A Week in Tokyo 65
Looks like I left it for over a month this time ToT I'm sure one day I'll actually be able to write these every week like I did back when I started the A Week in Tokyo series back in 2007. Maybe when I retire? ^^;
Huge poster of the rather huge and rather popular talent Matsuko Deluxe.
Folks who regularly appear on Japanese TV are known as Tarento [タレント] which is the Japanese pronunciation of "Talent."
Tokio's Yamaguchi wants you to rent him.
Been having quite a few meetings with Dentsu at their offices in Shiodome. They got lovely views. There was an earthquake during one of the meetings which left the building swaying back n forth for a few minutes. Most buildings in Japan are designed and built with earthquake resilient measures.
Will be speaking on behalf of Dentsu at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France - only a few weeks to go! The topic is Anime Diversity and today we are going over my latest deck - will be back there next week to do a dry run.
Heading back to base going through Shinbashi. More photos of the area in the Shinbashi post - great place to go to spend time thinking about what to eat.
Some traditional Japanese dindins tonight.
Tonight's dinner is with the founder of 2chan - Hiroyuki Nishimura [西村博之].
Love the way rubbish is lined up and stacked so neatly.
Have completely lost touch with whats going on with the reactors. The last thing I heard was that its going to take months for the rods to cool down. All channels apart from NHK hardly feature reactor stuff anymore. Has all the paranoia by the press calmed down in your neck of the woods yet?
Tis the season when a load of blossomy blossoms bloom.
Went to see the Momoiro Clover girls perform at Nakano and also launched their official English site on Mirai Gaia.
Kalbi lunch set at Matsuya.
This Seven Eleven used to be a Mc Dees - used to go there often and am rather miffed that they closed down. There's a lot of convenience store wars going on around this block. There's 5 convenient stores within a 100 meter radius! 1 Lawson, 2 Family Marts, 1 AM/PM and this Seven Eleven.
Do you have a convenient store within walking distance from your gaff? Are convenient stores few or far between?
Trying out some flat icecreamery.
Om nom nom.
Figma Yui is my fave to date - she looks exactly like the anime! But she may not be my fave for much longer...
Afternoon of coding in the office.
Meeting with some developers and content producers at the Konami headquarters in Roppongi. Hmmmm. Will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
Taking the bus from Roppongi to Shibuya is much quicker and cheaper than taking the subway.
At the Parco in Shibuya - nice shoes.
More photos and write up in the Ghost in the Shell Kinect post.
Working with many illustrators on Mirai-chan stuff at the moment.
Finally upgrading MacBook Pro memory from 4GB to 8GB. How much memory does your mean machine have?
Its annoying when mousepads starts to crumble at the edges - leave a load of mess on the table! But there is a remedy...
Whip out the topcoat that you use to finish off your Gundam models and spray the whole base of the mat - leave outside to dry and the crumbling should stop for a few months.
Deep fried chicken on rice for lunch.
My first time at Asagaya [阿佐ヶ谷]. Quite a few anime companies around here.
Today I'm at Asagaya to meetup with Satelight - the folks who produce Macross Frontier. Bump into the father of Macross - Shoji Kawamori-san.
Blossoms in Musashikoyama.
My tech guy Chris Gaunt tying not to buy another coke.
Sunset in Musashikoyama.
Evening Cherry Blossoms near Himonya.
Bottles of water placed nearly the house is a traditional Japanese method toward off cats. I guess cats see their own reflection in them or something.
Ramen for lunch at Seiya. Very cheap at 500 yen. How much does a bowl of ramen cost in your kingdom?
Out in the Naka Meguro area for dindins and some evening Hanami - photos in the Hanami post.
Umi Budou [海葡萄] or "Sea Grapes." Very interesting taste and texture.
Yui wants some too. Some sea grapes I mean.
Why is Yui lying down with chopsticks pointing downwards?
Chinese with Yui.
Wanted to take a photo of the fishing magazine but accidentally tripped and snapped this shot too early. Oh wait - it *is* a fishing magazine.
We've had about 2 large scale quakes since the 3/11 quake. When that happens, most programs switch to the news with a map of Japan in the corner to highlight any tsunami warnings.
Tokyo shook quite a bit but no notable damage.
At the school girl uniform shop Lucy Pop. Kamiyama-san here is the owner and is currently designing the first line of Mirai-chan uniforms starting with the Summer version. Should be ready in June for filming and for retail late Summer?
More photos from inside the shop in the Japanese School Girl Uniforms post.
Together with a Lucy Pop girl and Asanon who is the voice actress for Mirai Suenaga. You can hear her voice in the Learn Hiragana video below.
Currently working with vividblaze on our second single production. Our first production was Mirai Mechanism and the second is to be sung by Mirai Suenaga. We done the recording a few weeks back and is now in the middle of mastering.
Not familiar with this Mac software at all ^^;
After recording, its off with Asanon and vividblaze to get some dindins around the Mizonokuchi area.
Even everyday scenery in Japan looks great at night.
Was surprised that my fly lice cost only 400 yen and there was enough for two bellys! Also bumped into comrades from Kotobukiya in the same restaurant. Tis a small world.
Been working with Kadokawa on launching the official Japanese and English site for Twin Angel on Mirai Gaia.
The gorgeous Nozomi Sasaki in the new ads for Cocktail Calorie.
How many of you following Gintama?
Been working on the Itamado project of late. Latest progress here.
The black inflatable crow hung over some rubbish to scare other crows as this one is supposed to be dead ^^;
Om Rice for lunch. Om Rice [オムライス] is a usually rice covered with an omelette.
Last year when this road was filled with cherry blossoms, the lanterns at night were all lit up and looked lovely. Not light up this year though either due to the self restraint mood or energy saving.
There is a small note on the wall asking folks to feel free to take these bits of furniture. Many folks would leave unwanted furniture and electrical equipment outside their house for a limited period. If nobody takes them then the owner would buy a sticker from the convenience store which basically pays the local ward to collect and dispose of the stuff.
Lately, due to the transition from analog to digital TV, many folks have been leaving their old TV sets out on the streets which still work fine.
Grabbing some Yakitori on the way back to base. 150 yen each.
Childrens Day [こどもの日] takes place on the 5th of May and celebrates the happiness of children. As part of the celebrations, Carp shaped flags can be seen decorating shops and streets.
The usual bunch of stuff that just seems to fall from the ceiling. fave figure of this bunch is Taneshima Popura. Which of these tickle your fancy?
Some of the top folks over from Anime Expo. Am working with them on a few events and will be looking after some guests over from Japan too.
In last weeks Weekly Ascii talking about how I use RSS Graffiti to channel Twitter updates into my Facebook.
At Joseph's new pad housewarming party. Lovely location slap bang in the middle of Tokyo.
Also met up with Ken Lee at the party too. Our Mirai Itasha is actually going to be re-itarized soon.
Om nomming on wifeys Singapore Laksa.
Joined in on the shenanigans at the Good Smile Company 10th Anniversary event.
Being interviewed by Mac People magazine for a July feature. The other Japanese Mac magazine that I was featured in yonks ago was Mac Fan.
Musashikoyama Palm shopping arcade. Dragons were hung up recently with a "Stay Strong Japan!" message.
Met up with Ghost in the Shell Director Kenji Kamiyama and producer Tomohiko Ishii.
Photos of the office taken recently.
Damn! Forgot to hide something in this photo ^^;
Been meaning to talk about the new designs for Mirai Millennium - will do it soon ^^;
Been getting kinda warm of late.
When there is a large quake, attention focuses to the nuclear reactors - and then goes back to the regular TV schedule.
I want to try some of that Star Wars Coffee.
You will be punished.
A new office and shopping complex in the works at Shibuya called Hikarie. Used to be a cinema here many moons ago. The building to the right of the Visa sign is Cross Tower where I used to work at the Amazon offices.
One of my fave restaurants ever - Negishi.
Heading to Togoshi Ginza for lunch.
Check out more form life in Tokyo in the new photo paginated pages.
