All posts filed under: Japan

1:1 RX-78 Gundam model in Odaiba, Tokyo

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To mark the 30th anniversary of the Gundam robot anime series, an 18 meter Gundam model has just been erected in Odaiba, Tokyo. Various Tokyo bloggers have started to put up images on the net. In most photos it is difficult to judge the actual scale of this bohemoth, but this one at punynari.wordpress.com   gives you a good idea. The robot will only be up for two months before being moved to an undisclosed location…. I wonder if the marketing people at  DreamWorks are kicking themselves for not doing something similar for the latest Transformers movie.

David Carradine – Kill Bill – Hattori Hanzo – Kiyochika Kanehama

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It was announced on the news today that David Carradine is dead. I am a little too young to have grown up watching the TV show Kung Fu, but I am sure that for many this will be a sad day. In recent years Carradine returned to fame as Bill in Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies. For those who haven’t seen the movies, in one of the scenes in Kill Bill Part 1, Uma Thurman travels to Okinawa to get a samurai sword made by sword smith Hattori Hanzo. A couple of years ago I did an interview with the only real sword smith in Okinawa – Kanehama Kiyochika. I even got to ask him about Kill Bill… From the age of 22 to 31, Kiyochika Kanehama trained as an apprentice swordsmith. At a forge in the Japanese Alps, his sensei Kiyomune Miyairi taught him how to create a blade from lumps of iron ore. For years, he studied the process of folding and honing metal to produce edges so sharp that they are considered a …

Gran Turismo 5 – the trailer

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Gran Turismo is a car racing simulator for the Sony Playstation. As the Playstation evolved from PS1 to Ps3, the game also grew in size and complexity, each time amazing gamers with super realistic graphics and incredibly realistic driving.  The popularity and importance of this game to Sony is huge, over 50 million units have been sold. The release of Gran Turismo 5 is comparable to that of a hollywood blockbuster. Although there is no set release date, the first trailers have appeared. Things have certainly come along way since the days of Pong.  

The Beastie Boys – Japanese Street Icons?

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At the 2009 MTV Video Awards Japan, the Beastie Boys were presented with the Street Icons Award by Nigo. Not sure how this award was decided as most young Japanese  have no idea who the Beastie Boys are.  The Beastie Boys are however obvious fans of Japan. Why else would you dress up as Japanese construction workers and dance in Shibuya and Shinjuku train stations. And who better to defend Tokyo from an enormous octopus headed monster than the Beastie Boys at the helm of a giant robot.

Print Prices – Why the change in currency?

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As some people have pointed out, a few months ago the prices for limited edition prints available on my website suddenly changed from US dollars to Japanese yen. At exhibitions in Japan all the prices for my prints are in yen. With fluctuating exchange rates, the only way to guarantee that the prices are the same whether you purchase on the website or through a gallery was to have everything in the same currency. You can check the prices in your local currency using a universal currency converter. Paypal will convert the amount from yen to your local currency when checking out, along with taking all the necessary shipping details. As always, A2 and A3 size prints include free international shipping and insurance.

Okinawan Bull Fighting

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During the summer months bull fighting takes place in several bull rings on Okinawa.  I have mixed feelings on the whole situation. Compared to Spanish bull fighting it is delightful. Okinawan bull fighting is a battle between equals rather than men against beast. The Okinawan bulls lock horns and then push each other until the weaker bull turns and runs. The bulls are not killed, and are looked after by their owners better than many pets. Near where I live, you regularly see the bulls being taken for walks. ( Something I really should photograph now that I think about it. ) Some bulls however do get injured, which is hardly surprising when both combatants have a big pointy horn on either side of their head. With the potential for animals to be injured or even killed is the cost of this entertainment too great?

Ryukyu Shimpo

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In today’s Ryukyu Shimpo (one of the newspapers in Okinawa) there was a short piece about my exhibition at Cotonoha. It’s a bit of a shame that it was published when my exhibition is only up for another couple of days, but better later than never. I’m going to be hanging out at Cotonoha Saturday and Sunday afternoon, so if you are in the area drop by and say hello (or konichiwa).

Pentax K-7

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Pentax has launched a new top of the range camera, the K-7. The photography press calls it a flagship model, but it is a title that will be short lived, as the Pentax 645 digital is due to be released next year. It is an impressive camera, that will probably beat similar priced Nikon and Canon cameras in most respects. The K-7 is not however a full frame camera as some Pentaxians had hoped, but the Pentax 645 should fill the niche of Pentax photographers who want more than an APS sized sensor.  The K-7 also joins the ranks of digital SLRs that can record high definition video. Like other SLRs I believe you will have to manual focus while shooting video, but it should allow you to film with a shallow depth of field much like you see in movies, something that is difficult to do with regular consumer video cameras. The price quoted in the British Journal of Photography was 1200 pounds. On the Yodobashi.com  website the price is 129,000 yen (you can …

A new, more frugal, generation of plasma TVs

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I spotted something interesting while wandering around my local electronics store yesterday. The local Best Denki has a huge section devoted to televisions and it is quite easy to compare the different brands and models on offer. I much prefer the look of plasma televisions over LCD, the best of the bunch being the fantastic but extremely expensive Pioneer Kuro models. Panasonic also produces great plasma televisions. I was most impressed by the picture on the 42PZ800 model that came out last year. A new version of this television just came out. And what was particularly interesting was that in just one year, Panasonic have managed to cut the energy consumption for this plasma TV by nearly half. I am not sure how they have done this, but if it is true, it is an impressive feat.  I’m still not going to buy one for now, the old CRT television is still working fine. But it’s good to know that electronics manufacturers along with car makers are trying to become a little greener.