Kazuhiro Kokubo of Seven Samurai, supporters of last year’s NYTS: Snowboarding, has placed 3rd at the men’s halfpipe last night! He took all 3 runs with amazing style and amplitude that can’t be matched. Shaun White once again proved why he’s the king of competitions. Do you know Kazu is from Hokkaido? Yes, the location of our tour next month, NEW YORK – TOKYO SPORTS: HOKKAIDO (NYTSH)! We’re even more excited and pumped to get on the mountains of Hokkaido. Let’s go check out Kazu and the Seven Samurai team’s training grounds. Last minute riders, hurry!

We posted about this at the end of ’09, but just a reminder that the Polysics US tour is now underway, and they’ll be coming to NY in just a couple short weeks!  Check out their MySpace page or our previous post for the full set of tour dates, and if you’re here in NY, mark your calendars for February 13th.  Polysics will be playing the Gramercy Theatre, and you can grab your tickets from Live Nation right here. We here at NYT have covered Polysics in the past and are big fans, so make sure you get out to this show. Hit the jump for more info.

Here’s a little promo video from the good people at Rusutsu Resort of KAMORI KANKO, NYTSH tour partner. Rusutsu is one of the select mountain resorts for our NEW YORK – TOKYO SPORTS: HOKKAIDO (NYTSH) snow tour next month! Check out the video above to see a glimpse of one of the best mountains in Japan. Riding in the best powder in the world, relaxing hot springs, relaxing hotel, a visit to the Tokyo Big Air, and of course good times with a great group of people! There is a 12 day tour package or 7 day package for those that just can’t convince their bosses to take off. Time is running out, join us now! You won’t want to miss this trip! Check out what KAMORI KANKO has to offer!

SNOW Magazine is one of new favorite sites to open up recently. They have a great collective of contributors with some great cultural content focusing on Japan. “SNOW is a Tokyo-based online magazine featuring news and guest columns covering the cultural landscape of Tokyo/Japan. It was founded by Jean Snow, a writer/editor who has been based in Tokyo for 10 years. For a full list of contributors, visit the following page. Additional syndicated content appears courtesy of online web journal Néojaponisme and the web component of travel culture magazine Papersky. Feel free to get in touch with feedback and questions. Sponsorship inquiries are also welcome.”

Some of us old school gamers have a soft spot for classic titles like Dragon Quest. The imaginary Luida’s Bar from the title has opened a real store front in Tokyo! And guess what they serve at the bar? Yup, some strangely colored beverages, slime shaped nikuman (pork buns), and girls dressed up like video game characters for you weirdos and otakus.

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MEDICOM TOY’s presence is undeniable in the vinyl toy world. Tatsuhiko “Ryu” Akashi is the man behind the ubiquitous toy brand. The latest The Selby feature spotlights Akashi’s place! As you would imagine, it’s a dreamland for toy heads.