When you ask Japanese people what the most dangerous neighborhoods in Tokyo are, they invariably mention Kabukicho, an area in Shinjuku known for clubs, bars, and gangsters. I've only visited a few times and compared to dodgy neighborhoods in other countries, it's like Disneyland. It shows you how safe Tokyo is, that the sketchiest neighborhood is still nearly crime free. In fact, it's quite lively. I imagine a 1950's Vegas to be like this, with young men in shiny suits and hypnotic lights flashing everywhere.

My Dutch friend, Laurens, who's fascinated with all things seedy and edgy, first took me there. My favorite area is a hovel of alleys crammed with claptrap bars with narrow doors. Since it was daylight I took pictures of some of the more interesting doors. At night, many of them are open, with low-key drinkers looking out at you with curious eyes.

Most of the bars charge a 500 yen fee just to sit down, which is how a lot of traditional bars in Japan work. Each bar has a theme. But it's mostly the doors that are different. Inside is the usual smoky stench of body odor and liquor. Though, I admit, I've never actually set foot in one. I'll have to wait for Laurens to visit for that adventure. For more pictures of the doors, I put them all in my flickr site.

" - Prend garde à toi Roban, à la fin du mois je ne serais plus là et tu deviendras à ton tour leur souffre-douleur. "

Il tira alors à trois reprises sur sa Seven Star. Trois rapides mais grosses bouffées tout en fixant en silence l'extrêmité de sa cigarette qui en se consumant formait une longue carotte rougeoyante puis il quitta l'espace fumeur de l'immeuble sans attendre un quelconque commentaire de ma part. Qu'aurais-je bien pu d'ailleurs lui répondre ?

Il y venait régulierement dans la journée dans ce local qui n'était en fait que le local à poubelles dans lequel on avait déposé un seau de couleur rouge sur un petit tabouret en guise de cendrier. Cela était fort pratique pour Nakamura de pouvoir venir fumer non loin du dépot des ordures qui devenait de ce fait le meilleur alibi qui soit. Ces petits instants volés, lui permettaient certainnement de pouvoir a nouveau encaisser les "coups", de respirer quelques minutes, "avant d'y retourner". Je pense que l'on puisse dire que Nakamura était persécuté en permanence sur son lieu de travail ; du matin au soir, de l'instant ou il embauchait a 10h30 au soir a la fin de son service peu après 22h30. Il était sans cesse surveillé, ses faits et gestes examinés, épiés a chaque instant et plus particulièrement lorsqu'il avait une tâche a éxécuter. Aussi, à la moindre erreur, Toyoda surgissait de nulle part et il en sortait de sa bouche, un flot d'injures sans discontinué. C'est dans ces moments là que l'on voyait le front de Nakamura perler de mille gouttes. Nakamura avait 35 ans mais il en faisait bien dix de plus. Il avait une tête un peu particulière ; une grosse tête en forme de triangle ; une coupe de cheveux à l'ancienne avec une grande raie qui semblait départager les deux hémisphères de son cerveau. En voyant le personnage, on ne pouvait s'empêcher de penser a ces dessins de caricatures que l'on croque sur les places des lieux touristiques.

" - Roban, tu n'as pas remarque comme Nakamura sent mauvais ? "

J'avais répondu à Endo que non, je n'avais pas remarqué ce détail. Bien sûr que je l'avais remarqué et j'imaginais bien que la cause en venait du stress qu'il subissait continuellement. Je ne voulais simplement pas participer a ces mesquineries quotidiennes.

Toyoda vient de fêter ses 28 ans. Il est le manager, le maître du bureau de Shinjuku et cela, meme lorsque le président est dans les murs. Ce dernier lui laissant une totale liberté de management. Toyoda est grand et maigre, plutôt bel homme si l'on en croit les rares femmes qui travaillent dans l'entreprise. D'ailleurs, il attache une attention toute particulière à son apparence et comme il le dit, trouve la force après le travail d'entretenir son corps en faisant des étirements, des pompes et toute une série d'exercices musculatoires. C'est un jeune homme solitaire qui vit seul, sans compagne et sans ami aussi. Dans l'entreprise, Toyoda est craint mais il est surtout détesté et Je devine dans les yeux de mes collègues des envies de meurtres. Les premiers jours où j'avais fait mon apparition dans la boîte, j'avais également détesté ce type et j'espérais alors que l'on m'envoie a Ginza, dans cette nouvelle filliale du groupe avec une partie de l'équipe nominée. Il n'en fut rien, tout du moins pas dans un premier temps. Je n'aimais pas cet être sadique qui donnait l'impression de prendre tous les autres pour de profonds demeurés. Cela était accentué par sa grande taille qui lui permettait de regarder tout un chacun de nous de haut. Ca a été immédiat, lors de la petite formation de base qu'il me dispensa. Le débit de ses mots étaient rapides, des mots qu'il machait même tout en employant un vocabulaire compliqué.

" - Tu ne prends pas de notes ? "

Finit-il par me demander après cette longue tirade de mots et de phrases qui couraient le 100 m haies.

" - Non ! Je ne prends pas de notes M. Toyoda. J'en prendrais lorsque cela s'avèrera nécessaire. Pour l'instant il ne s'agit que de tâches routinières qui rentreront facilement après les avoir exécuté au moins une fois. Si je prenais des notes, cela ne voudrait-il pas dire que je ne comprends pas grand chose au travail à effectuer ? "

Mon insolence aurait pu, aurait du, me donner quelques petits soucis d'intégration mais je crois bien que j'avais destabilisé, sans l'avoir cherché, mon formateur. Cela me fait penser à ces premiers jours où je vendais du fromage dans ce grand magasin de Saitama. Ma formatrice de l'époque m'avait crié dessus comme quoi, je mettais trop de temps à emballer ces cubes de cream cheese, que pour chaque cube, je devais mettre au plus, 15 secondes. Apres quoi, en utilisant un ton "maternel" me demanda si elle faisait peur ! Je lui avais alors répondu que "non-non, elle ne faisait pas peur, qu'elle etait juste hystérique et que si elle continuait de la sorte, Roban, c'est sayonara qu'il dirait !" J'avais eu par la suite, une paix royale.

Toyoda me regarda droit dans les yeux, certainement un peu énervé.

"- Ok-ok, on verra ! "

Puis demanda à Nakamura de m'expliquer tout en détail ou plutôt, ordonna à Nakamura de finir la formation. J'avais alors de la compassion pour ce type brime et harcele par notre manager mais je me rendis compte que mon nouveau collegue allait reproduire avec moi, ce qu'il subissait a longueur de journee avec son tyran. Il ne m'expliquait pas le travail, il m'ordonnait l'execution de taches les plus ingrates qu'ils soient.

" - Roban, qu'est-ce qu'il t'a dit Nakamura ? "

"- Je n'ai pas tres bien compris ce qu'il m'a dit "

" - Ne t'inquiete pas, ici, personne ne comprends ce qu'il dit celui-la ! "

Endo m'avait surpris soupirer fort devant Nakamura. Ce genre de soupir que l'on fait lorsque l'on est énervé après quelqu'un. Nakamura était en fait, comme ces enfants battus qui une fois parents, reproduisent exactement les mêmes schémas d'éducation qu'ils vécurent. Nakamura cherchait à reproduire avec le petit nouveau que j'étais, l'attitude de Toyoda. Je ne l'avais pas dit à Endo qui ne se génait pas non plus pour aboyer sur lui. Je ne me rebellerai pas non plus sur mon senpai, il avait sa dose quotidienne, je n'allais pas en rajouter. Nakamura était un être faible à la triste existence, point.

Il y eu par la suite, d'autres chocs avec Toyoda comme celle de "la prise de notes" mais au lieu de me porter préjudice, cela accèlera mon intégration et réussit à me faire respecter au sein de l'entreprise.

Nakamura quitta les lieux a la fin de son préavis comme cela avait été convenu. Il avait été licencié, je ne sais pas exactement pour quelles raisons mais je pense que cela était préférable pour lui de quitter ces lieux et de retrouver sa "liberté". J'espère seulement qu'il aura réussi a trouver un emploi plus confortable. Après son départ, je repris une partie du travail qui lui incombait mais pas celui de souffre douleur. On pouvait encore, quelques temps après, entendre des moqueries sur son compte. Quelqu'un s'était demandé si le forcené d'Akihabara qui avait foncé sur la foule à l'aide d'un poids lourd puis qui était descendu sur la chaussée poignarder sept personnes, n'était pas Nakamura. Cela ne m'avait pas fait rire, mes collègues, oui, beaucoup.

" - Enchanté, je m'appelle Shimada "

" - Himada-san ? Enchanté moi c'est Roban "

Toyoda explosa de rire, la nouvelle recrue avait un problème de locution et ne parvenait pas à prononcer correctement le son "Sh". A chaque fois qu'un mot comportait le son "sh", il se formait sur son visage une sorte de petit rictus du à la contraction de ses lèvres. Shimada était tout comme Nakamura, agé de 35 ans mais en paraissait dix de moins. Je m'étais gentiement moqué de ses chemises a carreaux qui ressemblaient beaucoup à celles que portent les employés de Tokyo-Metro. Toyoda, lui reprenait mon erreur et parlait de Himada en imitant son rictus, parfois presque devant l'intéressé en personne.

Il fallait se rendre à l'évidence, Shimada était certes très sympathique mais il ne semblait vraiment pas doué pour le travail, bien qu'il prenait soin de tout noter sur un calepin, ce qui parfois lui donnait des petits airs d'inspecteurs de police ; d'ailleurs, il ressemblait beaucoup a Columbo, de 20 ans plus jeune. Shimada devait fournir des efforts considérables pour mener à bien le travail qui lui était demandé. Malgré tant d'énergie déployé, il ne parvenait toujours pas à assimiler le travail et ce, même au bout de deux mois après s'être présenté à nous. Shimada était toujours ce petit nouveau à qui il fallait sans cesse tout expliquer, à qui il fallait dresser des listes afin d'éviter de facheux oublis, après qui, il fallait passer derrière pour contrôler le travail. Ce qui, bien sûr, provoquait d'énormes colères de qui on sait.

" - Shimaaaaada ! Où est-il encore allé celui-là ? " 

Pouvait on alors entendre a longueur de journee dans les couloirs.

" - Il fume en secret au meme endroit que le faisait Nakamura, je le sais "

Répliquait Endo, en pouffant de rire.

" - Roban, Shimada il n'y arrive pas, il n'y arrivera jamais ... Hein !? "

Bien que la phrase d'Endo était tournée à l'interrogative, cela était en fait une affirmation qui n'attendait plus que mon approbation. Je craignais fortement que se mette en place un "Shimada-bashing" et qu'il lui arrive le meme sort qu'à Nakamura. Quel emploi nouveau aurait-il bien pu trouver ? Il aimait le surf et un peu trop le whisky, difficile d'en faire carrière.

" - Il est pratique ! Oui, Shimada est pratique "

Avais-je un jour déclaré afin de mettre fin a une énième plainte collective. Et, c'était vrai qu'il était pratique. C'est Shimada qui passait la serpillère, qui apportait le thé aux clients ou qui restait tard pour finir un travail.

Je fus finallement envoyé a Ginza, cela émanait du président qui souhaitait que je m'occupe des clients étrangers beaucoup plus presents à Ginza qu'à Shinjuku.

" - Alors comme ca, Shimada est pratique ? "

Ma petite phrase avait pris la ligne de metro Marunouchi me précédant ainsi. Le manager des lieux ponctua d'une petite tape amicale son message de bienvenue. J'en profiterai alors pour évoquer le cas Shimada avec lui. Je lui expliquait qu'en le menageant et qu'en y allant doucement avec lui, il pourrait sans doute y arriver. Mon nouveau manager, qui ne porte pas Toyoda dans son coeur acquiessait. Les jours passaient, j'avais retrouvé Ginza que j'avais quitté quelques mois auparavant lorsque je travaillais dans ce grand magasin. Je repensais a Mori et Naito, véritables promoteurs du quartier. J'avais de temps en temps des echos de ce qui se passait a Shinjuku, notament lors de réunions ou j'y rencontrais d'anciens collègues.

" - Avant-hier, il l'a frappé a la tête avec un dévidoir de ruban adhésif et hier, c'est avec un carton de photocopies A4 qu'il lui a porté un coup. Depuis que tu es partis, l'ambiance s'est déterioré, déjà que ... "

Quelques jours suivirent et j'appris à la fin de mon service que j'étais à nouveau rappelé à Shinjuku.

" - Toyoda est triste sans toi, a partir de demain tu retournes là-bas, il nous a fait tout un pataquès "

Le manager m'expliquait alors que Shimada, irait quant a lui à Ginza et qu'en le prenant en douceur, il arriverait a en tirer quelque chose.

" -Ah ! Et puis, Iseki ira aussi a Shinjuku avec toi, tu verras, Iseki est très ... Pratique "

" - Isekiiiiii ! Ou est-il encore passé celui-là ? 

Depuis deux semaines, un nouveau nom circule dans les couloirs avec la même intonation.

" - Iseki, il fume une cigarette au local a poubelle, comme le faisait Shimada avant, je le sais !

Non, Iseki était cette fois-là aux toilettes, Toyoda s'entrediendra quelques peu avec lui puis se retournera vers moi et sans faire attention à Iseki, mimera de ses deux mains, mille gouttes de sueurs perlant le long de son front. Je regardai Toyoda en secouant la tête.

" - Toyoda, tu sais ce que tu es ? Un sadique ! "

" - Oui, Toyoda est sadique, Toyoda est mechant ... Mais, regarde les tous, ils sont faineants, ne savent prendre aucune initiative, ne cherchent pas a reflechir, repetent les memes erreurs et c'est comme ca, ou que l'on aille au Japon. Tu en as deja vecu quelques unes d'experiences dans des entreprises japonaises, tu sais de quoi je parle non ? "  

" - Et puis, ils prennent tous des notes mais sont capables de rien ! ... "

Bienvenidos a la era del renacer del rococó.

Sí, si, habeis leido bien, el renacer del rococó. Después de siglos este estilo vuelve a resurgir con fuerza de las manos de las millones de lolitas que cada día ponen su granito de arena para que Wonderland deje de ser una mera ilusión.

El estilo lolita proviene de las calles de Japón donde las chicas lucen hermosos vestidos que imitan los que se vestían en la era victoriana con sus encajes, su vuelo y sus accesorios. Parasoles, cofias, bonnet, pettit e incluso pololos son algo elemental en la estética lolita. El lolita sin embargo no queda en un simple estilo. La filosofía lolita conyeva mucho más. Las lolitas rescatan el código de conducta victoriano, modestia y educación, si bien no dejan de ser personas nunca encontrarán nada más educado y agradable que una lolita.

Dentro del estilo hay diferentes subestilos como el gothic, el sweet, country, wa, hime, horror... y, por supuesto, los chicos tienen cabida dentro de este estilo donde el dandy, el aristocrata y el kodona forman la base elemental de los estilos masculinos.

Pero el lolita ya no es solo cosa de Japón. En paises europeos este estilo se ha extendido con rapidez y en España tenemos un gran foco del estilo lolita, Lolita in Wonderland, una página web con su correspondiente foro donde cientos de lolitas de habla hispana (incluso hemos visto alguna de habla no hispana) se dan cita para hablar sobre el estilo y sobre sus preocupaciones formando una comunidad envidiable por su tranquila convivencia.

[/caption]

Random Observation/Comment #83: There are some problems you can just throw money at to make better.  Today was just one of those problems.

Due to the extremely shitty day Chris and I were having, we decided to go to the nearest JR station and ask for hotel bookings.  The JR Company and local hotels have a very symbiotic relationship.  Major JR stations have a travel agency that connects with major hotels near their stations.  There’s no extra charge for the room and they setup everything for you.  These employees all speak English and they’re extremely patient with all of the customers.  She called every hotel we showed interest in to look for vacancies and get the best rates for us.  We must have sat there for 20 minutes browsing brochures for the most outrageous 5 star hotel in the area.  After looking through a lot of really pretty pictures and websites, we decided that the Keio Plaza Hotel would be our pad for the night.

::whistle:: Damn, this place was gorgeous.  The hotel is located in Shinjuku, near all of the sky scrapers and was priced at $250 for two people.  Normal hotels and business hotels cost about $170 for two people so we decided to spend the extra $40 per person to get a much nicer room – it was well worth the price.  The accommodation included breakfast fit for kings, which to me meant all the ripe cherry tomatoes I could fit in my stomach in the morning.  They extended our checkout time to 11 AM, which made me so happy to get that extra hour of sleep for the long Mt. Fuji walk ahead.

The room was huge and it had a postcard-perfect view out the large windows from the 34^th floor.  The beds had a million (5) pillows and soft sheets for me to build my little forts.  The LCD television broadcasted the Olympic Games in crystal clear images, and the Toto toilet sprayed warm water up my ass – It’s what a King deserves.  The only thing missing is the hoards of swine, ready to perform any task at my will.  And the feminists go wild.  Hey, stop stereotyping me with the rest of my gender.  I thought that’s what you gals were trying to fight against?

I was really tempted to take a bubble bath, but a warm shower would have to do.  Walking out of the shower, I tried on the styles of night outfits.  The white robe was this American style of “drying myself with my clothes.”  The yukata was made of much thinner material and made me look like a ninja.  And lastly, the other Asian-originated garment had these weird buttons that was probably made for a girl.  I looked like a kung fu master.  I got the hint that there was a problem when my shoulders and back stretched the fabric tighter than expected.  Usually, my Japan-size is an extra large, but this looked like I was wearing toddler clothes.

The night was exactly what I needed to make up for the lack of excitement in the day.  It would have been complete if I was fanned with a giant banana leaf by Amazon girls wearing skimpy lion skin thongs.  They also have to be feeding me cherry tomatoes and entertaining me with mud wrestling fights.  I think I have just described the stereotypical male fantasy.

~See Lemons Feel Much Better

So I guess we are stuck with creating our own private space in total public...

Photoshop: B&W Conversation, Gradiation Curve...

Lens: Nikkor AF 28-80mm 3,3-5,6f

Yours,

Manuel Mousiol

Sometimes I don't get the depth of field for an all in all good composition straight. Camera Raw Photoshop can help though... I used two edits of the same shot here, and combined a crisp one and a less clear one into this. Added a subtle vignette and edited the Gradiation Curve and Levels.

Yours,

Manuel Mousiol

Photoshop: Blended B&W Adjustment Layer, Gradiation Curve

Strobist: SB600 to the right

Yours,

Manuel Mousiol

I ordered Marshall’s Learn To Color Oil Set and The Art of Handpainting Photographs from Amazon, the former through Adorama (which don't ship to Japan). Cheryl Dorskind's book certainly covers all areas of the craft, and even includes chapters on framing photos. However, as with anything like this, it's all about wading in and getting your hands dirty. I found Bob Keefer's art to be inspiring, although I intend to work mostly with urban shots. Keefer explains how he began by going through a stack of old b&w prints, trying different techniques and materials to develop his skills. Today, he sells his work on Etsy, a cool site dedicated to handmade products.

Dorskind in her book recounts a meeting with the poet Allen Ginsberg, who asks her why she colours black and white photos. It's a good question and one worth considering. I shoot mostly b&w and print using traditonal dark room techniques. This means that I have no shortage of prints to work on.  Much of what I shoot is urban street photography. What I hope to create with hand-colouring is a particular edginess that can be found in subtle colours on a mostly b&w image. I also find appealing the aged quality of b&w film prints and colouring/toning.

This is my first effort. It's far from ideal. But I'm happy that I finally started. More to follow...

Holga 120GN, TMAX 400+flash, dev in XTOL 1:2, Ilford FB matte, Shinjuku, Tokyo

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!

Shop Entrance

Square Enix

Shelf of figures

Not clear... still don't know how to take photos in dark environment :(

Sephiroth

Tifa and Aeries

Vaan and Ashe

Yuffie

Tidus

Squall

Balthier

Cloud

Sephiroth vs Cloud in FF VII advert child

Masterpiece Cloud

Nice price ^^;

Genesis's clothing

Project G

Life size Sephiroth

Dragon quest stuffs

Chocobo :3

Giant Cactaur and Tonberry

Chocobosss~

More soft toys

Soul eater

Somewhere near Square Enix

Glay's new single :D

Soldier Class 1st Key chain
Damage: 1500yen

Not pirated one!! like those in CC :X

Japan is represented by Natto.  Korea by Kimchi.  I really liked this ad.
It says "Let it be settled by running"

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

Then last night Judy and I took a break from studying for our placement test to meet her guarantors at the Tokyo Dome Hotel at 5:00. The Tokyo Dome is the home field of Tokyo's baseball team, and the surrounding area has been developed into a complex that includes the hotel, many restaurants, and a small amusement park. We realized once we got there that we didn't really know who we should be looking for (Judy's connection to this woman is a tenuous one, entirely based on Korea and Jesus), and when a woman finally approached us around 5:25 the first questions she asked were about our faith and our plans for the evening.

So in a small room on the 17th floor, eight or nine of us gathered in the Lord's name. The woman leading the service was quite charismatic and seemed to enjoy playfully goading people as a way of drawing them in to the sermon. Prior to the service she went around the bed, introducing everybody, until she got to Judy and me--and then, fully aware of the cultural momentousness of what we were doing, Judy and I fumbled through the 自己紹介, jikoshoukai. Self-introductions are among the most common social institutions in Japan, so we'd practiced them more than a few times back at Midd. Somehow the appropriate information and the words to convey it seemed to run out of my head after Hajimemashite, "How do you do?", but I did manage to convey that some of my Japanese classmates call me Neko, the Japanese word for cat, which our presiding pastor enjoyed very much. After that I got a cackling "Neko-chan" everytime she addressed me.

Lacking a lingua franca for our service (participants hailed from South Korea, North Korea, Japan, China and U.S.), she spoke in Korean which Judy translated into English for me and Judy's guarantor translated into Japanese for a couple other women. After reading the bible selections aloud, which were only one verse long apiece, she spent a few minutes finding an English version online for me. After a sermon that assured us time spent on God is not a waste but an investment in our own spiritual and financial well-being, and a collection to which I felt compelled to contribute, we took the elevator back down 17 floors and walked five minutes to a nearby Korean restaurant.

As is not uncommon in Japan, getting to the dining area required going upstairs. Judy and I sat with her guarantor and two other women who spoke both Japanese and English. They asked about our studies and I explained my desire to try my hand at art while in Japan and one woman offered up the idea of taking an art class at a community center. When I followed up with further inquiries, she said she would keep an eye out for me and took down my contact information in her planner. Extremely kind. We feasted on delicious Korean barbecue, which you cook yourself on grills built in to the center of the table, kimchi, dried seaweed, pickled radish and rice, all served in a communal style. By the end of the night it had become clear that Judy would be obliged to attend church on a weekly basis lest she upset an anxious, phone-calling Korean mother back in Queens. And I don't think I'd mind going with her, particularly if they keep feeding us.

Today we had the placement test at Sophia, which was by no means fun, but I at least walked out feeling like more preparation wouldn't have changed my performance much. Short of going to summer language school, I basically did what I could do. After lots of eyebrow-raised warnings and stressful deliberation, I decided to test for the regular Japanese track rather then intensive. If you have questions about this (Mom), feel free to inquire. So when Judy and I escaped the testing room we were of a mind to walk off our test-takers' hand cramps and eat away our hunger. Japanese restaurants practice the dubiously successful marketing tactic of displaying plastic versions of the food they serve. On many occasions some too-heavily-lacquered rice has kept me from stopping at an otherwise intriguing eatery, but this time Judy and I got hung up drooling over some pseudo-plates of sashimi and what looked like grilled meats on a stick. We hesitated over a menu written mostly in kanji, but the plastic food looked so good and the prices seemed reasonable and maybe this was that moment Ms. Nin had talked about...so nervously we crept up the stairs, and with fatalistic misgivings we sat down in a public restaurant. I know, the audacity. The man handed us a long white sheet of paper scribbled with kanji and we couldn't make out a thing. The woman took the menu and read it to us, sometimes giving quick descriptions. Nothing rang a bell. This was beginning to look like a poor decision. But! Our savior! A small elderly Japanese man sitting at the adjacent table jumped in, explaining things to us in English. He recommended a meal for us, written in kanji we actually should have recognized: 親子. Pronounced 'oyako," the symbols mean "parent" and "child," respectively, which makes it a pretty clever name for a dish whose chief ingredients are chicken and egg over rice. Still, parent and child are never individually identified, so the timeless question goes unanswered...

The restaurant was beautiful, by the way, and because Judy and I split one very filling entree, it cost us only $3.50 apiece. An all-around rewarding experience. Anyhow, with all these small successes I'm beginning to feel like Tokyo makes sense to me, and emboldened to more acts of derring do. More to come once I've scaled the mountains of Post Office, Bank Account, and Cell Phone Service.

Dividing and conquering,

Neko-chan

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.

Muji's opened a new cafeteria in Shinjuku. Incredibly chic, with lots of chunky oak on the walls, gorgeous furniture, chandeliers made of wine glasses, and many options for mixing and matching lunch dishes. We had 2 hot dishes + 2 cold dishes.

Lots of young mothers and babies at weekday lunch time; husband reminded me that the super-cute babies grow up to become teens. Way to pee on my parade!

Bueno, pues resumiendo rápidamente, tuve un vuelo bastante cansado. Partí de Monterrey a la Cd. de Mexico y luego a Los Angles por medio de Aeromexico, y luego de ahí a Tokio por medio de Japan Airlines. Los dos primeros vuelos fueron fáciles, no duraron más de dos horas cada uno, pero el viaje a Tokio fue el peor con una duración de casi 12 horas. Irónicamente, el avión de JAL era el más grande y con más comodidades de todos, incluyendo una pantalla personal con varios canales de películas, audio y hasta videojuegos, el cual se manejaba con una control remoto que si se coloca en posición horizontal adpota la forma de un control para videojuegos. Bastante entretenido.

Las comidas de JAL también estuvieron excelentes y tenían una gran variedad de bebidas, como refrescos, vino blano y tinto, cerveza americana y japonesa, agua...etc. La verdad, toda una experiencia viajar con JAL, pero en un viaje de 12 horas, es muy difícil que alguien no se canse.

En fin, llegué al aeropuerto junto con mi compatriota, algo retrasado el vuelo, pero las representantes de Sophia University fueron suficientmente amables para esperarnos. Inmediatamente nos saludaron, nos asistieron en el cambio de moneda y en la contratación de un servicio para enviar nuestro equipaje a las residencias. Además, se tomaron la molestia de traernos literalmente hasta la habitación de cada uno.

No tuve mucho tiempo de socializar esa noche, tan solo salude algunos conocidos en el grupo de facebook para Sophia University, me reporte con mis papás, y caí como piedra en mi nueva cama. Hasta ahora he salido solo en dos ocasiones, una ida a Shinjuku y otra a Akihabara. Bastante bien el ambiente, Akihabara definitivamente es enorme, fácilmente podría perderme en ese lugar. He estado moviéndome con algunos estudiantes con algo de experiencia en el metro, experiencia que debo adquirir lo antes posible pues a partir de octubre tendré que moverme por mi propia cuenta para ir a clases. Lo difícil de usar el metro aquí, no es saber que lineas te llevan a tu destino, si no saber cuanto debes pagar. Verán, para saber cuanto hay que pagar, uno revisa el mapa de la estación, y dependiendo del lugar al que quiera ir, tendrá que pagar un precio distinto. El problema es que este mapa que incluye precios, solo tiene nombres de las estaciones en kanji, así que si no lo sabes leer, va a ser algo dificil encontrar tu destino en el mapa.

Y bueno, esto algo muy resumido de lo que he estado haciendo en estos cuatro días en Tokio, aparte de vagar por la residencia y juntarme con los demás inquilinos en la cocina y el área común. Hay gente bastante amigable y ya casi he encontrado mi grupo de compañeros. Hoy iremos totalmente solos a Akihabara y haremos una esfuerzo para entender finalmente el sistema del metro. Pienso que inevitablemente nos perderemos un rato, pero a la vez me parece excitante, pues es parte de la aventura de estar en una país extranjero.

También les diré que es algo difícil bloggear cuando acabas de llegar a un país extranjero. Por ahora, lo que más tengo en mente es salir y conocer y no estar encerrado en una computadora en mi cuarto. No quiere decir que no habrá posts, sólo que quizá en estos primeros días serán menos frecuentes, pero conforme pase el tiempo y todo se vuelva más normal para mí, seguramente podré dedicar más tiempo a esto. Por ahora, por favor sean pacientes conmigo jaja.

[gallery]

The mishaps in getting to my apartment from Narita airport were relatively minor but being in a foreign country makes everything seems a little more excitingly dramatic. For example, I panicked when the ATM refused to give me cash, and it took a few frantic, luggage-searching minutes for me to realize that me and my mis-maths were asking the machine to cough up $900 (90,000 yen), not $90 (9,000 yen). Naturally I had more success when I adjusted my demands.

Once I had the money, buying a train ticket, finding the right platform, etc., was a breeze, and as soon as I got on the Tokkyu somebody stood up and offered me and my 100 pounds of luggage a place to settle down. This was the first of about a dozen hospitable offers I received in the course of finding my way home, most of them pertaining to carrying my luggage up or downstairs. The train ride from Narita surprised me. I knew it was far outside the city but I still didn't expect to see so many tilled fields and shades of green from an area with such a notoriously high population density. Luckily the route was all aboveground and thus afforded me the pleasure of watching the scenery change from rural to suburban to urban. And also, the pleasure of reading signs like シティーホテレ, which is meant to read as City Hotel but actually sounds like Shitty Hoteru. And I mock this only out of insecurity, because I recognize the feebleness of my Japanese and must be schadenfreude about these moments in which I have the linguistic upperhand.

The other tiny realization (after the atm machine) that made me aware of my own ineptitude happened while was walking on the right side of the sidewalk, dragging two giant duffel bags through Shinjuku on a Friday night. "Why does this seem so gratuitously difficult?" I wondered. And then it occurred to me that traffic moves on the left in Japan.

jet-lagged,

kat

근처에 근무하고있는 YTst군과 함께 찾아간 그 곳은 이름부터

신주쿠였다.알고보니 사장 할머니가 신주쿠에서 오랫동안 칼국수

장사를 하고계시다가 한국으로 넘어오셔서 그곳에서 식당을 하고

계신것이었다.아쉽게 그 소문의 할머니는 안계셨고 칼국수 또한

맛이 그냥 꼼씨 꼼싸.만두는 쫄깃했지만 나의 soul을 점령하기에는

꼼씨 꼼싸.역시 칼국수는 명동교자!!이찌방!!

Hoy día libre en Tokyo. Yo, conocedora de lo que la ciudad puede ofrecer me hago responsable y monto un itinerario.

Madrugamos porque la idea es ir a UENO (un barrio en la zona norte de la ciudad), pero acabamos cambiando eso (se encuentra demasiado retirado) para visitar la Torre de Tokyo. Se trata de una torre de televisión de 330 metros de altura (más alta que la propia Torre Eiffel pero de similar aspecto. Si quereis más información entrad aquí). Subimos al primer mirador y tras las fotos aéreas pertinentes, cogemos la línea JR Yamanote para proseguir con las visitas.

Paramos en Akihabara. A los fans de la tecnología y el manga sin duda este barrio os sonará, ya que es conocido exclusivamente por eso. Su calle principal está plagada de tiendas de electrónica.

Quiero verlo todo y comprar manga y un móvil japonés (son chulísimos, con un diseño increíble y muy baratos), pero tenemos un problema: los padres. Están empeñados en comprar tecnología compatible en España, así que los llevo a una LAOX, que es una cadena de tiendas duty free donde se encuentran productos compatibles con los sistemas europeos. Me cabreo como una mona…. 3 horas en una sola tienda!!! ¿y el resto qué? ¿Por qué no disfrutar paseando por ahorrarse 40 malditos euros comprando algo que también van a poder encontrar en casa? Y encima no quieren que nos separemos ya que no saben inglés y no tienen forma humana de entenderse con la gente. Mi cabreo es tal que acabo sentada enfrente de la tienda 45 minutos esperándolos y no me puedo creer que me estén fastidiando una oportunidad así.

Al final me quedo con las ganas de ver muchas cosas. Menos mal que por lo menos puedo escaparme un minuto y entrar a una de las tiendas de manga: Animate. Es de las más grandes del barrio y tiene 9 pisos repletitos de tomos y revistas. Es sumamente curioso, aunque eso si, está todo en japonés y la gente nos mira algo raro, ¡mi hermana y yo somos las únicas occidentales del lugar!

La hora de la comida es otra discusión. No quieren comer japonés. Joé! Estamos en Japón! Al final acabamos en una hamburguesería (ecs!). Menos mal que en la carta consigo distinguir una hamburguesa de pan de arroz! Así por lo menos no tengo tanto la impresión de estar en un McDonals! (¡¡que triste!!).

Por la tarde visitamos Shinjuku. Aquí lo interesante y curioso es la estación.Se dice que por ella pasa el mayor tráfico de viajeros del mundo al día (3 millones) (más que en todas las líneas de Manhattan juntas). Además la estación tiene más de 100 salidas (¡como para volverse loco!). Aquí quiero visitar el ayuntamiento de Tokyo (rescacioelos muy curioso con 2 torres), Electric Street, la zona de rascacielos y el Tokyo Hands (un almacén de frikadas japonesas). Luego quiero volver a Shibuya.

Deciden empezar por el Tokyo Hands (Times Square) y se entretienen horas! ¡Que aburrido! Aprovecho y hago que me decoren el móvil (ya que no puedo comprarme un modelo japonés porque no son compatibles en Europa…). Son todos unos flojos y están reventados yo en cambio aun tengo cuerda para rato! No quieren ir al ayuntamiento, ni volver a Shibuya, pero por lo menos consigo que demos un paseo por la zona. ¡Es precioso con tanto neón publicitario!. Vemos el edificio Estudio Alta, hay miles de personas en la calle, mucha actividad.

Además conforme oscurece es cada vez más impresionante con los enormes neones. Harajuku y su calle Takeshita Dori tampoco las visitamos con detalle aunque pasamos por delante (una vez más vuelvo a quedarme con las ganas).

La cena era la que cambiamos de día ayer, pero hoy no tenemos autocar. A riesgo de perdernos, sin tener un mapa con calles y sin saber por donde queda logramos llegar al sitio. El restaurante, llamado Gonpachi (situado en Nishi-Azabu Minato-ku) está muy bien; es una taberna típica japonesa dónde todo el mundo te saluda a gritos y al unísono al entrar. La comida está ok, las bebidas son barra libre y hablan inglés!!

Después de que todo el restaurante se despida de nosotros cuando salimos, de coger un metro y el tren y de pararnos a comprar pastelitos del doraemon, llegamos al hotel y a dormir que ha sido un día de mucha actividad.

]]> http://cuzzypremium.wordpress.com/?p=65 Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:21:19 +0000 xbbtv http://cuzzypremium.ca.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/high-5-extreme-sports-parkour-japan-%e2%80%93-the-tokyo-trip/

A 30minutes show of Parkour featuring Tyson Cecka, a professional stuntman from Seattle, a very well known traceur in parkour scene. Join Tyson Cecka as he travels to Japan to practice parkour together with the Japanese traceurs. “Parkour Japan – The Tokyo Trip” brings you 4 days trip took place in Tokyo: Shibuya and Shinjuku where Tyson met with around 15 of the local traceurs, practicing a few tricks.

You can watch “High 5 Extreme Sports: Parkour Japan – The Tokyo Trip” full episode here.

We can also get to know more about Tyson in this episode. Interviews and a lot of shots of his parkour action had been taken in the city of Tokyo.

Watch a preview of Parkour Japan – The Tokyo Trip.

Parkour or also known as free running, or l'art du déplacement (art of movement) is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is a sport of the art of displacement where new and different ways to move around is applied in the sport; series of jumping, running, rolling, climbing, crawling, sliding and even swimming if necessary

Founded by David Belle in France, parkour getting more and more fan/practitioner until today.

XBB.tv brings you “High 5 Extreme Sports: Parkour Japan – The Tokyo Trip” full episode.

Catch more videos on www.xbb.tv

]]>