Tokyo Times

Photographs from a small group of islands

Film

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Cig cinema

As Japan’s smokers begin to feel the pinch with an increasing number of bars, restaurants and public places restricting the use of cigarettes, Japan Tobacco has stepped in to briefly ease the pain.

The tobacco titan is kindly offering 150 lottery winners the chance to see a preview of the film Sin City in a restriction-free and smoke-friendly cinema. The one condition being that the applicant is a smoker — preferably a heavy one.

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Japan Tobacco spokesman Tsuyoshi Miyashita gleefully wheezed, “The event is to provide a rare opportunity for smokers to light up freely while watching the movie, so they can enjoy the film without suppressing their urge to smoke. I remember seeing filmgoers smoke in theatres, though it’s impossible today.”

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This is the first such promotion in Japan; and with the number of smokers falling to an all-time low of under thirty percent, it presumably won’t be the last. This inaugural event being part of the tobacco company’s ‘Smart Smoke’ campaign, which highlights the introduction of odour reduced cigarettes.

smoking manner japan

Miyashita-san however added that the guests would be able to smoke any cigarette they fancied, although whether the use of pipes and cigars would be permitted wasn’t mentioned. Similarly, the availability of oxygen or iron lungs wasn’t discussed.

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Cable car canoodle

Despite early concerns, the Aichi World Expo continues to be a roaring success. The huge number of visitors ensuring that the queues to see any of the attractions are immense. Making the site a veritable home from home for visiting Tokyoites.

In fact the Expo is so busy, that a group of five people hoping to make a pornographic film there, had to abandon their original idea due to the sheer number of tourists milling about. Instead, they took to the cable car and attempted to make the most of a five-minute journey. Enough time, personally speaking, to easily get the job done. With perhaps even a little time left over for a relaxing post-coital cigarette. As long as smoking is permitted of course.

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Those involved however weren’t quite so quick off the draw, as the footage later shown on a pay-per-view satellite channel only showed, “an actress exposing her upper body and an actor touching it inside the gondola.”

The screening of the ‘gondola scene’ however got the furtive five in trouble with the law. An eagle eyed — and quite possibly disappointed — viewer spotting the location and alerting the police.

All the crew and cast it appears are from Tokyo, but their names have been withheld as the crime is considered a minor offence. The probable sentence being up to 30 days in jail, or more than likely a fine of just 10,000 yen (50 pound).

In their defense, it has to be said that the hour-long special that contained the clip wasn’t all sleaze. No, with so many non-Japanese visitors and staff at the Expo, the cast bravely made an attempt at international understanding and communication. Several of them being filmed running up to foreigners and asking them smutty questions.

Programmers at the BBC take note.

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Upskirt urges

A High School teacher in Ibaraki Prefecture is currently in trouble with his local Board of Education for secretly filming up the skirt of one of his students.

The degenerate yet deviceful teacher (whose name has been withheld) managed to get his desired shots by attaching a digital camera to his sandal. Then allegedly ‘filming’ when his unknowing victim was doing a spot of cleaning.

It turns out though that this wasn’t the teacher’s only attempt at amateur movie making, as he confessed to doing the same thing during a class earlier this month. Putting his misdemeanors down to the fact that he gave in to his “desires after watching secretly filmed videos on an internet site.”

Also disclosed was that the camera-attached-to-a-sandal technique is not an ideal method for producing sharp images, as the teacher said (presumably in a desperate attempt to reduce his punishment) he had already deleted the images of the students as they weren’t clear.

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Light saber similarities

I took this picture fairly recently during a kendo tournament at the school I work in.

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Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s fairly easy to see where a certain Mr. George Lucas got a hefty chunk of inspiration from. If you take away the crappy gymnasium interior and the judges. Oh, and the school kids watching. Plus I suppose the outfits. And it’s right there before your eyes. A scene that would slot straight into any of the Star Wars movies.

No?

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Sex-crazed superhero

During a 10-day promotional tour for his latest movie, Spiderman found himself in Tokyo’s Laforet Harajuku shopping centre. And in a blatant abuse of his superhero status and abilities, he took time out to grope an unsuspecting shopper.

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Rumours of Spiderman spending the rest of the afternoon on the capital’s rail network, and inappropriately touching as many women as he could get his hands on have yet to be confirmed.

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Troy II?

The hype for Brad Pitt’s (or burapi’s) latest offering Troy, has recently moved into top gear. Or a gallop if you’ll allow me the indulgence of using some equestrian terminology. As below is photographic evidence of the most recent publicity stunt connected with the film.

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Interestingly though, the movie arrives here at the same time as a potentially historic development between Japan and North Korea. As tomorrow (Saturday 22nd), Prime Minister Koizumi will travel to the reclusive nation to discuss (amongst other things) the release of former abductees family members. A positive outcome could have long reaching and beneficial effects not only on the two countries relations, but arguably on the stability of the region in general.

But what you may ask has this got to do with the movie Troy? Well, there have been whispers (most notably around my head) that the horse pictured above is in fact a gift from North Korea. And I don’t need to remind you what happened in the original story. Hmm, something to think about there eh?

So if the diminutive and bouffanted Kim Jong-Il leaps out of that giant horse on opening night, remember that you read it here first. On the other hand, if in the unlikely event that he doesn’t, just put it down to an over active imagination, and a harmless desire to make this lots-of-hype-about-troy-movie story slightly worth reading.

But hold on, could these be the little leader’s getaway horses that I spied whilst out and about this afternoon?

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