Tokyo Stories

Document of research- final paper

2009-07-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

1. Road Rage in Shimokitazawa (RRIS) falls under two oral history types. It is a mix of topic history, more specifically the histories of Route 54, which has greatly evolved since its creation by Hideaki Hishikaza 60 years ago under the American post-war administration, and the actions of the Setagaya-Ku Ward Office and the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo. The Project also falls under site specific research due to its focus on the Shimokitazawa area.

2. I took many approaches and used many techniques to document RRIS. The first approach was research, both secondary (looking up articles and websites on Shimokitazawa and Route 54) and primary. I went to Shimokitazawa numerous times on weekends to get a feel for the place and to network. Meeting locals was great because they were able to meet us personally (rather than just emailing and being no more than a name) so they could see first-hand our motivations to dig deeper into Route 54 to help save Shimokitazawa. I met a member of the Save the Shimokitazawa group and he invited me to join his local tour the weekend after and later referred many interviewees to me. This networking allowed me to easily find a range of subjects – a middle aged lady, an old lady and a middle aged man) for my project. As more primary research I took part in a local tour. I was taken to many places off Shimokitazawa’s beaten path and was able to take lots of pictures for my project’s B-Roll. The tour also allowed me to meet more locals and to better comprehend their feelings towards Shimokitazawa and Route 54.

My next approach was to interview and film locals in Shimokitazawa for a vox pop. Even though this task proved to be harder than planned (details later), it was really fun to do and provided an interesting and unique start and end to my project.

Another approach used to document RRIS was interviews with locals. Because the interviewees had been referred to me (and thus they knew about my group from the referrer), we all got on very well and they seemed to be very comfortable around us. This may have also been partly because my group made sure the interviewees knew all about our project (for example, why we are doing it, why we chose Shimokitazawa and where it will be showed) and that they knew the interview questions before the interview. The interviews were highly insightful and formed the basis of my project.
Lastly, I used a blog to document my progress in RRIS. This was a Tokyo Stories class requirement although it was a useful way to record progress, problems, solutions and thoughts, many of which I needed to refer to later.

3. I experienced many difficulties during the project. These difficulties can be broken down into three types- interview-related, recording/ technical and post-production.

Interview- related difficulties: The biggest difficulty I encountered while doing my vox pop was that Japanese people are VERY camera shy. Consequently I had to ask dozens of people. I found people were much more willing to be interviewed when they were waiting for friends, in groups, knew the questions before hand and when I asked (in Japanese) 'Excuse me, do you have some time?' rather than 'Excuse me, can I please ask you a question'? I also found that older people did not want to answer nor did teenagers (unless they were foreigners) so the majority of my interviewees ended up being young adults/adults.

Difficulties when filming interviewees included space. The old lady lived in a particularly small house (and she only wanted us to do it in a certain spot), so space was tight and it was hard to have enough distance to film her at eye level. Consequently, the camera looked down at her a little bit but I overcame this during post-production by reframing her.

Recording/ technical difficulties: The two main technical problems I experienced were regarding sound (discussed later) and white balance. After looking back at my footage, one interviewee is “hot” (her face is purple) so I should have set white balance to manual rather than auto. I was not able to pick this up when filming, partly because I did not really know what to look for on the monitor.

Post-production difficulties: A big problem in post-production was dealing with interview answers. Despite the fact they are in Japanese and thus not my native language, they were not answered in complete sentences so I had to insert question slides into the project. I think the question text actually suits the inquisitive nature of our project but having the subject lead the story probably would have made it more sophisticated.

I also had a problem with subtitles. I had nearly finished them all in plain white. Although I had noticed earlier that many were illegible due to being in front of a white background or t-shirt for example, I thought I would be able to later simply add a black outline to them. It turned out though that Final Cut Pro does not permit that and I had to do them all over again with black outline. Irene tried to help me fast track this very time-consuming process by saving and pasting font attributes although we could not get this to quite work.

Another problem I encountered was dealing with many peaking vox pops. At the time of filming (done before the media workshop), I did not have a great understanding of how the audio levels work and did not realize while filming that many of vox pop responses were peaking. I deleted many of these responses during editing but wanted to keep a few with good answers. I tried to minimize the peaking in these during post-production by turning down the volume of the audio (pink line). In the future, to prevent this problem I need to keep an eye on the sound meter on the camera and ensure that the audio mark is not going into the red/high section.

Lastly, other problems were more simple and occurred purely due to a lack of experience using Final Cut Pro. For example, sometimes I could not insert pictures into timelines (they had to be converted from raw format to JPEG), music would not play (it needed to be rendered) and fades and dissolves were either to fast or too slow (did not realize you could change their speeds). I was able to quickly overcome these problems by asking someone experienced in using the program.

4.In retrospect, I would change the way I approached my project by covering the stance of those people for Route 54 (for example, a Government official working on the proposal) as well as the stance of those against it. I did suggest this to my group although the consensus was to skip it and focus on advocating its disapproval. Although as Irene said, interviewing the supporting side could have in fact made our opposing stance stronger as we could have tweaked our interview questions to promote a somewhat confused response.

Another change I would make is regarding interview questions. My group asked the interviewees about 10 detailed questions so when it came time to edit, the abundance of footage was overwhelming, led to many differing opinions among my group and complicated and slowed down the editing process. We finally decided to prioritize our questions and delete the less important half. In the future I need to make sure I only ask questions vital for the project.

Based on the constructive feedback from Irene and Ron, other changes I would make include increasing the variety of pictures in the project, for example, include close-ups, unique angles. Additionally, I would ensure the gun mic is totally visible (mostly for television related projects) or not visible at all while filming.

Final video

2009-07-21T01:56:00.001-07:00

Road Rage in Shimokitazawa from URBZ on Vimeo.

Final poster

2009-07-21T00:31:00.000-07:00

Poster

2009-07-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Last thing to do for the project was make the poster. The first two pages were done on InDesign. The first page was just a title (Road Rage in Shimokitaawa) and some pictures. The second page was maps and text about the area (mostly taken from the original proposal). The first page, a collage, was done by Kei on photoshop. It was done vertically on A3 when it should have been done horizontally but I eventually figured out how to make it fit on the presentation boards so all is good.

All in all, I'm very happy with the documentary (6 minutes) and the posters :)

Editing

2009-07-16T05:31:00.001-07:00

This week was all about editing the project. This was a very time-consuming task but one that I also gained a lot of knowledge and satisfaction (after it was finished) from.

Editing order: voxpop, beginning, main interviews, end, b-roll, credits

Tips:
- 2-3secs a picture
- Take music from… good stuff!
- Get translations done early
- Vox pop- energy- shorter the better
- More is not always better. The non-important and uninteresting stuff MUST be cut out otherwise the viewer will become bored to quickly. I found cutting out the non-important content hard. My group asked way too many questions so when it came to editing time, it was very overwhelming. So we decided to carefully go through the questions, decide which ones were the most important and just edit them.

Problems/issues:
- I had done nearly all my subtitles in plain white but they did not look good/were illegible when in front of a white background (eg the subject’s t-shirt). I couldn’t just edit it, I had to do them all over again with black outlining. The solution to this was to save and paste attributes on the subtitles- it fastened up the process a little bit.
- Pictures going into the timelines cannot be in raw format- must be converted to JPEG beforehand
- Would have liked to have known/had more practice changing the sound of music and audio and changing the pace of dissolves and fades
- Some vox pops were peaking. Solution, make sure to check the sound meter on the camera and that the audio is not going into the red section. Solution while editing, turn down the volume of the audio (pink line) to try and minimize the noise.
- Questions were not asked openly so answers were not complete. As a result, we had to insert question slides into the project. I think they look good and suit the nature of our piece but having the subject lead the story probably would have made the piece more sophisticated. It is hard not working in your native language as you have little control over this during the filming.
- Render each time
- Editing with the team slowed down the editing process a lot. I love hearing their input and opinions, but it was much faster just to edit by myself.

Digitizing and review

2009-07-02T17:56:00.001-07:00

I finished digitizing the footage from the station, the vox pop and the interviews yesterday.

Comments:
- framing looks good
- the gun mic is in most of the frames- not the best but its ok- it just looks television poi
- the interviewees are "hot" - white balance needs to be set to manual
- red and pinks do not look good on video (red is the weakest chip or something?!)
- watch the focus when doing interviews- the interview with the lady in the park- the leaves are more in focus then she is- use the reel at the front of the camera- the focus should be set to manual
- there is so much 'stuff' in Tokyo so it is hard to avoid swiggly lines. But prevent as best you can striped ties, fluro lights etc.

Time to start editing!

Reminders:
- figure out subtitle situation
- enough B roll?
- one more interview?
- figure out how to go about editing the interviews- re. translation and choosing what's important

List of things to do 6/30

2009-06-30T03:59:00.000-07:00

- start editing!
- organise kei's photos and start thinking about how to use them in the video
- one more interview? owner of tibet tibet?
- discuss poster with kei and chris- 1st (pictures) and 2nd page (map, picture and text) is fine. figure out what kind of collage we want to do- options:
1) picture of an existing scene- remove or add one significant thing
2) jumble everything up
3) overlapping pictures, eg, use transparency tool on indesign/word/photoshop
4) include quotes or random words in the collage (need a phrase or something at the bottom to conclude- eg. save shimokitazawa!)
5)
*for inspiration- search in google: architecture/architectural collage, photo collage, 1920 photo collage

3 main interviews

2009-06-30T03:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Monday 29th June, Kei and I (Chris had urgent school work to do) set off to Shimokitazawa to interview Ishizaka-san who has lived in Shimokitazawa for 37 years! Takahiro san kindly gave me her contact details and Kei had arranged for us to meet her at 5:30 and the north exit. We met and did our jikoshoukai and our yoroshiku's and then she took us to a little park because we wanted somewhere quiet and not to go to a cafe/restaurant. She was a very lovely and insightful lady. I set up all the equipment (am definitely getting the hang of it now! AND the wireless worked sans problem) while Kei briefly showed her the questions we had prepared. The interviews are to be the depth of our video so I had done a lot of research before coming up with the questions- they were as follows:

Please tell us for what purpose you come to Shimokitazawa (eg. work, leisure, home) and how long you have been coming here
下北沢に来た理由はなんですか？どのくらいになりますか？

Why do you like Shimokitazawa?
下北沢のどこが好きですですか?

Has Shimokitazawa changed much while you have been here and if so, in what ways?
下北沢は変わりましたか。どのように変わったのでしょうか。

(The Government has proposed to build a thoroughfare 26 m wide through Shimokitazawa. It also proposes to lift building restrictions to 60 meters high, that is 4 to 6 times higher than the average building height in Shimokitazawa at present.) Tell us your feelings towards the proposal?
道路の計画についてどう考えていますか

How do you feel towards the proposal and is this how most locals feel?
地元の人はどう感じてるかご存知ですか

The Government believes a new road would ease bus and taxi traffic congestion. How do you feel about this gain?
区は新しい道がバスやタクシーなどの交通の利便性を助けると考えていますがその点はどう考えていますか

(The study the Government conducted to come to this conclusion the road will easy traffic congestion is not available to the public. How do you feel about this?)

The government also believes the road is necessary as it will provide an escape route in the case of an earthquake or fire. How do you feel about this potential gain?
道は消防上また災害時に必要と考えられますがその点いかがですか?

In your opinion, what are the biggest negative consequences of this project?
道路計画で最も危惧するのはどの点ですか?

Do you think the Government has really listened to the needs and wants of the locals?
区は住民の意見や要望に真剣に耳を傾けていると思いますか?

The Government is currently trying to buy land off locals for the road. Some locals are selling because the Government is wiling to pay a high prices for the real estate. Other people are refusing to sell their land. What are your feelings towards this?
道路建設のために区は土地買収を進めており中にはすでに地主もいますが拒んでいる方々もいます。どのようにお考えですか?

The plan was drafted by the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo although the ultimate decisions are up to the Mayor of Setagaya. Many say he does not know much about the plan. How do you feel about this?
計画は都主導で進められており世田谷区長は計画についてあまりに知らないという意見がありますがどうおもいますか?

The Government wants the road and most locals do not want the road- can you think of a compromise between the two opposing parties?
区と住民は反対の立場をとっていると思いますがなにか良い妥協点はありますか?

There is a wide held belief in Japan that new roads and highways only benefit communities. For decades Tokyo has covered medieval moats and rivers with highways, and has replaced tile-roofed dwellings with featureless concrete buildings. How do you feel about this?
戦後川や堀は埋めたれコンクリートジャングルと呼ばる街作りが進めてられました。道路また高速の建設は地域活性を助けるという考えが根強いですがどうお考えですか?

Shimokitazawa was preserved from destruction and redevelopment throughout the war right up to our days. Although, the proposal already received funding and approval in 2006. Do you think fighting to save Shimokitazawa is a lost cause or do you think we should continue to fight? If so, how can we help?
下北沢は戦後から今まで大きな開発を免れてきました。道路計画は2006に既に承認され資金もでています。SAVE the下北沢の活動はこの計画を変えられると思いますか。その為にどうすれば良いと思いますか?

Is there anything else you would like to say?
他になにか?

Extra comments:
- we asked her to answer in full sentences before hand
- we made sure Kei nor I were like sou desu ne, un etc during her interview
- there was not much traffic going past but when it did, it was quite loud- hopefully it didn't impact the audio too much
- only problem occured when she was itching her head and her armed rubbed/touched the wireless microphone- the audio was seriously crackly etc- so I had to ask her to answer the question again

After we finished, she said she would take us to Shimodaira san's bar as we told her we were planning to interview him tonight too (I received a message while we were interviewing her). On the way though, we kept bumping into her friend's, for example, the man who owns a soup curry restaurant in Shimo (he got his business card too so if need be, we could interview him too) and an old lady who makes the traditional Japanese wooden clogs. When having a quick chat with the old lady, Kei and I asked if we could quickly interview her. As she was older and we had randomly popped in, we only asked her a few questions. It was great to get an interviewee of a different demographic though.

Comments:
- space was tight so it was hard to film her
- I wanted the clogs she makes in the background- I wasn't sure if the glass cabinet would reflect and flicker in the tape... hopefully it doesn't! Some of the clogs were in plastic bags but we took them out so they wouldn't flicker.
- after digitizing the footage today I realised the angle I interviewed her at was not the best.. the camera is looking down at her a bit which is not ideal...

After this interview, we went to Shimodaira's bar called Never Neverlands. He later came and we ordered some drinks and had a chat. Then it was time to set the camera up one again! By this time it was dark and it was mood lighting in the bar- but it was enough I think (fortunately). He runs the Save the Shimokitazawa tours so he knows a lot about the situation so we asked him all of the same questions as Ishizaka-san.

Comments:
- we needed to turn the music in the bar down but this was not a problem (luckily we were interviewing the owner of the bar!)
- there were fairy lights in the background when I filmed Shimodaira. It didn't look like they were flickering in the video so touch wood they don't when it's on the bigger screen. I did my best to minimise these just incase. Chatted some more after the interview and then it was time to go because we were exhausted- otsukaresama!

Final outcome: planned to do 1 interview today and got 3 done! YAY!

List of next things to do:

2009-06-25T02:14:00.000-07:00

- organise main interviews
- finalise interview questions
- organise Kei's photographs
- start to edit the introduction
- confirm the info from books can just be put onto the poster- find out what this poster is all about

Proper filming in Shimo- day 1

2009-06-25T01:43:00.002-07:00

This afternoon, Chris, Kei and myself went to Shimokitazawa to do some filming mostly for the introduction of our documentary.

My goals were to:
1) film the train leaving Shibuya
2) film the train ride from Shibuya to Shimokitazawa
3) the sign of Shimokitazawa station
4) film as we walk out of the station
5) conduct a vox pop with about 10-12 people. The questions were 'why did you come to Shimokitazawa?' and 'what do you like about it?'

Outcomes:
1) didn't film (wanted to get to Shimo ASAP while the sun was out)
2) filmed
3) filmed (twice- one using the correct shutter speed to minimise flickering)
4) filmed
5) filmed (with a gun mic)- Japanese people are VERY camera shy so we had to just keep asking lots and lots of people. We found people were much more willing to answer when they were waiting for friends, when they were in groups, when they knew the questions before hand and when you simply asked 'sumimasen, jikan ga arimasuka?/ do you have any time?' rather than 'sumimasen, chotto shitsumon shitemo yoroshii deshouka?/ excuse me, can I please ask you a question'? We found at first that men were more likely to answer but then women later seemed just as happy to. Old people did not want to answer now did very young people (unless they were foreigners) so the majority of our interviewees were young adults/adults. While trying to find interviewees, we also noted that the area right near the station is more popular/busy at night while the area near (Ichiban Gai) is more important in the daytime. 4 hours later, we filmed a time lapse (while relaxing with some beer!) During this time, we also met a guy called Neal who (after admiring our camera set up), chatted with us for a while. I got his email address because I think it could be good to email him- he has lived in Shimo for 7 years, has noticed many changes and isn't afraid to share his view (that Shimo cannot be saved!).

All in all, I was happy with what our group got done today!

media workshop

2009-06-25T01:43:00.001-07:00

Because until now I have had no prior filming experience, I found this media workshop particularly helpful. Below are some reminders of tips, terms, settings etc. I understand that there are no 'rules' for filming and that certain settings can be well manipulated for certain effects although writing all this down will help me remember the basics.

General tips I learnt:

- Ask open questions (specific to project)
- Ask questions in pairs
- Use eye piece
- Never record over a tape
- Clean camera head with cotton not alcohol
- When a mic has no battery, turn phantom (+48) on
- Lock tape after use
- Label tapes properly
- Rephrase question when something interesting arises and film the subject closer up
- Shutter speed: auto when outside, manual when inside or when there is flickering
- “Nose room”
- Consider vector lines
- Be safe- still shot as well as panning shots
- 10am, 3pm and cloudy weather are the best times to shoot
- If things look too white = overexposure
- Panning = slow, “swush” = fast
- Hold establishing shots for around 15 seconds
- “Clapper board”
- Colour bar- 20 secs
- Guide frames eg zebras
- Don’t zoom

Technical camera stuff/settings-

- White balance- use auto when filming in different lights
- Shutter speed- auto unless fluro, flickering lights (manual 90-100)
- Exposure = how open/close shutter is
Under exposure = close shutter = less light, darker
Auto unless dark person in front of window etc
- Sharpness- middle OK
- Cam colour- middle
- Cinema tone off (type 1 lighter, type 2 more contrast between black and white)
- White balance shift 0
- BS off
- SF off
- Histogram- measures balance of visual signs- off
- Steady shot- on
- Conv lens- off (unless wide lense wide conversion)
NB: People don’t look good wide lense
- Rec format 16:9
DV Set DVSP
Audio FS48K (richer sond) but 32K (kok)
- Mic level
Auto- wireless, changing voices, picks up all ambient noise
Manual- boom mic, wireless outside, reduces ambient sound
- Gun mike- very sensitive therefore manual setting
May need +48V/phantom power on with battery even though it has a battery
- Cannon jack: Ch1: 2 mics
Ch1 +2: 1 mic

How to digitize:

1) Connect camera to computer (play mode)
Then open Final Cut Pro

2) System settings
Set
Desktop
New folder- project

3) Easy setup
NTSC
DV NTSC
Setup

4) Save project as
Choose same file
New folder- “timelinefiles date”
(will join 3 other files)

5) Log and capture
Check VTR OK at bottom- if so, the connection is all OK
Name reels and give description

*terms- non-linear editing uses mata data file, the original data is not ruined
*notes- it’s OK if the sound and quality of the video while digitzing is bad- you do not get audio which it is digitizing

How to edit:

- Double click reel/footage
- Use arrows I (input) and O (output)
- Drag selected footage from left screen (original footage screen) to right screen (editing screen)- insert
- Regularly used features: pen button, razor
- Layout of screen- browser, viewer, canvas
Lower section: timeline

Plan

2009-06-25T01:42:00.000-07:00

Filming:

- film the train leaving shibuya
- film on the train
- film "まもなく下北沢にとうちゃくいたします"
- film a shimokitazawa train station sign
- film walking out the station

Voxpop: do a one-question interview with about 10 people- gaijin and nihonjin preferred.
- the question needs to be the same for each person- I'm thinking why do you come to Shimokitazawa and what do you liek about it?

Time lapse: not sure where to do it... somewhere that captures the uniqueness of Shimo if possible

(notes for me:)

intro filming:

- film the train leaving shibuya- maybe. under shot as train leaves
- film on the train. may be hard to film people but if possible capture "shimo poi" people. If it's too hard to film people on the train, then scenery is fine. Tripod will be impossible so just hold the camera in my hand. Capture train sounds.
- film "まもなく下北沢にとうちゃくいたします".
- film a shimokitazawa train station sign. definitely tripod. 10-15secs. make sure no flickering.
- film walking out the station- get close to people to prevent shaking

voxpop:
- gun mic
- close up
- hand held camera
- no zoom, get close
- position of them and the camera- looking to the left/right or looking straight at camera? (if so, must be positioned in middle of frame)
- open question

time lapse:
- tripod
- settings- neon? night?
- place, time

interview:
- choose and contact people- create time, decide place, note lighting
- tripod
- wireless pic
- frame placement
- get kei to practice questions in open form

Tour around Shimokitazawa

2009-06-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I went to Shimokitazawa with Chris and Kei. We met early to discuss our projects over some lunch at a really funky Asian restaurant we found. We finally found the Town Hall and the Save the Shimokitazawa group, led by ... and ... Other members who joined the tour (500yen including an information pack) were some young ladies doing assignments for university, an old lady in a wheel chair coming for a ride and a bilingual Japanese woman making her own documentary on Shimo for her freelance documentary work. We went to many secret places in Shimokitazawa, for example, old churches, theatres and graffiti-covered hidden back streets and saw the houses of various famous people etc. We were also taken to Save the Shimokitazawa's cool vending machine selling T-Shirts each with a different funky design and motto. We were also taken to where the road would be created and where an alternative road could easily be created without wrecking the area (on the top of where the Odakyu Line is being built). We went to a little jazz bar/bistro with the group for a break and some more Shimo chat. We then went to some markets in an indoor car park selling funky hippy clothes. Finally, we went back to the Town Hall for more discussion. Exhausted, the 3 of us soon after excused ourselves.

After walking around for about 6 hours and snapping pictures of small, little alternative/boho shops, cool designs, young people and numerous outdoor dining options with Kei's professional camera (wide screen lens) I really became passionate about saving the area- it really is so unique for Tokyo. Shimo reminds me a lot of the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where I live.

Why the day was worthwhile:
- learn a lot even though it was in Japanese and I didn't understand everything
- gained a local's insight into the area which allowed me to appreciate why it is special and why it should be saved
- it was good to see that many locals are actively fighting to save Shimo- makes the project seem worthwhile. One of the guides works as an orthodontist so he takes these tours in his free time
- practiced using the video camera - even though I won't use much (if any) of the footage (also. it was done in HD because I did not know at the time we were going to do it in DV), it was good just to practice getting a feel for the camera and filming
- established contacts for our main interviews:

浅輪剛博 ASAWA Takahiro ganpoe@hotmail.com

SHIMODAIRA Kenji 090-3538-3679 (The main guide of the walk. Good English.)
kenji_backgammon@hotmail.com

矢崎　与志子 Yazaki-san (The woman in the wheelchair)
misrabe@yahoo.co.jp　　

石坂　悦子 Ishizaka Etuko-san (yumeho@wf7.so-net.ne.jp (She's been long in Shimokita, very nice person)

Ms. Saito, who was also shooting during the walk 斎藤真由美 bpjsaito@mail.goo.ne.jp (possibly has footage of previous protests)

Another contact from Takahiro:

YOU WAKI (w@livemedia.co.jp) 和気　優　
（The restaurant owner of Tibet TIbet, a professional musician, and planning a new shop)

Lessons for next time:
- make sure I know how to work the wireless microphone!
- hold shots for longer
- use a tripod
- make sure no one is clicking pens etc
- make sure sound is constant- write down settings used

Mashup written proposal

2009-06-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

MASHUP WRITTEN PROPOSAL

Group: Chris, Kei and Simone
Teachers: Geeta, Irene and Ron

Chosen area: Shimokitazawa

Approach/concept: A labyrinth of vintage clothing stores, live music clubs and cheap noodle shops, Shimokitazawa is an epicenter of youth culture. But if Government officials get their way, then Shimokitazawa will become yet another concrete jungle in Tokyo and home to an 81-foot-wide thoroughfare that slices the area into two. It will inevitably be stripped of its unique, cozy residential feel that runs through its maze of narrow lanes and alleys.

Opponents, ranging from boutique and bar owners to hippies and older residents, agree this project is the work of politicians trying to win votes by taking advantage of the wide held belief in Japan that new roads and highways only benefit communities. For decades Tokyo has covered medieval moats and rivers with highways, and has replaced tile-roofed dwellings with featureless concrete buildings, but enough is enough. Social costs are far more important than potential gains, for example, making it easier for buses and taxis to run through the neighbourhood (is that really necessary in a city where trains are by the far the most popular and convenient means of transport?). We are going to voice the locals' fight to save Shimokitazawa.

Media type: film/video
- we will not have a narrative voice and we will not be seen on the video. The interviewees’ answers will make the film flow.
- the video will be in colour and will include photography as well as normal film

Methodology:

- photograph relevant English and Japanese newspaper articles for the start of our video- sets the argumentative tone and purpose of the video to follow)

Japan Times - Upgrade plan finds Shimokitazawa split

The Statesman - Travel Boho in Japan

Le Monde- Le théâtre sans masque

1) film the sites of Shimokitazawa in the day and at night. This will be edited into a quick tour and so it stops at certain shops/spots, for example, the small theatre, inside popular jazz bars, the hemp shop and vintage clothing stores, to emphasise the uniqueness of Shimokitazawa

2) interview a community leader promoting the proposal. Ask questions so that he/she directly tells us about it- eg. the proposal is all about... advantages of this include... Start playing this dialogue before the 'tour' finishes. Then switch frame to the interviewee. If it is too hard to find a Government official willing to be interviewed, get a community leader (eg. From Save the Shimokitazawa) to neutrally explain the proposal.

- some sort of segue (perhaps footage of a protest)

3) interview locals. Desired interviewees are:

- Save the Shimokitawa (www.stsk.net/en/) group member- we have organized to participate in a Save the Shimokitazawa protest/walk on Saturday, 13th June so we will film and interview someone then.
- Shop owner of a unique shop in Shimokitazawa- eg, the hemp shop.
- An old person- perhaps someone unique who lives or works there.
- A young person- perhaps someone unique who lives or works there.
We will edit the interviews so all four answers to the same question run after each other (then we go onto the 4 answers of the next question). Maybe we could ask the interviewees for some photos of them in Shimokitazawa- for example, a school girl at a bar with her friends. We could insert these still pictures while they are talking in the background- it will make their fight a bit more personal and poignant and will give the audience more to look at.

Intended interview questions:
- please tell us for what purpose you come to Shimokitazawa (eg. work, leisure, home) and how long you have been coming here.
- why do you like Shimokitazawa?
- tell us your feelings towards the Government’s project proposal to (build a thoroughfare and lift building restrictions?
- in your opinion, what are the biggest consequences of this project?
- is there anything members of the public can do to help fight?
- is there anything else you would like to say?

4)really emphasise our position against the proposal. An example of how to do this is to have a picture of a tombstone with 19??-2009 written above “Shimokitazawa”. Alternatively, we could show pictures of other built up areas around Tokyo (eg. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, Ebisu etc) and then show Shimokitazawa and put a big '?' over it or 'it's up to you!'.

- Conclude by saying how people can help fight the proposal.

Interview with Mizuma-san

2009-06-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

Click to Play

I was people watching for this project next to TGI Fridays on Roppongi Dori and Mizuma-san approached me trying to sell me some new cosmetics at a cheap price. I actually had to buy a friend (who loves make up) a birthday present so this seemed to be the perfect solution. I thought the selling technique of approaching people on the street was rather interesting for Japan so I was curious to know more about what he was doing and how successful he had been. After chatting with him for a bit, I decided I would really get my money's worth by using him for my interview.

People watching in Roppongi

2009-06-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

It’s 6.30 and the sun is going down. Another day is over in Roppongi. But another night in Roppongi is about to start. Well-dressed in nearly identical black suits, Japanese salarymen filter into hidden bars and restaurants to drink down the worries, stressors and successes of the day. Also well dressed (besides the occasional suit and flip flop combo), are expats who are a) en route to their families living it up in fine abodes in Azabu Juban or b) hurrying to their fave bar to chase beautiful Western models strutting around on their chopstick legs or the equally if not more beautiful, neatly groomed Oriental flavour.

Thai and Philipino hostesses and masseuses, flaunting black short, satin dresses and thigh high stockings, scurry up stairwells to commence another night of flattering, pouring and rubbing. On the other end of the service spectrum, Japanese women immaculately dressed in kimono carrying the latest Louis Vuitton bags and keitais weighed down by trinkets, slide out of taxis and shuffle to entertain (?) their high-end customers.

Also in the Roppongi melting pot are staff from restaurants off to buy last minute supplies, jyousei kousei off to slurp down ramen, token girls disguised as Maids and Shibuya Gyarus with blonde hair extensions, facial piercings, fluro pink nail polish and bright accessories to match. Black bouncers and club promoters start to adorn the street and beckon remaining tourists slugging Lonely Planets and heavy cameras.

The sun has gone. The flickering lights of TGI Fridays, Starbucks and Club Vibrations now illuminate Roppongi Dori and the mischief, drunkenness and fun that is going down.

Private spaces

2009-05-27T04:16:00.001-07:00

Tokyo Tour
- private because it is only available to those who can afford to enter and those who are in Tokyo
- public because it is owned by the Government and anyone who pays can enter regardless of age, sex, race etc.

Apartment building near my house
- private in that no one can enter your apartment without your permission
- public in that people you do not know will enter (eg, to visit other residences) and you have no control over what they do on the premises

Taxi
- private in the way that members of the public can only enter if the driver gives permission. If the driver does not want to drive you, you cannot enter.
- public because the driver is offering a service to the public

Community store
- private because it is owned by an individual/company
- public because members of the public can freely walk in (when it is open)

Random office building
- private because I do not work there and the building is owned/rented by other people and thus is their property
- public because they keep their blinds open and I can see into their office from my apartment. Also, I can walk freely into the building (during office hours)

Public spaces

2009-05-27T03:59:00.000-07:00

Train line
- public because anyone (who pays) can catch the train
- private because it is owned by corporations and has rules that must be abided by

Disabled parking
- public because it is there for members of the public
- private because it is only for disabled people and it has a cone there (meaning no access)

Man's fruit shop
- public because the man does not own the area and his shop services the public
- private because it is his own car

Female toilet at Harajuku station
- public because it is available for any female catching the train from Harajuku
- private because it is for females only. males are not allowed to use it.

Park
- public because anyone can go there
- private because people go there to rest, have alone time, meetings, catch ups etc

2009-05-25T21:24:00.001-07:00

Testing testing!