations where all the girls wanted to touch Chris’ blue eyes and blonde hair.  I followed along and asked questions, trying to pry the right topic.  It was an act on both ends.

 Isn’t it nice to be whoever you want to be when you’re talking to a stranger at a bar?  “Yeah, I’m a model from New York“.  “I’m a multi-millionaire born from a prestigious porn website.”  I never lied, but I never told the whole truth.  I wonder how many characters I could create with ridiculous stories.  I’d probably need a different name and nationality too.  Mmm, trust is so hard to earn.

After some drinking at one bar, we went to a club called “Womb.”   Apparently it’s one of the top 3 techno clubs in the world.  $40 per person – what a rip-off!  The music was definitely better than the first techno place I went to, and the special effects kept me entertained for a good hour.  The club used a lot of smoke and lights in a tasteful way.  The strobe lights were used appropriately and the large laser that pans the room similar to a sci-movie defense system that scans the room for enemies.  I loved it when they did the vertical planes and then swept them outward.  It reminded me of the perspective drawings I used to do in middle school when drawing a town with a single road in the middle.

I think this place was popular because everyone there was under some type of influence.  The sweaty masses bounced around the dance floor and bobbed with the repetitive beats.  The only words in the songs would be “Put your hands up in the air like you just don’t care.”  As with most clubs, I just observed my surroundings while keeping some type of head-bob-and-sway.  I wrote my personal review of the atmosphere as I surveyed the area.

Energy was off the charts and everyone looked like they were having some type of fun.  The rave dancers rave-danced, while the creepsters creepster-stared.  For some reason, I craved some good Beatles music, but had to settle for that bass beat and chicky-chicky-tsee-tsee sounds.  Sooner or later, I was enjoying myself and meeting new people.  The night changed to morning before I knew it, and we had to follow the drunken stumble home on the first train.  Good times.

~See Lemons Relax

Peter and John were great guests and the movie was good so the event was still somehow a success. After finishing at midnight the three of us went to a bar nearby for a few drinks and snacks. Was a pleasure to talk with one of the true ledgends in snowboarding Peter Line. Very nice down to earth guy. Check out the Forum site for into on the movie and where you can buy a copy. Collectors box set.

Tonight was the Mack Dawg premier in Shinjuku with special guests Devun, Lauri, Aaron Bittner, and Ikka from the DC team. Great theater with really good sound. It was a double showing of Melt Down Project from 15 years ago and then the new film from Mack Dawg, "Double Decade" 20 years in the business, respect to Mack Dawg! The movie was high tech, HD footage, heli follow shots, cameos from famous past pro's etc., they pulled out all the stops for this last feature.  The only downside would have to be the uglyness of the snowboard wear that most of the riders are having to wear this season.  The Melt Down project was fun to watch after a long time.  The riding of Terje, Nate Cole and Ingmar backman was timeless!  Those guys were way ahead of their time, especially Terje.  His riding then was just as good as he is now, so smooth, so perfect, plus his wear didn't make him look like a walking candy wrapper.  

Devun Walsh another legend still going strong!

Shocked!

The theater, used to be an Imax theater.  Steep seating.

Hajime and Etsu checkout out the show.

Ue and ER7

Shinjuku Takashimaya building

The mellow after party

Last train from Shibuya time to catch up on some zzz's

ahh Shibuya, tomorrow off to Shiretoko for three day shoot with Script magazine.

Thanks Tokyo for a fun two nights!  weather getting cooler in the big city!

Hacía tiempo que quería postear sobre el rítmico Stormtrooper, volviendo locas a la gente, ya sea paseando por las calles tokiotas o yendo en metro... Qué harías si, volviendo del trabajo tan cansado, derrepente te encuentras con un personaje vestido de Stormtrooper??

Hace poco más de dos años que Danny Choo curte de este tipo de acciones, comenzando por el lugar de la electrónica, Akihabara...

Y hoy, hace poco más de doce horas, lanzó un nuevo "single": Tokyo Rock Trooper

So, update- I finally found a church, and as of today have gone to three meetings. I'm settling in, and have met alot alot alot of new friends. Friday night I went to Yoyogi park with Tyler, Saki, Motoko, Momoko, Arnaud, and Chris. It is a really big park, and it was very dark. But we talked very loudly so it wasn't very scary lol, just fun!

On saturday I went with a bunch of my church friends to Yokohama Trienale, a modern art festival in, you guessed it, Yokohama. Present were me, David (from Hong Kong), Yuka (my host sister), Takako, Sen, Yasu, Sam, and yes Jon, I finally met an Akira, who was also there. Although not the type of Akira you would expect. This Akira plays electric guitar on the worship team. And when I asked him what kind of music he loves, he said 'Jazz.' And when I asked him what his favorite band was, he said 'Radiohead.' Like, I'm serious. I'm not joking. I asked him some of the most important character defining questions that there are, and he answered all of them the same that I would have. It was ridiculous. So apparently me and him and this other guy are going to go to a studio in Shinjuku and record some jams. Or something. Anyhow, on to the pictures.

This is David from Hong Kong when we went to 'Monsoon' for dinner after church one day.

This is just a random pic of Ben that I took while we were video chatting across the pacific. I thought it would be the best for everyone if I included it.

We had lunch before going to art festival. Takako is cut off on the left, Akira is center, David from hongkong on the right.

This was another exhibit, this one is kinda difficult to explain... There was basically a hallway, a REALLY REALLY long, narrow hallway. And there were signs on the left wall, right wall, left wall, right wall, alternating like that so you had to go back and forth like a skier. Each sign had some kind of postmodern poetry on it. Basically the poem is complete free style, and it comments on your inner thoughts as you walk through the hall. It speaks about your fears that the hallway might go on forever, your cramped feeling as the hallway is narrow. Then there is a crude picture of people having sex and there is a purple cup on a small outcropping and a sticky note on the ceiling that says 'joy' on it. And the poem considers your feeling as these are so random and you HAVE to look at them since there isn't anything else in the hallway. then the same picture and cup and note come back like four more times, and the poem describes how they become like familiar friends to you when there is nothing else in the hall but that. This picture above was the one sign that hung in the middle of the hall, the text gives you two options, right or left. the poem suggests that you shouldn't think about your decision, just according to your gut reaction choose right or left. both sides are the same. Then afterwords, the poem describes your worry that you may have picked the wrong direction even though both are the same. Then towards the end of the hallway, the poem begins reminiscing about things you miss, such as trees and stars and grass. The poem suggests that you may make a vow to yourself to eat less and workout more, tell important things to the people you love, and finally you exit the hallway. It was pretty trippy, i have to say. Especially because english is printed on the BACK of the signs so to view it in english you have to wait another hour and they let guests go through from the opposite side of the hall. That means the WHOLE poem was backwards for me, and i had to remember each sign and then reverse them when I got to the exit. Lol.

I asked him "Yasu, onsen to biriaado ha sekai ni ichiban ii koto?" (Are hot springs and billiards the best things in this world?) To which he said "definitely."

Lol, it turns out Oktoberfest was going on on the same day and in the same place. So we saw a guy passed out in front of the art building. lol.

Everyone brought their camera's that day (except me noone told me... :( ) So David was getting all artsy...

I don't know why she was so mad at me.................... lol gomennasai!!! *bows* m(._. )m

We went on this really awesome pier type thing, inside was this huge box that people go in and sit for about an hour. It was supposed to be some type of art, I don't know what the crap it was, so we decided to skip that exhibit. The next exhibit wasn't much better though, just loads of boards strewn around a white room with sloppy paint on the walls saying things like "LOVE IS OVER"

We decided to go to the famous Yokohama China Town, the biggest one in Japan. It was big, and there was a man and a cart.

And a gate.

and a dog

Akira and Takako trying to be artists with their cameras lol, you can see me and even a little of Yuka in the background.

Finally, densha de kaette, minna ga choutsukareta... (We went home by train, everyone was tired)

Sam is on the left, he is half Japanese half Scottish. lol. Then Sen, then Akira, then Takako. I was sitting on the other side with Yuka, David, and Yasu.

nechatta ne...

Yuka seemed really happy to have gone with us, and my Japanese friends and I even had a chance to talk to her about God some which was really cool. It was a good experience to get a little closer to Yuka, we have been kinda distant at the house lately, partly because I don't feel like I can relate to her kind of glittery lifestyle. So this was good for that aspect.

Also, something happened with my Japanese this last week... I think I am way way better than the week before for some reason. Suddenly I am more comfortable expressing myself. This morning I met a young Japanese woman named Nori on the steps of the church, who couldn't speak any english. Still, for some reason my Japanese impressed her and she told me her whole testimony in Japanese, which I think I actually understood! It felt really good to finally begin having success in Japanese after a while of feeling like I was the worst ever.

Anyways, after we took the train back to Shibuya, we went out to eat Yakiniku, which is delish. Some people had to go home, so it was just me and yuka and takako and david and yasu. Then afterwards Yasu SOMEHOW convinced us all to go play Billiards with him... lol...

David wanted his leg to be on the table like that; he felt it seemed more 'pro.' whatever that means, i never use the word 'pro' in the SPU vernacular so i wouldn't know...

FYI all the BIG pictures are taken from my cellphone and the small ones from davids REALLY expensive Nikon. Don't ask me why. I don't control the internet. Al Gore does.

~~Ok update, I actually DID fix the picture size. I guess I DO control the internet after all.

Gårdagen var relativt slapp får man väl säga. Vi hängde mest inne och spelade lite och gick sedan ut för att äta. Vi hamnade på det mest japanska stället hittills, det var verkligen ett litet hål i väggen där vi gick in. Ägarinnan och kocken talade inte engelska, men de som satt bakom oss hjälpte oss med vår beställning. Det var sweet. Vi satt vid disken och fick kyckling- och köttbullsspett serverade. Mängden mat man får här i Tokyo är något som vi fortfarande är aningen förundrade över. Man får väldigt lite... Vi funderar på om det helt enkelt är så att det är tänkt att man ska beställa mer än vad vi snåla svenskar gör, eller om japaner bara äter mycket mindre än vi. Än så länge har vi liksom inte ens ätit ris! Det kommer. Idag var vi lite mer aktiva, även om jag sov till klockan tre... Vi tänkte att vi skulle spana in körsbärsträdsblommningen, och tog tuben till Imperial Palace. Vi började med att utforska parken som låg bredvid. Och jag har faktiskt filmat lite av det. Följ med på en videoresa genom Kitanomaru National Garden, Tokyo district och Shibuya.

Vi hittade till slut ett nudelställe där vi efter mycket om och men lyckades beställa in lite mat. Jag lyckades till viss förtret beställa in kalla nudlar, vilket inte var riktigt lika gott som jag kan tänka mig att varma är... Det var iallafall den billigaste och mesta maten vi köpt hittills. Kvällen slutade sedan med lite öl på Mana Tree, samma ställe där vi spenderade vår första kväll här i Tokyo. Det luktar stammisställe.

Här har vi räknat ihop våra sista sparade mynt (eftersom maskinen inte tog emot 10000-sedlar) och Pelle köper "matbiljetter" till oss som man köper nudlar med.

Pelle äter varma och jag kalla nudlar...

PS. Eftersom Pelle trots min desperata vädjan att börja blogga på denna blogg vägrar dela internetsfär med mig och Daniel känner jag mig motvilligt tvungen att länka till hans blogg. DS.

Cassina IXC

There’s a furniture store on the first floor of the building where I work out. They have designer furniture from the greats like LeCorbusier and Mackintosh. It’s like a museum actually. The cool thing about this store is that it has a café inside. So you can sit on $11,000 chairs and eat Vietnamese noodles and sip very strong iced coffee, served by silent black-clad waiters. I never entered before because it looks expensive and well, pretentious. But actually 1,000 yen will get you a very tidy meal, al dente. For directions click here.

There’s the usual pampered young Shibuya housewives with their ignored kids dressed in designer garb. And there are always groups of what looks to me like designers of some sort. They are dressed in dark clothes, wear ironically chunky glasses, and their haircuts are sculpted into well-placed disarray. And they always have at least one open laptop and some very important papers scattered about their tables.

Still, it’s a totally chill atmosphere. It’s never crowded, never noisy. There’s not even any piped-in music. The only sounds are the sounds of self-important chatter and the street noise outside. But it’s all absorbed nicely by the furniture.

I sat on the long counter, soaking in the first pleasant day of autumn. Scribbling in my notebook and then spacing out at the minimalist flower arrangement in front of me.

Recommended Company: your friends in ‘design’ and architecture to smirk at the latest fads.

Suggested Reading: biographies of mid-century modernists.

Likely Activities: sketching perfect curves and concocting self-referential parodies.

Photo from the Cassina website, until I can take a decent picture of the place. Click on the picture for the source.

There are times when I still feel that I am missing something big from life. Days like today, where I could do anything but can't think of anything interesting, can get a guy down. It seems as though I am wasting my day off when I spend it primarily alone and in front of a screen. As much as I would like to think and hope that I can just fill the time with new activities, I know that isn't true.

No number of activities can compare to two years of being unloved.

One responsible thing I did today was edit the life plan again. As much as I want a car, it is a completely unnecessary expense. The same can be said for a new apartment. I also worry that I will be depressed even more often if I am going home to a place without a community like the one in the guesthouse. Even with my social ineptness, I know that I can almost always find someone to talk with. That is worth far more to me than a bigger bedroom right now.

Matriculation and graduation were also moved forward.

I made a salad today (pictured below). While this is not much in the way of cooking, I did a bit more than simply buying a pre-made salad from the grocery store. I included some kind of lettuce, tomato, green peppers, cheese, pastrami, salt, black pepper, and pita (crumbled). It was better than I expected. However there was a bit much pita and tomato, and not enough lettuce and cheese. Next weekend's dish will be much more interesting since I won't be cooking alone.

It looks like it will rain tomorrow.

Era nuestro barrio donde pasear después de haber estado descubriendo rincones nuevos; era donde coger la comida cuando nos apetecía estar en la habitación tranquilamente (yo subway siempre: avocado & veggie); era donde ír a ver algún que otro concierto y donde visitar a Shawn.

Me gusta Shibuya porque es uno de los dos barrios (junto con Ginza) que tiene Apple Store. Iphone ha llegado hace poquito a Japón y cómo no, todos están como locos y aunque el aparato se queda muy atrás de la tecnología que ellos utilizan, como fans de Apple, necesitan tener el gadget. Sólo en tiendas SoftBank.

Llamativa manera de promocionar a alguien; en esta ocasión a una cantante japonesa. Trailer por las calles de la ciudad con la cara de la chica a todo color y con su música como banda sonora de cualquier paseo.
A favor!

A mi fascinaba el modo en el que dejaban las bicis, chulas todas, sin temor a que nadie las pudiera "tomar prestadas".

Además, sabiendo que allí les tira mucho el rollo fixed me quedaba embobada cada vez que veía una y más si tenía pegatinas de Supreme incluídas, hehehe..

Antes de irme, Simone me pidió que enganchara algunas pegatinas por Tokyo para defender la escena de Bcn y yo sin dudarlo me dediqué a ello aunque no está muy bien visto lo de enganchar pegatinas por las calles de la ciudad pero yo lo hice.

Aquí hay algunas que enganché por el barrio de Shibuya una noche de esas en las que te coges un Subway de avocado & veggie con pan de sésamo para llevar. Todo 660 Yenes. Domo Arigatou!

]]> http://michaelpick.wordpress.com/?p=67 Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:14:37 +0000 Michael Pick http://michaelpick.ca.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/wordcamp-tokyo-2008/ I returned from Tokyo yesterday after attending (and speaking at) the very first WordCamp in Japan, WordCamp Tokyo 2008. The event was booked out within a day of being announced, and I had the chance to meet a great cross section of Japanese bloggers, developers, business people and the awesome folks behind WordPress localization for Japan.

The event was smack in the middle of Tokyo's Shibuya (this pic from my hotel room across the way):

In addition to some great presentations, on everything from Firefox + WordPress, to WordPress MU case studies, to the Sandbox theme, it was a really interesting opportunity to see the "state of the Word" Japan-side. I can't thank the localization team enough for putting the event together, and I'm looking forward to the next meetup.

I particularly enjoyed speaking to the nice range of hardcore WordPress users in attendance - it was amazing to see the variety of applications people are finding for WordPress in Japan. These ranged from representatives of larger businesses (Adobe, Firefox, Paperboy & co. to name but three) through to web developers, students and freelancers. We had some food and drinks after the main event, and I was bowled over by the friendly atmosphere and hi-octane exchange of business cards.

This also gave me an excellent opportunity to gather feedback, ideas, criticisms and requests from Japanese WordPress users, which I'm now compiling and hope to share here, soon.

Thanks to everyone that made it, and particularly to Naoko McCracken & the localization team for making it happen! And thanks so much to the very kind Honda-San and Morita-San who walked me right to the door of my hotel (my Tokyo navigation skills aren't what they were since I moved to Sapporo).

Mi hanno appena chiamata delle colleghe della televisione (non vi dirò quale) interessate ad un mio articolo di qualche tempo fa sulle giovani giapponesi oggi, ma non riuscivano più a rintracciarlo. Ho spiegato loro che tramite l'archivio o anche digitando le parole del titolo o l'argomento nello spazio CERCA, lo avrebbero trovato. Disperate, dopo una vana ricerca, mi hanno richiamata pregandomi di ri-postarlo. Ora lo faccio, ma mi raccomando: Paesi, luoghi, reportage, storie e interviste pubblicate negli scorsi mesi sono tutte rintracciabili dall'archivio (sempre consultabile) o attraverso l'apposito spazio di ricerca. Buona ri-lettura, allora!

Destinazione: Torre 109, il megacentro commerciale sulla via Sentagai di Shibuya, il quartiere pulsante di Tokyo. Una città nella città. ll Giappone già nel futuro rispetto all'altro di cui ho parlato qui, qui e anche qui. Un punto nevralgico, secondo me, per cercare di capire la gioventù giapponese. Da qualche anno, anche il luogo di ritrovo più amato dalle diverse tribù metropolitane: prima con le kogyaru e le ganguro girls, le studentesse con i lunghi capelli tinti, vestite con zatteroni e minigonna comparse alcuni anni fa, oggi con le cosplay (Costume + Play), ovvero la pratica dell'indossare un costume che rappresenta un personaggio-icona e interpretarne il comportamento e i gesti.

(foto: e-chan)

Accantonato l’uniforme alla marinara, per diverso tempo un must della sensualità giapponese, accorciate le gonne o gli shorts, le teenagers dal look originale, si muovono sempre in branco. Su e giù per i marciapiedi, davanti alle vetrine dei negozi, si scrutano, si osservano e si esibiscono. Uno stravagante esercito di ragazzine che gareggiano tra loro, sfoggiando costosi zainetti firmati sopra magliette di seconda mano.Entrano ed escono dagli enormi shopping center, dalle boutique italiane, dai bar alla moda, offrendo alla vista dei curiosi, look sempre più stravaganti. Anche il blog di Mandarina duck affidato alla giovane creativa Ducky lo monitora costantemente: "Non ci vuole tanto per capire che lo street-style di Shibuya è disinvolto e irriverente - scrive -. Qui è nato il “Layered Style” ovvero la moda a strati: stili e capi diversi si sovrappongono a creare un mix unico. Stile adottato dalle Moga (le Modern girl) che si possono incontrare in giro per i quartieri più fashion come Harajuku, Aoyama, Shibuya, Shinjuku e Daikanyama. I miei viaggi di ricerca - scrive ancora Ducky - sono una fonte inesauribile di idee da cui trarre nutrimento per la fase concept. Celebri sono le Harajuku girls, già immortalate nella musica di Gwen Stefani, diverte il loro mescolare di capi e di stili diversi: vestiti tradizionali giapponesi e capi firmati insieme".

Sanno di essere più di una tribù, queste ragazze: rappresentano uno stile di vita. Opposto, probabilmente, a quello codificato e seguito dalla maggior parte dei connazionali. Originale, eccessivo, antagonista in un certo senso, come la street culture che rappresentano. E la strada allora diventa il loro palcoscenico preferito. I neon colorati e accecanti delle insegne, le musiche che rimbombano fuori da ogni negozio, sono i riflettori e lo sfondo per le loro esibizioni. Qui, ad uso e consumo dei passanti, gruppi vocianti di ragazze si accovacciano in pose sexy, si truccano, si fotografano e si fanno fotografare. La loro filosofia sembra essere: meglio apparire eccessive, essere additate come volgari e bizzarre, che accettare la mediocrità della loro vita.
«Oggi sono le ragazze in Giappone a incarnare le speranze (o gli incubi) del mutamento sociale. Le giovani sono feticizzate come metafora del consumo», sostiene Alessandro Gomarasca nel suo illuminante saggio sul Giappone contemporaneo, La bambola e il robottone (Einaudi).

(foto: e-chan)

Tra un giro di shopping e l’altro, tra una seduta dal manicure e un’altra dal parrucchere, queste ragazze “mascherate” si scambiano email e immagini dai telefonini, per darsi appuntamento per la sera. La scelta, a Shibuya, è praticamente infinita: a metà strada tra le atmosfere di Blade Runner e Disneyland, fast food, pizzerie, locali techno, karaoke e manga bar, straripano nelle vie tappezzate da giganteschi manifesti e videoclip pubblicitari. Ma è il ballo che sembra essere ora la vera ossessione di queste giovani. Oltre alla musica pop made in Japan. Così, per la prima volta, agli angoli delle strade, musicisti nippopunk si esibiscono senza vergogna. Non fanno parte dei “perdenti” della società, degli “evaporati”, come vengono definiti qui i barboni senza fissa dimora, o gli ex impiegati che hanno perso il posto fisso e sono stati cacciati dalle famiglie per la vergogna. Loro, i musicisti da strada, insieme alla variopinta folla che popola le vie del quartiere, sono i nuovi “nomadi del suono”. Creano e subiscono i mille stili di strada cui tutto il mondo fashion oggi fa riferimento.

(foto: e-chan)

Dieci anni di black out economico, infatti, non hanno intaccato il primato di un Giappone-laboratorio creativo di mode e stili del futuro. Piuttosto, hanno modificato la mentalità delle nuove generazioni. Delusi dalla dedizione al lavoro dei loro padri, i giovani sono sempre più decisi a sfogarsi “qui e ora”. Lavoretti part-time e occasionali prestazioni sessuali con uomini, servono alle liceali per comprare le griffe più note, gli accessori più tecnologici.
A un occidentale queste giovani possono sembrare uno sciame colorato di ragazzine in stile Barbie-sexy, ma le loro acconciature si ispirano ad eroine dei fumetti manga come Sailor Moon. Gli accessori, i peluche e le pose infantili, fanno il verso a Hello Kitty o a Heidi. Finita la fascinazione per la cultura americana, sembra essere esplosa la nippomania. Sono i protagonisti dei cartoni giapponesi insomma, a dettare il nuovo look. Ci si veste, ci si muove, si pensa e si sogna come le eroine di questi fumetti. Fantasia e realtà si confondono. E non saprei dire se tutto questo sia solo una spia di disagio adolescenziale o piuttosto una vera e propria strategia per preservarsi dall’alienazione, dall’apatia e dalla violenza che sembra aver colpito i giovanissimi oggi. E c'è già chi giura che anche il fenomeno Cosplay sia al tramonto e che nuove figure e mode siano già all'orizzonte.

(Marina Misiti)

Una cámara anunciada el 25 de febrero de 2004 pero con la que creo aún se puede salir a dar paseos. No tiene live view, ni autolimpieza de sensor (una pena), ah! y tampoco graba vídeo, función que se empieza a ver ahora entre las reflex del mercado y que nunca está de más (que luego se use o no... depende de uno).

Le compré un par de piececillas de plástico que se habían perdido con el tiempo... y salí a la calle, contento como el que estrena zapatos. Aún sin saber como iban los menús, las opciones o los ajustes... toqueteé cuatro cosas y me fui a estrenar mi nueva cámara vieja.

Llegué a Shibuya y no porque no hayan más sitios en Tokyo. Me fui dando un paseo por sus calles intentado sacar lo mejor de ellas. Esas calles por las que he paseado casi todos los días y de las que ya casi estoy aburrido de hacer fotos... pero no.

Llegué sobre las siete y media quizá. Jovenes de todas las tribus urbanas imaginables o inimaginables, luces de todos los colores, música de cualquier rincón,.. Mucho movimiento, incluso siendo un lunes y menos occidentales que en agosto.

Cargué sólo con la lente fija, un 90mm f/2.8 de Tamron. Subí el ISO a 400 después de darme cuenta que la poca luz del lugar me pedía que lo hiciese y seguí mi paseo que después de tres exámenes ese día, me estaba sintiendo a gloria.

Pese a ser cuatro años más vieja que la Olympus e-510, la Fuji s3 Pro es bastante más cómoda de usar y me hace sentir más a gusto. Una vez en casa, repasando las fotos, me di cuenta que el ruido que hace ésta es mucho más parecido al grano de las películas fotográficas y no esa trama de puntos rojos verdes y azules a los que me tiene acostumbrado la e-510 y que tanto me molesta.

El rango dinámico parece ser más amplio. Es cierto que las fotos salen más empastadas y con poco contraste, pero la calidad de las luces y las sombras es mucho mejor que cualquier otra cámara que haya tenido. Problemas como el contraste tienen fácil solución con cualquier software de edición fotográfica. Problemas de zonas sobreexpuestas a veces no tienen solución...

La verdad es que para ser la primera vez que la tenía en mis manos me quedé contento con el resultado final y va a ser raro que vuelva a la Olympus... Creo que con la Fuji s3 Pro, aún sin ser una Canon o una Nikon (que hay más marcas!) puedo tener muy buenos resultados... más fotos con esta cámara en breve.

The kijunchika land price survey is done by the prefectural governments by taking data from transactions and appraisals over the year and evaluating the land value of some 23,749 representative tranches of land across the country as of July 1st each year.  The tranches are divided by usage: residential, commercial, and industrial.  The gathered information is analysed and numbers published by the MLIT in late September.

These kijunchika figures along with the chikakoji, `public notice of land prices` which is a similar study but done by the MLIT for land values as of January 1 of each year (published late March), are the government`s official view on how land values are moving.  These figures are different from tax assessment values but they are used by the local governments in determining those tax values in some part.

The official government land price figures are an important indicator but also need to be taken with a grain of salt as they do not represent specific transactions but rather a trend and it can be biased to the conservative in many cases.  However, as there is no public record of actual transactions available in Japan, these figures are a valuable tool to understand the trend.  The MLIT land price English website is here, but the studies are only published in Japanese and shown on the Japanese website.

General observations from this year`s figures are that the strong growth of main urban areas seen in 2007 has slowed and most regional areas outside of Greater Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, Sendai and other main cities, values continue to drop.

In Tokyo, the most central wards saw double digit and up to mid-20% growth in 2007 but this fell to low single digit growth for 2008.  The average growth for Greater Tokyo was 1.6% resi / 4.0% commercial and the numbers for each prefecture in Greater Tokyo (Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa) was positive.

The strongest growth in Japan lying in Kanagawa prefecture, south-east from central Tokyo where Yokohama saw residential price growth at 2.6% range and commercial at 4.1%, with prices in the most central part of Yokohama City at 8-10% for residential and 10-15% for commercial.

Tokyo Prefecture itself moved from 9.9% resi / 17.2% commercial growth in 2007 down to 1.9% / 4.6% growth this year.   Osaka prefecture was positive at 0.8% resi / 4.4% commercial, down from 2.8% / 10.4% last year while the surrounding Kyoto and Kobe and Shiga were flat.  The Nagoya area of Aichi Prefecture was also positive at 1.7% resi / 1.8% commercial, down from 2.5% / 7.2% last year.  The only other growth for an entire prefecture was seen in commercial land in Miyagi Prefecture, where Sendai City is located.   Otherwise, the average prices for all other prefectures were down but no more than -4.6% for residential (Kochi Pref, with Fukui and Tokushima close at -4.4%) and -5.9% for commercial (Kochi Pref, Akita Pref, with other north-eastern prefectures Aomori, Iwate, as well as Fukui close).

The top 10 performing locations in Japan for the following sectors were:

Residential:                                Commercial:                                     Industrial:

Niseko, Hokkaido at 40.9%       Sendai City, Aoba Ward at 22.3%       Chiba, Funabashi City at 26.4%

Sendai City, Aoba at 16.2%       Sendai City, Aoba at 21.6%                 Chiba, Ichikawa City at 25.0%

Sendai City, Aoba at 15.7%       Tokyo, Shinjuku at 20.2%                   Kawasaki, Kawasaki at 21%

Nagano, Karuizawa at 14.5%     Nagoya City, Nakamura at 19.8%       Kawasaki, Kawasaki at 10.6%

Nagano, Karuizawa at 12%        Sendai City, Aoba at 18.7%                 Saitama, Sakado City at 8.5%

Nagano, Karuizawa at 10.8%     Tokyo, Ginza at 18.6%                        Osaka, Sakai City, Nishi at 8.3%

Aichi, Karitani at 10.6%             Saitama, Kawaguchi at 18.4%             Shiga Pref, Kurito City at 8.1%

Aichi, Karitani at 10.5%             Nagoya City, Nakamura at 18.1%       Saitama Pref, Higi-gun at 7.9%

Kobe, Ashiya at 9.8%                 Sendai City, Miyagino at 18.1%          Saitama Pref, Irima City at 7.7%

Nagoya City, Midori at 9.8%      Osaka City, Umeda at 18.0%              Kanagawa, Yokohama, Totsuka at 7.3%
Let us attempt to interpret this at least in general terms.  In the residential sector, the continued strength of Niseko developing into an international destination has come through but to put this in perspective the base land value is still relatively low at 31,000 yen/sq.m.  Compare this to the other mountain resort location on the strong growth, Karuizawa, where the official prices ranged from 20,500 to 95,000 / sq.m.

We add as a brief note that EastEdge has undertaken sales of the first 5-star hotel condominium in Niseko (and Japan, for that matter).  Further information is available on our website for those interested in investing in this upcoming destination in Japan.  Please contact us for details in English and pre-public pricing.

While residential prices in the main cities Tokyo and Osaka cooled a bit, last year`s wave to secondary cities is seen as continuing to flow at least through the 1st half of 2008 in the Sendai, Kobe, and Nagoya figures.  The Karitani growth is an anomaly due to special measures the city has done to successfully revive the local economy and increase the population.

In the commercial sector, the same phenomenon is seen as the strongest growth areas in central Tokyo slowed down first while the wave out to Sendai and Nagoya is still taking place.  Within Tokyo and Osaka, the strongest retail areas of Shinjuku, Ginza, and Umeda seem to still be holding up as of July 1 but we would tend to believe the upward trend has stopped since.  A decline in Shibuya in favor of Shinjuku during the 1st half of this year seems to demonstrate that the Shibuya/Aoyama market saw too sharp of a growth during 2006 and 2007 and cooled off first.

In the industrial sector, most of of these locations are growth due purely to the redevelopment of large sites for new distribution and logistics centers.  If there is no land amalgamation and/or redevelopment, industrial sites are not going to see any growth.

The worst performers ranged from -13 to -18% and were concentrated in the far corners of Kochi, Akita, Hiroshima, Niigata, and Kumamoto Prefectures.

On the whole, growth has slowed and the most popular urban areas are those that have been affected the least.  We expect that over the coming 12-18 months this general trend will maintain.  Increasing distressed situations will drive average prices down but we stress that these are merely distressed situations due to structural and liquidity issues and not the fundamentals of the Japan real estate market, which continue to be robust in the urban core.  The buying opportunities in Tokyo are becoming abundant and on the macro view we would maintain that the market is more attractive than most other developed markets in the world today.

Basically, the food is not very good and not very cheap at that. The shimaebi with karasumi sauce was even at the limit of the edible, with smelly raw ebi which should plainly never have been served raw, or maybe 3 days earlier. The other dishes were not as bad but with no redeeming features either. The endive and apples salad had few endives and mostly normal (and much cheaper) salad leafs. The dressing was good although not very original. The only originality were the walnuts which were caramelized. A nice touch. The ham selection was bland; the cheese selection was not something that should have been served in a place attempting to serve French food (apart from the ubiquitous mimolette and parmigiano, there were two more interesting stuff but less than a half centimeter large????).

Wine was available by the glass with approximately 6 different wines available in red or white. I tried two reds which were not very good and at 900 yen the sparsely filled glass, this was definitively not good value.

On the other hand, the service was good. The two waitresses were acting professionally with no shosho o machi kudasai when asked anything. The place was packed and the atmosphere of the place was not too bad: not too casual, but not too elegant either. The ceiling is a bit low though and since the restaurant is at the back of the place (the standing bar is in the front looking over the street), you feel somehow cramped.

bongout noh is open every day until 3am which make it a good place to eat lightly after midnight.

bongout noh

渋谷区渋谷１－１０－１２ 宮城ビル2階

電話：03-5464-0858
OPEN PM5:00～AM3:00
(レストランAM2:00L.O スタンディングAM2:30L.O)
年中無休

http://gatai-psd.co.jp/noh_top.html

either, its in customs or someone stole it from my bag.  I noticed my wallet was missing once boarded the plane in minneapolis to tokyo.

Here is my wallet after purchasing some handmade soap in downtown ottawa (in the brown bag).

Thats's right I had this wallet for over 7 years.  It was incredible quality and fine craftmanship.  It will truly be missed.
Not only that, it had all of my i.d. in it, but luckily I only had 2000 yen inside it at the time of it being missplaced.
I will write about this later, but I have to replace my alien registration card and my bank card here in Japan.  That will be a fun adventure!

The wallet was a gift to me from my gf back in 2001.  Thanks a lot!!!
I am thinking about just spending the 350$ to buy a new louis vuitton.  Doubt it though.

It was raining most of this weekend in Tokyo.

I went out Saturday night to shibuya and roppongi with a good friend Jarek. We also ate yakiniku and got into 3 clubs for free. Thats awesome.

For more information on Meiji-jingu, check the wiki entry!

We spent the evening in Shibuya, and it was crowded.

Waiting to cross at the main intersection. My phone fails to capture the magnitude of people waiting to cross... (><)

This is in the middle of the street as the crossing is occuring.

Right before we were about to cross :)

After we ate tempura on the roof floor of Shibuya station, we went downstairs to a cake shop where she has a part time job. I met two of her friends there, and they gave us loads of free chocolates that said 'happy birthday' on them lol.

After that we walked around and saw the sites, we went to a CD shop and I recommended good American bands. We went to a coffee shop that was closed, and had to default to McDonalds where I got a mcflurry.

Afterwords, she gave me some little flaky cakes that she baked for me, (yay!) and we decided to go see that movie 'wanted' next friday cause she really likes action movies. She said if there were any sights or anyplace I wanted to go in Tokyo, I could call her and she would go with me! So I finally have a buddy to do some sightseeing with. Also there is a big 4 day party at her university in october where apparently she is working as some kind of traditional food cook for her agriculture club that she wants me to go to and eat some of her food.

It was good to come home though cause I have to wake up at 7:30am tomorrow to go to Yokohama with my family for some festival. Also I had to do a Japanese essay.

So... yaknow....

難しいだぜぇぇぇぇ　and all that rot.

oh Haha I forgot the most important picture:

this type of picture booth is called 'purikura' which is basically a Japanese abbreviation of the Japanese way of pronouncing 'Print Club.' I don't know how i made such a creepy face...

Ale zgadnijcie kto tam się wybiera :)

b.YISK

I am staying in a smaller "suburb" called Ageo about an hour north of Tokyo's center by train.  Lots of people ride bikes here.  It's pretty ideal, actually, the way it all goes down here.

This guy was up to something.. very sneaky.  I managed to get this one shot.

A little out of focus but surprised I even got this close.  Happened fast and I had to shoot blind.

This is Shibuya, supposedly the world's busiest intersection.

Some slow-shutter blur stuff in Shibuya...

Overhead view from the Starbucks window.  "No cameras allowed" but nobody listens.

Hipshot.  Kinda worked.

Lotttsssszzz of celly phones.

Cute pet store.  The animals were like US$1,000-14,000 each.

Some Japanese cannot hold their liquor.  I guess they are known for this here.. this girl stumbled out of a club on Friday night and her friends had to help her.. and it was only like 8pm or something.

Went to a "sushi train" with US$1-2 plates you can grab.  I sat this one out and ate koala yummies instead.

Went to this awesome area I think called Golden Gai in Shinjuku where there are like 40 tiny little bars on small alleys, each with seating for like 6-12 people.  Most of them have a small cover charge but give you a little food to snack on.

This guy was way drunk.  Wish he came closer..

Pam tastes the sushi we got in the bar.

more neon.

more drunk Asians.

Police by our hotel.  I made a boring shot somewhat interesting thru composition :)

I like this one.  Reflections are nice.

me!

fancy hotel decor.

The first H&M just opened and there was a long line to get in.

In Ginza, the area with lots and lots of expensive designer stores.

At a good sushi restaurant in Tsukiji.  And yes I finally ate sushi.  Big boy.

People are short here.

Safe to sleep in public here.  I saw two construction guys sleeping in the store they were working on, mid afternoon.

Liked the tones.

Genna is up to no good

Order and chaos.

the "professor" buying junk from Don Quijote random store of 6 floors of Japanese madness.

Crepe girl.

Anne being Anne

Wish they were looking my way.. should've said something.

One of the fair amount of insanely hunched over women I've seen.

gravy.

Cliche?  I like the contrast.

Everyone sleeps on the trains, at all hours.

Not a lot of PDA around here so when I see it I make sure to capture it.

Bookstores all look so clean and orderly.  Most everything does, actually.  Even the homeless people in the shelter under city hall were all neatly lined up in perfect rows.  Crazy!

Older Japanese George Bush lookalike guy with awesome pants.

More from Japan to come for sure.. and Hong Kong is up next when I'm done here!  If you've been to Tokyo or HK and are reading this shortly after I post it, send me a note with some stuff to see and do!

enjoy,
Clayton

Urban Design System started as an collaboration of a group of upcoming architects and bloomed into an innovative designer/developer producing some unique work over the past few years.  They began with the cooperative house concept bringing end users and architects together to plan and develop condominiums together, moved into other residential products and then branched into larger projects including retail and hotels.  See pictures of some works here.

In the hotel arena we were very impressed, as were others, with the renovation of a Meguro warehouse into the unique and boutique hotel CLASKA.  The Granbell Hotel in Shibuya is not quite so exciting, more like your standard contemporary Japanese urban look, although fitting to its Shibuya clientele.  But they really upped the ante with the plan for Sezoko Island, a 5-star contemporary beach resort hotel on the secluded north side of Okinawa.

Unfortunately, this huge undertaking has probably become the downfall of UDS, as is the case with many other upcoming developers that have moved quickly to catch up with a fastmoving market through 2007 but now the liquidity rug has been pulled out from underneath.

It will be interesting to see who raises their hands to sponsor the group now, as fundamentals for Okinawa tourism are very good and the UDS projects were good, although those undertaken in 2007 were probably pricey.  Domestic tourists have steadily grown from 2.6 million 20 years ago to an expected surpass of the 6 million mark this year!  That has resulted in direct tourism revenues over $4 billion USD and estimated economic effect over $22 billion.  The perceived `summit effect` of increased tourism after the 2000 G8 Summit held in Okinawa was actually well underway beforehand and since then Okinawa has become the default domestic beach resort destination.

While this has led to an overdevelopment the last few years, leading some companies getting a bit out of control like Zephyr to their recent demise also, the fundamentals are still good and the very well done, truly 5-star hotels are still far and few between.  We`ll be watching to see what eager parties come to the plate this time.