Greetings from Tokyo

Dirk Schwieger, a German artist living in Tokyo, has come up with a unique way to pass his time in the Far East: asking strangers from all over the world to tell him what to do, then drawing comic strips about his experiences and posting them in his livejournal.

"Where did i get the idea? Well, I guess it was about doing a blog while avoiding the navel-gazing, self-referential and sometimes whiny tone that too many personal blogs tend to have," Schwieger said. "So I do not experience MY Tokyo, but other people’s Tokyo, which also takes away the preaching artist’s ego. So it’s just as much about people’s projections and expectations as about the actual place."

Schwieger's assignments have ranged from tasting Japanese cuisine like sushi and natto, to visiting origami museums. "It’s hard to say which was craziest," Schwieger said, who emphasized that the people giving him orders are usually pretty nice to him. "They could make me do ANYthing, as i don’t pick the assignments but do one after another. So far, para para was pretty crazy, and I’ll still have to survive the fugu episode."



You can view his comic strips or even give him a new assignment at his livejournal. Remember to play nice, though!