Amin Abbas Dubai

Japanese TV producer Yuji Ueda worked in the UAE for 7 years as a senior producer at FOX Middle East. 

He returned to Japan and made documentary movies such as: ‘Tokyo Toy Guy’ & ‘Fanatic Force 1978,’ which are selected for the Dubai International Film Festival, Sacramento, Chicago as well as Middle East Film & Comic Con.

Ueda is considered as one of the top DC Comic’s Batman & Star War’s Stormtrooper merchandise collectors in the world. He also also organized the UAE’s first Leiji Matsumoto & Osamu Tezuka Japanese Animation exhibition at Etihad Modern Art Gallery in Abu Dhabi, which was supported by the Japanese Embassy and Japanese bookstore, Kinokuniya.

He is also one of the founders of Tokyo Toy Café, which opened recently in Nakameguro, Tokyo.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News Japan, Ueda shared his inspiration for Western movies & pop culture. He said: “My favorite western movies BIG, Empire of the Sun and of course Batman (1989). Big by Tom Hanks was so inspirational that I still want to live my life like this movie. Empire of the Sun’s Christian Bale acting was so inspirational and later… he acted to become BATMAN! Also, The Dark Knight Japan premiere RED Carpet was the first Movie related Job which I attended and saw Christian Bale.”

“I saw Batman in USA when I was 10 years old and PRINCE theme song was so memorable, it was the first hero movie I saw and gave me strongest impression ever,” he added.

His favorite manga series are Captain Tsubasa, Kinnikuman, Dragon Ball & Hokuto no ken (Fist of the North Star), Ueda said.

The TV producer started his hobby as a collector of Batman, Star Wars and other pop culture characters at a young age. Ueda shared the story of his inspiration this hobby, saying he “started collecting Bikkuriman Shiru (Sticker) when I was 8 years old and it was the first thing I enthusiastically collected, my concept was as follows: completing the collection, sorting by category and aiming for the rare items.”

“I was playing with Mini 4WD (by Tamiya) which helped me in building & customizing staff as well reading Dragon Ball manga which kept me positive and keep challenging into my hobby.”

Ueda said when he got older, the Japanese batman toys from 1966 and the vintage stormtrooper toys became very expensive and difficult to acquire, which is why he made the documentaries ‘Tokyo Toy Guy’ 1 & 2 and ‘Fanatic Force 1978.’

Speaking of ‘Tokyo Toy Guy,’ Ueda said: “The highlight of Tokyo Toy Guy is that people I’ve interviewed are the world’s top Batman collectors from all over the world. Some items which collectors own exist as only 2 or 3 in the entire world. Collecting vintage Batman is like a collecting art work.” 

Tokyo Toy Café is one of the most anticipated projects, which has opened recently. Ueda shared with Arab News Japan an exclusive story about the establishment of Tokyo Toy Café & the challenges he has faced to make it happen.

He said: “I’ve always wanted to open the gallery café ‘Tokyo Toy Café’ for more than 15 years. It was always my dream. Nowadays people share their collections on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest and so on.”

“I wanted to showcase my collection to the world, where you can physically watch and appreciate the items. Where fans and collectors can gather and enjoy, it’s a place where fans can interact and create new ideas or share their passions.”

Regarding the challenges that he faced while establishing Tokyo Toy Café, Ueda said: “Well, when I share the ideas with people there are two types. One who says “oh that’s impossible, you know nothing about business, you better be modest and stay calf, or laughing at challenges”. Other types of people encourage you and give you very positive vibes. So not being dragged by negative energy was the most difficult challenge.”

He added that finding the right support from partners and the right property were challenging because in Tokyo is an expensive city.

Ueda said the cabinet showcases only 50% of his collection. “So I will change the content every few months to display & rotate the collection. This way visitors or fans can always enjoy new collections like museum & gallery,” he added.

There are three unique things that makes Tokyo Toy Café different from other café places in Tokyo, and they are: First, It’s focused on Star War’s Stormtrooper & Batman only & no other toys,” he said. “There are many American Coming concept toy shops or café but they are covering everything and not focused whereas ‘Tokyo Toy Café’ bring the ultimately dedicated collections so people can enjoy.”

“Second, I will provide the video service to the customers with 15 year experience of making TV & Films as well focusing on introducing the collections for those who wants to visually archive their collections. I can come and film their collections and they can keep them.” 

“Third and finally, I will connect Japan & UAE customers through Tokyo Toy Café to encourage anything related to business mainly focusing on pop cultures,” he added, as he is partnering with people from the UAE.

Ueda added that he is hoping to open a branch of the cafe in either Abu Dhabi or Dubai.