Month: September 2016

  • Tokyo Soup

    My first reaction when I saw the beautiful new site Tokyo Soup was that, hey, this is what I’ve been trying to do my entire life, but done better. At least on a visual level. Created by Tokyo-based art director Michele Angeloro, it’s a beautiful curated guide to the best that Tokyo has to offer in terms…

  • Hiroshi Yoshida

    Thanks to this tweet by illustrator Kevin Hong, I’ve fallen in love with the work of 20th century painter Hiroshi Yoshida. Just take a moment to take in the beautiful pieces in this Google image search result.

  • Makoto Shinkai

    I first heard the name Mokoto Shinkai the other day when my wife mentioned that his latest film, the animated Your Name (reviewed here by The Japan Times), had scored a huge box office opening since its release last week in Japan (grossing close to $40 million during its first 10 days). Not really knowing…

  • Maricar

    When I was still living in Tokyo, near Shibuya, it happened a few times that I was having a coffee at Starbucks with my dog, and in front of me I saw a line of people dressed up as Nintendo characters (Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach) drive by in supped up go-karts — Mario Kart come…

  • Tabling at Comiket

    I’m embarrassed to say that despite my absolute love of manga (and comics in general), I’ve never once made it out to Comiket (“Comic Market”), the world’s largest comics convention, focusing on fan/unlicensed comics, and held twice annually at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. I have plenty of friends who have gone, but reading…

  • The Tokyoiter

    The Tokyoiter is a fictional tribute to the great covers of The New Yorker, done as a project to celebrate the love illustrators have for the city of Tokyo. It was started by a couple of friends of mine, Andrew Joyce and David Robert, along with Tatsushi Eto. A new cover is shared on the…

  • Shiny Shiny 2&3

    Another entry I quite enjoyed from the Dotmov festival is the music video for Chikyunokiki’s “Shiny Shiny 2&3,” which takes inspiration from classic shooter Xevious. It was directed by Patanica, who also directed Qrion‘s “Crystal” music video I mentioned last month.

  • Controller of Controller

    Yesterday I wrote about this year’s edition of the Dotmov digital film festival, and I just watched one of the entries which I quite enjoyed, Controller of Controller. Directed by Densuke28, it’s an Inception-like experience of a player playing a game, and then playing a game within that game (see, told you it was Inception-like).…

  • Ametora Extended

    This post serves as a reminder that W. David Marx has continued to support his fantastic book, Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, since release through the Ametora Dispatches monthly newsletter — with each missive including an essay and links of interest — as well as footnotes to the book, that he posts on Medium…

  • Dotmov Festival 2016

    As I go through my site’s archives, I’m reminded of how much I loved annual digital short film festivals — like Resfest and Onedotzero. Most of these don’t exist anymore, but one that still continues with its annual showing is Shift magazine‘s Dotmov, with the 2016 edition about to hit the road. Although the best experience remains…