Remember that “My Private Tokyo” corner I did on Nakameguro for the NHK World TV show TOKYO EYE? I’ve finally gotten around to putting up the segment on YouTube. This is the first time I’ve done something like this, so be gentle.
Category: Meta • TV • Tokyo Walking
Jean Snow lives and breathes design, pop culture, and gaming in Tokyo -- sustained by an unhealthy addiction to magazines and frequent visits to his favorites cafes. He has reported on these obsessions for the following online/offline publications: Time, Inside (Australian Design Review), Gizmodo, Gridskipper, Kotaku, Tokyo Q, Superfuture, OK Fred, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, I.D. (International Design), Metropolis, Azure, MoCo Loco, Kateigaho International Edition, Game|Life, and The Japan Times. He also manages the gallery space at Cafe Pause.
Jean Snow is a daily contributor to Wired magazine's game blog, Game|Life, covering game news from Japan and beyond.
Arcade Mania is currently on sale through Amazon Japan, with the same edition available for pre-order on Amazon US (to be released January, 2009).
Tokyolife: Art and Design covers Tokyo's cultural output of the past few years, covering the works of over 80 influential creatives. Jean Snow provided coordination assistance.
The Superfuture Superguides are a series of PDF travel guides to some of your favorites cities, updated monthly, and obsessively compiling the best places to shop, eat, and drink. The Tokyo guide is edited by Jean Snow.
He is also the design/culture editor at Neojaponisme, a web journal covering social and cultural aspects of Japan. Read the manifesto, by founder and chief editor W. David Marx, here.
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 October 6.
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You’re the man now, dog!
That was great. Now do one on Ebisu - that’s where I’ll be staying the next time I come to Tokyo.
Ha ha! You were a little stiff at the beginning but you definitely warmed up by the end. Very cool!
good job! omedeto gozaimasu! i’m planning to visit nakameguro on my first day back in tokyo - at the end of march.
That was very cool, Jean. I really enjoyed that video and all the cool shops you went to. Good work.
great job! the best part? when you start talking after looking at the dog!! not stiff at all! u looked like a pro
This is really really cool, man!
You are totally natural, with all the tricks of the trade (looking at the dog, great conversation with the camera, always smiling, PERFECT HAIR!)
They should have you back every week!
congratS!
Nice job, had fun watching it… and yes, perfect hair!
Haha! Is that where you get your hair cut? Free beer/sake… bet that package can set you back a bit.
Glad I finally got to see it, though, thanks for going to the trouble. I’m horrible at connecting time with TV these days.
I agree with Brad. A little stiff to begin with, but you really warmed up.
Were you not allowed to mention store names? Because your track record here on this site, of naming and linking everything you can, would suggest so.
Great clip and very well done! I live in Nakameguro but only for a few months now. I also haven’t been to any of those places yet. Where is that bakery? would like to go and pick up some fresh bread on the weekends!
Great review of places in your area. There is a very trendy furniture store in your area (forgot the name), believe it was near the closed organic cafe. You need to stop writing articles (gridskipper, japan times, etc) and start doing videos. :) I got a better sense of the places you review when I saw the video vs. reading the articles. How about hooking up with some local creatives and start doing reviews around the Tokyo areas? I am sure some locals want to share the cool side of Tokyo with the world out there.
Hey Jean
It was cool to see you in the flesh so to speak. You are a natural. Great clip and look forward to seeing more of them.
nice work jean.
was in Naka Meguro the other night and quite liked it.. will have to go back now and explore it a bit more i think.
Thank you for all the kind comments, everyone.
Joseph, I don’t understand what you mean about not mentioning the store names. I mentioned — and linked — them in my original post on the show.
The bakery is inside that Kameroku Sakura Shopping Center, which is just across the river from Cow Books.
As far as doing more, it seems like the director and the producer where quite happy with the segment, and would like me to do more.
Nice… Funny I know all those places… : ) Maybe one day do a swap of weird and interesting places around that area, seeing I only live one stop away. D the walk from Daikanyama down to NM is quite interesting depending on which way you go…
Craig: Look for the Cow outside one of the stores on Naka-Meguro River. Its near there…
Great one!!! Brings back alot of memories from my last visit to your lovely city. The sad part is that Kenneth “The Legend” is moving to Beijing now, which I guess means the end for the legendary Green house where I, and many other Swedish creators, used to live and party. Really sad when you think about it. I loved staying in Nakameguro.
The Viking is leaving Tokyo! Wow!
I want a Jean Snow action figure!
(with bag, design mag and Powerbook accessories!)
Hahaha… That would be the best! I need to talk to my people…
Wooops.
So you did!
Nonetheless, I’m intrigued, you don’t mention any names in the actual piece itself. Was that a legal/free-advertising thing the show was trying to avoid?
No, since we got permission from everyone. I hadn’t realized that (that names didn’t get mentioned in the segment).
hi jean, i’m a long time reader of your blog but first time posting…
that was a great segment you did, you’re so natural in front of the camera. tokyo seems sooo cool, i wanna go there!!
I really enjoyed watching that, Jean. Good job. If I manage to get to Tokyo in September I’ll have to check out Nakameguro, it seems so cool.
Great work !
I went to the same bookstore - with the electronic signboard scrolling, few years ago - which I also enjoyed.
I have a criticism - when is NHK, going to improve their studio design ?
Looks very 80’s and out of date !!
How can the program, talk about design,
when the background studio looks like
something more adaptable for middle-age
talk show ?
Also - the guests, except you, look stiff and
not with the times.
To be honest, the show has usually absolutely nothing to do with design, and one of the reason they were thinking that I could do more segments is that I can bring in more of an art/design perspective.
Good work man! Doing a segment like that is no easy beans.
Let me chime in: Great segment! :)
Good job!
The show was definitely well done.
I’d liked the personal touch you brought. Also pointing out what stood out about the different places.
I wish you success with these segments/projects.
Cheers
nakameguro daisuki….chanoma mo iiiyo.
i have wanted to go to tokyo for some time and now i want to go even more! i really enjoyed the segment. Please do more…
Thanks! I’m about to post another segment I did, on some wacky parks in Higashi-Ikebukuro.