Tokyo Realtime: Kabukicho

It was a long time coming — you may remember that I worked on the project — but the first volume of the Tokyo Realtime series of audio tours finally came out a few weeks ago, and I have to say that it came out beautifully (note that I’m no longer involved). I remember when I did a test run of the Kabukicho tour when it was still in the editing stage, and even then I was amazed at how fun an experience it was.

You can read more about the series in this recent PingMag piece, but the idea is that you load up your audio player, and then follow your virtual guide in an hour-long tour of an area. More than just a sight-seeing tour, the whole thing mixes in sound bites from experts on the area, with sound effects and dramatic elements. I mean, you could probably get a lot from even just listening to it at home, but it’s quite an amazing experience to be walking through those streets, and really understanding what’s around you.

Kudos also for the beautiful packaging. The package includes a photo booklet, as well as water resistant map of the route. I’m happy to note that a lot of the creative design that went into it was born from connections made at PauseTalk. I myself got involved that way, and so did Chris Kirby (who designed the map) and AQ (who did the packaging).

If you haven’t already, you can order the Kabukicho tour through the official site, and on Amazon too — it should be in stores now too. The next volume — set to come out early next year — will cover Harajuku.