Japan Dream Kenjin

Among my favorite places in Second Life is the marvelous sim known as Japan Dream Kenjin. Allow yourself to be transported back in time to a small Japanese fishing village ("Shouwa") in the 1960s. The village has probably seen better days, or maybe never saw them at all—it's an endless maze of narrow twisted alleyways and staircases, tiny shops and buildings, lighthouses, piers and concrete quays, all decorated with a dazzling array of distressed signs (mostly in Japanese, of course). Seagulls swoop overhead as small waves lap the shoreline.

Shouwa is bright and colorful, stunningly picturesque, but evocative of tough subsistence living and maybe a touch of squalor. There are some small shops here and there, too—one of them being that of the city's creator and owner, clubkenjin Loon (visit hers, "boss shop," here). There are builds under the water, too, so don't forget to take a look down there.

Adjoining Japan Dream Kenjin are two homestead sims. The first, Malandi (pictured above), is a mountain that juts out of the sea, again piled with small shops, houses, buildings and especially picturesque windmills. Here, take a seat to view the touching machinima, Never Give Up Japan: Pray for Japan Second Life, which was created in response to the tragic earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. You can also view this worldwide expression of sympathy on YouTube. Also on YouTube is another extraordinary piece of machinima by clubkenjin Loon called Girls in the SKY, filmed at Japan Dream Kenjin.

To the south of Japan Dream Kenjin lies the sim of Asian Dream Kenjin (above), owned in part by heroin Allen. It's a touch different and features a modern-looking nightclub, Cordelia (or Nomandie as it says on heroin's picks). It's a "techno trance dj mix" place that seems to often feature the work of RollpanCake Mode (about whom more here and here). But also in this sim there is more from clubkenjin Loon, apparently under construction.

I often say this but I'll say it again—do make a contribution when you can. There are tip jars here and there as way for you to support the colossal amount of work it must have taken to create Japan Dream Kenjin. (And, as always, click on the images to zoom in.)