The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has announced a month-long ban on visitors to the famous fish auctions in Tsukiji fish market from mid-December, blaming large numbers of foreign tourists for obstructing business [more on Mainichi]
Tsukiji has become a popular tourist spot for the past two decades, but the tourism boom is not entirely welcomed for the wholesale market. The authorities have previously tried to discourage tourist visits, but it obviously didn’t work.
From a travellers’ point of view, Tsukiji fish market is a must visit place for Tokyo visitors; but I can understand the traders’ frustration. Imagine having bunches of tourists disrupting the business everyday but not buying anything; and to make it worse some tourists have not much respect for customs and basic manners.
Korean pop star BoA at Youtube Live TOKYO, a concert which was streamed live (supposedly) on Youtube on November 23. A 20-minutes long video below, which includes her American debut song Eat You Up and her J-pop hits.
Kwon Boa series
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Mickey Mouse celebrates his 80th birthday on Tuesday (Nov 18)…
Mickey’s birthday party at Tokyo’s Disneyland (Image from
Xinhuanet)
Singapore’s Iggy’s is Asia’s best restaurant according to the Miele Guide which made its grand debut last week. The guide is claimed to be Asia’s first truly independent regional restaurant guide.
The Miele Guide 2008/2009 edition evaluates restaurants in 16 Asian countries… Brunei, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The top 20 restaurants according to the Miele Guide 2008/2009…
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The world’s first blue roses have been unveiled in Japan following nearly two decades of scientific research.
Developed by Suntory Flowers, the roses are genetically modified and implanted with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment in pansies.
The first blue rose was created in 2004, but further research was required to make them safe to grow in nature.
The Suntory rose made its public debut at the 5th International Flower Expo Tokyo (IFEX) over the weekend; and are expected to go on sale commercially next autumn.
Blue roses have been available in florists in recent years but are created by various dying techniques to stain the petals of naturally white roses. The Suntory roses are believed to be the first genetically-modified blue rose creations [more on Telegraph]
The 21st Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) kicked off Saturday (Oct 18) with Japanese prime minister Taro Aso among the ~300 guests that graced the opening event at Roppongi Hills [via Japantoday]
The theme of TIFF 2008 is “Ecology = Preservation of Earth’s Environment”, and the organiser replaced the usual red carpet with a green carpet made from recycled plastic bottles to exemplify the theme, which I doubt could bring any meaningful effect.
A total of 315 films from around the world will be shown during the nine-day event. Chinese movie “Red Cliff”, directed by Hong Kong director John Woo, was selected to kick start the screening; would be cute if the stars wore some green outfit during the green carpet to echo the theme lol.
The main cast of Red Cliff at TIFF 2008… (L-R) Vicki Zhao, Chang Chen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, director John Woo, Tony Leung, Zhang Fengyi and Lin Chi Ling (Image from
Udn)
American born idol Leah Dizon, 22, who makes her fame in Japan, shocked her fans at the end of a concert in Shibuya on Tuesday (Oct 14) with the announcement of her marriage and pregnancy [via Tokyograph]
Leah’s wedding was held last Friday at Hilton Tokyo Hotel in Shinjuku. Her husband is a Japanese stylist (in his 20s) whom she first met around a year ago while working on a CD cover. The couple should be expecting their baby around March 2009.
Check out the video of Leah making the announcement at the concert [thanks to bb]
Enjoy your wedding life Leah and have a healthy baby.
[Update] Leah is a happy mother
Style-arena.jp is a website about Tokyo street fashion, with weekly photo updates of latest Japanese fashion in the streets of Harajuku, Shibuya, Omotesando, Daikanyama and Ginza in Tokyo. Pretty cool site if you are into fashion and trends.
