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Celebrating New Year's Eve in Tokyo

2,243 views · Published 1 February 2016 · 3:50 · Indexed 21 October 2026

Channel: Justin Hall · 2016 · People & Blogs

Japanese people tend to celebrate New Year's Eve quietly with friends and family. That leaves a few large public gatherings. This short video explores four activities in Tokyo on New Year's Eve: visiting the Meiji shrine (before the crowds), parading as a fox to the Oji Inari Shrine, visiting Tokyo Disneyland overnight, and joining a probably illegal dance party in the streets of Shibuya.

This latest episode of the Justin Hall Show employs conventions of Japanese television to celebrate New Year's Eve in Tokyo. Japanese television often features ワイプ - waipu - picture in picture of people's faces, reacting the content on screen. Sort of like a facial laugh track. Here's a picture-in-picture that inspired me during this production:

I attempted using waipu in two places, both where I refer to myself, breaking the new year's narrative. I don't think I do enough with my friends' fun faces in this video; I certainly didn't make anything as madcap as the giraffe situation above.

You may also notice that much Japanese television is not afraid of text. Loads of text onscreen, with glowing, outlined letters. This helped me further unleash fonts, building on the AJ+ inspired video experiment from last month: pee shy. Film forecast says more text in videos to come.

Annotating video feels important in 2016, especially for bringing along mobile viewers. Attempting both Japanese and English subtitles slowed me down but helped me practice my Japanese language skills. Having to transcribe the story lengthens the production time, but forces me to continuously re-evaluate what is worth communicating.

Credits

🎵 Viva La Fiesta by The Mugris
🎵 Quentin by Strong Suit
🎵 In the Fallout Shelter on Typewriters Dreaming Bounding Toward the Snowy Horizon by The Fucked Up Beat
🎵 The Fish by The Fish Who Saved the Planet

🎨 mount Fuji under the moon by artnaturefootage
🎨 Mt_fuji(R469_Yuno)
🎨 Chinese Zodiac Wheel: 20100720_Fukuoka_Kushida_3614_M by Jakub Hałun
🎨 Tokyo-Misty City by darwinfish105
🎨 Carousel from Kawaii Monster Cafe
🎨 渋谷駅前のスクランブル交差点（微速度撮影） - Shibuya Crossing Timelapse by Masahiro Hayata

ワイプタレント: Lauren Gucik, Booth Haley
ありがおう： Ilyse Magy

the Justin Hall Show
thejustinhallshow.com

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

Celebrating New Year's Eve in Tokyo

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