[Leica] Tokyo Tales (Long!) - Part 1

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

Subj:   Tokyo Tales (Long!)
Date:   11/29/00
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
To: leica@topica.com

The jet lag has abated and the films are processed, so now is a good time to 
put down some words on my latest foray into the wide world of LUG.
 Earlier this month I headed off on my annual trip to Tokyo and for good 
measure, I also detoured to Hong Kong. Every fall I get this great urge to 
eat Sushi in the country that can make it the best and in the last couple of 
years fellow LUGger Joseph Yao has convinced me that Hong Kong does offer 
some great variations to the menu.
 Tokyo has become a bit of an old stomping ground, as this was my 5th trip in 
the last 5 years. I like the city and its inhabitants. It is organised, 
clean, and friendly and in spite of the fact that my Japanese is non-existent 
I can usually get lost and find my way back without too many problems. It is 
also a LUGger's paradise. There are more Leicas in Tokyo than just about 
anywhere else. The Japanese love Leica's, not only M's but R-systems and the 
old Barnack-Leicas. Where else can you see a TV, advertising ice-cream, 
featuring a young girl (9-10 years old) using a IIIF with a Summarit on it 
and having the correct hood for the lens! I could not figure out the story 
line, but it featured said girl, the camera, and a small boy. She is taking 
pictures of him and in the end buys him an ice cream. Oh yes, she knows how 
to focus and shoot too.
 Most of my time in Tokyo was spent with Shintaro (of black paint Leica fame) 
and his family. He is a photographer and so is his father so cameras feature 
prominently in the family. Their studio, close to the Ginza, is my second 
home in Tokyo. Keiji (Shintaro's father) is a closet chef and likes cooking. 
I am a good match as I like eating! In the evening, next days menu is 
announced and at lunch I wander in and leave filled up with pasta so that the 
afternoon cruising of camera-stores is less of a strain on the system. This 
time I was very moderate and did not buy anything in Tokyo, but Shintaro gave 
me a 100/2 Canon screw-mount that he had picked up as well as my replica MP, 
now proudly engraved "MP-TA 1 " on the top-plate.
 Prior to going I had been in contact with a fellow LHSA member, Jun Kamata 
who took me out for dinner on the Friday night. He had just endured a period 
of Cajun cooking due to visiting dignitaries from Texas and was extremely 
happy to go back to sushi. When in Tokyo, always trust the locals when it  
comes to food. You will eat better than you thought possible and, in spite of 
the fact that you occasionally see the food being killed in front of you, you 
soon accept that and eat it anyway! I did feel a pang of conscience when the 
octopus was introduced to me, but in the end I happily partook of him!
 Jun invited me to the meeting of the "Mini-Camera Club". I did not know that 
it was; a/ the first meeting that they had (just like LUGgers, they had been 
communicating by e-mail and decided to meet face to face) and b/ I was the 
guest of honor. The b/ truly means something in Japan (and Hong Kong) and I 
have rarely felt more like a movie star! Imagine T-shirts with my likeness on 
it and posters too. I actually signed these and they were raffled off! In 
Canada you usually have to play hockey and wear heavy padding (and loose your 
front teeth) to achieve this level of fame!
 It was a great meeting though. The only requirement for membership is that 
the camera you bring must be smaller than a Hasselblad 500 CM! The Japanese 
are sometimes portrayed as fanatical about "mint" or "original" cameras. Not 
so the Mini-Camera members. There were some truly interesting pieces there. A 
Nikon F with a Flektagon 25mm lens adapted to it, retaining aperture control, 
Nikon SP, lots of Leicas, odd looking Ricoh 1/2frame with strange lenses 
adapted to it (this is a "club within the club" that does that. The trend 
originated with Lumiere Camera in Tokyo and the famous "Mechanism Club"). Of 
course, any camera meet that is fuelled by sushi, beer, and sake is bound to 
have a high degree of success. I received an original drawing of the cartoon 
on the T-shirt and a very nice red "jacket" in a traditional Japanese style 
with black trim (of course) and my name embroidered on it. Judging from the 
first meeting, I think the "Mini-Camera Club" will have a booming future. The 
whole idea of having size limit, rather than a brand-limit is fun. It is less 
"formal" this way and I think it attracts more shooters too. Of course, Jun 
brought one of his latest toys, a Macro-Switar 50/1,9 in a Leica-M (actually 
screw-mount with adapter) mount. This is a new product and it is extremely 
well designed, it retains full rangefinder focussing over the usual M-range 
(0,7 meter to infinity) and looks really slick too. Yes, of course I have 
ordered one! Have to find the Switar to go with it though and it has to be 
matched to the lens.
At Photokina, I had met with Mr Kobayashi, president of Cosina and he had 
invited me to go up to Nagano and see the Cosina factory. Bright and early 
(more like dark and early, 7 am) we gathered at Tokyo station, it was 6 of us 
going, Shintaro, Kaeru (another friend, photographer, editor, cartoonist and 
motorcycle racer!), Kikuchi (of Lumiere Camera fame) Tokio (a nuclear 
scientist and optical fan), a friend of Kaeru's whose name escapes me at the 
moment and I. Nagano is about 90 minutes by Shinkansen (high-speed train) and 
then there is a small commuter train to the town where Cosina is located.  
to be continued in Ppart 2 of "Tokyo Tales"
Tom A