In case you were wondering why my monthly column for THE JAPAN TIMES, “On Design,” wasn’t in yesterday’s edition — it gets published on the 4th Tuesday of every month — it’s because the Lifestyle section didn’t appear on January 2 (the first Tuesday of this month), so all columns have been pushed back a week. Check next week’s paper, on Tuesday, January 30.
Jan 24, 2007
Added these 3 frogs from the latest Frog Style series (’06 Winter Ver.) to my collection the other day — it’s harder to find the gacha-gacha machines that sell them these days, but I did find one at the Bic Camera in Yurakucho.
Jan 24, 2007
The segment I did for the NHK program TOKYO EYE will air in this week’s episode (#016). In it, I cover a few favorite locations in Nakameguro that share the theme of mixed concepts for the “My Private Tokyo” corner. The places visited are Cow Books — it was the first time they ever permitted taping inside — the Kameroku Sakura Shopping Center (includes a bakery, restaurant, cafe, and shop), and the Kisai hair salon and gallery (pictured above). It starts airing this Wednesday, January 24, on NHK World, and then repeats a few times. The following is the broadcast schedule (JST, so adjust for wherever you are):
It also airs this Sunday (January 28) here in Japan on the NHK Digital Educational TV channel, at 11:25.
Jan 23, 2007
I don’t just like The King of Games, in fact, I love The King of Games, and I’m absolutely overjoyed with my new “Zelda 20th Anniversary Hoodie” (in grey). As you can see in the detailed pics from the site, it looks awesome, and I can’t even start to describe how much it looks like a lot of care has gone into the design. I’m even in love with the box it came in, which I’m going to use for storage. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I got a blue button — it unbuttons your Nintendo DS pocket! The King of Games, although based in Japan, have an international section in English, and they ship everywhere. Even better, the Zelda hoodie is on sale right now!
Jan 23, 2007
A reader sent me a link to the “Tokyo Ubiquitous Technology Project,” and it sounds like Ginza is THE place to experience the latest in ID technology right now. Even better, they’re looking for participants!
*Ubiquitous ID technology is a cutting-edge technology that links the real world and virtual spaces by having computers automatically recognize unique identifiers attached to each “location” or “physical object”.
In these experiments, you can experience information provision services such as real-time store information and route guidance on the “streets” of Ginza, where an IT infrastructure have been prepared for more enjoyable and comfortable shopping and sightseeing.
Jan 23, 2007
A certain Englishman by the name of Webb sent me word of a show on BBC Radio 1 — which you can listen to here (maybe just for the week) — that features a great Ryuichi Sakamoto ambient mix.
Jan 23, 2007
Chin Music Press‘ Craig reports:
The building is being smashed and rebuilt and at the very least, Mika-san reports, they’ll be closed for a year with very little chance of opening again in the new building.
So we’ve all got a mere 10 days or so to clean out all of the remaining inventory. Rumor has it there’s going to be quite a sale on Wednesday, January 31st, with most books selling for a measly Â¥100. And probably, if you put on your best puppy dog eyes, you’ll get a couple freebies thrown in too. So if you can read English, like books, and have a big bag, bring your love and the bag to Intelligent Idiot and load up on the best of what’s left.
Jan 22, 2007
Just now I was watching an interview/documentary on NHK’s PROFESSIONAL covering mangaka Naoki Urasawa (MONSTER, 20TH CENTURY BOYS, PLUTO). It was quite interesting hearing him explain how he never uses expressions or actions that aren’t realistic — for instance, the wide-eyed surprise expression you tend to see in comics/manga all the time, or a hand slapping on a table when angry.
Jan 22, 2007
The new National Art Center, Tokyo — designed by Kisho Kurokawa — is open as of yesterday, launching with the inaugural exhibition “Living in the Material World – ‘Things’ in Art of the 20th Century and Beyond,” that runs until March 19. Read more about the center here.
Jan 22, 2007
Tokyo Fun Party‘s second “Juliana” event is just around the corner, happening this coming Sunday (January 28, 19:00-23:00), again at Soft.
Jan 22, 2007
I’ve put up a Flickr photoset of photos from last night’s opening event for PMKFA‘s “Green Winter” exhibition. It was a blast, and well worth the trek out to Kamata, despite the cold and rain.
Jan 22, 2007
I stopped by a Graniph shop earlier today, and just had to pick up this collaboration tee with The Pixies — they’re my favorite band. Looks like it was released yesterday, and it’s to promote the documentary/performance film LOUDQUIETLOUD, which will be playing at Kichijoji’s Baus Theater starting February 3. Can’t wait!
Jan 21, 2007
Paul goes through a few of the phones from the just-announced AU Spring 2007 collection.
Jan 21, 2007
First it the was the Tokyo HDR picture, now enjoy cool Quicktime VRs of the city.
Jan 21, 2007
I like this flash-based opening montage for the upcoming film SAKURAN. The film is based on a manga series.
Jan 20, 2007
PauseTalk is a regular series of events that take place at Cafe Pause on the first Monday of every month, with a start time of 20:00. The idea is to create a forum where Tokyo-based creatives can get together and discuss their own projects, as well as cultural currents of the city. The next edition happens June 4.
We hereby define a new term, that of the magaziner, described as a person who exerts an unhealthy amount of love for all things magazine. The Magaziner is a site that mostly focuses on the intersection between magazines and the digital frontier, and what it means for the medium. This does not preclude the inclusion of a healthy amount of print love.
Jean Snow is a contributor to Arcade Mania, your guide to the arcade gaming scene in Japan (Amazon US/Amazon Japan). He also provided assistance on Tokyolife: Art and Design, a guide to Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives.
He will be contributing to the upcoming fifth editions of The Rough Guide to Tokyo and The Rough Guide to Japan, due for release in 2011.
Jean Snow is Executive Director of the PechaKucha organization. He also helps run the PechaKucha Night in Tokyo -- please get in touch if you are interested in presenting at a future event. For a more intimate salon-like discussion group, join him at his monthly PauseTalk event.
A longtime resident of Tokyo, he lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming, sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for various online/offline publications, including the following: Time, Inside (Australian Design Review), Gizmodo, Gridskipper, Kotaku, 1UP, Tokyo Q, Superfuture, OK Fred, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, I.D. (International Design), Metropolis, Azure, MoCo Loco, Kateigaho International Edition, Wired's Game|Life, PingMag, CNNGo, Phaidon, and The Japan Times.
You can subscribe to an RSS feed of this site, and also follow him on Twitter and Facebook, or get in touch by email.
