Before the Accident

the spider at roppongi hills

the post office in japan is awesome. no wait, they're so nice and helpful, the opposite of the post office in china.

my roomates double sided slippers. i have been waiting to see some crazy japanese slipper inventions since you have to take your shoes off all the time i was thinking their slippers would be centuries ahead of normal slippers.

some art supplies from the art store. i've already made 3 painting with this stuff.

waiting for jonny depp. there were corrals of girls all over being held back by security. he was in japan to promote his movie "public enemies". i think it was still like 4 more hours until he was supposed to show. these girls are up here like snipers.

can't wait to see this movie

some statue was stolen by some group on the west side of shibuya station.

riding the bus still sucks in japan

and its upholstery is like a 5 yr olds room

beijing flashback. this was one of the installations at the Mori art museum at roppongi hills.

teppanyaki friday with my roomate.

tokyo tower from the top of roppongi hills. i used to run from my house to the base of tokyo tower and back, from up here it look soooooo far away but its only about a 6km roundtrip. i do it in about 30 min. but now after the accident i don't know what i should do.

hooked up

a few days later i could open my eye

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

This christmas is a special one for me, and not for good reasons. I was hit by a taxi last week when i was jogging somewhere in the streets of tokyo. I don't remember the accident or even the day prior. I had a deadline for a magazine and was worried that i wouldn't be able to make it only to look on my computer and see that it was done already. I escaped with only 4 days in the hospital, a black eye, and a tiny skull fracture that will heal in 2-3 months on its own they say. I didnt even have any bruises on my body. of course my neck still kills, It feels like how your neck feels the next day after getting punched in the face by a big guy in sparring class, only this time i got punched in the face by a 2 ton vehicle. When i look at that windsheild though i just cringe. So this holiday make sure you love your family, love your friends, and make sure you are doing things your way, because you never know when you're could leave this earth. I almost did.

In Japan its traditional to send a new years card. It usually features the asian zodiac animal for that year. 2010 is the year of the Tiger. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Acrylic, colored pencil, chinese ink, brush pen. This was my original idea, the crow representing the bad, with the tiger vanquishing the bad and leaping into the new year ready for 2010. I edited it out for the final holiday/new years card. You are supposed to mail these to your friends and fam and the post office in japan delivers it ONLY on January 1st cuz its bad luck or something if its before or after.

Ride to Asakusa

paper cranes from a random temple somewhere in eastern tokyo. is that a chinese crane or just a coincidence that its red with a gold star.

first no skateboarding sign ive seen or at least noticed cuz i was able to read wat it says cuz there is a big cartoon with a red x through it.

tons of bridges going over the sumidagawa river in east tokyo, at least 20 i counted on the map.

also tons of crazy snaking highways and land bridges so that means lots of tokyo lives works and plays under bridges, and expressways. tons of playgrounds are under bridges, and lots of cool drinking and restaurant areas are under bridges and train tracks.

that green walkway looped around like crazy

nakamise dori that leads up to senso ji temple at asakusa sells traditional japanese stuff.

what are these things? I've seen them before, my roomate said they are the dog from the old japanese peachboy story but i can't find any more info.

Senso Ji. didn't go inside cuz ive been there before and will have to go again with visitors so i want to keep some of the magic alive

December 8th and trees still have citrus fruits on them

the 7 lucky gods in japanese culture. Ebisu is one of them and he is the only japanese one

street off of nakamise dori, less crazy

these graphics are awesome and its even more awesome that its not on purpose

are those long japanese radishes in front of this restaurant ?

see that ball on top of doraemon's head? thats my head, and thats wat happens when you hang out by yourself and you have to set timers and take bad shots over again, you just don't see the point in doing it anymore

pig at a korean restaurant that blows steam out of his nose. all along the JR line underneath the tracks around shimbashi and yurakacho and ginza are tons of cool looking restaurants, stores, and drinking places. This area is underrated.

After Kyoto

Looks like I haven't posted in a while. I have been scratching and clawing trying to get work and then doing some work.

this is from my parents camera. my boxes from china finally arrived, in very not good shape mind you. Looks like they either rifled through all the stuff again and probably kept some things or it just looks like that because it rolled down the himalayas.

and somehow that fragile fragile birdcage made it fine.

this is the little park near my house where i practice kung fu.

elementary school girls uniforms. the guys have to wear the same only the wear shorts not skirts. same hat. poor guys.

Hiroshi has been growing and growing. what a guy

my roomate bought these cool rice bowls from Kyoto the other week. im a fan of blue

this is not uncommon, especially purple. i have seen at least 5 elderly japanese women with purple hair since i've been here. this one really hammered it home with the purple tinted glasses and the falling asleep though.

X Madonna on the shibuya 109 building. i dont even want to find out what it is. that part of Japan i am fine with not knowing about. oh and im sure it has something to do with fashion, probably gyalusu fashion

one of those helpful city maps that are usually on corners, only this one is behind a fence in a grassy lot.

Vivi and her new ring that is a miniature version of Vivi

these days i have been searching for good running routes from my house and i found that running to tokyo tower is about 30 min and about 6 or 7 km. its pretty crazy running around the little side streets and then having the orange tower smack you in the face every now and then as you get closer and closer to it. its cool finding cool stuff on these runs.

oh look who it is. that lil' fella Akari Kunimatsu. she just got a job and moved to tokyo

Happy Price "something nice is about to happen"

my girl for a 45 min cafe moment in time

my apt, the kitchen. my roomates had a nabe (japanese soup/stew) party

turn around and there is the table

its nabe time

my room on the left. Naoki's room on the right, Aka's room further right not in the picture.