2004.10.31

The Languages of Law

Here’s what my dad does.

Resonate at Bullet’s

Just a reminder that tonight is the RESONATE event at Bullet’s, that will include a performance by Glam Tool, featuring good friend Hirano Midori. Glam Tool opens the show at 5.

Comments (0) Category: Events • Music

Metropolis 553

This week’s issue of city guide METROPOLIS has quite a few interesting articles in it, which I’ll rundown in one post instead of multiple entries. After a week, look in their sidebar archives for issue 553.

The cover feature is a short story — “Watercolors,” taken from his DARK WATER collection — by RINGU author Suzuki Koji. Most of his novels are being published in English by Vertical.

If you’re looking for English books in Tokyo (your cheapest option is still to order from Amazon Japan), you can check out the recently opened Maruzen store in the Oazo shopping complex.

More than 130 years after the first Maruzen opened in Nihonbashi, the shop that has saved many an expat in Tokyo will shut down and undergo a huge renovation. Although the new Nihonbashi Maruzen will not re-open until 2007, the venerable bookseller has moved into the Oazo shopping and dining complex next to Tokyo station with no less than 200,000 foreign books, the largest selection of its kind in Japan.

In addition to four bilingual book advisors, the new Maruzen has a touch-screen computer system that allows you to search in English for your favorite classic. When we tested it, for instance, Maruzen didn’t have the 2004 BBC Books edition of Agatha Christie’s Caribbean Mystery, but the system did print out an order form to take to the counter. If a book is in stock, the computer can print a map of where it is in the store. Maruzen has an extensive selection of the latest English books, including fiction, academic titles and books on Japan. They also have a limited collection of German and French fiction and nonfiction, and some French audio books.

I’d like to have a look at their French book selection. Ordering French books from Canada or France is still just too expensive (the shipping costs equal the price of the books).

Then there’s this mention of the “Emerging Generation” architectural exhibition taking place at GA Gallery (until November 3), that I’d really like to check out.

GA, or Global Architecture, is the preeminent name for architecture aficionados throughout Japan. Predominantly known for its various magazines and journals, the GA organization also operates a gallery space near Yoyogi station. The refined, modern but simple building houses two floors of exhibition space and one of the most extensive architecture bookstores in Tokyo.

“Emerging Generation,” the latest of this exhibition space’s informative and extensive investigations into the contemporary architecture scene, is exactly what the title describes. Nine emerging forty-something architects from around the world are represented in a series of designs, conceptual drawings, and computer-generated prints of 3D models all modestly displayed on color-coded posters that hang around the smooth concrete interior of the gallery.

The next show, “GA Japan 2004″ (until December 26), looks like another add-on to my must-see list.

And then there’s Hillary Raphael’s new novel, I (HEART) LORD BUDDHA, published by Creation Books, which I think could make for a fun read.

Tokyo has been the grist for many a first novel, but few have been as leftfield as Hillary Raphael’s. The author of last year’s butoh photography book Outcast Samurai Dancer, Raphael has woven her experiences as a Tokyo hostess and runway model together with real-life events such as the Aum Shinrikyo subway gassing, and used her own febrile imagination to create a rollicking novel of cyber-age esthetics. Set in late-’90s Tokyo, I Lord Buddha recounts the history of the Neo-Geisha Organization, a sex-and-death cult with an anti-consumerist, pro-hedonist ideology. The cult is led by leggy Westerner Hiyoko, and her followers are the young women “whose curiosity and perfect bodies have taken them thousands of miles from home to work in Tokyo’s neon-lit network of hostess bars.”

Another must-see exhibition is Maywa Denki’s “The Nonsense Machines” happening at the NTT ICC, until December 26.

Blurring the line between art and industry, Masamichi and Nobumichi Tosa are better known by their pseudonym Maywa Denki, or Maywa Electric. In their 11 years of existence they have beguiled the world with whimsical interactive machines that double as musical instruments, calling their concerts “product demonstrations” and dressing in the faceless uniforms of Japan’s industrial workers. “The Nonsense Machines” is a retrospective that brings together their collected inventions, and also features a new Edelweiss series, a consideration in interactive mechanical forms of various aspects of female identity. A free concert is scheduled for December 6 in the adjacent Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.

I hope I can make it to that free show.

And looking for some wacky otaku-flavoured Japanese cinema? KOI NO MON would seem to fit the bill.

Recently, there has been a rash of Japanese films based on manga, but Koi no Mon goes one step further. Not only does it stem from the adult comic of Jun Hanyunyuu, but the piece centers around a bizarre, down-and-out manga-ka (manga artist) named Mon (Ryuhei Matsuda), who draws his cartoons on little stones, and a female counterpart, Koino (Wakana Sakai), whose passion is cosu-pure (”costume play”). Thus we get the title, which also means “gate of love.” It should come as no surprise then that the tone of the piece is “cartoonish” in a surreal, frenetic and often silly way. A lot of the action takes place in the protagonists’ imagination, leading to some interesting computer graphics and visuals. The offbeat love story between the two is only mildly engaging but you have to like any film in which the female lead squeals “tanoshi neeee” and the male lead promptly pukes his guts out.

TOKYO Q also has this review:

Theater actor and director Suzuki Matsuo makes his feature film debut with this wacky tale of lovesick manga artists in Tokyo. For a first film, it’s an assured performance: a riot of sight gags, colorful characters, quick-cutting, rock-tempo silliness. Mon (Ryuhei Matsuda) is a scuzzy, furry “manga artisan,” a hopeless failure who draws comics on stones. He meets and falls in love with cute Koino (Wakana Sakai), an OL with a “cos-play” fetish and a secret manga artist to boot. Koino and Mon’s love affair is complicated by the involvement of an older man, manga coffee shop owner (Matsuo), with claims on Koino’s art and heart. While exploring a similar world to the low-budget film “Ai suru Yochu” (which also featured Matsuo as an older lover), this is altogether more satisfying. A complete guide to the workings of the obsessive otaku mind. A few cult directors show up in fun cameos: Takashi Miike as a brothel keeper and Shinya Tsukamoto as a soon-dead customer at the manga coffeeshop. Tokyo geek love.

I’ll wait until I can get my hands on a version with English subs.

Lastly, I haven’t really found anything interesting in the recent bar reviews they’ve featured, but this one (follow the link for the full review), for Aoyama’s Ratia, looks like it might right up my alley.

Ratia is exactly the kind of place that comes to mind when people ask us about cool Tokyo lounges. Dimly lit, multi-level, and filled with enticing nooks, this bar is a sure bet for couples or groups looking to chill out with an inventive cocktail and some good food.

Located a short walk from the sparkling Prada Building, Ratia sits on a quiet side street surrounded by stylish design studios, restaurants and shops. The exterior holds its own against these oshare outposts; even from the outside looking in, the bar emanates an inviting aura. A porch area runs up to large front windows that give a glimpse of a small bar area that’s somewhat mysteriously suffused with a green glow. Once inside, the narrow space has a row of small white tables lining one wall, while farther back is a semi-private seating area.

It seems that I’ve been recently criticized for my superficial thirst for stylish environments. This is not something that I feel the need to defend: I think my site is pretty much a shrine to all that is pretty and stylish in this city, and I make no excuse for it. That’s what I like, and that’s where I want to hang out.

Comments (2) Category: Magazines • Tokyo Walking

2004.10.30

Late-Night TV Anime on the Rise

A DAILY YOMIURI article takes a look at the growing popularity (and expanding number) of late-night TV animated shows.

The number of such shows in late-night slots increased to 17 this season from 10 last autumn. Many of these shows are produced with viewers in their 20s and 30s in mind as producers hope to cash in on DVD sales of programs aimed at this generation.

All the good shows are definitely the ones that appear during that time period. Anything earlier is usually Pokemon-like crap.

Comments (0) Category: Anime

Paper Sky 11

Just picked up the new issue of PAPER SKY (11), featuring a cover story on Shanghai. The city really seems to be getting a lot of coverage of late, like TIME’s recent cover story proclaiming it to be the new “it” city in Asia. It’s definitely up there as one of the cities I want to visit next.

Comments (6) Category: Magazines

Approved Comments

After months with next to no comment spam with the WordPress version of the site, I’ve now started getting a few every day, and it’s gotten to a point where I’m going to have to use some of the moderation features of WP. As of now, I’ve set it so that comments that have 2 or more links in them will not be posted automatically, and have to approved by me. If this is not enough, I’ll have to change this to any comment with links. So don’t be surprised if you post comments with links and they aren’t posted right away.

Comments (6) Category: Meta

2004.10.29

2004 Design Event Pics

Japan Design Net has quite a few pics from this year’s Designer’s Week and Designers Block. Link via Dezain.net.

Comments (0) Category: Design • Events

Axis 112

The new issue of AXIS (112) is out, and it’s the annual prototype issue, which is always fun to look at.

Comments (0) Category: Magazines

2004.10.28

Creativity Now Tokyo

I picked up a flyer for the “Creativity Now Tokyo” event, organized by TOKION magazine, and it does seem like something quite cool. From REALTOKYO:

Tokion magazine presents a Harajuku-style “conference” event at Laforet Museum. A brief look at the official Website shows a mixed lineup of speakers including Uchida Yuya, Fujiwara Hiroshi, Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Aida Makoto, Shingo2, Nakajima Hideki, and others. But upon closer inspection the combination of participating figures from the fields of art, music and media begins to get interesting: David Elliott, Ozawa Tsuyoshi, Terry Ito, Iijima Ai, Haino Keiji… Due to careful separation by topic we won’t experience starlet Iijima at the side of Haino Keiji, though, and it will probably be moderator Ukawa Naohiro who ends up playing the leading role by navigating through the multi-faceted program.

And the official blurb:

Tokion Magazine is pleased to announce the First Annual Creativity Now Conference Tokyo. The U.S. event was held on October 2nd and 3rd, 2004. This year Tokion is bringing the conference to the Laforet Museum Harajuku in Tokyo on November 6th. This unique symposium will bring together top figures in art, design, photography, music, film and political marketing. The people shaping today’s popular culture will spend a full day exchanging ideas, methods and inspirations before an audience of 500. Creativity Now will consist of several panel discussions and individual presentations. A large cross section of the creative community is expected to attend. Creativity Now Tokyo will prove to be the definitive cultural gathering of the year.

It happens at the Laforet Museum on November 6. It’s something I would love to attend, but at 4500 yen, and probably Japanese-only speakers, I’ll give it a miss.

Comments (1) Category: Events

2004.10.27

Mystery Omotesando Building

Can anyone tell me what the building that is featured in this moblog picture is going to be (I’m assuming a brand store). It’s on Omotesando, still under construction, just a bit further up from the Dior store. I got the question from a reader, and it also got me curious.

Update: It’s the Ito Toyo designed flagship store for Tod’s.

Comments (4) Category: Architecture

Tokyo Night Scape 2050

I checked out the “Tokyo Night Scape 2050” exhibition at Matsuya last week, and must say that it was a disappointment. I was expecting something a bit more visual.

Comments (0) Category: Art • Events • TB.Grafico

Jerome Olivier

I had a meeting with someone at Montoak yesterday — about a new writing thing that I’ll get into in a week or so when things get more official — and following a bit of walking around, I met up with Yuko and we went back to Montoak for a drink on the terrace. It was there that we met Jerome Olivier, a French-Canadian filmmaker who has been in Tokyo for 8 years. He’s worked on a lot of commercial projects, music videos, as well as some shorts. Have a look at his site for examples of his work, including a nice compilation reel.

Comments (0) Category: Film

Tower Cafe

When I was at Tower Records yesterday to pick up the latest issue of MASSAGE, I picked up a leaflet that advertises a recently opened Tower Cafe in Ebisu. It’s in the same building as the Liquidroom, and from the pictures looks quite stylish. The premises also include a select shop. I’ll try and check it out next time I’m in Ebisu (which is not very often).

Comments (2) Category: Cafes

Ongaku no Susume

Patrick has all the info on the upcoming Halcali album, ONGAKU NO SUSUME. I must say that I’m disappointed with the new single, “Baby Blue,” but I still look forward to hearing the LP.

Comments (7) Category: Music

Tokyo Storm Warning

Warren’s TOKYO STORM WARNING gets a short review in this week’s METROPOLIS.

The second part of this two-story graphic novel compilation, Tokyo Storm Warning is pure pulp entertainment. In a alternate-universe Tokyo devastated by nuclear war, the remaining humans are forced to fight giant lizards created by the bomb. American pilot Zoe Flynn is called in to fly a new weapon: one of the humanoid robots referred to as the ARCangels. More than just an excuse for epic lizard-versus-robot battles (of which, not to fear, there is no shortage), this story is full of Ellis’s trademark brand of socially conscious science fiction.

Do yourself a favor and order the book.

Comments (0) Category: Books