The quiet after the storm.

Week end's been heavy and painful!
Calisthenics battle, film meetings (gimme a FUCKING break) and general tiredness.
Thankfully today I am done with meetings and everything and will try to relax around Ueno park and enjoy the silence and freshness of the incoming night. Not before demolishing my body training.
I shot a pic with my phone while walking to my favourite bar in Akihabara right after the meeting.
Weather's been nice and now I feel relaxed. Or not? 

Haikyo and japanese ghost towns

I have always been interested in the "dark" side of life.
That part of existence that's a mystery to us all: the mysterious and, in a way ancestral, world of spirits, ghosts and enthities.
I have been living in Tokyo for quite a long time and have visited a lot of ghost towns, dead cities and abandoned buildings.
Some of these places are told to be "cursed" by evil enthities. You can call them ghosts but I don't really like this word since it tends to be quite a clichè.
I do believe that there are some places in this world that shouldn't be "bothered" with our presence because it may disturb a certain type of "energy".
We, as human beings, all have archetypical fears.
It's a sunny afternoon but let's say that your bathroom has no windows and door is half opened.
If this is the case, there would be total darkness inside your bathroom.
And I'm sure that a good portion of us would be somehow "scared" of looking inside that darkness.
Not because we are scared of someone/something inside but because we are scared of the unknown.
It does make sense right?
This being said, I'd like to share with you some of my Haikyo experiences.
Haikyo (廃墟) in japanese means literally "abandoned place".
There are a lot of haikyo areas around Tokyo, in the outskirts of Tokyo and all around Japan.
From abandoned hospitals to crumbling cities.
From cursed buildings to entire dead islands (for example Gunkanjima, near Nagasaki).
I am a very rational person but I must admit I have witnessed and experienced some pretty odd situations during these haikyo explorations and a couple of times I have literally freaked out.
Not because I have seen something but because I have "felt" something around me that was not auto-suggestion (because I was not scared at all before).
But what does "something" mean?
Well it's not easy to explain but the closest thing I can come up with is "presence".
It's like when you feel there's something staring at you even though you cannot see it.
And somehow you know it doesn't exist and that's just your imagination.
In my case though, it was not imagination at all.
Whispers and all sorts of eerie sounds plus my body was freezing cold like if I was inside a fridge.
This happened in various "abandoned" buildings.
Once I have even witnessed a woman walking in a corridor and eventually disappearing inside the wall with a strange laughter.
And no I was not drunk or under drugs. You know I don't drink and don't do drugs.
I shot some photos of my exploration adventures but I do not want to share them with you because they are very personal.
These things do exist.
And they are scary as hell.
I don't know what they are...but whatever they are...they must not be bothered.
This being said, time to get some sleep (hehe)!

Sleepyness

Today I fell asleep at the restaurant. I have nothing else to add *__*
Am I turning japanese?

A walk and some quick noodles

Couldn't sleep so decided to take a walk and ended up inside an "unexplored" area of Tokyo that had a "Ghibli" feel to it, don't ask me why.
Had some noodles inside a very old ramen shop (I was the only customer) and took a few pics while heading back home.

Meditation Retreat

Ok...uhm, yeah...ok.
I'm taking the kids group to Mount Fuji for a 1.5 day transcendental meditation retreat (even though I'll call it "pic-nic").
I absolutely love kids so I'm sure it'll be a blast!
Even though japanese kiddos will surely try to analyze the meaning of the word "mantra". Lol.
Let the adventure begin and (now I'm speaking to myself)...make sure you'll bring 'em all back safe :D
Ok it's time to get the hell out of this starbucks and to go get the kiddos (everybody's still sleeping here at starbucks...can't they sleep home?! oh well, it's Tokyo after all!).
See you on monday world and see you in 3 hours Fuji San!

Finally home

And here I am again.
Exhausted, in my hotel bedroom, gazing at Tokyo from the top.
Thankfully the cleaning service "did" my room as I'm WAY too lazy to do it *____*
At least, lately!
Day's been tough: had a lot of very productive and tiring meetings. FUCK MEETINGS.
I had tempura and noodles for lunch and a big steak for dinner.
I'll take a bath, listen to the enchanting notes of Ravi Shankar's magical sitar WHILE in the bath, masturbate thinking about nothing, brush my teeth WHILE in the bath...and sleep for 7-8 hours NOT in the bath.
See you tomorrow, world.

P.S. Notice the wacom tablet on my bedroom. I don't even remember why it's there, lol.

P.P.S. Why did I work with the Yakuza? WHY? 

Early morning hues

Rainbows in Tokyo are really rare but this early morning I had an amazing surprise from my bedroom view.

Sushi dinner

Tonight I had sushi dinner with Mr. Kawamura, Namco's executive producer and legendary creator of the Tekken saga.
We had a 14-set piece sushi plate and an amazing japanese green tea.
Restaurant is located in the Park Hyatt building (the same building featured in "Lost in Translation"), in the Shinjuku district.
We talked about projects, story and game development.
He's a bit conservative speaking in terms of development but we did had a very nice and productive conversation.
After the coffee he left while I stayed there 1 more hour while enjoying the relaxing jazz music and the quiet people's jibber jabber.
Alrighty, time for training.

A creative afternoon from the top of the world.

Spent the afternoon alone on the roof of the tallest skyscraper in Tokyo and glared at the huge metropolis that lied down below while brainstorming stories and ideas.
From that height Tokyo looked like an immense ocean of energy and the sky was gloomy. Greenish/red hues covered up the entire skyscape hiding those distant things we call stars.
It looked the heavens would fall.
Though, that far glimpse of Mount Fuji in the distance made me feel an unexplainable sense of peacefulness and bliss.
Nature VS Modernity...what a delightful paradox.
You can't tear a rose petal without rippling the line of the stars which control the continuity of that ancient breach, rooted inside our consciousness, that I call chaos.
I was there...observing the majestic Mount Fuji San...and my long hair drifting around my neck like excited black shadows.
Thoughts, passing by.
A wide variety of emotions, which I couldn't even understand, slapped my entire being and consciousness.
And that sensation of eternity...what did it mean?
An everlasting glimmer of pure innocent irrationality colliding with the dark breaches inside my consciousness?

Where is she? The love of my life I met only in my dreams...

Will she ever exist? 

I walked back to the lift...my hair waving around me like a black ghost...my long jacket fluttering upon the wind...and my eyes glazing the near future.
Tokyo...I have loved you, I have felt you, I have experienced you and I have HATED you.
But now...it's time for a good bye. Not a farewell...but a long good bye.
And while walking away I imagined a burning cigarette flying down the skyscraper like a dying sparkle of energy with approximately 7-8 seconds of life.

Soon to disappear, lonely, into the realm of existence like a snowflake in the Sahara Desert.

Tokyo - The Land of the Lost

People who live in Tokyo are not the most friendly in the planet and I'm not talking JUST about japanese people...I'm talking about everybody so foreigners included.
I'm a really open minded man so living here it is, sometimes, a pain in the ass.
A lot of people living in Tokyo are mostly ignorant, care just about money and alcohol and have no interests whatsoever.
I have met people who thought that New Zealand was in Italy and that the sun was a planet.
This is not even ignorance...THIS..IS..MADNESS!!!! (sorry but I couldn't resist after watching 300).
Women starve just to save money and buy those ridiculous Louis Vuitton bags that are starting to look embarrasing.
Men pretend to be "important" just because they know some celebrity bar owners that let them in the VIP room for free (which is the SAME room as the main one with just 1-2 sofas in addition, lol) even though they know they are sad and unsuccessfull people on the inside.
And I could go on for days.
I have been living here quite a while and I have bonded with just three buddies.
Three buddies in 4 years? I know :)
Their names are: Kazu Otsuka (a delightful friend and zen master), Sonic San (Celebrity artist) and Chris Valdez (a creative journalist).
I am, yes, pretty picky in terms of friends but again...THIS..IS..MADNESS!!!!
So, after reading this you'll probably wonder why the hell do I live here.
Well this city ain't hell after all and there are some pretty solid points.
It's the safest place in the world and there's everyday something to do.
I have seen chicks literally half naked walking alone at night whistling and 8 year old kids taking the train without their parents.
Yes, it is Really safe. You'll never feel in danger here, no matter where you'll go.
And, if you like events, art exhibitions, galleries etc it's the city for you.
Another thing I like about Tokyo is that you can basically wear whatever you want and no one will ever look at you or care about how you dress.
Not that this is really THAT important, but it is relevant for me so that's why I pointed it out.
Sometimes I even go out with prosthetics on my face plus red/white contact lenses resembling aliens from mass effect and no one cares. Lol.
So it's a pretty free city, much more than places like London.
Alright! time to sleep!