Do The Japan! March - April 2013

    Another trip back to Japan, and more photos in between drunken bastardry.  It's been one year (and a bit) since I was last in Japan.  What's changed in Tokyo?  Lots.  Tokyo is the city that is constantly rebuilding, and if you're not careful, it will all go and be replaced with something even weirder (apologies to Douglas Adams).

    So what has changed.  Fewer Pads and Tablets on public transport.  In 2012, there were probably 4 or 5 people per train carriage using some sort of pad or tablet to while away the oppressive commute.  This year, I reckon I saw maybe 2 in my whole trip.  Ipads are soooo 2012.

    Shimokitazawa Station has changed.  The underground, 3 levels deep Odakyu line (from Shinjuku) changed from above ground to underground during my trip.  I had one last use of the Odakyu above ground station early in my trip, then the next time I used it, I was suddenly in some deep well-lit, shiny subway station that took for ever to get out.  The odd little market that was next to the old station is no more.  Well, it's reduced to one little drinking venue on the North side, but everything else is eerily empty, awaiting demolition.  And the South Side exit, where I spent years drinking MD Super Hops from the conbini, is now a fully functioning exit.

    Tokyo Skytree is open for business.  When I was there last year, it was pretty much built, but not yet open.  Now, nearly a year later, and it's open.  BUT.  We tried to book a ticket for the observation deck online from Australia, and All. Of. March. Was. Full.  When we got there and tried for the beginning of April it was All. Full.  I guess I'm waiting till my next trip for those shots.

    Coca Cola is still 150 yen for a 500 ml bottle.  Still.  That's about a dollar fifty in Aussie dollars.  Australia gets raped for prices by Apple and Coca Cola, and many other things.  It's pretty much double to triple price here.  It's a very odd feeling to walk around 'the world's most expensive city' and wonder why things are generally so much cheaper than in Australia.  I do know, having lived there, that there are living expenses in Tokyo that aren't apparent to visitors that do make it pretty seriously expensive, but it's still pretty outrageous comparing prices of things to back home.  When I moved over in '99, everything in Tokyo was pretty much double what it was in Oz.  Now, it seems nearly everything is cheaper.

    My favourite eating hole, Iseya, in Inokashira Park, home of the best Gyoza in the world, is gone!  The classic old building with its shit service, its smokey atmosphere and its grubby appearance, is no more.  Iseya has reopened temporarily just past Yodobashi Camera on the north side of Kichijoji while the new building is being built, so I could still get my gyoza fix.  But that ramshackle old building is gone.  And that's a great loss.  That building had such rare character.  And probably serious health and safety issues, but that was half of the charm.  It was an oasis of grunge and character in a sea of sterile eateries.  Bugger.

    And the Robot Restaurant.  But I'll get into that in a subsequent post.  Right now, here's a teaser.  There will be more entries to follow.  Stay Tuned.

 Hanami.  Cherry Blossom Season.  Nicely timed. 

  Hentai Chikan Dragon

 These Robots are driven around during the day and night, advertising the Robot Restaurant in Kabukicho.  They are a part of the show.

 Another Cho-chin (paper Lantern) shot.  My obsession continues.

 A sneaky shot inside a Kabukicho Host club.  Alot of the clientelle are hostesses who have finished their shift.  The boys all look like they're from J-pop bands.

 More sleaze in Kabukicho.  Glitter girls!

 I'm happy to comply, but what the hell it is I'm not supposed to do!?!

  A Super Mario Bar in Shinjuku. 

  Evangelion Champagne, available in the Evangelion shop in Harajuku.  Are you fan enough?

  A quiet stroll in Harajuku...

  Mobile Suit Gundam, Odaiba

  Melt Banana in Super Deluxe, Roppongi

  WTF?!? in the Robot Restaurant, Kabukicho.  LOTS more to follow...

 Velvet Worm rocking on in Shin Okubo

 The Zombie Walk, Roppongi

 Tokyo is a 2020 Olympics Candidate city.  The opposition is small and polite.  But to the point.

  Secret shot

  A very leggy dragon.  Just, you know, on the street.  Because Japan.

 Warning!

  Akihabara Donkihote.  Home of the infamous Akiba48. who do a regular show on the 8th floor.

 Gacha Gacha Pon vending machines in Ahihabara.  'Gacha' is onomatopeic for the sound of cranking the handle to get the capsule toy, and the 'pon' is the sound of the capsule dropping into the chute.  There are vending machines for nearly everything in Japan.

'Itansha' in Akihabara.  I seriously just googled that term.  I have known of the term 'Itasha' for quite a few years now.  'Itasha' literally means 'painful car' and refers to cars that have been decorated with anime, manga or video games characters.  I saw this motorbike suffering the same fate, but only now when I googled 'Itasha' did I just find out that the term has morphed into 'Itansha' for motorbikes and 'Itachari' for bicycles. 

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All material in this portfolio is owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe (Doctor Pedro). Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.

Bar Crawl Tokyo

   Tokyo is a great place to go bar crawling!  You can find any number of tiny bars to squeeze into, and being such a sprawling metropolis, you can find the most amazing theme bars imaginable.  Anything goes, and usually does!  Here is a selection of some of the Tokyo bars I hit recently, and some I didn't quite make into, but had a peer into from street level.

   Shimokitazawa is a favourite haunt, with some iconic bars tucked away in side streets.

   Trouble Peach has a suitably inviting doorway, street sign, and enigmatic name.  Upstairs is a dark bar filled with vinyl and booze.  

   Next door is the equally enigmatically named Idiot Savant bar.  

   Busted peering into a bar with my camera!

   Sleeping in bars seems to be fine.  Not sure if this was staff or a loitering customer...

   Sometimes just looking in from the outside offers great inviting visuals...

   um...no comment...?

 

   Bar Budokan is on the corner near some other tiny tiny bars near the Shimokitazawa Town Hall, just up the road from the Shimo Disc Union.  Somewhat smaller than the actual Budokan, the bar has 3 seats at the bar, and another 3 or 4 chairs out on the footpath.  Very intimate.

   The bar staff at Bar Budokan has a small triangular work space, measuring (I would guess) around 2 meters triangular!  And he still has time for smiles!

   Now to my favourite Heavy Metal (and other) bars in Shinjuku.  This is the infamous Mother Rock Bar in Kabukicho, Shinjuku.  This shot (and the following) were taken with an ultra-wide angle lens, so the bars appear larger than they actually are.  Mother fills with about 9 or so people.  It's in a basement, is dark, and loud as hell.  Lots of Heavy Metal and Punk to choose from, they have a music request menu which also includes non-heavy metal as well.  But be prepared for loud, hard music all night long!

   Godz, just around the corner from Mother Rock Bar, is purely, evilly, Heavy Metal Only!  This bar is spacious compared to most of the bars featured here, but still on the small side, also in a basement, somewhat better lit, and an incomparable selection of Heavy Metal of all kinds!  Requests are also welcome, the louder the better!  Also a good place to go to try and catch up with touring heavy metal acts who drop in, and leave signed shikishi (square pieces of paperboard) which Godz has a nice collection of.   

   A recent discovery of mine, also up the road from Godz, still in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, the Neon Genesis Evangelion Bar.  A bar dedicated to the ground-breaking anime series, full of eva toys, posters, soundtracks, and ephemera, the tv plays episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion.  And the final kicker (as if that wasn't enough), the staff will shout 'Service Service' when you depart (which fans of the show will understand and appreciate).  It is also right next door to the One-Piece bar, which was closed at the time I wanted to grab a picture.  Ah well...next time.

   The Ayanami Rei side of the toy collection at the Eva bar, Shinjuku.  Outrageous!

   The Dhali Curry Bar, a bit further into Kabukicho, has drinks and food, and an exterior and interior decorated with tastefully arranged masses of thrown away techno-trash.  It's like drinking inside a computer!  Dhali, the owner, also runs Funk-time, a Psy Trance club, not far away. 

   Of course, when we are talking about tiny bars and Shinjuku, no visit is complete without trying one or 5 of the ultra-tiny bars in Golden Gai, a series of narrow alleyways crammed with over 200 stupidly small bars.  Anything goes, theme-wise here.  There was a bar dedicated to the Pink Floyd album Atom Heart Mother (that's specialised!), which I couldn't find this time around, so I'm not sure if it's still there or not.  But there's still plenty of choice.  This one is Bar Albatross (which also has another, equally tiny bar in Omoide Yokocho or Memory Lane near Shinjuku station) which attracts Japanese, local ex-pats and tourists alike.  The one in Golden Gai has 3 stories (well, 2 and a half), and is seriously cramped, but gorgeously decked out.

   A shot of the corner of Bar Albatross, Golden Gai

   Over to Roppongi quickly, a stupid all-nighter in Roppongi is likely to start out at Bar Mistral, also known as the Train Bar.  The exterior (shown here) looks like a train carriage that crashed into the wall and was converted into a bar.  The interior is, you guessed it, cramped, and decked out like a train carriage.

   Back to Kabukicho, and another loud request bar, bar Psy (which, as far as I can tell, has no Psy, but lots of heavy metal, and not heavy metal), just across the road and up a few floors from Mother Rock Bar.

   In Kichijoji, Harmony Ka Yokocho has around 100 shops, crammed in to a small sprawl, and the beer flows.  It's a great little area to photograph, and drink in.

My images do not belong to the Public Domain. All images in this portfolio are owned and © copyrighted by Peter Pascoe. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from myself is prohibited by law. All rights reserved.