Strangely it looks like this post was hacked and half of it is gone, I’m not quite sure what happened and I don’t have a back up at hand or time to go through it again until later, sorry about that.

I started writing this a couple of weeks ago after a bad day at work. It was such a bad day I didn’t have enough time to write it properly so jotted down some ideas to finish it later. Then I forgot. Coming back on it a few weeks later I’ve had time to look at it with a fresher outlook, but I realise that my opinion still remains pretty much the same.

Efficiency is a word often associated with Japan and its society. Whether it’s to do with the country’s energy policy, public systems etc… One thing with which it is also sometimes associated is work. From the outside looking in, it’s easy to get the impression that Japanese offices and workers are quite efficient, and I was a subscriber to this impression until I worked in a Japanese office.

Fact is Japanese offices are about as efficient as those elsewhere. The illusion of efficiency seems to come from the fact that Japanese office life is a lot more structured and a lot less flexible than in the west, with respect and seniority having a lot more hold than they do back home.

Popularity: 4%

written by Laurent \\ tags: efficiency, Japan, office life, politeness, seniority, structure

For the last 8 to 10 months I’ve been thinking about a feature I want to write looking at what I’ve come to think of as a ‘new wave of hip hop boom bap.’ Music and producers that have got me excited about stuff again like I haven’t been in a long time, starting somewhere with Madlib and Dilla and culminating in the last few years with the likes of Dabrye, edIT, Prefuse 73 and more recently a whole slew of new producers and collectives.

Like most things in the last 8 to 10 months though, I’ve sat on my arse and never got round to it. That is until about a month ago when I submitted a rough draft of the feature to Serie B who I’d pitched it to. They liked it and want to run it alongside a bunch of interviews with some of the artists mentioned in the feature. Bonus.

And around the same time I finally got off my back and did all this I started seeing other people talking about the same thing, but with slightly different angles. Which not only makes me feel good because I know I’m not the only one feeling like this, but also because it only makes me more inspired and gives me more food for thought over the whole thing.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 5%

written by Laurent \\ tags: bass, dubstep, hip hop, lazer bass, Music, wonky, writing

A few months after I arrived in Japan I noticed just how important space was in Tokyo. Beyond the obvious limitations afforded by a capital city with an extremely dense population, I started to notice how the management of space was also central to how a lot of things are done in this town - not just flats and habitations.

The impact of space, or lack of it, on how people live is the most obvious aspect of this, evident to anyone who comes here and spends a small amount of time looking at how and where people live. Coming from London, one of the things I’ve missed the most in my time living in Tokyo is house parties. Simply put they rarely happen in Tokyo, and when they do they’re not on the scale they are back in Europe. Instead people go out and party in an izakaya, a club or a karaoke booth. It’s fun but after a while it’s just not the same as a good old house party.

In a city where every bit of land is seemingly up for grabs, where doors appear in the most unimaginable locations and shops and entertainment are all located upwards of the street level, the limitations of space also impact the inside of flats, houses and public spaces. In terms of flats, and smaller offices, you end up realising soon enough that while space seems to be lacking there is always a way to make things fit. And the Japanese have developed a knack, and countless products, to help make the management of space inside cramped spaces as easy as possible.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 5%

written by Laurent \\ tags: crazy, Japan, people, push men, space, tetris, Tokyo, trains

May 21st is the date of the next installment of BTC, now a bi-monthly all nighter affair held on the third wednesday of the month. And it’s also my last BTC for the foreseeable future, so I’ll borrow from Skepta’s lyrics book and ask ‘Are you dumb?’ No? good cos you’d better get your ass down there, it’s a celebration bishes.

I’ll be doing a back to back set with the man like Ske for the occasion while 100 Mado rocks it back to back with ENA and Goth Trad does his usual ting of murdering the dancefloor. As for the live end of things, we’ve got Skyfish and Chinza Dopeness doing what they do best in fine combination style and Dokkebi Q dropping a live set! And seeing as these guys are living in London and not Tokyo, I’d say this makes the occasion a special one if it wasn’t already.

Full details are below. The venue is Club Asia, ladies are free till 1am, and there shall be bass and funky shit, a lot of it, truss. See you there! Peep the BTC blog for more and all that jazz. Oh yeah and there’s also a BTC Facebook group for the FB massive out there.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 5%

written by Laurent \\ tags: back to chill, clubs, dubstep, goth trad, Japan, mad rave, Music

I know I’ve been saying I was gonna start writing again properly for the last 4 months. So I’ll stop saying it. Instead I’ll do what every good blogger does, which is take inspiration from someone else’s work to knock up something of my own. Well kind of…

In this case I’ve actually been meaning to write about the cult of the cute in Japan for a while, but like most other things I haven’t gotten round to it. And considering I’m leaving the country in six weeks, I should really get my arse in gear and play catch up.

Back to the matter at hand. Japan’s love of cute, also known as かわいい　(pronounced kawaii - emphasis on the last i sound please). I was browsing the Sushimatic blog about an hour ago, and came across this post, which speaks for itself in terms of how far the whole cute thing can sometimes be taken in this country.

Thing is Japan really has this weird thing going on with cute. How a foreigner picks up on it depends on the person by and large, but regardless of your degree of ‘immunity’, sooner or later it really starts to stick out like a sore thumb. It’s not entirely exagerated either, as Sushimatic pointed out. There is probably a certain degree of difference depending on who’s speaking on it, but by and large Japan very much seems to hold dear the belief that everything can be ‘cute-d up’ and that making something cute can make it easier to ‘process’.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 4%

written by Laurent \\ tags: cute, Japan, kawaii, signs, society