On Thursday night we shot day 2 on the Little Taiko Boy PSA. There was much fake kissing amid colored light & fog in the back alley and garage - luckily shooting inside my apartment was decidedly less messy. The still above features the brilliantly reductive (and least romantic) condom package from Community Center Akta. Some like it hot - and to the point.
My first ride on the Goldline Eastside extension was a quick hop to Little Tokyo from Union Station. The cool glide over the freeway was nice. However exiting the station I actually did find the track crossing is confusing and poorly designed. Hard to imagine that starting from scratch this was the best they could do. With crummy videos, lame TAP cards, and awkward track crossings, the MTA continues to disappoint.
The shoot on Friday was a blur. We started early - picking up equipment at Sanwa in Yotsuya, shot the ever lovely Miss Bonjour JohnJ on green screen at Midoriya in Shin-Nakano, braved 2 trains and rain to shoot Miyake Taiko in Higashiyamato, and then at almost midnight hit Shinjuku Ni-Chome to shoot the side streets without getting arrested. Whew. We were wiped but I think mostly recovered. It was amazing to be shooting in Japan with Quyen, and the bonus was having Sam and Hiromasa provide such amazing, uncomplaining support. And yes, those were some very tall geta that I just had to paint orange.
It's a rainy morning here in Tokyo. Quyen & Sam arrived Monday night and we started the trip easy with a good dinner at ATE. Yes, we drank and laughed a lot and the ATE posse were so kind to us. It was a great night.
Tuesday we hit the ground running with a morning camera appointment Kunii Yoichi at Sanwa Cine Equipment Rental. We did a full review of the gear for the shoot and Q caught a potential problem. The staff went off and machined an adjustment on a plate while we chatted up Kunii san. Sanwa is a great place with an friendly, skilled, well organized staff. We are thrilled to be working with them for camera gear for our shoot.
In the afternoon I hit Harajuku with JohnJ. We landed the kimono at Chicago and made our remaining plans for her costume as Amaterasu. It will be a great costume but there is so much to do.
Last night we met up with Murata Asuka for dinner in Shibuya. Asuka has been so great helping to arrange our green screen studio shoot despite her incredibly busy job. After dinner we hopped over to Kurage for dessert and tea and tried to keep Quyen awake. The open window/wall at Kurage is now one of my favorite things.
We had to drag ourselves back to the hotel - it was a long day for everyone. After some morning shopping for the shoot, I will be sewing, glueing and wig styling until I go to sleep. That's a good thing right?
On Sunday I headed south to Chigasaki to visit my tomodachi Katsuta and Kotori. We had soba at their home, snackus, lots of laughs, spotted lots of cute surfers on bicycles, and capped they day off with a trip to the big Mujirushi in Fujisawa. The daytrips to Chigasaki are always the best part of going to Japan.
Day Two was a blast and the weather was terrific. I did some morning shopping at Muji & Tokyu Hands and then took a lovely walk to Chiyoda-ku and had a great meeting at Sanwa Cine Equipment Rental which is amazingly well run. The weather was so great I walked back again to Shinjuku.
Last night I hit the opening for Marcus Coates at the Tomio Koyama Gallery. It was great to see Kosaku and Yu and trade a jokes with Koyama. Afterwards I met up with Madame Bonjour JohnJ at Community Center AKTA and worked on plans for the shoot. That also went very well. I capped the night off with a hop over to Hatsudai to see my posse at ATE. I stuck my head in the door and got the best reaction you could possibly ask for. Shouts of Jackson! and hugs and laughing and beer went on for several hours. So much fun - it was a wonderful day!
Yes, on the ground, awake and ready for the first full day prepping for the shoot. Staying in Kabukicho for the first time is the opposite-world from the calm and orderly Hatsudai. But the Shinjuku Prince is a convenient base for working on our project.
Last night I met up with Kosaku san and had a nice dinner and funny conversation. I am sure I said weird things since my brain was rather fuzzy with jet lag.
