jollygoo

tokyo with maria

2012-01-16T20:04:00.004+09:30

The very first roll of film of the new year is from a wonderful day I had with lovely Maria. On a very cold but beautiful day, starting off at Nakameguro station we walked through to Daikanyama and back to Nakameguro for a nice warm lunch, a quick train ride to Gakugeidaku for more strolling around taking photos and visiting my favourite shops and then popping on the bus to show her the mina perhonen shops (seriously my very favourite shops in Tokyo) finishing off with nice cups of hot chocolate. What a jolly good day it was and I was so happy to meet another of my lovely blog friends! Danke maria :)

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2012-01-15T00:10:00.002+09:30

I love the winter light and shadows.

frankie!

2012-01-14T22:13:00.007+09:30

I had the pleasure of meeting up with lovely Maria who was in Tokyo last week (I will post about our wonderful day soon) and I could finally have the copy of frankie in my hand, the issue my interview is in, which Maria so kindly brought from Australia via Germany for me! I had seen what it looks like from the screen shots from Jannese and snap shots from Ebo-chan (who is largely featured in the same issue!) which two lovely ladies both so sweetly sent for me, but it is again really nice to actually see the copy :)

The 3 images that has me in them are taken by Aron from Make it Easy which he took from our bike riding adventure back in October. Thank you so much Aron for letting me use your photographs for this interview!!!

P.S. I didn't realise this was my first post in 2012!! oops! I hope you all had a wonderful start to the new year and wish you all the best for 2012! I really hope this year will be without fear and sorrow but so much more laughter and happiness for all of us around the globe.

xoxo

arigatou 2011

2011-12-30T22:35:00.007+09:30

Getting ready for welcoming the New Year to arrive, which is the most important event in Japan, I feel so grateful that I can do all these things like I have always done (even the crazy part like doing the exhausting last minute New Year shopping!). 2011 has been the most difficult year for us in Japan, and when looking back the past year it can never be done without thinking about what happened in and since March 11. I can not say how grateful I am for many of you who kindly sent me the warmest wishes and words of encouragements through this blog and emails which meant A LOT to me, and for all the tremendous support we received from all over the world for Japan. I thank you so very much and hope that you will all have a wonderful start to the 2012, that happy warm light will keep coming through the window of each of your heart and to the world :)

みなさま今年も本当にありがとう。
どうぞよいお年をお迎えください。

Casa Gilardi

2011-12-28T23:50:00.005+09:30

Another house, the last house Luis Barragán designed "Casa Gilardi" is also in Mexico City and although the Gilardi family are actually living in this house they let you see inside (partially) by appointments. The famous dining room with an indoor pool was quite amazing finally seeing in real life. There is a huge jacaranda tree in the courtyard where one of the walls is painted in the exact same colour of the jacaranda flowers. I imagined how beautiful it would be when jacaranda is all in full bloom. I must go back to see this city for the jacaranda season, all the streets lined with jacaranda trees must be so dreamy just like our sakura!

Casa Luis Barragán

2011-12-26T23:58:00.008+09:30

I'm continuing posts from my trip to Mexico wanting to finish up soon but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate it. Here in Japan it's not really what it must be like in the rest of the world, generally it's not so important but just very commercial once you have grown up....

*

Well, the biggest reason I had always wanted to go to Mexico is Luis Barragán, a Pritzker-prize winning architect and one of my very favourite architects in the world. Casa Barragán, designated a world heritage site by UNESCO, was designed by Barragán for himself in Mexico City in 1948 and is where he spent the last part of his life. I had seen so many photos of his house from a couple of exhibitions held in Tokyo and from books that I knew what each room would look like, it had long been my dream to go visit his house to see and feel the space, light and what is all there, so when I stepped into this house, into each room, my heart went fast with excitements! I would highly recommend visiting Casa Luis Barragán if you ever go to Mexico City. Seriously, I do.

Unfortunately no photographs were allowed inside so I could only take of the exterior which is kept very simple that it is hard to imagine what is like inside, so here are the images of the interior all cortesey of Luis Barragan Foundation via Casa Luis Barragán.
All above 8 images are from www.casaluisbarragan.org.

This last amazing image is by xoio.

La Casa Azul - Museo Frida Kahlo

2011-12-23T23:53:00.004+09:30

Coyoacan is where Frida Kahlo was born and spent most of her life in, and yes that is where Museo Frida Kahlo is. This is where Frida grew up and is also called la casa azul (blue house) and I had dreamed of going there one day for a long time so it was another of my dream come true!

**

Well, I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

:)

Coyoacan - Mexico City

2011-12-19T20:04:00.002+09:30

From San Angel we walked to Coyoacan, a lovely neighbourhood with so many beautiful old houses with lots of amazing colours. It was really hard to just keep walking without stopping to photograph every few metres. Every single sight that came into my eyes was mesmerising. Ah Mexico City, I love you so much!!

MEXICO♥

2011-12-15T10:42:00.008+09:30

So, the 3 days in California went by so fast yet I think we did pretty well eating-wise :) I left San Francisco with an enormous excitement along with anxiety. As I always feel whenever arriving to a place out of Japan for the first time, or probably more so than ever, I was feeling extremely nervous especially because we arrived Mexico City in the night time. Because everyone says (or thinks) Mexico is dangerous, right?

We bought the ticket and got on the taxi, none of us spoke much including the driver all the way from the airport to our hotel, there was some kind of tension in the air (I get super nervous, way too much sometimes I know!). Anyway, we arrived at our hotel smoothly and we were greeted by a lovely staff who made us feel as if arriving to his own home. When we saw his gentle smile we realised we were so hungry and tired after all the travelling including over an hour and half of waiting in line at the custom at the airport. So we had our dinner at our hotel, in their lovely dining area in the courtyard. It was so peaceful and quiet there, we couldn't see what was like outside but I couldn't stop smiling, I finally made it to Mexico and that was really exciting!

The photos are from the following morning, from San Angel where they have a cute market only on Saturday. By the time we got there, I was already in love with this city.

(more posts from mexico will follow!)

Berkeley & Chez Panisse

2011-12-12T22:53:00.007+09:30

I think you'd all have a place or two (or more) where you really wish you can visit one day in your lifetime. I too have some. In this holiday, I actually made it to the 3 places of my dreams, I feel so fortunate. Chez Panisse was one of them. I had been dreaming of going there for quite some time, I knew it was somewhere in California but didn't know where exactly it is and when it turned out that most flights going to Mexico from Japan goes via west coast of the US, it came to my mind the possibility of stopping over somewhere in California to go visit my dream restaurant. When I found out that it is in Berkeley, that it is near San Francisco, and that there are available flights that goes via San Francisco, my heart went wild. I.am.going.to.chez.panisse - somewhere that felt so so far away that it seemed like it will never happen but only in my dreams. I can not explain the excitement I felt, but soon we decided to stay in Berkeley within a walking distance from this dream place so that we can fully enjoy being there and that is how we ended up staying in Berkeley and not seeing enough of San Francisco.

Berkeley is only about 20 minutes or so from San Francisco on the subway, which I felt a little nervous at first but soon got used to and found very convenient. We probably could still stay in San Francisco and travel to and from Chez Panisse, but I'm glad we stayed in Berkeley. It's a charming little town, everything seemed to move slowly there which I enjoyed. And the dream restaurant? It.was.marvelous! I just loved the food, wine, the service, atmosphere..., everything. We ended up going there twice while we were in Berkeley (which was only for 3 nights), but still couldn't get enough of it! I would go back to Berkeley just for this place, seriously! It is the kind of place that we would never find in Tokyo, no matter how hard anyone tries to make the similar place. It can only happen there, it is just perfect. So perfect.

San Francisco - Sausalito

2011-12-10T00:19:00.004+09:30

Here they are, photos from my holiday, finally! I was quite disappointed by how most of them turned out, the ones I share here are the best ones though, anyway...

Mexico was our main destination and we stayed in Berkeley, California for the first 3 nights. We really didn't get to see much of San Francisco, we just went to the Alden Shop where R bought a pair of shoes of his dreams, took a ferry to visit Sausalito and had the famous clam chowder and oyesters, back to SF and had more oysters! .....doesn't sound very exciting I know, we didn't even get a glimpse of The Golden Gate Bridge (because of the fog) or a cable car! We will need to go back and have a proper look around San Francisco for sure.

Recently, on Instagram 04 : Back from holidays!

2011-11-28T21:56:00.005+09:30

*Mexico

*California - Berkeley, San Francisco, Sausalito

Back from holidays, back to reality.... but I had such a wonderful time and I'm back all refreshed and inspired! Mexico was just so amazing and I totally fell in love with this country (or city - DF i should probably say). The 14 rolls of film I took during my holiday will come back developed soon so I will start sharing them here later! Thank you all for your kind words and wishes for my trip!!
:)

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2011-11-15T10:09:00.003+09:30

I'm off to California and Mexico today!
I will be back here hopefully with lots of nice photos to share with you later when I'm back from my trip :)

x

November in Tokyo, Randomly.

2011-11-09T00:54:00.008+09:30

I'm not sure if my newest pal Olympus Trip35 can be my best friend now. I don't know if it is because of the photo lab who developed the film or the film I used or just me not being so good but most of the photos from my second roll of film I took didn't turn out the way I like (well obviously I am not good with focusing, and these are about the only ones that came out ok). Oh well, I guess not all relationships go so well. Nonetheless, I am enjoying November. I hope you are too :)

TOKYO SKY TREE x mina perhonen

2011-11-05T13:01:00.006+09:30

©TOKYO-SKYTREE

One of the most talked about new landmarks of Tokyo right now that will open May 2012, the TOKYO SKYTREE has released their new staff uniforms yesterday and yes they are designed by Akira Minagawa and produced by mina perhonen - my favourite Japanese designer of all time!

Mr Minagawa spent a year to design and produce these uniforms and all the process was done within Japan, from textile productions to sewing, they are all made in Japan which is one of the important things Mr Minagawa is particular about his creating philosophy. I can not wait to go and see them :)

First image ©TOKYO-SKYTREE via SO-EN online and the rest via maikomi journal.

Baishinka Tea House

2011-10-27T12:58:00.013+09:30

I never knew what I recognise as "that old and huge house on the corner" which I have passed countless times ever since I was a child has been turned into such an exquisite tea house until I saw this amazing post by uponafold who seems to have the best eyes for finding the best designs and places in Japan than anyone from Japan (seriously!). Baishinka is produced by the same people of HIGASHIYA which I never got a chance to visit before they closed it, so I was really happy to find that this beautiful space is within an easy bike riding distance from my apartment.

I think I have said it many times here before but I love old Japanese house. Sadly many of the beautiful and big old houses get demolished because of the high inheritance tax in Japan, but what they did to this house is truly admirable.

Baishinka
3-4-7 Yakumo, Meguro-ku Tokyo (google map)

It's in a little tricky location but there is a bus from Jiyugaoka that goes here. Take Tokyu Bus #11 that goes to Shibuya, get off at Yagumo Koukou and walk back a couple of minutes. Or you can walk from Jiyugaoka or Toritsudaigaku station, both a 15-minute-plus walk. If you prefer to walk it's easier from Jiyugaoka, just walk along Jiyu-Dori Street.

Tokyo Oasis

2011-10-24T21:55:00.006+09:30

www.tokyo-oasis-movie.com
Tokyo Oasis released last weekend in Tokyo is another film made by the same production team of Kamome Diner, Megane, Pool and Mother Water (but not the same director who directed Kamome Diner). In the previous works it was all filmed somewhere other than Tokyo: Helsinki, Yoron Island, Changmai and Kyoto, but this time as you can all probably guess it was filmed in Tokyo. It's about lives and the relationships with other people of the Tokyoites which anyone who lives in this city may be able to relate themselves to. I still haven't seen it so there is not much more I can say here now but hope it's good!

Art Deco Palace

2011-10-20T23:49:00.007+09:30

Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum holds the annual Art Deco Palace Exhibition which actually doesn't exhibit anything but to showcase the architecture itself as a piece of art. Some rooms can only be seen during this special occasion. The museum building was built in 1938 as the residence of the Prince Asaka Family and is also known as "The Art Deco Palace". Yes, Art Deco!

I love coming to this museum and every time I come here I can not help gazing at every little detail that attracts and destructs me from what is being exhibited, but when I come here for this annual exhibition it's a different story. I can only look at the architecture and interior as much as I like, and the best part is that only during this exhibition they allow you to take photographs inside! Unlike last time I came here to take photos some years ago today was unbelievably crowded with people (with over 80% of the visitors being senior citizens!) and it was so hard to take photos :( I tried to wait and get shots without people in them many many times but my patience snapped before I could snap the shot! I might try and go back again before this exhibition ends at the end of the month before closing for renovation for a while, perhaps early in the morning when people start showing up.... if I can, hmmm.

Smith Journal

2011-10-19T11:28:00.009+09:30

I received a copy of an Australian men's magazine Smith Journal from Frankie Press in the mail the other day when I had forgotten I ordered it for R a while ago.
This twice yearly publication for "discerning gents (and ladies who like reading about discerning gents)" is full of lovely photography, stories, people, fashion and gentlemanly style. This is their first issue and is quite a worthwhile read, or perhaps I should say "a bloody good read"!
;)

Another New Old Camera

2011-10-15T12:42:00.006+09:30

I don't know if anyone noticed, but the photos I posted on the previous post and the above 2 shots were taken with my another new old camera olympus travel 35 (with speria x-tra 400). It was my first roll of film with this camera and so many shots didn't turn out very well but I hope I can get the hang of it soon!

Tokyo is having a stormy weather today (and so the Momiji Ichi Craft Market is called off, but hopefully the weather will be nice tomorrow! Check out Hello Sandwich's post from last year's Momiji Ichi!)

Happy weekend to you all!
:)

P.S. Mogu-chan is having an exciting exhibition at the cute furniture shop UNICO in their Marunouchi store until 13 November! Check it out it looks really nice, and it's all free ;)
　

On our bikes.

2011-10-11T23:51:00.002+09:30

Last week on a beautiful day I had the pleasure of meeting wonderful Aron from Make it Easy who is now in Tokyo for a month from Hawaii! We rode around on our bikes to the park where we had a little picnic with obento and ebisu beer, and to Tama River then back to Jiyugaoka. The weather in Tokyo has been beautiful and perfect for bike riding I really enjoyed our fun afternoon adventure :)

Aron has been taking and posting cool pictures of Tokyo on his blog and they just make me smile and happy! I think you will enjoy them too ;)

Strolling Around Aoyama

2011-09-26T10:30:00.008+09:30

These are also from a while ago, when I had a stroll around Aoyama. It's a lovely area being away from the hustle and bustle of the nearby Harajuku and the main street of Omotesando, charming little shops are scattered around.

ARTS&SCIENCE is one of my favourite shops in this area, simple and good quality items beautifully displayed in a small but tasteful space in a little back street enchants me so much :)
They have many shops now around Tokyo but if you have a chance to go to Aoyama area I recommend you take a little further walk down Kotto-Dori street and visit this exquisite shop! (This one is lady's but their men's store is also not to miss if you like fashion, it's near the Nezu museum in the same neighbourhood)
kolor is also a cool Japanese brand to check out if you are a fashion guru!

Happy new week to you all ;)

　

End of Summer

2011-09-23T01:21:00.003+09:30

September had still been really hot in Tokyo until last weekend, but this huge typhoon that just went through seems to have brought the cool change. It was the biggest typhoon I had ever seen and it did a lot of damage in the west part of Japan and caused panic in Tokyo last night. It was really scary but phew it's gone!

I couldn't update my blog for long as I had been swamped with work. Life is not much fun when work takes too much of it, when work gets too much to enjoy :( So tonight I went over some of the photos I had taken this summer and posted them to remember the fun bits of the past month or so, before summer goes far away. My niece was here from Sendai during her school holidays and we laughed a lot. It was colourful too :)

I hope you are having a lovely autumn (or spring)!

Rondom shots of shops.

2011-08-30T20:16:00.002+09:30

Mogu Takahashi Exhibitions

2011-08-22T21:50:00.009+09:30

I received such a lovely surprise in the mail earlier this month. It was from a cute talented artist Mogu Takahashi, along with the invitations for her up coming 2 solo exhibitions in Tokyo she included a very special little gift - the sweetest handmade clay tag that has my shop name on it!!!! Now it's my shop sign, sooooooo cute isn't it??

One of Mogu-chan's exhibitions is starting tomorrow, at a sweet Nakameguro cafe drol. And another one will be at the galerie doux dimanche in Aoyama starting from 30th August. So if you will be in Tokyo in the next few weeks, be sure to check her cutest world in real life! And the Omotesando Koffee which I blogged about in the last post is really close from the doux dimanche so you can visit the 2 in the same day :)

Mogu-chan apparently caught a terrible cold on the day before her exhibition starts, but I really hope she will be better real soon by tomorrow!! がんばってもぐちゃん！！

And this is her new product she also sent to me - note cards with her cute camera illustration! (which I think is going to be added to her online shop soon?)

Mogu Takahashi Solo Exhibition "KAWAII UGLY - SAN"
23rd August − 12th September
12:00 - 20:00 (L.O 19:30)
at Cafe drole * about 5 min from Nakameguro ( the 2nd station from Shibuya)

Mogu Takahashi Solo Exhibition "MUZU MUZU ZUKO - SHITSU"
30th August − 11th September
12:00 - 20:00 (close: Monday)
Opening: Friday 2nd Sep, 18:00 --
at Galerie Doux Dimanche

OMOTESANDO KOFFEE

2011-08-11T11:36:00.007+09:30

All above photographs were taken by me (with a permission from the shop owner of course - in case you wonder). If you are re-blogging any of these images please remember to give me credit, thank you :)

Good coffee makes me smile. So does an old Japanese house. So OMOTESANDO KOFFEE became my recent favourite coffee spot in Tokyo, naturally!

OMOTESANDO KOFFEE is a pop-up cafe opened earlier this year hidden in a backstreet of Omotesando, in a beautiful 80 years old Japanese house that is going to be demolished. (80 years old probably doesn't sound so old if you live outside Japan, but for us it is considered very old. Old buildings are very often knocked down and new ones are built in Japan - this is sad but you know this has got a lot to do with far-too-many earthquakes we have in this country!)

Anyway.... so this cafe is open only for one year (it opened sometime in January this year) which means if you are in Tokyo before January 2012 you should make sure to take a visit there to enjoy a lovely cup of coffee made by one of the most famous baristas in Tokyo before it is gone! Well, I'm sure he will move to somewhere and serve more good coffee but this set up is definitely not to miss!

OMOTESANDO KOFFEE
4-15-3 Jingumae Shibuya-ku (google map)
Open: 10:00-19:00
http://ooo-koffee.com/menu/

minä perhonen metsä

2011-08-03T20:48:00.006+09:30

All images are from www.mina-perhonen.jp

minä perhonen's website has just been renewed with a fresh look and now they have an online shop "metsä"! I think you know by now if you have been following my blog for a while how obsessed I am with minä perhonen but I just love everything about them. The new website is again designed and developed in a very simple form, it is just very pleasant to look at. Unfortunately they don't ship outside Japan, but you can look at their beautiful clothes. Enjoy! :)

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2011-07-26T19:47:00.000+09:30

Tokyo Summer Days 02

2011-07-24T16:30:00.005+09:30

asagao (morning glory) from potted garden

"green-curtain" growing

spider web after the rain

"ho-o-zuki" (Chinese lantern plant)

We've had a few cooler days last week and it was really great my plants seem to have enjoyed a nice break from the extreme sun too. I secretly wished that the summer will just end like that but it doesn't work that way we still have to put up with the awful summer in Tokyo for a bit longer before autumn arrives. I really can't wait till when summer finally ends.
　

Tokyo Summer Days 01

2011-07-21T11:57:00.004+09:30

beer afternoon

pain perdu @ haru haru

celebrating friend's birthday @ A to Z

on the fifth floor

mexican dinner

"after-hour salary-man"

p.s.
thank you so much for those who bought my zine!!!!

SHIBAURA HOUSE x Hello Sandwich

2011-07-14T16:57:00.005+09:30

SHIBAURA HOUSE is one of the latest and the most exciting architecture you can find in Tokyo today. Opened earlier this month, SHIBAURA HOUSE was designed by Sejima Kazuyo of SANAA (it's not a work by SANAA, a little confusing I think) for a printing company as their new office / community space to share with the people in the local area of Shibaura (Tamachi). I was only able to be on the ground floor which apparently is going to be a cafe, but you can see what it looks like in this amazing illustration by Jody Wong here.

The more exciting thing is that my lovely friend Hello Sandwich is having a regular craft workshop in this building!!! I went to her second workshop there to make my own notebooks! It was so much fun the 2 hours went by far too quickly. You should definitely go to her workshop if you are ever in Tokyo, do check out Hello Sandwich blog for future workshop information!

Speaking of Hello Sandwich, she's actually been seen everywhere in Tokyo these days, at the nidi gallery for a group exhibition (with more cute artists mogu-chan and gracie), and at the TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR -the biggest zine fair in Asia- coming up this long weekend. Exciting!!

SHIBAURA HOUSE
3-15-4 Shibaura Minato-ku Tokyo (google map)
5 mins from Tamachi Sta on JR Yamanote / Keihin Tohoku Line

mina perhonen 2011 autumn & winter

2011-07-11T12:20:00.004+09:30

The new autumn & winter collection from mina perhonen is just so gorgeous!!
Above photos are of their new catalogue taken by me, and the below are from fashionsnap.com.

images by fashionsnap.com

it's on sale now!!

2011-07-06T02:09:00.008+09:30

Thanks to many of you who showed their interests in getting my little tokyo photo zine which I posted about a while ago, I have now started selling them on my web shop UGUiSU! If you read this and would be so kind to want to buy it, you can use a coupon code "jollygoo" to receive free shipping (you will get a $4 off your purchased amount which equals to shipping for US, Canada, Australia, NZ and Europe by standard airmail, but not when you purchase items only other than the zine please...!!)! Also, you will receive a free copy of my plants zine poster, so that means you will only need to spend $10 to get both of my little zines including shipping :) This offer is specially for my wonderful blog readers who always give me lovely words and encouragement!

Arigato!!

hiki
x

*Please note that the coupon discount is only applied when the zine is purchased, I appreciate your understanding!

　

Umeshu Making 2011

2011-07-05T00:38:00.005+09:30

If you have been following my blog for over a year (or even from 2 years ago!?) you may remember my annual umeshu makings - the homemade plum wine. If not, this is what I do every year at the beginning of Summer, in early June when the Japanese fresh plums become available (they are only available at this time of year). The smell of the fresh green plums are so lovely, every year as I go through this habit of making my own umeshu I feel the summer coming so close. I'm looking forward to December when I can finally start drinking it, but to tell you the truth it's best start drinking after one year, if I can wait that long that is though!

Happy July to you all!!

　

Recently, on Instagram.

2011-06-22T11:37:00.007+09:30

The summer solstice today. A real summer-like day in Tokyo, hot and sticky (means awful). I have been so swamped with work lately and hence the absence from blogging. I haven't been taking photos so much either, except on iPhone. Instagram, like so many other people I am addicted to it. It's a fun way to record and share your daily life, and it's so easy :) So I'm sharing these images here for now I hope you like them! (But yes I hope to get back to the real photography soon too!)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

　

Three Months Today.

2011-06-11T19:17:00.002+09:30

Have a happy weekend to you all.
hiki
x

Around Home - Random shots

2011-06-07T23:47:00.002+09:30

I hope you are all having a good start to June. Here in Tokyo the rainy season settled in 2 weeks earlier than usual, I can feel the awful Japanese summer coming just around the corner. Summer, you don't have to come so early I'm not really ready for you yet.

My latest blog crush, destes dias, Maria's beautiful photographs make me feel calm.

　

Kurashiki on B&W : Trip to Kurashiki #4

2011-05-27T12:54:00.004+09:30

I did one roll on B&W, I think Kurashiki looks especially good on B&W and I am really happy with this film Neopan 1600 super presto by Fuji, but I was so sad to know that they stopped making this film and I can't buy it any more! :(

So this will be my last post on Kurashiki, I hope you enjoyed the photos. It's really a beautiful city so if you have a chance to travel to the Chugoku Area (where Hiroshima is) I recommend you take a day or two to go visit Kurashiki!

Also a big thank you to those who left lovely comments about my Tokyo mini photo zine! I'm thinking to sell it so please wait for a little announcement :)

jollygoo tokyo zine!

2011-05-19T23:20:00.006+09:30

My first (kind of) zine I made for 2011 MCA ZINE FAIR this coming Sunday in Sydney! This is a mini photo zine which I put together my Tokyo photos I have shared here on my blog. (if you notice there is one photo that was actually not taken in Tokyo)
My dear friend and a wonderful Tokyo based artist Ebony has organised a HELLO SANDWICH TOKYO TABLE booth and she kindly invited me to join (thank you Ebo-chan!!) so this is what I made in a super rush! But it looks like a zine, I hope?

I also made this little poster zine as well, it is B4 size (which is a little bit smaller than A3) and I put together all the photos I have taken of my plants I grow in my Tokyo apartment in the past 5 years.

If you are in Sydney and will be able to go to the MCA Zine Fair this Sunday, please do find the Hello Sandwich Tokyo Table booth and check out all the wonderful zines other creative people have done, especially the Hello Sandwich Tokyo Stationery Shop Guide!
Big thanks to for this wonderful opportunity, and another huge thanks to her friend Beatrice for minding the table for us!!

Trip to Kurashiki #3

2011-05-17T23:11:00.004+09:30

Kurashiki is certainly a photogenic city it was so hard to stop taking photos!

Trip to Kurashiki #2

2011-05-15T12:14:00.003+09:30

Here are some photos from the second roll of film, solaris 400.

We had coffee at lovely ivy-covered cafe EL GRECO, my interior shots were poor but it was really nice inside also, high cealing, big windows, retro details and lovely smell of fresh coffee. (It had a counter that reminded me of an old sento.)

I think this roll was better than other ones it was the light leak and bad focus (photos i share here are the better ones i must admit, I have bad ones hidden :p ), but I just found out that I can fix the light leak problem by using the black electrical tape so I hope to try that next time. Thank you Jannese for the tip!! :)

Trip to Kurashiki #1

2011-05-12T17:32:00.001+09:30

During the past Golden Week holidays I finally made my long-time dream of going to Kurashiki come true! I took my minolta, which I obviously haven't really got the hang of, and these are from the second roll of film (photos from the first roll were a lot worse!). I don't know if it's the camera's problem or maybe how I loaded the film was not quite right, they didn't turn out so well....but anyway....

Kurashiki is another historic city of Okayama prefecture in the west part of Japan, next to Hiroshima prefecture. In the beautifully preserved area around the canal, there are many warehouses (which in Japanese we call "KURA") which had been used to store rice when Kurashiki was served as an important rice distribution center back in the Edo Period (1603-1867). Many of these former warehouses have been converted into shops, cafes and museums. So beautiful this city, I was instantly in love with it! It's not only about the aesthetic of the city, but oh do they have beautiful food AND sake!! Kurashiki introduced me into the new world of sake drinking habit :)

More photos to follow!!

Thursday.

2011-04-28T18:22:00.011+09:30

Sunny and Summery Thursday with Hello Sandwich having a nice lunch at favourite cafe, buying charity artwork, lovely walk with non-stop instagraming, working together back at my apartment. Such a jolly afternoon it was.

The artwork I bought is by a Swiss artist called Mirjam Joss. I googled her name but not much was found. Does anyone know anything about her? I want to tell her that I really love what I got.

Also bought some help japan badges from the cafe ohanaya (they do a couple of charity drinks too), and some help japan project post cards from gellerie doux dimanche by SOLEDAD and AT-SWIM-TWO-BIRDS (her original artwork was also exhibited and it was so beautiful! wish i could afford it......)!!!

You can see all the artworks that were donated from all over the world here!

I hope everyone's Thursday has been and will be lovely too!
And Happy Golden Week to those who are in Japan :)

Little bits of Red.

2011-04-27T01:56:00.004+09:30

It's not just white and pink and sakura in the Tokyo spring time. I also found reds here and there and everywhere. Oh do I love spring!

Tennen Seikatsu

2011-04-25T23:38:00.010+09:30

天然生活 =Tennen Seikatsu which means "Natural Life" is another of my favourite Japanese lifestyle magazines. And this month's issue vol.77 is one of the best issues I've read!

The top feature of this issue is the beautiful home of the famous furniture company TRUCK's owner Hiromi Karatsu san in Osaka. It shows their great and inspiring storage ideas using baskets, boxes and shelving etc.

Another main feature of the issue is Japanese craftsmanship. The basketry, oh I LOVE the bamboo baskets they are really durable and useful, the square ones are on my wish-list now!

Folk-craft toys:

The first monthly column of a flower stylist, lovely Kazumi Hirai san who did my wedding flowers, who also is the owner of my favourite cafe ikanika.

And so many cooking recipes using the early summer vegetables that I want to try!!

I just can't get enough of it!

--
I hope you are all having a good start to the new week like I did. I had a delicious lunch (photo here) at this really nice new britto place in Aoyama with my dear friend Ebony followed by my first visit to the cutest A to Z cafe! (photo here) Had a really fun relaxed afternoon :)

Sakura in Nakameguro

2011-04-20T22:10:00.008+09:30

Normally the streets along the canal here in Nakameguro have lanterns and it gets all lit up in the evening, but this year like everywhere else in Tokyo no light-ups had been held to save electricity for the concern of unexpected power shortage due to the temporary shutting down of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. But that was no big deal, without lanterns I think it looked all white and extra beautiful. It would actually and probably (or hopefully) be the only year I could photograph the sakura here looking like these without lanterns in sight. (You can see what it normally looks like here in my old post.)

Sakura was all over the place, up in the sky, down on the ground, in the reflections and in the shadows, fallen petals even in my hands. Looking at people having great time, smiling, made me smile (half crying) I must have looked insane but I will remember this year's sakura as a very special memory and I hope you enjoyed my sakura photos! :)

sakura

2011-04-19T19:06:00.005+09:30

I'm a bit behind I know, the petals have already all fallen and it's all green with young leaves by now. I know they'd all look the same, every year I get so many photos that look almost the same, but it's just too hard to stop photographing! But oh what a beauty it all was. What a comfort it all has been!

ROLLS TOHOKU

2011-04-15T14:38:00.010+09:30

All images are from ROLLS TOHOKU.

I'm sure many of you have seen enough devastating imagery of the Tohoku disaster and I never meant to post any sad images here. But these, I simply could not help sharing. These are all taken by the people in the worst damaged areas, mostly by children who have lost their houses and their possessions. These are from their everyday life, a few weeks after the disaster.

A Japanese photographer Aichi Hirano went into the earthquake & tsunami-hit areas around Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture carrying lots of instant cameras with him. He handed the cameras to the people in the evacuation centres and asked them to photograph what they see, what they want to record or remember, people around them, the ones they love, or just anything they want to photograph. And he asked them to enjoy it as much as they can.

ROLLS TOHOKU 3/31 - 4/3 is the project Hirano set up, to showcase photographs of the disaster-stricken areas by the victims themselves to tell the world what's really there and the people's thoughts and views other than what have been brought to us through media hoping that people who thought and felt something from seeing these photographs will act to help for the recovery in the way and through what they can/want/believe, and most importantly "to continue doing it for as long as possible".

Most faces seen in the ROLLS TOHOKU are with smiles. They are not the sad photographs but are filled with lights of hope.
All so amazingly beautiful.

Casa BRUTUS by SELBY

2011-04-12T23:37:00.005+09:30

Woa! This month's Casa BRUTUS is by Todd Selby!

spring sprung

2011-04-08T23:13:00.002+09:30

The world is so beautiful, that is why we have to take a good care of it. I hope for the better tomorrow.

late march

2011-04-05T20:10:00.006+09:30

Hello everyone. Today I have some photos to share :)

I didn't touch my cameras for 2 weeks after the quake (except some I did with my iPhone for instagram), I kind of lost all the motivation or passion for photography (or pretty much on everything else). But after the 2 weeks I loaded a new roll of film on my new old minolta which I had bought on online auction just before the quake. So here are some of my first shots with a new friend.

The second last photo is my niece Ako painting for people in Sendai. (She drew a cow and milk as she said they couldn't buy milk in Sendai before she left) She actually lives there herself but she was lucky enough to have been brought to Tokyo and she's been enjoying her spring holidays here. She will go back later this week as her new school year starts soon, I'm going to really miss her when she goes but she gives me another reason I must stay strong. (She has been helping me so much to keep me going!)

私はここにいる。

2011-03-29T20:28:00.010+09:30

Hello. I am here. I am well. All of your words and thoughts have been extremely uplifting. Thank you so much. Cherry blossoms have started to bloom. The most beautiful time of year in Tokyo is almost here. It's been really uneasy to be here but still my favourite time of year to be in Japan will arrive. I think it's about time I start taking photos again. I think that is a good sign.

update: 13:38 sat.12.march

2011-03-12T14:09:00.004+09:30

thank you so so much for your warm words and thoughts. when it happened i was home alone, i totally panicked crying not knowing what to do, glasses broken on the floor plants books photo frames fell from where they were. later noticed that all the roof tiles fell from an old house right behind us and it was scary. after the second big quake i was picked up by my husband's dad and ended up staying with them overnight, there was no way i could stay by myself. my husband came home from work after midnight when the trains started to run again. i was with ebony earlier she's safe too.
i was worried sick for my niece ako who lives in sendai, near the worst damaged area but soon heard she's safe with her family and I was so relieved though it is truly devastating to see the damage done up north peole losing their houses and loved ones. we're all pretty safe in tokyo now though we are feeling so many aftershocks all the time -it's shaking right now while i'm typing this. please if you have a moment please do pray for those people up north who are in the cold still waiting to be rescued. all the help, support, thoughts, love, prayers for us from outside japan is really amazing, thank you i want to thank you all so much.

love from tokyo
hiki
x

2011-03-11T19:11:00.001+09:30

Just a quick note to say I'm safe and so is my family.

Gekkoso 月光荘

2011-03-06T19:32:00.003+09:30

Gekkoso is my favourite art supply shop which has been in Hanatsubaki Street in Ginza for 95 years. Dearest little shop it is!

rose bakery

2011-03-05T14:11:00.008+09:30

Rose Bakery is in Tokyo now!

Looking at Tommy's lovely photos of Rose Bakery in Paris and London, I always dreamed of going to this cafe if I ever go to Paris or London again. How could I ever imagine there to be one in Tokyo? But yes there is, in Marunouchi.

Last week, I had a chance to see Stephanie who was back in Tokyo briefly and we met in Ginza. I thought it would be too western and not so interesting to take someone who was in Tokyo for a short visit, but it was the coldest day (it snowed!) and we just wanted to grab some hot drinks so we went. The cafe is actually inside a Comme des Garçons shop, and was designed by Rei Kawakubo -the designer of Comme des Garçons who apparently is sister-in-lows with Rose of Rose Bakery. (that explains!) It was nice, the orange&lemon cake we shared was so delicious, it's just that I wish it was somewhere closer to the area I normally hung out so I can visit more often. I actually thought that it would suit a lot better in the area like Aoyama/Omotesando than Marunouchi which is very business-like though has become become one of the major shopping areas now, but too bad.

More than anything, I had a really wonderful catching up with Stephanie and gosh it was such an inspiring afternoon it's great to meet and talk to someone who is amazingly creative, professional and full of ideas like herself!

Happy weekend to you all! ;)

Sunday on film.

2011-03-03T20:08:00.005+09:30

After that warm beautiful day on last Sunday, it got back to cold winter days. Hope this Sunday will be a nice one. Even my plants look kind of depressed these days, don't they look happy in these photos?

Kawashima Kotori

2011-03-01T11:32:00.007+09:30

All above photos are by Kotori Kawashima
This adorable girl called Mirai-chan was on the cover of BRUTUS December issue last year and every time I saw her face at the book stores or on the posters at train stations she made me smile, really big. These were taken by a Japanese photographer Kotori Kawashima (such a cute name!) and I just couldn't help posting about him (I thought it was "she" but was actually "he"!) and the sweet Mirai-chan after seeing her cuteness again on Sokokashiko which is one of the loveliest blogs I recently came across!

Oh and, hello March!

Sunday.

2011-02-28T12:03:00.007+09:30

We had a beautiful warm Sunday in Tokyo yesterday, the temperature went up to 18℃ and it didn't even drop much in the evening. (but we had snow today!) Had some sweet treats for late morning tea, my favourite caneles and mille feuille from a local patisserie, so delicious.....!

I hadn't had such relaxed Sunday for a long time, I sat down and had a second really good look at this lovely book (seen in the first 3 photos) my dear friend Ebony gave me for my birthday. (She gave me the stripe linen coated tray also from fog as well which I'm absolutely in love with and now can't live without!)
The rest of the photos were taken inspired by the beautiful book, I just couldn't help it! I realised that I hadn't shot with my digital camera for so long apart from photographing items for my shop! I think I will start using it more often, I love the film so much but sometimes it's nice to be able to see the photos right away and blog before everything is too old to post and never happen like always. haha

Hawaii Trip #04: It was time to say good bye before we knew it.

2011-02-21T23:39:00.003+09:30

What I saw in this too short holiday is not a real Hawaii I know, I will have to go back with these sweet little memories. Till then, I will enjoy getting lost in here. You are so lucky to live there Aron! ;)

Hawaii Trip #03: Kailua

2011-02-16T23:58:00.006+09:30

The small Kailua town was really sweet. Beach was beautiful, water so clear. Just under an hour on the bus from Waikiki, I found the kind of Hawaii I was expecting to see. We hired bicycles and rode around the town of Kailua, until it started to rain really heavily, well, quite soon. It was too cold and wet to swim, too bad :( It was kind of nice in the rain though, the smell of the rain in the tropical land brought back some old memories.
I would definitely go back and spend more time in Kailua if I visit Oafu again.

P.S. I have these really cute new eco-bags in my shop now, hope you pop over and have a peek ;)

Hawaii Trip #02: American Breakfast

2011-02-15T19:16:00.004+09:30

We went to this coffee house one morning which almost everything I saw in there looked really American to me, it was like what I'd seen in many old American movies. I didn't see any other Japanese tourists in there (miraculously), we were the two aliens. It was exciting! It was "the" family restaurant (or famiresu in Japan), very authentic famiresu indeed. We have these American style restaurants in Japan everywhere like Denny's, but when they come to Japan they become too Japanese, if you know what I mean at all.... It's not the same. Waiters are too polite and robot-like in Japanese family restaurants.

Anyway, I do not know if this would be a typical American breakfast, but to me it seemed it was. It was HUGE (like everything else is) and was far too much for me I felt bad. But I surely did enjoy being in the American breakfast scene. It was cool, really cool.

Hawaii Trip #01: Waikiki

2011-02-14T20:41:00.007+09:30

Just before I left for Hawaii, someone told me that Waikiki is like Omotesando and I thought "WHAT!?". That can't be true. I could not imagine that at all. But yes, it was a bit like Omotesando, or Ginza perhaps. Well just some parts of it, really modern, big labels, full of Japanese tourists. (I was expecting Honolulu to be like Cairns, obviously I was just so ignorant, Honolulu is a big city!) But in the photos I just had developed, I saw none of those what seemed like Omotesando but all nice and relaxing and that made me happy :)

More photos from Hawaii to follow.

Winter foliage in Tokyo

2011-02-04T20:35:00.008+09:30

February is the coldest month in Tokyo, I don't like the cold but I like February because although it's really cold we can also feel the spring being not too far away. Plum blossoms start to bloom, camellia so pretty, and soon my favourite mimosa will have adorable lemon yellow flowers. It's been really dry but this dryness and the cold make sky look so clear that we can often see the mt Fuji even though it is 100km away from Tokyo. In the sunset hours sky is particularly beautiful. The day is surely getting longer. In the old Japanese calender, today is the first day of spring after all. It is 立春 (risshun). The real spring is not too far away.

Although I enjoy February in Tokyo, I will be taking a mini holiday and will escape the cold. I'm off to Hawaii! Yay! It will be another unbelievably quick trip but it should be a great refreshment after having worked like a crazy person for the last couple months, hehe.

I will also be having a special sale at my shop and everything will be 10% off from tomorrow (tokyo time so it will start in 4 hours!) so if you need to stock up some masking tapes or other Japanese paper goodies please pop over to UGUiSU ;)

Good Cafe Days

2011-01-19T00:18:00.005+09:30

photos1&2* my favourite jiyugaoka lunch place - cafe ohanaya,
3&4* D&Department Dining Tokyo,
5&6* fabulous little darling cafe margo in yutenji (went with lovely Hello Sandwich),
7* japanese cafe - cocoocen,
8* cafe&antique, cafe 6-chome,
9* JIYUGAOKA BAKESHOP - top of IDEE shop,
10* vietnamese cafe in kamata

Casa BRUTUS

2011-01-16T19:00:00.010+09:30

I have been spending a long time flipping the pages of the latest issue of Casa BRUTUS daydreaming I was living in these stunning houses featured in it. Gosh it's hard to come back out of it!

Casa BRUTUS has a special residential architecture issue annually and the current issue is "the" issue! It features the latest and the most powerful Japanese residential architecture in the past year including "villa in Hayama" by Kazuyo Sejima of SANAA.

It also features some masterpiece of Japanese architecture mentioning how not so many of them having been kept to this day and that is not only because in Japan "old" is often considered "bad" while "new" is often preferred especially when it comes to housing, but also there is a huge inheritance tax problem in this country and that is making it very difficult for people to keep the houses after they inherited. Even the famous beautiful historical house which our Empress had been brought up in was sold and got demolished with the same reason. It is sad.

　

In the park.

2011-01-15T01:35:00.006+09:30

"You don't have trees in Japan, do you?" It was a question asked by my friend from school when I was living in Darwin Australia, this was back in the 90s by the way. She looked all very serious, and she even looked sorry for me that in my country I can't see trees. I was very confused, but I remembered that my Japanese friend who was in Darwin with me at the time (but at a different high school as an exchange student) had been sympathised by her class mate that she had to buy all the "western clothes" to be away from Japan because he believed we all wore kimono in Japan (or that there were still samurai everywhere). So I asked my friend with the tree question why she said that, and this was what she said. "All the Japanese tourists were taking photos of trees!" I thought what? but maybe those tropical trees in Darwin were unique to Japanese. But now I realise that I take photos of trees a lot, and maybe that is one of the habits of Japanese? I just remembered my friend's question after many many years tonight looking at these photos.

Year-end, New Year.

2011-01-07T01:07:00.005+09:30

Happy New Year! I know I'm late but I hope you all had a wonderful start to the 2011. In the "nenmatsu-nenshi" (年末年始 = Year-End & New Year) I went to many parties seen in the above photos - beautiful wedding, birthday party, Christmas party and a couple of "bounenkai" which literally means "forget-the-year-party". Of course I had a New Year's parties with our families too, but I forgot to take photos!

From all the delicious food and drinks from all these, I now feel that I really need to do some exercise to get rid of what I must have put on... So here is one New Year's resolution I guess! ha!

今年もよろしくお願いします。
　

merry christmas from tokyo!

2010-12-24T13:01:00.006+09:30

Just a quick post to wish you all a jolly christmas and happy holidays!!

hiki
xx

I wish I had any Christmasy photos but I don't so I picked this one I took earlier this year ;)

green-red-yellow

2010-12-23T00:29:00.003+09:30

Though I haven't been able to blog much lately, photographing around never goes out of my habit. These are from November, autumn colours were prettier than ever this year in Tokyo and I really enjoyed the season. We're now in the beginning of winter, probably it's much warmer than where most of you are. My hands and feet are getting colder though. So are my cheeks when I go out, but I kind of like that.
Hope you are staying warm.
xx

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ノルウェイの森 (Noruwei no Mori) - Norwegian Wood

2010-12-16T23:45:00.007+09:30

The movie Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no Mori), yes the movie based on Haruki Murakami's novel has finally been released in Japan and yes I've seen it. As a fan of both Haruki Murakami and the Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung, I had waited for so long to see it since hearing about this movie having started to be filmed. It.was.beautiful. It is a kind of movie that is best seen at the theatre screen. I guess you could enjoy it even without having read the novel, but you'd enjoy it a lot more if you've read it (and if you've read it again before seeing the movie). So do start reading it again if you think you will go see the film!!

a bit of green

2010-11-19T00:32:00.004+09:30

It's been so winter-like the last couple of days in Tokyo, it's freezing. Well I guess compared to other parts of the world this is not that cold yet, but it is for me already! I've got too much work at the moment so I might absent from here for a while but I will try to come back when I get a moment.
Hope you are enjoying the week everyone!
Stay warm ;)

xx

P.S. Do check out MR KITLY, an awesome looking Japanese style shop which Bree from ii-ne-kore is about to open in Melbourne!!
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Omotesando - mina perhonen exhibition "進行中"

2010-11-13T23:28:00.005+09:30

One evening in October in Omotesando, I went to see the "minä perhonen 15th Anniversary × SPIRAL 25th Anniversary Project" Exhibition -進行中- (=ongoing), right before it ended. The day was getting shorter and when I walked up outside from the subway it was already dusk, things like that sometimes make me a bit sad. But anyway, the exhibition was really great and I was so glad I could make it to go. No photos were allowed inside the exhibition, but here you can see some photos of the "backstage".

Beautiful beautiful creations. So inspiring.
Oh how I wish I could own one of their beautiful dresses one day!
.

within 2km from home

2010-11-07T03:23:00.007+09:30

Another post of some random shots from around my neighbourhood - taken within 2 kilometres from home in the past couple of weeks.
Nice little cafe that looks as if it just popped out from Paris, the cutest&tiniest gallery that's only open on the weekend, coffee at my favourite cafe in Jiyugaoka, delicious tempura soba for lunch, and D&DEPARTMENT on their 10th anniversary. All very random, all very good.

Random Shots Around Ginza

2010-11-05T00:26:00.002+09:30

Ginza looks so pretty at night time with all the lights, but it looks extra pretty when it's raining at night.

Goshugi-bukuro

2010-11-04T19:54:00.006+09:30

I thought I might post about a little something traditional today as I don't think I've done that for a long time now.

These pretty things you see here are called Goshugi-bukuro, which literally means "celebration money sleeves". It's very common in Japan to give money as gift at weddings, and Goshugi-bukuro is always used for this occasion with the sender's name written on the skinny white paper you see on each Goshugi-bukuro. (Yes we write our names from top to bottom, vertically.) Each one has a plane envelope to slip money in inside and the envelope is wrapped with a big piece of good washi paper folded in its special way.

Goshugi-bukuro are sold everywhere in Japan even at the 100yen shops or convenience sotres, but I like to choose nicer ones and these 3 are my recent favourites. I bought the one with pretty gold cranes printed on really beautiful washi paper (the one on the left seen in the first photo) a while ago at ITO-YA, it was the loveliest Goshugi-bukuro I had ever seen!

But when I became the one to receive Goshugi-bukuro, I realised what a huge waste all these things become! They say you can not re-use them for when you go to someone's wedding and not just all the papers but all the beautiful "mizuhiki" (the special decorative cord to tie around the envelopes) are only to be thrown away afterwords and that made me feel sad! We only had a very small wedding but still there were many Goshugi-bukuro to be wasted. Well I haven't thrown them away, trying to think of the ways to use them for something.

Anyway, we received one Goshugi-bukuro which used handkerchief instead of paper and I was so happy to see it! I think it's such a wonderful idea, the handkerchief can be used over and over afterward! So, for my friend's wedding I went last weekend I used a recyclable cloth Goshugi-bukuro, I actually found the one that is like a pocket sleeve so I bought that too. They cost a lot more than the average paper ones but I still think they are better. I have 2 more weddings to go to this month so I'm all set for now!

いつも、花のこと。

2010-10-26T11:36:00.009+09:30

いつも、花のこと。 ("itsumo hana no koto" translates: Always, about flowers) is a beautiful book by a flower stylist Kazumi Hirai of ikanika which has been recently published. ikanika is my favourite cafe near Jiyugaoaka which Kazumi san and her husband own, and it is also used as an atelier where Kazumi san gives flower arrangement classes. The modest and delicate way she always present flowers at ikanika is so welcoming and really lovely. So when I asked Kazumi san if she could do my wedding flowers and when she happily accepted, I was really thrilled! She is such a lovely lady so sweet and gentle with some hidden powerful energy, just like her flowers.

The following are some left over flowers from the wedding I enjoyed at home afterward. The autumn hydrangeas are still looking pretty now and they make me smile :)

A quick trip down to Izu-Kogen and Atami

2010-10-20T21:51:00.005+09:30

These are from 2 weekends ago when we went on a quick trip to Izu-Kogen, about 2 hours down along the coast line on the train. Izu-Kogen is a nice little town where many people have holiday houses, it has onsen (hot spring) and beautiful seafood which we enjoyed a lot.

On the way back we stopped at Atami, an old onsen town once used to be a really popular lively place but now a little deserted with less visitors especially young ones. We thought it might be fun to walk around and find a place to have lunch. It was indeed quite interesting, some sights looked like it just popped out from the 80s (or Showa period), sometimes it looked like a really lovely port town in Europe, and some streets looked like what I think Hong Kong might be like. There weren't many restaurants open for lunch, so we picked a cute little restaurant that specialises in French cuisine using beautiful local seafood. The food was great and I liked the interesting paintings they had on their walls. We pretended we were somewhere like Marseilles, hoping we can go somewhere fancier than Atami next time.

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the new cup (and the table)

2010-10-20T01:23:00.005+09:30

I'm loving my new cup from iihoshi yumiko porcelain, which I posted about before. The handle, the rim, the size, colour.... everything about it is so perfect! The one you see in the last photo is another cup of my favourites, a Mashiko-yaki cup I was given many years ago.

Also, I just got a new table :)

Hope you are enjoying the week everyone!

xx

MOT with a little one.

2010-10-14T10:45:00.006+09:30

These are from late August (late late post) when my niece Ako was visiting during her school holidays. One day we went to the MOT (museum of contemporary art tokyo) and had a wonderful time. They were having 2 exhibitions which kids can really enjoy, one was "kodomo no niwa" (garden of children) where everyone can enjoy physical art experience, and the other one "Karigurashi no Arrietty & Yohei Taneda Fusing Fantasy With Reality" which exhibited a life-sized set based on Ghibli's film Arrietty. I'm not a big fan of Ghibli works or animations but no it was quite interesting and amusing.

Ako was staying with my mum while she was in Tokyo like always, but after this MOT fun day she decided to spend the night at our apartment. This was the very first time she had a sleeping over at our place, she had always said she couldn't sleep without her dad or grandma so that was a real big step for her and aunty was so pleased :)

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ありがとう！！

2010-10-13T12:06:00.004+09:30

Arigatou... What more can I say?

I am so touched to receive so so many warm wishes on my last post and I feel really lucky to have all these lovely people coming to visit my blog (even though it's been abandoned for so long) and taking their time to leave comments for me. I am totally flattered.

i.thank.you.very.VERY.much.

I'm still swamped with work and finding it hard to get back to blogging or catching up on my blogroll but I promise to come back to do more posts!

Wish you all many happy happenings!!

hiki
xx

one fine day

2010-10-05T20:27:00.008+09:30

Apologies for the long absence from my blog, so many things have been keeping me busy again. Was September ever here? I can not recall very well. I had so many works coming in all at once and I just didn't know if I could get through September at all but it seems I made it. And I think I did pretty well.

On top of all the works, there was this huge event. My wedding. Yes I got married after such a chaotic month. But after all it all went well, went perfectly well.
On a beautiful warm October day, we had two parties in a lovely little French restaurant set in an old Japanese house, day and night, followed by after party at another place nearby. Lots of omedetos (congrats) and lots of smiles made me truly happy.

It was lovely. Just lovely.

:)

TOILET トイレット

2010-09-02T23:28:00.008+09:30

You might have thought what a funny title for a blog post, but it is actually the title of a new movie that came out last week in Tokyo which I went to see with Hello Sandwich in Ginza yesterday. TOILET is a new film directed by Naoko Ogino after Kamome Shokudo (Kamome Diner) and Megane -via make it easy- (Glasses).

It was witty, funny, yummy (yes, like the other 2 movies), cute, heart-warming and charming! TOILET was filmed in Toronto, Canada (though the story is set in somewhere in the US) and all the dialogue is in English so many of you should be able to enjoy it without having have to read subtitles :)

Here is the trailer of the movie, I think you like it!

yumiko iihoshi porcelain

2010-08-26T23:10:00.013+09:30

First 3 photos are mine, the above images of the products are from yumiko iihoshi porcelain.

Yumiko Iihoshi's atelier is my recent favourite space in Tokyo. She has recently opened her atelier in Jiyugaoka as a gallery/shop 3 days a week. Simplicity, tranquility and beauty are all in there, a perfect box to contain her beautiful tableware. Yumiko-san is such a lovely person and that was no surprise to me at all looking at her delicate and sensuous pieces.

yumiko iihoshi porcelain
1-14-7-B Midorigaoka Meguro-ku Tokyo 1520034
open: normally on weekends only but changes every month.

Things I did & saw in August

2010-08-26T00:29:00.000+09:30

Hana + Hanna Exhibition with Ebony.

Pretty shop in Ginza - TSUMORI CHISATO GOLD.

Lovely band's live show in a classic tea house.

Bon-odori (dance) festival in Jiyugaoka.

The sarusuberi (Crape-myrtle?) looking ever so pretty in this extreme heat, one of not so many things I love of Tokyo's summer.

Autumn still seems really far away here.

P.S. You can buy Hana + Hanna's wonderful works here: Hana, Hanna.
Hanna's pretty blog here.

Summer on black & white #02

2010-08-14T01:34:00.003+09:30

Thank you so much for lovely positive comments on my previous post for B&W shots! Now I can't wait to load another B&W film and start shooting more on B&W again.
The strong summer lights and shadows come out really nicely I think. I used Fuji NEOPAN 1600 Super PRESTO for these shots, the contrast came out quite strong (of course i didn't retouch any of these). If you have any good B&W films you can recommend I'd love to hear and try!

Have a lovely weekend everyone ;)

P.S. I went to this wonderful band's really fun show at a sweet little "kurashikku kissa" (classic tea house) in Asagaya with lovely Ebo-chan today. You should check out this post on Hello Sandwich!

Summer on black & white #01

2010-08-10T20:10:00.008+09:30

Inspired by Brian's this post I bought and loaded a black & white film for the first time in what, 10 years? Possibly more. I hadn't even thought of shooting black & white in so long.
Looking through lens there were many times I thought oh this would be much nicer if it was on colour, but these aren't too bad in black & white are they? More to share soon!

something blue

2010-08-03T21:10:00.004+09:30

Are you all enjoying summer? I hope you are!
Being in Tokyo it is not that easy, but I'm surviving....
Blue, I hoped these might soothe the heat somehow.
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3331 Arts Chiyoda & The Tokyo Art Book Fair 2010

2010-07-30T14:59:00.005+09:30

The Tokyo Art Book Fair started today and I went to the opening last night as I was lucky enough to have lovely Ebony of Hello Sandwich inviting me :) It was huge and I was really impressed with the quality of the zines all the creators were exhibiting at the fair, of course including the new Hello Sandwich Scrap Book Zine and now too-famous-to-mention Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide! Having booths alongside Ebo-chan, I also met cute mogu-chan and lovely Anna Glesson from Australia who had the prettiest pale blue dress on that suited her perfectly.

The venue 3331 Arts Chiyoda (seen in above images borrowed from their website) was also awesome! Renovated from an old junior high school it provides cool art spaces that host many exhibitions and create many art scenes. I loved how it has a big open space at the front of the building (even with a green grass that you can go and sit on, which is (believe me) rare in Tokyo), especially being in the middle of the busy office area of Kanda.

The Tokyo Art Book Fair will be held for the next 3 days, so if you are free in Tokyo I'd recommend you get there and have fun!! And also do visit Hello Sandwich blog to see the photos from last night which Ebony took ;)

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Cafe 6-Chome

2010-07-28T12:44:00.005+09:30

I realised that I haven't posted about nice cafes and shops in Tokyo for a while now, and I found these photos I took a while ago at another of my favourite cafes in the neighborhood so here it is! It is called "cafe 6-chome" and it's a lovely little cafe&shop in an old showa-period atmosphere. They sell Japanese antique furniture and it is fun just to go in and check out what new items they have every now and then. They are open in the evening during the week and open from the lunch time on the weekends. It's a good 15 minute walk from Jiyugaoka and there is nothing much around so it may not be so attractive for people visiting from other areas but I want to share my favourite space :) (My favourite cafe ikanika is not so far from this one, about 5 minute walk.)

cafe 6-chome
6-6-1 Todoroki
Setagaya-ku Tokyo 158-0082 (google map)

ku:nel magazine vol.45

2010-07-22T23:29:00.003+09:30

The new issue of ku:nel magazine is out now! The main copy of this new issue is "Greens by the windows" and it features lovely interior and outdoor greens used in many beautiful homes. So inspiring!

ku:nel vol.45 can be purchased here in my shop :)

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summer * part one

2010-07-20T01:01:00.005+09:30

The horrible rainy season has finished and the real Japanese summer has settled. Hot, very hot. I hope I can survive it. I really do!

greens

2010-07-13T17:28:00.004+09:30

Back to Tokyo shots now with some greens. We are in the middle of the rainy season here in Tokyo and the weather has been really uncomfortable with high humidity which makes me want to do nothing much really. But the green colours seen around are deep and quite pretty right now, well at least.

minä perhonen catalogue : autumn & winter 2010-2011

2010-07-09T13:20:00.004+09:30

The new mina perhonen catalogue from the autumn/winter 2010-2011 collection has just arrived, it is again so very beautiful..... oh how i wish to own their dress one day!
　

Lines and Shapes in Kyoto.

2010-06-29T01:23:00.006+09:30

This will be the last post on Kyoto (finally). Random but nicely connected shots of lines and shapes of Kyoto. This city kept me so busy with my camera everywhere. It was wonderful. The best shopping I did in Kyoto this time was the copper tea caddy (chazutsu) from the oldest chazutsu maker in Japan called Kaikado. Beautiful chazutsu I had always wanted to own one day, was brought home from their head shop and I am so pleased! I will be enjoying the changes this lovely chazutsu will create after many months and years :)

INODA COFFEE イノダコーヒー本店 (Kyoto)

2010-06-24T00:50:00.010+09:30

INODA COFFEE is one of the oldest and the most famous coffee chains based in Kyoto. And I went to their head store for a morning coffee. Going into the machiya-style Showa-ish cafe, non-smokers are taken to the smaller building at the back of the main building walking through the lovely courtyard. I really loved all what was there, the cute red coffee pot logo, the coffee cup, the very polite waitress who looked as if time travelled from 50 years ago, the air and the light and...everything. It was quite relaxing just being there, I wished there was a coffee shop like that near my house so I could visit every morning before starting work. But then I realised that I was there having coffee at 8:30 in the morning because I was on a mini holiday having so little time to spend in Kyoto, and if this was in Tokyo I would not be able to do that anyway. Ha!

INODA COFFEE HONTEN (MAIN STORE)
140 Doyu-cho, Sakaimachi Dori Sanjo Kudaru (google map)
Open: 7：00 - 20：00

P.S. Do you know that HELLO SANDWICH now lives in Tokyo? Yes she does!!! Check out what she did on her first day in Tokyo as a Tokyo resident!!

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minä perhonen in kyoto

2010-06-21T10:56:00.002+09:30

minä perhonen shops in Kyoto are really so dreamy... Not far from the busiest intersection of the Kyoto city, there it is an old and beautiful building which I would call a minä perhonen paradise. Originally there was only one shop on the ground floor, but they opened minä perhonen arkistot on the level 3 of the same building last year where they stock their beautiful clothing from the past collections. Another shop opened earlier this year on the level 4 is "minä perhonen piece", another gorgeous space they created. There are so many little details which you would not want to miss in each shop like a cute drawings on the windows Mr Minagawa himself did, or sweet little signs hand-written on the walls etc. Wonderful, wonderful spaces!
You can see some images of "minä perhonen piece" here (text is in Japanese).

Shop info in English here.

Hello Sandwich Tokyo!

2010-06-17T22:23:00.003+09:30

I'm sorry I've been so slow updating blog lately, I still have more to share about my now-seems-like-ages-ago Kyoto trip, and there is a couple of other things I've been wanting to share here but things have been keeping me busy.

One of the things I've been definitely meaning to post about is "the" Hello Sandwich Tokyo Guide Zine. (I got an exclusive hard cover copy with my name stamped on it!) It's been talked about everywhere and I'm pretty sure most of you have already heard about this excellent piece of work of Ebony's, or many of you probably have got a copy but if you haven't this is your lucky day to find out about it!! Seriously, if you love Tokyo or if you plan to come to Tokyo you have got to have this super kawaii fantastic Tokyo Guide by a super sweet girl Ebo-chan who is about to come and move to Tokyo!! She even included some useful Japanese expressions, travel tips and the railway/subway maps too so you don't even need a lonelyplanet but a HELLO SANDWICH TOKYO GUIDE!

Believe me, YOU'VE GOT TO GET IT. And be quick, because it's selling really fast!
　

Philosopher's Path & Ginkaku-ji, Kyoto

2010-06-12T02:00:00.004+09:30

After spending some lovely time at Keibunsha and Prinz, I kept on cycling towards the famous Ginkaku-ji Temple and then enjoyed exploring along Tetsugaku-no-michi (Philosopher's Path) enjoying the green and imagining how beautiful it would be when sakura is full in bloom. Must be so dreamy... This part of Kyoto has always been in the list of places I want to go to in Kyoto but I had never been before. (well I did go to Ginkaku-ji when I went to Kyoto on school trips but I don't really remember much.)
I absolutely fell in love with this part of Kyoto!!!!

Have a lovely weekend to you all!
　

Cycling Around Kyoto

2010-06-08T10:54:00.006+09:30

Cycling around Kyoto is so much fun, I truly don't know why I never tried it before! From where I stayed near Kawaramachi, I walked to Sanjo station and hired a bike - once I hit the road suddenly felt so free and it was great! I first headed for Keibunsha, the loveliest bookstore in Ichijoji where I found it extremely hard to say good bye to and stayed for quite a long time. Then I realised prinz, another place I always wanted to go to in Kyoto, was close by so I stopped by there for a lovely cup of tea in the sun room at the back overlooking their beautiful rose garden.

(will continue..)