I bought my niece the DVD of My Neighbor Totoro for her birthday. I also got her a stuffed neko-bus toy. Hopefully they will fill her with delight, millions of Japanese kids have grown up with daily doses of Hayao Miyazaki movies.
Bonus points to the first person to name the movie this particular spirit is from.
The Tokyo salaryman has to put up with long commutes, long hours, paid vacation that you never take, and a hierarchical structure based on age and connections rather than ability. It’s not surprising that many young Japanese are looking for other options.
French designer Philippe Starck, the vision behind creations including the Tokyo Asahi Beer building and its golden radish poo flame. He has also designed some iconic household objects including his modern take on the lemon squeezer and the corkscrew. Designers will look at these objects and note “an interesting interplay of form and function”. Photographers will look at the images and think, “I bet all those polished surfaces were a nightmare to shoot”. Both groups would be dead on.
Kitty-chan aka Hello Kitty is still as popular as ever in Japan. While in Tokyo I wandered past a shop filled entirely with Kitty-chan products. Not my cup of tea, but I think the shop was aiming for a slightly different clientele. Something a little more like…
While up in Tokyo I met up with my old friend ASIMO. We had a falling out a few years ago when I bought a Suzuki Swift rather than the Honda S2000, but we’re back to talking again. At least I’m talking and he’s staring vacantly in my direction. ASIMO showed me his new dance moves, and he seemed to be able to run a little faster than last time we met. I asked if he’d been programmed with Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. He nodded, but for a brief moment I’m sure one of his eyes glowed red.
Miss International Beauty Pageant in Okinawa 2012 took place on October 21st. As the audience arrived they wandered between photographs of the girls in swimsuits and heels. The ceremony opened with some traditional Ryukyu dancing and drumming, a nice Okinawan touch. The first event was national costumes, followed by the swimsuits, and then the evening gowns. (Which was amusing titled as the Night Gown Competition) The announcement of the top 15 finalists was met with cheers as most of the favorites made the cut. Each of the finalists gave a short speech before hip hop dancers from the Tida Dance Studio in Chatan performed. The kids were fantastic and the highlight of the evening. After quite a wait, the winner was announced, Miss Japan. Huge cheers from the majority of the crowd, but quite a few raised eyebrows from the non Japanese members of the audience. After the audience had left, the press got to take some photographs of the top 5. I held a speed light at arm’s length in my left hand and …
Ginza 4-chome, the crossroads at the heart of Tokyo’s notoriously expensive shopping and entertainment district. I took a photograph here several years ago when I was shooting with the Pentax 67II and Vodafone was still in Japan. I returned on my latest trip to Tokyo, and met up with model Marino to create some visions of nightlife in Ginza.
The iPhone 5 had its global release while I was up in Tokyo. I headed over to the Apple store in Ginza and shot a few images of the Mac-fans as they lined up and then purchased their new phones. There were numerous Japanese press photographers and camera crews, but I was able to get the shots I wanted and then head back to Shinjuku for my exhibition. A couple of weeks later, someone in Okinawa asked me if I’d been working security for Lady Gaga during the summer. They showed me the following photo published in the Nikkei Weekly.
These are a few images from a local protest against the arrival of Osprey helicopters. US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey helicopters are now based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in central Okinawa. Locals were protesting against the poor safety record of the Osprey and the close location of Futenma to residential areas. It was one of the hottest days of the summer and the protest took place just after noon. I was actually surprised I didn’t hear of anyone suffering from heatstroke or worse. Reports from the organizers put the crowd at 100,000 people. To me this was far too high ( the number of protesters seemed smaller than the audience in front of the green stage at Fuji Rock which was about 25,000) but it was still an impressive turnout. The Okinawan people didn’t get their wish to keep the Osprey’s out of Okinawa. The helicopters will be based here so that the US military have the latest technology to train with, but it’s a bit of a gamble for the US and …
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 