I wrote about the new broadcast tower being built in Tokyo called the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) last summer. (Click here to read that post. I compare the new tower to the original 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower) in that post).
A promo ad showing what the skyline will look like in 2011 with the completed tower.
The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) is scheduled to be completed in late 2011 and stand 611 meters tall (making it the tallest structure in Japan, and one of the world’s tallest). The tower’s observatory will be open to the public in the spring of 2012.
Once this tower is completed it will stand out in Tokyo’s skyline. Far above the current 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower), which is 333 meters tall. The 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) will replace the 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower) as the Tokyo area’s broadcast tower and at that point all TV broadcasts will be digital (because all analog waves will be used for cellular phone service).
The "Tokyo Sky Tree" will tower above all else.
The construction of the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) began last year. Right now, it stands at 191 meters (less than 30% complete).
Here’s a recent photo of the tower’s construction:
"Tokyo Sky Tree", autumn 2009
Unlike the 「東京タワー」 (Tokyo Tower), which stands in Tokyo’s upscale 港区 (Minato Ward)…the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) is being built in the blue-collar, 下町 (down-town) area of 浅草 (Asakusa).
It will stand very close to the Asahi Beer headquarters. So, that probably explains why Asahi Beer sold their beer last summer in commemorative 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“) cans.
Asahi Beer's commemorative "Tokyo Sky Tree" can
Here’s a promotional video for the 「東京スカイツリー」 (“Tokyo Sky Tree“):
In 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo), there’s a famous intersection near the JR train station that, when the pedestrian signal turns green, all the cars have red lights and must stop and people can walk across the intersection in any direction.
The crosswalks are painted not only straight in four directions…but also diagonally.
Shibuya Crossing
(Actually there are a number of intersections around Tokyo like this…but Shibuya’s is most famous).
Well, London, England has just made a similar crosswalk at one of that city’s busiest intersections.
At the opening ceremony for the new crosswalk, the Mayor of London said that the intersection’s new crosswalk is entirely based on Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo.
In fact, there were Japanese 太鼓 (Taiko drums) drummers playing at the opening ceremony!
Yesterday McDonalds Japan opened a number of “McCafé” shops around Japan.
They offer seven types of coffee that aren’t available at regular McDonalds restaurants, as well as the two that are (“Premium Roast Coffee” and “Premium Roast Ice Coffee”).
The hot coffees are shown in red. Ice coffees are in blue.
The “Premium Roast Coffee” and “Premium Roast Ice Coffee” are available for ¥120 and ¥220 (depending on size) just like they are at the regular McDonalds restaurants.
The other coffees are:
HOT
カフェラテ (Cafe Latte) ¥190 / ¥240
カプチーノ (Cappuccino) ¥190 / ¥240
カフェモカ (Cafe Mocha) ¥250 / ¥300
キャラメルラテ (Caramel Latte) ¥250 / ¥300
ICED
アイスカフェラテ (Ice Cafe Latte) ¥190 / ¥240
アイスカフェモカ (Ice Cafe Mocha) ¥250 / ¥300
アイスキャラメルラテ (Ice Caramel Latte) ¥250 / ¥300
To promote the McCafé in Tokyo, they’re giving away free cups of hot カフェラテ (Cafe Latte) in specially designed paper cups for a few days.
It says in this ad above that from 3:00PM on 2009 November 3 (yesterday) until 2:59PM on November 6, the McCafé in 渋谷 (Shibuya, Tokyo) will be giving away the small hot カフェラテ (Cafe Latte)…and that the first 1000 customers will receive a special ceramic mug as well.
There will also be a McCafé truck giving the free latte coffees and it’s scheduled to be at Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Yurakucho, and Akasaka at various dates and times this month. (If you want to know when and where it’ll be at, then visit the McDonalds Japan website. (if you can’t read it and would like to know the details, then tell me which area or date you’re wondering about in the comments section of this post and I’ll reply)).
Today I went to the 「よみがえる浮世絵 －うるわしき大正新版画」特別展覧会 (Taisho-era Shin-hanga Ukiyo-e Prints Special Exhibit) at the 「江戸東京博物館」 (“Edo-Tokyo Museum“).
I like Japanese 浮世絵 (Ukiyo-e woodblock print) art. I have a few posts about exhibits I’ve seen before (click here to read one I wrote almost exactly twelve months ago).
But this exhibit was different.
Traditional 浮世絵 (woodblock print) art was done from the 江戸時代 (Edo era (17th – mid 19th centuries)) until the 明治時代 (Meiji era (1868 – 1912 (Japan’s modernization period))).
During the 明治時代 (Meiji era), traditional arts such as 浮世絵 (woodblock prints) began losing popularity because they were seen as dated and old-fashioned…and Japan was in a rush to “modernize” during this period.
But, ironically, while Japanese people were losing interest in 浮世絵 (woodblock prints), they were becoming chic and popular in America and Europe during these years.
So during Japan’s 大正時代 (Taisho era (1912 – 1926)) until the first half of the 昭和時代 (Showa era (1926 – 1989), a new, modern style of 浮世絵 (woodblock prints) emerged.
They’re called 「新版画」 (“Shin-hanga“…or “New style prints”).
Due to the popularity of 新版画 (Shin-hanga) in America and Europe during these years, many American and European artists came to Tokyo to learn the art of 新版画 (Shin-hanga) from the “masters”.
So the exhibit that I went to today had art by Japanese 新版画 (Shin-hanga) artists…as well as Japanese-style Shin-hanga prints by American and European artists.
It was very interesting!
Unfortunately after World War II, Japanese society changed alot and now there are very few 浮世絵 (ukiyo-e) or 新版画 (shin-hanga) artists today.
But there is good news, it seems that 新版画 (Shin-hanga) is currently becoming popular again both in Japan and overseas…so maybe more artists will study the craft and keep this tradition alive.
「増上寺の雪」 ("Zojoji Temple in Snow") by Kawase Hasui (昭和２８年 (1953))
「東京タワー」 ("Tokyo Tower") by Kasamatsu Shiro (昭和３４年 (1959))
「両国橋」 ("Ryogoku Bridge") by French artist Noel Nouet (昭和１１年 (1936))
Today is a Japanese holiday called 「文化の日」 (Culture Day).
On this day, the Emperor Of Japan give medals in a special awards ceremony to people who have contributed to Japan.
Today nearly 700 people who be awarded various medals for things ranging from people who conducted rescue operations in a boating accident to athletes to a video-game developer.
My wife’s grandfather received a medal from the Emperor years ago for having served in the volunteer fire department for fifty years.
Also on this day, there are numerous “culture festivals” around Japan.
I have been to many of them. Last year I wrote a post about a festival I attended on Culture Day. Click here to see that post…there are many photos and videos I took at the festival.
And some places around Tokyo will begin putting up their Christmas illumination and trees. Tokyo Tower and some branches of the Mitsukoshi Department Store will have their giant Christmas tree up from today until Xmas day.
Yesterday was a cold and rainy day. The high temperature was only 16° Celcius.
Today is forecast to be a sunny day…but a little colder than yesterday (the high temp will be 15° C).
I just watched the documentary about the heavy metal band “Anvil” titled “The Story Of Anvil“.
It was a fun movie. It’s like a real life “This Is Spinal Tap” (which is a “mockumentary”, or mock documentary, about a fake heavy metal band called “Spinal Tap”).
Anyways, I knew the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil in the ’80s. But I was never really a big fan of theirs.
Actually I had totally forgotten about Anvil for the past twenty-some years…until this movie was released last month.
But Japanese fans are famous for being dedicated for life. This documentary about Anvil begins with the band playing at a heavy metal festival in Japan in the mid-80s, and then it shows how they struggled for nearly three decades in obscurity in their small hometown in Canada…until they were offered the chance in 2006 to return to Japan and play at the LoudPark ‘06 heavy metal festival in front of a huge Japanese crowd again.
The behavior of the members of Anvil in this documentary makes me think that maybe “This Is Spinal Tap” is inspired by Anvil…even though the Spinal Tap mockumentary was released in the mid-80s.
For example, in the Spinal Tap movie, one member of that band changed the numbers on his amplifier so that the maximum volume read “11″ rather than “10″, and he thought that that made it louder than other amps.
And in the Anvil movie, the guitarist’s amplifier also goes up to eleven.
Also, the Spinal Tap band went to “Stonehenge” and were inspired by it and decided to add a giant 18-foot prop Stonehenge to their stage…but a misunderstanding led the prop to be designed at only 18 inches tall.
And in their movie, Anvil also went to “Stonehenge” for inspiration.
Another similarity between the two movies is that both bands struggled to become successful, often playing in front of audiences of less than six people…until they learned how popular they were in Japan.
And an usual coincidence is that “This Is Spinal Tap” was directed by Rob Reiner…and the drummer of Anvil is named Robb Reiner.
I’m convinced. Anvil is the real Spinal Tap.
Here’s the official trailer for “The Story Of Anvil“:
And here’s the scene from “This Is Spinal Tap” where the guitarist is convinced that having “11″ written on the amp makes it louder:
Did you know that the internet started this week forty years ago (in 1969 October)?
It was much simpler then than it is now and it was only used by the U.S. military as a way for computers to “talk” to each other.
Supposedly the first message sent between two computers via the internet was “L-O-G”…and it crashed at “O”!
Do you remember what Yahoo! looked like when it first started in 1996?
Here’s a screen-shot of an early Yahoo! page from thirteen years ago:
What "Yahoo!" looked like when it first started in '96.
Also, four hundred years ago today in 1609 October, the Italian scientist Galileo invented the first telescope.
It was nothing compared to today’s telescopes, but it helped Galileo discover that the sun and other planets don’t revolve around the Earth (which was the common belief at the time).
When he published his findings, the Catholic Church dubbed him a heretic and demanded that he recant lest he tried in court for heresy!
Earlier this month there was a 台風 (typhoon) that hit Japan. It was the first one to hit Japan directly in a number of years.
(Click here to read my post about it).
Well, the weather was very cool (today’s high temperature was 17° C in Tokyo), rainy and windy all day today…because there’s another 台風 (typhoon) near Japan.
Look at this weather map showing the rain over Eastern Japan.
This typhoon isn’t hitting Japan directly like the last one did.
Here’s a map showing the typhoon’s forecasted path…it was off the coast of Tokyo at 8:00PM tonight and it’ll be past northern Japan and closer to Russia tomorrow.
But the 天気予報 (weather forecast) from tomorrow til next Monday for Tokyo is for the rain to stop early tomorrow morning and then sunny and warmer!
Today we went to a shopping center and stopped for a coffee break at the McDonalds and I noticed the display at the 「サーティワン・アイスクリーム」 (Baskin-Robbins) next to the McDonalds.
The display was for Baskin-Robbins‘ Halloween campaign. So I took a photo of it:
We didn’t buy any of the Baskin-Robbins Halloween desserts.
But we do enjoy Baskin-Robbins ice cream once in a while.
Baskin-Robbins is an American ice cream franchise that is very popular in Japan.
In Japan, it’s not called “Baskin-Robbins” though. It’s called 「サーティワン・アイスクリーム」 (“Thirty-one Ice Cream“) or simply 「サーティワン」 (“Thirty-one“).
I haven’t been to a Baskin-Robbins in America in many years. I guess it’s been about twenty-five years since I’ve seen an American Baskin-Robbins.
But I was thinking that if Baskin-Robbins in America has Halloween themed desserts they’re probably quite different from the ones that Baskin-Robbins sells here in Japan.
So I checked their websites and sure enough Baskin-Robbins U.S. Halloween treats are completely different from Baskin-Robbins Japan’s.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been in Japan so long…but I think that food in Japan (including junk-food) is much better than the food in America.
The last time we visited America (in 2004), my family and I all enjoyed our holiday there…but we missed the food in Japan!
Compare for yourself Baskin-Robbins Japan and Baskin-Robbins U.S. Halloween desserts and tell if you don’t agree that the Japanese ones look much more appetizing.
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