00:01 John Daub: Hello everybody, welcome to a chilly afternoon in Tokyo. When the sun's out, it's not so cold, but you can see it's now behind the clouds, so it's chilled out a little bit. And that in front of us is the brand newly opened Sony building in Ginza here in Tokyo. They've got a sign out here. I'll be moving around so you get a better look at it, but we're going to go inside, take a look at this. Is it somewhat underwhelming? The Sony building is sort of an institution here in Japan, in Tokyo. It's been around since the post-World War II era, the 1950s I believe was the first time it opened. I got some pictures of it, and this is the new version of it for the 21st century.

00:45 John Daub: This is the new Sony building. It could have been a lot higher, but it's not. It's just, it is what it is. Yeah, it's interesting to take a look at it. It opened up on January 26th, you can see right there. There's the sign announcing it to the world, we are open for business. But are they? Like, what's inside there actually? I'm a little bit lost and confused of the purpose of the Sony building. I'm not really sure, to be honest with you. But we're going to find out.

01:15 John Daub: How you doing everybody? Welcome to the intersection here. I'm going to go across the street in a second, back to where I was. Hopefully the signal is strong here. Now, over the course of the years, the Sony building has really changed. This is what it looked like in 1957. I like the fact that they lay out the history of the Sony building down there. You can see the big Sony sign in neon on the top right there. Ginza having those bright lights. You might recognize this. It looks very familiar to the 1964, 1965 hit James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. Kind of the same kind of vibe from the 1950s and the 1960s before the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

01:57 John Daub: Then they changed the style of the Sony building to this, which is what it was like all the way up to 2018. It really didn't change from the 1960s. And I kind of like it. That boxy design. It really fit into that intersection. You can see the buildings around it had changed, modernized. They got rid of those neon lights. It was less flashy, more practical, I guess you could say. That's what the 60s, 70s and 80s and 90s brought in all the way up to 2018. It's interesting that they did not change the design for the longest time.

02:28 John Daub: And now, in 2021, there was no building. They knocked down that old building. And for the Olympics, they wanted to create something. But when the Olympics were canceled, then, you know, that era hit us where nobody could travel here. They created a park, which I think was a lot better than what they have today, which is like the cement contraption here. I want to hear your feedback on this. And now we've got this here. Check it out. We timed it just perfectly. So you get a chance to take a look at it as I'm able to walk across the intersection here. Ginza is over there to the left and right. Right will take you to Shimbashi. You can kind of pan around crossing the Tsukiyabashi intersection, which is quite famous. There's the highway that leads around Tokyo. So I'm going to go back to this corner. And we're going to take you inside to the Sony building right now.

03:34 John Daub: I want to hear from you if you think... What are your impressions of it? By the way, you used to get a really nice view from right there, leaning over the intersection. Now it's a restaurant, so the general public can't go to that spot anymore, which is kind of a shame.

03:51 John Daub: John, love the old building. Very thin, funky. The new one next to Renzo Piano Hermes doesn't generate the same excitement. Graham. Yeah, you're right, Graham. I really don't feel that either. I don't know. You guys let me know.

04:06 John Daub: Here's what the layout is like inside the Sony Park. That's what they're calling it right now. You know, the basement, I think B3 here. Let me pull up the map. It's interesting because in the basement, this is where the subway is. B2 is the platform where you have to go down to the subway. But the underground walkway to the subway is on B2. And on B3 down there, there's a really nice restaurant. I talked with the guy. The manager came out to say hi because he saw me. And he said, yeah, you know, I'm going to go there. And he said, you know, this restaurant is open to everybody. It's not just Sony employees or anything. It's kind of, it looks like the future. It's kind of plain gray, dark colors, very stylish, a lot of corners. It's neat. Go take a look at that. I won't put it in this video, but I think it's something worth it. And then you have the first, second, third and fourth and fifth floors. I'm going to take you up there right now.

05:02 John Daub: All right, let's go inside the Sony building from the basement up. Now, there was no signal. I'm going to narrate this as we go through. There was no signal in a lot of these places or just too weak to even broadcast. So I brought you these images walking through here for about five or six minutes. It's an interesting walk. I love the way the ceilings are quite low here. So they can give you this kind of effect of you're looking walking through a spaceship or something. I think the basement might be the most stunning part of this building. I'm going to be honest with you.

05:36 John Daub: Here is the B2 floor. Now, there's some sort of event going on. And these QR codes. Everything seems to be run by QR codes. You can reserve spots and enter in through the QR codes, which is just uses the camera app. We're going to go up now to the ground level. And you can see this building is just all cement. It's like that artist apartment building, plain old cement gray. They do it in panels here. So it moves along with the earthquake because if it was one big cement block, I'm sure it would start to crumble. But I'm sure the engineers. I'd love to know more of the background. There's an event space down there. The background of how this moves in an earthquake. I'm sure the way the materials that they use. I'm not sure how it would fare if it was any bigger than this.

06:22 John Daub: You're going to see brutalist style. Meta writes in here. Thanks, Mel. Yeah, the brutalist style. It takes you back to that old dense, maybe the 21st century style of brutalism, which is pretty unique style. It's just like a slap in the face. It's like I am here. I am block. But it's nice coming out of the overhang of the tunnel and you're into the Tsukiyabashi intersection where we are. Yeah, they have a lot of people taking pictures of this sign. I'm sure this is temporary. These colored boxes on the left side there. And then there's a very inviting stairway at Tokyo Plaza building across the street. That's all glass. Glass panels because that works well in an earthquake. Or else they would just make one big solid glass ball.

07:17 John Daub: When I go up these architectural buildings, these things where they're planned out and mapped out like this, I try to open up my mind and see if I can feel something from the experience of going up the steps. And it is kind of neat. I'm showing you this is where we're coming out, by the way. So you got to look to the left here and then see the view from this second floor of the city of Tokyo. It kind of opens up with the third floor above us. There's a reason why they made the design like this. It's kind of closed, but it's also opened up. I kind of like that. You get glimpses of the road and the traffic passing by. That's really interesting. And then there's an elevator to the right side for those. I saw people with baby cars or strollers. A lot of them were carrying. There were two people carrying them up to the second floor to get the elevator. So I'm not sure how that works. I'm sure there's an elevator somewhere else.

08:09 John Daub: Nice view from the third floor looking down. Second floor looking down at the Tsukiyabashi intersection. Then you start to go into the hall. You can see the heart of the building under the third floor where there's an event space. And you can see they've lit it up with something's going on there. You need a reservation. And I don't think it's interesting enough for me to spend an afternoon inside of there. So I'll let you guys decide. But apparently if you use the QR codes, that's all over the place. You can reserve and get on there, maybe on the website since everything is now generated on the Internet. You can now start to see the sun coming back out again. It was sunny just about 30 minutes ago. When I took this, there's the event space down there. And we went up to the top.

08:54 John Daub: Another entrance on the fourth floor. I think this is the entrance. And you come out on the third floor right there. So that's an event space. Apparently not as popular as I thought it might be. But I don't know. They just opened it up. I'm sure it's going to get more interesting and more stuff.

09:15 John Daub: Here's the top and the roof. And you know what? You remember that Honda Sony collaboration at... was it CES? There I am right there. Mesmerized by the cement. There was this collaboration between Honda and Sony to build a smart car. And the prototype that was, I guess, was at CES maybe or a little bit before. I think CES. Was it last year or this year? I don't know. But that prototype, there's Wako. It's one o'clock and the bell was ringing. The car is up here. The prototype. So I thought that was really cool to get a look with my own eyes. So if you're in Tokyo, you can take a look at Sony and Honda's Japanese smart car. I guess seems like a competitor to Tesla. Maybe. I don't know.

10:03 John Daub: We're going to go take a quick look at there from the roof. It's hard to see down at the intersection. They put the... I can understand why they put the weeds there. I guess it's ivy or something. Make it look like it's a green building for the 21st century. Then it kind of obstructs the view. Be cool to go up even higher if that's possible. I got a chance to go up on the platform and take a look at the Afeela. Yeah, because you can feel it. Honda is all about mobility. This is like takes you back to the Asimo. And it almost looks like I can see the inspiration of my friend Asimo, who I got to hang out with very often. I think it was 12 years ago when I filmed an episode with him. I love the big panel on the back and look at that LCD. I guess that LCD or OLED screen on the passenger side. So if you're using Google Maps, you have a very wide view. You can have like entertainment on the right side and navigation on the left side or open that all up. They had that futuristic steering wheel, which I'm not sure I like yet. Kind of like you're flying the rebel planes in the original Star Wars movie. I remember trying to play the video game back in the 1980s. Normal steering wheel might have been easier to get around. It's all screen-based in Japan. Yep. They should be playing that Boston song, right? Oh, what a feeling. Take you back to the 70s.

11:45 John Daub: So we're going to say goodbye to that. It's nice to be up on the top of the Sony building. Last time I was here was 2021, but it was only two floors back then. I think because of the Olympics being changed, their plans on how they made this building changed. Again, going through the cement, I'm maybe a little bit overwhelmed by how much cement that they just used. I don't know. I guess it's kind of neat for the style. This style kind of represents the last ten years. I've seen a lot of buildings with it over the last ten years, so seems kind of old to me. So I'm surprised to see that this is the design that they picked. It looks dark. Old. Brutalism is unique. I guess it's unique in its day. I'm not sure if this is a modern take on it.

12:37 John Daub: I'm going to show you from the outside again for those that are joining us here. Make sure you hit the like button. Concrete John. Hey, now, Graham. I know you mean that in the nicest sense in terms of I'm unbreakable, but if you're going to say that, Iron John is better. Stainless steel John. All right, here we go. We're back out onto the street. Sunlight again. I do like the steps that lead up here. It's very inviting. But then you're invited in, and then it feels like you're confined. But from the gray of it looks like a bomb shelter. That's funny. Timothy. Nice one. It could be a bomb shelter. I don't know. It's interesting. And that's what it looks like from the outside. It just doesn't seem like it's inviting. I would have thought Sony would have more glass, more TV screens. I would have liked to have seen instead of cement, maybe that's what they'll do with this skeleton on the outside. Maybe just put a bunch of OLED screens outside and just show the power of digital. But instead they've gone the opposite of digital, and they've got the opposite of nature. Maybe they're going to be growing like ivy or green plants on the side of it. I'm not sure what they're going to do. But in the 21st century, everybody's looking for sustainability and connection with nature. At least that's I think that's the direction they're going. Not so much brutalism. It's a unique choice, but maybe the skeleton will be filled in with plants or green life. Because it's called Ginza Sony Park. It doesn't feel like a park. Maybe a skateboard park. Timothy's on a roll here. It looks like a federal prison. Really? I guess so. It's a very inviting federal prison with a stairway inside there. I don't know. Maybe earthquake resistance. Resistance strategy, perhaps.

14:41 John Daub: We're going to cross the street again. It's kind of neat looking at a walking shot of the city of Tokyo. Tokyo. Robocop OCP. Detroit. 1980 Detroit of the future. It's a classic movie. I don't know. Leave me a comment. What do you guys think about the Sony building? It's neat to be able to share this as it's just opened. There have been other videos on this, but I don't know. I can't figure out the purpose of it.

15:22 John Daub: Oh, hello. I'm not watching you, but just walking away. Oh, okay. I'm just saying how long you've been in Japan. I'm surprised. Thank you.

15:34 John Daub: The Tokyo Marathon is starting real soon, and it looks like they got the flyers out, the flags out for that March 2nd. So that's only a couple of weeks away. Sorry about that. You guys are right. You can say hi to everybody now. Okay. How are you doing? Where are you guys from? A lot of people. What's your name? I'm in 2020 or 2051. Nezu. Yeah. Okay. Now you have the glasses on. I didn't have glasses on. Oh, there you go. Okay. Yeah. I gave you a You Found Me card then, right? Oh, did I? I might have. Oh, right. Because I said, don't come meet me because it's like pandemic, right? There you go. Oh, it's deceptively cold today. I don't know. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. That's the classic. I still got some of those. Yeah. I'll see you again next time then. 100%. Tokyo Marathon, right? Yeah. Oh, you're running in it. No, you're just off the ice. Yeah. No, I wish I was. I keep not getting in. I was in the first one 2007. I ran last year. Yeah. Unless it's called the donation thing, right? Right. Yeah. You got to be for charity. If that's even true. There you go. Anyway, cheers. Yeah. See you guys later. Very nice.

17:13 John Daub: I want to show you where I parked my bicycle to end this live stream. That was nice. I do remember from Nezu Shrine. It's a long few years ago. Happy birthday in advance. Well, that was very kind of you. You know, this is my birthday week. Yesterday I went to an event at the Tokyo Yaesu Midtown just over there last night. I got invited. I got invited for my friend who is working at Shueisha. Boy, I've known her for 17 years. I was working there 17 years ago. I can't believe it. Then she said, you know, there's an event for Sanin area, which is Tottori and Shimane. Why don't you come? Because she's originally from Tottori Prefecture. I said, okay. So I went out there for dinner and they gave an amazing presentation from the Tokyo International Players put on a ghost story event, which is cool. They're actually running that right now for Tokyo. International Players. They do live acting and stuff. Very talented group there. I loved it. It was good. And they had sake and stuff. Kind of neat to see the Sanin area. When I was doing stuff for Tottori, they didn't have an association. Shimane and Tottori didn't like each other.

18:34 John Daub: Boy, the Prius is looking more like a Tesla every day. Do you see that? I know there's no signal in where the bicycle is, but I used to park my bicycle here. But then I saw two dudes with ticket giving out tickets. So I said, you know what? I'm not going to do that. Where is the real? Where is it? Oh, look, there's a Ginza Information Center here. Hello. Very friendly. They're giving information. She was waving at me. The lady there. That's nice. But I was like, okay, these brand new buildings have to have a place to park your bicycle. And I found out they do. It's inside. It's like, what? What? Look at that. Just like this little cubby bar. Little bar on the side there. Still too early for them to be in business, I think. Right here. So I parked my bicycle downstairs in the basement in this fashionable elevator. I'm sure there's no signal down there, but it's on the basement third floor. So there you go.

19:50 John Daub: It looks like the rain is going to come. It hasn't really snowed in Tokyo yet. I think we got a little sprinkle in one night, but nothing major. So hurry up and snow. There's blue sky over there. Anyways, that's all I wanted to show you today. It's pretty interesting to see what Sony is always doing here. I want to hear your thoughts on if you think that the style of the Sony building is any good. What do you think? For me, it's forgettable. No, that's not a bad thing. I guess it's hard to compete, but it doesn't really inspire me. I've seen styles like this before. Perhaps. I don't know. All right, everybody, take care. I'll see you tomorrow. Stay warm. I think that's blue sky, right? I see a little bit of blue sky over there. Construction where Tokyo Station is right up there. All right, everybody, see you again.