Kirainet.com - A geek in Japan

Japanese Sleeping - 4

kirai — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:26:28 +0000

People in Japan love to sleep on the street, on the train or wherever they can. Here is a new set of my fascinating Sleeping Japanese series.

If you missed the first 3 here they are:

Their mouth expression is similar, isn’t it?

This is picture is not mine, it is from somewhere in China. I put it here because people keep sending it to me for some reason

Okayama, Koraku-en

kirai — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:54:45 +0000

After many years in Japan I finally had the chance to visit Koraku-en in Okayama, which is considered one of the most beautiful gardens in the country. Stopping by is a good idea to spend a couple of hours if you pass by Okayama with the bullet train while going to Hiroshima or coming back to Osaka, Kobe or Kyoto.

Japanese style gardens are designed trying to emulate real landscapes, they are like “scale models” of big landscapes. For example, there are usually mounds between five and the meters high that represent mountains. Rivers are designed using little water streams, and pounds are used to form lakes and seas.

I love to stroll around Japanese gardens. While walking through winding paths in between water streams surrounded by the greenest grass you could ever imagine I feel like if I had been transported to another dimension.

How to get there: walking east 20 minutes from Okayama bullet train station. You also can get there taking the bus that goes from Okayama station to Korakuen-mae.

Recommended visit time: two hours.

Nakagin Capsule Tower

kirai — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:29:29 +0000

After the Second World War 98% of buildings and houses in Tokyo had been destroyed. During the reconstruction of the country some Japanese architects thought that the future of architecture should be the most “modular” possible; they were part of the metabolic movement. These architects, worried about the future of our society, thought that living standards would be better if architecture structures were flexible and extensible, they would be better if they grew as if they were a living organism composed by modules. One of the most important metabolist architects of the post-war era was Kisho Kurokawa. He designed the first modular building: the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Shinbashi, Tokyo.

The building consists of two big columns that form the core. 140 prefabricated capsules were added to this core, each of them attached to one of the two columns with four big screws. Capsules can be replaced by new ones as time passes by and they are built in a factory. The current capsules have a television, a bathroom, a mini-kitchen, a bed, two built-in closets and even a calculator.

One of the first designs of the currently installed capsules.

After almost 40 years the Nakagin Capsule Tower is still in place but the capsule replacement system is not as simple as it was thought at the beginning and the building is getting old. The inhabitants of the tower have decided to demolish it to build a traditional office tower, something the international community of architects opposes. Many of them consider it an exponent of high historical value of how our cities could be nowadays but never happened. It is a reminder of the paths that were not taken, that there was a possibility of other worlds in where we could live in.

Photo by Tomio Ohashi.

Video that shows capsules interior with explanations by architect Kisho Kurokawa.

Underwear that transforms itself into a bag

kirai — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:36:26 +0000

Here we have yet another crazy Japanese invention; I am talking about an ecologic/reusable bag made using origami and furoshiki technology. It is a multiple use bag that can transform itself into a bra and panties set. Did you forget your bag at home? No problem, if you are a girl you can “wear” the bag!

Vía Inhabitat.

130+ year old Japanese animated stereograms

kirai — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:08:52 +0000

I find this collection of “3D” photos amazing (Stereoscopies were made by T-emani between 1859 and 1929). In them you can appreciate everyday lifestyle in Japan during the Meiji Era.

The 2 original pictures.

Animated version with a certain 3D sensation…

Glasses version.

The great Buddha in Kamakura has barely changed.

Animated version by Pinktentacle.

Putting on make-up like an anime character

kirai — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:20:42 +0000

This video explains in detail how to get Sailor Moon eyes. The result is shown in the following picture:

Looking at the original Sailor Moon cartoons, the blue color and the shinings in the “real” version turn out to be even more exaggerated than in the anime version

Via Japanprobe

Mount Fuji from Pablo’s house

kirai — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:49:04 +0000

Yesterday the sky was so clear that Pablo could see Mount Fuji from his house in downtown Tokyo.

This other picture was also taken yesterday but from a skyscraper, even farther from Mount Fuji than Pablo’s house. Maybe it doesn’t seem like it but the picture is taken from a farther point, it’s an optical illusion because the photo is taken from a higher point with another perspective.

Photo mix

kirai — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:12:57 +0000

My random pics folder was starting to fill up with too many photos and I have decided to put them all together in a post. It’s a pretty senseless mix that contains some pictures I took 5 years ago and some that I took days ago.

Rose and building designed by Tadao Ando.

Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto

Shinsengumi in the streets of Kyoto.

Sunset in Kyoto.

Kyoto night.

Maid Kissa.

Tokyo 2016 was not possible, back to the past!

A random Sunday in Harajuku.

Beware the crows!.

Karaoke entrance.

The economic crisis is hitting Tokyo hard.

New DVD on sale.

A wedding at Meiji Jingu

An Aibo craving for some sweets

Hidden alley in Akihabara

Yebisu Garden Place

Bakery in downtown Tokyo.

Welcome sign at an okinawa soba restaurant.

JUMP shop.

A Sunday around Akihabara.

SEGA building full of arcade machines.

Shelves plenty of train models.

A super thin tako-yaki restaurant.

Giant figure of Hatsune Miku.

Shinjuku alleys.

A woman wearing a Hakama around Shinjuku.

Scarlett Johansson in Tokyo

kirai — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:19:16 +0000

Scarlett Johansson is in Tokyo to attend a series of events to sponsor the Moët champagne brand and to record a TV commercial for them. She is going through similar situations like the main character in Lost in Translation, but dealing with champagne instead of whisky

This is one of the billboards of Scarlett Johansson sponsoring Moët that can be seen around Tokyo.

She has been to some events in Roppongi Hills and she is staying at Park Hyatt Hotel (the same as in Lost in Translation) but the security measures are so extreme that it’s impossible to see her. So I leave you with some pictures taken by a journalist in one of the events at Roppongi Hills.

Internet café with showers

kirai — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:33:53 +0000

This is a sign at the entrance of an Internet café that opens 24 hours and has showers. Notice the showers “icon” next to the TV one. Because of this trend many people that do not have a house spend the night at Internet cafes for a cheap price and at the same time they can use the showers.