In case you’re thinking that the lack of posts here have to do with me having fun during Japan’s Golden Week holiday, if only that were true. Since Saturday, I’ve been hit by a flu/stomach virus, and have barely left the futon.

Worst. GW. Ever.

I’d like to welcome online shop Tokyomade as a new sponsor on the site. They specialize in selling clothes and accessories from Japanese (or Japan-based) designers, shipping worldwide. They’re currently working on a Japanese version of the site as well.

Some of you have noticed the stealth upgrade I did to the site last night. The green had been there for way too long (since November 2006, actually), and I was really looking for a change. I pretty much re-did the site last Sunday morning, when I woke up and had the idea for the new look, and I’ve just been tweaking things here and there since. Let me know if you encounter any problems or weirdness anywhere.

I’m very happy to announce that as of this week I’ve started contributing to Wired’s Game|Life blog. I’ll be doing a few posts a day for them, mostly covering game-related news coming from Tokyo/Japan. As I tend to do with all of the things I write, I’ll start posting round-ups at the end of the week here of all my contributions to the site.

Today’s edition of THE JAPAN TIMES has a piece by Justine Parker on foreign creators and journalists doing their thing in Japan’s art and design scene, and you should recognize quite a few of the names featured (yes, yours truly, as well as Pausetalk, get mentions).

I’ll post the participant list for PauseTalk Vol. 20 later this week — 22 participants, pretty good considering the entire cafe has 24 seats! For now I’ll point you to a Flickr photoset by Rafael de Lima, who attended last night’s edition.

Just a reminder that following last week’s cancellation, tonight (April 14) marks this month’s edition of PauseTalk at Cafe Pause in Ikebukuro. Start time is 20:00, and for those interested, a few PauseTalkers will again meet in front of the cafe at 19:00 and then get ramen together.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to push back this month’s edition of PauseTalk (Vol. 20) by one week. It was set to happen this coming Monday, April 7, but because of unforeseen events, will need to be pushed back one week, to April 14. Apologies for the schedule change, and I hope that those of you who were planning on attending will be able to come at the later date.

What is TB.Pensar? Find out here.

How fitting that this is the lucky number 13 edition of this series of posts. Damn my stupid pollen allergies!!! Aarggghhhhh… Sorry for the loss of control, but it’s really been a rough week, with no end in sight. It’s sad, really, because this time of the year used to be my absolute favorite time to be in Japan. But a few years ago I finally started getting hit by allergy attacks — it started the year they said the pollen count was ridiculously high — and since then I haven’t been able to escape it. I seem to recall that last year wasn’t so bad, but this year has been awful. I’m writing this with itchy eyes that I’d just like to rip out of my head! And this is despite taking pills, as well as eye drops and spray for the nose. If I’ve had to miss out on various events, now you know why, and it’s taking everything just keep up with work.

One thing that I have been able to enjoy through all of this is the anime series BOKURANO. It originally aired last year, and for some reason that I can’t remember I passed on it (even though it was on my list of series to check out at the time), but Paul’s recent rave (well, he’s been raving about it to me for a while now) got me to finally give it a try. I’ve watched the first seven episodes now, and I can honestly say that this is one of the best series I’ve seen in a while, maybe since the end of MONSTER. At first it comes off as a riff off of Orson Scott Card’s ENDER’S GAME, but then it quickly becomes so much more. I don’t want to go too much into details of where it goes, since discovering the various twists is part of the fun of each episode, but it’s definitely not a giant robot series — the sequences with the giant robot are few, and but a punctuation to the rest of the story. I’ll probably end up watching all 24 episodes quicker than I imagined I would, which is good, since I need to finish before the new spring season starts with all of its promising new shows.

Work on the book for Kodansha International is proceeding at a good pace. I don’t think I ever mentioned it here, but since he announced it a while back, I can now say that my co-writer is Brian Ashcraft, editor at Kotaku, and regular contributor to tons of magazines (WIRED, POPULAR SCIENCE, METROPOLIS). It’s been a joy to work on the project with him, and I don’t think I could have found a better partner in this endeavor!

Speaking of games, another form of relief for the allergies — since I’m not going out much or even cycling — as been gaming. About a week ago I got some games for my PSP, which I had to dig out (probably hadn’t played it in close to two years) to find that the cover on the analog stick was missing! I’ve ordered a replacement, but despite this, I’ve already played through GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS, which I think is the best game I’ve ever played on the PSP. I enjoyed it so much that it even made my take out my PS2 to play the original game again. The other game I got was PATAPON, a quirky rhythm game that I’m having lots of fun playing. It starts off easy, but later becomes surprisingly — but not ridiculously — challenging. The week before, I played through PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE on the DS (which I also had to dig out, not having used it since the release of Zelda last year), which was extremely satisfying. I usually don’t really like puzzle or riddle games, but the setting and storyline turns into something so much more, and I’m already looking forward to playing the sequel. On the 360, I’m blasting through BIOSHOCK, which I’d say is the second best first-person shooter I’ve played (following HALF-LIFE 2). The sound design is outstanding, as is the setting, made deliciously creepy by using field recordings to tell the story as you explore the sunken world the game is set in. Lastly, also enjoying NO MORE HEROES on the Wii, and excited to no end that some of designer Suda 51’s older games, FLOWER, SUN AND RAIN and THE SILVER CASE, are going to be ported to the DS this year. We’re only 3 months into 2008 and it’s already turning into a stellar year for gaming!

OK, time to spray the nose and drop some liquid in my eyes — death to pollen!

While on the topic of White Rabbit Press, let me also mention that the third and final volume of their kanji flashcards sets is now available for pre-order. The set includes 903 cards, covering what you need for level 1 of the Japanese proficiency set. Some of you may recall that I posted about the volume 1 set a while back, even before I started working with Max on the Realtime project, and I’m certainly a fan.

Following last week’s post about Nakameguro and whether it’s a hip neighborhood or not, I feel like I need to post a follow-up, since I think a lot of people have gotten the wrong impression regarding my feelings on the area. I love Nakameguro, it’s an area I like to go to and spend time in, and I’d say it’s one of the nicest neighborhoods in Tokyo. Marxy’s original post was about whether it’s a super-hip area or not, which is how western media likes to position it.

Some people pointed to the segment I did for TOKYO EYE. When they approached me about doing it, they asked me what neighborhoods I would be interested in presenting, and Nakameguro was at the top of my list, and I’m glad we were able to feature it.

It’s finally time to start revealing info about the project I’ve been working on with White Rabbit Press for the past couple of months. TOKYO REALTIME is going to be a series of audio guided walking tours taking you through various neighborhoods of the city. First up, Kabukicho! You can visit the teaser site and subscribe to the newsletter to stay informed on when it will be released, and what else will follow (and feel free to DIGG us).

Thank you everyone who made it to last night’s PauseTalk (Vol. 19) and who contributed to another great evening. Big thanks to Hiro, Anna, and Yuki for talking about their current exhibitions (see this post), and everyone else who chimed in. Max again volunteered to take some photos during the evening, which you’ll find in the Flickr PauseTalk photo pool. We started things off with another ramen meetup at the nearby Ippudo shop, only 5 this time, but it’s turning into an enjoyable casual apéritif before the rest of the night’s talk. As always, below is a list of participants. The next PauseTalk happens April 7, with a start time of 20:00 (and ramen meetup at 19:00 for those interested).

Andrew Lee (Art Director)
Anna Antoniades (Fashion Designer)
Chris Kirby (Industrial Designer)
Eri Kato (PR Manager)
Hiroaki Koshiba (Artist)
Hiroko Ueki (Fashion Retailer)
Jean Snow (Writer)
Joe Keenan (Graphic Designer)
Josh McKible (Illustrator)
Kristina Dryza (Strategic Insight)
Martin Holtkamp (Photographer)
Max Hodges (Publisher)
Noriko (Designer)
Philomena Keet (Writer)
Rob Judges (Artist)
Rennie Foster (DJ)
Shantell Martin (Illustrator)
Yuki Nakano (Photographer/Illustrator)

I have a piece in the new issue of KATEIGAHO INTERNATIONAL EDITION (Spring 2008 Issue, Vol. 19). It takes a look at last year’s Tokyo Design Week, with a focus on the JAPAN BRAND initiative. The same issue also features a nice fashion piece that covers four new Japanese designers/labels.

What is TB.Pensar? Find out here.

Recently I’ve been thinking about making a few changes on the site. Nothing major, just a few little tweaks here and there. One thing I’ve been noticing is that most readers don’t realize that you can go through the posts on this site by way of categories, which are listed at the top of the page, underneath the “jeansnow.net” title. Those are parent category links that bring you to even more categories. I’m thinking I have to make this more clear, and so will probably include them in the sidebar somehow. Also, I don’t have any direct links to date-based archives because I find them to be useless, but am I wrong? Are there people that like to check posts on a site for a particular month?

Recently I was experimenting with using Google Search for the site instead of the regular WordPress search, thinking it would provide better results. I found that I had more trouble finding content with Google — yes, I actually search my site all the time looking for info — and so I’ve decided to go back to the original WP search feature.

I’d of course appreciate getting any comments or suggestions on things that you think would make the site easier to use. I think it pretty much works fine for what it needs to do, but I’m sure I could improve parts of it. The site is probably due for a major overhaul (structurally and graphically), but it’s not something I really want to take on right now.