Tokyo: Sample Lab

post from Gridskipper on 14 August 2007 08:40:34 AM. © Gridskipper

Care to try some Japanese products for free? That's the sole purpose of the Sample Lab, a product testing space that opened in late July at the Audi Forum Tokyo building in Harajuku (6-12-18 Jingumae, 03-5464-7200). It's not entirely free, but close enough -- registration is 300 yen, followed by an annual membership fee of 1,000 yen -- and that gives you access to all the products on show, plus a license to bring up to five items back with you per visit. Souvenir gathering has never been so cheap; and no worries, no one back home will ever know these are just samples. I have a Flickr photoset with a few shots of the Audi building. It attracted a lot of attention -- and still does -- during construction, with its distinct shape and exterior, resulting in the often used "Iceberg Building" nickname.