Plain Talk
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2024Small Cinemas in Tokyo by Hiroko
Small-scale movie theaters are often called “mini-theaters.” They have interesting features which set them apart from large cinemas; some show double features while others specialize in independently produced movies. You may find works by unknown directors or works with strong quirks there. If you look, I’m sure you’ll find some movies in a language you understand or those with English subtitles.
I remember Ginrei Hall in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, dearly. The second-run theater closed its doors in 2022 after entertaining movie fans nearly half a century. The entrance area from which the projection room could partially be seen and the curtained screen beyond the 200 or so red seats gave a classic feel. Watching two movies back-to-back for four hours made me feel like I was in another world. I would buy a 10,000-yen annual pass, which allowed me to come across something that I wouldn’t have bothered to watch in a cinema otherwise. They turned out to be surprisingly good at times. Also, if I found a film too boring, I could leave without hesitation, because I didn't pay the admission fee for it. Once, because my workplace was close by, I watched the first half of a movie during my lunch break and the second half after work.
When I heard that Ginrei had closed down, I was disappointed and missed it. I pictured the familiar face of the man who sold tickets at the narrow counter. The main reason for the closure was the deterioration of the building, I read, so I hope it will reopen someday with the same atmosphere and service as before.
The building of Theater Image Forum in Shibuya, which opened in 2000, is a must-see for its architectural beauty. The combination of the concrete and glass frame, round windows and stairs inside creates its distinctive personality. I watched two of the films by American film director Kelly Reichardt that were featured from the end of April to the beginning of May, as well as the German film ``System Crasher.'' All three works touched a chord with me.
There is Pole Pole Higashi Nakano in Higashi Nakano. I haven't watched anything there yet, but it always runs unique movies, mostly documentaries. As I write this, a documentary film "94-Year-Old Gay" is on. It's about this old man in Osaka who has kept his sexual orientation secret until today and never had a boyfriend. "In my times it was a taboo," he said. He's very open about it today, and seems to have friends and a boyfriend. I’d like to make time to go watch it.
There are many other mini theaters in Tokyo. I suppose there are many difficulties keeping them going. I hope that they'll thrive. We can support them by visiting and watching movies in order to continue sharing the joy of quality movies.
Plain Talk
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback JANUARY 25. 2021Japan Movie Experience by Esteban Lopez
Ever since I can remember I always enjoyed going to the movies. As a young boy, I couldn’t wait for Saturday to roll around. At the movie theatre near my home, I used to go and watch the matinee double feature that was always playing a Godzilla and a Bruce Lee movie back to back. I was in absolute rapture as my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time ― from the beginning of the first film to the end credits of the second film. And I remember the theatre being almost filled to capacity, but it was so quiet. I often miss those times now.
Recently, in American movie theaters people are talking on their phone or texting on their phone during the movie. Case in point, when I was watching the movie Remember Me in America some years ago, the woman sitting next to me was actually talking on her phone during the first ten minutes of the film. If you have ever watched Remember Me, you’d know that those first ten minutes are vital to the entire film: they set up so many of the plot points that will be covered throughout the film. I was so annoyed that I snapped at her, I told her to “take the call outside!” She shouted back at me saying, “it was an important call,” and kept talking loudly on the phone. I immediately switched seats away from her.
With that in mind, Japan approaches the movie viewing experience on a whole different level. There should be absolutely no distractions and anyone caught using their phone will be immediately ejected from the theater. I assume that is what would happen, I have actually never seen anyone pull out their phone during a screening in Japan. Moreover, the absolute silence held in movie theaters here is an amazing feat in itself. To be absolutely quiet and still for an hour and half is absolutely impressive. I once accidentally made the mistake of coughing during the Kimetsu no Yaiba film and the woman seated in front of me looked back and clicked her tongue in disgust. I did my best to stifle my cough, but it was stuck in my throat, “what was I to do?” I can completely understand where she was coming from, enthralled by the film on screen just like I was when I was kid and any distraction to that would be reason enough to have me kicked out.
But really, that’s what I love about the movie viewing experience in Japan, it’s all about respecting and appreciating the art onscreen with absolutely zero distractions.
物心ついた頃から、映画を鑑に行くのが大好きだった。少年だった僕は、土曜日が来るのが待ちきれなかった。近所の映画館ではゴジラとかブルースリーを立て続けに上映していたので、昼の部の２本立てをよく鑑に行った。すっかり魅せられた僕は、上映中食い入るようにスクリーンを見つめた。そう、最初の映画の始まりから２番目の映画のエンドクレジットまで。館内は大入りだったが、いつもしーんとしていたのを覚えている。今では、本当になつかしい。
最近のアメリカの映画館では、観客は、上映中に、携帯電話で話をしたり、テキストを送ったりしている。ぴったりの例を挙げると、数年前、アメリカで『リメンバー・ミー』を鑑ていると、僕の隣りに座った女性が最初の１０分間ずっと携帯で会話をしていた。『リメンバー・ミー』を見た事がある人ならわかるだろうが、最初の１０分がこの映画の肝＝大切な部分だ。ここに集約されている策略が、話が進むにつれ展開していく。あまりにもいらついたので彼女にかみついた。「話なら外に出てしてくれ！」と僕は言った。するとその女性は「とても重要な電話なの。」と怒鳴ると、声を荒げて会話を続けた。僕はただちに彼女から離れた席に移動した。
それを念頭に置いて日本で映画鑑賞するとまったく別次元の体験となる。気が散るような物や電話を使う人は直ちに排除される。日本では上映中に電話を取り出す人を見た事がない。さらに言えば、館内は静寂さが保たれておりすばらしい。平和な静けさが１時間半もの間乱されないなんて、感動する。一度『鬼滅の刃』を見ている最中咳き込んでしまった。前に座った女性が僕を振り返り舌打ちした。咳を静めようとしたが、気管支まで入り込み止まらない。「どうしよう？」女性のリアクションにはまったく同意できる。それも僕の子供の頃のようにスクリーンに釘付けになっている最中なのに。気が散るような行為をしたら、館内から追い出されてもしかたがない。
繰り返すが、日本で映画鑑賞するのが大好きだ。要するに、人の気を散らすものがまったくない環境でスクリーンの芸術を鑑賞し楽しむ事が肝心なんだ。
Unfinished business
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MAY 17. 2019Farewell to a Japan Jazz Icon by David Gregory
The messages from all over Japan read aloud during the service helped us realize how widely Koyama-san touched lives and how many like us were feeling something newly missing from our worlds. But, although wonderful and sometimes saddening us, they did not trigger crying. That happened next.
Those first few notes of the "'Round About Midnight" Miles Davis version, the cut Koyama-san always used to open Jazz Tonight, performed by a live piano and trumpet duo up front near the coffin, did it: Instant recognition, recollections, sighs around the room, eyes closed, arms crossed, heads dropped back or down, and tears, at least for me. How many times had we heard, after Miles breathed his somber opening, Koyama-san's low, raspy voice welcoming us into the studio with, "Minna-san, gokigen ikaga desho-ka everybody, how are you feeling?"?and never thought that someday we would hear him ask about us no more?
Koyama-san's widow, whom, like him, had never known me, stood alone at the coffin head and bowed in silence to everyone in turn after they placed flowers around his body as the duo continued with another slow number, the trumpet sounding so strong and crisp and unusual in a memorial service hall. After we placed our flowers, she responded to my hand on her shoulder, a touch just meant to console her, by immediately turning and reaching for me?a total stranger?burying her head in my chest, and breaking down. She needed that hug that everybody sometimes needs. She let go after her respite when she was ready to face the coffin and everyone else again, and returned to her position. Going to Kashiwa in a snowstorm was worth it just for those few moments when I could do something for her.
So our Kashiwa day was both sad and good. But, why did I even want to go a funeral for a man whom I only knew by voice, and who, although linked to jazz, was not even a musician?
Koyama-san and his Jazz Tonight program I listened to since at least the early 2000s. For more than sixteen years, while my life in Japan has been filled with huge uncertainties, he has been here Saturday nights on the radio, reliable, keeping me connected to the world's music and opening my ears to music from Japan I would not know without him. Listening to him always made me feel good, no matter what had happened in my life during the week or what was coming up in the weeks ahead. Koyama-san and Jazz Tonight were my respite. How well can I replace that comfort?
Koyama-san, thank you for helping this foreigner feel good in Japan. Please rest well in jazz heaven.
NHK Radio, thank you for giving Koyama-san a way to connect with us. Please encourage other DJs to continue doing what he did so well.
To Koyama-san's surviving family members: Please care well for yourselves now, and thank you for supporting and sharing Kiyoshi with us.
The Smallest Box by David Gregory
She came over to my table and asked if I remembered her.
“That’s my boyfriend over there.”
Their table hugged a pillar blocking the sunny Tokyo Bay view enjoyed by the other customers that afternoon in Chiba’s AquaRink ice skating facility café.
“Maybe we will marry next year.”
On my way out, I stopped to congratulate the potential groom to be. What I later heard happened with Hiromi and Hiroshi that night at another place also close to the bay sounded so too good to be true that I visited that place to confirm it really happened. It did.
Hiroshi had reserved for the course menu that night at OCEAN TABLE, next to Chiba Port, on the second floor, where tables sat by the huge windows facing Chiba Port Tower and Tokyo Bay. No view-blocking pillars there. And they had a wait, even with their reservation, because it was Christmas Eve, which in Japan matters much more than the following day; the Eve is the year’s couples’ night out, and single women without dates that night can feel their whole year was wasted.
Hiroshi had changed into a suit after skating, and had urged Hiromi, against her protests about overdressing, into a plaid one-piece, raising expectations. They had never come to a place this nice, one requiring reservations. Saizeriya was more their speed: fast faux-Italian, cheap, and everywhere.
The unexpected wait made Hiroshi antsy. He relaxed and all was perfect after they were seated.
They talked. They ate the Christmas Dinner courses. They ignored the soft Christmas background music. They admired the gleaming, golden Christmas Tree rising from the first-floor buffet area through the open center space across from their table. They could see outside the sparkling flashes and half the tree in Port Tower’s Christmas Illumination, and beyond, the lights from the ships on and facilities around Tokyo Bay, appearing almost twinkling. Perfect—but not for Hiromi.
She went to the toilet. Still he had not asked. The day was done. The reservation system only allowed them two hours there. They had been together all day. He had remembered her birthday-just by coincidence, also that day-with a necklace at AquaRink. Nice, but was that all? He had pestered her since early December about what Christmas present she wanted until she had finally exploded with, “Nothing! Don’t you know I just want a proposal?!” And had added she wanted it to be a surprise. Here he had the perfect chance, and he was wasting it.
She could try enjoying what was left of the evening. Dessert was next. At least here was better than Saizeriya….She was still stuck when she returned to the table, and had no chance to do or say anything, anyway. It was his toilet turn.
Their desserts came. Hiromi sat and waited and pondered the future. Outside, the tower stood alone against the dark sky and Tokyo Bay’s inky darkness.
Their desserts waited. Maybe his tooth was bothering him again. Maybe he was just tolerating it to make the night go well. Maybe for her. Maybe she should go to check on him. Wait-maybe she just heard his voice across the room.
No, only Santa Claus, posing for photographs with diners at the far table. He then started circling the room, giving a small present from his big sack at each table. She could check after he was done.
Hiroshi still had not returned to his seat when Santa reached their table. He handed Hiromi a big, red stocking, by far the room’s largest gift, accompanied by a squeaky, “Atari! You’re a lucky one!” Yeah. She set it aside and Santa moved on. What was he still doing in the toilet?
Santa finished his round, returned to Hiromi, and pointed at her unopened stocking with squeaky, “Un! Un!” grunts. The other diners had opened their presents. She forced a smile and said she was waiting for her boyfriend to return. “Un! Un!”
When Hiromi still resisted, Santa took the stocking in his white-gloved hands and opened it himself. Out first came a big, pink box, heart shaped. He opened that and pulled out another heart-shaped box, and then, from inside that, another heart-shaped box. Another smaller, heart-shaped box followed. He removed from that an even smaller heart-shaped box, and thrust it to Hiromi with one more squeaky, “Un!”
Still gone. Well, he’d miss it. Hiromi obeyed Santa this time and opened it, the smallest box in the room …and her mind and face went blank.
After that frozen moment passed, Hiromi looked at Santa. The second shock hit, and more followed. Santa Claus had ripped off his gloves, furry hat, sunglasses, and huge, flowing beard. He took the box from her?she was still speechless?dropped onto one knee, held the open box out and up to her in both stretching hands, and said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, “Hiromi-san, boku-to kekkon shite kudasai! Hiromi, please marry me!”
Outside, to anybody looking, Port Tower’s Christmas Illumination still flashed, and the lights on and around Tokyo Bay still appeared almost twinkling. Inside OCEAN TABLE, on the second floor, everything was happening so fast that Hiromi just did not know which was more difficult to believe: Hiroshi and the ring he first tried slipping onto the finger on her right hand, the one he had taken in his before she held out her left hand, or the following PAN! and PAN! PAN! PAN! PAN! PAN! and PAN! PAN! and PAN! explosions ripping and ribbons shooting around the room as diners at the floor’s other tables popped the party crackers they had found with the notes in their presents from Santa Claus.
Copyright © 2018 David L. Gregory All rights reserved.
I Did It! by David Gregory
She had been here before. But, those were tour-guided or hand-held visits. After living most of her life in white-bread suburban USA, driving everywhere, shopping in giant malls and supermarkets, and needing only one currency and one language, my mother ventured out on her own, within and beyond Chiba, during one trip to Japan. From her notes, here are Dorothy's...
ADVENTURES IN JAPAN
Grocery Shopping in Neighborhood―Walk five blocks...buy only one bag...walk five blocks back. Survived it!
Shopping in City Center―Walk six blocks to bus stop. Ride bus fifteen minutes. Arrive at stores. Walk around. Look. Decide: cookies.
Buying: “Ikura desu-ka how much?” Hmm. “Kakimasu kudasai write please.”
Paying options: give large bill, let clerk figure change, or open change purse, let clerk take out correct amount. Decide to just give some cash.
Clerk shakes her head (“NO! MORE!”), then counts out correct amount needed from register and shows me. I mimic her action from my change purse. Smiles! Deep bows with many, “Arigato gozaimasu thank you very much!”-es.
(My error: thought there was decimal point in Yen price....)
Open cookies, expecting pirouettes with chocolate centers. Instead, peanut butter waffle rolls, no chocolate. No wonder, now I see peanut sketch on package. “Shoganai can’t be changed,” I did it to myself. It could have been worse!
~~~
Travelling to Visit Friend’s Family on Other Side of Chiba―Walk ten blocks to train. Purchase ticket. Electronic lady on ticket machine screen says, “Arigato gozaimasu” and bows. Ride train twenty minutes, watching for correct stop, get off, walk seven blocks to house. I did it myself!
Visiting Hisae Overnight―My Japanese study partner in USA returned to Japan, now lives on other side of Tokyo Bay.
Take large purse and large tote bag with jacket, nightie, toothbrush, cosmetics. Walk six blocks to bus stop. Ride bus to train station. Ride train eighty minutes to Yokohama. Find correct exit from station. EASY. Did not even look at note in pocket explaining route and Japanese signs. And, look! Hisae and three-year old Kei are waiting! “Hello!” they say! Many hugs!
I did it!
Then, still more travel: train together fifteen minutes, short taxi uphill to lovely apartment, sunny and bright.
Returning to Chiba, just reverse process. Next time, we can meet at a station halfway in between. I can do it.
I can do it!
Copyright (C) 2015 David Gregory. All rights reserved. Chiba, Japan
Book Review
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD MAY 11 2018Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami
by Rey Ventura Reviewed by Randy Swank video maker and scriptwriter Rey Ventura won the 2015 National Book Award for his third collection of essays, Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami, but for some strange twist of fate you will find very little information on this book. You can’t even buy it on Amazon. This is a shame because Cherry Blossoms... is a beautiful, insightful and thought-provoking book. |
Cherry Blossoms in the Time of Earthquakes and Tsunami |
In "Miniskirts and Stilettos" we meet Ginto, a young lady who comes to Japan dreaming of making it big as a singer and entertainer but has to deal instead with a much darker reality; while "Mr. Suzuki Tries Again" and "Into the Snow Country" are tragicomic tales of arranged marriages where the dreams and expectations of bride-starved farmers from Japan's Deep North clash with those of young Filipino women who want to escape their poverty and go into marriage "as a girl goes into a convent." Ventura tells these stories with a great eye for detail and manages to find a ray of light even in the darkest corners, or poetry in the midst of a nuclear disaster. The book's first essay is called "The Slow Boat to Manila" and indeed, slowness is the first word that comes to mind when considering Ventura's approach to writing. Everything Ventura does is slow. He is no magazine reporter after all, and will spend days or even months getting to know a person he wants to write about. That's the kind of personal commitment and deep connection with his subject that one feels when reading his essays. |
Tokyo Fab
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11, 2024
Hibiya Park Gardening Show 2024
The 22nd Hibiya Park Gardening Show 2024, to be held in Hibiya Park, began in 2003 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of Hibiya Park, and will now be held for the 22nd time. In the midst of various environmental and social changes, the show will further promote the possibilities of the “power of flowers and greenery” from Hibiya to the world, with the participation of a wide range of citizens, companies, and organizations, with the aim of creating a sustainable and peaceful society in the future. Visitors can enjoy the exhibition of garden contest entries, distribution of flower seedlings, and kitchen car vendors under the autumn sky.
The theme of the event is “Blissful Autumn in Hibiya”. The event will be decorated with a variety of “flowers and greenery” presentations, including exhibits of garden contest entries by citizens, tent exhibits by companies and organizations related to flowers, greenery, and environmental greening, concerts, and gourmet food and drink from kitchen cars, as well as the distribution of flower seedlings.
1: Garden Contest Work Exhibition
Approximately 170 works in 4 categories (Garden, Lifestyle Garden, ContainerGarden, and Hanging Basket) will be exhibited in one place.
2: Special Lecture “Secrets of Autumn Flowering Cherry Blossom Trees”10/24(Wed)14:00~15:30 / Lecturer: Mr. Shigeaki Ishikawa, Japan ArboriculturalSociety
3: Various Flowers and Greenery Exhibition BoothDisplay and sale of plants, gardening materials, miscellaneous goods, etc.
4: Specially Selected Food TrucksFrom cafes to restaurant cuisine with wide range of beverages
5: Events and ShowsConcerts, guided tours of contest entries, Tokyo University of Agriculture's “DaikonDance” and more(contents are subject to change)
6: Special Exhibition and Workshops“Photo Spot Garden 2024”, workshops to learn about flowers and greenery, etc.(contents are subject to change)Please visit our website for more details. *Event contents are subject to change.
Date：October 19th (Sat) - 27th (Sun) 10:00 - 16:30 / - 16:00 on 27th (Sun)
@ Hibiya Park (Closest Sta.: Hibiya Sta.)
https://www.hibiya-gardening-show.com/
Tachikawa Yokai Bonodori
Dress up as yokai and dance bon dances = "Yokai Bon Dance"
Enjoy a unique bon dance for three days, including artist live performances, DJ performances, yokai contests, festival stalls, and more. Come and experience the Japanese Bon Odori dance festival in a whole new way by dressing up as Yokai (creatures from Japanese folklore)! Held in Tachikawa in West Tokyo in October, this 3-day event features live music performances, a spectacular lineup of music concerts, DJ performances, a costume contest and delicious street food stalls. With both free and ticketed areas, don’t miss this whirlwind Bon Odori event unlike any other in Japan!
Dress code for the ticketed area (choose one from below):
1. Become a yokai
Whether you fully transform into a yokai or just wear a mask, become the "yokai" you envision. At the Yokai Food Village (merchandise corner, admission free), there will be face painting booths and yokai makeup booths. We recommend to come empty-handed and become a yokai at the Yokai Food Village. We will provide a "changing area (including cloakroom, fee required)" inside the venue.
2. Wear a yukata
Let's enhance the festival atmosphere with traditional Japanese attire such as yukata or jinbei!
3. Wear official "Tachikawa Yokai Bon Dance" merchandise
Wear official t-shirts or wrap a scarf around your neck and let's dance the Bon Dance! (or bring your merchandise from last year!)
* Ticket + dress code clearance is required to enter the Yagura Stage (main stage) area. At the Yagura Stage, you can participate in the Bon Odori dance and enjoy live performances by artists. For more information on performers and contents, please see the contents page.
Oct 12th, 13th, 14th 2024 11:00-21:00
@ GREEN SPRINGS 2F Plaza (3-1 Midoricho, Tachikawa City, Tokyo)
https://www.yokaibonodori.tokyo/
Have You Benn To...
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11, 2024
Fukuroda Falls [Fukuroda, Ibaraki]
Fukuroda Falls is one of the three most famous waterfalls in Japan. The scenery as the waterfall gradually freezes is mysterious. The most popular attraction at Fukuroda Falls is the lighting up of the falls at night. The lighting up of the waterfall is fantastic, but the tunnel leading to the waterfall is colored with various patterns and colors, creating a different space as if you are in a kaleidoscope.
Sengokuhara Susuki Grass Fields [Sengokuhara, Kanagawa]
The best time to view the sooty fields of the Sengokuhara Plateau is from early October to early November, with October being the best season. The fields of sooty pampas grass stretch as far as the eye can see on the slopes of Mount Daigatake, and are the largest of their kind in the Kanto region. The silver-colored ears of Japanese pampas grass shimmer and ripple in the wind, creating an extraordinary world of beauty.
Hitachi Seaside Park [Hitachinaka, Ibaraki]
National Hitachi Seaside Park boasts seasonal flowers throughout the year, and October is the season for kochia (kochia trees), with their pretty, shaggy shapes, to turn red. In mid-October, deep red kochias line up on Miharashi Hill, allowing visitors to feel the change of the season. The collaboration of cosmos and kochia is also a must-see.
Lake Notoro [Abashiri, Hokkaido]
Lake Notoro is a coastal lagoon by the northern shore of Abashiri. It is included in Abashiri Quasi-National Park. It is the 13th-largest lake in Japan. In autumn, the coral grass colony turns red and its leaves turn bright red, creating a different atmosphere from the autumn foliage. A walking trail has been set up at the Lake Nodori coral grass colony, so visitors can enjoy the coral grass spreading all over the area up close.
Tokyo Voice Column
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback: AUGUST 07. 2015
What’s in a name? by Mardo
I recently found out a friend of mine was not allowed to use her last name on Facebook. Stalker. She has to use her maiden name. This is odd considering how big Facebook is on trying to make people use their real names. Stalker is her real name. Quite a common name in England and Scotland., especially if your family member was involved in anything stealthy, like hunting, but because of how we use the word today, she can’t use it on facebook.
This got me thinking about other names we can’t really use today. I had some cousins whose last names were Fag. They changed that about 20 years ago. I would also hate to be a member of the Crapper family. Originally a harmless name from a picker, or Cropper of fruit. However, once Thomas Crapper started selling very good flushing toilets, no one wants this last name, it means to relieve oneself. No one wants a name like that! If you had invented a vacuum cleaner, like the Hoover family, you could live with sucking, but dumping is another thing entirely!
Then there is of course language meaning across different languages. I recently found the Japanese name/word Ifuku being used in business, for clothes, for car parts and a few other products. In English this could be mistaken for a rather rude saying. Once we start using other languages things can get quite amusing. In one language for instance, my name can be translated into “I have a Horses Penis” which is pretty flattering, or maybe it means “I am a Horses Penis” Not sure. Not going to risk it though. However, either way, I doubt I would get that name past facebook. but should we really let internet companies tell us what we can or cannot name our kids? I think not, and I am sure my future son, Max Power, and my Daughter, Tumblr Likes, will agree.
最近になって友人の一人が自分の名字の使用がフェースブックで承認されなかったのを知った。会員に本名を使わせようと必死なフェースブックがこんな処置をとるのはおかしな事だ。『Stalker（ストーカー）』というのが彼女の本名だ。イングランドやスコットランドではありふれた名前で、とりわけ、代々ひっそり獲物に近づく狩猟にかかわっていた家だったりする。でも今日、ストーカーという意味でその言葉が使われだしたため、彼女は自分の名字がフェースブックで使えない。
そこで他にどんな名前の使用が制限されるか考えてみた。『Fag（ホモ）』という名字のいとこがいたが、２０年前に名字を変えた。『The Crapper （ザ・便所）』一家の一員になるのもまっぴらご免だ。もともと果樹園の雇われ労働者（ピッカー／クロッパー）由来のホームレスの意味だ。でもトーマス・クラッパーが、あのすばらしい水洗トイレ設備を考案し売り出すと、誰もこの名字を使いたがらなくなった。用を足すという意味の名前なんて誰も嫌だ！
もちろん、それぞれ国によって言葉の意味はちがってくる。先日、服、車のパーツ、アクセサリーを売る日本語の名前の店「イフク」を発見した。英語で見るとうっかりミスのようだ。外国の言葉を使いだしたらおもしろいにちがいない。例えば、外国語に翻訳すると自分の名前が、「私のペニスは馬なみだ。」だったら恥ずかしいし、「私は馬のペニスだ。」も嫌だ。いずれにしろ、そんな意味の名前だったらフェースブックだは使わないだろう。しかしインターネットの会社に自分の名字のことでとやかく言われたくはないし、子供の名前についても僕はとやかく言われたくない。息子、マックス・パワーと娘、タンブラー・ライクスも生まれたらきっと同意してくれるだろう。
MUSEUM -What's Going on?-
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2024
The Whispering Land: Artists in Correspondence with Nature
This will be the first solo museum exhibition in Asia by Ei Arakawa-Nash, a Japanese American artist who has been at the forefront of renewing the visibility and advancement of performance art internationally since the 2000s. The exhibition, titled Ei Arakawa-Nash: Paintings Are Popstars, is a solo show by Arakawa-Nash, but the works of more than fifty musicians, painters, and others who collaborate with him will also appear in the national museum space. Each of the paintings and pieces of music will be worshiped as if it were a pop star with its own aberrant presence, and Arakawa-Nash will generate performances inspired by the attitudes of pop stars.
We invite you to experience Arakawa-Nash’s performance art, in which children, paintings, histories, music, bodies, conversations, and humor work together in a dissonant and yet enveloping way. In addition to several newly constructed installations in the 2,000 m2 (21,500 ft2) floor space of the museum with 8 m high ceilings, live performances by Arakawa-Nash will be held regularly. In addition, Arakawa-Nash, who “wants to greet the audience,” will lead “short but intimate” tours.This is the first solo exhibition by a performance artist at the National Art Center, Tokyo, since its opening in 2007.
*
Ei Arakawa-Nash performing with works by Forrest Arakawa-Nash with Yuki Tanaka, Kerstin Bra¨tsch with Hayato Ishikawa & Noboru Ishikawa, John Cale/Tony Conrad/Terry Riley, Masaya Chiba with Ayumu Murase, Leidy Churchman, Bruce Conner/Miles Davis/Jay Defeo, Maya Deren & Teiji Ito, Nicole Eisenman, Kim Gordon, HappiLife Channel, Miho Hatori, Celia Hollander, Karl Holmqvist, Miyoko Ito, Kosuke Kameda, Yuki Katsura, On Kawara, Jutta Koether, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Toshi Maruki (Toshiko Akamatsu) with Saho Terao, Henri Matisse with Yumi Matsutoya & Masataka Matsutoya, Shimon Minamikawa, Daishiro Mori with Ito Mori, Oscar Murillo with Piaopiao Gong-Yang/Yuki Ito/Siying Li/Jingwei Ou, Luis Nishizawa, Silke Otto-Knapp with Asahi Ishikawa/Ikumi Yang, Laura Owens, Gela Patashuri, Dan Poston, Seth Price, Quartet Arco, Reiji Saito, Trevor Shimizu, Fujiko Shiraga,?Amy Sillman with Marina Rosenfeld, Atsuko Tanaka, Theatre Company LGBTI Tokyo with Yuriko Kozumi/Pico (Takahiko Saito)/Mayu Takahashi, Reiko Tomii, Frieda Toranzo Jaeger, UNITED BROTHERS, Yui Yaegashi, Jiro Yoshihara, 65+ volunteers and others. (List as of October 4)
Period: October 30 (Wed), 2024 − December 16 (Mon), 2024
Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo
Hours: 10:00-18:00 / -20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last admission 30 minutes before? closing)
Admission: Free
For more information, please visit
Louise Bourgeois: I have been to hell and back.
And let me tell you, it was wonderful.
Louise Bourgeois (born 1911 in Paris; died 2010 in New York) is one of the most important artists of the last century. During a career that spanned 70 years, and in a wide variety of media − including installation, sculpture, drawing, and painting − she explored the tensions within binary oppositions through unrivaled formal invention. Polarities such as male and female, passive and active, figuration and abstraction, conscious and unconscious, and others, often coexist within the same work.
Bourgeois’s art was inspired in part by the complex and at times traumatic events of her early childhood. The act of restaging her memories and emotions allowed her to sublimate them into universal motifs and to express contradictory emotional and psychological states: hope and fear, anxiety and calm, guilt and reparation, tension and release. Performances and sculptures that foreground sexuality, gender, and the lived body were highly acclaimed particularly within a feminist context.
Louise Bourgeois, Crouching Spider, 2003 Bronze, brown and polished patina, and stainless steel 270.5 x 835.7 x 627.4 cm, Photo: Ron Amstutz (C) The Easton Foundation/Licensed by JASPAR, Tokyo, and VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Bourgeois’s art has had a profound influence on many artists and continues to be exhibited at major museums around the world. This exhibition, Bourgeois’s first in Japan in 27 years and her largest solo exhibition in the country to date, will showcase more than 100 works across three chapters that offer a comprehensive overview of her practice.
The subtitle of the exhibition, I have been to hell and back. And let me tell you, it was wonderful. is taken from a late fabric work in which Bourgeois embroidered these words on a handkerchief. It alludes to the fluctuations and ambivalent character of her emotions, and hints at her black sense of humor. Bourgeois saw herself as a survivor. Her work expresses her strong will to live and the promise of overcoming the sometimes “hellish” suffering of mankind, which is all too often exacerbated by war, natural disaster, and disease.
Period: - Sunday, 19 January 2025
Venue: Mori Art Museum
Hours: 10:00-22:00 / -22:00 on Tuesday, 12/24 & 12/31 / -17:00 on Wednesday, 10/23 (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: [Weekdays]: Adults 2,000 yen (1,800 yen) Students (University/Highschool) 1,400 yen (1,300 yen) Children (Jr. High Students and under) Free *For weekends, please visit the website.
Strange but True
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2024
Solar Storm!
The sun has fired off a massive X-class solar flare potentially sparking vibrant aurora displays over the weekend. The X-class flare is the most powerful type that the sun can fire off and exploded from near the star's equator at about 11pm UK time on Tuesday. The flare is understood to have had a magnitude of X7.1, making it the second strongest such explosion of this current solar cycle that started in 2019. The sun has fired off 41 X-class solar flare so far this year, more than in the past nine years combined. The number of geomagnetic storms could increase as our planet's magnetic field aligns itself more closely with the solar wind around the autumn equinox. There is an increased possibility the sun will unleash more solar storms that could be on the same level as the immense Carrington Event in 1859, the most powerful solar storm on record. Should it hit, it could disrupt power grids and knock out the majority of satellites with immense financial cost.
Let There Be Light...
Earth has dimmed over the last three years due to climate change, scientists have revealed. Researchers measured the amount of Earth’s light reflected off the moon’s surface to show how global warming is making our planet a darker place. This means that more light is being absorbed by the Earth, warming it up. Data has shown warming ocean water has made the light reflected from Earth that illuminates the surface of the Moon decrease by half-a-watt less light per square metre. That is an equivalent of a 0.5 per cent decrease in the Earth’s brightness. Researchers are specifically concerned about a reduction of bright, reflective low-lying clouds over the eastern Pacific ocean in most recent years, according to satellite measurements taken by Nasa.
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safe and accessible solution for your accommodation needs in Tokyo.
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TOKYO ROOM FINDER
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and overcoming any communication barriers in Japan!
J&F Plaza
Furnished & unfurnished guesthouses and apartments in Tokyo.
May Flower House
Tokyo furnished apartments. Ginza, Roppongi, Yotsuya and more.
TenTen Guesthouse
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GOOD ROOM TOKYO
Share room, Private room, under 50,000yen
MOVE JAPAN
Private furnished rooms in Tokyo with free internet. Call us first or call us last!
Tokyomove.com
Hassle free moving starts from 6000yen.
Tokyo Helping Hands
Very flexible working hours to effectly help you with moving, deliveries, disposal, storage and more!
AirNet Travel
We'll cut you the best air ticket deals anywhere.
Fun Travel
Discount air travel & package tours 2min from Roppongi Stn.
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We go the extra mile for you. International air tickets and hotels.
JR Tokai Tours
Top-value travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya from Tokyo by Shinkansen.
Matsuda Legal Office
All kinds of Visa, Immigration & Naturalization, International Marriage etc.
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American Pharmacy
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Tokyo Skin Clinic
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Japanese Appliance, Watch, Souvenirs
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1st Sat. & 3rd Sun. at Bari n Roppongi ETC.
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TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11, 2024Hibiya Park Gardening Show 2024
The 22nd Hibiya Park Gardening Show 2024, to be held in Hibiya Park, began in 2003 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of Hibiya Park, and will now be held for the 22nd time. In the midst of various environmental and social changes, the show will further promote the possibilities of the “power of flowers and greenery” from Hibiya to the world, with the participation of a wide range of citizens, companies, and organizations, with the aim of creating a sustainable and peaceful society in the future. Visitors can enjoy the exhibition of garden contest entries, distribution of flower seedlings, and kitchen car vendors under the autumn sky.
The theme of the event is “Blissful Autumn in Hibiya”. The event will be decorated with a variety of “flowers and greenery” presentations, including exhibits of garden contest entries by citizens, tent exhibits by companies and organizations related to flowers, greenery, and environmental greening, concerts, and gourmet food and drink from kitchen cars, as well as the distribution of flower seedlings.
1: Garden Contest Work Exhibition
Approximately 170 works in 4 categories (Garden, Lifestyle Garden, ContainerGarden, and Hanging Basket) will be exhibited in one place.
2: Special Lecture “Secrets of Autumn Flowering Cherry Blossom Trees”10/24(Wed)14:00~15:30 / Lecturer: Mr. Shigeaki Ishikawa, Japan ArboriculturalSociety
3: Various Flowers and Greenery Exhibition BoothDisplay and sale of plants, gardening materials, miscellaneous goods, etc.
4: Specially Selected Food TrucksFrom cafes to restaurant cuisine with wide range of beverages
5: Events and ShowsConcerts, guided tours of contest entries, Tokyo University of Agriculture's “DaikonDance” and more(contents are subject to change)
6: Special Exhibition and Workshops“Photo Spot Garden 2024”, workshops to learn about flowers and greenery, etc.(contents are subject to change)Please visit our website for more details. *Event contents are subject to change.
Date：October 19th (Sat) - 27th (Sun) 10:00 - 16:30 / - 16:00 on 27th (Sun)
@ Hibiya Park (Closest Sta.: Hibiya Sta.)
https://www.hibiya-gardening-show.com/
Tachikawa Yokai Bonodori
Dress up as yokai and dance bon dances = "Yokai Bon Dance"
Enjoy a unique bon dance for three days, including artist live performances, DJ performances, yokai contests, festival stalls, and more. Come and experience the Japanese Bon Odori dance festival in a whole new way by dressing up as Yokai (creatures from Japanese folklore)! Held in Tachikawa in West Tokyo in October, this 3-day event features live music performances, a spectacular lineup of music concerts, DJ performances, a costume contest and delicious street food stalls. With both free and ticketed areas, don’t miss this whirlwind Bon Odori event unlike any other in Japan!
Dress code for the ticketed area (choose one from below):
1. Become a yokai
Whether you fully transform into a yokai or just wear a mask, become the "yokai" you envision. At the Yokai Food Village (merchandise corner, admission free), there will be face painting booths and yokai makeup booths. We recommend to come empty-handed and become a yokai at the Yokai Food Village. We will provide a "changing area (including cloakroom, fee required)" inside the venue.
2. Wear a yukata
Let's enhance the festival atmosphere with traditional Japanese attire such as yukata or jinbei!
3. Wear official "Tachikawa Yokai Bon Dance" merchandise
Wear official t-shirts or wrap a scarf around your neck and let's dance the Bon Dance! (or bring your merchandise from last year!)
* Ticket + dress code clearance is required to enter the Yagura Stage (main stage) area. At the Yagura Stage, you can participate in the Bon Odori dance and enjoy live performances by artists. For more information on performers and contents, please see the contents page.
Oct 12th, 13th, 14th 2024 11:00-21:00
@ GREEN SPRINGS 2F Plaza (3-1 Midoricho, Tachikawa City, Tokyo)
https://www.yokaibonodori.tokyo/
Have You Benn To...
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11, 2024Fukuroda Falls [Fukuroda, Ibaraki]
Fukuroda Falls is one of the three most famous waterfalls in Japan. The scenery as the waterfall gradually freezes is mysterious. The most popular attraction at Fukuroda Falls is the lighting up of the falls at night. The lighting up of the waterfall is fantastic, but the tunnel leading to the waterfall is colored with various patterns and colors, creating a different space as if you are in a kaleidoscope.
Sengokuhara Susuki Grass Fields [Sengokuhara, Kanagawa]
The best time to view the sooty fields of the Sengokuhara Plateau is from early October to early November, with October being the best season. The fields of sooty pampas grass stretch as far as the eye can see on the slopes of Mount Daigatake, and are the largest of their kind in the Kanto region. The silver-colored ears of Japanese pampas grass shimmer and ripple in the wind, creating an extraordinary world of beauty.
Hitachi Seaside Park [Hitachinaka, Ibaraki]
National Hitachi Seaside Park boasts seasonal flowers throughout the year, and October is the season for kochia (kochia trees), with their pretty, shaggy shapes, to turn red. In mid-October, deep red kochias line up on Miharashi Hill, allowing visitors to feel the change of the season. The collaboration of cosmos and kochia is also a must-see.
Lake Notoro [Abashiri, Hokkaido]
Lake Notoro is a coastal lagoon by the northern shore of Abashiri. It is included in Abashiri Quasi-National Park. It is the 13th-largest lake in Japan. In autumn, the coral grass colony turns red and its leaves turn bright red, creating a different atmosphere from the autumn foliage. A walking trail has been set up at the Lake Nodori coral grass colony, so visitors can enjoy the coral grass spreading all over the area up close.
Tokyo Voice Column
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD TNB Throwback: AUGUST 07. 2015What’s in a name? by Mardo
I recently found out a friend of mine was not allowed to use her last name on Facebook. Stalker. She has to use her maiden name. This is odd considering how big Facebook is on trying to make people use their real names. Stalker is her real name. Quite a common name in England and Scotland., especially if your family member was involved in anything stealthy, like hunting, but because of how we use the word today, she can’t use it on facebook.
This got me thinking about other names we can’t really use today. I had some cousins whose last names were Fag. They changed that about 20 years ago. I would also hate to be a member of the Crapper family. Originally a harmless name from a picker, or Cropper of fruit. However, once Thomas Crapper started selling very good flushing toilets, no one wants this last name, it means to relieve oneself. No one wants a name like that! If you had invented a vacuum cleaner, like the Hoover family, you could live with sucking, but dumping is another thing entirely!
Then there is of course language meaning across different languages. I recently found the Japanese name/word Ifuku being used in business, for clothes, for car parts and a few other products. In English this could be mistaken for a rather rude saying. Once we start using other languages things can get quite amusing. In one language for instance, my name can be translated into “I have a Horses Penis” which is pretty flattering, or maybe it means “I am a Horses Penis” Not sure. Not going to risk it though. However, either way, I doubt I would get that name past facebook. but should we really let internet companies tell us what we can or cannot name our kids? I think not, and I am sure my future son, Max Power, and my Daughter, Tumblr Likes, will agree.
最近になって友人の一人が自分の名字の使用がフェースブックで承認されなかったのを知った。会員に本名を使わせようと必死なフェースブックがこんな処置をとるのはおかしな事だ。『Stalker（ストーカー）』というのが彼女の本名だ。イングランドやスコットランドではありふれた名前で、とりわけ、代々ひっそり獲物に近づく狩猟にかかわっていた家だったりする。でも今日、ストーカーという意味でその言葉が使われだしたため、彼女は自分の名字がフェースブックで使えない。
そこで他にどんな名前の使用が制限されるか考えてみた。『Fag（ホモ）』という名字のいとこがいたが、２０年前に名字を変えた。『The Crapper （ザ・便所）』一家の一員になるのもまっぴらご免だ。もともと果樹園の雇われ労働者（ピッカー／クロッパー）由来のホームレスの意味だ。でもトーマス・クラッパーが、あのすばらしい水洗トイレ設備を考案し売り出すと、誰もこの名字を使いたがらなくなった。用を足すという意味の名前なんて誰も嫌だ！
もちろん、それぞれ国によって言葉の意味はちがってくる。先日、服、車のパーツ、アクセサリーを売る日本語の名前の店「イフク」を発見した。英語で見るとうっかりミスのようだ。外国の言葉を使いだしたらおもしろいにちがいない。例えば、外国語に翻訳すると自分の名前が、「私のペニスは馬なみだ。」だったら恥ずかしいし、「私は馬のペニスだ。」も嫌だ。いずれにしろ、そんな意味の名前だったらフェースブックだは使わないだろう。しかしインターネットの会社に自分の名字のことでとやかく言われたくはないし、子供の名前についても僕はとやかく言われたくない。息子、マックス・パワーと娘、タンブラー・ライクスも生まれたらきっと同意してくれるだろう。
MUSEUM -What's Going on?-
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2024The Whispering Land: Artists in Correspondence with Nature This will be the first solo museum exhibition in Asia by Ei Arakawa-Nash, a Japanese American artist who has been at the forefront of renewing the visibility and advancement of performance art internationally since the 2000s. The exhibition, titled Ei Arakawa-Nash: Paintings Are Popstars, is a solo show by Arakawa-Nash, but the works of more than fifty musicians, painters, and others who collaborate with him will also appear in the national museum space. Each of the paintings and pieces of music will be worshiped as if it were a pop star with its own aberrant presence, and Arakawa-Nash will generate performances inspired by the attitudes of pop stars. |
* |
Ei Arakawa-Nash performing with works by Forrest Arakawa-Nash with Yuki Tanaka, Kerstin Bra¨tsch with Hayato Ishikawa & Noboru Ishikawa, John Cale/Tony Conrad/Terry Riley, Masaya Chiba with Ayumu Murase, Leidy Churchman, Bruce Conner/Miles Davis/Jay Defeo, Maya Deren & Teiji Ito, Nicole Eisenman, Kim Gordon, HappiLife Channel, Miho Hatori, Celia Hollander, Karl Holmqvist, Miyoko Ito, Kosuke Kameda, Yuki Katsura, On Kawara, Jutta Koether, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Toshi Maruki (Toshiko Akamatsu) with Saho Terao, Henri Matisse with Yumi Matsutoya & Masataka Matsutoya, Shimon Minamikawa, Daishiro Mori with Ito Mori, Oscar Murillo with Piaopiao Gong-Yang/Yuki Ito/Siying Li/Jingwei Ou, Luis Nishizawa, Silke Otto-Knapp with Asahi Ishikawa/Ikumi Yang, Laura Owens, Gela Patashuri, Dan Poston, Seth Price, Quartet Arco, Reiji Saito, Trevor Shimizu, Fujiko Shiraga,?Amy Sillman with Marina Rosenfeld, Atsuko Tanaka, Theatre Company LGBTI Tokyo with Yuriko Kozumi/Pico (Takahiko Saito)/Mayu Takahashi, Reiko Tomii, Frieda Toranzo Jaeger, UNITED BROTHERS, Yui Yaegashi, Jiro Yoshihara, 65+ volunteers and others. (List as of October 4) |
Period: October 30 (Wed), 2024 − December 16 (Mon), 2024
Venue: The National Art Center, Tokyo
Hours: 10:00-18:00 / -20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (last admission 30 minutes before? closing)
Admission: Free
For more information, please visit
Louise Bourgeois: I have been to hell and back. Louise Bourgeois (born 1911 in Paris; died 2010 in New York) is one of the most important artists of the last century. During a career that spanned 70 years, and in a wide variety of media − including installation, sculpture, drawing, and painting − she explored the tensions within binary oppositions through unrivaled formal invention. Polarities such as male and female, passive and active, figuration and abstraction, conscious and unconscious, and others, often coexist within the same work. |
Louise Bourgeois, Crouching Spider, 2003 Bronze, brown and polished patina, and stainless steel 270.5 x 835.7 x 627.4 cm, Photo: Ron Amstutz (C) The Easton Foundation/Licensed by JASPAR, Tokyo, and VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
|
Bourgeois’s art has had a profound influence on many artists and continues to be exhibited at major museums around the world. This exhibition, Bourgeois’s first in Japan in 27 years and her largest solo exhibition in the country to date, will showcase more than 100 works across three chapters that offer a comprehensive overview of her practice. |
Period: - Sunday, 19 January 2025
Venue: Mori Art Museum
Hours: 10:00-22:00 / -22:00 on Tuesday, 12/24 & 12/31 / -17:00 on Wednesday, 10/23 (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Admission: [Weekdays]: Adults 2,000 yen (1,800 yen) Students (University/Highschool) 1,400 yen (1,300 yen) Children (Jr. High Students and under) Free *For weekends, please visit the website.
Strange but True
TOKYO NOTICE BOARD OCTOBER 11. 2024Solar Storm!
The sun has fired off a massive X-class solar flare potentially sparking vibrant aurora displays over the weekend. The X-class flare is the most powerful type that the sun can fire off and exploded from near the star's equator at about 11pm UK time on Tuesday. The flare is understood to have had a magnitude of X7.1, making it the second strongest such explosion of this current solar cycle that started in 2019. The sun has fired off 41 X-class solar flare so far this year, more than in the past nine years combined. The number of geomagnetic storms could increase as our planet's magnetic field aligns itself more closely with the solar wind around the autumn equinox. There is an increased possibility the sun will unleash more solar storms that could be on the same level as the immense Carrington Event in 1859, the most powerful solar storm on record. Should it hit, it could disrupt power grids and knock out the majority of satellites with immense financial cost.
Let There Be Light...
Earth has dimmed over the last three years due to climate change, scientists have revealed. Researchers measured the amount of Earth’s light reflected off the moon’s surface to show how global warming is making our planet a darker place. This means that more light is being absorbed by the Earth, warming it up. Data has shown warming ocean water has made the light reflected from Earth that illuminates the surface of the Moon decrease by half-a-watt less light per square metre. That is an equivalent of a 0.5 per cent decrease in the Earth’s brightness. Researchers are specifically concerned about a reduction of bright, reflective low-lying clouds over the eastern Pacific ocean in most recent years, according to satellite measurements taken by Nasa.
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Guesthouse Tokyo10 minutes to Ikebukuro. Interhousesafe and accessible solution for your accommodation needs in Tokyo. Sakura House1830 monthly furnished rooms at 204 locations in Tokyo. TOKYO ROOM FINDERContact our international team that will assist you in finding housing and overcoming any communication barriers in Japan! |
J&F PlazaFurnished & unfurnished guesthouses and apartments in Tokyo. May Flower HouseTokyo furnished apartments. Ginza, Roppongi, Yotsuya and more. TenTen Guesthouse33,000yen/30 days for working holiday students. GOOD ROOM TOKYOShare room, Private room, under 50,000yen |
MOVE JAPANPrivate furnished rooms in Tokyo with free internet. Call us first or call us last! Tokyomove.comHassle free moving starts from 6000yen. |
Tokyo Helping HandsVery flexible working hours to effectly help you with moving, deliveries, disposal, storage and more! |
AirNet TravelWe'll cut you the best air ticket deals anywhere. Fun TravelDiscount air travel & package tours 2min from Roppongi Stn. |
No.1 TravelWe go the extra mile for you. International air tickets and hotels. JR Tokai ToursTop-value travel to Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya from Tokyo by Shinkansen. |
Matsuda Legal OfficeAll kinds of Visa, Immigration & Naturalization, International Marriage etc. |
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American PharmacyEnglish speaking pharmacy since 1950. |
Tokyo Skin ClinicEU-licensed multi lingual doctors. |
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Tax-free AKKYJapanese Appliance, Watch, Souvenirs |
Tokyo Speed Dating1st Sat. & 3rd Sun. at Bari n Roppongi ETC. Tokyo SpontaneousPicnic, Parties, Language exchange |
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50 Shades of Yikess
