W+K London creative Sophie Bodoh writes from secondment to W+K Tokyo:

OK, so I’ve got some catching up to do: Ian’s done 2 posts and I haven’t done any. This is my second week in Tokyo and I have been exploring and having lots of fun. I ambled about so much on the weekend that my legs were so achy on Monday that it kind of hindered my ability to walk.

So what have I been up to… I went to the place with all the big neon signs. I went to a shrine, and saw some people getting married in the proper traditional outfits. I’ve looked around lots of different areas and I had dinner in a traditional Japanese restaurant where you sit on the floor and cook your food in the middle of the table.

It’s quite cool here, because there seems to be a big contrast between super modern flashing lights type stuff, and then really, really traditional things. Take my apartment for example: you don’t have to go near a faucet to run the bath, because there are buttons to do it for you. There are loads of high-tech buttons all over my apartment, and most of them I have no idea what they do because they’re all in Japanese.

But then on the other hand my kettle is one of those old fashioned ones that you put on the oven, and that burns you whenever you’re trying to make a cup of tea.

I went to the shop Tokyu Hands at the weekend (as recommended by Guy and Sam). It basically sells everything in the world. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much stuff all in one place. There was a section selling bike helmets right next to a section selling science pipettes. It’s crazy.

Everyone is lovely here, very polite and considerate and patient. I’ve noticed that when people cross roads, they always wait for the green man, no matter what, even if there isn’t a car in sight. Even at the big, famous Shibuya crossing. This is somewhat different to the manic habits of London pedestrians.

To me, everything looks cool if it’s written in Japanese, even if it’s the most ordinary sign.

Anyway, that’s it from me. Bye.

Here is a turn of events so bizarrely self-referential and circular as to threaten to open up a trans-dimensional cultural vortex that will suck in the Tate and Wieden + Kennedy. Apparently, Turner prize contender artist Mark Leckey's award submission is a video that includes a substantial proportion of our Honda 'Cog' advertisement. I should confess at this point that I haven't actually seen the piece, which is currently at The Tate. If any readers have, I'd love to hear about it.

Mark Leckey's 'Felix gets broadcasted'

'Mark Leckey, 44, the bookmakers' favourite, submitted two video
exhibits, featuring Felix the Cat, Homer Simpson and a Honda car
commercial', says The Mail, in a fairly predictable 'isn't modern art rubbish?' article.

The Guardian, on the other hand, says that the Turner prize should go to Leckey: 'Mark Leckey's eclectic assemblages of popular culture are captivating, and he's the only artist on the Turner shortlist who's really distinctive.'

A Honda advert.

It's a funny old world. There was a controversy amongst the chattering classes of advertising (yes, alright, that's pretty much the definition of a storm in a teacup) that surrounded the Honda 'Cog' ad when it launched, owing to its alleged resemblance to a video piece by Swiss artists Fischli and Weiss. Also allegedly, this alleged resemblance led to  'Cog' being allegedly denied the Grand Prix by judges at the Cannes Advertising Festival. Not to worry, 'Cog' won a ton of silly awards anyway.

Funnily enough, there doesn't seem to be much outcry in art circles about Leckey recycling the ad for his art piece. Will anyone lobby the Turner prize judges to block the award for Leckey the way the Cannes judges (allegedly) did for W+K? I hope not. But wouldn't it be funny if someone found a reason to make an ad based on Leckey's installation? Or is that just too much like the plot for an episode of the Twilight Zone?

You're traveling through another dimension — a dimension not only of sight and
sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of
imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone! (Do-de-doodoo, do-de-doodoo, etc.