All stories about "Tokyo"

The 13th ROBO-ONE Tournament was held in Tokyo over the weekend. This twice-yearly event features fighting robots that battle for a $10,000 prize. The machines are all created by amateurs, but they're able to execute surprisingly complex attacks and defensive moves. Most of them also look pretty badass. Reuters has a video of the battles that shows some of the coolest robot warriors, including what looks like a judo version of Optimus Prime, a robotic Geisha girl with deadly fan arms, and my personal favorite, a karate chicken in a Hawaiian shirt. After the jump, check out this amazing footage of these mechanical martial artists in action.

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Tsukiji fish market is the beating heart of the Japanese sushi scene. The market is the main spot for the buying and selling of sushi-grade fish in Tokyo. Every morning, at an absurdly early hour, fishermen and restauranteurs crowd Tsukiji to take part in raucous auctions. During these sales, choice cuts of raw fish are sold to the highest bidder and sent out to restaurants all over the world. For sushi lovers this is it-- the Mothership Connection, a can't-miss stop on any trip to Japan. You need to eat sushi here, and according to every local I asked, Sushizanmai is the place to do it.

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PingMag, a Tokyo-based design rag, has an interesting feature on Tokyo's Mobile Food Bars. They single out two baked-potato vendors, one who's typically around Akasaka or Harajuku, as well as a stand near Sasazuka Station in Shibuya. While the approach of the two differ in some obvious ways (signage and attire included), they have both embraced the power of song into their practice. Playing loudly over speakers connected to their respective stands are songs written and recorded by the vendors (one of which plays in the background of the video above), charming customers with their crooning. The article goes on to profile various stands in Shinjuku -- an area known for its late-night traffic. But the real gem of the piece remains the masterful marketing minds behind these two potato stands. [via]

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Tokyo is packed with tons of late night convenience stores. Along with ordinary snack food staples and Japanese snacks like ngiri, instant ramen, and bean cakes, these convenience stores offer a variety of truly bizarre foodstuffs for under $2. I strolled the aisles at a 7-11, a Familymart, and an AM/PM in Ginza, and spotted much Japanese mini-mart greatness, including tiny cans of Asahi and an astonishing array of pre-made meals. After the jump check out photographic evidence of some of the better items on sale in Tokyo's convenience stores.

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A week ago a Japanese television station aired footage of a volunteer group of civilians working as the Shibuya Center-Gai Patron (SCGP). The non-police group is in place to patrol the main streets of Shibuya and keep the area safe and clean. But, according to the aforementioned clips of the SCGP on the job, it looks like they're merely harassing any and all young people who are so much as sitting still for more than a minute at a time. [via]

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Pop Life is a massive six-floor department store located in the heart of Tokyo's Akihabara "Electric Town" that sells every imaginable sexual souvenir. Seriously, there is an entire shelf solely devoted to Hello Kitty vibrators. Along with sex shop standards such as porn DVDs, lube, dildos, and bondage gear, Pop Life stocks a huge selection of sex dolls. The Japanese have made some incredible advances in the fields of simulated sex and realistic, rubberized skin. On the upper floors, they sell costumes for love dolls and living, breathing cosplay and Loligoth enthusiasts. The stairs are lined with autographed Polaroids showing happy female customers enjoying their schoolgirl uniforms, Little Bo Peep dresses, and cheerleader outfits. By far the most amazing items at Pop Life are their wide variety of masturbation robots. Check out a short video of these incredible Japanese pleasure bots in action after the jump (be forewarned this clip contains plastic nudity, so it's sort of NSFW).

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While just about everyone in the US and Europe bows down dutifully at the altar of Michelin restaurant rankings, Tokyo doesn't want their stinking stars. The world-famous critics showed up at Tokyo's doorstep ready to eat, judge and reward, but a few chefs and restauranteurs have decided against accepting their usually sought-after stars. Point for: they say the inaugural Tokyo edition is just a publicity stunt. Point against: they say only Japanese people understand Japanese food. [Via]

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Yes, this post is exactly what you think it is. I purchased and consumed whale meat in Japan. Before all you animal lovers out there start sending me hate mail, I'd ask you to consider a few things first. Every year, despite intense criticism from environmental activists and the international community, Japanese fishermen
slaughter whales. They claim their hunt is all part of "scientific research." Thanks to these dedicated "scientists," whale meat is available in restaurants and supermarkets throughout Japan. You know, since they have to kill the whales anyway, they might as well eat the meat too right? Worst of all, researchers say much of the whale meat on sale in Japan comes from endangered animals. Though I may have given money to morally bankrupt fishermen and tasted the flesh of an endangered species while making this video, I hope this clip can have a positive impact by making people more aware of the thriving whale meat trade in Japan. Now that we've got all the necessary disclaimers out of the way, watch me scarf down some blubber. It's way gross.

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Move over Godzilla, the real threat to Tokyo these days involves crazy people in animal costumes. This video shows two people in a papier mache zebra outfit attacking zookeepers and visitors at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo. Luckily, this disturbing scene isn't evidence of a real-life kaiju invasion or another case of a zoo animal killing spree-- it's all part of safety procedures. Each year, the Tokyo zoo staff conducts these drills with a different simulated species in order to prepare for beast-related emergencies. It's hard to imagine that shooting a fake horsey with a cap gun would help anyone deal with a major crisis like a rampaging wildcat, but what the hell do I know? These people are zoo professionals. They are like the Delta Force of poo-raking and animal husbandry.

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Reuters has a bizarre interview with Brian Jones, a banker who ran in the Tokyo Marathon this past weekend. Jones discusses some of the weirder aspects of urban marathon running such as soothing bloody nipples with vaseline and the "amazing" feeling of having "random people on the side of the street" with muscle sprays "start graffitiying the back of your leg." Jones also describes seeing a female runner complete the marathon "dressed as a nurse, or a maid." Sounds like I haven't been paying nearly enough attention to track and field. [Reuters]

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It looks like Mystery, Neil Strauss, and their fellow American pick up artists might have some stiff competition coming from the land of the rising sun. Today, Wired profiled Satoshi Fujita, a man who runs a "Pickup School for Men Who Can't Get Any" in Japan. Like his American counterparts, Fujita teaches his proteges to get laid by picking up girls on the streets with cheesy magic tricks. Satoshi's students include; Hachioji, who was a virgin until he was 24 and thinks the secret to a good massage involes moving your hands "toward the butt bone," and Jay, an executive who was once accused of stalking his assistant and nearlyspent $2,000 to get the yakuza to "go after a girl" before he "decided that [it] wasn't the best idea." Similar classes are all the rage in Japan. There are over a dozen programs like Fujita's in Tokyo alone. [Wired]

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The folks over at the Guardian's travel blog have a great Tokyo blog roundup -- a sampling of recommendations from the city's best bloggers (including our man Jean Snow). Suggestions cover sake, art, food, shopping, hotels, and all the high-tech wackiness Tokyo is known for. [Guardian]

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In this recent love letter from the New York Times to Tokyo's new Peninsula Hotel, we find out that hotel design has reached a new level of high-tech genius, and for a mere $550 a night one can experience a Jetsons-like living environment of the future. Most Tokyo hotels feature advanced amenities these days, but according to the NYT, the Peninsula doesn't just have the coolest gadgets -- it is also "a place marked by such endemic comfort and ease that home itself begins to seem like a downgrade." So what makes the Tokyo Peninsula so groundbreaking?

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Next month's issue of Food & Wine has a great though epic piece about some of the best eats in Tokyo. The editor and her guide suss out the best sushi, baked goods, noodles, sake, izakaya fare, and just about every other Japanese specialty in the city. Quite a hunger-inducing read. [F&W]

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For serious art lovers/buyers on the lookout for galleries during a stop in Tokyo, chances are you'll have had the Tomio Koyama Gallery recommended to you. This fall saw the opening of an extension to the famous gallery, this time in the city's stylish Daikanyama district and featuring an interior design by renowned architect Ryue Nishizawa (one half of SANAA, whose latest project is the recently opened New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York). TKG Daikanyama (29-18-A1 Sarugakucho, 03-3780-2150) is currently showing a collection of works from a diverse group (Damien Hirst, Dennis Hollingworth, Mika Ninagawa and Peter Wu), and even though both galleries include small shops, make sure to check out the TKG Editions gallery shop in Ginza (Ginza Casa 1F, 1-22-13 Ginza, 03-5250-1561) for a rather nice assortment of goods from artists that have shown at the two galleries.

Tomio Koyama Gallery [Official site]

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"We think Hello Kitty is accepted by young men as a design statement in fashion ... That generation feels no embarrassment about wearing Hello Kitty." So says a Sanrio rep about the new line featuring an HK with a "more rugged, cool look to appeal to men in their teens and early 20s." Goodbye, masculinity! [AP]

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It would be easy to write a month's worth of posts on Tokyo's Akihabara district alone -- the "electric town" certainly has a lot to offer, especially if you're on the hunt for the latest and best deals in electronics and/or otaku culture. Even though the area has been undergoing startling changes to better cater to the less hardcore (translation: a mass sanitization effort), there's still reason for the collector to make a stop. If gachapon -- toys sold in plastic capsules from vending machines -- is your thing, then you can't really miss the Gachapon Kaikan.

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