Tokyo Messengers

Documenting the culture of messengers here in Tokyo has come to an end as I prepare to leave. The project fared well and the result encapsuled what I had hoped it would.

The start of it all seems longer than I know it to be. Looking back to my first idea, following an encoffining business, I can say that I'm glad that my end result ended in the realm that it did. Not only did it touch on a much lighter note, but its feasibility prevailed over what could have been an exceedingly difficult task (filming an encoffining, that is).

For those of you who read (or even saw the cover) of the Metropolis magazine issue with the bike messengers on the front, you will appreciate how this all go started: After committing to a subject and getting a bike to go along with it, I just happened to run into the messenger on the cover by pure chance one morning. We also happened to have the same bike as I mentioned before. In the end, it led me to pursue the subject of culture vs. work in more depth, which I can attribute to my project being cut into two parts the way it was.

The T-Serv aspect was just a matter of getting involved with the company enough to have a higher-up give a thorough tour of the inner workings of the business. It was much more diplomatic than the leisurely side of the project, which was to be expected. There is something to say for that.

Meeting the group of messengers for some games of bike polo was an entirely different experience; not only since the environment it was in was such a relaxed one, but also because of the people I was able to play with. Getting a chance to talk to each player and hear how they got into the game is important to understanding what it means to them, especially considering the sport is a mere 3 months old in Tokyo. Hopefully this is discernable in the juxtaposition of the two halves to the whole that is painted here.

Keeping up to date with the ongoing evolution of the messenger culture here will be tough once I'm back in 'merica, but at the same time it forces me to view messenger cultures of areas that I know well in a different light. And even if that was all I could say I took away from this, it would still suffice to feed my content demeanor as I head home.

View it here: http://www.vimeo.com/8097407

TSCDP

It only gets better in high-res. Click em!

The Earth Crushed Atlas as He Searched for Concrete Proof of Reality

The Earth Crushed Atlas as He Searched for Concrete Proof of Reality from The Pillow Brigade on Vimeo.

I had a dream the other morning that I was eating dinner with some friends. After I awoke and realized that I had to go to the dinner I just had a dream about, I searched for irrefutable data to prove that I was awake and not actually dreaming about a dinner that I had just been too. Later, I made this.

Tokyo Hardcourt

Early this week I was riding my bike to school through the downpour of a typhoon and I noticed a bike messenger a ways in front of me going in the same direction. I usually follow messengers for as long as I can if I spot one because they are familiar with the traffic flow and move quickly through the city. Following this guy was especially hard, however. I kept up with him just barely long enough to catch him at a stop light.

The first thing I noticed was that we both had the same bike frame, so I mentioned it to see if he was willing to speak to people (and by people I mean foreigners). Then I realized why his bike looked familiar to me. He was the bike messenger on the cover of Tokyo-based Metropolis magazine a few weeks earlier. I somehow remember his name from the article and mentioned that I am doing a documentary on bike messengers for a class. He threw his phone number and his name down on a package slip and then he was off.

Today I went to meet up with the group of messengers he hangs out with (after much translation of the Japanese directions he sent me). They play bike polo on Saturdays in remote streets and parks. They also play in Meiji park in Sibuya apparently, but I don't know how; I thought it was pretty crowded there. Well I took a bunch of photos and did an interview during the polo games with my friend Mazen, so I'll post some photos now, and when I get the video up I'll post that as well.

Their group is called "Tokyo Hardcourt Bike Polo":

Oh and credit goes to Mazen for the photos of me. Can't say that I was able to take those haha.

Heay Rain

Woke up to this friendly message this morning:

Heavy Rain from The Pillow Brigade on Vimeo.

Need More 700nm Red

Attempting some infrared photography...only to find out that my camera has an anti-infrared filter built into it. Looks like I'm gonna be taking it apart in the near future to put the spendy filter I just bought to some good use!

Akasaka

The view from the top story of our dorm building.

Look Ma, No Brakes!

In an attempt to become accepted into the really ridiculously cool society of bike messengers here in Tokyo I have taken on a few new material goods and personality traits. I will need to appear as if I have been riding in Tokyo for years and that I know the area like the back of my hand. My first step in this pseudo-awesome transformation is obtaining a sufficiently awesome bike which I have finally accomplished:

It has no brakes, but that is not a problem for the persona that I am taking on. More to come as I almost hit a pedestrian every 10 seconds riding to and from school...

If you want more info on why these brakeless cyclist death-traps are so freaking cool, do a little search on Japanese Keirin Track bikes and you will understand.

(And the main reason I am taking this on is because I am (attempting) to make a documentary about the bike messengers of Tokyo, so to own one of these babies is a great way to obtain bike messenger friends...and get interviews ;)

Akasaka in 3 Days

As our first assignment for our Tokyo Stories film class, I observed/interacted with the people in Akasaka. The first day was an observational stage, the second day I jotted down notes about what I saw, and the third day was interactive.

Notes from the second day:

- dude talking on expensive-looking cell phone stared at my shoes
- numerous contemplatively silent businessmen
- dude put something card-shaped in his pouch
- overtly non-overt behavior is more than common
- vehicles are 90% taxis, 8% cars, and 2% bikes
- drunk elderly man stares with lonely eyes, sporting hip clothing from the streets of europe's english-speaking capitol of the underground metro
- many groups of 3-5 business men/women carrying the same gift bags. formal meeting presumably
- cops drive by and slow to a crawl, eyeballing hard

Video from the third day (time-lapse, no audio):




More to come...