The 5, 6, 7, 8′s Live at the Boogie Shack

In January I went to see one of Japan’s legendary rock bands, the 5, 6, 7, 8′s who became famous in the west after appearing in the movie Kill Bill back in 2003. The director, Quentin Tarantino found them after hearing their songs being played in a Tokyo fashion store, and you can see him talk about it and the bands performance in the movie here. They performed as guest of one of the best Tokyo rock clubs, the Boogie Shack Rhythm & Soul Club, every first Saturday of the month at the fabulous A971 upstairs lounge in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, Tokyo Midtown. So if you are free tonight you know where to go!

Streets of Roppongi

Going for photo walks this time of the year is good because there is usually nothing much else going on and the cold weather keeps most people indoors. It’s a chance to rediscover places you thought you knew well or explore new places altogether. When I first came to Tokyo a long time ago one of my favorite pastimes was to take my old orientering compass, set a direction and just walk out. I would get lost time and time again but it was a great place to get to know the city on foot. Still to this day I rediscover some of the old places where I got really lost many years ago, it’s like seeing an old friend almost. This was before the days of GPS and smart phones, these days you can do the same thing with the phone in your pocket. The other day I was walking around Roppongi, only the main streets, but I took these photos to make most of the light and crisp weather! Enjoy!

Spring Come Early – Tokyo Tower

Yesterday was an amazingly hot and sunny day, 18C/64F warm, a light breeze and blazing sun, almost like April already in February! Today is cooler again but for one brief day we could forget about the winter. Tokyo outdoor eateries and cafes were packed, especially here in Roppongi where I spent the day. Tokyo’s prettiest tower, the Tokyo Tower, looked fine!

Christmas at Midtown

Christmas in Japan is like Christmas in many other countries, more about by consumerism than any tradition or even religion. Families usually spend Christmas together (after work of course) with a cake and some grilled chicken, while young adults or those unattached prefer to spend Christmas eve with their sweethearts. To lure this attraction seeking young crowd many shopping centers put on light displays and events, the most popular of which are so crowded that people have to cue up to get in. There was supposed to be a huge light display at Tokyo station but when the managers understood the huge numbers of people who were likely to show up the event was actually cancelled! I happened to walk through Tokyo Midtown in the Roppongi district on Christmas eve and saw these christmas decorations. While the decorations inside the big commercial center was focused on abstract shapes there were some cute hand decorated snowmen!