Junichi Nakahara exhibition

Hello dear readers! How are you?

The good weather is continuing! I hope it is nice where you are too.

Today I'll show you a couple of pictures from the Junichi Nakahara exhibition I went to last month in Yokohama.

I love Mr Nakahara's work and I have written about him before. Though best known for his illustration, he was talented in many areas and this exhibition commemorating 100 years since his birth showed that in abundance.

It was held in the Sogo Museum of Art (where I went to the Marie Antoinette exhibition last year) and there were displays throughout the department store. This one featured two dresses made to his designs.

The exhibition hall itself was packed with his work- from his magazines (such as Himawari), to his fashion designs for women and children, also his dolls, storybook illustrations, and even his interior design work. This cute and airy model room looks like it is straight out of one of his pictures. 

This was one of the best exhibitions I have ever seen. Although the scope of his work was huge it didn't feel tiring to see it all. Although his work is stylised it is possible to see the changing fashions as they would have really been worn throughout the decades. I feel that he had a real sympathy for women and a sensitive observation for everything that made up their lifestyle. He had a vision of beauty that was clean and stylish and yet sweet and nostalgic too. 

I enjoyed the visit even more because I went with a dear friend who loves him just as much as me! We finished the day with tea and cake, a lovely finish to a lovely day.

If you would like to see this exhibition you still have four days, so hurry hurry!

More details here.

Now then, I'd better get back to packing for this weekend. I am attending Austen and the Abbey, a lolita event in Warwickshire. If you are coming, please look out for me and say hello! I'm very excited, because I'll be modelling for Victorian Maiden and fairy wish and also in the Mori Girl fashion show. When I'm not doing that, I'll be wearing boystyle for the first time in years!

Thanks for reading and hope to see you there!

Sapphira

Okinawa trip

Hello dear readers, how are you? Did you have a nice weekend?

Here in the south of England the weather has been very nice, warm and sunny and very summery! I went shopping in Brighton on Saturday and had a drive in the country on Sunday. My friends in Tokyo tell me it was 33 degrees yesterday. I guess I came home at just the right time. I hope it will cool down a bit there by the time I return! Take care in the heat, everyone.

Just before I left Japan, I had a very short trip to Okinawa. It was a work-related trip, but as we arrived the afternoon before the shooting I had a little free time. I decided to go for a walk and see what I could find. I was staying in Naha, the capital.

I had never been to Okinawa before so I was really excited. I had heard that the culture is very different from mainland Japan so I was curious to see how it would compare to Tokyo. I was also excited to see shiisaa!

They are statues representing guardian creatures that look something like a cross between lions and dogs. They usually come in pairs and are very similar to the lion statues you see elsewhere in Asia.

I was able to see lots and lots of them even in the small area around my hotel. There were big ones, small ones, scary ones and cute ones.

Does this one count as scary or cute?

He or she was guarding the souvenir shopping street.

The shops were full of shiisaa and goya (bitter gourd) related souvenirs. Piggy souvenirs were also popular! They eat a lot of pork in Okinawa. Poor little piggies!

This lipstick-wearing shiisaa was pretty fabulous.

There were also loads of One Piece souvenirs! I was tempted by a phonestrap of Zoro riding a shiisaa and brandishing a goya but it was almost 600yen so I didn't bother. 

I saw some other creatures too- cats! This one was so small and pretty but she was a bit timid.

There was also a big giant one of the roof of one of the souvenir shops! 

Of course I wanted to try some Okinawan food. I spotted this spam and egg onigiri in the airport:

It was... kind of bad. Another feature of Okinawan cuisine is sweet potatoes, and the hotel brochure recommended Beniimo Tarts as a souvenir. Here is a giant one outside the shop:

I bought some to take home, and they were really good! 

The colour is so pretty and they are not overly sweet.

I had dinner at a nearby restaurant and it was very nice. The starter was sea grapes:

I guess it looks a bit strange but it was nice! For the main dish I had goya chanpuru, which is one of the best-known Okinawan specialities.

It's pork and egg and goya. The taste of the pork went well with the bitterness of the goya, but maybe the goya was a bit overpowering. It's supposed to be really good for your skin so I ate all of it anyway.

I enjoyed the little time that I spent in Okinawa, and I hope I'll be able to go back there again for a longer time. I have heard of some amazing castle ruins, museums and beaches which I would like to visit, and I want to try some more foods!

Have you ever been to Okinawa? Do you have any experiences or recommendations to share? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading and see you next time,

Sapphira

KERA snap and picnic

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a nice day in England, and I have been doing some writing in the garden. Also, I've taken the opprtunity to handwash some of my clothes! Handwashing is a never ending task for lolitas, isn't it? At least it should all dry quickly today.

This post is from a while back, it was the day I went to the KERA snap at Marui and then had a picnic in nearby Shinjuku Gyoen. This was my outfit:

Hat: Handmade

Blouse: Atelier Pierrot

Skirt: Jane Marple

Gloves: Vintage

I really love this Atelier Pierrot blouse with big puff sleeves. It is very historical looking and I feel like a girl in a story book! For the purposes of the snap I said my theme was 'Country Lolita'. I really like the idea of country lolita and I want to make more outfits in that style. Alice a la mode/Alice Deco used to have a lot of nice country coordinates that weren't typical. What happened to that magazine? It was so creative!

Here's a better look at my hat. As you can see, this was taken at the park. It was such lovely weather- sunny and warm but not too hot, windy or humid! There were lots of young families out and very cute children tumbling about.  

It was a good situation for wearing country lolita. One strange thing though- there appeared to be cat litter sprinkled on the grass all around!

Is it fertilizer or something? Weird!

I'm delighted to say that my picture got into the snap, along with Shinobu and Aviva/go_slow_ly!

I can't tell you how happy I am to see my picture in there. I wish I could go to the snap every month but I've only made three so far. I hope I can go to many more when I return in the autumn!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Have a lovely weekend wherever you are!

Sapphira

Showa Kinen Park

Hello dear readers! How are you?

It's a drizzly day today, I suppose rainy season is getting started. However, I'm going to show you pictures from  nice sunny day! I went for a picnic at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa.

I was suprised at the size of the park, it's huge! It's the one place I've been in Tokyo where you can look around and not see a single tall ugly building. It almost felt like I was back in Sussex.

The park includes a lake, bicycle track and a herb garden. I took this picture in the herb garden, it's really pretty! And I saw a fat little lizard sunbathing among the herbs :)

Blouse: Franche Lippée

JSK: Innocent World

Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

I wanted to make a light-coloured, dreamy classic coordinate like Fanny Rosie! Do you know her? I expect you do, since she is very popular, but if not she's a Canadian lolita with the most perfect classical outfits.

There's a cafe at the park serving all sorts of drinks and herbal teas. I had lavender tea. It was a delicate taste, and very relaxing.

I drank it surrounded by lavender bushes! 

It was a windy day but I still really enjoyed the picnic.There were wild flowers and strawberries growing in the grass, and I had a nice view of the lake.

There's also a Japanese garden. It's beautiful! Unfortunately the trees were full of hairy caterpillars.... I am fond of caterpillars so I was quite pleased to see them at first, until one tumbled out of the tree an inch from my nose. I kept my parasol up after that.

I met a wise old cat in the Japanese garden! I saw three cats in the park, this one, a roly poly ginger one, and a scrubby black one. Why are there so many stray cats in Japan? Everyone seems to love cats and feeds the stray ones, but where did they come from?

There was also a bonsai garden. Some of the trees were 300 years old.

I hope that you enjoyed the photos. If you fancy going to a park for a relaxing day, I think this one is the best in Tokyo!

See you next time,

Sapphira

My celebrity lifestyle

Hello dear readers, how are you? Hope you are well!

Today I'll show you some pictures of me hanging out with celebrities.... they weren't very talkative, but it was nice to see them anyway.

First is everyone's favourite, Jackie Chan!

Then I went bicycling with E.T....

Then I met Audrey Hepburn for a late breakfast at Tiffany's....

Then a game of tennis with... some tennis player??

Had my portrait painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, who looked remarkably well dspite having been dead for almost 500 years....

Stood in for Jane Russell....

Did a little dance with a sumo wrestler (no, I can't remember any of the sportspeople's names, sorry)....

And finally I acted with Shakespeare!

You have probably guessed that I went to a waxwork museum, and you are quite correct. I went to Madame Tussauds in Odaiba. The weather was miserable so I didn't have much enthusiasm for dressing up for once, but I enjoyed the museum. My father took me to Madame Tussauds in London when I was little, I still remember it very well, especially the 'brides in the bath' murderer! 

It's a shame they didn't have more bloodthirsty/ historical things in this one, but there were props and things so you could pose with the wax works so it was fun taking pictures. I wish I could have taken E.T home, he is so cute!

In the same building there is a takoyaki 'museum', though it isn't a museum at all, it's a gaudily decorated self-service restaurant.

Anyway they had lots of different takoyaki to try and it was very delicious.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures! See you again soon,

Sapphira

Inokashira Park Zoo

Hello dear readers! How are you?

Back in March I went to do another day of cherry blossom viewing, this time at Inokashira Park. I had another special reason to go there, as you'll find out soon!

First, here's my outfit:

Onepiece, Jacket: Vintage

Hat: corgi-corgi

Bag: Metamorphose

Others: Offbrand

I think it looks a bit Ghibli-esque, which was appropriate as the Ghibli museum is not far from here.

The cherry blossoms were still a bit sparse here, but it was romantic to see the branches drooping down to touch the lake. 

So, here is the main reason I visited:

Guinea pig! And what a handsome one~

At the so-called "Molmott House" you can go in and hold a guinea pig for a few minutes. They were all remarkably good natured. I suppose they rotate the ones that are held so that none of them get stressed. There were hundreds of them, it seemed! I really liked my one, he was a dear little chap and I wish I could have kept him....

I also saw a racoon! Very cute and cunning.

Lovely camelia flower (I think that's what it is....)

Perhaps these are wallabies? Oh dear, I should have posted these when I still remembered all the names....

A magnificent fowl in the bird house, just sitting on the stair rail looking fabulous.

Ice cream! It was such a childish day, zoo and then ice cream....

Look at this dear little squirrel! Japanese squirrels are so small, and it's quite uncommon to see them apart from at the zoo. I saw a wild one in Kamakura the other day though!

This funny fellow may or may not be a spiny echidna *edit- he's an African porcupine. Thank you, clever readers! There were a pair of them living together, one lazy one snoozing in a box and one active one who rushed about all over the place, snuffing at everything as if his life depended on it. Finally he decided to go and wake the lazy one up. He gave him such a fright all his spines stood on end!

All in all it was a lovely day, especially the guinea pig who I will never forget. He was ever so much nicer than the orang utan I held at Singapore Zoo who wouldn't stop picking his teeth and made a dreadful photo souvenir.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! Thank you so much for reading and see you again soon.

Sapphira