What is Tokyo like?

A few people have asked me what is Tokyo like? This film will give you a good idea. Click the Vimeo logo on the bottom right of the screen for full screen


Alone in Tokyo HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Filmed and edited by Philip Bloom

Random Japan Overload

Kinda getting bored of going on about Japan now, save it til next time I go, so to wrap things up heres a whole load of Random Things to see in Japan.

A curved escalator
That is not allowed have any friends....
A western style toilet, a Japanese style toilet is little more than a hole in the floor...
Kit Kat!!! I was in shock!! Chocolate is rare in Japan, they are far more into sweets and candy, might explain many peoples rotten teeth!!
And I did buy it in Japan, not just snook over from home
Ladies only railway carraiges, sadly 'groping' is a big problem in Japan, unlike the rest of the world

Another McDonalds or this? I know what I would prefer, cheap and tasty too, not to mention healthier!!
Ah well, 14 days has passed too quickly, time to go home



The last photo I took in Japan
At least the flight home was comfortable, it was empty! I could have slept across 4 seats if I liked

Till 2009 anyway, me and Chris had fun in Japan

VeilSide - The Return visit

On the way back from Tsukuba circuit and contrary to popular belief it was further away than we thought, but we had to drop by our friends at VeilSide. Unlike the last time, the shop was quiet and things were being re-arranged. Mr Yokomaku was away in America arranging for VeilSides involvement in the next Fast and Furious film, and far less cars were in the showroom, some of them had been moved to VeilSides new showroom in Nagoya, but there were a few new ones too, including their latest kit in development for a European car

Which will be revealed soon, it is for an Italian car

It helps to have a rich boyfriend, and one who modifys cars at that. This is Yokomaku sans girlfriends car, in pink, with lovehearts. Very girly! Not for me but the work deserves respect


Also here was a recently completed Fortune RX-7. This clearly shows how wide the kit is. Every panel apart from the roof and windscreen has been replaced
VeilSides transporter was parked outside, better known as the greenhouse. There are curtains which can be drawn to show or hide whats inside

Evil!!

Chris shows how big a fortune kit is, the white boxes are for a fortune kit for the NSX

The Real Deal, not copied 50% fibreglass 25% chicken wire 25% newspaper rubbish, this is real and genuine, it will fit the car like a glove, wont need ages sanding and filling in the bodyshop and wont warp when its painted, not to mention an easy repair should it be damaged and not a replacement, unlike copies which tend to explode

Still 1 of my favourite cars, the R32 GTR Evolution R-III, well over 860bhp and 1 of the GTR's that really pushed the Japanese tuning scene foward,with both style and performance


Random Japan Part 5 - The Japanese truly love Carbon Fibre, as they make benches in train stations out of it, and not just lightweight parts for cars
And its real carbon, not just 1 layer on top of fibreglass

Back to Kanto

Well as much fun as Kansai in West Japan is, it was time to head back to the Kanto region in the East,Yokohama,Tokyo,etc, so after an early start Chris and I were on our way

Its the 1st thing many people think of when they think of Japan - Mount Fuji, also the countries highest mountain at 3,776 m (12,388 ft). Passed it on the Shinkansen on the way back to Yokohama. The plan was to meet our friend Shino and hang with her for the day. We 1st met Shino on our 1st trip in 2006 and she is the only person we have met all 3 times, she leads an easy life, mechanic by day and drifter when she is not working, not bad. Big U2 fan, she does not like the fact I dont live too far away from them either!

Random Japan Part 4 - free tissues. You will see this a lot outside train stations in Japan, someone handing out small packets of hankercheifs. Not for blowing your nose, which is seen as very bad manners in Japan but for when you go to a public toilet and there is no toilet paper,as many public toilets wont have any. Saw them being handed out a lot, but this girl was making a big effort to hand out as many as possible, not to mention the fact that I thought her coat was cool. She didnt give me or Chris any though!

Outside Shinos garage, called Amazement

Shinos very cool circuit spec AE86, with a side exit exhaust. The last time I visted Japan Shino brought us to a drift day at Nikko Circuit

A targa top Datsun 260Z,FC and FD RX7's,a S14 Silvia and 2 AE86's outside the garage

Later and to my shock there were slippers that fitted me!! Unlike the Hotel in Osaka

Later after a fine meal it was once again time to engage in that greatest of all Japanese social activities - Karaoke

In some Japanese karaoke places you can sneak in drinks, so I brought in Chu-hi, which is a Shochu mixer, strong stuff!! Well its well known that too much alcohol makes people show off a bit, particularly me........

The Karaoke machine in this place gives you a score out of 100......

Chris just picks up the microphone and makes some singing type noises, scores 78

Wow aswell as being a mechanic,drifter and general nutcase Shino can sing really well, she scores 92...... So I had to go for it

And I did with that well known rock tune Black Dog by legends Led Zeppelin, not good enough, I only got 89. Ah well, if you dont enter you cant lose

The next day, back in Shinos old traditional Japanese house, almost entirely made from wood, and its not a camera trick, the doorframe is quite low, got a nice bruise on my forehead when I forgot to duck.. Not to mention the very narrow steps leading upstairs, oh well I got used to kids staring up at me lol

Ja Ne Shino, see you soon!!

Architecture

Japan is well known for its amazing architecture, more people and less space leads to some tall buildings, and who says they have to be dull? Take the Umeda Skybuilding for example....

How amazing does this look? The 2 lines coming from the cirlce in the middle are escalators leading to the observation deck, giving a 360 degree panoramic view of Osaka

Random Japan Part 3 - hospitality. The Japanese are known for their hospitality and want to make you feel right at home, so in a Japanese home that means wearing slippers indoors and most hotel rooms have a pair for you to wear, not in my case....

Ive size 13 feet (thats 14 in the USA and 31.5 in Japan) so wearing these slippers wasnt possible..


So I just wore my Vans skateshoes instead, bit more comfortable

Buying a car??

Back home, most car dealerships have 1, if not 2 high performance models on display, but not in Japan where they tend to be more common...


While on the way back from Signal Auto with Chris we saw this used car dealership called GT Net, so the rather inviting looking forecourt led us in for a closer look

The forecourt was jammed, cars everywhere, making it hard to get a clear shot, here are some Imprezas...

And some Fairlady Z's (or 350Z's) along with some Mitsubishi Evos, a Honda NSX and S2000

A small line up of R32 and R33 Skyline GTR's, Skylines were the most common car there

A pair of R34 GTR's

And my favourite car there, a factory red R32 GTR


Random Japan Part 2. The Japanese police are a bit like their American counterparts as this police station not far from GT Net conveniently has a Mister Donut shop right across the road aswell as the obligatory Toyota Crown patrol car parked outside.....

More Travelling

Time to leave the madness of Tokyo and Yokohama for now, and head for the Kansai region of West Japan, so onto the Shinkansen and 3 hours later arrive in Osaka, already it felt more laid back, unlike the squeaky clean streets of Tokyo there was the odd bit of littler blowing about, people tend to walk on the left side of the street in Tokyo, they walk on the right on Osaka, you get the idea, more laid back in essence


Technically myself and Chris were on holiday so we felt obliged to visit a few of the 'tourist' areas
This is Dōtonbori, and a well known tourist spot, best known for the Glico running man neon sign
Looking up the canal from Ebisubashi Bridge

Random Japan Part 1 - A Dog cafe. In here you can have coffee while looking at dogs in pens, you can pet or play with the dogs, or even rent a dog, and take it out for a walk. The excitement was too much for us to bear so we kept on walking



And onto the great Japanese tradition that is Karaoke. Unlike Ireland, Karaoke is available all day every day in Japan and not at just parties and Thursday nights down the pub....... Chris looks a bit, well smug as Ms Crazy Kansai Cowgirl Yuhi makes a fine rendition of some Japanese pop song that Id never heard of before......

While Chris' uninspired version of a random U2/Guns'n'Roses song forced me to make a Simon Cowell comment

Greeted with a traditional Irish reply.........