Not Just Pretty If You`re Drunk.

These old wine barrels (that unfortunately I know little about, due to the lack of English information on site) are positioned all lined up within Harajuku park. Each one is different, and clearly hand painted with various beautiful Japanese designs. I tried to pick out some of my favourite ones but I found it very difficult to choose! They varied from lovely Japanese flower paintings, to images of waves and some with just simple, beautifully painted Japanese characters.

The Art Nouveau of Japan.

If I had the software out here, I would certainly enhance this awful photograph I had barely no time to take. I wish it showed it more clearly, but when I saw this building I immediately thought of the Art Nouveau era, and in particular, Rene Macintosh. I very much doubt that it`s Macintosh inspired, but it made me think about some of the similarities between the art era and some of the Japanese art and design that I`ve seen throughout Tokyo so far. It`s the repetition of the elongated, rectangular shapes on this building that really reminded me of Macintosh, similar to this street lamp below, which also reminded me slightly of Art Nouveau, with the contrasting geometric, repeated rectangles with the large curve and smaller curls of detail.

Room For One More?

Despite my disappointment with the innovation of Japanese advertising, one thing I can say is that they use their space well. When people first think of Tokyo, they usually visualise streets packed full of bright signs lining the tall buildings from ground to sky. It`s pretty overwhelming- unsure where to look while not even understanding a single sign! But all in all, looking down the narrow streets at the crammed in lit signs- it`s pretty amazing.

Although they certainly use the space available, from an advertising and marketing perspective, is this really effective? Like I said, I didn`t know where to look! and I couldn`t possibly say any worked better than others as they really do blend together. But as a whole, it works. It`s what people think of when someone says Tokyo, even if they`ve never been, so in a way, it`s bringing custom from around the world!
Viewing Tokyo in person also makes you realise just how much advertising surrounds it. These brightly lit streets of Tokyo at night aren`t the only mediums used to sell and attract custom. There are the obvious flyers being handed out, and the not so expected Japanese workers shouting over each other the offers they have on, and of course the huge TVs playing a constant roll of advertisements 24-7. But unexpectedly were the vans that drove by advertising a wide variety of different things, often with huge TV screens on the side of them, blasting music out. Although they seem like a pretty desperate advertising ploy, they certainly attracted attention from the hustle and bustle roaming the streets, which is a large achievement really considering all the other distractions on offer!

And it`s not just the main Tokyo streets that are jammed packed full of advertising. The Metro carriages are full, from ceiling hung ads, window stickers and wall posters, to mini TV screens and tiny ones on the handle supports. The Japanese certainly take full advantage of their advertising space!

Mixed Media Done Well.

Despite all the bright lights and colours of this shopping street in Harajuku, I was immediately drawn to this outdoor piece of mixed media art, designed to draw custom to its neighbouring skate shop. For a few seconds I thought it was some actual graffiti, which I guess you're supposed to as it links well to the common themes of skating. It also took me a while to notice that its partially painted, and partially photographic imagery. It's been done so well it avoids the cheap, GCSE mixed media art effect that it could easily have achieved, while making it difficult to identify which areas are done using which media.

Merry Xmas From Harajuku.

How does the fashion capital of Tokyo wish a Merry Christmas to its visiters? This is how:

The Bones Of Fashion.

Harajuku: the fashion capital of Tokyo. The craziness of the area reflects many different tastes and fashion styles, but almost hidden within it, I found these wonderful hand drawn illustrations cirulating round a column outside a highstreet shop. It was a shame how hidden it was, and barely noticable, with stalls infront of it, also making it very difficult to take any photo that would give it the justice it deserves.

The Fountain That Feeds Itself.

What an efficient water fountain! Although I don't particularly like the form of the sculpture as a whole, due to the similarities of some sort of cheap, Disney clam (I don't know, it just sprung to mind when I first saw it, but obviously that's just my opinion) I do admire the innovative method of demonstrating the immediate reuse of water. I realise that a lot of water features do run on a continuous water cycle, but this feature uses it's functional methods to it's visual advantage.

Boring... But With Hidden Intelligence.

Although not exactly original, I like how this street hollographic advertisement uses it's medium to promote the two sides of the product- immediately enhancing its effectiveness on relating it's memorability factors to the product, and making it stand out from the many other advertisements for similar products surrounding it. Despite being unable to read the copy, I can clearly identify that both sides of the hollogram represent the two flavours of tea, changing as the viewer walks by. I do wonder how expensive this medium is, as it could be such an effective and highly appropriate method for many advertisements which are best placed where the target audience are likely to drive, cycle or walk by. The placement of the advertisement must also be credited- right on a street drinks vender.

Define Gravity... In A Sculpture.

This sculpture is situated outside the parliament buildings in Tokyo city. To be honest, I thought it was pretty boring at first, although the geometric, cubist inspired form does compliment the modern atmosphere with the skyscrapers towering over you. But then I noticed them spin. Each one spins a full 360 randomly in the wind, taking different forms and shapes as it changes with every movement. The balance and equal spinning ability of each rectangular piece is all based on precise centre of gravity. One main reason I think I didn't initially like the structure was also due the cheap, metallic material used. I soon changed my mind however, as the sun glistened on it with every angle as it spun slowly in the wind.

Manga in Person.

Ever wondered what an Anime character may look like in person? The sad thing is, I probably did when I was a teenager. Anyway, the wonder was finally satisfied, as we met a couple the other day, you know, just randomly in the street walking by.

What's In The Copy?... I Don't Know, You Tell Me.

When I decided to create this blog, one thing I was most looking forward to writing about was the Japanese advertising. However, I have been slightly disappointed in the lack of inspiring innovative mediums and visuals used. I've not once seen any original ambient media here, which really shocks me when I photographed one back in England just a week before we arrived here, and that was only in Sheffield! I do appreciate however that due to my lack of Japanese language skills (ie next to none) that I certainly can't judge the content of most advertisements with most of them being largely copy based. For all I know, a poster advertisement here could have really clever copy incorporated, and I could be viewing it as a conventional, corporate, boring, everyday advertisement. One example below. Seems pretty dull initially, but in actual fact it could be a very inspiring, effective piece of copy writing!

As if it's not clean enough!

One cultural way of Japan that was probably the first thing we noticed, was how surprisingly clean the city is kept. We soon acknowledged the park cleaner outside Asakusa temple, quick to sweep up the odd leaf as soon as they fell. We were also initially somewhat bemused by their smoking regulations- smoking indoors is permitted, even in restaurants and cafes, but on the streets it must be done only in the designated smoking areas, which are also extremely sparse. We soon realised it's due to the key concern of litter within the city, which they appear to have under great control!
This photo below of window cleaners high up, hard at work, captures well this key value within Tokyo city, while also demonstrating how hard the Japanese appear to work (we also noticed the many business men still walking home after midnight, and some having an amazing ability to catch some sleep while stood up, no support, waiting for their metro to arrive!). I love how the clouds reflect off this building, adding a naturally beautiful touch of both the reflective form of the material and the vision of the clouds on the glass, contrasting with the very modern form of the building as a whole. I suppose credit must be given to the Japanese for such a clean way of life, when the result isn't just a clean pavement to walk on- it can be something as great as this.

More Than Just A Street Lamp.

As in most places of the world, you see them everywhere- parks, main roads, side streets... but in Tokyo, many of them are formed so enchantedly they attract attention and admiration even in daylight. Some particular examples that have caught my eye are below:

Japanese: An Art in Itself.

Tokyo... the land of pure amazement to the Westerner. Even in the most simple ways. While ignorance to the Japanese language and the characters used to represent it has it's obvious disadvantages while staying in Tokyo, it allows for artistic appreciation of the symbols presented throughout the whole of the city. While adding hugely to the initial culture shock, due to the fact that everything written around you is completely unrecognisable and impossible to even guess what a lot of it could mean, the characters add a beautiful touch that can only be seen as illustrative to an alien being such as myself.