Dog Eaters

Saturday Night in Tokyo

Posted on 11.29.15 under Dustin Wong, Junko Wong, Mamoru Sato, Nakano, Takako Minekawa, Tokyo, Uncategorized

It started in Nakano, a place known for Nakano Broadway, a mecca (wait, is that still a positive description?) for Otaku with its vinyl figures, manga, anime cells, maid bars, maid costumes, and all that good stuff.

sun plaza_lite

Nakano Sun Plaza reminds me of the Tyrell Corporation in Blade Runner.

tyrell corporation

Not nearly as majestic, though — and where are the flying cars? It’s almost 2019…

fureai road

dustin,takako,jessie

We had dinner with Jessie, the daughter of my mentor, Mamoru Sato, a sculptor professor at the University of Hawaii, Manoa that advised me to become an art major. This was one of the biggest turning points of my life. We babysat Jessie and Dustin together — they were born just a couple of months apart.

I worked on Mo’s commissions throughout the years I was a student at UH.

mal grinding_lite

mal,mo,stones_lite

m fill stones2_lite

mo,kat_lite

Mo and Kathleen Sato — perhaps before they married.
(B&W photos ©Peter T. Brown estate)

ptb hoop3*_lite
Peter Brown (1955-1981) did jump through hoops, but not the usual hoops… I took this photo with his camera, turning the tables.

takako,jun,dust,mal,jess

takako

bar rookie

bar rookie_2

rakuen

mr.signboard

anikuro

Signage in “ura” Nakano. The “ura” parts of the major centers (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, etc) can be some of the most interesting.

Then I drove Jessica to her hotel in Shibuya and Dustin and Takako back to Wakabayashi, Setagaya.

docomo

seibu mae

I think they used this intersection in “Fast & Furious — Tokyo Drift.” Obviously, not going to race in this part of town. There would be more than a few traffic fatalities.

hachiko_2

hachiko

Hachiko intersection. Very interesting on weekends.

party bus

This party bus was empty. Kinda sad on a Saturday night!