Dawn of the Rise of the Battle of the Conquest of the Escape Beneath ...

Nature You've probably seen this already, but it's hilarious, so here it is again. It's staff at Ueno zoo in Tokyo practising their drills for capturing escaped animals:



Presumably I'm the only one who was reminded of Mark Wallinger's performance and video piece, Sleeper (2004-2005) which appeared at the Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Liverpool way back when:



Hidden from view in Tokyo, the ghost of Joseph "everyone's an artist" Bueys is making a slow hand-clap.

Tokyo Sky.

Fashion When she was a teenager, Jennifer Sky, the model and actress whom most of us will remember for Cleopatra 2525 or Marc Evan's My Little Eye spent a summer in Tokyo attempting to bolster her career. It was, judging by her account at Buzzfeed, awful. Now she's written an autobiographical eBook recalling the period as a cautionary tale about the industry:

"When Jennifer Sky was 15, she was offered the chance to spend a summer working as a model in Japan. For a girl from rural Florida who spent hours poring over fashion magazines, it seemed like a dream come true. But soon she found herself all but abandoned in an unfamiliar city, attempting to navigate a ruthless industry on her own and waving goodbye to childhood on the boozy margins of Tokyo’s expatriate scene. In Queen of the Tokyo Ballroom, Sky recounts the summer that changed the course of her life—and left her still sorting out the consequences two decades later."

There is an excerpt on the Buzzfeed interview but the whole thing is available on UK Amazon for a very reasonable £1.86.

In Motion.

In Motion from Aaron Grimes on Vimeo.

Geography Aaron Grimes offers a technical explanation for how this was achieved at his Vimeo page but the upshot is, and I can't tell if this was his intention, that he mimics how humans visually interact with the world. We rarely look at everything, altogether.  Our attention is usually focused on a single thing or person and for just a second or two and it's these stolen moments which Grimes has slowed down in his film.  In large cities, it's about the only way, other than reading, that we can make sense of the confusion.  To some extent, it's a visual representation of the kinds of incidents Mike Birbiglia talked about on This American Life last week, of trying to work out how long its possible to inadvertently (or purposefully) look at someone before it becomes creepy.  The other option, as per other shots, is to stand back and let the entire vista wash over us as we try not to become overwhelmed by the sheer everything of everything.

"I knew the way you know about a good melon."

Food  Tokyo's $100 melon shop:

"On its online marketplace, Sun Fruits lays out why you'd want to pay this much for one of the most basic ingredients in an American fruit salad: The melons are hand-pampered by a small agricultural producer to give them a "consistently high quality" and a "noble, elegant taste." Each has a profile as circular as a Euclidean proof, and they're so sensitive to their environment that Sun Fruits asks you to store them in a cool location away from sunlight, like fine wine."

Plaza of Nations.

Travel The New York Times publishes an article about Japanese culture in Paris. It's the perfect storm for this blog's city tags:

"Japan continues to fascinate the French, and after a while, you begin to see Japan almost everywhere you go in Paris. The spa Cinq Mondes near the Opera features “kobido,” a natural skin-lifting ritual once reserved for geishas. The Henri Le Roux chocolate shop makes a pea-green Yuzu Macha bar. Galerie Sentou, a design and furniture store, sells Noguchi lamps. Every Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris now seems to have a Japanese touch; some bistros, like L’Office, have even imported Japanese chefs. The Paris runways have come under the same spell. Just one example: Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton’s men’s-wear style director, has combined classic tailoring with kimono silks. Meanwhile, the high-fashion concept store Colette just unveiled “Bento,” a jewelry collection inspired by rice, jasmine flowers and wasabi beans."

See also: Paris syndrome.

"conjectural recreations"

Travel  When I wrote about Thames Town in China a few weeks ago, little did I expect to stumble upon something even closer to my interests.  Meet Shakespeare Country Park in Maryruyama, Japan.  As the architects explain:

"Completed in 1997, the Park displays a range of buildings and landscapes characteristic of Elizabethan England. Among them are replicas of the original Mary Arden’s House and Shakespeare's Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon; conjectural recreations of the original Stratford Market Cross and of 'New Place', the house in Stratford to which Shakespeare retired at the end of his working life; and a full size wind-mill. The buildings are grouped round a village green with duck pond, stocks and maypole."

Yes, but are there ducks in the duckpond?  Perhaps the most unusual building is this room shaped like a chapel with a replica of Shakespeare's bust from above his grave at/in the Holy Trinity in Stratford, presumably a memorial of some sort.  Or to celebrate his birthday, given their proximity.  HBWS.

"vertical and horizontal writing orientations"

Language Shoko Mugikura, a Japanese designer based in Berlin writes for Smashing Magazine about Japanese text and explains why some newspapers from her native country can seem so chaotic to the western eye:

"“Vertical or horizontal?” — when setting a piece of text in Japanese, this is a question that Japanese designers constantly need to ask themselves. Being able to use both vertical and horizontal writing orientations is something so normal for us native Japanese speakers that most of us won’t even stop to wonder why this is possible, or even when and how it was first introduced."

Essentially they're able to read both and they're used interchangeably or more often to emphasise context. This aids in the production of such things as tube maps because allowance don't need to be made for orientation of labels.

A Japanese poster for PiXAR's new film Brave also shows the versatility of having vertical and horizontal text.

"this Starbucks is somehow characteristic"

Architecture Architects Kengo Kuma and Associates have designed a Starbucks coffee shop to complement a Shinto shrine in Dazaifu, Japan. The results can be seen at Dezeen:

"Location of this Starbucks is somehow characteristic, as it stands on the main approach to the Dazaifu Tenmangu, one of the most major shrines in Japan. Established in 919 A.D., the shrine has been worshiped as “the God for Examination,” and receives about 2 million visitors a year who wish their success."

One of the more impressive elements of most coffee chains is their ability to fit within the architecture of wherever they've decided to leave their footprint, from a mezzanine in bookshop to what amounts to a massive art project.

But staff obviously have to deal with the consequences of that and there are clearly some outlets that are more conducive to a decent work day than others.  This seems like it could be quite oppressive, especially since it looks like a massive stack of wooden coffee stirrers.

"200 kilometers per hour"

Architecture Construction firm aims at space elevator in 2050:

"In Obayashi's project, a cable would be stretched up to 96,000 kilometers, or about one-fourth of the distance between the Earth and the moon. One end of the cable would be anchored at a spaceport on the ground, while the other would be fitted with a counterweight.

The terminal station would house laboratories and living space. The car could carry up to 30 people to the station at 200 kilometers per hour, which would mean a 7-1/2 day trip to reach the station. Magnetic linear motors are one possible means of propulsion for the car, according to Obayashi."

Well, that's something to look forward to. The diagram in the linked article is amazing having all the plausibility of a warp drive [via].

"an array of plants and flower vases"

Architecture Domus Magazine has a series detailing unusual highrise houses in Tokyo. This edifice by Ryue Nishizawa attempts to combine the beauty and health aspects of a garden with a high rise living and taking advantage of the tiny footprints of property which are available downtown:

"Wedged between two tall buildings and invisible from the main road, the narrow Nishizawa building insists on maintaining its confidentiality via an array of plants and flower vases that screens it from the gaze of passers-by. It might easily be mistaken for some sort of mysterious vertical garden."

Beautiful as it is, there are a few negatives. A resident has to choose between storage space and a guest bedroom and it's very close to next door apartment building, whose windows overlook each floor. Even with those plants, privacy does not seem to be a priority.

“Kuroge Wagyu”

Food The Eataku food blog wonders if its found the greatest burger in the world. In Tokyo:

"Blacows is a no-nonsense burger place. Owned and run by a butcher, it stakes it reputation on the superior quality of its meat. It prides itself on using only “Kuroge Wagyu”, or “Black-haired Japanese beef”. And that’s where the place gets i’s name from: “Black” + “Cow” = “Blacow”.

The first thing you see when you walk up to the door is a chalkboard that tells you what cuts of beef they’re using that day, where that beef came from, the exact number of the cow they bought it from, and the grade, usually always A5."

Watch out for the in-house butcher [via].

Unfortunately, what I thought was the best burger in the world, was made by a restaurant in Shrewsbury which is no longer there.

"They named it Tori-no-Ichi."

Travel Jeffrey Steingarten of Vogue Magazine inadvertantly goes of the beaten track in Tokyo:

"The one unpleasant experience on our trip occurred when we asked one of the concierges in our hotel if she could land a reservation at Umi, known for its sushi. Umi accepted our request, then phoned back to say that unless we spoke Japanese or brought a translator, they would have to cancel. (I don’t remember how to say “racist pig” in Japanese, but I didn’t overhear the phrase in her conversation with the restaurant.) Instead, she booked us at another Umi across town. Only as our taxi was speeding away from the hotel did she warn us that this Umi probably had nothing to do with the real Umi. Probably? It was in a shabby neon district of topless bars, massage parlors, and touristy restaurants. We were the only customers in the place, and the food bordered on the incompetent. The worst part was that we had squandered a precious night in Tokyo. But at least we had found the Shibuya red-light district."

I'm sure you took issue with at least one element of that paragraph.  I know I did.  Unfortunately Vogue don't seem to have asked Umi for a right to reply.

"glossy commercials for collectible card games"

Games Charlie Brooker visits Tokyo:

"Of course, it helps that Japan has, for years, been presented as a kind of Nerd Mecca. Not only is it the undisputed gadget capital of the world, it's a place where being a geek (or otaku) is comfortably mainstream. Former Prime Minister Taro Aso is an enthusiastic manga-collecting otaku, the TV ad breaks heave with glossy commercials for collectible card games, and multi-storey games arcades are commonplace. There's a gadget in every hand. Outside rush hour, the subway is eerily silent: thanks to a strong underground signal, everyone's staring at their smartphones, texting, playing games, or reading. Only after a fortnight did it strike me: not once did I hear a single person actually speaking into their phone on the Tokyo subway. Everyone – and I mean everyone – seemed to be perpetually tapping and swiping in silence. Unnerving to many: to a geek like me, it felt strangely comforting."

Someone in the comments beneath suggests there are signs asking people not to talk on the subway. Two things on that: (1) There are signs asking people not to talk on the subway and (2) People comply. Cinemas must be bliss too.

If you're wishing to support them ...

Film As many of you will know the recent fire at the Sony distribution and manufacturing centre (the causes of which ... no that's for another time) destroyed the entire stock of a number of independent music and film companies. Third Window distribute a small number of Japanese films in the UK, and in a post at Facebook they describe the problem's they'll now be facing in getting their business up and running again:

"First off, we found out that all of our stock was insured which of course is great, but doesn't come close to solving the problem of continuing again as normal. While all of our stock was insured it was only around 19,000 units which were damaged, but minimum orders on all dvds and blu-rays are 1,000 units each. This means that if we wanted to make our whole catalogue available again we would need to replicate 32,000 units. We will receive credit for 19,000 units of replication (though yet unsure as to how such costs of things like expensive blu-ray original glass master costs will come into play) yet cannot afford to cover the costs of the other 13,000 for now. This would essentially mean that for now at least we will have many titles that we won't be able to manufacture for a while, if we even could...."

That companies are willing to exist on such tiny margins rather demonstrates the love they have for the films they're distributing.  If you're wishing to support them, I recommend Confessions, Tetsuya Nakashima's brilliantly nasty yet in places stunning beautiful teen drama cum revenge thriller, a study of disaffected youth and wanton destruction [via Bleeding Cool who also have a list of other film companies effected and ways to help them too].

"I'll admit to yawning"

Literature When I saw this title at the Smithsonian website I'll admit to yawning: "The Timeless Wisdom of Kenko" Well, I thought, makes a change from Starbucks I suppose. But Kenko, it transpires was a 14th-century Japanese essayist who wrote:

"Essays in Idleness (Tsurezuregusa)—an eccentric, sedate and gemlike assemblage of his thoughts on life, death, weather, manners, aesthetics, nature, drinking, conversational bores, sex, house design, the beauties of understatement and imperfection."

Some of the essays are very short:

“You should never put the new antlers of a deer to your nose and smell them. They have little insects that crawl into the nose and devour the brain."

Some are timelessly wise:

“Nothing leads a man astray so easily as sexual desire. The holy man of Kume lost his magic powers after noticing the whiteness of the legs of a girl who was washing clothes. This is quite understandable, considering that the glowing plumpness of her arms, legs and flesh owed nothing to artifice.”

Astonishing given its date and inspiring for the same reason.

"Yes, I must"

Travel David Sedaris in China.  Warning -- article contains some scenes of a scatological nature:

"Another thing one notices in China is the turds. "Oh please," you're probably thinking. "Must you?"

To this I answer, "Yes, I must", for if they didn't affect the food itself, they affected the way I thought about it. In Tokyo, I once saw a dog pee on the sidewalk. Then its owner reached into a bag, pulled out a bottle of water and rinsed the urine off the pavement. As for dog faeces, I never saw any trace of them. In Beijing, you see an overwhelming amount of shit. Some of it can be blamed on pets, but a lot of it comes from people. Chinese babies do without diapers, wearing instead these strange little pants with a slit in the rear. When a child has to go, its parents direct it towards the kerb or, if they're indoors, to a spot they think of as "kerby". "Last month I saw a kid shit in the produce aisle of our Chengdu Walmart," a young woman named Bridget told me.

This was the seventh day of my visit and so desensitised was I that my first response was, "You have a Walmart?"

"It’s a period film of a period we just don’t know about."

Film Here's a transcript of a really impressive presentation from the producers of the new John Carter film in which they explore such things as adaptation and casting and directing.

"I said, “That’s what I want. I want to feel like I’m really there. I want to feel like it’s really happening.” This is not what somebody wished for; this is what really happened. This is the source of the book. Then I realized that’s what it is: It’s a period film of a period we just don’t know about. It’s as if somebody has done their Martian research really, really well and called in all the authorities. I thought that’s the way to approach this. I don’t want it to seem like this is images of creatures that people have been drawing on their notebooks their whole life and just want to selfishly see realized on the screen; I want you to go, “No, sorry, this is actually how people dressed in Aztec times” or “This is how people bargained in Japanese feudal times.” Can we capture that faux authenticity?"

It's worth reading not just for the content, but as a point of comparison with directors who take a well loved property and don't seem to have this level of comprehension as to how to achieve it sensitively.

Did she travel back to Japan?

Advertising The gentle irony of Scarlett Johansson doing Japanese coffee commercials. Did she travel back to Japan? Was it weird not having Bill Murray there? Some more below: