Tokyo is so much more “Blade Runner” than most other Asian cities. In my neighbourhood of Shinjuku you can be seemingly in the 22nd century one minute, but turn down a small side street, and feel like Ridley Scott has just started filming his latest sequel in a dingy noodle bar. My first foray into Shinjuku nightlife proved slightly confusing. I wanted to find some bars in a district called “Golden Gion”, but which ever way I walked around the blocks I ended back up in the Tokyo equivalent of Soho, albeit possibly a bit safer but much much weirder. […]

If you are not familar with “Fugu”, it’s the Japanese for blowfish or puffer fish. To describe it as poisonous is a massive understatement. Chefs need a licence to serve it in Japan and they are trained for two years to learn how to correctly remove the deadly bits. Some deliberately leave just a trace of the toxin in the dish so that your lips tingle when you eat it! Wikipedia suggests that its poison is 1200 times stronger than cyanide and close to Sarin or VX gas in the way it paralyses your central nervous system. You can’t buy […]

My first duties on arrival in Tokyo were unplanned. It turns out that they are filming some sort of Japanese “Apprentice” type show at my hotel. My role is that of the checking in Western guest. I’m reminded of how Bill Murray is directed by the fictitious Japanese director in “Lost in Translation”, so I decide to follow his lead and play my part “with intensity”.. I didn’t take any fee for this role, but on the advice of my friend George Lucas, I have retained all the merchandising rights in case the “Toad-San” action figure takes off in Japan.. I have […]