THE ROBOT DOLL MASTER

Interviewed Tamaya Shobei the 9th this week.  I first met Shobei San about 18 years ago when I was doing TV reports for "Nagoya Weekly", and have often worked together on various cultural events.
Shobei san is the last remaining Karakuri (mechanical doll) craftsmen in Japan. The mechanical dolls date back to the early 1600's when his ancestors made a mechanical doll that can deliver a cup of tea to a guest, and then return the empty cup to the server. The gearing was intricately carved wood, and the spring was made from whale whiskers. This was the first robot. See the interview on Web Magazine Japan World  http://japanworld.info/

BOOK LAUNCH EVENT

 With co MC, Harada Satomi on stage for Professor Ito Masanori's recent book launch party. The professor has released two books simultaneously regarding Nagoya's design, marketing and cultural heritage identity.

           Over 350 people gathered for the evening event, held high in one of Nagoya's cultural icons....

                                      The top of the TV Tower, Japan's oldest broadcast tower....

                                         With the other interviewees featured in the books,...

VIDEO SHOOT WRAP UP PARTY

 Its been a year in the making! SoHo Japan, along with G-Factory and my company PPF have been involved in the making of a special DVD video pack for World Heritage Site, Shirakawa Mura. PPF was involved in writing the scripts, casting the talent and having all the scripts translated into various languages. The shoot, editing, recording and mixing have all been completed, and so all involved had a wrap up party...

                                 With SoHo Japan's President, Oshiro San and his wife, Naomi

STUDIO SNOOZING

Absolutely exhausted! Had to have a 15 minute snooze before going On Air...

PAPER CASTLE

A friend of mine, Ishihara san makes 1/ 300 scale Japanese Castles in stiff card like paper. My company, PPF is the international distributor for his product. There are 17 castles available now, and more planned in the near future. More details on this coming soon. Keep your eyes on this site, or on
the Japan history, culture and information magazine site:    http://japanworld.info/

MOONRISE OVER THE GREAT SETO BRIDGE

 Been filming a TV show this week with NHK International on Honjima, a small island in the Seto Inland Sea and just beside the world's longest double suspension bridge. On the final day, as I was about to catch the ferry back to the mainland, this huge, white moon started to rise over the bridge and surrounding islands....

Once aboard the ferry on the 30 minute trip to Marugame, the reflection on the waters was amazing...

CAR COOKIE

Took my car in for its annual service,...and how's this for service, while I was waiting for the paperwork to be completed, I got a cup of tea and a small, original Audi cookie too!