It’s been a year since I last performed here in Japan, and indeed this trip was an extremely fruitful and rewarding one. I was invited once again to participate in Wizard’s Inn Japan Magic Master Open Tournament, as well as a guest performer at the dinner show, and to present a Magic Lecture to Japanese Magicians.

I first arrived in Japan on the 10^th of September, Wednesday. And was immediately greeted by Kanamori Shun, a Japanese Magician from Wizards Inn Company. Alongside was Masuda Jin, a great master of the Ninja Rings routine and incredible one hand link technique. We waited for Masahiro Yanagida and Shoot Ogawa as they are arriving just after my flight, coming in from Los Angeles. A team of about 12 Magicians were in the States together and came back just in time for this event.

The location for the convention is still at the usual place, National Olympics Centre, therefore I am very familiar with the area. Masahiro San asked me what would I like to have for the first meal in Japan, and I can never forget the Superb Oyokonomiyaki we had the year before (Check out the pic from my blog post last year August), therefore I mentioned “Oyokonomiyaki!” And of course we went there and this time round I ate 2 full Oyokonomiyaki myself!

 

My favourite! Oyokonomiyaki cooked in front of you!

I would be spending 7 days in Japan and of which 4 days are scheduled for the Magic Event. Therefore I had only one full day to shop around Tokyo at my favourite places such as Magic Shops, Tokyo Hands etc. I managed to discover some new magic items there and really anticipating to incorporate into my performances. I also had some time to walk around Shibuya the first day and Shinjuku on the 2^nd day. Wanted to shop for some new clothes or preheaps a new pair of shoes for my collection, however they are incredibly expensive in Japan.  Masahiro treated me to one of the best Tempura Restaurant in Tokyo the 2^nd day and the best Sushi Restaurant the 2^nd day. I really had an incredible feast this trip.

 

Tempura Restaurant

This year’s event had a slightly different format then the previous one which I participated. I was introduced to a concept in Japan called “Dinner Show”. I have heard of it before, especially about Cyril Takayama’s Dinner Show in Japan. Participants would enjoy a sumptuous Japanese formal dinner followed by a grand stage magic show. And Cyril’s Dinner show command up to 50 000 Yen per participant, which is close to about $500 USD for each ticket. The Dinner show which I performed in, I heard participants pay a fee of 30 000 Yen per seat, which I about $300 USD. We had a great crowd at the dinner show, and apart from myself who performed my full Commercial Show, we also had performances by Shoot Ogawa, Endo Taiga, Misty Mew, Masuda Jin & Keiko Kobayashi. The reaction from a Japanese crowd is truly the best, and you can see they really appreciate the performer’s magic and act, with lots of respect.

Shoot Ogawa and I at the Dinner Show

The first 2 days of the convention consist mainly of the tournament competition. I first saw the program booklet and noticed that if I won the 1^st round of the world tournament, I would meet Shoot Ogawa, if he won his 1^st round too. Therefore I decided to perform my best act when I meet Shoot at the 2^nd Round.  And yes indeed we both made it through our first round, and we met to compete for the 2^nd round. I did my best act ever for my cups and cherries routine, however Shoot still rise above and won the competition in the end.

Magic Masters Champion Shoot Ogawa

Apart from the tournament competition, I also took part in the technical competition.  The technical competition consists of the following:

Coin Roll Technical Competition

• MusclePass (Highest Record is 95cm high by Endo Taiga, Guinness World Record Holder)
• Coin Roll ( This year Endo Taiga won with 58 coin rolls in 1 min)
• Card Setting ( See the video below for yourself, 38 sec to set an entire deck back to original order)
• Recollection ( I did well and got into the finals, in this contest, you get 5 sec to remember all the cards inside the deck and name a called out number card.)
• Cards Estimation ( I also got into the finals and won 2^nd prize!. To win, you need to cut to the right number of cards which I called out in 3 sec.)
  

Therefore my record this year would be:

That’s me receiving my award.

• 2^nd Prize – Card Estimation Contest
• Best 4 – World Tournament Contest
  

The award above gave me the chance to be invited to this event again next year!

I still have my prize from last year which is to visit the MagicCastle in LA. I would be doing it early next year and will most likely perform 1 week in MagicCastle and spend 1 week in Las Vegas!

I was also given the opportunity to do my lecture to the magicians at the event. Both Shoot and I were slightly concern about the lecture as my lecture is completely about Stage Magic and all the magicians less Shoot and Endo Taiga are doing close up magic. I also didn’t bring that much products of mine. About 20 – 30 Sets of each item, however Keiko Kobayashi did a fantastic job for me this time as a dealer. It is the only time when I participate in a convention, don’t have to worry about my dealers booth, and she sold out every single item of mine on that table!!!! Wow! It was a record for me, moreover it was for a crowd who doesn’t do stage magic.

My Products, sold out at the convention!

The lecture was well received and I had a really great time sharing my magic, the only downside was that we could only do a 1.5 hours lecture as the schedule is so packed, therefore I could not share all my ideas.  Shoot did a great job too helping me to translate my lecture.

Here are some highlights from my lecture in Japan:

 

Mr Masahiro Yanagida gave me the best hospitality this year. He did his best to fullfil all the request of mine, such as the food I want to eat and places I want to go., And I really had a great time learning from him not just about magic, but about being a person and also on how to become a greater magician.

The night before I leave, he brought me to a famous restaurant next to TokyoTower.  The restaurant is famous for “Tofu”. It was a Japanese fine dining restaurant, with traditional Japanese rooms set with tatami mat. The location was decorated to look ancient, with a Japanese garden in the middle and also various artifacts. I was told one of the rooms at the place was brought all the way from Kyoto, piece by piece and assembled once again in Tokyo, to preserve the heritage of the place.

After Show Party, every night! 

I had so much great time discussing magic with all the young and promising magicians in Japan. And I am definitely looking forward to going back again next year to showcase more great magic.