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Lisa

Recent Activity

Michael Jackson counting sheep before his piano recital

Shing02 just sent me this hilarious voice over of Michael Jackson's Beat It video of an insomniac man with an Osaka accent counting sheep and stressing out because he can't sleep before his piano recital. Wow. Question: is this only... Continue reading

Posted Oct 3, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Music video: Toastie aka Baguette Bardot in Paris

In 2009 I had the great pleasure of interviewing and becoming friends with Toastie, a lovely lady who grew up in Australia and now performs all over the world as the oh-so-wonderfully-kooky Toast Girl. Here is a gorgeous video of... Continue reading

Posted Sep 21, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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How to do radio calisthenics the right way

Every Japanese kid at some point in their lives has to do radio calisthenics exercises in the morning. Even though I didn't go to a Japanese school, I stumbled upon this strange ritual at a local swimming school that my... Continue reading

Posted Sep 9, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Rapper Shing02's latest: a short film about technology and happenstance

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and having a long sun-soaked breakfast with rapper Shing02, who grew up all over the world -- Berkeley, Tanzania, Japan -- and now lives in LA. He's super famous for tracks he... Continue reading

Posted Sep 4, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Yukinori Yanagi's awesome Ultraman exhibit

Loved this piece, called Banzai Corner, at the Benesse House Museum on Naoshima. Continue reading

Posted Aug 13, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Hiroshi Sugimoto's beautiful glass-ified shrine in Naoshima

In 2002, Hiroshi Sugimoto decorated Go'o Shrine on Naoshima with an optical glass staircase that leads to a subterranean stone chamber. It's now a permanent part of the Art House Project, an amazing art project on Naoshima that walks you... Continue reading

Posted Aug 8, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Teru teru bozu bathing in curry

Teru teru bozu are little tissue paper monks that Japanese people hang outside their windows when they don't want it to rain the next day. Continue reading

Posted Aug 6, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Photo: Tokyo subway hand strap

I'm sitting here in Naoshima with Florian, one of the photographers for Gakko Project, and loving this photo he took on a Tokyo subway. Continue reading

Posted Aug 5, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Gakko Project, a super artsy inspirational summer camp on Naoshima

I'm on Naoshima, an awesome little islan... Continue reading

Posted Aug 5, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Yayoi Kusama's awesome OCD art on fancy Louis Vuitton bags

I love Yayoi Kusama's OCD polka dots! You've seen them before on TokyoMango on cell phones, Coca Cola vending machines, and all types of furniture and walls. There's a super fun documentary about her, too. The Yayoi Kusama Collection Continue reading

Posted Aug 5, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Pachinko parlor promises female attention to gamblers

Prego, a Pachinko parlor, promises in giant pink letters that women will fall in love with you if you gamble your life away here. Interesting marketing strategy... Continue reading

Posted Aug 2, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Super flexible neon yoga man USB drive

2 gigs! Continue reading

Posted Aug 2, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Spotted in Ikebukuro: kimchee soda

The text on the bottle claims that it is a flavor of ramune (classic Japanese soda) with a spicy kick. Have any of you tried it? Continue reading

Posted Aug 2, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Watch the final episode of We Are All Radioactive

We Are All Radioactive - Chapter 7: Departure from Lisa Katayama on Vimeo. Just released the final chapter of my documentary, WE ARE ALL RADIOACTIVE. I hope you enjoyed it! If you missed previous episodes, you can watch all of... Continue reading

Posted Aug 1, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Kohei Uchimura, the best gymnast in the world

I wrote an article about Olympic gymnast Kohei Uchimura in last weekend's New York Times Magazine. You can read it here. (There's also a video story to go with it!) It's a fun piece with quotes from NBC commentators, Olympic... Continue reading

Posted Aug 1, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Gakko Project, an innovative cross-cultural education experiment in Naoshima

I'm excited and honored that Kenta Koga invited me to teach a course at Gakko Project, a cool new initiative founded by the Yale undergrad to redefine cross-border education between Japan and the US. We're going to be on Nao... Continue reading

Posted Aug 1, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Pyschedelic pop art by 76-year old former Playboy art director

Keiichi Tanaami's colorful depictions of psychedelic Astro Boy and evil POpEye are fun, but much more meaningful when you understand that he's a 76 year old active artist who was the first art director of Playboy Magazine four decades ago.... Continue reading

Posted Jul 25, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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New super-cute Sony commercial featuring over 200 screens

I love this TV commercial made by the Tokyo-based creative agency PARTY for Sony's make.believe campaign. It was shot with over 70 performers using 200 Sony devices, and it was all taken in one continuous shot. "SCREEN STORY" is a... Continue reading

Posted Jul 16, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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New We Are All Radioactive episode features Joi Ito and a humble government official

We Are All Radioactive - Chapter 5: Measurements from Lisa Katayama on Vimeo. In Chapter 5, a team of hackers in Tokyo and Boston take radiation monitoring into their own hands, mapping the measurement levels across the entire country of... Continue reading

Posted Jul 12, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Chapter 4: Radiation of We Are All Radioactive

Episode 4 of We Are All Radioactive is live!! And it's super important: in this longer (9 minute) special episode, we go deeper with the characters we've gotten to know from Motoyoshi, AND we also meet nuclear experts from the... Continue reading

Posted Jul 5, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Controversial comfort women photo exhibit is currently on show in Shinjuku

Since the 1990s, photographer Ahn Sehong has spent a lot of his time and attention shooting images of comfort women &mdash Korean women forced into sexual slavery in Japan during World War II who now live in China. He was... Continue reading

Posted Jun 28, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Several months ago, I blogged about my high school...

Several months ago, I blogged about my high school friend Hiro Fujita, who is living with ALS in Japan. Next Wednesday, he's going to be giving a public talk at McCann Erickson Japan &mdash the ad agency he works at... Continue reading

Posted Jun 26, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Ashima Shiraishi is the cutest most bad-ass rock climber ever

Ashima Shiraishi is a 4-foot-5 Japanese-American 11-year old girl who can kick anyone's ass rock climbing. She grew up climbing boulders in Central Park when she was 6 - her parents came to the US from Japan in 1978 -... Continue reading

Posted Jun 26, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Vintage 70s Yamamotoyama seaweed commercial

At the fantabulous wedding of a childhood friend last night, the topic at one point turned to a vintage Japanese commercial about a 300+ year old seaweed + tea manufacturer called Yamamotoyama. Do any of you remember this commercial? It's... Continue reading

Posted Jun 10, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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Today is A&PI HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

You guys -- take a moment today to think about all Asian and Pacific Islanders living with or who have died of HIV/AIDS. In addition to the physical effects of the disease, our communities deal with a lot of stigma,... Continue reading

Posted May 16, 2012 at TOKYOMANGO

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