Month: June 2004

  • Trouble in the Japanese Animation Industry

    Seems like times are getting tough in the Japanese animation industry. Disheartened by a monthly salary that tops out at 50,000 yen, a 26-year-old animator who joined the production team a year ago said, ‘Sometimes I want to give up-I never imagined it would be like this.’ Only with parental financial support can the animator…

  • GQ Japan

    I love the cover image of this month’s issue of GQ Japan (the magazine’s official site has a much larger version). It features Murakami Takashi, and the lovely Sato Eriko (star of the new CUTIE HONEY film) dressed has one of his creations. The inside features a stunning pictorial of her appearing as quite a…

  • An Afternoon at Roppongi Hills

    After both getting some haircuts early in the morning at a hair salon not far from our place (the area around Azuma Dori in Ikebukuro has 7-8 of them), we grab a quick lunch at home before taking the Tokyo Metro (its new official name) for a visit to the Mori Art Museum at Roppongi…

  • Sonido Uzumaki

    Trevor’s Music Related label (now sporting a new site) is doing it again with an interesting new release. This time it’s a compilation CD going by the title SONIDO UZUMAKI, and it features a mix of Japanese and non-Japanese artists alike. Again, you can download an MP3 preview track, and that’s what got me hooked.…

  • Nikko 2

    Some more pics from Nikko.

  • Harajuku T-shirt Shops

    Metropolis has an article spotlighting 6 Harajuku t-shirt shops, including BeamsT, Graniph, Akiz, Densuke, Shop 33, and Ijiit Keiji Itakura (the link to the article is not permanent; after a week, just look in the sidebar for issue 531).

  • Smart Max

    Yesterday I picked up this month’s issue of SMART MAX (not the issue pictured above, with Sakomoto Ryuichi and Oyamada Keigo on the cover, but rather the June issue with Kiriya Kazuaki on the cover), and adult men’s street magazine, as it features a special Bonjour Essentials CD. Compiled by Bonjour Records (the great Daikanyama…

  • Nikko

    On my birthday, we spent the day in Nikko, on a bus tour. It was quite nice, and we got to see some really beautiful things (and have a great Japanese style box lunch). We got a bit of rain towards the end of the day, but luckily it started just as we were to…