Blog - Weekly revue: 2018 week #30 (July 21 to 27)

Weekly revue: 2018 week #30 (July 21 to 27)

Food: - Chicken & white lamb curries at Hubachar, Chitose-Karasuyama
- Soba (!) and ginger & mint pudding at Tapir, Shin-Ōkubo

Wrestling: Went to see a live professional wrestling show for the first time! The event was "DDT Summer Vacation 2018" at the renowned Kōrakuen Hall, and it was a great opportunity to check out American wrestler FACADE (aka Neon Ninja) who I had met by chance the other day. Turns out his wrestling was really amazing, and he and his mates had their share of triumph at this show. DDT is apparently a kind of special wrestling promotion and it mixes in some humour too. Check out this well maintained English site for lots of info, schedules and results.

Music event: - Went to free daytime event "ASOBIFES!" at Studio Coast, part of "ASOBIEXPO" which celebrated the 10th anniversary of of Harajuku model/artist agency Asobisystem best known for matching Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Nakata Yasutaka. The event was a mix of music shows and also fashion shows and some styling contests. The event opened with MANON (with producer HNC) who sang two songs. At the end there were also shows by CAPSULE and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Also fun was a reading by Mito Natsume of her picture book "MUMU", and of the other artists I enjoyed "atarashii gakkō no Leaders" whose dancing is impressive, and also newcomers EVERYDAYS whose first song is I think produced by Ram Rider (and had a sound that reminds of Shibuya-kei and Pizzicato Five). That was a fun day with no time at all to get bored. Check out the official report with photos at Moshi Moshi Nippon.

MANON set list: xxFANCYPOOLxx / COCO BOI ROMANCE

CAPSULE set list: Another World / MORE! MORE! MORE! / JUMPER / Hero / Starry Sky

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu set list: Invader Invader / kimi ni 100% / kimi no mikata / Harajuku Iyahoi

Exhibitions: - Actually before going to "ASOBIFES!", friends & I first went to the Setagaya Literary Museum to see Shindō Mitsuo's retrospective exhibiton "Be My Baby"! With over 1,000 of the art director's works on display (CD and record jackets, posters, etc.), including so many of Shibuya-kei artists such as Pizzicato Five, Cornelius, Flipper's Guitar, Kahimi Karie, Original Love, Natsuki Mari,... That's most of my favorite Japanese music roots all gathered in one place! For the exhibition The Scooters recorded a new original song of the same title, "Be My Baby" so I bought the 7" single! Even spending over an hour there didn't feel like enough, so I'll surely be going back again. :) This exhibition lasts until September 17. Not to be missed!

- Also dropped by the Kure Kure Takora exhibition at Hakaba no Garou in Nakano. Some behind the scenes photos are on display (show creators at work on the set, etc.), and lots of original goods! Until July 31.

- I happened to walk by Nicetime Mountain Gallery (an outdoor gear shop with coffee, chocolate and cakes) which just opened earlier this month, and an opening reception was being held for ALLRAID's exhibition. Very nice artwork with a city pop kind of style. ALLRAID did the logo design and art direction for the shop.