Sakura Spring

It's Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Time, a very important time in Japan, so I went to see what all the fuss was about. Sakura viewing, or o-hanami, might be THE most important seasonal event so most Japanese try to find a day from their busy schedules to go out and enjoy them. A common way to do o-hanami is to go to a public space with many trees, bring or own or store-bought o-bento (lunchbox), and sit under the trees picnic-style eating and maybe drinking 0-sake. Places in Tokyo range from small public spaces to large public parks, most notably Ueno, Yoyogi, or Shinjuku Park. Some of the larger parks can get very crowded and sometimes the salarymen enjoy the sake a little too much and things can get unruly, or so I've heard. I went to Iidabashi where many Sakura line the river banks. There is a cafe on the water there too, but the line was about a mile long, so I just walked along the banks and took some pics, enjoying all the activity and the spectacular flowers. I must say, I was more impressed then I had imagined. I mean, we have Cherry blossoms in the US too and I thought, "how different can it be?". All I can say is it's really amazing and has to be seen to be appreciated. Beautiful but short-lived though they are, the Japan's Sakura are a good reason alone to come for a visit here.

As with all my postings on this blog, you can click on pics for a larger view and use the BACKSPACE key on your keyboard or your browser's BACK button to return to the blog. Enjoy!

Gettin' Around

Ok..so this is like every bike in Japan. I still don't quite get it. Japan is SO advanced in technologies like cell phone, electronics, etc.. but when it comes to bikes, it's our 1950s standard bike, the kind Grandma used to ride. Maybe the bike is just seen as utilitarian or something..that's theonly thing I can think of, but EVERYONE - young, old, man, woman..has this kind of bike, for the most part. You do see some sportier models once in while, like the one to the right, or a mountain bike, but they are few and far between. I guess its a case of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" kind of thing. Also, no one rides in the streets - its all sidewalk and you know when one is coming up fast on you when you hear the tinny-sound of that old bell...watch out, they ride fast!!

Champagne at the movies?

Not that I indulged in that at 2000 yen/glass (about $18 US), but you can also get a beer for about 8 bucks!! Pretty cool! I went to see my first movie here at The Roppongi Hills Toho Cinema. Sin ce there are lots of foreigners, so there are lots of English movies (not dubbed) with Japanese subtitles. It was really a shock to watch a movie in a theater where the patrons were actually QUIET during the showing (no cell phone talking, shootings, or talking to the screen)! That is/was a big pet peeve of mine, so its nice to know I can go back to the movies. The seats are someone smaller (no huge American butts to fit into them and also more people/unit of space probably) lol. But the drinks and snacks were just as expensive, if not more so. Oh well, for the other benefits, I will pay more for my champagne at the movies any day!

New Canon Job

Thought I'd post some progress shots of latest 3d project I'm working on ... should be a nice spot, but the render times are killing me!! these images took about 15 minutes each for my PC to render... ok, but multiply that by 30 images/second for 80 second spot. If you do the math, then if I am lucky, it will be done before my visa expires! lol : )

Trip to Kyuushuu

I went last weekend on a short trip to Kyuushuu, which is in the Southwest among Japan's 4 main islands. Took about an hour or so by plane. Kyuushuu was very different from Tokyo area. It's more countryside and their dialect (ben) is very strong. Kyuushuu is known for very fresh fish (water in much cleaner in this area than Tokyo), such as mentaiko. Also Yatai, which is a style of eating fresh but inexpensive food in a makeshift tent is very popular. Many people come to eat ramen this way (like me! its the real reason for the trip lol)

The main city Fukuoka is rather urban. It's clean (like everywhere here), but very congested with cars. The city's other claim to fame is its red-light district, which is similar to Kabukicho I guess. No, I didn't partake in any of that fun, honest!


One the first day, Friday, I had tai ochaduke. Ochaduke is basically tea-soaked rice with some different topping you can put on top, in this case tai, which is red snapper. It was really very tasty. After that, went to visit Dazaifu Temple, which is famous in the area. There were many people taking tours. One the main attractions here is umegaemochi, which is like regular mochi (filled with sweet-bean paste, anko) but the outer rice shell, while still soft and chewy, isnt quite as stretchy as regular mochi. They bake them in these minature iron cups and then you eat them piping hot. I really had to restrain myself since I love mochi, I resigned
myself to just 3 : (




There is more of course to Dazaifu Temple besides the local mochi, such as the beautiful grounds complete with koi, omikuji (a fortune you get at temples for 100 yen, in this case pink for spring), and the ume (plum) trees were starting to bloom. Too early for the sakura (cherry), even for this warmer climate. Still nice to see some color!






There was also this guy with his trained monkey doing a show. Pretty funny. His (the guy's) shirt says "Every day is Hell"...lol


The hotel was very nice and was a JAL (Japan Airlines) resort. Lot's of amenites, great views of the surrounding sea and islands. This area is very new and built up, made mostly for visitors. Felt kind of Disney-ish in that way. Anyway, very comfortable and great service!


The next day was a trip to a local onsen, or hot-spring. Although this was my second time going to onsen, I still felt a bit apprehensive since being the only gaijin (foreigner) and walking around naked from pool to pool takes some getting used to. There is also a very specific protocol about washing before entering the pool, to be done in certain order and where you put your washcloth, etc. It's a little confusing at first, but I think I am a pro by now haha. The women's and men's areas are separate, in case you wondered. It was very very relaxing...

That night, my friends took me for some fresh local seafood and then for the main event, yatai de ramen! For appetizer before the ramen, we had some fresh squid. No, I mean fresh. A bit too fresh, maybe. It had been cut, into strips, alive, right before serving to us and it was still moving slightly (cutting was done before we saw it). This is normal in Japan, and assures highest freshness, which is imperative when eating raw foods, but as an american, we are not used to seeing our food still moving and my compassionate side felt terrible about what must be going on for that little guy. That said, we all (flesh eaters that is) eat the same thing, only we are far removed from the process that led up to our meats cut and packaged on the supermarket shelf. Is it different cause we dont see it? Was I overreacting? Feeling a hypocrite in that way, I tried it and it was very good, no doubt. Made me think though, which I guess is a good thing. sorry for getting a bit philosophical..

After, the squid incident, we went for tonkotsu ramen, which is special variety in the area. It has chashu (boiled pork) and thus, a bit on the oily side, but very very tasty. The yatai place was called 'nanbaa-wan' (number one) and it was! There was a line waiting to get into this little shack, eve in the pouring rain! You have to get it, order and eat fast so others can get a chance. Of course I ordered kaedama (second helping of noodles) and in Kyuushuu, you order the firmness of the noodles by saying "bari kata de", which means roughly "very firm please".
It was hands down, THE best bowl of ramen i have ever eaten. I think i heard angels singing while I was eating it..haha








The last day was a trip to Ramen Stadium (oh, you thought I was done with the ramen?). Very similar to the Ramen Museum in Yokohama in that, there are varieties of Ramen from all over Japan, each one unique in its own way. Gosh, imagine traveling all over Japan and sampling each type of ramen? man ... but I digress. As expected, another long wait, but well worth it. Not quite as good as Nambaa-wan's but still way above par. After that with some time to kill before flight back to Tokyo, just did some shopping and even played a little bowling. Same as USA, but mid-game light show and a prize offered if you get more than a certain number of pins down during that time...pretty fun. Didn't have my shoe size though : (


Overall, great trip and thanks to my friends for all their generosity. Nice break to get away from Tokyo for a while. Back to the concrete jungle : )

New 3D Compositing Workflow

Yea, I know...but I am not that busy at the moment and the geeky part of me (which probably means most of me) was really blown away by this technique I just learned on how to render out 3d elements for compositing from the good folks who make Vray, The Chaos Group(tm symbol here!). For those of you following at home, or if there are any Photoshop or Compositing peeps out there, this might be kinda cool/useful to you....

I just put a teapot in this scene to test it out..it gets the shadows, reflections, everything without having to use any alpha channels or matte materials in 3ds max. Woo hoo!

Don't be a bully!

I saw this colorful character the other day performing while walking around Shibuya. He was singing a song encouraging young people to not do "ijime" which is a form of bullying among students that is a ongoing worry in Japan as there have been an upsurge in student suicides recently. I liked his hat ...

Aquarius sports drink spot airing

Glad this spot is finally airing. I'm still trying to get a full res copy for my reel (the production company is kind of strict about releasing spots), but in the meantime, I just wanted to post this link to the online site for Aquarius Vitamin Guard, which has the 15 sec and 30 second version of the spot.

Small 'quake' the other day ..

was about 3 or so on the Richter scale (out of 7)...was enough to
wake me up at 3 AM...whole building was shaking pretty good. lasted about 30 seconds. For Japanese, a 'jishin' of 3 is kind of nothing but, but to me is was definitely kinda freaky :0

Oshougatsu Part 2: Hatsumoude and Fukubukuro

Continuing from the last post, the second part of the holiday of Oshougatsu is 'Hatsumoude' (taking the trip to the local shrine), and Shopping sprees. Going to the local (or a famous one) shrine can be done either at midnight on New Year's eve, if you are brave enough to bear the cold and long lines, or in the days right after. I went that night and it was really cold! At least you get a warm cup of 'amazake' at some shrines (Amazkae kind of warm rice mile with some sake added. I guess its like eggnog a bit).

Going to shrine is not so much a religious thing as it is a cultural one. I understand from friends that Shinto its not considered religion, since it's so deeply ingrained in the culture and has less emphasis on money, as opposed to the way Buddhism has evolved here, but I digress. Bascially you wait until its your turn and then approach the shrine, bow, throw 5 yen in (its like 5 cents and is pronounced 'go-en' is a play on a word meaning 'luck'), clap your hands to awaken the gods, and make your wish. After that there are various fortune and luck-related services available. Some people write their wish for the new year on boards called 'ema'. I have read things like "help me pass this exam", or things like that. Another thing some people opt to do is get an 'omamori' or talisman/protector for the year. You can get different ones for different things you want luck in such as health, school, travel, etc. When the next year comes, you bring the one from last year and they burn it there at the shrine in a ceremony, you dont throw them away.

Lastly, you can get 'omikuji', which is your fortune for the year. Basically you rattle a box with wood sticks inside and pull one out. Each has a number and the number corresponds to your fortune. Even for some Japanese, they can be hard to interpret, but basically you get 'daikitchi' (bigluck), 'kitchi' (luck), or 'kyou' (not so great luck). I dont know what mine is, I have to find someone to interpret it for me! lol

For more worldly pursuits, there are plenty of incredible shopping sales going on, where vendors cut prices from 10 to 50 percent and most take advantage of this, since living here is kinda expensive. Instead of buying off the rack, a lot of stores offer what is called 'fukubukuro' which means lucky bag. You pay a set price, much lower than the value of the contents, but what's in the bag is unknown in most cases. The fact it's such a low price (like half or more) can be a good deal if you like most of the items in that store. I am not much of a gambler so this didn't appeal to me. I did get a nice deal on a winter coat, but waited in probably the longest line of my life! It went around the store 2 times and took about an hour and a half. It’s holiday so people have time and surprisingly no one lost their tempers or got impatient about it. They say 'shouga nai' which means 'there is little you can do about it' (so dont get upset!)

Oshougatsu Part 1: Osechi

New Year's is a great time to really experience a lot of tradition in Japan as there are so many things going on. It basically runs from Dec 31st to Jan 3rd and the whole country takes a break from busy life to be with family, celebrate and relax. I was lucky enough to be invited to experience this festive tradition yet again this year in the traditonal way. The main parts of of 'Oshougatsu' (New Year) seem to be eating, games, sleeping, TV, shopping, and a visit to the local Shrine. I will cover the Shrine visit and shopping in the next post. Ok, first the food (my favorite part)...

Many different types of food are eaten during this time, the centerpiece being the 'Osechi' which is made up of variety of pickled and stewed vegtables, sashimi and dried fish, meat, and other delicacies which are served in stackable, black-lacquered trays. Basically all the ingredients represent the wishes for long life, wealth, happiness, and a fresh start to the new year. Other foods come before or after the osechi, such as soba noodles called 'toshi-koshi soba', which represents the wish for long life (long soba noodles, get it?). Then on New Year's you eat 'ozouni', which is a delicious soup with warm, gooey omochi(glutenous rice cakes) inside. Its a favorite for most people and certainly one of mine.

All these yummy foods are enjoyed traditionally around a 'kotatsu', which is a low table that is heated and has a blanket attached to keep in the heat. Usually only houses that have 'tatami' (straw-mat floor) have kotatsu. Everyone sits under the kotatsu's heated blanket and then lies down under it to watch TV, sleep and roll around (gorogoro), and then wake up and eat again. Its really an eating and sleeping marathon with lots of leg-kicking as members jockey for position under the table.

Speaking of TV, there are some great shows that people do not miss during this time. The biggest are the fighting events (Pride and K-1) and 'Kouhaku' (means red and white which are celebration colors in Japan). Kouhaku splits famous singers into 2 teams , red and white, as they compete for the audience's vote for the prize. Everyone pretty much flips between these 2 types of shows between naps.

Oshougatsu reminds me a lot of Thankgiving with all the emphasis on family, eating and napping, etc. Its a great family holiday and a needed break from the daily grind for everyone, I think. I feel lucky to have been able to participate in it. Here are some more pics of the osechi I enjoyed...

Christmas Eve Wedding

I was fortunate enough to be invited to my boss's 'kekkonshiki' (wedding) which was the first time I ever attended a Japanese weddding. Even though it was western style for the most part, the cuisine and a lot of the details of the ceremony had touches of Japanese traditon to them. There was a small chapel service and then the reception was held at the Teikoku Hotel which is right next to the Koukyo (emperor's palace). It's a very ritzy place for weddings and everything was 5-star for sure. I had to make a short toast as i accepted a gift (as no surprise, there is lots of gift-giving in all directions) so I made it short and sweet. I felt very honored to be included as i was the only gaijin there. Some pics are of the bride and groom, as well as myself with some of my coworkers. Kampai! (Cheers!)

Colonel Sanders is Santa Claus

Funny excerpt I found on the web that may shed some light on what Christmas is like in Japan
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Although Christmas is not the enormous money spinner that it is in the West, clever marketers have twisted the theme of Christmas two ways, turning it into Romanchikku Kurisumasu (Romantic Christmas) and Kentucki Furaido Kurisumasu (Kentucky Fried Christmas).

Romantic Christmas is the catchall title for a practice that caught on during the high-rolling late 1980s, when the yen doubled in value overnight and ordinary Japanese people found out that they could pretty much buy whatever they wanted. There was a boom in luxury goods; if it was expensive, exclusive, and trendy, there was an eager market in Japan. Foreign food, especially French food, became very popular. Top chefs were lured to Japan with the promise of enormous salaries and prime locations in the huge new hotels that were springing up all over Tokyo and Osaka. Women signed up for classes on how to decipher the mysteries of fish forks and sorbet spoons. Everyone dressed up in their best designer dresses and bespoke suits and went out for dinner.

I don't know who first spotted the trend, or who had the brilliant idea of exploiting it, but someone noticed that quite a few of the couples in the dining room were making more than dinner reservations; they were booking overnight stays at the hotels where they had eaten. Foreign food was sexy, and big, soft, western-style beds were sexier still. Soon hotels were offering bed-and-room packages, choosing December as the best time for a marketing push. Most salaried Japanese receive a large end-of-year cash bonus, and the brutal work hours enforced by company discipline are relaxed in the face of the looming New Year's holiday.

The market was there, the product was there, and all that was needed was the genius advertising line "Romantic Christmas". Expensive dinners went from being a luxury to a necessity, posh hotel rooms from being a businessmen's perk to a lovers' playground.

Romantic Christmas has informed an entire generation's idea of what Christmas should be: tasty, sexy, and expensive. Fourteen years of economic recession have forced most people to cut back on the expensive part; while upscale hotels are booked up for the season, prix-fixe dinners at less expensive restaurants have gained in popularity in recent years. Smaller restaurants have the disadvantage of being bedroom-free, but love hotels, which rent by the hour, are ubiquitous and popular. Places like the Hotel Zoo and Chapel Coconuts might not be the best places to invoke seasonal romance, but the Chapel Christmas hotel in Yokkaichi, with its larger-than-life Santa perched on a cornice, holds a bountiful choice of seasonally themed rooms.

Japanese Christmas cake is a triumph of pragmatism over romanticism. Japanese like their cake fluffy, creamy, and fruity. No heavy, brandy-soaked fruitcake for them; they simply take what they like, plop a Santa on top, and proclaim it festive. Another difference between western fruitcake and Japanese Christmas cake is that fruitcake lasts forever, but Kurisumasu kehki is at its best for only one night. Nobody would buy a Christmas cake after the 25th--hence the phrase "Christmas cake" to describe a woman who remains unmarried by her 25th birthday.

The fried chicken comes courtesy of Colonel Sanders. Thirty years of intensive marketing have convinced the Japanese that chicken is the traditional Christmas food in North America. This belief is not a measure of Japanese gullibility: most Japanese have never seen or eaten turkey, and cooking and consuming a bird that large--or even having an oven big enough to roast it in--would strike most people here as being excessive and slightly deranged, like making omelettes out of ostrich eggs.

All the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in Japan have a life-size fibreglass figure of Colonel Saunders posted outside their doors, crafted in realistic detail down to the natty black cane and Masonic pin on his lapel. In mid-November, the Colonel's customary white suit is swathed in red, transforming him into Colonel Santa. Once the white-trimmed red hat goes on his head, the resemblance is uncanny; just like Santa, only with beady eyes and less beard than one might hope. Then the sales pitch begins in earnest: buckets of chicken featuring the Colonel's Christmas face; boxes of chicken printed with holly designs; giant banners showing a Christmas feast of fried chicken, corn salad, hot Christmas biscuits, and Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas cake, with a tiny log cabin and snowman planted in the creamy white topping.

Ichou no ki

Fall color is still very vibrant here, even in December. Its still very mild compared to what it would be in the Northeast US right now I think. These are some shots I took at a kind of famous place for 'Ichou no ki' (ginkgo trees) called Ichou namiki. This double-lined row of Ginkos is a popular spot for shooting TV 'dorama' (dramas). The street becomes a thick yellow carpet and the particular smell of gingkos is unmistakalble!

New sports drink commercial

Been busy working on a kind of big spot - one for a Gatorade-type of sports drink that is distributed by Cola-Cola here in Japan called Aquarius.

These drinks are becoming really popular here and you see more of them as you do soda in the stores these days. This is a closing animation I am doing of the product at the end of the commerical, but it will be also be used at the end of other ones during the winter season. I hope it comes out well! When the whole commercial is assembled, i will post it. Here is just the animation by itself (not too exciting)...

I think my coworkers do not sleep ...

I just can't figure it out..I have been working a minimum of 12 hours a day, sometimes more, and I am still the first one to go home! Do Japanese workers sleep? I really don't know if they do. And they arent in a bad mood or complain about it either! Its kind of freaking me out. I am so tired and they all seem fine. I don't get it. I guess I will get used to it (I hope. I knew asians were hard workers, but this I had no idea. I feel like a wuss ...sigh

The shell from hell

Looooong week last week at work, but cool project. We have to do a opening for a TV special called "The Human Mystery" and its about people who have developed super-senses (like the blind who have amazing sense of touch or hearing, etc..). Anyway, for the opening I had to model this bizzare shell (shown upper-left in the above image) that is apparently the only one in the world like it. Needless to say I was a bit anxious about handling it while trying to figure out how to model it. In the opening, a guy will be 'perceiving" the shell with his eyes closed, and the 3d shell will be kind of rotating and turning in between his hands from a wireframe to the rendered version.
Below is a turntable of the model so far...

Great Fall Weather

Hey everyone..took a break from the concrete jungle to go see some trees and grass. There are few here in the center of Tokyo! Went to Yoyogi Park, which is in Shibuya..it was a very mild day and lots of activity. There are tons of 'basement bands' kind of lining the entrance..some are really good and some are goofy. One guy was wearing Ichiro's baseball uniform and explaing how 'poo' was going to be used as a bomb in the future to wipe out civilization. He had charts and graphics too. Very professional. Yep, there is something for everyone there. Another guy was wearing pink tights, a feather headband and singing 'Like a Virgin'. Sorry I didn't get a shot of that. Maybe its for the best in hindsight...

Oden

Went for Oden yesterday, which is a favorite cold-weather dish here in Japan. I guess it would be like a stew on a cold day in the US. Oden can be made at home, but I went to an Oden-ya san to eat it. It was soooooo good! It has tofu, daikon rasdish, hard boiled eggs, enoki mushroom, fishcake, many more. The sauce (tsuyu) is light or strong tasting depending on the area. Here in the Kanto (Tokyo) region it tends to be strong, but in Kansai (Kyoto or Osaka) its a bit more diluted my friend told me. Anyway, I cant wait to go again. Yum! :P

First CG job done ...

Just finished working on a spot for a cosmetic cream for a company named Pink Cross(?)..Kind of like an infomerical thing...had to model and render the gel/cream, which was harder than I thought...came out Ok though i think..here are some pics..will post an animation later...and yes, that's right..the box says 'eat me' lol