This Week in Tokyo – 30 October 2018

The latest edition of This Week in Tokyo – a review of the Maction Planet week that was and a look ahead to what’s coming up in and beyond the city. Check out photos from our tours and read insights into our explorations as we get under the skin of the World’s Greatest Metropolis. This week’s edition is hosted by Mac, Founder and Lead Guide of Maction Planet. This week: Tokyo Halloween 2018, Autumn Cherry Blossoms, Chromophotographic Game, Maison Margiela and Panda Bus.

Featured photo – Tokyo Halloween 2018: It’s that time of year again! From humble origins, Shibuya’s Halloween celebrations have become one of the world’s biggest street parties. As always, we were there with guests to join in the fun and take some spectacular photos!

Autumn Cherry Blossoms: Cherry trees that normally blossom in spring have been blooming in the past few weeks. But why? Well, new Cherry Blossom buds actually start to form during the summer. However, the leaves at the base of the bud secrete abscisic acid, a hormone which prevents the buds from opening. Perhaps due to the recent spate of seven typhoons across Japan, the most since 2004, trees have lost their leaves, stripped off by the winds. The unseasonably warmer temperatures (on avergae about 3-4 degrees higher than normal) that have followed the storms may have triggered the blooms. Regardless of the ‘how’, the ‘what’ is that our guests have been getting very excited about spotting them, and Maction Planet knows where the biggest blooms in Tokyo are!

Masahisa Fukase – Chromophotographic Game: A new exhibition at FujiFilm Square restages the first domestic retrospective of Masahisa Fukase’s photo collection “Yugi” (‘Homo Ludence’ or ‘Play’). Originally shown as part of the main program at KYOTOGRAPHIE 2018, this incredible exhibition present the entirety of Fukase’s works in his own original prints. Fukase’s most renowned works are in monochrome. However he also captured many images in colour. Born in Bifuka, Hokkaido in 1934, Fukase graduated from the Photography Department of Nihon University. He worked at the Nihon Design Center and Kawade Shobo Shinsha publishing company before turning freelance in 1968. Since the beginnings of his career, Fukase strongly advocated the use of colour prints. However, in those days colour prints suffered from fading and instability. Fukase often hand coloured his works. With the development of instant color film in 1983, he hit upon a novel way of using colour film instead of photographic printing paper. This playfulness and innovation continued throughout his career, and the culmination of these efforts can be seen in this excellent exhibition which can be seen until 8 November 2018.

Maison Margiela: We all need some retail therapy, and as part of six days in Tokyo with guests Betsy, Steve and Nora we spent the majority of one day checking out incredible boutiques all over the city. Of course, because I do not believe in compartmentalisation of tourism, any ‘shopping tour‘ is also a food tour, an architecture tour and a culture and history tour. The current window display at MM6 in Omotesando Hills caught my eye. That is a lot of tin foil!

And finally – Panda Bus: Sat down in Kappabashi with Betsy, Nora and Steve waiting for a knife engraving, we were overjoyed to see this unusual vehicle coming towards us. Given the Ueno areas obsession with pandas, you would have expected to find this around there. In fact, this is Asakusa’s Panda Bus. Super cute and ready to ferry you around one of Tokyo’s most historic neighbourhoods.  

Maction Planet runs bespoke Tokyo Private Tours and Experiences. To book yours, contact us on info@mactionplanet.com