Well, a survey of tourists leaving Japan shows what everyone already knows: Sushi is a favorite among tourists (and Japanese alike). Here is a list of the top favorite foods amongst tourists to Japan!
A recent newspaper article I read said this:
Foreign tourists visiting Japan enjoy sushi above any other national dish, according to a survey by the Japan National Tourism Organisation. The state-run agency said it interviewed more than 15,000 foreign tourists as they left Japan and asked what their favorite food had been during their visit.
So what were their favorite foods?
Drum roll please!
At #6: Gyudon! Gyudon is everywhere in Japan too. Gyudon is beef and vegetables on a bed of rice and it is probably the best value for the money in town. You can have a full stomach for under $5 (USD)! I recommend Sukiya as they have nearly 2000 shops all over Japan (and English menus!)
At #4: Tempura! Fish, shellfish or vegetables deep fried in batter! I don’t usually eat fried foods but I have been to Tenya a few times and it is fast, cheap and delicious.
At #3: Sashimi! (good sashimi is expensive so I don’t really know any cheap places… But try out #1 below!)
At #2: Ramen! A noodle soup that originated in China, came in second with 21 percent of visitors placing it top. I can’t really recommend any ramen shop because there’s millions of good ones everywhere in Tokyo!
At #1: Sushi! Four out of ten people picked sushi as #1. Sushi is morsels of vinegar-flavored rice usually served with sliced raw seafood. Well, there’s a million great sushi places in Japan too! (Well, duh!) But if you have kids who are picky eaters and you are on a budget traveling in Japan, then try out Hamazushi! The kids LOVE this place! Gaijin Gourmet: My Favorite Robot (Sushi) – Hamazushi
Of course, as the Olympics get closer, there will be more and more of these establishments making English language videos for the foreign audience coming to Japan and you can bet that Robot55 will be there making these video productions for the shops, especially in the Tokyo area. As we produce these videos, we will post them on the Robot55 webpage.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are coming. I was searching for information on the subject when I stumbled upon some old video of newsreel footage that show the scenes and I thought you might like to go with me on a blast to the past.
These two are Universal News newsreels (Yes, Universal used to do the news also!) Probably a common denominator between these videos of 1964 and the 2020 Olympics will be that the USA is probably one of the top two medal winners. I expect that China, and not the Soviet Union, will be the ones to beat in 2020.
This first one is entitled, “The Olympics – U.S. Widens Tokyo Lead from Oct. 19, 1964. Here’s the description: “(1) brief shot of Harold Wilson of Britain (2) Tokyo Olympics as Hirohito watches; Sharon Studer wins 3rd medal in butterfly swim race; platform diving won by Leslie Bush; track events include 100 meter spring won by Hayes – slow motion of finish; women’s 100 meter (partial newsreel).”
By the way, did you know that Japan came in third in medals in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics? Wow! What’s happened since then? It’s anybody’s guess, but Japan has been an also-ran in the Olympics in the last few decades.
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10 to 24, 1964. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan’s invasion of China, before ultimately being canceled because of World War II. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports. (South Africa was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games debut.)
Tokyo was chosen as the host city during the 55th IOC Session in West Germany, on May 26, 1959. These games were also the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be flown overseas as they were for the 1960 Olympics four years earlier. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the firstgeostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. These were also the first Olympic Games to have color telecasts (partially). Certain events like the sumo wrestling and judo matches, sports huge in Japan, were tried out using Toshiba’s new color transmission system; but just for the domestic market, not for any international coverage. History surrounding the 1964 Olympics was chronicled in the 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa.
The second video is about the dawning of the Bullet Train. Check it!
I think there is one more thing though that might be common about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; There’s going to be lots of foreigners from around the world coming to Tokyo so Japanese businesses need to up their game and promote their businesses to these wealthy foreigners while they can!
Web video and local productions in various languages will be key to growing your business.
If you need anything concerning video production in Tokyo and video production in the English language, please ask us at Robot55.
Last year, when I had a close call with death (please refer to: Near Death at the Hospital, Last Month! – Back in Humor, This Month!) I realized that I needed to start doing the things in my life that I have been dreaming about. So, I decided that I had to get my talented friends together and make a short feature film. I think there is a chance for us to build a Rock & Roll Cult movement that is famous around the world between now and the 2020 Olympics.
I want to be in the center of that movement. The movement involves Japanese culture, past and present, rock and roll music and animation.
To make things easier to grasp, I think it might be good to tell you, dear reader, the 4 key words (images) that I always want to keep in mind for all the films and projects we make: 1) 1950s Science Fiction, 2) Rock and Roll, 3) Horror/Ghost movies, 4) Tarantino.
I think if I can keep my mind, and my staff’s mind, on these images, then we will succeed in making the kinds of things that will be perfect to put 2015 ~ 2020 Tokyo into the minds of the fans of cult films and music… Because the Olympics and big money cash-ins amongst the politically well connected ARE NOT what we, nor Japanese people are about… At least I hope so.
Our story is about a struggling Rock and Roll musician who finds the tortured spirit of an old blues musician living in his studio. At night, when they are all alone, the two together make music that is unworldly in its brilliance, yet no one can hear it except the struggling rocker and the dead blues musician. It doesn’t have a happy ending… Or does it?
I wanted to make this movie on the level of quality of something like Quentin Tarrantino makes. Yes. Laugh now, if you wish; it is a ridiculous goal for us. Ridiculous or not, that is the heights we aim for.
To be the director of the movie, I asked Enrico Ciccu who has written and directed for some very fine cult movie productions in Italy. He has agreed to direct. Enrico is a difficult person to work with; but that’s the way I like it. Great artists are never easy people to deal with. Enrico wrote the screenplay and had a large hand in the making for this short film which was accepted at the Sapporo Film Festival: “Julie – Johnny Guitar.”
I think “Julie – Johnny Guitar” captures the essence of what we want to accomplish in the Rock & Roll Ghost Story: A Tarantino style full of cinematic allusions and pop culture references.
In any quality film, not only is the director a critical issue, but lighting is also something that makes or breaks the visuals – and therefore the suspension of disbelief – in a film. For the lighting of our movie, I recruited a guy who has been a good friend for nearly twenty years. He was my next door neighbor for ten years and he is now my lighting director. His name is Yuji Wada…
Oh, yeah, I guess I should also mention that Yuji Wada was the lighting director for many Sophie Coppola films, one of my favorites was the Hollywood smash hit, Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray.
The lighting in this scene is the feel of what I want. Yuji is the perfect guy for that. Need proof? Here, below, is a shot from our session on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. This is EXACTLY what I wanted.
For our cameraman, I asked Ken Nishikawa who is a former BBC staff as well as director at TBS. Ken has worked on TV and film productions for just about every major TV station in Japan. He is a superb cameraman and brilliant artist. He also wrote the screenplay and is directing production for another Robot55 production entitled: Matsuchiyo – Life of a Geisha, which we will be going into serious production this spring. Here is the short trailer for that:
Finally, to put it all together, I needed actors who can actually perform and have a strong Rock and Roll image. Who better than one of Japan’s best rock and roll bands, “The Neatbeats”? Mr. Pan, lead singer of the Neatbeats, will play the part of our struggling musician. He is the hero, and failure, of our movie. He is the guy sitting on the right of the sofa in the photo above. The guy is just overflowing with Rock and Roll. He’s perfect!
Besides Mr. Pan, we also have several other famous Japanese rock stars acting in our movie. I am also in one scene acting as a guy who is drunk and almost dead from boredom. Here is that scene that was shot night before last on Jan. 26, 2015:
Robot55 movie shoot. On stage is the Privates. Table in front is Furukawa Taro and Tomomi Hiraiwa. Table behind (guy sleeping) is me, Mike Rogers (Brilliant acting, right?) Camera (far right) Enrico Ciccu (Director). Photo by Arai Osamu.
The editing for this film starts next week. As we progress, we will post updates. I may be acting dead in this photo, but I am going to die a happy man when this production is finished and it is world-quality and as good as anything Hollywood makes. It is one thing, a first of many, that all of us; Ken Nishikawa, Enrico Ciccu and me, have dreamt about all our lives.
Like the good doctor, said, “Don’t dream it. Be it.”
Photo from the set of “A Japanese Rock & Roll Ghost Story” Left to right: Mike Rogers (sitting in front), Enrico Enrico Wtmm Ciccu (standing), Ken Nishikawa (kneeling in middle), Mr. Pan (sitting on sofa laughing). (photo by Osamu Arai)
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There is also a boom of English language videos and productions coming to Japan and Robot55 aims to be a key player in making viral videos for the foreign market that comes to Japan. Why not? We have people who live and work professionally in this market in TV and video production as well as guys who have made many commercials and smash hit (and cult) TV and radio shows.
I am confident that there is no other company in Japan who can touch us for that market; making viral videos in English for the foreigners coming to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics. There is a cult and cutlure boom coming to Japan in the next 5 years.
