"Our Exhibition"

from 5th to 8th of April, we had our own exhibition at Design festa gallary in Harajyuku.I was rally excited about it in the beginning but we had some problems with flyer so honestlly, i was more nervous than being excited.
On thursday, when the exhibition started, I was kinda embarassed to see my piece on the screen.
Actually, i havent showed my piece to anybody until the exhibition had begun, so i was feeling " oh my god....now im really embarassed to show it to everybody...." because my piece was on mylife, how i felt in living in Tokyo and it was partly really depressing. I really didnt wanna see my piece in the gallary.
However, at the opening party on Saturday, things has changed.
Some of my good friends came to see my project all the way and they simply liked it so much.
They said that my piece was heartful, genuine and not that depressing:p They especially liked my short clips that i used between pictures since those images were seen by Japanese eyes, someone who has japanese eyes with European background. haha.

I wanna thank them for giving me confidence and I realized that it was really meaningful for me to get over my past and to welcome my brilliant future.
As i said in my project, life is not too bad.

Finally, i loved this class even tough i chose it randomly to fill one more class for this semester! lol
I got to know some incredible people who gave me a new view of seeing the world.
It was also nice to become friends with exchange students.
This experience will remain with me forever, I will always miss what i had with you and shared with you, guys.
You guys are all talented and an artist. We, each have a different view, but i noticed we had something in commonm, too.
I guess that is we are all enjoying our lives and have hope.
take care, guys.

Thank you for everything!!!!!!!
I will miss you so much.

"CRAZY VERSION~MUSIC~INTERNATIONAL PROJECT"
our topic is MUSIC and i wanted to describe the crazyness of nightlife in Tokyo regarding Music..........
In the beginning, i was thinking of focusing on street musicians but i somehow thought this would be cooler.
Last friday, i went to this party in shibuya that was organized by one of my friends and it is really hip among indie people like me...they sometimes invite famous people as Djs, like Bloc Party, the subways, Franzferdiand, Css and so forth...
It's such a shame that there are no Rock Clubs in Tokyo while there are many in Europe(Germany, France, Nordic Countries and of course ENGLAND....i wish i were in London so that i could go to a party every night aahhaha)
Therefore, we always get together......I meet SAME kind of people when they have a party.....because we, kind of Indie people have no place to go out cuz nightlife in TOKYO is too much Americanized and they only play hip hop, R and B.....but those parties i go to are little bit snobby and high class sometimes, i dont like that....its kind of a Disco but a FASHION SHOW! but i like the music they play!!!!!!!!!!! At that night, they only played Electro but i prefer when they play more ROCK.
I took most of the pics of people and my friends in this piece but some are taken by my friend who is a photographer.
The music i used-> "the Bouncer" by Klaxons ( my favorite band at the moment)

well....im little bit worried cuz my group isnt well organized!!!

Click To Play

WATCH?!

"I am totaly lost."
well...as i wrote here before, i was thinking of making a documentary on japanese girls who are fanatic about Japanese male idols. Actually i went to interview those girls at the concert last weekend but i found it almost impossible to reach those girls...like...they definitely thought i was one of the fans and making a joke on them or so...
Anyways, i might be giving up this theme and here are my new proposals.

1. My favorite cafes in Tokyo.....I often go to cafes by myself or with my friends and i know many nice cafes in shibuya, harajyuku, shimokitazwa...so...its like a trip on cafes around popular areas in tokyo. In this case, i would probably just take pictures and might make a game...?

2. I was pretty inspired by the documentary by Johnathan, "Tarnation" today and i thought i could probably make a documentary on ME ....lol The main theme is...."LOVE".
What i am thinking is, I will reflect on my memories....like First love....attached to the paticular area in Tokyo.
I also want people to talk about what love means to themif possible.

I used to live near Haneda in Otaku, very southern part of Tokyo where Haneda airport is near by. everyone was so close each other there because it was kind of fisherman area. I have a really strong feeling about this area....Even after i moved to Omori, which is also in Otaku by the way, I miss Haneda area so much. I mean, of course i spent most of my life there, went to junior high school where one thirds of kids were like little gangs, like...having blonde hair, riding on a motorbike, taking drugs and so on... lol Even though i hated this area when i was a teenager, I still miss there. I have my history including my love......what i am today is based on the area. So, my suggestion is that i wanna focus on my bitter sweet MEMORY when i was younger, with the place i have strong feelings about. Those paticular areas are Haneda area, Shinagawa and maybe.....Shinjyuku( its gonna be interesting to focus on Kabukicho and ask people about "LOVE")
So, this is going to be more emotional piece.

I might be leaving Japan after this semester for long , maybe im gonna quite TUJ, so I wanna make something for myself, clear up my vision, my thoughts, i wanna inherit my own history as a piece.

I would mainly take pictures, short videos, put it all together....thas my plan by now.

Well....im not sure yet, but i would probably go with no.2 for my final.

"Study Questions #2"
the definition of the word labyrinth...
* the path that makes you lost
*something that you cannot find any answer out of it

I guess there are tons of other definitions, but i could only come up with those.

1. If I think about starback and local sentos, they are ovbiouslly places where lots of people get together, share the time unconsiously.

2. I dont quite understand what you mean by human needs.....yet, thanks to technical advance, we are able to connect friends, family and others using mobiles and internet. So even if you get lost in the huge labyrinth called Tokyo, you will find a way to reach your friends.

3. in the next 50 years...I donno how this city is going to be, but i guess more and more people feel isolated and small local shops will be totally diminished, we wont have traditional stuff anymore........

"Okkake culture in Japan-for my final project!"
Today, we cannot talk about Japanese pop music without referring to Johnnys that is composed of good looking male idols. They are greatly adored by young Japanese girls and they are famous for being enthusiastic about following those idols. Generally, those fanatic girls are called “Okkake”. There are quite interesting rules among those Okkake girls because they categorize themselves into several different groups of fans such as well mannered fans and extremely fans. Sometimes, they seem kind of scary because some of those girls do not go to school to follow the idols.
My questions are…..
Why those idols from Jonnys & Associates so popular in Japan and what do the Okkake girls want?
I would like to interview some of Okkake girls and also join okkake for one day in Yokohama and Roppongi area…..!!!!

"the Place I am interested in"
in the last calss, Ron asked us where we wanted to focus and explore in our neighborhood.
next few weeks, i want to look into shimokitazawa because it is one of my favorite places in Tokyo.
There are many nice pubs, clubs where they play my favorite British Rock!!! Also, there are lots of second hand clothing stores which i will go crazy if i see them.
you can see some street artists playing the guitar by the station. what i like about in shimokitazawa is that people look really friendly compared to other parts of Tokyo. My first visit in Shimokitazawa was actually a year ago, i only knew the name of the place but i had never been there. However, when i went to shimokitazawa for the first time, i was greatly amazed by those little shops that looked like a doll house and I had to love them all. You can get there by the Inogashira line from shibuya and if it is an Express train, it takes only 7 minutes. You should definitely visit there sometime if u have never been there.

I will visit there next monday to observe.....so see ya until then.

"Study Questions#1"

I agree with Donald Riche's point of view that there is no permanence in japanese archtecture. How many shops disappear after one year on the shopping street?
How many new buildings are constructed in one paticular area downtown per year?
you dont really notice how they changed if you live in the community, however, i still remember how shocking it was to see my favorite part of my neighborhood had changed after i came back from studing in Europe. It is really sad to see old good shops on the shopping street closed and replaced by american fastfood or cafes.
I mean, it surely happenes everywhere around the world, but still it is significant among Asian countries.
Regarding characteristics of Tokyo, I dont really like the crowds and i definitely think this city, Tokyo is fun and exciting when you are young but i always ask myself if i really wanna stay here for good. the answer is of course no.
In addition, i find some of Japanese subcultures are really painful to show to the rest of the world, such as Otaku, maid cafe and stuff. I am not being mean, however, those weird things are dipicted and i just cant stand listening to people in other countries talk about Japan as a freaky country.