Tag: tokyo
One Sunday in Yanaka
by joostay
A stroll around one of Tokyo’s oldest neighbourhoods. Ikimasho! From Nippori, Yanaka Ginza is a 5-10 minute walk west of the station. Alternatively you can take the chiyoda line to Sendagi and walk east for about the same amount of time. You can also walk from Ueno Park in about 30 minutes – although it may be quicker if you are in a pram like this guy.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, backpacking, edo, history, inaka, japan, old tokyo, spinning tops japanese, tokyo, travelling, ueno, yanaka
|||||||||||||||||||| TOKYO AS A CIRCUIT BOARD ||||||||||||||||||||
by joostay
Up until pretty recently I spent most of my life soldering speaker wire and crossover components. These days I solder cities. This is Tokyo, my latest creation. A living, breathing circuit board. Colour coded metro stations doubling as resistors. Cubic transformers as skyscrapers. Look down and what do you see? Semi conductors, diodes and transistors? Or convenience stores, ramen shops and pachinko parlours. I set the temperature of the iron to 675 degrees Fahrenheit and wait for the tip to heat up. […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: electronics, futuristic, japan, short story, story, tokyo
Shimmer / 瞬く
by joostay
As the sun came down on Tokyo this evening the buildings turned to water. Squint and the city looks like the sea.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: diamond fuji, japan, mount fuji, photography, sunset, tokyo, travel
Gibbons & Gambling in Bukit Lawang, Sumatra
by joostay
Is it wrong to take money from those less fortunate from yourself? Not if you win it. Bukit Lawang is one of the main draws to northern Sumatra: a small village at the bank of the Bahorok River and your main gateway to the colossal Gunung Leuser National Park, famous for its mosquito-infused jungle treks and flourishing orangutan population. After climbing Mount Sibayak I headed to Bukit Lawang for a few days with the sole intention of lying in a […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bukit lawang, gambling, indonesia, japan, jungle, monkeys, nature, sumatra, tokyo, trakking, wildlife
Yes, I’m definitely back in Tokyo
by joostay
I got back from Indonesia a few weeks ago, but despite my feet being firmly in Japan, my mind is still wandering around somewhere in SE Asia. I went out for a walk with my camera today to remind myself where I live. Yes, I’m definitely back in Tokyo.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: art, coming of age day, culture, inaka, japan, koto ward, moma, museum of modern art, tokujin yoshioka, tokyo, tokyo metro
Falling in love with Lake Toba, Sumatra
by joostay
Introducing my new favourite place to do absolutely nothing. Lake Toba has been part of traveller folklore for decades: the largest volcanic lake in the world, one so enormous that an island almost the size of Singapore sits in its centre. It’s hands-down the best place I have ever been to chill out, but it wasn’t always so peaceful. The lake itself is the site of a massive supervolcanic eruption that occurred 75,000 years ago. This is actually the biggest known explosive […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, batak, hiking, indonesia, japan, lake toba, mas cottages, nature, samosir, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, tomok, tuk tuk
The day I drank with Sumatran gangsters in the jungle
by joostay
An intense experience featuring jungle juice, Mr. Samosir – and a pig’s head on a plate. While in Sumatra I met a guy my age who took me under his wing. He showed me stuff I never would have been able to find on my own. This is the story of the day we drove into the jungle. “Sit down.” As I’m ushered towards a makeshift table in the middle of a clearing I suddenly wish I was somewhere else. […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: arak, asia, backpacking, batak, gangs, gangsters, indonesia, japan, jungle juice, lake toba, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travelling, tribes
Climbing an active volcano: Mount Sibayak, Sumatra, Indonesia
by joostay
Above the clouds, Mother Nature rumbles below. The beautiful power of Mount Sibayak. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. Add violent storms, earthquakes and tsunamis into the equation and you’ve got one of the most geologically volatile countries on earth. Its shores and interiors are regularly hit by severe natural disasters, such as in 2004 when a 9.3 earthquake struck off the north coast of […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, backpacking, berastagi, climbing, guide, hiking, indonesia, japan, jungle, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel, volcano
Drinking blood with the Bataks. Christmas Day in Sumatra.
by joostay
Forget turkey and trifle. The Batak people of Sumatra do things a little differently. This is what I woke up to on Christmas Day in Lake Toba: my Sumatran friend Batin shouting “Look at me I’m Jesus” while standing on an underwater rock in the middle of the lake. He then fell in when he attempted to walk on water. It set the standard for the rest of the day: with constant reminders of it being Christmas, but with none […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: batak, blog, cannibalism, christmas, food, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, lake toba, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel
Japan to Sumatra. The most insane day of travel I’ve ever had.
by joostay
Lost bags, landslides & The Vengaboys. The epic journey from my house in Tokyo to Samosir Island in Sumatra. On 20 December 2013 I got up for work at 6am in Tokyo, worked a full day, came home, grabbed my bag and went to Haneda Airport to catch a midnight flight to Kuala Lumpur. From there the plan was to transfer to an 8.45am flight to Medan in Northern Sumatra, then take a taxi or public transport to Parapat on […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: backpacking, blog, epic, how to get to lake toba, ikimasho, japan, journey, lake toba, parapat, samosir, se asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel
Merry Christmas & Sumatra Ikimasho!
by joostay
Cliched as it is to say, it’s hard to believe that 2013 is nearly through. This time last year I was getting ready to visit my friends Allan and Fanfan in Bangkok, before hopping over the border to Myanmar. In January I went back to Taiwan to visit Jiufen, the real-life inspiration for Spirited Away, while in summer I spent a few weeks in Bali via Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Tomorrow I fly to Sumatra for my last trip of […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, indonesia, japan, sinabung, south east asia, sumatra, tokyo, travel, trekking, volcano
The fly with no wings
by joostay
Once upon a time there was a fly with no wings. Well, I say ‘once upon a time’ but this actually happened yesterday evening at around 6pm outside my house in Tokyo. My rubbish needs emptied twice a week, and unlike in the UK there are no trash cans in Japan. You simply leave your bags of rubbish at the end of the street for the binmen to collect. (There’s a big green net to put over it all to […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, buddhism, japan, short story, tokyo, travel, Zen
Up in the Clouds: Hiking in Kanagawa
by joostay
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Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: hiking, hiking in japan, japan, kanagawa, mount fuji, mount oyama, nature, serene, tokyo, woodblock
I am a cloud
by joostay
I am a cloud. I grew up in the ocean, surrounded by the gentle creatures of the Pacific – yet while I enjoyed my time swimming with the starfish in Tokyo Bay, I always knew I was destined for something more. Sure enough, that time came and one day I was chosen to leave: to rise above the water and join the skyline. Not many have such an opportunity: to experience life in the depths of the ocean and high […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, buddha, buddhism, cloud, ikimasho, japan, story, tokyo, Zen
Becoming Transparent: Autumn in Tokyo
by joostay
Like the little stream Making its way Through the mossy crevices I, too, quietly Turn clear and transparent. – Ryōkan Colorful leaves (koyo) are to the Japanese autumn what cherry blossoms are to spring. This is a time to seek out silent gardens: to sit motionless among the lonely reds and yellows of nature.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, autumn, fall, japan, leaves, poetry, ryokan, tokyo, travel, Zen
OMEILAND: Sonic Assault on Shinjuku
by joostay
Introducing OMEILAND, the extreme noise crew destroying Tokyo one scream at a time… Omeiland [ 汚名ランド ] is an extreme noise crew based in Tokyo. Their chaotic public appearances are visually and sonically violent, regularly shut down by the cops when things get too extreme. I randomly saw Omeiland ‘perform’ last night as I was walking to Shinjuku station. The look on some of the unsuspecting pensioners’ faces was as expected. Japan is no stranger to the harsh, dark world of […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: bizarre, idm, industrial, japan, merzbow, noise, omeiland, power electronics, random, shinjuku, surreal, tokyo, travel, 汚名ランド
100 yen
by joostay
It must be November as the vending machines have started to serve hot drinks again. I put my hand in my pocket and pull out a solitary 100 yen coin. It’s scuffed and has been well used; a small piece of metallic history on a neverending journey. Where has it been? What has it seen, this little coin? I turn it over in my hands, wondering if it is happy. This coin has seen many things, stolen moments lost in […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: 100 yen, coffee, creative writing, drinks, japan, tokyo, travel, vending machines, winter
TRANS ARTS TOKYO 2013
by joostay
Trans Arts is back. The format may have changed – but it still packs a punch. Centering around the site of the former Tokyo Denki University, Trans Arts Tokyo is a unique project which last year saw the participation of 300 artists and attracted over 10,000 visitors. It’s the most chaotic and creative arts event in the city – and this year I was kindly asked by Tokyo Art Beat to snoop about and give my opinion. You can read my full […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, CREATIVE, design, graffiti, installations, surreal, tokyo, trans arts 2013, travel, video
On Travel
by joostay
Tsugi wa doko. Where to next? It’s a question that’s always on my mind. I can’t get rid of it, and come to think of it, it’s always been there. While other kids were sticking posters of tits and footballers to their bedroom walls, I was down the local library photocopying pages from an atlas to stick to mine. Granted, I had tits and footballers too, but I also had a rather odd life-sized poster of a famous Swiss skiier […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: atlas, japan, map, tokyo, travel, world
Deconstructing Tsukemen
by joostay
Noodles and soup. Simple. A closer look at ramen’s lesser-known cousin. I’ve been eating a lot of tsukemen lately. Too much probably, but I love it. Basically tsukemen is like deconstructed ramen: cold noodles which you dip into steaming hot soup. The thing I like about tsukemen is its simplicity – there’s no place to hide as a chef. There are just two main components, noodles and soup, so chefs are faced with the difficult challenge of making it as delicious […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, china, cooking, eating, food, japan, noodles, ramen, restaurant, shop, south east asia, tokyo, travel, tsukemen
Watching over you
by joostay
This is my hairdressing salon. It used to be anyway – it hasn’t been open in over a year as I haven’t been well. Every week I tell myself that next week will be the one when I’m well enough to work, but that day hasn’t come just yet. I pray it will though. I knew all my customers by name. They were my friends and I don’t see them any more. We used to talk for hours. I remember […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, hairdresser, hairdressing, japan, salon, tokyo, travel
Takeda no Komoriuta | Lullaby of Takeda
by joostay
This is possibly my favourite Japanese song. It isn’t by some up-and-coming band, obscure electronica artist or even Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. It’s a traditional lullaby which originates from the village of Takeda near Kyoto, and one which has been sung among the Kansai burakumin for generations. Burakumin (“hamlet people”) were an outcast community at the bottom of the Japanese social order that had historically been the victim of severe discrimination and ostracism. These communities were often made up of those with occupations considered impure or tainted by death […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: feudal, japan, lullaby, Lullaby of Takeda, music, Takeda no Komoriuta, tokyo, traditional
Spider Hunting in Hadano
by joostay
Mount Kobo is a nice way to spend an afternoon. Just watch you don’t bump into the locals… I’ve always been fascinated with insects. As a kid I would spend hours in the garden overturning rocks, wondering which weird and wonderful creatures I would find next. At a young age spiders did scare me to an extent, but not to the point that they would keep me at bay. I’d find a web, throw a leaf onto it and then […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, hadano, hiking, hummingbird hawk moth, japan, kogane gumo, kumo, mount kobo, nature, odakyu, spiders, tokyo, train, trekking
Sunset over Zojoji
by joostay
No one travels Along this way but I, This autumn evening.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, haiku, japan, shrine, temple, tokyo, tokyo tower, zojoji
The Curator
by joostay
At midnight Tokyo can feel like a dream. A silent suburbia awaiting the onset of sleep. Vending machines hum and glow, pulsating, while cats peer down from above. Mass tangles of electrical cables silhouette against the moon. By 1am most of the shutters in my neighbourhood have closed. Yet one store is always open. It sells toys. Old toys. Spin tops and paddle balls, wind-up cars and forgotten plastic treasures. Inside, the Curator sits content: a pupa encased in a […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: dream, japan, shimokitazawa, sleep, tokyo
Global Domination. Sort of.
by joostay
Supper in Tokyo. Breakfast in Kuala Lumpur. Lunch in Jakarta. Dinner in Bali. When I was still a wee lad in short trousers I remember my grandparents telling me that in ‘their day’ a ‘holiday’ meant taking the suicide-inducing local train from Belfast to Bangor for the afternoon. That’s a 30-minute journey. 14 miles. To eat a poke (that’s an ice cream to you and me), dunk their feet in the paddling pool and then go home again. I don’t […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, bangor, beach, belfast, indonesia, japan, java, kuala lumpur, malaysia, northern ireland, south east asia, sun, tokyo, train, travel
Takuhiro’s shoes
by joostay
Me? You want to know about me? I dunno. What do you want me to tell you? Well, I’m Takuhiro. I’m from Kajicho. It’s in Kanda. Do you know Kanda? They have a famous festival there every year. It’s very traditional. But I guess my area is all office blocks now. There isn’t much to see. I’ve lived in the same house all my life. I’m nearly 50 now. Can you believe that!? My wife and I live with with […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, dancers, harajuku, japan, lebels, music, park, rockabilly, strangers, sunday, tokyo, travel, yoyogi, yoyogi park
Home is where you lay your head…
by joostay
Right now I’m looking into arranging a homestay in rural Bali. It got me thinking of some of the amazing (and not so amazing) places I’ve stayed over the years… 1. Primary Rainforest – Borneo Three hours from civilization in a 4×4 lies Borneo Rainforest Lodge, a spectacular resort buried deep in the Danum Valley Conservation Area – 438 square kilometres of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. Indulgent luxury, each room with its own outdoor hot tub […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, borneo, chunking mansions, danum valley, deer farm, hong kong, hotel, japan, malaysia, milford sound, nature, new zealand, rainforest, rainforest lodge, san francisco, tenderloin, tokyo, travel
Summer Plans: Bali & beyond
by joostay
I’ve been in Japan 16 months now and I’m grateful for the opportunities living here has given me. In that time I’ve been to Taiwan twice, watched the sun set over the Temples of Bagan in Myanmar, drank moonshine in my friend’s apartment in Bangkok and next month I’m off to explore Bali. Time/cash permitting I’d also love to hit the Philippines before the end of the year. In August I’ll also be visiting Nagoya for the first time for […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, food, holidays, indonesia, japan, south east asia, summer, tokyo, travel, ubud, vacation
Todoroki: the lost art of keeping a secret
by joostay
Brush past spider webs and dusty shrines and immerse yourself in Tokyo’s best kept secret. As I stand motionless in a trance watching a spider hypnotically spin its web I’m hit by an odd sensation. Absolute nothingness. I can’t hear Tokyo. I close my eyes and instead feel the sound of water splashing against rocks and nature breathing peacefully. Not to sound like a hippy, but Todoroki truly is a special place. It’s the only natural gorge left in Tokyo, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: commute, gorge, hiking, japan, metro, nature, shrine, station, subway, temple, todoroki, tokyo, train, travel, valley, Zen
Beauty in grimness
by joostay
Nature entangled in concrete. Opaque skies. Silence. Every Thursday I make the trip to Saitama to hang out with the crows and the lonely vending machine who hasn’t been touched in years. He’s OK though. Content in stillness. The clouds above are grey, the roads below the same. A rusty beer tin hides in the verge, watching the people who pass him by day, after day, after day. No one notices him. The train station is unmanned, the bus stop […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, brian eno, crows, dull, grim, happy, inaka, japan, music, saitama, tokyo
Spirited Away in Jiufen, Taiwan
by joostay
A visit to Taiwan’s Jiufen – the real-world inspiration for Ghibli’s Spirited Away Few animation studios have been as consistent as Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli. Founded in 1985, its animated fantasies are made with just the right blend of humour, melancholy and surrealism to make them appeal to audiences of all ages. . The official Ghibli Museum is actually only 25 minutes from my house in Tokyo, but I still haven’t been. Ironically it took me to fly 1,500 miles to […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, Chihiro, Ghibli, guidebook, Hayao Miyazaki, Jiufen, mountain, Spirited Away, Studio, Taipei, Taiwan, tokyo
BOARDS OF CANADA TOKYO TRANSMISSION
by joostay
May 22nd 2103 24:00 @ 1-23-10 Jinnan Shibuya-ku Tokyo IKIMASHO! was the first website worldwide to showcase Boards of Canada’s Tokyo Transmission.
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: boards of canada, jinnan, may, shibuya, shibuya-ku, tokyo, tomorrow's harvest
Kraftwerk 3D: Man Machine in Tokyo
by joostay
4 men. 1 album. 3 dimensions. After a sell-out (and computer crashing) run at the Tate Modern, Kraftwerk brings its catalogue retrospective to Tokyo: 8 consecutive gigs at the intimate Akasaka Blitz. It’s raining heavily in Tokyo. Outside a venue in one of the city’s central business districts, lines of people are waiting patiently, colourful umbrellas hoisted in the air. An almost fittingly minimalistic hand-drawn sign is taped to the door: KRAFTWERK. STARTS 5PM. Inside, you are immediately struck by the intimacy of […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, bass, berlin, bizarre, clubbing, culture, electronica, germany, japan, kraftwerk, moog, music, ralf, south east asia, synths, tokyo, travel, urban
The Missing Wallet
by joostay
Be a nice guy and you’ll be rewarded with cash and ice cream… So the other day I found a wallet on the train with ¥50,000 in it. That’s £320 or $500. Along with the cash, there were about ten different bank cards, a million loyalty cards and the guy’s full medical history. There was also one of his own business cards – so being the nice guy that I am, I called him up to arrange to give the […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, chiyoda, gaijin, japan, nice guy, reward, sun, tokyo, urban
My first Kanda Matsuri
by joostay
Dogs wearing clothes & revellers carrying portable shrines… One of the three great Shinto festivals of Tokyo returns after a four-year absence. Traditionally held on odd-numbered years, the 2011 Kanda Matsuri was cancelled due to the Tohoku quake and tsunami – meaning this year’s event was the first since 2009. Quintessentially Japanese, Matsuris like this are what makes living in this country so special.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, beer, culture, festival, guidebook, japan, kanda, matsuri, mikoshi, shrines, south east asia, street, sun, takoyaki, tokyo, travel
FRANCIS BACON / Tokyo Exhibition
by joostay
“You can’t be more horrific than life itself.” Your last chance to catch the master of the macabre in Tokyo. Described by Margaret Thatcher as “that man who paints those dreadful pictures,” Francis Bacon was one of the most exalted, most disliked artists of the postwar era. His abstract images of psychological and physical brutality still have the power to unsettle today – achieving on canvass what David Lynch achieves on film or what Beckett did on paper. The Tate gave […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, bizarre, culture, drawing, francis bacon, japan, modern, popes, retrospective, south east asia, surreal, tokyo, weird
Shimokitazawa: End of the Line
by joostay
On 23 March 2013, the level crossings at Shimokitazawa in Tokyo lifted for the very last time. It was a sad day for anyone who has ever lived in the area. The Odakyu train line has now gone deep underground, and with it has brought a huge, brand new station that is both sterile and soulless in equal measures. It is not what Shimokitazawa is about, but I guess this is what you call ‘progress’ in the modern age. I […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: alleyways, art, culture, graffiti, japan, keio, odakyu, otaku, shimokitazawa, street, tokyo, train, urban
Yoshino Baigo: Plum Village
by joostay
Takoyaki, trees and silence: a plum pilgrimage to the hills of western Tokyo. Nobuo Umeatsu is a genius. Composer of the Final Fantasy soundtracks, he somehow manages to create atmospheric pieces of music that lie dormant in your brain only to burst to life once again at the most random moments. The reason I mention him is because the other day I visited a place called Plum Village. Nestled somewhere between the Tama River and the Yoshino mountains in the […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: culture, guidebook, hinatawada, inaka, japan, mountains, ome, plum, tokyo, ume, yoshino baigo
Setusbun: my bean-throwing pilgrimage to Sensoji
by joostay
Evil spirits, a man with a cat on his shoulder and people throwing beans at each other. It can only be Setsubun ??? Japan’s own unique way of saying hello to spring. When I was nine years old I threw a plate of baked beans over some kid in my class …
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asakusa, culture, festival, japan, matsuri, setsubun, tokyo
Bangkok from the inside
by joostay
Travelling in a city you’ve been to a few times before is always a bit difficult. You know what to expect culturally, financially and logistically ??? but because you’ve already hit the main sights on your first few visits you don’t quite know wha…
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, bangkok, food, japan, myanmar, nomad, nomadic, se asia, thailand, tokyo, travel
IKIMASHO! 