Back in September 2014 I was contacted by NHK World regarding a couple of programs that they were planning focused on Tokyo-based foreign artists.
Broadcast worldwide on Satellite TV, online, via their mobile apps, the program, Tokyo Eye, introduces various aspects of life in Tokyo to an English-speaking audience.
The shoot came at a good time, as I was just getting back in to my running art project following a long period of focus on client work. As I’ve done for previous TV shows, I offered to create a special piece of running art for the shoot – in this case the word 東京 (Tokyo) written in Kanji, focused on the area around Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. It turned out to be a little more challenging than anticipated as it just so happened that Google had dropped support for ‘My Maps’ in their mobile apps (the updated version of Google Maps for Android was released shortly after I completed the run!), leaving me without a user-friendly guide to follow.
Despite that, the shoot went really well, and I’m pleased with how it turned out (nice job by the editor). I particularly enjoyed stopping to chat with various people along the route – and it just so happened that there was a group of people who knew me from another TV show when I finally arrived at the end point of Shimbashi (as shown in the program).
The crew were a lot of fun to work with too – I’d like to say special thanks to the producer for all the work he put into making this happen. He did a great job running backwards with the camera at strategic points along the route!
