Backward country

My snus (swedish tobacco) is finished and Ive turned to cigarettes to comfort my cravings for nicotine. And you know what is really f**ked up with Japan? Listen to this…you can smoke almost anywhere inside…clubs, bars, restaurants….hell you can even smoke in McDonalds. But here’s the thing…you CAN’T smoke outside! Well partly. All over the streets are this no-smoking-on-the-street signs.

However, there are some smoking zones. In Shibuya they have a big outdoor place surrounded by walls where you can smoke. In Ginza Ive seen a few assigned smoking areas on the big streets. But still mostly if you want to smoke and do it randomly when walking on the street, no one will actually tell you not to…although you feel like a criminal…looking over your shoulder whenever you want to butt out that cigarette.

It truly is a different country. Just a few minutes ago I shared the elevator with two “couples”. Girls were teenagers and the men were well over 50. Well I guess this happens in western countries too…its just here it’s so typical…they even have a café that only allows girls under 20 and guys over 40. It makes you wonder…

Sony Nex-3

Visited Sony Building in Ginza district yesterday and found this super neat digital camera called Nex-3.

I’ve always preferred DSLR cameras, but I was amazed by the sheer quality of both the pictures and video this digital camera produced. If I ever decide to buy a smaller digital camera, I’d like it to be similar to this one!

The geniuses of Yohji Yamamoto and Mihara Yasuhiro

Coming to Tokyo has been a long dream of mine. Mostly to experience the culture, food, people etc, but also cause Tokyo is the home of some of the most talented designers of today.

Julius and Viridi-Anne are two favourite labels of mine, and yes they are every bit as good as I had hoped for.

But today me and my gf took a stroll in Ayoma/Omotesando and accidentally stumbled across the flag store of miharayasuhiro, and I have to admit it’s a pretty damn cool store with some really interesting designs. If I have anything negative to say about the label, it would be that it is somewhat uneven. While some of the stuff is totally awesome, others doesn’t really cut it for me. But overall I must say I was very impressed.

Same thing about the financially struggling Yohji Yamamoto. Especially his designs for women just blew me away, like only Ann Demeulemeester and Barbara Bui has done before. But his menswear is almost as good. Very classic, but with a modern twist (okay that’s a cliché, but in this case it is actually true).

Another really strong influence in japan is of course the super hip Rei Kawakubo’s Comme des Garcons. You can see her influences everywhere on the streets. I wasn’t that big of a fan before, but Im beginning to change my mind. Also the “economic recession label” Comme des Garcons BLACK is really great.

Tokyo street fashion has many different faces, but the two that stands out the most among guys are the Comme des Garcons playful drop-crotch pants thing and the “Julius” rock n roll style. I actually prefer the more playful approach on the japanese since they really have a tendency to overdo it when they try to imitate western rock n roll stars.

I can’t upload pictures at the moment, but I’ll get back on that.

Tokyo Pictures

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Japanese Toilets deluxe

Japanese toilets are HIGH-TECH. In fact, they are so high-tech the lid raises itself when sensing someone is approaching it. In fact, they are so High-tech it sometimes takes me minutes to figure out how to flush the god damn thing.

Japanese culture

Japanese culture is like no other culture. It’s a kind of timid, hard working yet outrageously sexist lolita style.

Some of it is fun, some is sexy, some is morbid and some is just plain disgusting.

This one I thought was kind of fun…but still really weird. Like who buys that shit? At least if I was a father I wouldn’t like to put that nap in my daughters mouth…

My new key-holder though morbid I think it’s quite fun =)

Tokyo

In tokyo right now, but having some problems with electricity since I forgot to bring adaptor. Will try to get one tomorrow so I can make some updates.

Bibimbap

One of my favourite korean dishes is the traditional Bibimbap. A bunch of various vegetables, rice and meat mixed together and toppled with an egg.

You can have many different variations. Here it is served in a hot pot.

Portable

Korea is the mecca of gadgets. It’s electronic market one of the biggest in the world. In fact, bigger than Tokyo’s and Hong Kong’s markets combined.

A visit to Seoul’s electronic town, Yongsan is always an adventure. As a somewhat technical geek, I enjoy just wandering around looking and feeling different stuff.

Coolest so far? Hmm…its hard but I think it might be the new UMID Mbook BZ mini netbook.

Here is a picture that better illustrates, just how small it is.

Gangnam

Seoul is a pretty modern city with some interesting architecture. I just snapped some shots from the car (hence the bad quality) going back home last evening through Gangnam district.