Lost In Translation

Ikebukuro

Here are some old timers playing mahjong in a park on the West side of Ikebukuro statiion, it reminds me of how people play chess in Central Park in New York. I know that it's popular to bet on this Chinese game, but I've never played.

A street at night on the West side of Ikebukuro station.

Out On The Town

My freind Tim and his girlfriend Yukiko were in town from Seattle, so we spent some time out on the town.

Yukiko peruses the menu at the New York Bar at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku, which boasts one of the best views of Tokyo (too bad it isn't so visable from this shot).

Tim is dejected after taking a beating from yours truly at foosball at Bar Milwaukee in Roppongi.

Sunday Party

There was a picnic at Yoyogi park on Sunday for three girls' birthday. When the park closed we went to a cool little bar nearby in Sibuya called Park. A good time was had by all. Here are some pictures from the nijikai (second party):

The friendly staff at Park.

Me and Sakurako.

Darren, Mari (one of the birthday girls) and one of her friends.

Hiromi, Sonoko and Sakurako.

Jimi and Shingo.

Another birthday girl, Aki.

Lucy and somebody I didn't meet.

In The iPod: Rainy Day Music

I've been going through a bit of an alt/country revival with Rhett Miller, Ryan Adams, Old 97s, Wilco, and The Jayhawks. So I recently picked up Heartbreaker by former Whiskytown lead singer, Ryan Adams and The Jayhawks' Rainy Day Music. Latley I've been listening to the Jayhawk's latest album, produced by Rick Rubin, a lot. Some of my favorite tracks include, "Save It For A Rainy Day", "Eyes Of Sarah Jane", and "Tailspin." However, the whole album stands up to repeated listening.

Girl! Girl! Girl!

This afternoon, I went to an art exhibition, Girl! Girl! Girl! based on this write up in Metropolis, a free weekly events magazine published in English. I must say that for the most part I was under whelmed. I didn't find many of the exhibitions all that interesting, impressive or clever, save Hiroko Ichihara's interesting wall installation entitled "Please teach me English." She put some standard Japanese expressions on a website and asked viewers to translate the expressions into English, the results are funny and interesting, and informative as many of the interpreters personalize or try to express nuances or associations of the expressions in English. I was somewhat intrigued by Tanishi K's "Stop Over," a sort of maze that chronicles some performance art she did dressing up as a flight attendant and having her picture taken at various locations as well as three video screenings of her performance art in trains in Europe and America. However, I found it a bit inexplicable. Why kind of statement is she making? Is she living out a fantasy? It certainly doesn't seem like a feminist statement, so what is she trying to express? Here are some other pictures that I took before being told it was forbidden (Dame!):

This is from Tomoko Sawada's "Madonna," it was like the inside of someone's house.

This is from "Are You Meaning Company," I'm assuming a collaborative piece.

Tikun Ramen

I found a great new restaurant, Tikun Ramen in Ikebukuro, combing two of my favorite foods. Actually, it's a sort of fast food Thai restaurant modeled in style after traditional Japnese noodle joints, but that being said, they have plenty of noodle dishes as well. It's fast and inexpensive, I think I'll be visiting frequently.

I had the Basil Chicken (I should really try and remember the Thai name since it's my favorite dish), which is usually minced chicken, sometimes small bits, cooked in a fish sauce, with chillis, red and green peppers and other spices. It's simple, but delicious. At this restuarant rice with a fried egg on top is included (althought I already cut it up into pieces and mixed it into the rice, before deciding to take this picture):

Japanese: Adventures In Language

Today I had a milestone; I basically finished studying the grammar text for the second level of the Japanese Proficiency Test. I started studying before I went to the US, and have been spending two hours a day M-F with a teacher going over the 173 various grammar point s that I will be tested on. It was like to going to the dentist everyday for two hours, extremely painful and tedious. On average I spent an hour preparing for each two-hour lesson just leaning the vocabulary used in the grammar examples. I have studied all 173-grammar points, but in no way have I mastered them in any sense of the word. I suppose from here on out, I?ll be doing most of the studying on my own, I still have 500 plus kanji (Chinese characters) to learn. Despite my preparation, I don't see myself passing, (60 % is a passing grade), because of the difficulty of the test, however I can get a score to see exactly where I stand, and try to surpass it the following year. I think intensive study is best, but also the most time consuming and expensive. Wish me luck in December (the time of the test).

So in celebration I went and saw my first Japanese movie, Takeshi Kitano?s Zatoichi, with no English subtitles in the theater. It was probably a good choice for such an experiment, because it was a kind of action film with some bits of slapstick comedy. Kitano won the best director award at the Venice Film Festival and I can see why, there is beautiful cinematography and interesting camera tricks, not to mention lots of gruesome battles scenes with blood spurting out all over like that Monty Python sketch in which blood pumps out of every wound as if it were water coming out of a hose. The sets and costumes are impressive as well as historically accurate and there are some rousing musicals scenes, especially at the end of the film. I?d like to see it again with subtitles to see how much I got, but judging from the conversation with my Japanese companion, I got it as much as she did.

A Little Sax

Last night I went to Paddy Foley's, an Irish bar in Roppongi, and saw my friend Marcus blow his horn. He does jazz, bossanova, and latin. He's also got a band that is more funky, they do stuff like James Brown, Funkadelic, and Parliment.

Tsukiji Fish Market

This is one of those things everyone says you should do when you go to Tokyo, but I haven't gone. Well, that is until yesterday, after an epic bout of insomnia I decided to take one of the earliest subways to Tsukiji and check it out. It was pretty interesting, but I don't think I was early enough to see the fish getting slaughtered, which I heard is spectacularly gruesome, perhaps another time.

Some of the many varieties available.

There's more than just fish available as well.

Here's the finished product, some of the sushi I ate for breakfast, I don't imagine you can get it anywhere fresher, other than at the slaughterhouse at the market.

They used these little carts with huge circular wheels to transport stuff.

A New Trend

I guess I haven't been paying enough attention, since I missed this:

"'Purikura' allows them to enjoy themselves by feeling like they're sexy models, in the same way that karaoke makes people feel like they're famous singers."

Author Ira Ishida, on the latest trend among teenage girls and young women of having their photos taken in arcade booths in the nude or nearly nude. (Shukan Gendai)

from September 10,2003 Japan Today