On the streets of Tokyo yesterday. Summer time is also Matsuri time for Japan.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
A little stop in Greece
Me at the wheel cruising the strip.
Another road trip, on our way home...
The Mad Greek serves a mean meal. We stopped here on the drive back to LA.
The world famous Gyro(yee-roh)
Masa: "Me, tired? No way Jose. My chicken legs will get me farther than you'll ever get!"
Anyone know the story behind this strange name? Zzyzx?
ちょっと日本語版サボってしまいました・・・同時翻訳も以外と大変・・
えー、突然話は飛びますが、ラスベガスでD1を見た後ロサンゼルスへの帰路です。
そこにはちょっとした楽しみがあります。
Gyro（イーロと発音するらしい）というギリシア版サンドウィッチを出すMad Greekというお店があります。丁度ベガスを出て一時間ぐらいの小腹が減った時に出現します。
思わず今回も寄ってしまいました。これがなんとも美味い。お店はファーストフードっぽい作りですが、味は確か。他にも美味しそうなものがたくさんありますが、いつもGyroを頼んでしまいます。
次は別なものを頼んでみよう。
そしてMad Greekを出てちょっと走ったところに面白い名前の看板が出てきます。「Zzyzx」ズィーズィックスと発音するらしいですが、これも非常に気になる名前です。この辺の名前は通常スペイン語源のものが多いのですが、これは多分電話帳の一番最後に出る名前になるために作ったとしか考えようがありません。ヒマな人は調べてみてください。
ちなみにこのフリーウェイ、Barstow付近ではネズミ捕りがわんさかいるのでご注意を。
昨年、Road ＆ Trackのサム三谷さんと快適に飛ばしていたらとめられました・・・その警官、私の国際免許を5分ぐらい何も言わずに眺め、まったく動じず、おもっきり普通に切符切られました。
さすがのRoad & Trackも力及ばずって感じでした。
当たり前か・・
Thursday, July 27, 2006
D1 Vegas Trip(3)
Tanner Foust in the AEM 350Z. He's one to look out for this year. Improving everytime he runs. If he can become a little more stable finishing his runs, he will get much better.
The sun was setting but it was still VERY hot.
Nomuken's Blitz Skyline
Showing that love! Thanks Ken!
Masa trying to fix the tube. We got some good black and white Mexican soaps...
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
D1 Vegas Trip(2)
Vegas at last!
Speedway Casino near the Las Vegas Speedway
Scions everywhere in the exhibition area between the drag strip and D1 course.
Ken Gushi peace!
Pre-lims starting
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
D1 Vegas Trip(1)
I'm really happy about all of the positive feedback I've received about my A Message For American Drifting post. I just started writing some notes after visiting both events and continued it on my way back to Japan. As you can see from the length of the post(!) I am very interested in where drifting is heading in the world. Not just drifting but where all of this "Japanese Car" culture is going. As a Japanese national, I can be its biggest critic but as you may have noticed I am quite passionate about it all at the same time.
I see huge potential in drifting, Japanese tuned cars, time attacks, Super GT, personalities such as Keiichi Tsuchiya, Manabu Orido and Nob Taniguchi. I cannot think of any other Japanese sport that can fill places the size of Irwindale. Not even Ichiro Suzuki alone, whom I consider the biggest Asian sports star in N.America. This may be coming from when I was growing up in the US as kid with most of my heroes being American. We didn't have Asian athletes that inspired us. Probably only Bruce Lee and he was already dead by the time we started watching his movies. Achoh!
What is motivating me right now is the joy of Americans embracing the Japanese car culture looking up to Japanese drivers and tuners. It's all about understanding and communication. What can be more happier than an American kid driving miles to see our Best Motoring shoot in the US. And Zigzag Asia being a big part of bringing this all to the US.
Now that is my cause and motivation. That's what Zigzag Asia is about.
We got up early that morning to head to Vegas to see D1. First stop, Starbucks.
Future F1 driver, Masa to take the first leg of the trip.
Startoh!
First stop, breakfast of champions, American style.
Halfway point. Still a looong ways to go.
I see huge potential in drifting, Japanese tuned cars, time attacks, Super GT, personalities such as Keiichi Tsuchiya, Manabu Orido and Nob Taniguchi. I cannot think of any other Japanese sport that can fill places the size of Irwindale. Not even Ichiro Suzuki alone, whom I consider the biggest Asian sports star in N.America. This may be coming from when I was growing up in the US as kid with most of my heroes being American. We didn't have Asian athletes that inspired us. Probably only Bruce Lee and he was already dead by the time we started watching his movies. Achoh!
What is motivating me right now is the joy of Americans embracing the Japanese car culture looking up to Japanese drivers and tuners. It's all about understanding and communication. What can be more happier than an American kid driving miles to see our Best Motoring shoot in the US. And Zigzag Asia being a big part of bringing this all to the US.
Now that is my cause and motivation. That's what Zigzag Asia is about.
We got up early that morning to head to Vegas to see D1. First stop, Starbucks.
Future F1 driver, Masa to take the first leg of the trip.
Startoh!
First stop, breakfast of champions, American style.
Halfway point. Still a looong ways to go.
Friday, July 21, 2006
A Message For American Drifting
My visit to the FD Sonoma was that of pure curiosity. Ken Takahashi who I work with is one of the judges so I wanted to see why exactly I am letting him leave work on Thursday when there is an event. Surely Zigzag Asia is not getting paid for giving Ken days off but our corporate decision was to accept the offer from Formula D because in the long perspective it will benefit both the corporation and individual. Another reason why I went was to check out how much the organically grown American pro drift series had evolved.
I arrived around 11am before the best 16 runs. I got to see the drivers and teams in action. I visited Ken up in the judge's booth before the show started and had some time to talk with Andy Yen and Alex Pfeifer. I chatted with Jim, Ryan and the entire FD crew. I met Hulk and Nick Hogan, the G4 crew and Jerrod. And I saw the fans.
I realized that day that I could be looking at history in the making. Drifting is exploding in the US and is becoming bigger and bigger everyday. Where it used to be a sport that had to be done using used up tires from the junk yard, now tire companies are throwing new tires at young drivers so they can kill the sh_t out of them in less than 10 minutes. When you have this kind of money being tossed around, it means you better hang on or you're going to miss the ride. Whether it is Formula D or D1, if they play their cards right they can make something special. Although, playing cards right is not as easy as it sounds when you're right in the middle of everything.
These are some things I noticed at Sonoma. During G4's Sonoma coverage, there was footage where they showed Ken Gushi talking about the judge's decision and later his manager Damien Takahashi claiming in front of the camera. Where the camera was not showing there were actually more heated complaints and ideas exchanged between the teams, event organizers and the judges. But you know if you run a competition there will be 1 satisfied guy and at least 15 unhappy people at the end of the day. Each and everyone will have something to say. The important thing at this stage is to have the place to be able to voice your opinion and ideas. I think FD has that atmosphere at least, compared to D1. FD organizers try to listen to ideas because they care about what the teams and fans think about the event. FD may not be perfect and every team may not believe this but I believe they do.
Why voicing opinions is important because I felt at Sonoma that everyone feels that they want to make FD a better event. The fans are not just there to see something but actually there to be part of the event. Everyone is there with an objective and it all connects to making FD a better event. The sponsors want a better event because they want to sell their products. The teams want a better event so they can win fair and square and please fans and sponsors. Let's not be naïve, we are all not there for some beautiful cause. We all have motives. But that's ok. That is what drives people and organizations to become better. All of these motives ends up at one place "we are part of FD and we want to make it better". If that wasn't the case, they would not be there and there would not be any complaining.
FD is in the midst of growing. D1 has matured in the homeland and needed to expand to the US because Japan was a shrinking market. When you've conquered your own land the only place to go is abroad. That is why D1 is aggressively expanding abroad to export the show and format. A format which is already established. D1 does things their way and have done it successfully. They may not have made everyone involved happy but they have a driving force which does not differ and stop at all means. Who said you had to be nice to everyone to get the job done? Their job is to expand, sell the show, sell the DVDs and move on to the next show. We all have to agree that they have successfully done just that. Come'on they never set out to grow the US drifting scene. The are a business, not an NPO. As long as they keep selling those drifting DVDs and people pay money to buy tickets, the show will go on.
This is a two sided blade. It is a business but they are working with people. As I wrote earlier each party involved in FD has a motive. Usually a different motive. When the event organizers can no longer fulfill the objectives and motives of the parties involved, it cannot function. When teams and drivers are forced to be there, things start to fizzle. The fans expectations and the event is somehow not the same anymore. Then the magic is lost. I see glimpse of that in D1 but it's always been there I guess. I just hope that doesn't happen with FD too.
One of the things that FD can do to differentiate themselves with D1 is to make the judging more clearer. If drifting is to be a sport and not the pro wrestling of motorsports, (no offense Hulk) the judging needs to be clearer. There should not be a consensus building among the judges but a clear yes, no and reasoning behind each decision. There are "3" judges unlike the "2" at D1 so they should take advantage of the odd number always making it a vote. At least for the subjective section of the judging. There could also be a quantifiable factor in the decision making, whether it be speed and angle. If figure skating can do it, drifting can. The organizers and judges need to sit down and make this crystal clear. The current tandem run and judging style is based on D1 style. That cuts it in Japan but some things you just have to change to fit the market. I think they should just change the entire format as I think it is outdated and harvests too much BS. Look how American Football is all about instant replays, numbers and playbooks. It is a science. It is the biggest sport in the US. It's come a long way since it evolved from rugby about a 100 years ago in Boston. If the Americans want to keep drifting, it's their job to change it too.
What can be done immediately in the short run is to make a committee to make the rules clear and to review the decisions if necessary. Also the judges should use the driver's meeting to address important points. That is what a driver's meeting is for. To remind the drivers and teams about safety and rules. They may have heard it before but why do you think the referee always tells boxers before each bout not to hit below the belt and have a clean fight? To emphasize and remind what they are looking for.
Another thing I thought at Sonoma was that not everyone is a drifting expert. Most probably the people at Sonoma were first timers. If they were first at it, how in the world would they know who "Hayashida" is and which car he is in unless they are reminded every single second? Also again the rules of the tandem run needs to be addressed more clearly to the fans. I for one would have absolutely no idea who won if I was just sitting in the stands watching.
My point is that the entire format should be changed. Drifting is a simple sport. Any kid can watch drifting and be excited by the smoke and noise. We all have to realize that just because the crowd is going nuts it doesn't mean that they all understand why Rhys Millen just won the tandem battle. I bet you more than half of the crowd couldn't tell you why. That G4 show doesn't help much either. Great for promoting the sport but bad for comprehension of it. Those camera angles and commentators need to really up their game because all they are doing is bringing you the feeling of being at Sonoma.
Just to prove my point, at D1 Las Vegas a week later, I was sitting in the stands where it was absolutely impossible to hear what the hell Toshi Hayama was yelling about. I walked over to the other side and was finally able to hear him. It was a shame since I think he has really improved in the last few years. I was truly impressed. But anyway, I don't know if D1 didn't bother to hook up any speakers on one side but it was just mute. So basically half of the crowd sitting on the parking lot side heard NOTHING. We had no idea, who was coming down the straight, what was going on or why the hell that guy just won. But was the crowd unhappy sitting in the scorching Las Vegas heat without any commentary? Hell no! It's fargin drifting! Cars were coming down at 75-80 miles per hour, tire smoking and blistering around the corner. Some cars were even kind enough to bang themselves into the concrete K-wall. The crowd went nuts. There was even a brawl in the stands during the silence to keep people entertained. Why in the world would we need to hear any commentator explain to us when and where we should cheer? It was all in front of us. Everyone was having a blast. Everyone in the crowd had absolutely no f_cking idea why Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Suzuki was making those judgments. Actually we couldn't even hear who the hell won. But who cares! It's drifting! That says it all the organizers should not be satisfied with the number of fans it can attract. Because half the crowd may have no idea what is going on. I actually think they should do a survey or a quiz at the end of an event. This could prove that the whole format is absolute baloney and irrelevant. It's just self satisfaction and a big smoking jerk off if we ever saw one. Could it be that this competition drifting be the biggest scam in motorsports history? That everyone there is pretending to understand and enjoy the sport but only actually waiting for some guy to eat his face onto the wall? How embarrassing!
Part of me wants to believe that I'm wrong. It can't be that wrong and off course right? But what if I'm right? What if the US was so wanting to take on this new style of exciting motorsport that they were just was blind to the obvious negative factor of the sport? Sometimes the most obvious and biggest flaw can be right in front of your face and you can still miss it entirely.
If you think I'm wrong, you need to get those tandem rules right. If not I'm right and we need to think of a new way to watch and judge the sport all together.
You know where this could lead to is purely drift demos. Who knows? Drifting is all about tricks. Whether it is one car or with two cars or three cars. You go out and show your stuff and you're judged on how well you executed it. Just like skating and skateboarding. This tandem battle style is too gray for mainstream. This could be strange from someone like me who produces Touge Battle videos. But this gray style is just not TV friendly enough to make it big. Two cars going against each other but cannot necessarily pass and must follow some imaginary line? Come on! That is so Japanese in the bad vague way. Winning and losing has to be clearer. Clear as black and white or you'll never get rid of the whining. Japan invented the sport but the US doesn't have to follow every bit up to the gray stuff. The Americans this time must take in something that is not theirs and make it their own. It's time to rip up those old ancient rules and rewrite the constitution your way. It's got be easier than the won you wrote back in 1787.
Taro Koki
Executive Producer of the BMI Special Edition DRIFT BIBLE
I arrived around 11am before the best 16 runs. I got to see the drivers and teams in action. I visited Ken up in the judge's booth before the show started and had some time to talk with Andy Yen and Alex Pfeifer. I chatted with Jim, Ryan and the entire FD crew. I met Hulk and Nick Hogan, the G4 crew and Jerrod. And I saw the fans.
I realized that day that I could be looking at history in the making. Drifting is exploding in the US and is becoming bigger and bigger everyday. Where it used to be a sport that had to be done using used up tires from the junk yard, now tire companies are throwing new tires at young drivers so they can kill the sh_t out of them in less than 10 minutes. When you have this kind of money being tossed around, it means you better hang on or you're going to miss the ride. Whether it is Formula D or D1, if they play their cards right they can make something special. Although, playing cards right is not as easy as it sounds when you're right in the middle of everything.
These are some things I noticed at Sonoma. During G4's Sonoma coverage, there was footage where they showed Ken Gushi talking about the judge's decision and later his manager Damien Takahashi claiming in front of the camera. Where the camera was not showing there were actually more heated complaints and ideas exchanged between the teams, event organizers and the judges. But you know if you run a competition there will be 1 satisfied guy and at least 15 unhappy people at the end of the day. Each and everyone will have something to say. The important thing at this stage is to have the place to be able to voice your opinion and ideas. I think FD has that atmosphere at least, compared to D1. FD organizers try to listen to ideas because they care about what the teams and fans think about the event. FD may not be perfect and every team may not believe this but I believe they do.
Why voicing opinions is important because I felt at Sonoma that everyone feels that they want to make FD a better event. The fans are not just there to see something but actually there to be part of the event. Everyone is there with an objective and it all connects to making FD a better event. The sponsors want a better event because they want to sell their products. The teams want a better event so they can win fair and square and please fans and sponsors. Let's not be naïve, we are all not there for some beautiful cause. We all have motives. But that's ok. That is what drives people and organizations to become better. All of these motives ends up at one place "we are part of FD and we want to make it better". If that wasn't the case, they would not be there and there would not be any complaining.
FD is in the midst of growing. D1 has matured in the homeland and needed to expand to the US because Japan was a shrinking market. When you've conquered your own land the only place to go is abroad. That is why D1 is aggressively expanding abroad to export the show and format. A format which is already established. D1 does things their way and have done it successfully. They may not have made everyone involved happy but they have a driving force which does not differ and stop at all means. Who said you had to be nice to everyone to get the job done? Their job is to expand, sell the show, sell the DVDs and move on to the next show. We all have to agree that they have successfully done just that. Come'on they never set out to grow the US drifting scene. The are a business, not an NPO. As long as they keep selling those drifting DVDs and people pay money to buy tickets, the show will go on.
This is a two sided blade. It is a business but they are working with people. As I wrote earlier each party involved in FD has a motive. Usually a different motive. When the event organizers can no longer fulfill the objectives and motives of the parties involved, it cannot function. When teams and drivers are forced to be there, things start to fizzle. The fans expectations and the event is somehow not the same anymore. Then the magic is lost. I see glimpse of that in D1 but it's always been there I guess. I just hope that doesn't happen with FD too.
One of the things that FD can do to differentiate themselves with D1 is to make the judging more clearer. If drifting is to be a sport and not the pro wrestling of motorsports, (no offense Hulk) the judging needs to be clearer. There should not be a consensus building among the judges but a clear yes, no and reasoning behind each decision. There are "3" judges unlike the "2" at D1 so they should take advantage of the odd number always making it a vote. At least for the subjective section of the judging. There could also be a quantifiable factor in the decision making, whether it be speed and angle. If figure skating can do it, drifting can. The organizers and judges need to sit down and make this crystal clear. The current tandem run and judging style is based on D1 style. That cuts it in Japan but some things you just have to change to fit the market. I think they should just change the entire format as I think it is outdated and harvests too much BS. Look how American Football is all about instant replays, numbers and playbooks. It is a science. It is the biggest sport in the US. It's come a long way since it evolved from rugby about a 100 years ago in Boston. If the Americans want to keep drifting, it's their job to change it too.
What can be done immediately in the short run is to make a committee to make the rules clear and to review the decisions if necessary. Also the judges should use the driver's meeting to address important points. That is what a driver's meeting is for. To remind the drivers and teams about safety and rules. They may have heard it before but why do you think the referee always tells boxers before each bout not to hit below the belt and have a clean fight? To emphasize and remind what they are looking for.
Another thing I thought at Sonoma was that not everyone is a drifting expert. Most probably the people at Sonoma were first timers. If they were first at it, how in the world would they know who "Hayashida" is and which car he is in unless they are reminded every single second? Also again the rules of the tandem run needs to be addressed more clearly to the fans. I for one would have absolutely no idea who won if I was just sitting in the stands watching.
My point is that the entire format should be changed. Drifting is a simple sport. Any kid can watch drifting and be excited by the smoke and noise. We all have to realize that just because the crowd is going nuts it doesn't mean that they all understand why Rhys Millen just won the tandem battle. I bet you more than half of the crowd couldn't tell you why. That G4 show doesn't help much either. Great for promoting the sport but bad for comprehension of it. Those camera angles and commentators need to really up their game because all they are doing is bringing you the feeling of being at Sonoma.
Just to prove my point, at D1 Las Vegas a week later, I was sitting in the stands where it was absolutely impossible to hear what the hell Toshi Hayama was yelling about. I walked over to the other side and was finally able to hear him. It was a shame since I think he has really improved in the last few years. I was truly impressed. But anyway, I don't know if D1 didn't bother to hook up any speakers on one side but it was just mute. So basically half of the crowd sitting on the parking lot side heard NOTHING. We had no idea, who was coming down the straight, what was going on or why the hell that guy just won. But was the crowd unhappy sitting in the scorching Las Vegas heat without any commentary? Hell no! It's fargin drifting! Cars were coming down at 75-80 miles per hour, tire smoking and blistering around the corner. Some cars were even kind enough to bang themselves into the concrete K-wall. The crowd went nuts. There was even a brawl in the stands during the silence to keep people entertained. Why in the world would we need to hear any commentator explain to us when and where we should cheer? It was all in front of us. Everyone was having a blast. Everyone in the crowd had absolutely no f_cking idea why Keiichi Tsuchiya and Manabu Suzuki was making those judgments. Actually we couldn't even hear who the hell won. But who cares! It's drifting! That says it all the organizers should not be satisfied with the number of fans it can attract. Because half the crowd may have no idea what is going on. I actually think they should do a survey or a quiz at the end of an event. This could prove that the whole format is absolute baloney and irrelevant. It's just self satisfaction and a big smoking jerk off if we ever saw one. Could it be that this competition drifting be the biggest scam in motorsports history? That everyone there is pretending to understand and enjoy the sport but only actually waiting for some guy to eat his face onto the wall? How embarrassing!
Part of me wants to believe that I'm wrong. It can't be that wrong and off course right? But what if I'm right? What if the US was so wanting to take on this new style of exciting motorsport that they were just was blind to the obvious negative factor of the sport? Sometimes the most obvious and biggest flaw can be right in front of your face and you can still miss it entirely.
If you think I'm wrong, you need to get those tandem rules right. If not I'm right and we need to think of a new way to watch and judge the sport all together.
You know where this could lead to is purely drift demos. Who knows? Drifting is all about tricks. Whether it is one car or with two cars or three cars. You go out and show your stuff and you're judged on how well you executed it. Just like skating and skateboarding. This tandem battle style is too gray for mainstream. This could be strange from someone like me who produces Touge Battle videos. But this gray style is just not TV friendly enough to make it big. Two cars going against each other but cannot necessarily pass and must follow some imaginary line? Come on! That is so Japanese in the bad vague way. Winning and losing has to be clearer. Clear as black and white or you'll never get rid of the whining. Japan invented the sport but the US doesn't have to follow every bit up to the gray stuff. The Americans this time must take in something that is not theirs and make it their own. It's time to rip up those old ancient rules and rewrite the constitution your way. It's got be easier than the won you wrote back in 1787.
Taro Koki
Executive Producer of the BMI Special Edition DRIFT BIBLE
Best Motoring Store
Best Motoring Store
Best Motoring International has a new shop. Check it out to buy the latest DVDs. We will soon have apparel, stickers and other goodies. It took a long time to launch but we finally did it!
北米向けにDVD販売用のECショップを開設しました。新作英語版DVDはもちろんアパレル、ステッカーやその他グッズをこれから揃えます。開設するのに時間がかかりましたが、やっとできました！
Visit To Irvine
We visited Oakley and also had a meeting at the Vision Ent. office with the Formula D guys.
アーヴァインに行ってきました。写真はオークレーの本社です。アーヴァインではその他ビジョンエンターティメントというイベント屋さんでFormula Dとミーティングをしました。
オークレーのオフィス受付にて。面白いものがたくさんおいてあります。
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Here's the little restaurant in Palo Alto that I had a lunch meeting.
パロ・アルトでランチミーティングをしたお店です。
Some times they have the wierdest planes in front of our office at the Torrance airport. Here's an island hopper plane from Hokkaido that ended up here for maintenance. Story is that it was sold to someone abroad.
ロスの我々の事務所の前にはいろいろな飛行機が留まっています。よく見てみたらカタカナが書いている飛行機がありました。聞くところによると元々は北海道のあたりの島々を渡っていた飛行機とか。しかし、それを外国の個人が購入しここでメンテナンスをしているそうです。
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
A Day In Menlo Park
I visited Masami Hirata with Taku Imasaki. Taku works at Sony Computer Entertainment and is the producer of the Gran Turismo games. He also brought his son Rio who is 2 years old. I've known Masami since I was little because our parents were very good friends. Masami works at Yahoo! HQ in Sunnyvale as the manager of international marketing and sales dev. They're my very good friends. We watched the world cup finals and had a relaxing day off.
We walked around Stanford University after having our bbq. Walk off all the food!
A proud parent taking the shot with the Ferrari. He's going to grow up to be a race car driver.
That night I drove back down town SF and had dinner with Kunihiro Tanaka and his wife Maki at Chaya. Kunihiro is also a childhood friend of mine. He works for Yamato Transport also in Menlo Park. Kunihiro was my partner in crime back in Junior High. We both went to an all boys school called Gyosei International in Kisarazu Chiba. We laughed about those days. The teachers used to hit us so hard on the head if we were bad. We joke about it now but if they did that nowadays they wouldn't get away with it. Good thing we didn't turn out (that)messed up!
Monday, July 17, 2006
Nossa TV
While I was in SF, I stayed with a good friend of mine Bob "BB" Martin who has just started up his own company called Nossa TV.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Formula Drift Sonoma
I was in Sonoma to check out Formula Drift and guess who I met?
先週末はSonomaのFormula Dに行ってきました。こんな人がいました。
Me, the Hulk, Tarzan Yamada and Nick Hogan
SF was cold as usual. Sonoma was very nice though.
More photos from the event to come...
I'm back in LA for a week now.
やっとSFからLAに移動しました。SFは寒かった。夏のくせにSFは本当に寒い。Sonomaは良い天気でした。
その他の写真は後ほど。。。
先週末はSonomaのFormula Dに行ってきました。こんな人がいました。
Me, the Hulk, Tarzan Yamada and Nick Hogan
SF was cold as usual. Sonoma was very nice though.
More photos from the event to come...
I'm back in LA for a week now.
やっとSFからLAに移動しました。SFは寒かった。夏のくせにSFは本当に寒い。Sonomaは良い天気でした。
その他の写真は後ほど。。。
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Isetan
I've been going to Isetan Men's lately to buy clothes. This past weekend was a sale so there were many people there. I was only able to score a T-shirt on sale. I had to evacuate to the roof top for some air.
Yes, seriously..
They had grass on the roof top making it a very different change in pace from the rest of the building. Very nice oasis in the middle of Shinjuku.
最近服を伊勢丹MENSで買うことが多い。週末はセールだったのですごい人でした。
T-shirts一枚だけ買って非難しました。いやー、大変でした。
屋上で一休みと上がってみたらそこは別世界。芝が敷いてあってなかなか良いスペースとなっていました。
Monday, July 03, 2006
Akihabara
I went to the electric capital of Japan, Akihabara. Hadn't been to Akihabara in a long time. It was a lot cleaner and developed than before.
今日は久しぶりに秋葉原に行ってきました。昔より大分キレイになっていました。
Aussie Ad
Here is an ad for American Touge 2 for the Australian market. It got great reviews in a couple of magazines down under.
American Touge 2DVDの豪州市場用の広告です。オーストラリアの雑誌２－３誌でも好評価いただきました。オーストラリアは日本と同じ右ハンドル。規制も厳しくなく日本車の中古が数多く走っています。アメリカに続きDVD販売も2番目に多い市場です。
Saturday, July 01, 2006
touge
Touge is touge but a different touge. This is tougei, pottery. I think Japanese tougei is close to meditation. We went to a tougei class about a month ago and today the works finally came back.
いつも峠の英語でＴｏｕｇｅと言っていますが、同じＴｏｕｇｅでもこっちは「陶芸」。先月陶芸教室に行ってみました。今日やっとそのボウルというか、お椀？が返ってきました。出来はまぁまぁですかね・・でもやっている時はかなり集中して気持ちよかったです。
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