Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

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Timeless Tokyo

Whilst the PlayStation 3 may not exactly be setting Japanese sales figures on fire, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the residents of Tokyo are no longer interested in games — rather they may just be reveling more in the realm of retro gaming instead.

Or at least some people are, with three floors of old school gaming goodness in Akihabara perfectly proving the point.

Japanese games shop

The entrance itself it has to be said is fairly hard to miss,

Japanese games shop

and as far as consoles go, there’s an ample amount available.

Japanese games

It’s the same story for software too, with certainly no shortage as far as selection is concerned.

Japanese games

Plus for the fella looking for a bit of fashion to go with his fun, this watch may be more rubbish than Rolex; however it does have a certain charm – of sorts.

Japanese nintendo watch

More so than this clock anyway.

Japanese nintendo clock

And finally, for those a little more gung-ho about their gaming, there’s always the option of the Homer.

Japanese retro console

With the firearm coming free.

(click images for higer-res retro rubbishness)

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Lunchbox love

As a child, a cheese sandwich, an apple and perhaps a biscuit or two was more than fancy enough for a five year old who cared much more about Lego than the look of his lunch. A view apparently not shared by young Japanese kids of today, or more accurately their mothers, who seem to see the humble lunchbox as much more a means of expression than merely something edible.

Japanese bento

Osaka housewife Miho Tsukamoto explaining the oeuvre by observing, “This is rather about my pride. My son boasts about my cooking to his friends, so I can’t stop doing this.”

Japanese bento

A statement that was also supported by Kazumi Shimomura (pictured above) whilst working away on her current creation; a design based on one of her son’s dinosaur drawings. “I never make the same thing twice. I just think about what to make next time.”

Japanese bento

A painstaking task that often sees slivers of carrot become crabs and Mickey Mouse materialise from seaweed, sesame seeds and a section of sweet potato — perhaps. Such dedication meaning that the day starts very early indeed for some Japanese housewives, although Shimomura-san declined to disclose what time she rose to finish her rumoured radish-based recreation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper last week.

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Big in Japan

Some Japanese claim that they enjoy speaking English as they can be more direct, enabling them to cut through the occasionally cryptic content of a Japanese conversation. An approach that is also adopted by some manufacturers — and especially makers of condoms it seems — in order to create products that clearly state their content and consumer base; the possible addition of an image further reducing the risk of confusion.

Japanese condoms

Presumably the inability to find an animal more suitable than a horse leading the other maker of colossal condoms to simply stick with just English. The size of the text alone a tell-tale sign for the product’s target audience.

Japanese condoms

(click images for even bigger big boys)

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Jammed in Japanese

Back in the country of my birth, tourists and retirees are terribly fond of travelling around the countryside on slow moving and super slim narrow boats — many of them seeing it as the perfect way to either relax and take in the views or while away one’s twilight years.

narrow boat

Yet in space-restricted Tokyo, at least one resident has taken this cramped is convenient approach off the water and onto the land — at least what little there is of it — and crafted it into a cosy, although admittedly somewhat cramped, roadside retreat.

Japanese house

A house that whilst not allowing much in the way of movement at the front, does spread out a bit at the back, creating just about enough space to swing the proverbial cat.

Japanese house

Albeit in a somewhat cautious manner.

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London calling

Lovers of Japanese food in London are currently up in arms over a chef preparing a pricey dish round the back of a restaurant and next to some dustbins. A spokesperson for the local council commenting, “While preparing food outside is not strictly against the law certain measures need to be taken to avoid the risk of contamination.”

Japanese food

Yet as the restaurant, cleverly called ‘eat Tokyo’, is supposed to be a supplier of authentic Japanese cuisine, customers and the council alike should learn to stop being so squeamish, especially if it’s the real deal they are after — some blue fin being hacked up in far from hygienic surroundings simply the starting point for faithful fare.

A point perfectly proven at Tokyo’s Shin-Koiwa station last week, as a noodle stand served up its delicate breakfast dish of curry and noodles without knowing that an 8-centimetre-long rat had somehow positioned itself in the pot. The manager of the stall only finding out there was a foreign body in his breakfast broth after the animal got lodged in the ladle when the curry was being stirred; by which time it was already 8:30 a.m. and 18 people had happily wolfed down the hearty treat.

Not one of them making a complaint.

Japanese food