I’m a sucker for Bearbrick/Kubrick toys. Don’t think I’ll have time to check out this Medicom thing, but I have to say that charging 300 yen doesn’t sound right.
Medicom Toy, makers of BE@RBRICK and KUBRICK and promoters of the idea that toys are art, will be showing their BABEKUB CITY lineup, made in collaboration with popular apparel brands. (TAB)
It starts today at the Parco Museum, and ends July 4.
This month’s ad display on Omotesando. It’s actually publicizing the new complex being built.
Oh, I would so love to attend this — damn my schedule!
Although North Korea is geographically close to Japan it’s a far country full of mysteries. How does a girl get into the “Group for Pleasure”, and who is it that came up with Mr. Kim’s funky hairstyle? And what about his rumored relationship with Princess Tenko? OK, these are probably not the most essential questions concerning North Korea, and one should rather try and find out the truth behind issues such as kidnappings of Japanese citizens, nuclear tests or 6-nation talks. Bruce Cumings, who is most trustworthy as an intellectual familiar with the recent history of the Korean Peninsula and East Asia in general, will surely give answers to questions like the above. No, not the ones about girls’ dance groups and hairstyles! Or, maybe even those too? Any idea Mr. Cumings? (REALTOKYO)
More info here. It takes place at Temple University, July 7 at 19:30 (RSVP recommended).
I stopped by Lapnet Ship on Monday, but they were in between exhibitions. Here are the posters for the next shows, starting this Saturday.
Remember that smoking lounge I found in Akihabara a while back? Now comes the smoke station, tiny booths for your smoking needs. This one is located on Omotesando.
Or else!
I just took a huge night walk to cool myself down, and cause I just felt like moving, and ended up in the whereabouts of Otsuka (or maybe further, not sure). To keep me going, I was listening to one of my new favorite finds on my iPod, the CBC Radio 3’s recently launched podcast (they’ve done 3 shows now).
What I’m really digging about this podcast (apart from the kick I’m getting that the host is none other than The Smugglers‘ Grant Lawrence) is that it covers the Canadian indie scene, something I’ve been pretty much out of touch with even since moving to Japan. My musical roots definitely lie in the indie rock world — back in the day I had some shows on university radio (first, The Jean Snow Show, don’t you know, and then later The Codex), and if you’re lucky enough, you might find a bootleg recording of my power chord opus, “Ode to Data” (but that’s just between you and me). When you listen to Radio OK Fred, I think you’ll probably notice that side of me come out, which I think makes for an interesting counter to my co-hosts musical choices.
So these podcasts have me thinking indie rock, and I’m starting to think that I might like to bring back my old Codex radio show. Add to this that I’ve been wanting to get a recording adapter for my iPod in order to do some Momus-style audio blogging, and I think I might have the makings of some sort of new podcast thingie. Stay tuned.
What does Takashi Murakami do when he’s in NYC? He checks out Momus and Mai Ueda’s “I’ll Speak, You Sing” exhibition of course.
Update: Relating to my comments on the latest issue of SWITCH, Marxy is on the case.
A call-out to all my great readers: Who would you say is the “it” Japanese writer of the moment? I’m trying to find out who would be an interesting writer to profile. You can email me, or leave a comment.