Music Videos Filmed In Japan #1 The Killers – ‘Read My Mind’ (2007)

Posted on August 1, 2012 by tokyofox

Las Vegas band ‘The Killers‘ are one of my favourite American indie-rock bands with an impressive range of hit singles over the years and an easy-on-the-ear sound which is appealing to many different listener types particularly us British people it would seem as they are very popular in the UK.

‘Read My Mind’ was one of four singles released from their second album; 2006’s ‘Sam’s Town‘ and was released in the UK early the following year with the accompanying video being filmed around Tokyo.

 

Lets start in Shinjuku then where the majority of the filming took place. Frontman Brandon Flowers is seen on Yasukuni dori across the road from the Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ) store on the corner at 1-16-5 Kabuki-cho. The various other scenes are intercut with this footage of him singing roadside.

         

A short distance up the road brings you to ‘Hakata Tenjin at 1-6-6 Kabukicho and though  guitarist Dave Keuning can be seen playing outside one of these ramen restaurants its NOT this one. The one seen in the video is 1-11-1 Kabukicho but has since closed with something else in its place. It should be noted that this is the entertainment and red light district of Shinjuku with lots of host & hostess bars, love hotels, shops, restaurants and nightclubs which may explain why there are many men just ‘hanging around’ this area trying to entice customers to come into their place and part with some hard cash.

 

There is a scene of them in a park with some school children and one would hazard a guess that its Yoyogi Park but it really could be anywhere and I’m buggered if I’m gonna take this geeky hobby of mine to the levels of finding out which one they filmed in! Having said that….if anyone reading this knows on good authority where it was then let me know!

The crazy bicycles scene was shot in Asakusabashi with the band riding a penny-farthing, recumbent bicycle, a lowrider bicycle and a normal bicycle decorated with ram’s horns.

  

The shrine which they pass, featuring two Japanese ladies in traditional wear, is just behind Asakusa-bashi station on the JR and Toei Asakusa lines and its address is 1-29-11 Asakusabashi in Taito-ku.

 

In the video it seems like they are riding in one direction but once they pass the shrine entrance we see them basically just cycling back in the same direction they just came from which can be noticed by the office building with red panelling in the distance of each screenshot before and after the shrine ones.

      

The black balloon release location (below) is also in Asakusabashi with the Nihonbashi Girls High School visible behind the wall where the band are stood. Thanks to Mike in the comments for details of this. A picture of this location will appear here soon….

The band are also seen in a Japanese game centre (arcade) playing on the guitars and drums (below).

 

Japanese TV character ‘Gachapin‘ (above), a green, bucktoothed dinosaur, also features in the video interacting with the band including its concluding moments where he is sleeping in a capsule hotel with a band member.

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TF Film Review: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Posted on July 29, 2012 by tokyofox

Whilst I have been excited about this release for a long time now I never quite realised how hotly anticipated this third and final part in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy was. Sadly the opening weekend release in the United States was one of terrible tragedy with regards to the Colorado cinema shooting where 12 people were killed and 58 were injured.

   

Here in Japan we only had to wait another week for it to come out and though I couldn’t see it on the opening day I was there the following day to see if it could possibly live up to its hype. Having sat through all the Batman films in the last month (not just the last two!) I was never really expecting it to be better than ‘The Dark Knight‘ (2008) or my personal favourite ‘Batman Begins‘ (2005). I managed to avoid all trailers, previews, reviews and news stories relating to it as I wanted the end of the trilogy to be a complete surprise.

‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ is set eight years after the events of its predecessor with Batman no more, Wayne Enterprises crumbling and Bruce Wayne having not moved on to anything else in life. Whilst he is moping around Commissioner Gordon is also feeling guilty about ‘hero’ Harvey Dent’s crimes being kept under wraps and wants to set the record straight but decided his speech is not quite ready to be relayed to the Gotham public. Naturally it falls into the hands of the main villain Bane who I can’t say I took to in any way and it really is difficult to hear his dialogue through the mask. Obviously Bain is a far more physical antagonist compared to The Joker but is rather single dimensional and lacking the charisma him and Ra’s al Ghul (who does appear in this film too) had in the last two films.

   

You really do need to have seen the previous two films I think but then again why would you be watching this one if you hadn’t! There are lots of little flashbacks and dream sequences with a slight nod to ‘Inception‘ I guess and ultimately one particular dream has a massive bearing on what we see at the end…..or does it?! If I can be so vague without giving away any spoilers that is open to ones own interpretation.

It takes a while to see Bruce Wayne actually back in the Bat suit having been persuaded to come out of retirement by Gordon and Officer Blake. That does open up the chance for Christian Bale to put in more of an acting performance than is needed when he’s just wearing the suit. Michael Caine puts in a fine supporting role as you’d expect from an actor of his fine reputation and the emotional content of the film is driven by the stories involving his character Alfred. All the other characters – Tate, Blake, Selina and so on – are efficient enough but nothing exceptional as, for me, they are there just to help move the story on and so there is not so much in the way of background or expansion of their characters.

If I’m to be perhaps overcritical there are a few things which suspend belief such as 3000 cops being buried underground for three months and then getting out clean, healthy and basically ready to fight a mass of fully armed baddies by just charging them down.

At a very lengthy 165 minutes I felt it did lag a bit in the middle third due in part to my tiredness and the fact that about three stories were going on at once and I wasn’t quite sure what exactly was happening but unlike some viewers I’ve never been too worried about such a thing. The final part of the film is great albeit a bit over the top but more than satisfactory with all the ends more-or-less tied up but leaving it slightly open for another director to take over the reins sometime in the future. In fact, by that stage I could have actually watched a bit more of this movie.

   

Tokyo Fox Rating 8/10

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Tokyo Modern Architecture #1

Posted on July 25, 2012 by tokyofox

For all its good points Tokyo ain’t half one ugly looking city with buildings pretty much erected (and pulled down) willy nilly without any thought to the environment around it. However, amid all the chaos of such a concrete jungle there are a fair few examples of modern architecture which I have been photographing over the last few months. Now, I am certainly no expert on such a topic but have enjoyed going around capturing the interesting and weird designs of some of these buildings.

This hobby started off just as a few random shots on Facebook before I decided to collate them all in one album which I have since been adding to and will hopefully continue to do so. Here, in no particular order, are ten examples I have come across including the addresses:

1. Nakagin Capsule Tower, 8-16-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku.

2. Audi Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Life, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Review: Films Set In Japan – Austin Powers In Goldmember (2002)

Posted on July 22, 2012 by tokyofox

This third Austin Powers film is 10 years old this month and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that absolutely none of it was actually filmed in Japan. They didn’t reference this fact quite as blatantly as they did in the second film where Austin Powers (Mike Myers) comments on how England looks remarkably like Californian countryside!

After a celebrity-packed opening-credits ‘film within a film’ spoof followed by a load of other funny background story scenes Austin Powers and Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles) come to Tokyo. We’re 40 minutes into the movie when they are in the Japan capital to find Dr Evil’s (also played by Mike Myers) new lair which is a submarine in Tokyo Bay in the shape of him including the classic little finger to the mouth. It’s long, hard and full of sea-men!

  

The laughs are never too far away with Michael Caine turning in a fine comedic performance as Austin’s estranged father Nigel which went somewhat against type at the time.

The Asahi sumo arena doesn’t exist which is where Austin and Foxxy head (albeit with obvious rear projection of Shinjuku in the background) to find Fat Bastard (again played by Mike Myers) who tells them of Roboto Industries whose boss is named purely to give Powers the chance to say “Domo arigatou Mr Roboto” as was sung in Styx’s 1983.

The meeting with Mr Roboto is hilarious with some very juvenile humour based solely on Austin misreading the subtitles making it seem like his comments are dirty. How the hell this kind of humour transfers to Japanese people watching in Japanese I don’t know!! Answer: it no doubt doesn’t but no change there I guess!

I’ve never seen him in ‘Heroes‘ but the actor who played Hiro in that TV series has a short, funny role in this as the salaryman who speaks down the camera lens reminding the watching audience that the creature may look like Godzilla but due to international copyright laws it isn’t. Very silly humour but really funny.

 

In many ways its probably the lamest of the three Austin Powers movies as it does repeat many of the gags from the other two films but its actually my favourite. ‘Goldmember’ is full of laughs and has a strong list of characters in it although I’ve never really taken too much to Fat Bastard. Canadian born Myers, whose parents were both English, really has got some of the British cultural references down to a fine tee and this is one film I really never tire of watching.

Tokyo Fox Rating 9/10 (yes, really!)

Posted in Films, Review: Films Set In Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

London Filming Locations: Snatch (2000)

Posted on July 19, 2012 by tokyofox

After the success of ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels‘ director Guy Ritchie cashed in and made a wholly enjoyable but very similar film before everyone started to get a bit fed up of his London gangster movies.

I’ve only got a few locations to show from this year 2000 movie and the first two are just metres away from each other. First up is ‘Premier House’ (below) at 12-13 Hatton Gardens which played the part of ‘Denovitz Diamonds’; the diamond shop of Doug ‘The Head’ played superbly by the late Mike Read.

Down the alley next to that store is ‘Ye Old Mitre Tavern’ (below) where we first see Doug getting a phone call whilst Guy Ritchie can be seen reading a newspaper in the background.

The Jolly Gardeners (below) at 49 Black Prince Road doubles up as The Drowning Trout where Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) is drinking a pint of Guiness after his car crash. Suddenly Sol and his bunch of masked amateurs catch up with him looking to relieve him of the diamond stone. Bullet Tooth Tony is far from intimidated though as he notices that it says replica down the side of Sol’s gun. Typical Ritchie dialogue is used during this exchange of words. Vauxhall on the Victoria Line is the closest underground station and the place has had a bit of a facelift since it was seen in the film 12 years ago.

     

For other London filming locations click on the links below:

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace    Trainspotting    Mission: Impossible    Lara Croft Tomb Raider    The Bourne Ultimatum   Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone   James Bond    About A Boy    Quadrophenia    Bridget Jones’s Diary    Goodnight Sweetheart    Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels    Basic Instinct 2    Batman Begins/The Dark Knight    The Italian Job    Rom-Com Special    Skyfall    Notting Hill    The World Is Not Enough

Posted in London Film Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , | 36 Comments

London Filming Locations: The Italian Job (1969)

Posted on July 16, 2012 by tokyofox

Think of Michael Caine’s classic portrayal of Charlie Croker in the original ‘Italian Job’ film and you no doubt think of the city of Turin where the ‘job’ is done using three Mini Coopers, a Jaguar and a bus amid the chaos of the Italian streets. However, much of the film was actually made in England and believe it or not it was actually Coventry in the West Midlands that was used for the sewer scene with the Mini’s driving through them. This 1969 film sees Croker released (below) from Wormwood Scrubs Prison on Ducane Road which is a lot further away from BBC Television Centre than I thought when I looked at the map and concluded that it was just round the corner!

 

The Royal Lancaster Hotel (below) is where Croker has his party to celebrate his release from Prison. It is on Lancaster Terrace and is perhaps ironically located across the road from the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park.

 

Croker’s actual home is at 18 Denbigh Close (below) off Portobello Road in Notting Hill.

 

The Canada Gates part of Crystal Palace Park (above) is where the films most famous line was delivered. “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” is uttered by Caine as they watch the car get blown to smithereens.

Peninsula Heights is the block off flats (below) next to the River Thames close to Vauxhall Bridge where the plan to do the bank job in Turin is put into place.

  

Harley Street’s sign (above) can be seen when Noel Coward goes for a check-up somewhere in that area of Westminster.

For other London filming locations click on the links below:

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace    Trainspotting    Mission: Impossible    Lara Croft Tomb Raider    The Bourne Ultimatum   Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone   James Bond    About A Boy    Quadrophenia    Bridget Jones’s Diary    Goodnight Sweetheart    Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels    Basic Instinct 2    Batman Begins/The Dark Knight    Snatch    Rom-Com Special    Skyfall    Notting Hill    The World Is Not Enough

Posted in London Film Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , , , | 37 Comments

London Filming Locations: Batman Begins & The Dark Knight

Posted on July 13, 2012 by tokyofox

With the much anticipated release of ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ approaching I think its a good time to show you some of the London filming locations for the two Christopher Nolan produced films which preceded it. Both films scored very favourably in terms of the critical reception with the majority of film fans preferring ‘The Dark Knight‘ (2008) but I’m actually a slightly bigger fan of ‘Batman Begins‘ (2005) as this was the re-boot which really changed things with a strong all-star cast and a dramatically intense soundtrack. ‘The Dark Knight‘ continued the fine work and hopefully the new film won’t disappoint either.

The Arkham Asylum in ‘Batman Begins‘ is the National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway on Burtonhole Lane and the interior stairwell invaded by a SWAT team and a load of bats on 91 minutes is St Pancras Chambers. It is perhaps more famous as being the same stairs where the video for the Spice Girls debut single ‘Wannabe‘ was filmed!

Gotham City Police Station is the first floor offices of the Farmiloe Building (below) at 28-36 St John Street in Clerkenwell. This interior location was used in ‘Batman Begins‘ and ‘The Dark Knight‘ and has been used once again for ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘. Gary Oldman’s character Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Gordon works here in the Christopher Nolan trilogy and the director even used the place in ‘Inception‘ as the pharmacy.

 

The DMS Watson Library in Malet Place is the Gotham Print Room and the Medawar Building (below) within the same complex is the exterior of the Gotham Police Department HQ.

  

The city of Gotham State Courts where Bruce Wayne goes to kill the man who murdered his parents is Senate House (below) at the University of London on Malet Street. However, Wayne never gets the chance to go through with his revengeful act as on 25 minutes one of Falcone’s men shoots him first. The same location is used in the sequel as The Joker threatens the city of Gotham.

 

The exterior of the restaurant where Bruce Wayne (with two babes on his arm) bumps into Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) on 70 minutes in ‘Batman Begins‘ is the architectural wonder that is the eyelid entrance of CityPoint (below) on Ropemaker Street near Moorgate. However, the restaurant interior was filmed at Plateau in Canada Place, Canada Square.

 

Marco Pierre White’s Criterion restaurant (below) at 224 Piccadilly near Piccadilly Circus is supposedly owned by Bruce Wayne and is where he finds ex lover Rachel (this time played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) having dinner with Harvey Dent.

 

The two photos below are from London Film Museum on Southbank with the one on the right being the batsuit worn by Christian Bale in ‘Batman Begins‘.

  

For other London filming locations click on the links below:

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace    Trainspotting    Mission: Impossible    Lara Croft Tomb Raider    The Bourne Ultimatum   Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone    James Bond    About A Boy    Quadrophenia    Bridget Jones’s Diary    Goodnight Sweetheart    Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels    Basic Instinct 2    The Italian Job    Snatch    Rom-Com Special    Skyfall    Notting Hill    The World Is Not Enough

 

Posted in London Film Locations, Movie Locations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 42 Comments

Tokyo Daytripper: Nihon Minka-en Japan Open-Air Folk House Museum

Posted on July 10, 2012 by tokyofox

This is quite a unique museum as visitors get a rare opportunity to walk through and experience ancient Edo period style architecture first hand. In my opinion this sure beats looking at objects and pictures and reading guide boards in a closed building. Sure, the latter still exists in part inside each of the 23 buildings but you are reading the information (in English as well as Japanese) within the walls of the traditional houses.

 

Nihon Minkaen can be found in Kawasaki City (7-1-1 Masugata, Tama-ku is the actual address) and Mukugaokayuen on the Odakyu line is the closest station. Asif and I took the 15 minute walk from the station (approximate time) a week ago to see these valuable historic creations which have been relocated from all over Japan.

 

This folk village has been reconstructed to feature a variety of buildings such as farmhouses, a water mill (above), a kabuki stage, a ferryman’s hut and an exhibition hall featuring your more common museum-type stuff displays.

     

The place seemed to be full (not literally) of people sitting around doing some water paintings of the more beautiful farmhouses which are the ones with the thatched roofs. There are also a few people in some of the houses doing stuff like sewing or boiling water and inviting you to sit around the lingering smoke. Not sure if they can actually cook you up some soba noodles or not as I declined the offers as it was too hot and I don’t like smokey places whatever kind of smoke it is.

I also got a bit frustrated with a women in one of the farm houses as she just laughed every time I spoke some basic Japanese phrases to her. Sure, she meant no ill feeling to me but it is annoying that some narrow-minded Japanese people laugh just because a foreigner is  speaking (or trying to speak) their language. Naturally, it works both ways and we often get complimented for just saying a word or two in Japanese. Anyway, I digress….

     

Overall, this place is a cheap (500 yen entry), pleasant half day trip from the city offering an insight into Japan’s traditional architecture whilst the surrounding hills also provide a welcome nature break from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo city life.

Posted in Japan Travel, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Review: Films Set In Japan – The Shinjuku Incident (2009)

Posted on July 7, 2012 by tokyofox

He may be one of the worlds most famous international action stars but I am ashamed to say that the only film of his that I’d ever seen before this was the 2009 re-make of ‘The Karate Kid‘. I actually picked up ‘The Shinjuku Incident‘ on dvd last Christmas for a few quid in England and with a renewed interest in Chan following my trip to his homeland in May I decided to watch it again recently.

It is only because of Chan’s iconic world status that this is included in this series of film reviews which tends to principally focus on western-made films ‘set’ in the land of the rising sun. That oriental image of Japan is far removed in this tale of Chinese refugees fighting a war against the Yakuza in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo.

Provocative, compelling and underscored with hard hitting action, this pulse-pounding thriller explodes with tension, and delivers a career-defining performance from Jackie Chan. Not my words but those on the back of the dvd and for once I have to say that I  agree with most of the marketing blurb as it kept me entertained for its duration.

 

The story begins with dozens of Chinese immigrants entering Japan via Wakasa Bay (directly north of Osaka) and making their way to Tokyo where they do the less glamourous jobs that the Japanese don’t want to do. Steelhead (Chan) is an illegal worker hoping to make it in Japan the honest way but his life gradually descends into petty crime and from that he finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble as his crimes to help his people have a future get heavier and heavier. His one ally is Kitano; the Police sergeant he saved from drowning who is prepared to ‘re-pay his debt’ but he can only do so for so long.

Daniel Wu plays the chestnut selling boy Jie who is out of place amid the underground violence which they find themselves more and more drawn into. His portrayal in the first hour of the film is fine but in the second half his character has a real quick change of character which is questionable and not really fitting with the guy we saw in the earlier part.

This 114 minute Jackie Chan production can be a hard watch at times due to the extreme nature of some of the violence. Chan shows, as he did in ‘The Karate Kid‘, that he can act in a dramatic role when he needs to and I was happy to see that this was made for the Asian market and thereby didn’t need watering down for a Western audience.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

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Hiking In Fukushima Pt II: Goshikinuma

Posted on July 4, 2012 by tokyofox

So what exactly did I end up doing on my first day in Fukushima I hear you ask! Following the setback mentioned at the start of ‘Hiking in Fukushima Pt I‘ I decided to head back to Koriyama station which I had passed through a short time before. My plan was basically to just switch the two one-day itineraries and so I headed on to Inawashiro from where Bandai Toto buses to Goshikinuma thankfully run a lot more often. Half an hour later, after an arduous morning, I was at my destination where I did the 3.7km nature trail around Five Colours Lakes. For the record they get their name due to the colours – emerald green, cobalt blue etc – created by the mineral deposits from volcanic eruption.

       

This Bandai-san area in Fukushima has been on my ‘to do’ list for many many years now and having cancelled the trip there in October due to averse weather conditions I thought I’d try again. Mount Bandai is in my background in the photos above and below. Bishamonnuma was the first lake and the biggest one with an amazing turquoise colour and giant koi (carp). Seeing this beautiful lake was a bit of relief after all the travelling I’d done so far that day.

       

The area is supposedly famous for Asiatic black bears but I was very sceptical of such claims despite the sign above saying to beware of the bear. I’d probably have to say that my favourite lake was the one below which was far more peaceful and tranquil with less visitors and also minus the rowing boats seen at the first place.

     

I walked the leisurely hiking trail end to end and then back again as I didn’t want to wait for a bus at the other end. Besides I had time to kill and so the 17.10 bus to Inawashiro station worked out well as I was able to instantly catch an express train to Koriyama where I had a hotel booking.

There wasn’t too much to do ahead of the following days trip to Jyododaira apart from seeing this geiger counter thing (below) outside the station which I assume has something to do with radiation levels in the area which is only about 34 miles (55 km) west of the infamous Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. I filled my bottle with tap water the next morning and have felt no ill effects of such a ‘dangerous’ activity! A couple of minutes away from that is the Koriyama City Fureai Science Center “Space Park” which has an observation deck on its 24th floor where I could see fine view of the towns below and the mountains in the distance.

     

Furthermore, just getting to Fukushima station and back was a new experience for me as I rode on the Shinkansen (bullet train) for the first time ever which was one of the things I wrote about last October regarding ‘Things I’ve never done in Japan‘.

 

Posted in Action & Adventure, Japan Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments