Old Tokyo is a fascinating pictorial history of modern day Tokyo depicted through e-hagaki (Japanese postcards).

From the site:

With the establishment of the Meiji Restoration, Japan’s modernization began. Many modern practices, conveniences, and processes were imported, adopted, or acquired, including the Western-style printing press1 that would allow for the rapid reproduction and dissemination of artwork worldwide. Dutch traders introduced photography into Japan during the waning years of the Tokugawa shogunate; Japan’s modern postal service was formed in 1871. These three developments combined together to create the e-hagaki, the Japanese picture postcard, the earliest of which displayed a unique blending of Old and New Japan.

Similar in style to Western-style picture postcards then in vogue, e-hagaki combined Western technology with Japanese sensibilities. The subject matter was wide and varied: famous landmarks, tourist destinations, popular past times, scenes of everyday life, and important historical moments were all portrayed in color at a time when color photography did not exist. Long experience with traditional woodblock printing, ukiyo-e, enabled Japanese artists to reproduce subtle tinted colors, sometimes applied by hand, in ways that had not been before seen in the Western printing. Reproductions of ukiyo-e were realistically limited to a few hundred copies; the Western collotype printing process and, later, the offset printing press, made possible reproductions numbering in the thousands.

The results were a plethora of very beautiful, inspired artistic renditions that even the later development of the color lithographic process could not match. This site comprises a sampling of e-hagaki, and other Tokyo postcard images, from the early years of the 20th century.

The above picture is of Ginza crosing in 1903, the beginnings of what was to become Tokyo’s most sought after and expensive retails real estate - where today a square metre can set you back tens of thousands of dollars. In the background on the left hand side ofthe picture is the Hattori clock tower, home of K. Hattori & Co., the company who would later introduce later introduce the brand name “Seiko” to the world.

The above picture taken from the 1907 Meiji Industrial Exposition at Ueno Park shows the first swimming pool in Japan.

More awazing photos, maps and Tokyo history can be found at http://oldtokyo.com/

Tim Ferris, author of the Four Hour Workweek, demonstrates the essential skills of being a student in Japan - learnt while on a high school exchange programme. Shown here, in order of difficultly is The Wheel, The Helicopter, The Drummer, The Pincher and The Flip.

and here is the real deal (note - an essential part of mastering these tricks is the ability to appreciate speed j-rock)…

An interesting look at Tokyo juxtaposing a car-ride on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway taken from Tarkowsky‘s 1972 film Solaris with the same ride filmed in 2005.

http://www.fischerelsani.net/kelvin/tme_v.html

Via vvork.

The New York Times has an interesting audio visual piece on Japanese photographer Kohei Yoshiyuki, who is suddenly gaining a bit of interest again in the US, for his documenting of couples having sex and the peeping toms who observed them in Tokyo parks in the 1970s.

“What is so striking … is that everyone is crossing the line. The couples who engage in sex in public, the peeping toms who tresspass on that intimacy, he photographer who has betrayed his acquaintances’ trust, and of course, us, so willing to look at what was not meant for us to see.”

Yoshiyuki’s exhibition at Tokyo’s Komai Gallery in 1979 was an underground success. For the exhibition the photos were blown up to life-size, the gallery lights were turned off, and visitors to the gallery were given flashlights. But shorly after the show, fearing recriminations, Yoshiyuki destroyed the prints.

The photos, simply entitled The Park, resurfaced last year, with the publication of The Photobook: A History, Volume II, by Martin Parr. Parr writes:

“The Park is “a brilliant piece of social documentation, capturing perfectly the loneliness, sadness, and desperation that so often accompany sexual or human relationships in a big, hard metropolis like Tokyo.”

Gallery link: Yossi Milo Gallery

Via Funkalicious

There’s another sunset event happening at Enoshima this weekend. They are always good to go to - spectacular venue and a friendly, up for it interesting crowd… like these cool cats…

Here are a couple more snaps from the last event…

We rented a car this weekend to take the kids to a farm in Chiba, but when it rained, we needed an alternative. My wife suggested Sanrio Puro-land, home of the Hello Kitty overload. “I know, I know,” she said, “but it’s indoors, ok?” Normally, this would be grounds for divorce, but I had a headache and my mother was visiting, so I played along.

I am SO glad I did. The kitsch was completely off the charts. Every inch was covered in syrupy cuteness. I was expecting to spend hours waiting in lines for run-down amusement park rides, but Puroland is basically shows full of glittery dance routines somewhere between a Vegas floorshow, a Miyazaki film and that friendly village in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We were right up front, next to the unicorns and jugglers:

I was damn-near giddy, giggling as I walked around snapping shots of every little bizarre detail: Kitty dancers in black pleather mini-skirts; walls painted like library with book titles such as “Pyramids are our Friends” and “Is sound Pink?”; a forest-themed toilet with an animatronic bear taking a dump. Every so often I got self-conscious and though I shouldn’t find this place so fascinating. Then I bumped into a pierced-up gaijin punk, and we both gave a knowing nod. Now I understand why goths have their own day at Disneyland.

There were more than a few japanese teen goths at Puroland, too, but my fave was this guy:

More Kitty reports to come as I sort thru clips and pics. Goth day link lovingly relayed via Boing Boing

I first heard of Kogoro Kurata through his steampunk laptop. Now the guy is making massive armed robots and this giant hand you see here. If his scale continues to grow at this rate, plan on Godzilla’s new nemesis by next summer.

All links through the venerable Engadget

This weekend was also Koenji Awaodori, my favourite of all festivls in Japan. 12,000 dancers take to the street.

First held in 1957, it is not only the most electric, often feeling more like a rock concert than a cultural festival, but also one of the biggest festivals in Tokyo - attracting 1.2million visitors.

The festival has a pretty interesting site in English here: http://www.koenji-awaodori.com/indexEn.html

I guess what I like most about the Koenji Awa Odori is seeing everyone, both the participants and the onlookers, having such a great time - especially seeing young Japanese getting down enjoying their culture so much - something you don’t really see in the West. Ok, on with the videos, not the best quality, and try to imagine the sound about 10 times louder…

Sunday’s Japan Times had a feature on the awesome rice field paintings we wrote about a few months ago.

Apparently, time is running out to see them in full detail because:

…now in August, the lengths of each kind of rice are different due to their different growth rates. Now, we cannot clearly see the drops falling off the waves, as the yellow rice for the drops is shorter than Tsugaru Roman. So by now the drops have begun sinking into the green background of the Tsugaru Roman.”

A great collection of time lapse clips from the PinK Tentacle .

I have always really loved these simple, yet expressive Stop Motion Studies from David Crawford.

In David’s own words:

“It is said that 90% of human communication is non-verbal. In these photographs, the body language of the subjects becomes the basic syntax for a series of animations exploring movement, gesture, and algorithmic montage. Many sequences document a person’s reaction to being photographed by a stranger. Some smile, others snarl, still others perform. Some pretend not to notice. Underneath all of this are assumptions and unknowns unique to each situation.”

PingMag has an interesting piece on the two Ukiyo-e exhibits presently on display in Tokyo. Both deal with Ukiyo-e’s connection with ghosts, Yokai and other spooky/surreal elements.

So communications minister, Yoshihide Suga plans to replace the internet by 2020, huh? Good luck selling that idea to the Chinese.

Via Kotaku and Engadget

Accidents can happen just about anywhere. Have you broken your arm at the arcade? Or maybe chipped your jawbone when controlling your iPod? Not to worry: Tokyo scientists can now make bones with a souped-up inkjet printer.

Spoon, are about the most consistently great band in indie rock. Little Keepon thinks so, too apparently, as you’ll see below. They had him and his scientist buddy walking all over Tokyo. How many places can you identify?

Decent Spoon profile in the New Yorker here. Stay tuned for Spoon and Keepon to reunite for a benefit in San Francisco for Creative Commons. All part of WIRED Magazine’s Nextfest.

I went to see the Punk Yukatas at Point Gallery yesterday. These are my pics, but PingMag has better images and info HERE. Great patterns (leopard skin, lips, chains, etc).

The Obis on sale were the coolest, tho. Checkit:

The bottom one? That’s images of a fish market:

Pretty ballsy, as is this beer mug chain medallion. Or how about a mini-steak or gyoza?

The fan in this guy’s jacket may look cheesey, but I think in this heat/humidity, you’d get over that fashion discrepancy quick. And hey, it even makes you look buff!

Cory Doctorow, of the badass Boing Boing team, will be in Japan at WorldCon, a Sci-fi convention held this year in Yokohama. Some of the events sound pretty cool. Just look at the very first one on the program guide: Exomusicology - The Study of Alien Music.

Science fiction has been creating alien cultures for decades, but we rarely think about alien music. Where are there descriptions of alien music in the genre? What might truly alien music sound like? Would we like it? Would we even recognize it?

And would it have a good beat? Could you dance to it?

Cory has posted his schedule on his personal blog

Japan’s love affair with ska, reggae, mambo and other Caribbean music is well-documented, but I’m starting to see steel drum bands popping up all over the place. Is it just me? First there was the Panorama Steel Drum Orchestra at Fujirock this year, and now the Caribbean Magic Steel Drum Orchestra from Trinidad & Tobago play next next week, and just this weekend a Steel Drum band played at my local grocery store – I’m not kidding:

Remember Pepsi’s Cucumber Soda that I blogged about a while back? Well now you can wash down that with a nice refreshing Curry-flavored drink. Or would you prefer wasabi?

Courtesy of Octopus Dropkick

The venerable art/design e-rag, Ping Mag, is plugging a really interesting event at POINT gallery in Ebisu.

I’m gonna head down and check out the punk yukata on sale and maybe snack on some food creations. You should, too.

It goes through the weekend: Saturday, (Aug 18) from 16:00-24:00 and Sunday (Aug 19) from 15:00-22:00

A map here

The Weinstein brothers say their Asian Film Fund is good to go, presently filming a chop-socky blockbuster w/Jet Li AND Jackie Chan in China now, with plans to remake Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and make a live version of Mulan. Yawn.

I listened to a great interview this morning with New York Asian Film Festival Director, Grady Hendrix about the move (his blog here), and he had several interesting things to say. My favorite quotes:

On the basic image Americans have of Asian cinema:

“It’s either a big, posh, glamorous martial arts epic where everyone dresses in six miles of billowing silk, or it’s a low-brow, grotty horror movie where pissed-off dead wet girls with long black hair crawl out of sewers and television sets.”

On wire-fu fatigue:

“When you’re sitting in a theater with a bunch of people and someone flies across the screen and chops someone’s head off, and everyone just yawns, you know a genre may be in trouble.”

His recommendation to distributors? Forget about twentysomethings and older – concentrate on the American teens who already read their manga right-to-left. Once they figure that out, he says, someone’s gonna make a lot of money.

I know Hyungkoo Lee’s Bugs Bunny bones and other cartoon skeletons have already made a lap or two around the net, but after seeing the Kazuo Oga exhibit, it made me wonder about what some of Miyazaki’s characters would look like. I mean, Totoro is a fat bastard, right? What’s holding up all that girth?

If you’ve seen a Miyazaki film (Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, etc), then you’ve probably seen the work of Kazuo Oga, who as Miyazaki’s creative director, was responsible for all the background scenery. The Oga exhibit at the MOT has room after room of Oga’s paintings, sketches and anime cells, and it says something that you can take out the characters from the scenes still be stunning. A few examples:

The paintings are cool, but my favorite part was on the 2nd floor – Oga’s paint-splattered desk was here, along with examples of the cell-making process. Then there’s several video loops of scenes from films with the original background framed alongside. Four or five glass celles were used to create the forest in the opening chase sequence of Princess Mononoke (around minute 4:30).

The exhibit is awesome, but it’s way too crowded right now. I left last Saturday because of the 90-minute wait, then returned near opening time Sunday morning to a 40-minute wait. I thought it’d be packed with kids since it’s school holidays, but the majority were adults. It makes sense, though: everyone in their 20’s or 30’s grew up watching Miyazaki.

I had a couple four-year olds in tow, however, and they got bored fast (They didn’t see the payoff of waiting in a line for forty minutes and then NOT see a movie. “Where’s Totoro?” they kept asking. They were dumbstruck when I said “Right up here. But he’s sleeping, so be quiet.” Sure enough, they had created a 3-D replica of Totoro’s lair, complete with sleeping Totoro, whose chest heaved as he slumbered. Classic.

Only 2 days left to check out Yoshiyuki Mitsuzumi’s bizarre and beautiful ceramic sculptures. He morphs all the naughty bits of the body to create new animals, complete with small museum-like panels describing their habitats.

This is one of the better exhibits I’ve seen at The Vanilla Gallery in Ginza. They specialize in erotic/fetish art, and some exhibits have had amazing work, but more often than not it’s WAY too rough or creepy for my taste. Mitsuzumi’s sculptures, however are gentle – even friendly.

Here’s a quick video rundown of highlights from the last party at Fujirock’s Palace of Wonder 2007 area. The Sunday Night/Monday Morning party at Palace is arguably the best moment of the fest each year, because it brings everyone together: staff, press and many of the acts on the bill (Chem Bros, !!!, Kaiser Chiefs, etc) end up here drinking with the locals and regular ticket holders, usually till long after the sun is up (I left at 9am because it started raining, and it was still going).

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a few clips of the final acts in the Crystal Palace, a kickass tent on the Palace of Wonder grounds.

After killer funk DJ, Lincoln, finished his set, on comes Kwabana Lindsay, aka “Fiddler on the Rope”

Next up is Lil’ Fats and the Swingin’ Hotshot Party, a great Tin Pan Alley act complete with washboard percussion.

They had these costumes made especially for Fujirock (last time I saw them they were dressed as French Sailors from the 30’s). No vid of it here, but Lil’ Fats does an incredible Louis Armstrong impression. The crowd loved it. Here they formed a conga line:

A few glasses of champagne later it was the JVC Force DJs. This year they had a squad of American-style cheerleaders.

They’re spelling out “Arigato” if you didn’t catch it.

Amazing what short skirts and pom poms can do to a crowd (we’re dancing to the Bay City Rollers, ferchrissakes). Shouldn’t be surprised, tho. The JVC guys are the ones who brought the incredible Murasaki Babydoll burlesque team last year (English site here, Japanese site here).

A few more drinks and then it was off to the swing outside:

I still have a few bruises under my arms from wiping out like the punter in this clip. Then it was on to try to convince Fi from The Whip that she should climb one of the Palace sculptures for my own amusement. It doesn’t work.

That’s a wig she’s wearing. Most of us were wearing them since they were handing them out at the entrance.

Friend of a friend, Jerome Olivier, creates a beautiful Japan love story set in a coin laundrette.

http://speaking-pictures.com/coinLaundry.html

Interview with Jerome:
http://www.newvenue.com/archives/feature49/about.html

The Palace or Wonder area has always been my favorite part of the festival. I’ll add more details later, but here’s what your confronted with upon entry:

Giant sculptures made out of scrap metal, trees made out of mufflers, freaks of all stripes and usually some kind of carnival act that revolves around pain and/or danger. This year it was the “Globe of Death”

That’s THREE motorcycles in there. Great cheap thrills. And if that wasn’t enough, the bottom opens up. I caught it as it closed.