A picture of Yuko taken by Nao.

A while back I moblogged the 0 issue of a new magazine called HINISM. Yesterday, I went to Planet 3rd for a latte and some magazine reading (ended up staying there 2 hours), and got a chance to read issue 1. It seems that the magazine is produced by Gallery Wall, which is located in the Roppongi/Azabu area. The theme for this issue is “Stylized Design” (the 0 issue’s theme was “Crafts”), and the imagery is again simply beautiful. There was a lot more to read than what I remember seeing in the first issue (the magazine is bilingual), and it was interesting reading at that. A bit pricey (1600 yen), but very well produced.

The above image is from this listing, which has more info in Japanese.

I’ve shared with you my love for the SAMURAI CHAMPLOO animated series (still as good as ever), but the fun doesn’t stop there. One of the draws of the series is the mix of hip-hop with a traditional samurai setting, and the strong musical ties continue with the launch of Samurai-C Records. I was at the Logos Gallery yesterday (basement of Parco Part 1 in Shibuya), and it’s now setup as a temporary shop (until the end of the month I think), with a few releases from the label (artists related to the music that plays on the show). They’re also selling some really nice vinyl album covers, which you can sort of see pictured above.

After the OK FRED event, Patrick made his way to the Usagi-Chang Night Fever Vol. 0002 (a party organized by Usagi-Chang Records), that was being held at Marz, in Shinjuku’s Kabuki-cho. Check out the post he wrote for a full review of the event, including lots of pics.

At the OK FRED event last night, fellow blogger Christopher Kobayashi not only moblogged while there (as did quite a few others), he also logged in the coordinates at Tokyo Picturesque. It’s a site where you attach pics you’ve taken with your mobile phone, and it then associates that image with the location on the map where it was taken. Makes for a very interesting and visual view of the city.

Having beers in the backstreets of Shinjuku with Antonin.

I’ve been teasing you recently with news of upcoming projects, and one of them is that I’ve been asked by Harry Wakefield, who runs MoCo Loco (“a web magazine featuring modern contemporary design news and views”), to be editor of the soon-to-be-launched MoCo Tokyo. It’ll be joining other cities like Montreal, San Francisco, and the recently launched Amsterdam version, which is edited by Joost van Brug, of Reluct fame (one of my favorite sites on design news, that I visit daily). I’m really excited by this, and I believe the site will launch in a few weeks. I hope you’ll enjoy following my coverage of Tokyo-based modern design.

A couple of pigs guard the stairs in the hpgrp building, where the Aqui Uzumaki exhibition is being held.

Just a quick reminder that the OK FRED release party is tonight at the NTT Intercommunication Center. Hope to see you there!

Writing this from Cafe 246, which I’ve been meaning to visit for a while now. Book and Cafe 246 are a creation of PAPER SKY magazine (and the cafe is co-produced by the people behind Planet 3rd). The cafe itself is nice, featuring a full food menu (I was expecting mostly drinks), as well as a full bar. Looks like they’re probably catering to the embassy/business people in the area. There’s a magazine rack as well, and 5 laptops equipped with webcams (but unfortunately, they’re Windows machines, and the keyboard it a bitch to use). The bookstore is small, but it’s crammed to the ceiling with books, as well as design-friendly travel goods (think Freitag bags). I like the little displays they have arranged on tables, like one for Canada (Toronto is the cover feature of the latest PAPER SKY), as it includes an interesting selection of books and magazines: vintage books on the city of Toronto, as well as a Toronto art magazine called C, which has an interesting indie look to it.

I did have trouble finding the place, even though I checked the map on their website just before leaving my place. Seems like I’m getting really bad for that (like the other day with the +81 shop). I ended up calling Patrick at work, to have him send me the address on my mobile phone, as I was just walking in circles.

After I’m done with my latte, I’m off to Ginza where I’ll check out the latest exhibition at the Ginza Graphic Gallery, and also maybe go to the Hanna Gallery to have a look at the Aqui Uzumaki exhibition.

Update: The Barnbrook Design exhibition at the GGG was very good, and well worth checking out. I’ve become a fan. The Aqui Uzumaki show, although limited to one small room, was fun and colorful. It went well with the music that was playing (the SONIDO UZUMAKI compilation from Music Related). I stopped by the Okinawa shop to get some chinsukou cookies, taco rice mix, and a can of A&W root beer. While there I also had a cone of mango soft ice-cream (absolutely delicious). At the Muji superstore in Yurakucho, I was glad to see that the Martha Stewart store is now gone (it always annoyed the hell out of me). They’re also doing some major renovations, as a good part of the space was sealed off. Lastly, I stopped at Sofmap (in the same building) and picked up ATSUMARE!! MADE IN WARIO for the GameCube for really cheap.

Design shop Buro-Stil, in Nakameguro, has moved.

More signs that Apple is doing well in Japan.

And then some news on the iTunes Music Store coming to Japan.

The full AP article can be read here.

You’ll notice something different now when you access the moblog pages to write comments. I’ve just completed a quick overhaul of the moblog site, basically making it uniform with the look and feel of the main site. Also, I’ve done a rebranding (something I’ve been thinking about for a while, but I was waiting to make an update on the site before announcing it). The moblog will now be refered to as TB.Movel. Yes, I’m keeping with my Portuguese naming policy (although quite the lame policy, don’t you think), and it joins the TB.Grafico photolog, and the TB.Selecao links blog. With this, I hereby name the main blog feed of this site (what you’re reading right now)… Tokyo Boy! Seems to be the logical thing to do.