Today we are going on a tour of Tokyo - not all of Tokyo mind you but on one of my favorite routes from Lalaport in Toyosu down the river on to Asakusa - a nice blend of the modern and the traditional past.
Taking a day out to tour Tokyo is a luxury that I cant afford these days and only managed to pull one off because I was filming for Culture Japan Season 2 Episode 12. Today Yumi from AmiAmi and I will be your tour guide on this lovely Sunny day.
From Lalaport, one can take the Himiko - a boat designed by Matsumoto Leiji - creator of Space Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Railways, Galaxy Express 999 and many more. You can find out more about the boat and departing times in the Himiko Tokyo Boat Cruise post.
The boat cruise along Sumida River is lovely but the walk along the river bank is also nice too. This is what you can expect if you took the walk.
I recently found out that the Himiko is owned by a friend of a friend ^^; Was also told that I could use the Himiko whenever I wanted for a Culture Japan Night. Vividblaze also performed on the boat a few moons ago.
The building with the golden thing on top is the Asahi Building - famous for looking like something. What does it look like to you?
Sensoji temple - the oldest in Tokyo. We'll be back after changing.
Japan is a bicycle country. London wasn't a bicycle city when I left the UK but when I went back I was shocked to see them all over the place. They introduced some congestion charge for cars which entered the city - this encouraged the citizens to bike it to work.
Do you ride a bicycle to work or school? If so, what brand you recommend? I must get a new one this year and make it into an Itachari.
The next stop is Edoko Machi - A kimono shop which sells and rents out Kimono for men and women. We rented two garnments for the day which only cost just over 6000 yen - you can see examples of what you can get on this page.
An introduction to a scene or cut is called Maefuri .
B-roll is known as Butsudori .
Camera-san is the camera-man and Onsei-san is the sound-man.
Hiiki is a wide shot while Yori is a closeup shot.
Itatsuki is where the subject is sitting down before the next cut begins.
Hakeru is to move out of the camera's view.
Shomei is lighting.
Pinto ga atteinai means that the camera is out of focus.
Musen refers to the wireless mics.
Just thought I'd throw a few Japanese TV production terms at you ^^;
We bump into our Culture Japan regular Nagatopyon.
Next stop is Hoppy Dori - a road filled with Japanese style pubs. In the Summer, everybody is sitting outside enjoying the long evenings. In the Winter, everybody is inside being warmed up by the stoves.
The name of this restaurant is Motsukushi. To get to Hoppi Dori, head to the location below.
Thats a wrap! At the end of a days filming, everybody would say to each other Otsukaresama deshita! - a greeting used when somebody has been through some sort of hard work or ordeal. Folks in a hairdressers would even use it after you've had your hair washed - because you leaning back in a chair is supposedly an ordeal ^^;