The Zen aesthetic in Japan does exist… but only in people’s minds. Check out Tokyo: A Certain Style to get a glimpse into how real Japanese people live.

Photography, fashion, Japanese land & cityscapes. I loved Izima Kaoru�s large-scale, ultra-saturated photographs that portray death of super-models.

Von Lintel Gallery, 555 West 25th St., between 10th-11th Ave.

Yoshitomo Nara's menacing cartoonish children and animals make me smile.

Marianne Boesky, 535 West 22nd St., near 10th Ave.

Both through 10/8.

Also check out Nara's Too Young To Die Ashtray and Oh! My God! I Miss You booklet of 30 Postcards.

Government confiscated designer knock offs are being distributed to Katrina victims.

A crowd storms the counter at the Louis Vuitton store in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo.

At restaurants in Japan, patrons are generally greeted with shouts of “irrashaimase!” (welcome) with the same amount of gusto as fans at a hockey game. (A trend catching on in New York at places such as En and Matsuri). One of the highlights of my last trip to Tokyo was an evening at Inakaya, the perfect embodiment of restaurant as performance art, where the shouting didn’t stop at the door. It is a place where hotels send visiting movie stars and no surprise as it is hard to get out of there for less than $150 per person. A country-style grill, the raw ingredients are laid out in front of you to choose from, and the grill-meisters prepare and pass the food to you on wooden pizza paddles.

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