Japanese people tend not to eat in public. It’s generally considered inappropriate to chow down on the street or on public transport — unless you’re crowded around a Harajuku crepe stand, in which case, it’s not a problem.
This is why I was rather impressed to discover JJ O’Donoghue’s 600 Sausages, a four-minute ode to the mighty frankfurter at Kyobashi station in Osaka. Every day, thousands of commuters pass through the station, 600 of whom stop off for a 110-yen sausage.
From weary salarymen to construction workers, old men to hungry schoolboys, right through to tourists and lone women, these passengers all take the time to break Japanese norms and enjoy a sausage on a stick before boarding their next train. It’s rather hypnotic, particularly due to the inspired use of the Bad Plus’ stripped down cover of Aphex Twin’s Film.
Enjoy, noting the lack of condiments yet overall satisfaction (particularly on the face of the man at 1.48):
Town flags L-R: Taketomi (in Okinawa) shows 竹 (take); Hachijō reflects the kanji for Hachijō 八丈, arranged in the shape of a bird.
Studying Japanese is tough. There’s three written languages, one of which, kanji (the complex ideograms) can be read using both Japanese and Chinese pronunciation. Every year, the government lists nearly 2,000 essential kanji characters for all high school students to learn, without which they cannot fully comprehend a national newspaper.
To make things interesting for those folks studying the many kanji (& to pay tribute to the graphic designers who come up with this stuff), I present an extract of Pink Tentacle’s collection of Japanese town flags that ingeniously incorporate kanji in their design.
L-R: Ibaraki: Note the pigeon resembles the character for 茨 (ibara); Ōme combines the kanji 青 (ao) and plum blossom 梅 (ume) to signify 青梅 (Ōme).
Scrolling through the collection, you’ll notice many resemble the traditional monotone mon symbols (similar to a coat of arms), where birds, flowers and other natural elements abound. Sometimes you need to squint to see what they’re getting at, but it’s fascinating to think that Japanese (along with Chinese, and any other ideogram-based language) has a whole extra element to its representation. For example, the ‘take’ from Taketomi (top left) means bamboo, yet the design focusses on the shape of the character 竹, rather than the literal meaning.
On second thoughts, that could kinda work in English too, couldn’t it? The difference is that a single letter doesn’t necessarily signify a whole concept or idea, like an ideogram does… Ok, now I’m getting confused. Let’s just enjoy them on a purely aesthetic level, shall we?
L-R: Shinagawa: Reflecting the kanji for 品 (shina) - looking slightly reminiscent of the Mitsubishi logo - and one of my favourite cities, Matsumoto, where pine (matsu) needles encircle the kanji 本 (moto).
Above: 18th century print attributed to Suzuki Harunobu and Isoda Koryusai, est. price £800-£1,200.
Feeling flush? No, me neither, but if I was, I’d consider a trip to Bonhams for the upcoming Fine Japanese Art auction on Tuesday May 11.
Almost 500 pieces of Japanese history will go under the hammer, including a vast array of ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), paintings, ceramics, carvings and screens. For the samurai enthusiasts, there’s also armour, swords and intricately carved netsuke (used to attach small inro boxes/holders to pocketless robes and kimono).
Bonhams has estimated the collection should sell for around £1.6 million, and selected Lot 366, a rare Nabeshima shaku-zara (large dish, above right) decorated with Buddhist images, as a key piece for collectors. Nabeshima wares were extremely limited in production and this particular dish (est. £100,000 to £150,00) is one of few pieces remaining today.
The same amount could also get you a remarkable suit of armour from the Edo period (18th-19th century). Listed as Lot 68, this mogami do tosei gusoku armour previously belonged to the Hotta clan, an aristocratic Japanese family with links to a Shogun. The black lacquered iron suit includes a 16th-century signed helmet, a pair of sandals and an adapter for wearing civilian swords.
L-R: Lot 105 Utagawa Toyokuni I & Utagawa Kunisada; Lot 99 Ando Hiroshige.
For those on more modest budgets, the two 19th-century Spring sakura (cherry blossom)-themed prints above are estimated to fetch between £600-£800 and £2,000-£3,000 respectively.
My eye is on Lot 111 above, a pair of Kawase Hasui prints dated Showa 8 (1933). These oban (10x15”) prints - depicting a scenic evening in Osaka and Nara’s Kasuga Shrine in the rain - are estimated to sell for £600-£800.
Head to Bonhams or view the catalogue online for more. Please note Lots 78 through 86 are not safe for work, unless of course, your boss appreciates 18th century shunga (erotic art). At this point you may also want to revisit the picture at the top of this post, paying special attention to the bashful old man shielding his eyes as he passes the lascivious couple…
Bonhams Fine Japanese Art auction, New Bond Street, London, UK Tues 11 May, 2010.
This time it’s from TV Tokyo, where five Legomaniacs created 1,000+ piece Lego hamster* wonderlands.
First up is the ‘exciting fruit paradise’ – with a pineapple wheel, grape tree jungle gym, melon ball pool and a banana see-saw. According to the narrator, ‘it’s a hamster paradise!’.
There’s also a *yawn* Robinson Crusoe recreation, a pretty cool ninja house, a modern transformable block house and bizarrely, the Metabolic Syndrome Reduction Training House (メタボ解消トレーニングハウス).
The latter is for chubby hamsters struggling with the dreaded Metabolic Syndrome, one of those crazy health problems that became a major buzzword a few years’ back in Japan. The Training House features a bicycle wheel with a dynamo mechanism to power the front lamp (above), a treadmill, dumb-bells and even mini vermin-sized scales to measure progress.
*The featured hamster looks more like a mouse without its tail cut off. Or do all hamsters look like that? More importantly, do hamsters taste like guinea pigs? If so, find five delicious recipe ideas here.
Citizen Japan has unveiled the Citizen i:Virt M, a new £200 wristwatch that recalls dear Penny’s telephone watch of old.
Thanks to Bluetooth, the i:Virt M connects wirelessly to the wearer’s mobile phone and flashes to alert of incoming calls or text messages. It can also display (but not send) text messages.
The i:Virt M was created for those times when you’re not comfortable whipping out your phone but still want to know what’s going on, such as during meetings or on the train. The problem here is that the wearer can’t really do much with what they see, save for pressing ‘reject’ when faced with an unwanted call.
On the plus side, Citizen’s design team integrated a totally Inspector Gadget-style shutter release button, so you can take photos (using your phone) from afar. Sneaky, huh?
A cheaper alternative for Gadget fans may be designer Anti Christa’s iPad wallpaper (below). Anti Christa’s gone to excruciating detail to replicate Penny’s computer book - note the blue jack where Penny connected her book to her computer - and it’s available to download for free! (iPad not included).
If I had to choose my Penny-themed gizmo of choice, I’ll take the wallpaper. (With the iPad, of course).
Not too long ago, 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Leto was in town and raved online about ‘Great Japanese food in London’ – only to post the above picture of Yauatcha, one of London’s finest dim sum emporiums.
And I know, I know, he’s a big film rock star who may not grasp the delicate intricacies that distinguish Chinese from Japanese cuisines, but still… this cross-cultural confusion made me lose all faith in the man. (Even more so than his choice of film roles/women/wacky hairstyles of late).
In Leto’s honour, I present some recent examples of sushi art, just to prove that Japanese food can take different guises (none of which look like dim sum, though):
Exhibit A: Brownie ‘nori roll’ cupcakes and Rice Krispies/Bubbles with Swedish Fish. These amazing sweet sushi creations come from Saucy, a Canadian blogger/supermum who tends to refer to herself in the third person. (It’s fine though, as her talent for re-imagining sushi through sugary sweets is worth the occasional little idiosyncrasy).
Exhibits B & C: Neither of which I would like looking back at me.
So am I just being pedantic, or does someone need to give Jared Leto a culinary education? If he wants to start at Yauatcha, I’ll quite happily volunteer.
London’s second annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival has unveiled their selection of fifteen hand-picked films from Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand, to screen at the Prince Charles Theatre from 6-9 May, 2010.
From Japan there’s a host of manga/novel adaptations, fantasy films and anime, including Japan Academy-award-winning anime, Summer Warsand K-20 Legend of the Mask (below right). There’s also a sci-fi comedy (below left) called Fish Story (or for the Japanophiles, Fisshu sutōrī) whose tagline ‘Can a punk rock song save the world from a meteorite impact?’, is almost ridiculous enough to warrant a viewing.
Highlight of the bill (particularly for those not into manga/fantasy/anime) is a double feature from French documentarist, Yves Montmayeur, who will also attend for a Q&A after the screenings on Saturday 8 May.
Doyle also oversaw cinematography on the martial arts epic Hero, the understated The Quiet American and Rabbit-Proof Fence, about three Aboriginal children heading home across the Australian Outback.
Following In the Mood for Doyle is another Montmayeur documentary, Yakuza Eiga (Yakuza Eiga: Une histoire du cinéma yakuza), a history of yakuza (Japanese gangster) films.
By interviewing actual yakuza, along with directors such as Takeshi ‘Beat’ Kitano (Boiling Point, Sonatine and many more) and Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer and the delightfully non-yakuza-themed comedy-horror-musical, Happiness of the Katakuris), Montmayeur presents a look at yakuza and their representation - hideous shirts and all - in Japanese cinema.
My final pick of the programme (which just happens to screen before the above double feature, meaning I’m going to be in for a whole lotta popcorn) is the 2008 Korean film, Antique (Seoyangkoldong yangkwajajeom aentikeu). Directed by Min Gyu Dong and based on a Japanese shōjo manga (comic for little girls) called Antique Bakery, Antique is reportedly one of the most successful Korean films ever.
In this ‘tantalizing story of four sweet men’, a gorgeous young man uses his trust fund to open a cake shop so he can ogle girls, only to end up being ogled by the legendary (male) patissier he hires. High jinks ensue, thanks to the addition of a young apprentice and a bumbling-security guard-turned-waiter, plus a whole lot of food porn.
Check the Terracotta Film Festival site for dates, times and tickets, or start with the Antique trailer below which wonders, Cake and men. Taste them to know them?
Remember when you were little and you would grow sprouts on wet kitchen paper?
Tokyo-based artist Koshi Kawachi has expanded on the idea by making use of his old manga comics. Kawachi’s Manga Farming, shown here on display in a Nagoya department store is a creative alternative for recycling the millions of old manga consumed in Japan.
It almost makes me wish I read manga, just so I’d have something to recycle. I guess the Yellow Pages would work, but I’m not sure if the intricate root patterns would look as cool coming through pages devoted to party planning and plumbing.
Alas, back to the kitchen paper…
Photos from Pink Tentacle, click the top picture for more.
