Tokyo Fireworks

This scene shows fireworks over Tokyo at night during the winter of 2010. I shot it from the balcony of my apartment in Yotsuya where I was living at the time, and they appear to be coming from the direction of Yoyogi park, perhaps near the national stadium. It remains the only fireworks I have seen in Japan since arriving, and I’m still not sure what the particular occasion was for their appearance, though my roommate speculated that there was some kind of concert or event that precipitated it. I often go to see fireworks back in America, and was delighted when I heard the familiar sound of their explosions and rushed to film what was left. It’s also memorable to me because it took place right around the time I moved to my new apartment, and so reminds of my time in Yotsuya whenever I view it. Unfortunately I have never been around in Japan during most of the summer, when I am told is the best time to see fireworks in Tokyo and the surrounding areas, I hope to make this coming summer my first time to see them. I think that fireworks are something that are universally enjoyed by almost everyone, and it is interesting to me that they can come to symbolize many different kinds events with greatly varying meanings.

Shibuya Slackline

Here we have some random people performing what is known as ‘slacklining’ on the streets near Shibuya. The exact location is actually on route to Shibuya coming from Harajuku, and these guys managed to find a suitable place to enjoy themselves. Normally, this slackline is suspended between two trees and is often higher off the ground, but these people made do with what is available to them in the city. This caught my attention because I used to slackline myself a bit back home before I came to Japan, and this was the first time I had seen it or even knew that it existed here since coming to Japan.

The goal is essentially just to balance, and that alone can seem almost impossible for someone who has never tried it before. The line flexes and sways beneath you as you attempt to balance and it requires a great amount of coordination just to keep from falling, much less perform various tricks and maneuvers as you see being done in the video clip. I was impressed with their level of skill as they were were attempting quite difficult jumps. Eventually after I stopped filming I asked if I could try, and they were happy to let me. I played around on the slackline for about 20 minutes before leaving, and have since met up with those people again to slackline more in Yoyogi Park.

Tokyo Illuminations, Holiday '09

When I first came to Japan, I was living in Akasaka via Temple sponsored housing, and these are some of the sites I began to see as the Christmas season approached. In fact, one of the things that surprised me most was that I felt much more of a Christmas vibe coming from Tokyo than I ever did pack home, kind of ironic considering the fact that there is a majority Christian population where I am from and in Japan the holiday is stripped of any real meaning it might have.

Not being a Christian myself, Christmas is kind of a non-event for me, and seems to be mostly be about consumerism in any case, but I do enjoy the Christmas time atmosphere. Most of the footage comes from Akasaka and especially Roppongi and Tokyo Midtown where some extravagant light displays were set up for the better part of the holiday season. In particular, one drew my attention in Tokyo Midtown that consisted of what looked like hundreds of thousands of blue lights that could turn white to create various patterns and begin to resemble a sort of starry nighttime sky in appearance. Apparently the view is much more spectacular if you actually view it from a high building in the area, and at times it is seen forming a large white spiral reminiscent of the Milky Way Galaxy. I definitely intend to see if this light display will make a return this year.

Band Playing Outside of Tokyo Game Show '09

I took this footage directly after leaving the Makuhari Messe building for the Tokyo Game Show 2009, right by the entrance to Kaihin Makuhari station. Since coming to Japan, or perhaps I should say Tokyo, I have noticed that street performances have become a common thing I encounter in my day to day life. I currently live in Shimokitazawa, and previously lived in Koenji, and in both areas a see many regular performances, most often music, by young people on the side of the street.

Having only been in Japan for a few weeks at that time, this was one of the first street performances I remember seeing, and as such, I felt inclined to record the whole thing. I was immediately surprised at how well the band sounded live, having obviously practiced many times they all hit each note without a hitch throughout the entire song. I was also surprised at how good and catchy their music was, though I don’t know whether or not it is an original song or just a cover, I would be quite impressed to know that they wrote it themselves. Even today when I watch the video again, I get the song stuck in my head for awhile. Street performances like this one and the creativity and atmosphere they bring to the city are one of my favorite aspects of living in Tokyo, and I seem to run into them on an almost daily basis, fortunately.

Tokyo Game Show 2009

This is footage from Tokyo Game Show in September of 2009. At the time of this event, I had only been in Japan for about two or three weeks, and, being a video game fan, I knew I could not miss it. The area it takes place at is actually not Tokyo ironically enough, but the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba. After about a 35 minute train ride, I arrived at the building and purchased my ticket to enter. I knew I wanted to film as much as I could, and was disappointed to learn that camera use was very restricted, but I did my best to ignore that and managed to get quite a bit of footage anyway.

There were booths set of for every major game and console maker like Sony, Nintendo, Square Enix, and Capcom, and I had plenty of time to visit them all and check everything out, though I didn’t stand in line to actually play any games as the wait was simply to long. In addition, there was a large amount of cosplay being done, and I got a fair amount of footage of that too. I actually attended the show this year again and was able to get much more cosplay footage this time around. Both times I went were great and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be in Japan to attend them.

New Years at Zojoji

This is a short video I put together about my time at Zojoji Temple on New Years. A friend and I had previously been searching around online for quite a while trying to find an event to attend for New Years. This being Tokyo, there were plenty of options, the difficult part was choosing. Ultimately I took my friends recommendation and we decided to attend the event at Zojoji Temple were participants were to release 3000 balloons into the air at the strike of midnight.

I had never been to this particular temple before, and I was completely shocked by the number of people present when I arrived. All 3000 balloons had already been given out to those eager to release them, but I wasn’t very disappointed because I would get to the the show either way. The temple had a particularly fantastic atmosphere that cold night, with Tokyo Tower brightly illuminated, a full moon in the sky, and a large bon fire to keep warm.

Anticipation mounted as the time grew closer and everybody counted down the last 10 seconds. Everybody let go of their balloon and the lights came on, creating a very surreal scene as they drifted higher and higher. I don’t think I could have picked a better place to spend the new year, and I may just return to Zojoji this year if I decide to stay in Japan.

Final Fantasy XIII Launch Day

This is footage I took while waiting for the release of the video game Final Fantasy XIII at Tsutaya in Shibuya in December of 2009. This is, to date, one of my most memorable experiences in Tokyo thus far. I had been anticipating the release of this game for quite awhile, particular because it was going to be released while I was in Japan, and released in the US almost four months later in March, meaning my friends back home would be quite envious of my procurement.

An event for the game’s release was to be held at the Tsutaya in Shibuya with many stars and people related to the game’s development such as Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada attending. Many people line up outside of stores overnight for the release of a game or product, and I decided to do it myself essentially on a whim. The catch was though, that while everyone who waited would get the game, only the first 100 people in line would be allowed into the actual release event. I was number 12 in line I believe. I was also the only foreigner in the line out of what seemed to be hundreds, and I managed to have some conversations with other waiters who were curious if I knew what I was waiting for. In total, I waited in line for about 12 hours.

Inside the event, cameras were strictly prohibited. Because I was one of the first in line, all of the people standing in front of me with cameras were press from video game websites and magazines. Still, I did my best to film the event despite the prohibition, which is why the video angles are not always so great, because I was trying to conceal my camera from view. In fact, after looking online, the footage I took of the event is the only amateur footage of that event that exists, and as such has gotten thousands of views on my youtube page. After I bought the game and walked out, I was rushed by English speaking video game press to do interviews, because I was the only foreigner who attended, which I gladly did. All in all it was a great experience, and one which I am not soon to forget.