A Week in Tokyo 62

POSTED BY DANNY CHOO On Mon 2011/01/31 15:12 JST in A Week in Tokyo

One of my goals this year is to get round to writing the A Week in Tokyo more often ^^; As usual am late and the last time I wrote this was just before Christmas.
Today we start off with a photo around my neck of the woods. There are a load of buildings crammed together in the back streets near Musashikoyama which I just love walking around.

To understand why folks are required to queue up for 30 mins just to get some KFC, you need to have a look at the Why Xmas = KFC in Japan post.

Our puchi Christmas cake for the year.

Christmas coke which a guest bought and forgot to take home.

Saber finds herself in strange surroundings.

On the 27th of December it was filming at the offices of Kadokawa and Good Smile Company for Culture Japan.

After a week of editing the final episode of Culture Japan Season 1, it was time to drop the show onto tape which is then handed into Tokyo MX TV. Also spent a lot of time during January preparing data for the Animax Asia broadcast which ended its first season this weekend. Thank you all for watching! Culture Japan Season 2 soon!

Out n about picking up some snacks.

The pink one made noises when it was being eaten.

Christmas and new year means that we got a load of guests round which also means that we need to buy beer for them - wifey hardly drink and I never (cant) drink. Sanae is worried about the naming of this beer "Creamy White."

New year came and went. Spent some time at our local shrine as we do every year.

The previous year was Karin so this year Saber gets to wear the Miko Hakama.

Working up on the 3rd floor. Thought that I was going to be able to relax a bit after the crazy Culture Japan schedule - was completely mistaken! Had a load of loose ends to tie up which I never got round to doing.

You know, I've got no idea why Sabers top is open like that.

Nothing better than some Mr Donuts and a cuppa to keep one going in the afternoon.

Just as we have been doing for the past 5 years, we pick up a charm from Meiji Jingu shrine - this time is the year of the rabbit.

All these are from Meji Jingu. Can you guess why only the tiger is yellow?

Time for Collet to go back into her cake box until the end of the year.

Time to get rid of some figure boxes.

And this is where I keep all my figure boxes - above most bathrooms in Japan, there is a small compartment where all the electronics are. I thought this was strange at first too but the compartment is completely sealed dry when the hatch thingy is in place.

Mostly empty boxes - a couple of figures up here too.

While I dont get round to meeting everybody, I try to meet as many readers as I can when there are a few open slots in the calendar. Here we have Gordon and friend.

I love dogs! But know that they require more time than I currently have to look after. How many of you own dogs and how much of your time to you spend feeding, grooming, playing and taking them for a walk?

The AKB48 cuties are everywhere. This ad is for the love simulation PSP game AKB 1/48. All of them like you but you have to dump all apart from one.

My fave sushi - Engawa.

Wifey orders this one for herself - Shirako. She always asks me if I want some and the answer is always "noooooooooooo."

The local shopping arcade Palm - the longest in Tokyo.

T'was the Coming of Age Day in Japan mid Jan where a load of girls go to pamper themselves up for the special day. The Kimono is typically worn on the day but usually requires somebody to help one put it on. During this period, many hairdressers will advertise services to not only do up their hair but also makeup and kimono fitting too.

Met up with reader Darren from the US who brought along is Steadycam to take footage like the one below.

Some ramen noodles for lunch. If you order corn topping then you will be given a spoon with holes in it.

Through the filming at Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School, I met the owner of a shop called Lucy Pop who makes school girl uniforms. Have been discussing whether or not there is a demand for items like this overseas.

Not sure is this pizza was worth 2000 yen...

Picked up these Rollerblades when back in the UK last April. Since then I've been wearing them quite a bit to get around (saves a ton of time!) but never got round to flipping the wheels around...

This is what happens when you don't flip the wheels around for a long time. Better late than never though and I proceed to place all the wheels that were on the left boot onto the right and vise versa. I also flip the direction of the wheels so that they are facing the other way too.

Over the new year, folks are drinking more than usual and the recycle basket is filled with beer cans.

At last! a new digital TV to replace our analog one - a 47" Regza 47Z1.

Technology has certainly progressed. This one is about 24kg while our 9 year old Plasma is about 10000kg (well it feels like that anyway) ^^;
Was my first time to experience the PS3 though a HDMI cable - pleasantly shocked at the quality ^^;;; Will post a review of the TV in a separate post.

The other Philips shaver kicked the bucket after about 7 years of service - picked up this new one from Amazon.

I think the PSP arrived at the end of December. Been spending most of my time with The 3rd Birthday - a truly awesome game.

Beef bowl at Sukiya for dindins.

My girls like their melonpan so much that they cant bring themselves to actually eat it.

Since being a Dollfie owner, I look at things that I would not normally have looked at - especially anything that looks 1/3 scale ^^;

Have been meaning to eat at this place for years now and finally tried it out today. The best chahan or fried rice tastes best in the small places that are a tad old.

And just as I thought - tasted great. Most small places like these have a bunch of manga and magazines for customers to read while nomming.

While Saber was wearing the brown wig, Ryomo was trying out the blonde. Tonight shes about to eat my Creamy Custard Torofuwa purin.

Out n about in the trusty Mirai Itasha. Folks stop outside out house every day to take photos of it on their mobile ^^;

At the new Haneda International Airport to pick somebody up. Most of the folks in the terminal were not passengers but folks who have come to check out the shops and restaurants - got a separate post on this soon. A video report below showing how many Japanese locals have been to the place to check it out.

Its been ages since I ate at the Thai place. Its only round the corner at Hatanodai and should go more often.

My fave Japanese soup - Tonjiru (豚汁) made by wifey.

Meeting with the big boss of DLE Shiiki-san. His company is responsible for the Taka no Tsume anime series.
Last July, I presented on a TV show called Kira Kira Asia which was broadcast in Japan, Taiwan and Shanghai. DLE produced the show but I didn't get to meet up with Shiiki-san until this January.

Shiiki-sans company also produced the TV show called Kira Kira Japon which was previously broadcast in Japan and in France too.

Most of January is spent planning for the year ahead and that involves me running around to meetings all over Tokyo. The trusty subways is where I've been spending a lot of my time of late.

Tempura over dinner meetings.

Samples piling up at the back of the office.

Back at Kadokawa to have a meeting with the big boss Inoue-san. The closest station to their offices is Iidabashi which is where I used to work when I first came to Japan 12 years ago. Was nostalgic walking around the area.

Kadokawa title Quartet gets the live action treatment.

Rubbish that's not sorted into combustible and non-combustible will be left outside with a sticker. Today, somebody left some combustible stuff outside on a non-combustible day.

Quite a bit of food arrives at the office too - so much that I forget who sent them sometimes. Cant remember who this is from but tasted great! ^o^

Meeting up with Bushiroad at their headquarters in Nakano. They got a set for one of their TV shows which covers the card game and anime title Vanguard.

Started off learning Weiss Schwartz and soon Vanguard.

The walls just outside the elevators on each floor are plastered with anime goodies.

Dindins with the Bushiroad team. This Italian place is awesome.

Some Mitsudomoe Victory Spark cards to look at while nomming.

No matter how many times I use Shinjuku station, I always get lost somehow ^^;

A poster to let folks know that they should not go round hitting people on the trains or in the station.

Have not played the latest Monster Hunter PSP version that much yet - mostly spending gaming on the 3rd Birthday. Here we have some Banpresto Monster Hunter goodies. The big boss of Good Smile Company Aki Takanori used to work at Banpresto who left with a couple of other staff to do their own thing - which lead to Good Smile Company.

One of my face Japanese dishes - Katsu. A filling covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried. Today's filling is mince meat.

The concept of "kawaii" or "cute" can be seen everywhere and folks in Japan are exposed to it from day zero. Even the construction sites have cute mascot signs.