Lately, I’ve been kind of reflecting on Japan Fashion Week in Tokyo. The more I think about it, The more I think it is kind of cool they give newer labels a bit more of the spotlight than you’d see in the events of the other cities. There really was a lot of good young talent on display there.. Thisis Garconshinois, a unisex line from Tokyo. VERY Japanese. Reminds me of what guys are wearing in Shibuya and Harajuku. Except for some of the jackets and that white shirt at about 2 minutes into it, its not really for me (a bit too young) but I like its pseudo bad-ass look. Check out what’s posted below…
Friday, March 7, 2008
JFW: A Look Back - Garconshinois.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Japan Fashion Week In Tokyo Schedule.
The events schedule for Japan Fashion Week, which kicks off on Monday, is available on the JFW site. The shows run until Sunday, March 16th and include Japanese labels Mikio Sakabe, writtenafterwards, Motonari Ono, Everlasting Sprout, Tiny Dinosaur, Garconshinois, Theatre Products and Calcium plus many others including Jill Stuart on Sunday. JFW Grand Schedule.
Cassie Ventura In GQ Magazine.
Cassie ventura, that mixed race, tasty morsel of a pop star is in GQ’s current online edition. I have the vaguest recollection of an interview to go along with the stunning pictorial by photographer Alexi Lubomirski and, oh yeah… a behind the scenes video of the shoot. That’s right. I think I'll add that here as well. If your heart can stand it, hit the link below to see the photo layout for yourself and be careful not to drool on your keyboard. That’s just not pleasant.
GQ.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
THELMA AOYAMA "MY DEAR FRIEND" (PV).
Kumi Koda Live Performances In Tokyo This May.
Kumi Koda will do four shows in Tokyo this May at the National Yoyogi Kyogijo. May 14th & 15th the shows start at 6:30PM; on May 17th she hits the stage at 6PM and on May 18th show time is 4PM. Tickets for all shows are ¥7,350. Call 03-3498-9999 for information and ticket availability.
Japanese DJ Kills Rowdy American Patron in Tokyo Club.
During most of my time spent living in Tokyo I worked at a nightclub in Azabu. Azabu is a fairly chic upscale community that is home to a few equally upscale restaurants, bars and nightclubs. One of the more famous Azabu clubs, Yellow, I blog about frequently. Due to Azabu’s close proximity to Roppongi, it is not uncommon to find foreigners sampling Azabu’s nightlife offerings, especially at places like Yellow, Super Deluxe, Warehouse, Heartland or any number of their many neighbors. I’m not taking any cheap shots at Roppongi, because the Roppongi today is not the Roppongi of yore, but let’s face it, there are more gaijins there than any other part of Tokyo, or Japan for that matter and it’s still can be a fairly rough part of town.
Despite the close proximity to somewhat troublesome Roppongi, rarely does anything ever happen to break the tranquility of Azabu. That is until last Wednesday night. Today I found a report in Japan Today about a 29 year old DJ killing a rowdyAmericanpatron while allegedly attempting to subdue the man after finding him shoving his way through the crowd at approximately 10:40PM.
Japanese people are notorious for minding their own business. Incidents of chikans, perverted men, molesting women on crowded subway cars are proof of that. I remember while living there, I was in a bar in Ikebukuro with some of my Japanese friends when a man began to smack his girlfriend around. As quickly as I stood up to stick my big American nose in my friends pulled me back down and said “that’s a private affair”. Considering those things, it’s easy for me to envision people standing around in mute witness while this tragic event took place without intervention.
The report says the DJ, Atsushi Watanabe, 29, choked and hit Tuker Richard Scott, 47 (probably Richard Scott Tucker, the Japanese always put last names first), from behind and the victim died an hour later at a local hospital. I don’t know. It would take some heavy duty beating to kill a man, especially if it was only with your bare hands. Is seeing someone shoving people out of their way reason for homicide?
As a former nightlife employee, DJ and impresario I can say that I’ve always looked out for my patrons and I can relate with Mr. Watanabe’s claim that he was just trying to protect the clubgoers. In nightlife, your patrons are your bread and butter and without them you have no livelihood. Furthermore, your regular patrons are something comparable to family members. I can’t say for certain what was the case here, obviously, not being there or knowing anything about the victim or his killer but, one would have to suspect there may possibly have been other sociological factors involved besides a guy wanting to play hero.
There have been recent crimes committed by American servicemen in Okinawa and other parts of Japan that have Japanese people, rightfully, up-in-arms. The Interracial dating that often occurs between foreign men and Japanese women, in a largely homogeneous society may tick some people off. My girlfriend and I have received a few less than friendly looks on the rare occasion in japan and here in the U.S. as well. Anti-American sentiment? Social Darwinism? Protecting people close to you? One psychologically f’ed up individual who happened to be a DJ?
The world may never know for certain but, such issues may have played even a subtle role. The DJ said is was accidental. Still something like this grabs my attention and makes me wonder how such an event could play out in the most unlikely place, in a night club on a week night in beautiful, quiet, fashionable Azabu, Tokyo. It’s a very unfortunate event that brings to mind that old nightlife truism, a DJ’s place is behind the decks.
Source: Japan Today.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Rihanna + Chris Brown + Jamaica = So Busted.
I was reading that fun, hip, “insanely addictive” celebrity gossip blog Popsugar this past weekend when I saw a post they had about Chris Brown & Rihanna getting their swerve on in Jamaica last week. The post was complete with photographic evidence of the two getting loose in a pool. I guess those matching tattoos they got a few months ago weren’t “just for fun” after all. There have been incriminating photos of the two of them before but nothing that packed as powerful a punch as frolicking in a pool on a romantic vacation together in the Caribbean. The romantic rumors that began last September are apparently quite true, but I’m sure they’ll stay mum on it ala Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Hit the link below for all the sweet details
Saturday, March 1, 2008
International Wota: Your Passport To The World of J-Pop.
If you’ve ever watched the early morning talk shows you’ll notice how they all have a segment where the hosts sit around and discuss all the morning’s headlines. International Wota would be that concept’s hipper, internet cousin. International Wota is a sort of round table of all the blogs that feature J-Pop or some other aspect of contemporary Japanese youth culture. Somewhat resembling a news feed, it provides a link as well as a brief description to various exciting and well done blog posts, including the blog you’re reading right now. Virtually all are in English and geared towards foreigners like myself who dig the culture, but a few include a little Japanese, so if you study like I do, you can multi-task. Or at least tell yourself that’s what your doing while websurfing. Anyway…if you want music, music reviews, J-Pop gossip, news articles, concert reviews, Japanese fashion, anime, the latest otaku gadgetry from Akihabara or J-pegs of all your favorite Japanese stars and idols, tune into International Wota, your one stop access to Japanese youth culture.
Take Flight With A.Viary.
Do you love Adobe’s photoshop but lack the dinero to plunk down on the product? Do you wish you had a viable option, and by viable option I mean a product or tool that allowed you the freedom to do everything photoshop allows you to do without sacrificing quality, control or intuitiveness? If so, then you should check out the A.Viary online suite of products.
A.Viary's full suite of products are taking flight right now, one beautifully envisioned bird at a time. The bird themed suite of tools cover everything from the image editing of Phoenix, Raven’s vector editing and Owl’s desktop publishing to Starling, video editing; to resizing courtesy of Woodpecker, the font editing Horus and the digital marketplace, Hawk.
The site has a product blog which keeps you fully up-to-date with each products development. So far, I’ve only just dabbled in Phoenix, poking around it’s tools, trying them and compared it’s tools with the control I am used to from my somewhat obsolete photoshop. Now that I’ve got a new camera, I’m about to get loose with it. I suggest people check out A.Viary now and build a permanent nest for the web application in their browser bookmarks bar.
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