May's online Cityscope features:
WHAT"S ON THE BOX
by Ralph Kiggell
The frontier of most video and film production is such a desolate wasteland that it's sometimes hard to believe it holds great promise. While radical video/film artists such as Nam June Paik and Shuji Terayama first gave prominence to the power of projected images, the survival of experimental film and video in this city has largely been due to low-key organizations such as Image Forum.
Image Forum's road to respect has been a rough one. In the early years, the three founding members rented spaces for showings and poured their own money into keeping the operation alive. In 1977, they moved to their own location in Yotsuya-sanchome, where, despite their size (their theater seats only 40) and miniscule budgets (they still get no support from sponsors), the tenacity and enthusiasm of founders Katsue Tomiyama, Takashi Nakajima and Nobuhiro Kawanaka has kept the group at the forefront of experimental media.
Image Forum's theater features weekly programs of new film and video and they have long acted as Japan's only distributor of the genre. Their Institute of the Moving Image runs a one-year course in experimental film, taught by film artists and historians. Tuition fees and the publication of the magazine Image Forum now keeps them afloat and helps fund their most ambitious program, the annual Image Forum Festival, being held from April 28 to May 8 at Shibuya's SEED Hall.
The festival was the first of its kind when it started in 1973. "We're still the only one," says Nakajima. "In Europe, experimental films and videos are even broadcast on TV," he continues, "but there's nothing like that here." In its first year, the festival showed only 20 or 25 Japanese artists, but it has grown in size and scope. This year will feature 86 films and videos by 70 Japanese and international artists, for an expected audience of 8000.
A large proportion of the entries for the competition were from young Japanese, many of them approaching experimental film with little technical background. But as Nakajima points out, "That's what makes them different from older generations of experimental film-makers--it also gives their work an extra spontaneity and freshness."
One of the most interesting and controversial works in the festival is "Heaven-6-Box" by Hiroyuki Oki, himself one of the star graduates of IFIMI. Oki has already achieved something like cult status with work that explores acts of self-discovery and social taboos around homosexuality. Look also for Takashi Ito, whose new work Zone will be on show. Ito is another experimental film maker who has gained quite a following, although he is of a slightly older generation.
And if you miss the festival, Image Forum's weekly programs can be found in the Special Showings section of Tokyo Journal's film listings each month.
UP IN SMOKE
by Mark Robinson
There's nothing like a spell on the road to sharpen the skills of young musicians. If the second album from self-proclaimed "space cowboys" Audio Active is any indication, their first overseas tour last year has made the Tokyo four-piece both stronger and more adventurous. Recorded in London at the end of a mind-expanding month spent bundled into a tour-bus across Europe with a veteran team of reggae music heavyweights, Happy Happer, on the English independent label On-U Sound, is a great work of imagination.
"I think we got the balance right," says vocalist Masa Osada, "Because we got to know the people we were working with very well." Produced by On-U boss and reggae aficionado Adrian Sherwood, Happy Happer is an uplifting and mysterious album--predominantly reggae-rooted in its deep basslines, dub echoes and spacious atmosphere, it is also a sunny and sometimes subversive pop record, with catchy keyboard hooks, extra-terrestrial noises and repetitive, sci-fi voice loops like "Adventures in time and space," and ". . . a weapon to attack the brain!"
Contributing musicians to Happy Happer include members of the On-U "house band," Dub Syndicate, who made the joint tour (no pun intended) with Audio Active through Europe. Techno-funk pioneers Skip McDonald and Doug Wimbish, formerly of Tackhead, add atmospheric guitars and bass respectively, with Wimbish (who was Living Colour's bassist until that band's recent demise) unearthing some strikingly heavy effects. Mark Stewart, of the veteran avant-punk band The Pop Group contributes sardonic lyrics to "Happy Shopper"--by far the album's most ponderous track and the current Audio Active single. And legendary Jamaican drummer Style Scott, who happened to be in town at the time, replaces Nanao Shigemoto on three songs. He pushes the rhythm effortlessly. "Nanao's a good drummer,' says Sherwood, "but he was very happy to have Style play."
With so much illustrious assistance, there's clearly more to Happy Happer than Audio Active alone. But where the music comes from is, perhaps, beside the point. "It was a very enjoyable collaboration," says Osada. According to Sherwood, all credit for the record belongs with the Tokyo crew. "It's their album--they wrote the stuff and came to us with everything basically intact. Wimbish and Skip added some spice; I juggled a few things around and put them into shape."
Earning what Sherwood describes as "excellent response" for "Happy Shopper,' Audio Active look set to take off overseas, if not yet in Japan. The band's second single, "Free the Marijuana" charted strongly in the British music press last year and has now been picked up by radio in Australia. The success of the band on its own turf, however, appears to be in the hands of the age-old "reverse import" phenomenon. It may have to do a lot better abroad before catching attention at home. "The independent music media likes us, but we don't have any fans," says Osada bluntly, although it's true that their rare live appearances keep his band's exposure limited. For the time being, the best place to hear Audio Active is on record. "Actually," admits keyboards player Daisuke Omura with a laugh, "we hate playing live. "
THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY
by John Kennerdell
Gaya Uehara
3-11-6 Nishihara, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 3481-5255
Open: 5:30pm-midnight
Average check for two: Y7000
To call an izakaya a home away from home hardly does it justice. Home is the place where the spouse and kids live. An izakaya is your place. And so the quality most prized in these traditional pub-restaurants isn't artistry or creativity or even really good food. It's familiarity. Plain, predictable, even a bit dowdy--that's what "real" izakaya lovers love.
No doubt Gaya has disappointed some of these purists. Any place with bottles of Mexican and Jamaican hot sauce on the tables is bound to do that. But I suspect it has made believers of many more. For the message here is that an izakaya doesn't have to choose between old-fashioned or new-fangled. It can be both. One moment they'll offer you new-wave youth foods like taramo (cod egg) salad and negitoro (tuna and green onion) croquettes. Then they'll produce a nanohana ohitashi (boiled rape blossoms with shoyu and wasabi) or a stew of beef tongue or buri and daikon that could have been passed down straight from grandmother. As at all proper izakaya there's fish galore, a dozen or more varieties cooked or uncooked any way you'd like. But what to make of dishes with names like "Chinese tacos" and "Big Egg?" Even the favorite drinks here evidence a certain split personality: on the one hand, a fine half-and-half made of Yebisu Beer and Guinness Stout; on the other, five or six selected cold sakés (the "freshly pressed" shiboritate is superb). They write up a new menu every day, constantly ringing the seasonal changes and generally keeping everyone on their toes. It's a lot more work than it has to be, and with restaurants that's always a good sign.
The best news about Gaya is that it's not one restaurant but four. The others are Gaya Aoyama (3498-8810), Hiroo Gaya (3441-2551) and Ebisu Gaya (5449-0031). They share modernesque concrete interiors and similar culinary standards, but otherwise head off in their own directions on a nightly basis. You could profitably spend a week exploring all four. The group is run and staffed by a loose affiliation of friends and business partners, which means your waiter isn't just hired help. These people care about their trade. Ask a question about the food or drink and they'll be delighted--and able--to tell you all about it. This was once the Tokyo norm. It's not anymore.
By all means find a classic old izakaya on your own, preferably in your neighborhood and run by some gruff old geezer who's too proud to serve you anything but good conventional food. But come to Gaya, and see tradition transforming before your eyes.
Volga
1-4-18 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Tel: 3342-4996
Open: 5:30-10:30pm; closed Sun. & hol.
Average check for two: Y4000
Though it didn't move to these premises till 1958, Volga dates back to the late 1940s and may well be Tokyo's definitive time capsule of the era. The building peels and sags. The interior of old brick and wood lies beneath a smoky yellow haze. Decor consists of some photos of mostly forgotten historical bohemians, the kind of characters who wore berets and smoked cheroots and drank till they passed out, then dragged themselves home and wrote celebrated poetry. No one's ever prettified the place, no yuppies have ever claimed it as their own. It's impossibly atmospheric and absolutely authentic.
Let there be no illusions about the food. The menu comprises a few rudimentary signs on a wall, without any indication of prices (which are rock-bottom). One imagines this was about the standard level of drinking food in Tokyo a couple generations ago: tough (though remarkably flavorful) chicken yakitori, somewhat more tender tsukune (balls of minced chicken), serviceable agedofu (deep-fried tofu), a profoundly avoidable potato salad (a dish with a surprisingly long and checkered history in Japan), and so on. Beer, saké, and Japanese whisky are the main drinks, but a somewhat shaky-looking bartender in a dirty white coat--wonderful historical touch--can be persuaded to mix those fluorescent blue or green drinks that wowed Japan in the MacArthur years.
Note that as at many of Tokyo's less compromising izakaya, people arriving here with non-Japanese faces will be subtly (or otherwise) vetted at the door. Look like a bumbling tourist who just wandered down from the Keio Plaza Inter*Continental and you'll be told "Dame, dame, ippai" (Beat it, we're full). Which in fact they always are after about 8pm, so arrive early and either demonstrate a bit of Japanese language or else a Japanese friend on entry. It's worth the risk of rejection. Like Golden-gai on the other side of the station, Volga is the unlikeliest of survivors, a living bit of an immensely colorful and all but forgotten post-war Shinjuku. We're down to the last few of these relics, and they're not to be taken for granted.
Robata Bistro Daizen
3-7-11 Kami-Meguro, Meguro-ku
Tel: 3710-8224
Open: 4:30pm-midnight
Average check for two: Y5000
Daizen's door is about one meter high--an old temple trick to encourage humility--but inside it's huge. How a place this cavernous can even fit amidst the warren of streets around Naka-Meguro Station defies the imagination. On the plus side it means plenty of air space and elbow room. Just don't expect terribly personal service or a staff that knows the first thing about what they're serving. Daizen is mass-market Japanese dining for the '90s, with bounteous portions and often surprising quality. Plus it's cheap and handy and open every day. More adventurous seekers of the izakaya faith should explore the street along the tracks around the corner, where at least a dozen raucous establishments await. Lacking the energy for that, this is the pick of the litter.
Fish fills the menu here, though it might be best to go easy on the raw stuff. Let's be blunt: very few izakaya can offer the quality of sashimi found at even ordinary sushi shops, and it's certainly not about to happen in a behemoth like this. Concentrate on the grilled and fried fish, notably the buri no teriyaki and the excellent iwashi karikariage (crisp deep-fried sardines). They do a dozen or so salads, big in size and pretty reasonable in flavor. Then there's the predictable range of semi-Western creations like nasu (eggplant) gratin and kabocha (pumpkin) croquettes.
So far, this description could suit any of a hundred newish, youthful eating places around town. What sets Daizen apart are the glass-fronted refrigerators along the back wall, home to a diverse if rather static collection of 50 or so sakés from all corners of the country. The waiters know no more about these than they do about the food, so either do your own homework or prepare to go potluck. It took us a few tries to find something our table really liked, but it was fairly splendid when we did: a newly arrived Kikuhime Yamahai. This is known as the give-us-your-freshest-saké strategy, and for a simple rule it works well. At Y500 or Y600 for an overflowing glass here, a mistake or two won't break the bank.
Burmese Days
The new leader in a surprisingly well contested field: Biruma no Tategoto (The Harp of Burma), currently our top Tokyo Burmese pick. Excellent curries and salads, eclectic clientele, convincingly scruffy decor. 2-45-2 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku (5273-2464).
Beer o' the month: Beck's Beer
Why drink the generic domestic product when both Daiei and its D-Mymart discount liquor chain are offering European lagers of this quality at sale prices as low as Y100/can? Just beware of the made-for-Japan Y128 Bergen Brau.