Tokyo Realtime: Kabukicho. Guided By Voices

Recently, Max Hodges of White Rabbit Press has been pretty busy. With a camera and a microphone he started documenting the street life of Tokyo for Tokyo Realtime, a new series of English audio-guided walking tours of the city’s neighbourhoods that mix narration and interviews with music, sound-effects and sounds captured on the streets. The first audio CD is about Kabukicho, Shinjuku’s red-light district, that also includes a map and a booklet with tons of nice, glossy photos of the area. PingMag took the one-hour audio tour to get a first-hand experience and had a little chat with Max on location.

Written by Andrew Lee

I took the Tokyo Realtime:Kabukicho tour on a Saturday night around 7 p.m., and was instantly drawn into the surreal experience of navigating the bustling streets with a voice guiding me along. To hear Max talk is to fall under his spell and I was reminded a little of Ryu Murakami’s novel In the Miso Soup.

In the book, Frank, an American, visits Kabukicho and is shown around by a young Japanese guy who gives sex tours. The story meanders through the back streets of the area much as the Realtime tour does, and at times Max’s Texan-drawl made me feel like I was following in Frank’s footsteps, except that Frank, as it turns out, is a serial killer. Luckily Max is a much more reliable companion! Read the rest of this entry »

Audio tour of Kabukicho launched

Thursday 23rd October, 04:36 AM JST

Here’s a new way to get around Shinjuku. White Rabbit Press has launched Tokyo Realtime Kabukicho, an audio tour that interweaves narration and interviews within a soundscape of lo¬cation ambience and music while navigating real-world spaces. In the Kabukicho tour, listeners go on a night stroll through the famous red light district of Shinjuku.

As you weave through the streets of countless bars, strip joints, love hotels, and eateries, you hear about the area’s colorful personalities and history, soak in the local ambience, and get insights into the real action behind those doors marked “Japanese Only.”

The 65-minute tour includes a CD with mp3 audio, area map (printed on durable, waterproof paper), and a booklet of area photography. Listeners simply transfer the audio program to any portable mp3 player, go to the starting point on the included map and press play. The tour features interviews with local experts and personalities, including Lee Xiao Mu, a noted writer and Kabu¬kicho guide, as well as renowned Japanese bondage artist Osada Steve.

BUY NOW at www.tokyorealtime.com

TRAVELOUGE

The one place in Tokyo we normally wouldn’t want to be at 3am is Kabukicho. But one local company is doing its part to make this notorious Shinjuku neighborhood a little more approachable. White Rabbit Press’ Tokyo Realtime Kabukicho (www.tokyorealtime.com) is the first in a series of audio tours of the city. The package retails for US$25 through the website and includes a map, a photo book and an hour-long MP3 that interweaves narration and interviews with sounds recorded in the area. As the listener weaves through the streets filled with bars, strip joints, love hotels and 24-hour restaurants, the guide speaks about the area’s colorful personalities and history, and offers insight into what’s happening behind those doors marked “Japanese Only.” Interviewees include veteran Kabukicho tour guide Lee Xiao Mu (www.leexiaomu.com) and renowned Japanese bondage artist Steve Osada (www.osadasteve.com).

BUY NOW at www.tokyorealtime.com

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