tokyo

Tonki restaurant was founded 73 years ago and while surfing just a bit, I ran into an article about this and then found a post from the past. I’ve been to the shop, and it’s an amazing place. (Japantimes – Tonki) Here’s a post from 2010 on a visit there. It just happens that it’s located near the station and it’s just a cool place. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s worth the visit. There is something special about the wood counters, seating, and it’s cleanliness for a place that’s cooking in oil. It feels great and clean and they’ll also give you as much cabbage as you handle – sometimes it’s the underdog item. (GR – Tonki)

Here’s a video of the shop

That’s the Tokyo Sky Tree. It’s a huge structure that exists just to have it exist. A tourist trap, a monument or a testament, it’s huge and open. It’s 634-meter (2,080-foot) and will get featured in films and more. The Tokyo Tower as much as any huge monument made appearances in films including one of it’s name sake. (Huffington Post – Sky Tree)

The lost penguin who escaped from the Tokyo Sea Life Park has been found after two months of freedom. The penguin appears to be healthy and energetic. It’s amazing that a single bird can elude captors everywhere. (Huffington Post – Penguin)

Taiwan-based EVA Air and toymaker Sanrio have joined paws and sent an adorable  fleet of three Hello Kitty-themed Airbus 330-300s to do battle against their many competitors in the short-route airline wars in East Asia, flying routes between cities such as Taipei, Fukuoka, Tokyo (Narita), Sapporo, Incheon, Hong Kong and Guam.  EVA spokespersons were quick, however,  to quell rumors that pilots of these aircraft would be dressed as Pikachu. (BuzzFeed ~ Thank You for Choosing Hello Kitty Airlines)

While production for the fan maligned live-action Akira adaptation may have screeched to a halt as of January 5, 2012, Otomo Katsuhiro–the original creator for the manga and anime–is ever busy with an upcoming art exhibit at the 3331 Chiyoda Arts Centre in Tokyo, Japan, showcased between April 9th to March 30th, 2012. The Genga Exhibition, as it is called, already has a catalogue available for pre-order on Amazon.co.jp.

So far, unpublished art for Kaba 2 will be showcased alongside pieces from his other work.

In addition to that, a special discussion will occur live on UStream between Katsuhiro-san, Blood: The Last Vampire‘s Katsuya Terada, and Perfect Blue‘s Hisashi Higuchi on April 9th, 8 p.m. Japan local time.

Guests are required to purchase their tickets in advance at Lawson’s convenience stores for admittance at a designated time. What’s better is that this is an opportunity to geek out for a good cause. Thirty percent of ticket proceeds go towards helping victims of the 3/11 Earthquake.

Nothing’s set in stone, but I’ll definitely try to make it out there sometime in April or May and report further on the exhibit.

Tickets are on sale 1500円 for adults, 800円 for students, and 500円 for junior high school students. For more information, visit 3331 Chiyoda Arts homepage or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

6-11-14 Sotokanda Chiyoda-Ku Tokyo 101-0021
TEL：+81(0)3-6803-2441 / FAX：+81(0)3-6803-2442 / E-MAIL：info@3331.jp

Why Tokyo is #1? Interesting that CNN would go out and just say this even if it’s just “CNNgo” but it’s saying a lot from a news organization that is supposed to be… a news organization. We can agree Tokyo might be #1 among many great places, but it’s almost child like to say this! (CNN – Tokyo #1)

Jesus Christ is in the news again, this time in Japan. The Tokyo Marathon is supposedly a fast course where world records can be broken but on the other end it looks like a good time for many. (Sankaku Complex – Tokyo Marathoners)

Post-apoclyptic landscapes are the cliches Japanese scifi is made from. But never before have we seen it this gorgeously rendered.

His username is “Tokyo Genso” and–according to his profile– he works on “animation and games”. You can view the artist’s blog here and more of his artwork in this series on his deviant art page.

[Warning, Links NSFW] Japan is home to enough world achievements to make any patriot proud. This isn’t one of them.

Masanobu Sato of Tokyo, Japan won the 9th annual World Masturbate-a-thon on May 2, 2009, clocking in at 9 hours and 58 minutes.

Metropolis TV videotaped a brief documentary on his daily life where he “trains” for two hours with a tenga in front of his girlfriend and cat. (You read that correctly).

Wait until the end of the video though. That’s when it gets really depressing.  He expresses that “A real female of course, smells, is dirty…because it’s a human being…So we have this anime, isn’t it clean and pretty?

Masanobu Sato, a living, breathing, forever alone meme.

I was there on the last day of Wendy’s burger chain in Japan at the end of 2009. I was cold in Tokyo, yet dumbfounded at the long lines as people celebrated Wendy’s exit. They wanted the last taste of their burgers with the square patties. Other fast food chains Freshness Burger were putting a dent in the luster of Dave Thomas. But now, in a Thomas less world, Wendy’s just opened up their first revival on Omotesando Street. For those of you who don’t know, Omotesando is a stylish Beverly Hills. It’s among the higher end streets in Tokyo. To fit a relaunch and to do something different, you can now get your burgers with Fois Gras. There’s other specials on the menu as well. The burger will not be a $4, $5, or $6 excursion, this is a $16 project. From their press release: “At the same time, we’ll further differentiate our restaurants by adding innovative new menu options created exclusively for the Japanese market, including the Avocado Wasabi hamburger and the Truffle and Porcini Grilled Chicken sandwich. Our food will be served in a contemporary, inviting atmosphere that we believe will exceed the discerning expectations of Japanese consumers.”  (Eater – Wendy Foie Gras)

Have an idea for a car for the future? Voice it into the “mimi” or ear, and they’re playing it on “niconico” which is sort of like a YouTube in Japan but more for live streaming. If anything these remind us of Geoff McFetridge’s art. (mimicar.jp)

What does a comedian, master chef, and a rockstar have in common? You might assume they’re an unusual bunch, but this article brings them together and the combination works. Read about Aziz Ansari (Park and Recreation), David Chang (Momofuku), and James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) gallivanting around Toyko, looking for food, drinking Zima and karaoke-ing ’til the morning light. All it takes is cash and fame and an “exotic” place. (GQ – The Hangover Part III)

Radium was found in two bottles. It’s not Fukushima, but perhaps this is worse. Radium is commonly used in medical fields, but the 90 year old who once lived there moved in February. She and her daughter have no idea where it came from or how it got under the floor boards. This is a mystery. This brings up issues of public safety. Who’s to say this hasn’t been a problem for her or her neighbors for weeks, months or years. How safe is your neighborhood from something like this? (Businessweek – Radium)

The Occupy Wall Street movement has gained traction in the past four weeks and it looks like its spirit of opposition has spread overseas. The Wallstreet Journal reports that the demand for an “Occupy Tokyo.” Activists created a Facebook group back in September, yet no fruit yielded from the seeds of dissent so far.

Calls for a worldwide protest tentatively set for Oct. 15 are “scheduled” as of right now. However, people are confused as to where the protest will specifically take place, its hour, and what exactly they’re protesting to start.

The Occupy Tokyo movement–if it even exists–is even more disorganized than its American cousin and that’s saying a lot. This doesn’t mean that Japan doesn’t have anything to protest against. Its youth have had their share of employment problems since its nearly bi-decennial recession with lawmakers offering little to no improvement. The Japanese have endured many of the social problems from America’s Great Recession for much longer without the public rage. If, however, Japan does manage to ignite a movement of the same magnitude of OWS, it’s doubtful that it’ll meet its goals since the 1960s student movement similarly hit a dead end.

Either way, October 15th is swiftly approaching. In the mean time, keep your eyes and ears open.

Fixie fans, don’t ride in Tokyo without brakes, you’ll get a ticket worth over $500. Yes, it’s hard to be that person who has a fixed gear bicycle that has hand brakes, but like a fake video security camera that really does nothing, then someone needs to invent cool fake brakes. Maybe it doubles up as a cell phone holder or a tagging marker, but it’s a law that bikes must have brakes. Not just a front, but both. (Yomiuri – Fixed Gear)

The videos autoplay, so they’re sort of annoying that way, just hit pause and control them. That’s why they come after the jump!

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This won’t be the first or the last. Pharrell treks around Tokyo and does interviews and gives his own viewpoints about 3-11. A fun note: Kunichi Nomura is in this. Ages ago, perhaps in 2000, or even 1999, he interviewed GR for Sputnik magazine. This is only part one where Pharrell interviews creatives for his documentary type project.

Pictures and stories about weird structures and odd houses are all over the internet. You’ve probably heard about the zombie-proof fortress in Japan, of course, and the zombie-proof house in Poland. And chances are you’ve heard all about various narrow, space-saving houses in Japan, Korea, and even here in the U.S. These things are all really cool and very fun to think about, because pretty much everyone has a fantasy of living in a fantastic place in an unusual and special home. For example, we wouldn’t mind living in a really narrow, zombie-proof house in Shibuya. Or Manhattan. The point is, extreme houses and architecture are relatively easy to find these days. But the odd, interesting and quirky things inside otherwise normal-looking structures are harder to find. And these are what have attracted our attention of  late. So read on for brief stories, with links, about some offbeat but interesting homes and the things about them that make them unusual.

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A few weeks ago, we reported on the Japanese government’s Super Cool Biz campaign, which is basically an initiative to encourage Japan’s office workers and business folk to wear lighter, cooler and somewhat more casual clothing during the hot summer months. It is a big part of this year’s setsuden summer in Japan, where a premium has been placed on conserving electricity due to the country’s diminished electric power production capacity in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown back in March. And apparently the Super Cool Biz campaign has been a big hit. Polo-style shirts in particular have become a kind of new and comfortable symbol of a more relaxed and energy-conscious environment in Japan’s busy and rather serious offices. In addition, some government offices in Tokyo and other cities are allowing workers to wear pattern-free t-shirts, and even knee-length shorts. So with every day this summer basically being a casual Friday in Japan, you wouldn’t be surprised to see folks wearing Hawaiian shirts, right? Well, wrong. Seems Hawaiian shirts, known as ‘aloha shirts’ in Japan, are a source of discomfort and controversy in Japanese office environments. At the link, you’ll get some historical background about the origins of aloha shirts (they were invented in Japan) and why these shirts are an uncomfortable reminder of Japan’s loss in World War II. Oh, and on the practical side, it seems that the very hot and humid Japanese summers make wearing the typical Rayon aloha shirt a pretty uncomfortable and impractical undertaking. Who knew? (Asahi Shimbun Online – “Aloha” Shirts Not Super Cool for Biz)

The old cliché, of course, is that to seriously outperform something one runs circles around it. But for a certain Englishman in Tokyo it isn’t a matter of wanting to outperform an entire city so much as it is a desire to express his deep affection for his adopted home. So he isn’t running circles around Tokyo, he’s drawing pictures with it. Since November of 2010, English transplant Joseph Tame has periodically combined his love of running with that of Tokyoto turn the city into a rather large Etch-A-Sketch. Using a GPS device and special tracking software, Tame runs routes through Tokyo that end up forming large, whimsical pictures which are plotted and traced onto a Google map of the city. In April, he ran a 50 kilometer route which formed a large heart in central Tokyo. Earlier this month, he created a “G+” icon to celebrate the launch of the Google+ social networking service. And earlier this year, he ran 45 kilometers to form an ersatz Hello Kitty face spread over the Nakano and Shinjuku wards of western Tokyo. And as you’ll see at the link, he has drawn a few other fun figures as well. We can’t wait to see where this runner’s kinetic creativity will take him next. (The Art of Running – Huge Tokyo Heart)