shibuya HMV closedown, the end of an era

it was this spring that the news of shibuya hmv closedown was delivered through the media. of course it was a big shock and surprise to many people who have been to the store. it was regarded as one of the biggest record stores not only in tokyo or japan, but also in the global context. many musicians around the world carried themselves to the store when they had concerts in tokyo. i myself saw Black Eyed Peas and m-flo in the store. therefore, i could never imagine that this store would be closed and i could hardly believe the news. nevertheless, the closedown was an official fact. therefore, i decided to see the store before it disappears from the map of shibuya.

what i surprised at the store was, actually, the lack of collection of music in fact. i always thought that shibuya hmv has everything i want, but it turned out to be an illusion. i was rather surprised that i could not find what i wanted to buy!! i think this is because people today tend to take the internet for granted and i misunderstood the store had the same potential as the internet... internet offers us literary everything i can imagine, from goods to services, and even to dates (although ive never tried the last one:P ), and this huge rival has gradually weaken even such a great record store...

i really hope that the closedown of shibuya hmv will gradually make people realize how important to live in the real world outside the world of world wide web. i do use internet shopping services once in a while but i try to go to find what i want by myself as often as possible. i really hope this would not be a trend for other stores. but at the same time, this fact somehow indicates that one era is now over. i also need to move on to another era as hmv moves on...

naoshima @ setouchi international art festival

naoshima is an island located in setonaikai, western part of japan. it was once known for illegal garbage disposal but now known as one of the most artistic islands around the world. i made a first footstep on this island in the end of july for the purpose of visiting "setouchi international art festival." 

after 20 minutes boat ride from a port near okayama, naoshima welcomed me with a splendid sight of red massive pumpkin (?) designed by yayoi kusama. it was gigantic enough to attract my eyes in an instant, and outstanding enough to control the surrounding atmosphere in good or bad way. 

what good about this island is that it is small enough to allow you to cycle from one another, and hilly enough to make you exercise by cycling. on the other side of the island, there is another pumpkin, which is colored to be yellow, and on the top of a small mountain there is a famous art museum attracting young architects from all over the world, designed by tadao ando. this museum is surely the biggest highlight of this island, for ordinary rich tourists. it is promoted by Benesse and Fukutake. Fukutake has invested a huge amount of money to develop this island to be an art island. theyve built super fancy hotels, another gorgeous museum, and many more. 

i usually tend to dislike that sort of huge economic influx as it can easily dominate the surroundings, and obviously one side of this island is not for locals any more. but they also invested to local amenity by organizing a beautiful public bath near the port, which was a positive aspect for locals. 

whats cool about this island is that it doesnt attract people only by the two famous museums, but also small experimental exhibitions all over the island. as i could stay only for a day or less, it was simply impossible to see them all, but some i could see was superb. 

in the near future, when my saving will be good enough, id love to visit this island again.

kamakura, "bills"

in kamakura, there is a restaurant famous for "the best breakfast in the world." it is "bills". along the Enoden, along the shoreline, bills is attracting hundreds of customers every weekend morning, and i became one of them on the first sunday of july. 

the area was developed really nicely lately, with cozy cafes, boutiques, and lovely apartments. and it just next to the great beach. who wouldnt like it live there? so the customers were naturally diverse, from surfers to design oriented people, from local youngsters to gourmet-wanna-be urbanites. the funny thing was the difference of colours of skins between surfers and non-surfers.

although i was not so sure whether it was the best breakfast in the world, it was surely worth paying a visit all the way from tokyo. having a beautiful breakfast with good friends in the sunday morning, hearing a sound of wave was surely extraordinary. 

when i visit that sort of places outside tokyo, i cannot help but ask myself, "what are you doing in tokyo? what do you want there??" the answer is always unknown yet, but i still need to try to find one in this city.

todoroki gorge

what are tokyo urbanites do when they need rest from daily hard works? many people, i believe, dont do anything and just stay at home. equally many people seem to go shopping to get more tired. some people go to gigantic parks, such as yoyogi park, to get some natural inspiration, although the parks are literary covered by people and nobody can feel they are in nature. some may go to museum, and some lucky people just leave from tokyo for a few days. 

this time, id love to introduce Todoroki gorge in setagaya ward in tokyo.

todoroki is located in Setagaya ward, which is regarded as the most livable and attractive area of tokyo to live especially for rich people. i prefer to have a great access to a great diversity of tokyo so it really didnt appeal to me before to live at all. but todoroki was really attractive!! the gorge is nicely preserved and attracting reasonable amount of people (unlike yoyogi park) and its just 1 minute walking distance from todoroki station.  its atmosphere is so extraordinary for tokyo urbanites but somehow is blending to the area naturally.

if u feel tired of concrete jungle and huge tide of people in tokyo and feel the need of break from them immediately, todoroki should be the place.

roppongi

after a subscription order for Monocle magazine, ive been motivated to look around the city of tokyo bit more carefully. although, its been a day yet :P nways, today id like to write about my impression about roppongi area.

i had a small meeting at Tokyo Mid Town today afternoon and luckily i didnt have to go back to my office afterwards, and it was still around 17:30. i knew i couldnt afford anything, but i just decided to stroll the area. my impression about roppongi WAS, a: for rich people, b: for tourists, c: for desperate black/white guys who want to have sex with white/black-wanna-be japanese girls. actually, it is still true, that roppongi is for rich, tourists, and for horny foreigners and japanese sluts. but i could discover totally different perspectives on roppongi this time.

i think the last time i went to roppongi during the day time was 3years back (at least), and therefore my image about roppongi in the sunlight was (at least) 3years old. the last time i was in roppongi during the day time, the Tokyo Midtown was just completed or almost done or in that sort of state so that i didnt stop by then. this time, therefore, was my first debut. 

i didnt know that the Midtown was that nice actually. what i realised was the cool landscape especially behind the Midtown. the garden was nicely designed and people could enjoy a small stream with their feet (although the signs were ugly as usual). there was an open field available, and cozy cafes outside and inside the Midtown. 

inside the Midtown, there were many very attractive interior/design stores, clothes stores, cafes and restaurants, and museum. the overall atmosphere was super posh enough to make me feel uncomfortable and realise that i dont belong there yet. but it was surely a good place to stop by once in a while. i actually didnt really like roppongi by today, but i really liked the Midtown!!! 

after my brief stop at the Midtown, i headed to the Roppongi Hills. ive been there several times already, but it provided me a different perspectives, which was, "there are something i can actually afford!!!" as theres a ZARA store, i ended up buying a shirt which doesnt look like a business use, but i use it for office use kinda product. and, of course, it was like 70% discount or whatever.  

its kinda funny that i ordered the super posh magazine and liked this super posh district of the Tokyo Midtown, what i can afford is mere ZARA... that is the reality:P who cares. i dont.