A Week in Tokyo 87

Trying to keep up with the A Week in Tokyo series but for the time being all the events are a few months late meaning that today we cover everything that happened during the month of April ><

I actually prepared and uploaded this post in June but due to AX only managed to write up the text today ^^
Its always interesting however to see how much life has changed over the span of just a few months.

First photo taken during a visit to the Shinmaruko [新丸子] area - this is snapped in the shotengai.

Popped into the doll shop Parabox in Shinmaruko to check out their selection of doll accessories such as clothes, wigs, stands and wot not.
If you are interested in visiting then here are directions.

Picked up a DeLonghi Cappuccino and Espresso maker from Amazon for about 18,000 yen - the results in the coffee post.

Ramen lunch. Lately there have been a load of TV shows in Japan about how popular ramen is outside of Japan. You got decent ramen places in your neck of the woods? If so share with your fellow comrades in the comments.

On April 1st I announced that I was making my own line of dolls but decided to mix in the usual lies with the truth which lead to many confused people ^o^

What I didn't expect was for it all to turn into reality again so soon...

And this is what Mirai Suenaga looked like back in April - little did she know that she was going to turn into a household appliance.

I spend a lot of my time in Kanamachi - an area in East Tokyo which is known for its many factories that manufacture toys. Takara Tomy is also located here.

One of the factories I use to help me electroplate and make molds is Kamijo who have also received awards for the quality of their work.

I'll be taking videos and photos of the electroplating process for season 3 of Culture Japan for you to see.

Getting a bit of drama time in - Aragaki Yui [新垣結衣] so cute!

Japanese drama's are another excellent way to learn Japanese and more about the culture too. How many of you regularly watch them?

This post contains a poll, click here to view.

Visiting the Bandai Namco boss and his team at their HQ which I speak a little bit about in the gaming post.

Hmmm. Not good - the fried zucchini on the right was made to look like a full dish with cooking paper underneath that was rolled up into a ball ><

Met up with a few comrades at Lazona to watch Iron Man 3 together.

Tidying up doll clothes and accessories which get out of hand from time to time >< This was back in April - now the office is completely filled with Smart Doll parts ><

In April I announced that the Japanese government appointed me as a member of the "Creative Industries Internationalization Committee" [クリエイティブ産業国際展開懇談会] (CIIC) which you can read more about here.

Perfect product for a Shingeki tie-up.

Had a very impromptu Culture Japan Dindins which I only managed to announce on my Facebook and Twitter. Despite the 2 day notice, a load of comrades gathered from all over the world ^o^

Checking out the Musashikosugi area on a Sunday with wifey.

It says that 81% of men worry about the smell of their head?!

This post contains a poll, click here to view.

Lunch at Nagomi.

Heading back to base from Kanamachi - caught up in traffic. While Tokyo is a huge metropolis and you would think that the highways are *always* jammed - its actually not that bad all the time - not as bad as the ones I've encountered in Malaysia, Thai, Indonesia and LA ><

The highways over here are being constantly monitored for traffic conditions and that info is communicated in a timely manner to all car navigation systems so that folks can reroute or get off the highway for a rest.

In some cases, they increase lanes for jammed routes too.

In this case its best to get off the highway and have some noms and wait for the traffic to die down.

At a service station with a load of other folk who thought it best to wait out the traffic too.

Pick up some snacks for the rest of the journey back to base. Still jammed but not as bad as before ^^;

Another day in Kanamachi - late lunch after a morning full of meetings regarding the Smart Doll production.

The bicycle is a common form of transport for most Japanese. To avoid this sea-of-bicycles dilemma, Japan has come up with underground bicycle parking.

This post contains a video, click here to view.

Can't remember where I had this >< Sukiya?

Only recently found out that the Colonel Sanders statues can only be found outside KFC in Japan.

Q: What does it take to fix a stuck shop shutter in Japan?
A: 2 police and 8 fire fighters...

Anime nail service at the local shopping arcade.

Picked up a few WD 2.0TB USB 3.0 HDD's from Amazon for about 17,800 yen each.

Working in TV and the Mirai Suenaga business means tons of disk space needed. A 30 min TV show is about 46GB while files for print can go up to a few GB's ><

One thing I miss about the UK - Cadbury Creme Eggs! Thanks to everybody who keeps giving me some of late!

This post contains a video, click here to view.

And this is obviously where I store those Creme Eggs ^^

My neck of the woods by night - Musashikoyama.

Some Japanese instant noodles taste as good as what you get in the restaurants ^^

A bunch of comrades over at the office.

Mini doll show ^^

This is what we usually feed our guests with. Om nom nom.

How many of these folk do you recognize?

Looks like the Eva girls shave too.

Mc Dees do taste good from time to time.

When you search for "Only in Japan" you usually get weird Japanese stuff.
I should start a series so that the good "Only in Japan" starts to show up in search results too.

More often than not, when folks drop stuff in the road - somebody else would pick it up and put it aside to prevent it from being trodden on.

I know two people who dropped wallets - they ran back to find it in the same place but was put on the side of the road. Only in Japan.

Now that I'm manufacturing my own dolls, I've got a legitimate reason to have nekkid dolls displayed around the place ^^;

Seriously though - I've been working on the oppai part a lot and have been through a couple of molds and modifications to get them just right.

Tis been a while since we had noms at Ikea...

...but for some reason didn't taste as it used to ^^;

This time at Ikea, we were looking for furniture for the new office - they don't do the Vika glass tables anymore though ><

Our trusty steed.

Meetings and photography in the holy land - Akihabara.
Check out the latest listed up below.

Meetings with the big bosses at DOLK and Dollism.

Cutie Miku.

The Little Mermaid gets the theatrical treatment in Japan.

This post contains a video, click here to view.

Heading to more meetings at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Meeting with the top folks at TBS broadcasting - they are also members of the Creative Industries Internationalization Committee.

More meetings in Akihabara. I love this place!

The new ramen place had queues of people lining up when they first opened but in order to generate a faster turnover of customers, they blasted the air conditioning at sub zero temperatures even though the temperature was quite cool at the time.

Their strategy worked as the only thing I wanted to do was to eat up as quickly as possible and get out of the place.
Needless to say - customers are not stupid. Folks don't line up outside their place anymore.

Back checking out the Musashikosugi area looking for offices.

Nyan.

Probably looks very normal to a Japanese but looks fabulous to my eyes. I love the streets of Tokyo.

By Musashikosugi station.

Ganbare wifey! She looks after the most difficult part of the business - accounting and HR.

3DS Castlevania Lords of Shadow all cleared! I'd pay more for DLC but there is none. I love the Castlevania series.

This post contains a video, click here to view.

There is *a lot* of TV shows on TV featuring foreigners of late. This one featuring foreigners singing Japanese tunes. Its time for Indonesia.

I love wifeys Laksa ><

Home cooked noms.

Krating Daeng! Did you know Red Bull originated in Thailand?

This post contains a video, click here to view.

I first discovered the chocolate bar Beng Beng in Indonesia and then discovered they have it in Thailand too - now our office is filled with it as gifts ^^;

Yakiniku lunch where you cook it yourself.

Checking out the new Korean restaurant at Togoshi Ginza.

Some Japanese restaurants put a lot of effort into the exterior decor.

>< >< >< ><

Picked up the Revoltech Pliers - very useful especially for getting those joints out of Nendoroid parts. This came out ages ago but if you want them then maybe have a lookie on one of the retailers below.