Just took a hot bath with the window open, which I like doing because it makes me feel like I’m at a rotenburo. I especially like it when there’s violent weather outside (Tokyo is being hit by a typhoon, it rained all day and now it’s really windy). There’s something I like about feeling very strong wind blowing, while at the same being completely enveloped in steaming hot bath water right up to my chin. To me, it’s relaxing. Now I’m in my jinbei, and we’re soon going to start watching the Japanese horror film UZUMAKI, which is based on Junji Ito’s excellent manga.

I’ve been meaning to mention Based On A Moblog for a while now. I really like the way the pics are presented by themselves in a big block, with no accompanying text. Nice and simple.

Today I turned 30. Just enjoyed a bottle of Chardonnay, accompanied by some delicious cheese and a fresh baguette from Donq. Also played a shitload of SUPER MONKEY BALL 2 on my GameCube. How old am I again?

Check out the new Tokyo-based blog KoKoRo. “P2P, i-mode, mobile gadget and game biz in Japan.”

View from the Dragonfly Cafe terrace in Aoyama.

Fantagraphics Books, better known for underground classics like the Hernandez Bros. LOVE AND ROCKETS and Peter Bagge’s HATE, are in financial trouble because of the bankrupty of their former distributor, and they need help. Help them by buying some of their excellent offerings, which you can do directly from their website. For those in Japan, you can order from Amazon Japan, which offers free shipping as usual for orders over 1500 yen. I’ve just ordered Daniel Clowes‘ LIKE A VELVET GLOVE CAST IN IRON, Peter Bagge’s BUDDY BITES THE BULLET (collects the last five issues of the now retired HATE series), and QUIMBY THE MOUSE by Chris Ware (author who caused quite a stir in the graphic novel world with the release of his JIMMY CORRIGAN book).

ALERT: It seems that the only way to really help out Fantagraphics is by ordering directly from their website. Ordering from places like Amazon will just get you books that are already in their warehouses, and they got them from the distributor that went bankrupt.

Yuko was checking out an online message board where people mostly sell and trade things, and she saw one post about a guy requesting help finding the real Dragonballs that will permit him to embark on a world journey. Some of the replies continued with people suggesting places in Yokohama where his hunt could begin. The tone of the initial post was very serious.

DRAGONBALL is a very famous manga by Akira Toriyama that follows the martial art adventures of Sangoku and his friends and family. The Dragonballs are 7 magical spheres that when collected cause a huge dragon to appear who then offers to grant a wish.

Just a note about the Toshimaen park wich I mentioned in a previous entry. I found out that it’s just another lame amusement park. There are some hot springs, but most of the water attractions are just water slides and such. This is definitely not an example of what I was thinking when talking about good modern renewal that incorporates green spaces. Oh well.

Bob Sapp selling DVD players.

A map of the Harajuku/Aoyama area.

I just saw the following quote on the Japan Today website from prize-winning author Yoshinaga Fujita, criticizing the new Roppong Hills, which pretty much described my experience there:

“I just walked around confused, and when I felt like sitting down to take a rest, all the coffee shops were full.”

And for fans of the modern architecture that’s popping up around town (like the new Prada building in Aoyama), you could do worse then check out the SANAA exhibit at Gallery MA. Again, from REALTOKYO:

SANAA is the name of the collaboration project by Sejima Kazuyo and Nishizawa Ryue, that was set up after Nishizawa left Sejima’s office in 1997. Even though they both run their own companies now, both architects are still actively working together as SANAA in such large-scale projects as the “21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa” (Ishikawa), the “Dior Building” (Tokyo), or most recently “ISSEY MIYAKE” inside Roppongi Hills. This exhibition focuses on plans that are currently in progress, whereas the point that it illustrates how the two collaborators’ work flows look like in detail is what makes the event especially attractive. As a chance to observe the backside of collaborative operation, it’s also recommended to catch the lecture at Tsuda Hall on 6/4.

And another way of looking at urban rewewal (from REALTOKYO):

The “R-project” dealing with “potential buildings” that Baba Masataka has been writing about in his entries in RT’s “Tokyo Editors’ Diary” has taken up serious operation. The ambitious idea is to reform in a physical way the evaluation of “life in the city” by converting empty buildings in hollow areas across Tokyo into appartments, ateliers, galleries, cafes, etc. To begin with, this walking tour of central Tokyo’s eastern part is a chance for a personal inspection of concrete objects “before and after.” After the excursion, RT invites you to have a drink or two while listening to some of the project’s core members’ reports at another volume of the “RT BAR.” Participants are limited to 30 people, applications can be made by email.

This is the cover of the Arling & Cameron album (All IN) that was given to me by Elsbeth and Derk the other night. You can see how approriate a gift it was, explicitly illustrating the Amerdam-Tokyo connection. As for the album itself, I’ve been enjoying the hell out of it on my iPod these past few days. Lots of very fun Japanese samples abound in this great club-pop record. Definitely recommended. As for A&R, they unfortunately called it quits at least a year ago, and Derk was saying how Cameron is now based in Berlin and exploring his singer-songwriter roots (it’s how he started, before getting into the DJ thing). His wife, Karin, was in town DJing at the Readymade Party I attended at Yellow last December.

To continue on the same topic (I’m posting a new entry because old entries tend to get lost in the churn, as do the comments), a couple of articles came to my attention today. First, I was late picking up METROPOLIS this week, but finally got around to it and found a cover story featuring the father of Roppong Hills (and many other development projects, including the Dojunkai apartment renewal), Minoru Mori. His reasoning behind the need for this vertical extension:

“Commuting shouldn’t consume our days. We need high-rise city centers where all facets of life are within easy walking distance.”

Also, today’s TOKYO WALKER features a cover story on “New Tokyo Spots.” The article then goes on to list all of the recent places we’ve been discussing of late, but also talks about new areas I didn’t know about, like Toshimaen, which is a big green space that would include various spa/hot spring facilities. So it seems that Tokyo is not totally ignoring the need for green spaces. Even for the Ando designed Dojunkai apartment space, “the zelkova tree-lined boulevard will remain an integral part.”

I’ll also point to a very interesting link that was suggested by Joao in the comments below, the Bionic Tower.