tokyo somebody

Anyone Rest Room

2007-09-19T02:26:00.001+09:00

Anyone Rest Room
Originally uploaded by weheart

Nikkoriffic

2007-09-19T02:02:00.000+09:00

So we did our first side trip with Yuri and her Husband Toshi. We took the train to Nikko, about two hours outside of Tokyo. It was a pretty amazing place.

Our first stop was Rinnoji Temple. Supposedly it's a pretty important place as it's the temple where a monk first introduced Buddhism to Nikko. We took a stroll though the garden and fed some creepy koi.

Then, out of nowhere, this giant flying beast landed on Yuri's finger. Nicole was pretty scarred, but I made sure it didn't hurt her.

We went to several temples, honestly I really need to read up on them to understand as most of the information was in Kanji or Katakana or whatever, so I'm not gonna even try to tell you their significance. What I can say is that seeing the sizes of these places and the craftsmanship that went into each building is a really inspiring sight. I mean, you see places like this on the Discovery channel, et al, but you don't really get the scale or beauty of it until you finally see them in person. So there. Now some pics...

Yuri and Toshi

Me and Cole

We did get to see the wood carved panel of the Hear No Evil... Monkeys

One of these temples had some "games", basically little things you can do to see if you are lucky or not. There was one that was like the ring toss at the dirty fair. Nicole got two out of three, apparently that is REALLY good. I didn't get any, but I'd rather not talk about it.

After that, we had some a traditional Niko meal, I don't wanna talk about that either.

After lunch we went up this cable car to check out some waterfalls. Got to see some monkeys too, that was pretty cool. Here are some more pics.

Still trying to catch up, lots more to come.

Nicole made funny

2007-09-19T02:00:00.000+09:00

today nicole made up a joke...

Q: Why don't the Japanese ride their bikes fast?
A: 'Cause they're not Russian.

characters everywhere!

2007-09-14T10:46:00.000+09:00

Mmmm Pork

2007-09-14T01:08:00.001+09:00

McPork
Originally uploaded by weheart

There really isn't much to say about this one other than what's the deal with the bugle?

nakameguro II

2007-09-14T00:56:00.000+09:00

After Utrecht we explored the neighborhood a bit more. It's actually a really amazing place. Way more mellow than downtown Tokyo or the major shopping districts. Has a bit of a DIY feel, not unlike the Mission in SF.

We found a couple cool little shops that were still open. One of which was Nicole's favorite, It's called 'Hand Made', and you guessed it, everything is hand made.

Wandered around a bit more and found some rad art by Neckface, Faile and Kami.

Kami Piece in Nakameguro

Faile Stencil (I have this shirt!)

Then we went to dinner, uh, well, they forgot my order and the kitchen was closed. Gaijin haters.

Goodnight.

Utrecht

2007-09-13T01:00:00.001+09:00

Utrecht's Front Door
Originally uploaded by weheart

After Keirin and a little rest we headed to Utrecht, a used and rare art book store that I have known about for some time.

A couple of years ago I can across Utrecht's site on a quest for a book about Dick Bruna's Pocket book covers. That's when I met Hiroshi Eguchi via email. He hooked me up with the book and a few others. We've kept in contact ever since, so I made it a point to visit his shop, not such and easy task.

We took the subway to Naka-Meguru about 2 hours early since we thought we might walk around a bit.

Small street in Megura Ku

Turns out we needed most of that time just to find the place. You here about tiny shops in apartment buildings, well, this was one.

The Hallway to the Utrecht store.

After trudging about the neighborhood in the rain and asking several people, we found the tiny apartment in a nondescript building. When the door opened and we were greeted by Hiroshi-San's staff, we were instantly in book heaven.

He had amazing things, books from all over the world, and stuff you only see on websites. It could easly be a design books museum. He also pulled out original posters by Celestino Piatti, Wim Crouwel, Armin Hoffman, Dick Elffers and the like. He had so many great books.

Nicole was a bit jealous when he pulled out a couple of scrap books from a trip to Prauge. Some of the most amazing Matchbook, Luggage and Wine labels you have ever seen.

Turns out Hiroshi-San is a busy man as well. He's edited several books and provided content for others. He edited the Japanese version of Paul Rand's Listen Listen as well as some of his own releases through Utrecht.

After an hour of chatting and some great trades (Original Sutnar brochures for some 1950's idea magazines and a bunch of other design swag), we headed out. Hiroshi-San actually invited us back at the end of the week to meet the guy who publishes Glyph books (the original Dick Bruna book I had initially contacted Hiroshi about). Looks like we may head back this saturday.

Nicole and Me in Utrecht's space

Hiroshi-San and Me pose infront of books I'd like to take home.

BTW, Hiroshi-San is one of the most gracious and kind people we have met so far. His staff was great too, they made us a custom Utrecht bag for all of our goodies.

Our Pile of goodness from Hiroshi-San. Some Glyph books and a few vintage IDEA magazines (next to impossible to find in the US. Oh, and the cool little canvas bag they made us.

Next up, a little more on Naka-Meguru

Haters

2007-09-12T10:10:00.001+09:00

Haters
Originally uploaded by weheart

It's not just a US thing, there are Japanese bike haters here too.

A Day at the Races

2007-09-12T09:57:00.000+09:00

So somehow I convinced Nicole to go to Keirin with me. An hour long train ride later and we were at Seibu-en Keirin-jo, one of the local velodromes.

It was actually kinda depressing. I've heard this before, but actual Keirin in Japan is far from the hipster world of San Francisco. It's basically a bunch of old men (and like two old women) betting what's left of their paychecks away. But depressing aside, it was still cool to finally see in person, though we were two of maybe four young people there on the only Gaijin. We stayed for a couple of races then headed back.

Number 2 won, I called it. Had I bet, I would have won 1,000 yen ($10).

Around the back of the velodrome was this weird ski jump thing, better seen then explained:

On the way back it started pouring.... :(

Robots are Real

2007-09-12T09:56:00.001+09:00

Mr Roboto
Originally uploaded by weheart

Yep, definitely one of the weirdest things we've seen so far. The Japanese version of Cal-Trans has animatronic traffic director dudes (can't remember what the 'official' name for them is). But anyhow, this thing is out there, waving its little robot hand and directing traffic, while the rest of the crew, get this, is ACTUALLY working. Cal Trans, take note.

Ginza II, back for more.

2007-09-12T09:36:00.000+09:00

After a short rest at the Hotel, we headed back to Ginza for some dinner. We went to DaiDaiya which was amazing. You walk up this dark set of stairs and slide back this screen, and there you are. It was a cool little place and the food was great. Each table is set in it's own room and you can close a screen or curtain if you want.

Directly across the street from Daidiaya was Mos Burger a Japanese fast food burger joint. The cool thing about this one is that it had a Dick Bruna theme. Both Nicole and I love Bruna and couldn't help but taking a few pics. We are definitively going back.

Stop. Ginza Time

2007-09-12T09:23:00.000+09:00

Next stop Ginza. We headed to the famous Ginza Graphic Gallery (GGG, here's a link in english), it's been open since 1986 and they specialize in commercial art and graphic design.

Since they opened in '86 they have been putting out a series of small pocket books, each one about an individual designer, we loaded up on the ones we were missing and then checked out the amazing exhibition on Kenjiro Sano. I'd love to show you some pics, but the camera died. Here's one I stole from the internets:

100% Awesome

2007-09-12T01:09:00.000+09:00

Sorry, but we're a couple of days behind with this thing, so we're gonna play catch up. So Monday we headed to the imperial palace and gardens in an attempt to break up the shopping spree. We'll as fate had it, the Palace was closed to tourists.

So we decided to drown our sorrows by heading to the Meiji headquarters building. Basically Meiji is the Japanese equivalent to Hershey, but 1,000,000 times better. Some of you may be familiar with this. Only one of the amazing things Meiji offers. You know what the other thing they offer that is even more filled with Awesomeness? It's called 100% chocolate and it is just that. A cafe with 56 flavors of chocolate from around the world. Meiji hired Groovisions (one of our favorite design shops) to create the concept store.

First off, the place is amazing. Each chocolate is individually wrapped and given the GRV treatment. I ordered white chocolate crunch. White chocolate ice cream mixed with vanilla wafers. By far, one of most favorite places in the world.

Day 3 Harajuku, Shibuya and Blisters

2007-09-09T22:40:00.000+09:00

First off, before we get into our second post. Nicole wants to make it VERY CLEAR that she thinks this is day two. I think it's day three since we left on Friday (pacific time), got here Saturday (Tokyo time) and today is Sunday, three days, right? She insists that the first two only count as one since we arrived Saturday (Friday didn't count). You decide. Now onto the posting...

Today (our third/second day) we woke up to this:

The amazing view from our room on the 22nd floor. We 'slept in' until 8 and we were in the Regency Club by 8:30 for breakfast. Nicole says her Melon was good, and I liked the Bacon (the crispy one, not the soggy one since you had a choice).

We headed off to Kinokuniya again (different one) to get a map and on the way went into a traditional japanese electronics store where I dorked out for a while. It was pretty amazing. Need a pair of headphones? Here are 50 different ones, all different colors and some even talk to you and tell you look hot and stuff (at least that's what I imagined). We stopped along the way and found a couple cool shops, and I got to finally see my first Keirin bike.

It was a Sampson. Saw a couple of others throughout the day, even told one guy his was rad (he gave me a funny look), but it isn't like people think. Honestly I think people could care less about NJS stuff here and seems like an even smaller niche than at home. It was funny to see NJS stuff in Tokyu Hands though, more on that later.

After grabbing a map, we had our first subway experience and it actually wasn't too bad. We made to to Harajuku in one piece. It was pretty crazy and there were a ton of people around.

There was a nice mix of typical Japanese folk, gothic lolitas, japanese 'punks' and tourists. Some cool people watching. Walked around for a bit and headed into some shops like uniqlo, la foret, beams T, x girl, Sophia Coppla's Milkfed at Heaven 27 (which sucked for the most part) and Graniph. Had a snack at Bape Cafe, some french toast and a shake. The walls were done with Kimpsons stuff by kaws. Everything was branded with the Bape logo, napkins, glasses, etc. Even the ice was in the shape of the bape star:

Headed back to the Subway but not before checking out the Sunday Gothic Lolita fest outside the station. That was... fun I guess. Way more hype than cool. Basically a bunch of disaffected teens hoping to get on someone's vacation video. I know that sounds bitter, but it's not far off from the truth.

Next Stop, Shibuya. By this time were were ready to call it a day, but like troopers we kept going. This is where Nicole says:

"I don't understand how these girls can walk around in heels all day"

I think she was a bit upset because of the two alien spoors that started growing out of her feet. She says they were blisters, I think otherwise.

We crossed 'the crosswalk' and headed toward some more bookstores.

This time we hit Libro and Logos in the Parco #1 department store (one of three in that area). Then on a recco from a friend we had dinner at La Soffitta Pizzeria. I had spahgetti sauce on cracker and Cole had Shrimp Pasta that had one shrimp and a lot of pasta. It was sooo freaking not good. Nicole says:

"It wasn't bad"

Last two stops, Tokyu Hands for some fun Japanese markers and colored knog lights. This Tokyu Hands was even bigger than the one yesterday. It's such a weird/amazing store. The bike section even had some NJS stuff, Nitto bars, Dura Ace hubs, etc. You could even buy a made to order Panasonic Keirin frame. After that we hit Tower (records) books, which was pretty good, but we were too tired to even look. Headed back to the hotel and had some ice cream on the way. Did I mention how freaking hot it was today? Yeah it was...

I was a good day overall and our first real taste of the Tokyo you see in pictures. Lot's of cool design, and little characters on signs. Saw some cool graf too, but it was weird to see how much of it was American, especially SF and LA. Andre, Twist, MSK, NOE, Harsh, TIE rip stickers (probably courtesy of BNE) stuff like that, and like everywhere else in the world Benet was pretty much all over it. K, time for sleep.

Day 1&2 on Day 3

2007-09-09T09:23:00.000+09:00

Okay, this is sorta cheating, but the last couple of days were a blur (well, actually just one day, but the time zone makes it two). The flight was good, (thank you Ambien ® and the fantastic four). Got a descent rest. We got to our hotel after a two hour "limo bus" ride and met Yuri and Toshi, they gave us one of the most useful gifts someone could give, subway cards. We also got the hookup for the Regency Club for snacks and such. Some good books in there too.

Afterwards we hit up the most amazing hardware store in the world. 13 floors of goodness, Tokyu Hands (someone is getting some presents) and of course the local Kinokuniya where we found a couple of cool things like some Dick Bruna books, spent our first 10,000 yen.

Then back to the hotel, room service and S.W.A.T. starring Colin Ferrel (horrible BTW). Today should be an adventure as we hit the subway and head for Harajuku and Shibuya. More later, including some pics.