Tokyo 2008 Michelin Guide

I got the Michelin guide for Tokyo yesterday.

I haven't read it yet, but I have read the big news on the net about it. Whether fine dining in Tokyo is really that good, or whether this is another "take" on the recent boom of Tokyo-ness and Japanese Pop culture, I don't know.

I am not saying that Tokyo does not deserve the credits. Maybe it does. After all, it's a huge and rich city. But is this evolution of Tokyo so recent? Otherwise, why is Michelin coming now, over 100 years after the 1st guide, and say "hey, sorry guys... Guess what, we, the masters of good dining, we have been ignoring one of the best dining cities of the world. Sorry about that! But don't worry, we have found it now, so please read our 1st guide ever for the city. Dozo!"

Maybe they had no choice. How else could they launch the guide with less embarrassment? And how else would they get accepted? After all, the Japanese side made sure in advance that they would not accept any negative comments.

But anyway, now I know where to go when I want to impress my dates.
(and justify the money for the dinner...)

Adam Curtis' Films

[UPDATE: the links below don't work anymore, sorry...]

At first I did not want to post about these films in this blog, because I thought of them as not relevant to Tokyo and Japan. But it didn't take me long to realize that the methods mentioned in Adam Curtis' documentaries have most probably found good usage here... Even just to keep the links to the videos, here are the documentaries I refer to:

"The Trap"
About the trap politicians fall, when they try using science to make people's life better.
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3

"The Century of the Self"
About how politicians have used Freudian psychoanalysis to control the masses.
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4

"The Mayfair Set"
About how politicians have used psychoanalysis to control the masses.
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4

and the "Power of Nightmares", for which I will only link to episode 1. It's about how fear is used in politics.

I have left the "Pandora's box" series as last, even though it is the oldest.

Great documentaries!
Well, they will not replace books, but what I like the most about them is, they don't offer any solutions. Just give an overview of the methods, the theories they were based on, how and by whom they were applied, why they succeeded, and why they failed.

If I want to be pessimistic I would say:
these methods have worked in the past, they could work again.
If I want to be optimistic I would say:
these methods have failed in the past, they will not be used again.

When "Japan" was "China"

From an article entitled "China is not the problem":

"While consumers may come to look at “Made in China” as a stigma of shoddy workmanship, “Made in Japan” carried the same stigma back in the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike Japanese products, however, which were made by Japanese companies that were competing against products made by companies in other countries, China’s are integrated with every other major economic power on the plant. In fact, they’re inseparable. China’s woes are the woes of consumers around the globe, and they’re not going away."

Small details...

The whole article with the title "China is not the problem" can be found here:
http://www.edn.com/blog/1750000175/post/1880013188.html

T.I.F.F.

Tokyo "International" Film Festival...
Yeah right, international my ass!
No english subtitles for most films! Cheap bastards! That's why I think that any gaijin cinefil who can't read kanji is fooling themselves living in Tokyo.

This year they have a series of films with the subject "Tokyo in Focus: How Tokyo has been depicted in post WWII cinema", I guess these are fun to watch even without understanding anything. The 50-years old 日本語 won't be understandable anyway.

All the films in this category deserve to be watched for the scenery, I think.

For lucky people who speak French, I recommend
this.

and of course
Tokyo Ga which I have in DVD... somewhere...

Anyway.
Biggest problem is, I have no f*cking clue where on this planet I will be between Oct 20 and Oct 28...

Golden Gai (update)

It was really fun on Monday! I spent a few hours with a bunch of photographers, interesting guys, all had good stories to tell! Nice small bar (not small, tiny!!) in Golden-Gai, not my usual Monday.

People I met yesterday include:
uchujin

motionid

zebrio

All have great photos of Tokyo, check them out!!
Hope to meet them again...

「Night Work」

今夜歌舞伎町へ行く。友達のフォト・エキジビションのため。
場所は、ゴールデン街のナグネ。
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimoconnell/677548666/


Tonight I am going to kabukicho, to a friend's photo exhibition.

Jim is a very good friend, my relationship with whom has been "hit" by my latest lifestyle. Anyway. Looking forward to meeting him tonight check his wonderful photos, and share our kabukicho experiences...

The photos will be exhibited at nagune, one of the small bars in golden gai.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimoconnell/677548666/

anti-bento

(something like antipasto)

Modern bento should be considered a "crime against
humanity". It violates all rules of cooking:
- no fresh ingredients
- prepared hours (days?) in advance
- mixed meat with fish (prepared in the same oil)
- re-mixed once more in the microwave
- unidentifiable croquettes
- tasteless dead vegetables (killed by the microwaves)
- green plastic thingies to separate the stuff
- add-ons that make you sick: sausages, potato salad
with mayo, shrimps, eggs, whatever!

Makes me wonder why they take the sauce away before
putting it in the microwave. Yeah right, thanks, now
you saved my bento.

The result: chicken that smells like salmon. Pork kattsu
that tastes like fish. Heated rice that has been boiled
the previous day. Melted pickles that smell like mayo.
That is, if you are lucky and have chosen a bento
version without over-boiled pasta with ketchup!

And oh my god, those microwave-melted broccolis...

Bliah!
McDonald's tastes to me like homemade, 手作り, compared to bento.

Unfinished Uniformity

このビデオ、どうしても、東京で作れない。

Everybody knows this video, Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack. One of my favorites.

So, just imagine you are trying to shot a similar video here, in our huge, metropolitan Tokyo.

You can't.

Go anywhere in Tokyo and start shooting a video for 3 minutes. Anywhere... You can even try all other big cities, Osaka, Kyoto. Ok, even smaller cities, or villages, whatever. Just have some people on the background.

You will get the same video...

Japan has this homogeneity, this uniformity. Yeah, maybe it makes life here easy and safe, maybe it turns any-given foreigner into a bohem. But sometimes it makes me sick!

Now you can save your video as:
"Unfinished Uniformity"

Meet ze... King Kong!

Interesting homemade video clip of PJ Harvey's

Meet Ze Monsta

Candide illustrations

The photo I want to use in my profile. This is from a modern illustration of Candide, by Mahlon Blaine. You can find more of his illustraions here:

http://www.erbzine.com/mag8/0880b.html

If you have read the book, on the picture you can recognize Don Fernando d’Ibaraa y Figueora y Mascarenes y Lampourdos y Souza, trying to steal Cunegund away from Candide.

Coming soon, just can't decide on a template yet...