In hindsight my love for Japan definitely stems from my love for video games, so what could be more awesome than this short film about Super Potato the most awesome retro game shop in all of Japan! I’m gutted that I never visited it whilst I was in Japan but it would definitely go on my list of places to visit should I return.

Aside from it’s brilliant name, Super Potato holds in its collections a smorgasbord of limited edition retro consoles, accessories and games. The sort of stuff I remember reading about in Magazines such as the Japan-only sequel to one of my favourite games EVAH Secret of Mana.

So it goes without saying that I’m grateful to CheapyD and Scott Popular for paying homage to this legendary games store and inspiring me to make the pilgrimage someday soon.

(Via, Kotaku)

Last night I watched a short documentary called Tokyo Rising exploring some of the creative output by Japan following the devastating earthquake in March. It’s presented by Pharrell Williams and is beautifully shot. It’s inspiring and interesting and well worth your time. Check out the trailer!

Five recently showcased a travelogue presented by Justin Lee Collins in his quest to get to grips with Japanese Culture. Although the show missteps at times and falls victim for the obvious cultural oddities that most Western shows immediately gravitate towards like ‘Love Dolls‘ and ‘Capsule Hotels‘ it does manage to offer some far more interesting cultural phenomena like Manzai and Kidzania. If you missed it you can quickly catch up online here.

Last month the readers of the Guardian newspaper voted on their favourite travel destinations, winner of overseas city was none other than Tokyo.

Read Pico Iyer’s account of why Tokyo is top and while you’re at it another piece about the quirkier side of Tokyo.

(Thanks, eBoy you can pick up their pixorama of Tokyo here or buy their book here.)

I came across an article on Wired about the trend of Japanese municipalities to decorate their manhole covers. Photographer, Remo Camerota has compiled his collection of these covers into a book. I think I may have lost the plot as I’m posting a story about man hole covers…

(Click an image for a larger view!)

A short documentary by the BBC about a city relatively unknown outside of China, I find these sorts of things really fascinating. You can watch it on iPlayer or below if you live outside of the United Kingdom.

In the last decade Chongqing in South West China has mushroomed into the biggest metropolis in the world. John Simpson reports from a city with a larger population than Canada, where a massive campaign against organised crime and corruption is underway.

The BBC reports that while I’ve been away in Sheffield, the crossing at Oxford Circus with Regents Street has been redeveloped with a very Japanese influence. It goes without saying that inspiration must have come from the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo.

It’s not something I’ve really put much thought to, but this seems like a really good idea, the bottle neck congestion of pedestrians can be infuriating when you’re in a rush, so if it can relieve some of that pressure that’d be pretty sweet.

A short feature on the BBC News show Fast Track about Tokyo, featuring the Hackney native, Danny Choo.

What I’m most impressed by however is the Japanese speaking ability of the people interviewed, it sounds so strange to see Bengali faces speaking Japanese. Anyway it’s only partially subtitled but interesting nevertheless.